#how can a studio that makes marvel end game

[moirindeclermont]

This is a new episode of "all Polin first times we didn't see" and these is a mix of stuff, including at least one request.

It's after Pen has giving birth, some months have already passes but Colin feels inspired that afternoon. He can't read, can't write, all he can think about is how much his gorgeous wife is looking absolutely ethereal in the new dressing gown - blue Bridgerton of course.

But he knows that Pen would look even better naked. So with that goal in mind, he closes the door of the studio in which both him and Pen are working at the moment. No distractions allowed. The baby is in safe hands at the moment and they have a couple of hours before dinner. He'd love to have more time for what he has in mind but it will do.

Pen now follows his eyes with interest, and when Colin is now in her space, she gets up. Colin very carefully proceed to put everything in order until the desk is empty. Then, he methodically removes her dress, stay and camisole until she is naked. He kisses her deeply before lifting her up (Pen does squee in surprise at this) and puts her on the desk.

He remains dressed, because he is not important right now. It's all about her. His Goddess. He kisses her again, and then he explores every inch of her body with his fingers. The lips, the curve of her neck, her back, her gorgeous thighs, her absolutely breathtaking breast - even more now that she is feeding their son - where her nipples are already leaking. He has plan for those buds, but before he needs to go down on her stomach.

When he is there, he kisses her womb. He murmurs a prayer in thanks because she is safe and healthy as well as their son, before going back up with his lips, catching her nipples along the way. The looks at her, a question in his eyes but Pen knows already and trust him with her life so she nods, and Colin start to suck. He is surprised that her milk is warm - but more than anything, he marvels at women and particularly Pen, because what she did with their son is nothing short of a miracle.

These couple of hours are just about her. After she is wriggling for the emotion and the arousal his actions are causing her, he goes on his knees to taste his absolution. He opens her legs to make space for him and firstly he kisses her all around, before truly eating her with lips and tongue until she cries out loud and make him feel like a giant for making her feel so much pleasure.

When he knows she is close, he aids her with his fingers, like he did in the carriage and during their first time, until she is coming loudly. But he is now done. Nit even close. He wait for her to calm down, before starting repeating the same cycle. All over again. A second time. A third time. By the fourth she is collapsed on the desk, can't move, can't think, she can only feel. And when she comes that time, he gets flooded by her sacred juices, re-baptized in her name.

It's sinful to think as much but he can't help himself. He comes untouched in that moment, in his breeches, and he cleans her up wit his tie, before redressing her.

"What about you?" She asks and those are the first words beside moans she has spoken since they have started. Colin looks at her "it was not about me" but he agrees that she can do it to him too one day. In the end, every Goddess needs her own God.

What is a first you want me to write about them? (And if you want to play a game, how many first did I include?)

[daydaydayrk420]

Anything with Chris Evans please -

Be my Meuse pt1

Chris Evans x male reader

⚠️nothing really all the good stuff is in part two⚠️

🚨 Minors and girls do not interact 🚨

Y/n/n - nickname

This ended up being longer than I intended to so I split it into two parts

______________________________________________________________

Chris is a famous actor. Most famous for playing Captain America for Marvel. He's also known for being kind and caring.

Now y/n isn't known for anything. He's no celebrity. He's just a guy who works at the local bar. On the weekends though he teaches art class.

It's a weekend class that's joined mostly by old people who are doing it for therapy.

So basically he's just hosting art therapy. But sometipmes there are people who join for the art not the therapy.

And by sometimes I mean this weekend. What's so special about this weekend? Let me tell you then.

Now pull your hand out your pants there's no porn here.

The day started the same as usual. Y/n wakes up. Does his morning routine. Watches YouTube or plays games for two Hours. Check his bag and go to his car.

The drive is half an hour long without traffic. He parks in his usual spot in front of the studio building that he shares with two more classes. Both include art but they work on different days and don't include the therapy. So obviously those two get the youngsters. While y/n gets left with old shaky hands. Which he doesn't mind. He loves seeing the people relax and smile at their art.

He walks in and sees that some of his regulars are already there. They're all elderly people. They're just by their lockers and the cafeteria getting ready for the class. The ones who notice the younger man greet him with a smile. Which he returns.

"Hey, James." Y/n greets kindly at the shorter old man. James is the oldest grandpa here. 95 to be exact. Yes, he's here for the therapy part of the class. He's a veteran. "Hey y/n/m. How are you doing son?" James greets them with a happy tone. He always saw y/n as a family. James has also been part of this class since it started. Which was five years ago.

Y/n smiles and sets down the paper bag with James's favourite doughnuts on the table where the old man had his coffee. "I'm good j. No bar fight this week." The younger man joked as he sat opposite of James. Said man laughs and takes out a doughnut.

This has become a tradition for them. Share a chat and doughnuts before every class. Sometimes even James brings something to bite on.

"What about you? You seem cheery today." Y/n asks as he removes his jacket to get comfortable. James hummed and wiped the sugar pounder off his lips. "I'm happy." He said with a content smile. Which made y/n smile too. "And I have a surprise for you." That caught the younger man with surprise.

"Oh? What's the occasion?" The younger man asks with curiosity. "Let's just say it's my thank you for the happy five years I've had so far." That melts y/n's heart. He knows James suffered with depression and that he still might be. So knowing he can make James happy is all he needs to be happy too.

"The problem is my gift is stuck in traffic and will be here in about an hour." Jame chuckles. Y/n laughs. "Oh? What kind of a gift is that then?" He jokes. He's really curious now. Stuck in traffic?

"I ain't spoiling my long-planned surprise, kid." James laughs. The younger man dramatically pretends to be annoyed but a smile creeps onto his face.

The two of them chat for a bit before they all go to their usual places in the studio.

Y/n first goes to the toilet before he starts the class.

When he returns he takes his usual spot in the front corner of the class where it doesn't block whatever they're painting or drawing. He sets his stuff where he wants it and faces the class. He scans the faces. The elder people seem happy today. They all talk and laugh about their memories from the week.

That's until he notices a new face. A young face. But he's looking away. Y/n tilts his head. He knows that facial structure from somewhere. He's drawn it before.

"Alright. Does everyone have their supplies?" Y/n called out to get everyone's attention. He makes sure everyone nods or checks for everything.

That's when he finally catches the new face. Chris Evans. Chris fucking Evans is talking with James about what pain he's using.

"I see we have a new face here." Y/n cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Chris looks up and smiles. "Would you like to introduce yourself or would you rather if they want to meet you they come to you." Y/n suggested as he always does so his students aren't uncomfortable.

"I'm alright thanks." Chris smiles. The younger man nods and looks at his papers to see what they're doing. "Alright so as usual. We have fruit on the stand. Or if you want to do your Topic that's fine too. The art style is all up to you, of course." He reads through his notes to make sure he's got everything. "Alright. That's about it. What song should we play first?"

The time passes by. Everyone's drawing including y/n. It's about time that y/n checks in with everyone. So he puts his brush down and goes to the first canvas. Eventually, he gets to James and rests his hand on his shoulders. "Hey, James, how's it going." He asks with a soft voice as he studies what abstract James is painting today.

It's just a bunch of paint splatter on the canvas. "The usual." The old man hummed proudly. Y/n nods and moves on to the next guy. Aka. Chris Evans. Aka Frank Adler. Aka. Y/n big fat celeb crush. But he keeps a friendly smile on his face and looks at the canvas. He stands stunned.

It's him. The charcoal outlines shape him drawing his art. "That's... Sweet." Y/n didn't know what else to say. Chris chuckles. "Thanks."

The younger man admires the drawing for a tad longer than he wanted. Eventually, he snaps out of it and looks at Chris. Who's already looking at him and smiling. Y/n blushes in surprise. Chris hands his hand out. "Chris."

Y/n wants to laugh because he obviously already knows who the man in front of him is but he doesn't and just grabs his hand. "Y/n" he shakes his hand.

"Y/n." The older man murmurs. "Handsome name for a handsome man." Y/n blushes at that again.

"So what brought you to my class?" Y/n wants to start a conversation. He doesn't want to move to the next person. He wants to talk with Chris. "Oh I was invited by James." Chris said casually as if that didn't just blow y/n's mind out of proportion. He looks at James as if asking "this is the gift?" And James winks knowingly.

The younger man faces Chris again and smiles. "James? How'd he manage to do that?" He's genuinely curious. "His granddaughter works with me. She's a movie clothing designer." The older man said as he set down his charcoal.

"Ohh. Jasmine works with movie stuff?" Y/n asks surprised. "You know Jasmine?" Chris looks surprised. "Not personally. Just from stories." The younger man said. Chris nods. "Well I should move on. Keep up your drawing." Y/n smiled and moved on to another person.

The class comes to an end and everyone gathers their things to leave. Y/n has to stay so he can lock up. James and Chris also stay behind.

"So? Happy?" The younger man jumps in surprise when he hears James's voice form behind him. The old man laughs. "I take that as a yes."

The younger man chuckles and nods. "Thank you James. I really appreciate you doing this."

"I know you wanted to meet him for so long. And when I found out that Jasmine knows him I tried my best to bring him here." The old man grins and pats y/n's back.

"Anyway I gotta go my pick-up is here." They hugged goodbye and James left.

"You doing anything after?" Y/n jumps in surprise at the voice from behind him. Chris chuckles. "Sorry didn't mean to scare ya."

"Uh no I'm not doing anything after this." Y/n chuckles nervously. "Would you like to go get some food with me?" The older man asked with a grin. "Sure." The younger man smiles and hides the fireworks that are going off inside his body.

And so they went out. They didn't really have a specific destination they just walked until they found something they'd crave. But that of course didn't last for long because paparazzi have found them. Y/n thinks fast and takes Chris towards the parking lot in front of the studio. He walks fast and moves through some alleys so they could hopefully lose the cameras.

They make it to the car and quickly hop in. They drive off. Once they've calmed down from the adrenaline they both laugh. "Good thinking." Chris praised.

Y/n smiles. "Thanks."

They put on the radio and talk as y/n drives home.

.

..

...

Pt2

[dailyadventureprompts]

Why do you focus on 5e? Obviously your content can be used in any other rpg that can accomdate a fantasy setting but it's very clear you don't like 5e all that much, considering the amount of patches you make to fix flaws in its design?

Friend, I think you've misunderstood me: I love 5th edition, I love it the way nerds love objectively kinda bad genre shows or middleaged men love broken down sportscars that remind them of their fathers. Love in this instance manifests as a desire to improve, to iterate, to imagine a less flawed version of the thing and through my efforts bring that version into being.

5e is flawed, but it's flawed in JUST the right way for my brain to start surging with ideas about how it could be better, which helps me learn to be a better game designer/modder as I test out how those ideas could be implemented or improved upon. There's a baseline level of stuff I like for d&d (how adaptable it is, how easy it is to onboard new players, the particular level of mechanical crunch) that the otherwise flawed system makes a great canvas to work with.

What you might've caught wind of is my vendetta against Wizards of the Coast and their Hasbro overseers; if I could I'd crash into their studio, plunder the IP from their vaults, and run off into the night making feral goblin noises. My ire particularly focuses on the fact that in trying to produce a market focused product that appeals to everyone they refuse to actually make anything of substance, leading to the marvel-ification of my favourite game.

5e is the system that feels the closest to the ideal game of d&d I've been chasing for two decades, and when something comes along that better fits that ideal you can bet I'll jump to that. I'm really excited about the OGL crisis spawned games (daggerheart, mcdmrpg, tales of the valiant) and I look forward to seeing what direction they take the TTRPG space. If I don't end up preferring any of them, I'll likely end up up using 5e as a roseta stone to translate good game design ideas between them.

[felassan]

David Gaider on Twitter: "Going through my old DAI files and came across the original plan for a playable post-credits Epilogue... which, due to time constraints, eventually got down-scaled to the post-credits cutscene you saw on release. A lot of the meat here was, I believe, resurrected for Trespasser." [source] "At the time, I was pushing hard for an actual denouement - as opposed to always ending the story so abruptly after the climax. Considering how few players ever get that far, I suppose I can see the argument that it's not exactly a great place to focus resources. I did like where the cutscene ended up, mind you. A nice, Marvel-esque stinger that hinted at story to come. Took the sting out of having yet another story plan go awry... which is simply par for the course for game dev. Writing can always imagine more than we can produce. ;) And in case anyone wonders: no actual work was done on that playable section prior to the cut. You can imagine it being this fully-fleshed out, glorious thing, if you like... but it could just as easily have been half-baked and terrible. The team was fully stretched as it was." [source, two, three]

Some further info from follow-up tweets -

User: "It's a bummer, though I understand the logic. A proper end to cap off the experience can make or break your enjoyment of the full game though, imo" DG: "That was indeed my argument. There's a point where we have to draw the line and finish the story, however, and I'm afraid the original plan was... mmm a mite too big. This was far from the only cut."

User: "WAIT. Am I reading this right… Solas drains Flemeth and then COMMANDS the Well of Sorrows drinker to kill Flemeth?" DG: "I think it was Flemeth who commanded it. I'd have to look through the whole document. It's complicated. Part of why it was eventually cut, probably."

User: "Hold on. We were to kill Flemeth on Flemeth’s command to, possibly, prevent Solas from taking everything? Was passing whatever energy she did to the Eluvian her way of preparing for survival ?" DG: "I don't think it was going to be explained any more than it was in the cutscene you got, tbh."

User: "My WoS Lavellan is SCREAMING rn god please help her in the next game" DG: "Keep in mind that none of this *actually* happened. ;)"

User: "Interesting to see this was envisioned as having adversarial encounters between Solas & Flemeth with the well-drinker being ping-pawned between them. I noticed the Inquisitor lurking off-camera in that cutscene and wondered if they were originally meant to be part of it." DG: "Heh. I'm pretty sure the Inquisitor being placed there in the actual cutscene's level was because a player had to be present *somewhere*. Might be wrong, though." John Epler: "the way the cinematics worked, if you had them firing too far from the player character the engine would try to optimize and cutscenes would start jittering" DG: "Yeah, I thought it was something like that! Thanks, John."

User: "Does this have any link to the fact that there are dialogue audios of Morrigan reacting to solas “absorbing” Mythal in the game files?" DG: "Possibly? I finished writing the epilogue, so it's possible some of it got recorded prior to the cut."

User: "So Morrigan would've finally gotten to kill Flemeth herself, and nobody had to turn into a dragon this time? Also, this clears up what even happened to Flemeth at the end. She's definitely dead. Presumably, the spirit or essence of Mythal and possibly Urthemiel are inside Solas?" User 2: "does it? it can be theorized that flemeth commands the inquisitor/morrigan to kill her so solas wouldn't be able to take all her essence. regardless, in the ending we did get it's not entirely clear what happened. but i doubt she's truly gone. she cheated death before." DG: "And remember that what this stuff points at never actually happened. Whatever becomes of Flemeth in the future is up to the current writing team, and is based only on the cutscene you saw."

Summerfall Studios: "Our creative director davidgaider shares some insight into how Dragon Age: Inquisition's epilogue evolved over production" DG: "You want "evolved over production"? *cracks knuckles* Lemme tell you how we cut Corypheus attacking Skyhold. Now *that's* evolution."

[kumimi3]

could you please also write the idol scenario for chigiri too? i really liked your last one!

❪ BLUE LOCK BOYS <33 ❫ ❮ a star idol dancing for their lover ⟡⟡ ↳ chigiri and isagi

continuing | return back to level i !

❪ chigiri ❫

he knew of your performance the day before, Chigiri is observant and has good hearing, listening intently to the producers in the meeting room, the mention of your name took him by surprised

Chigiri was subtle, he knew it was going to be a secret with how quiet you’ve been since last week, practicing on your vocals much strictly than before

bringing you water inside the music studio, putting a humidifier inside your shared apartment, making sure you don’t hurt your vocals by helping you breath, those are the simple services he did to help you since day one

And once your performance is now starting, Chigiri was already at the front seat as he looks at you with a small smile, clapping along with the crowd as you/your group starts to sing and dance

Chigiri has been allured by you since the camera showed your majestic visuals, as if you were looking at him with those sweet eyes of yours

When the performance ended, he was one of the people who stood up and clapped even more loudly, you just did so wonderful with your performance, how could he not?

Taking away your earpiece and entering the hallway, you suddenly stopped when you heard many squeals and screams from all over the people in the stadium, you realized you were on the screen, but why exactly were they loud all of a sudden?

“Congratulations, Y/n, you look marvelous as always."

Turning around, you met Chigiri’s longing eyes stare at you while holding a big bouquet of your favorite flowers, he was holding it tightly in secret, he just couldn’t help but blush when you smiled at him

Everyone was looking at the screen, watching as Chigiri starts to walk forward and hand you the flowers, what surprised them the most was him suddenly picking you up and kiss you so passionately you almost forgot that you and your lover are still obvious to everyone

His teammates whistled at the scene, but Chigiri didn’t care, he is in his own bubble with you

Breaking off the kiss, he smiled as you both press each other’s forehead, and when he heard that the match was about to start, he pecked your forehead with a light kiss and ruffled your hair before walking together with his team, not before saying

“Y/n, I’ll win this game for you.”

❪ isagi ❫

This boy… OML

Once he saw you at the stage, he was stunned, who was that beautiful angel dancing with the most mesmerizing aura? Oh my gosh its his lover, the love of his life!!!

Won’t waste a moment and quickly sprint towards the seat closest to your position, he will scream your name at the top of his lungs and literally combust and short-circuit when you notice and give him a cute expression

“Hey, miss! Do you see them? That’s my sweetheart!” “Mister, look at the one in the middle, they’re so beautiful right? I’m gonna marry them someday!"

Compliments you so much to the other people, he barely couldn’t focus on you because he knows that just one stare across your eyes and he knows his legs will feel like jelly with how much he loves you

If he has his phone with him, he will definitely take pictures and videos of you, you can even hear him screaming behind the camera, “Go, Y/n!” “Gah, you’re so cool!"

The time the performance ends, he runs back to the field and open his arms to welcome you, it wasn’t long before he attacks you with so much kisses, cupping your face gently yet giggles so much

The rush of adrenaline finally dies down and his face now becomes like a tomato, apologizing to you, but he was still caressing your cheek and holding your waist

“I’m the luckiest man in the world. I’m gonna go up to the field and play, okay? And I want you to know that… I will win, for you, for us.”

[gvtted-ratz]

List of Fics/Drabbles/Headcanons We Made (all links go to our ao3)

Works: 25

@gvtted-ratz is the main writer and owner of the ao3

@rppik is the proof-reader and co-writer

It is not our responsibility to baby/take care of what you take in. So if you don't like something, do not read/interact.

Fem aligning/identifying ppl dni with our mlm works (we may end up blocking you if you do).

Only registered users can view/comment on our works on AO3.

Remember to read the tags/ratings on the works. We use them for a reason, and we would like you to pay attention to them for your own safety/comfort. None are/will ever be Fem!Reader. GN, Male/Masc, Trans Male, Neogenders, and Nonbinary only.

Rules for requests are here!

Marvel:

• Single-Standing Marvel Fics - X Reader (unfinished)

• Single-Standing Marvel Ship Fics - Ships/OTPS (unfinished)

• Sharpshooter - Frank Castle/Matt Murdock/Male Reader (complete)

• Hitman - Frank Castle/Matt Murdock/Male Reader (discontinued)

Slashers:

• Arkin O'Brien/GN!Reader (complete)

• All Slasher Fics - GN+M!Reader (complete)

• Alive - Jason Voorhees/M!Reader (complete)

• Odd - Hannibal Lecter/M!Reader (discontinued)

• Freakiest Freak - Hannibal Lecter/Billy Lenz (complete)

• The Collection - The Collector/M!Reader (complete)

• Slasher Headcanons - GN+M!+Nonbinary Reader (complete)

• Two Messed Up Individuals - Harry Warden/Billy Lenz (complete)

• My Life's So Pitiful - Mark Hoffman/Adam Faulkner-Stanheight (complete)

Homestuck:

• Romantic Dreams - Karkat Vantas/Dave Strider (Drabble) (complete)

Marble Hornets:

• Eldritch Deity - it/Its!Deity!Reader (unfinished)

• Single-Standing MH Fics - X Reader (unfinished)

Dead Plate (game):

How Much Do You Hate? (It's Not Enough) - Rody Lamoree x Vincent Charbonneau (complete)

The Batman (2022):

• All Riddler Fics - The Riddler/Reader (unfinished)

The Price Of Flesh (game):

• To Stare Is To Buy - GN!Hacker!Reader Series (3/10 complete)

Boyfriend to Death (game):

BEWARE - Lawrence Oleander/M!Reader

Duskwood (game-everbyte):

• You’re Looking In The Wrong Place - Richy/M!Reader/Phil (unfinished/possible rewrite later)

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2:

• Single-Standing CODMW2 Fics - X Reader (unfinished)

That's Not My Neighbour (game):

TNMN Headcanons - X Reader (in progress)

Do You Have The Guts? - Hoon Man/GN!Doppleganger!Doorman!Reader (complete)

Uncanny Valley (scopophobia studios):

Correct Ending - John Doe/M!It/Its!Reader (complete)

Will be updated whenever a new work is made/ finished

Feel free to send in some requests. Or just brainstorm in our box. We are happy to listen and try out sometimes. If we're uncomfy with something, we'll tell you.

Edit: Usually, we use it/its if it’s self-indulgent, since we're a dude who uses them and we have never seen them in fics. We make sure to put that in the tags if those pronouns are used.

[lokiondisneyplus]

How Marvel officially added McDonalds to the MCU

On the very last day of filming on the first season of the Marvel Disney+ TV series Loki, executive producer Kevin Wright sat on the steps of The Citadel at the End of Time with costar Sophia Di Martino (Sylvie), and they started to chat about what might be next for her character. Not in any official script capacity, just as fans of the story they’d just finished filming. 

“This character had been on a decades-long, maybe centuries-long revenge mission, and the classic trope of those stories is that it’s all-consuming and she’s not thinking about what comes next,” says Wright. “Now she has this moment of opportunity, where is she going to go?”

Di Martino thought about it for a moment, and said, “She’d probably be pretty hungry.

There are more than 13,000 McDonald’s across the United States right here in 2023, and untold more across the multiverse. In a new campaign launched this week, the fast-feeder gave Marvel and Loki fans a peek at its own cameo in the series’ upcoming second season, set to launch on October 6.

“As Featured In” is the Golden Arches latest Famous Orders meal campaign and, instead of being tied to a particular artist or character, it celebrates all the instances in TV and movies that McDonald’s has appeared or been mentioned by characters: Friends, The Office, Seinfeld, Space Jam, Coming to America, and many, many more. But at the center of the campaign is Loki, one that hasn’t even happened yet, which is probably appropriate for a show that revolves around the multiverse and many different timelines. 

The meal itself—a choice of a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, or Big Mac, with medium fries, a Loki-branded Sweet ‘N’ Sour Sauce, and a medium soda—is, like the Famous Meals before it, nothing all that special, but that has always been the point. The genius of Famous Orders is that it drives customers to McDonald’s core menu items rather than a limited-time stunt. There is, of course, also a merch collaboration, this time with streetwear darling Palace Skateboards. The packaging features QR codes that customers can scan to get fun Loki content and buy pieces from the Palace collaboration.

Long after his conversation with Di Martino on the Citadel set steps, Wright and his team were developing season two, and they were finding it difficult to pick up a new Sylvie storyline. She had just killed He Who Remains in season one, where does she go? 

“When we stayed in the view of character, this woman who went on the run as a child, had been running through time, a fugitive of time, living in apocalypses, never being able to relax or slow down, the novelty of walking into a 1980s McDonald’s looked appealing,” say Wright. “You play a Little League game and go to McDonald’s. You go to a kid’s birthday party at McDonald’s. Someone like Sylvie would never have experienced that, and would be really taken by that.”

Marvel Studios has been a brand partnerships factory since Iron Man first ate a Whopper in 2008. Typically these things happen when there is a finished script, and producers go through it with the studio’s brand partnerships team to see where opportunities may be. A car chase, you say? What brand of car should we use? Maybe an Audi?

But this latest collaboration happened in reverse. A 1982 McDonald’s was specifically written into the script, so Wright approached Marvel’s partnerships people to talk to the brand about helping them out with the details. “I was worried that McDonald’s would think we wanted to do something ironic or make fun of them,” says Wright. “But we were selling an earnest story, a love letter to nostalgia through a character’s eyes who will see all of the novelty and joy of it.”

He needn’t have worried. “When I pitched it, our internal team said, ‘Uh, you realize we have a partnership with McDonald’s already, right? The fact we’re going to them wanting to do something makes it even better.”

Around that same time mid-last year, McDonald’s marketing execs were on a tour of sorts, meeting with content creators and creative teams at studios like Disney about the brand’s interest in participating in cultural moments beyond the typical product tie-in. That’s when the call from Marvel about Loki came in.

“We tend to embrace things like this,” says McDonald’s global chief marketing officer Morgan Flatley, “which we feel can be an opportunity for us to learn, especially because we felt that between Marvel and Loki, there was a real willingness to take their rabid fandom and mix it with a fan truth around McDonald’s and bring them together.”

The fan truth Flatley refers to is of McDonald’s as a congenial gathering place, a common experience for so many people. “Sylvie’s storyline perfectly aligned with how we think about our brand in terms of providing comfort and familiarity,” says Flatley. Familiarity is the key to the emotion of nostalgia and shelter that Wright was aiming for in the story.

That same familiarity is indicative of a brand so ubiquitous, it’s become a cultural touchpoint. Hence all the McDonald’s references in TV and movies. There’s a reason McDowell’s works as such a big bit in the classic comedy Coming to America. We all get it.

That all sounds great, but many brands get nervous or overprotective when they aren’t in full control of the creative. Not that long ago, McDonald’s was among them. The success of Famous Orders, allowing artists and partners like Cactus Plant Flea Market to play with its brand logos and characters, and the passionate response from fans—along with the sold-out merch and boosted sales—has given Flatley and the brand more confidence than ever in what she calls “sharing the pen.”

“I’ve become a big believer that if we lean into the right kind of creators in the right cultural phenomenon, and loosen some of our control on the brand, magic will happen,” says Flatley. “A few years ago, I don’t know that we would have felt as comfortable handing over key aspects of our brand to be part of a storyline like this, but today we’re really aware of the authenticity of our brand and the role that it can play.”

Wright is very familiar with the pitfalls of ill-conceived brand partnerships, and the impact they can have. “Wayne’s World was making fun of this stuff 30 years ago,” says Wright. “When it’s done poorly, it looks like business not driven by story. I don’t think that was ever a concern for us, mainly because we knew it was being driven by our story, and the more McDonald’s partnered with us, the better we were able to service the story.”

Multiversal marketing? Let’s see McDowell’s try that.

[peaky-shelby]

Define Me | Neymar x OC [6]

Summary: Famous Singer and Actress, Gabriella Hamill, travels to Qatar after being invited on live television by her favorite player, Lionel Messi. Despite the invitation, Ella tries to avoid the cameras and hide in plain side, wanting to enjoy the games without the chaos that comes with being in Public places and it all seems to be going well until she meets Neymar Jr. in this bad boy meets good girl story, the definition of good and bad is lost between the lines and redefined by the past and future.

« Previous chapter

Chapter 6: regretful by definition

Chapter summary: I'll let this one be a surprise 👀

Writer's note: as always please reblog and most importantly comment so i know y'all are still reading and i can write most chapters. There are probably only four left in the series btw.

Taglist: @xngelsau @sirensanction @reneyahh @thegrinch101 @geekwritersworld @chaotic-taco-collector-blog @blondedjoys @maneaterss @inthemoonlightblue @iluvneyney @woozarts @missamericana69 @bjoriis @marialikescherries @measimp @morganadpl @neymarloverxxx

Ask anyone in the business and they’d tell you that Peter Evans and Gabriella Hamill were the IT Couple of Hollywood. Long time friends before they were actually a thing and when they became a thing the internet went wild. Both at their high of their careers, with Peter taking over Marvel Studios and Lily with her own TV show and a fresh Oscar win. America’s sweetheart was dating Captain America himself and they seemed more in love than anyone and It was true they were. Paradise lasted for a year before it turned to the typical one-sided relationship in which both partners go on and on about their wants and their needs but neither of them seems to listen meanwhile the pressure of the media was always there, pressuring them to get married, to start a family to become a Hollywood royalty. Peter wanted that, she didn’t.

“Peter, I’ve told you before- I can’t do this!” she yelled, while making her way to the kitchen, trying to avoid him but he followed behind her like an angry dog.

“There’s difference between can’t and wont Ella!”

She turned aggressively back at him, pointing with her finger “I was honest with you from the start! I told you I didn’t want kids, not for a long time-“

“That was two fucking years ago, relationships evolve!”

“There has not been a day in this fucking relationship that you haven’t pressured me about it!” she said louder. “All your fucking jokes on interviews, talking about how much you want to be a dad, throwing shots at me whenever- it is in fact exhausting-“

Their fights would usually end nowhere good but at least most of them were at home, where no one else could hear them or record, meanwhile they’d play the happy couple on the carpet. Until it exploded in their face.

January 7, 2020 – One Day Before A Concert, Greece

“I’m tired of you pretending that we are fine, we are not fine Peter!” she screamed in between her sobs.

“Maybe it’s because you were fucking your fucking guitarist a moment ago-“ he mumbled, standing in front of the wide window from were he could see Acropolis. The hotel room was small, so small that it could easily turn into a war zone in just a few seconds. Gabriella watched him with her eyes wide open.

“You think I’d do that to you?” she asked, her voice cracking. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “no” she shook her head “You’re just looking for a reason to blame this on me, so you won’t blame yourself- its what you’ve always done!”

He turned to face her, his expression blank, his t shirt wrinkled. “It’s not my fault you can’t have any kids, it’s yours, isn’t it?”

To that she didn’t respond but if there was a sound to describe her heart breaking it would be the cold sigh that escaped her lips. She had never felt this pain in her chest before, the man she loved most in the world stabbing her with words she had only ever trusted him with. A part of her wanted to find an excuse, to blame it on the drinks he had before he came to her hotel room but another was sick of the gas lighting and the manipulation and being distracted like that.

“How dare you?” she whispered. He avoided her eyes, looked anywhere but her. He rubbed his face while she got closer. She hit him on the chest, slapped him repeatedly until he grabbed both of her hands and dropped them. He walked away from her, grabbed his jacket from the bed and put it on. Gabriella watched him leave and when he opened the door, she grabbed the nearest glass she could find and threw it at him on the hall, yelling every curse word she could think of. Everything else from that night was a blur, she knew people had seen her in the hallway in the hotel. She locked herself in her room, drank every bottle of alcohol she could find and woke up in the shower, while Maggie was throwing water in her face. Broken glasses and broken bottles covered the floors, which she must have stepped on and fallen on repeatedly because she had was bleeding from multiple scars. Next time she opened her eyes, she was in a hospital room, everyone wondering what the hell had happened to America’s sweetheart.

It wasn’t long before she fell back in her old habits, painkillers and sometimes heavy drugs. That addiction had started when she was 20. Only Maggie and Chris knew why, only Maggie kept the secret because on November 1st, just a few days before the election the whole world found out about the “Abortion of the America’s sweetheart”. She never thought she could be used as a political weapon, until she watched republicans yelling on TV about how the “democratic” actress and rolemodel would ruin their daughter’s future. She didn’t think she could ever love anyone after that until now.

But he didn’t kiss him. Although his lips hovered over hers for what felt like hours, she didn’t kiss him. She walked out of the car and walked back home, keeping her head down as she thought about kissing him and what it would mean. Ask her why she didn’t and she wouldn’t give you a straight answer because the truth is she didn’t know. She didn’t even wait for him to come after her like they did in movies and grab her in the most romantic way before putting his lips on hers. She was a lonely, scared, defensive idiot that couldn’t allow herself to fall in love with anyone and she really thought she had succeeded for the last 2 years in doing that. She really hadn’t fallen in love with anyone, anyone she’d kiss would be a fling, burnt out by noon and yet Neymar was a fire, and she hadn’t even kissed him yet.

She laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling. At some point she fell asleep and her mind started wandering in her darkest memories, reminding her of all the reasons she didn’t kiss him, all the reasons of her disappearance. When she woke up in the morning she had her coffee alone on the balcony, she didn’t even open her phone to see how the game with France ended. Maggie didn’t even try to begin a conversation; she knew better than that. And the whole day seemed to be going as silent and as that until she heard the doorbell and it was weird because every inch of her body wanted to be Neymar. She opened the door hopeful and was met by the kind smile of Antonella. Holding a bowl of Ice Cream on her hands. “Mama said it can freeze away any worry.” Gabriella couldn’t help but smile and let her in, leading her outside on the balcony where they both sat, eating from the same bowl.

“Did you see the game?” asked Antonella, taking a full bite of ice cream.

“No, I was too busy regretting all my life choices” she said, swallowing the ice cream.

“It’s fine the English seemed to be doing the same thing-“

Gabriella left down her spoon, surprised “England lost?”

“Hmm” nodded Antonella “France is on the semi finals.”

“France against Portugal then?”

“Oh no!” Antonella said quickly raising her finger “Morocco”

Now she was in real shock, she laughed, covering her mouth “Are you kidding?”

“Nope.” She smiled “Hakimi showed Ronaldo how it’s done.”

Gabriella shook her hand and reached for the phone on her pocket, finally opening it. All the texts that had been sent overnight while she had it shut down, reached her, beep after beep and she ignored them all until he name popped on her screen. Her expression fell, her eyes closing.

“Estas Bien?” Asked Antonella. Gabriella left her phone on the table and leaned back on her chair, letting out a deep huff “No, no I am not.” She said quickly “Think I’ll spent today regretting all my life choices as well.”

“You could do that.” Antonella reached for bowl, digging in her spoon until she was satisfied “or you could make some new choices.” She added, eating from her spoon.

Gabriella glanced up, raising her eyebrows “What is that a Spanish saying or something?”

“I mean I could say it in Spanish if it makes you feel better.”

Gabriella sat better on her chair, looking at Antonella like a kid. She hesitated but then- “Can you please?” she asked. She wanted to hear the language, she wanted to pretend it was her mother across from her for a while. Gabriella smiled and pulled the chair closer to Gabriella, reaching for her cheek. “puedes pensar en las elecciones pasadas o puedes ir y hacer nuevas y buenas elecciones.” She leaned closer as she said it and perhaps it was an automatic response but Gabriella threw herself on her and hugged her as tight as she could, hiding her face in her hair. “está bien chiquitín! ¡no te preocupes” whispered Antonella, rubbing her back while she sobbed in her arms. “Hey- hey, ¡Oye! Mírame.” She asked, and Gabriella obeyed, looking up to her. Antonella wiped her tears away quickly “Fue él quien me dijo que viniera a verte. Estaba muy preocupado.” Gabriella knew she was referring to Neymar. He's the one that called her to come, something along those lines. Antonella was quick to translate it to English “He called me and told me he was worried because you weren’t answering” Gabriella felt immediately bad, she sniffed back her sobs. “Leo had an advice too.”

“Leo knows about this?” she asked, feeling embarrassed.

“Of course, he does. He wanted to come but he had training.”

“What’s his advice then?”

“cuando tienes el balón, marcas. Sólo pasan unos segundos antes de que llegue alguien, te lo robe y te placen mientras lo haces.”

Gabriella smiled. She got a few words, something about scoring when you have the ball otherwise you will get tackled and broken before you even know it. “It’s always about football with him, isn’t?” she laughed in between her sobs. Antonella nodded, smiling.

“You learn to get used to it.” She said and hugged her again, holding her close to her chest.

NEYMAR’S APARTMENT – NIGHT

Outside it was raining. Inside Kylian Mbappe was making most of the noise, yelling at the screen whenever he’d miss a chance while playing fifa. “Hey! Wake up!” he yelled looking at Neymar, who was barely playing. Kylian paused the game, throwing the control on the couch and then grabbing a pillow and throwing it on his friend’s face.

“HEY!” Neymar yelled back at him “what the fuck?” he asked, holding on the pillow.

“You wanna focus on the game?”

“What does it matter, it’s just a game isn’t it?” he mumbled, throwing his controller on the table.

“Is this about brazil loosing?”

“What else would it be about?”

“I don’t know mystery girl aka Gabriella Hamill possibly.”

“No.” Neymar answered quickly, leaning back at the couch. He could feel Kylian staring and it was in fact getting annoying “Maybe it’s both.”

“Maybe.” Kylian mocked, laughing. Neymar got up and headed straight for the table with the drinks.

“I think I’ll leave tomorrow. Head back to brazil-“he said while pouring a drink for himself. Kylian watched him from over the couch, shifting his body to look at him.

“You just rented this apartment.”

“They’ll get their money. It’s fine. I wanna go back home…”

“Or get away” mumbled Kylian under his breath, sifting his body to look back at the screen.

“What does that mean?”

“Come on Ney. You always run away when things are hard, it’s your thing, either that or you get it out on the referees.” He laughed, Neymar got an ice cube from the bowl and threw it at him.

“HEY!” He yelled rubbing his head and looking back at Neymar who sat back to where he was sitting before, taking a sip from his fresh drink. “Didn’t even make me one?”

“Shut up.” Mumbled Neymar as a thunder sounded from outside the house. Just a few seconds later, the door bell rang, startling both of them. If someone had recorded their reaction it would have gone viral, Neymar jumped so abruptly he spilled his drink on the floor and Kylian cuddled himself on the corner of the couch. Kylian kicked Neymar.

“Don’t open the goddamn door. I’ve seen horror movies starting like that-“

Neymar took a few breaths to relax and completely ignored his friend. He got up and walked to the door. Looking at the camera screen, first. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He opened the door quickly, her small figure standing in front of him. Covered just by her hoodie which was completely wet by now, he stared down at her, now knowing how to act or what to do.

“hey.” She whispered, coughing.

“Hi.” He responded. The tension between them raising until-

“Bonjour!” jumped in Kylian, getting Gabriella’s attention who let out a small laugh when she saw him. She covered her mouth quickly.

“Bonjour Kylian.” She said from behind her hand. Neymar smiled at the way she was blushing.

“Are you going to invite her in dude?” he asked, reminding Neymar his manners. Neymar motioned for Ella to get in and closed the door. “Ms. Hamill, enchante” he said sitting up on the couch.

“Comment ca va Kylian?” she asked, while Neymar unzipped and took of her wet hoodie leaving her with just her t-shirt.

“Tu parle francais?” he asked surpised and got up to walk closer to her.

“I’ll get you another one.” Said Neymar quickly, running to his bedroom to get another hoodie. Meanwhile Kylian seemed to be enjoying the awkwardness.

“En peu.” She answered his question, narrowing her eyes “felicitations pour la victoire!” she added, smiling up at him. Neymar sprinted back to her with one of his hoodies, helping her wear it. After that he just kept staring at her and she at him, while Kylian was staring at both of them.

“Kylian.” Neymar addressed him without even looking at him.

“Hm?”

“Get the fuck out.”

“it’s raining.” He smiled, looking at Gabriella now.

“thankfully you’re not made out of sugar.” He answered quickly.

“What if I get hit by a thunder.”

“Kylian.” Repeated Neymar, this time more as a warning.

“Yes of course.” He nodded and ran to get his shoes, putting them on quickly and returning to where his was before. He took hold of Gabriella’s hand and kissed it, smirking at her. “You be good kids.” He added before leaving them alone.

When he shut the door both of them seemed to relax.

“You want a drink?” asked Neymar, moving to the table with the drinks.

“Yes please.” She asnwered, following behind him, slowly. All while he was pouring the drinks, she was staring at his hands, tracing the tattoos on his skin, the ones she could see, with her eyes. She was still staring when he turned back to her to hand her drink and she made sure to touch skin as he took the glass in her own hands. Her gaze slowly lifted to land on him. There was something about her eyes, he hadn’t noticed before, lust. The way she looked at him like she was promising a future, like she was begging for one. She got closer and Neymar actually felt his heard beating faster, he was anxious. He was never anxious. She let her glass down on the table, there was so much silence he heard the glass settling on the silver, like a warning. He took another sip while he watched her and he would have taken another one if she hadn’t reached for his glass, taking it away from him, leaving it next to hers while her eyes remained on his. Then she held on his shit, pulling him down to her.

“I stopped you last night.” She said in a whisper. He was stepped closer, his confidence returning, he gently rubbed his nose against hers. “Would you accept my apology?” she asked, their lips inches apart. He smirked.

“Depends. What do I get in return?”

She looked back and forth between his eyes and his lips, her face serious, sexy, her expression hypnotizing. “Me.”

He crashed his lips on hers without sparing even a second. Taking in her taste, her smell, everything she could give him in that moment and if you asked her, she’d tell you that she would give him anything, anything he wanted as long as he asked her for it. He lifted her up in his arms, almost like he wanted to make sure she was real and not just a fantasy. His kisses trailed down to her chin and then her neck as she leaned her head back, she he’d have better access, a soft moan escaping along with her breath. That was enough to give him all the confidence he needed for the whole night. “me” she said to him and he would take all of her as if her life depended on it. He carried her to his room, laid her on his bed as he took of his shirt, showing her every single tattoo all over his body. He hovered above her, balancing his arms on the bed. He started from her neck, leaving a mark on her skin as a reminder in the morning and then her ear, biting it slightly.

She grabbed his face in her hands, pulling him down to kiss her lips instead because that’s what she wanted most, to taste him, to keep kissing him until her lips were dry and she had no air left in her lungs. He pulled of his hoodie from her and just a second later, he took off her t-shirt, kissed her breast while she let fingers get lost in his curls. She reached under his chin, to make him look up at her. He smirked again, leaning his head down to her ear.

“Apology accepted.” He whispered and made sure that night he’d take exactly what she promised him… her.

dw the steamy part is not over, just wanted to let you look forward for the next chapter. As always please please comment, it's very important to keep my going. I love you all xx comment what you like so far. How do you think this will end? Will they just be happy for the next 4 chapters? Or is there another storm coming 👀👀

[moviemunchies]

I debated seeing this in theaters, as I don’t always go for this sort of humor, and I could easily dig up the movie later from the library. I wanted to do something this past weekend, though, so a trip to the movies it was!

So! Deadpool 3!

After fixing time to his liking after the events of Deadpool 2, Wade wants to join the Avengers in their timeline. They don’t want him though, and after that rejection, he spirals and finds himself in a dead end job. Until! The TVA grabs him, and an official named Paradox explains that they want to move him to the MCU, as without their Anchor Being, Wolverine, the 20th Century Fox X-Men timeline is scheduled for deletion. Wade decides he wants to save his timeline, so he hops dimensions to find another Wolverine. This only gets him and Logan shunted off into the Void, where the TVA puts discarded people. Now the two of them need to work together to find a way home and save their worlds.

This is a pretty reference heavy story; not only is this the third Deadpool movie, it’s also a send-off, in many ways, to the X-Men universe that 20th Century Fox had built before the company was bought by Disney. It doesn’t quite make peace with the universes, or introduce the X-Men to the MCU, though; for whatever reason, Marvel Studios has been content to tease bringing in the X-Men for years without making any concrete moves towards actually doing so. It does have Deadpool interacting with the Marvel Universe, though, so it’s at least a step in that direction.

You know what? This feels a bit like what DC’s The Flash was trying to be. That movie was pitched and hyped up as a way to reset the status quo of the DC movie universe, and it ended up being completely meaningless in the shuffle of things. None of its events mean anything, as none of the elements of it or changes made in it will be carried over into the reboot that Warner Brothers is doing. This movie isn’t a huge game-changer, either, though I don’t know if it can be, given the nature of Deadpool as a character. And it is a movie that at least feels like it means something to one character, Deadpool himself.

I’m not entirely sure if the mechanics of it all fit, to be honest. Paradox at the TVA heavily implies he knows that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is A Thing, which never seems to be the case in the season of Loki that I saw. And apparently you can use a Doctor Strange-style portals to travel between timelines, which I don’t think fits–Strange learning to travel between different timelines is something he only just learns, with great difficulty in his second film. Continuity nuts may have trouble with this one, then.

Hopping back to the references, though–I don’t know how I feel about it, to be honest. Because I’m someone who has gotten tired of how the MCU, and other media projects, have substituted actual storytelling for intertextuality and fanservice. The MCU will show you bits and pieces hinting at other heroes and villains, who may or may not appear in future films, or they’ll put in characters that are shout-outs to other things. The Illuminati in Multiverse of Madness come to mind: yeah, sure, they’re cool characters, but they don’t do anything other than get killed by Wanda.

This film has several characters appear that are from past Marvel movie serieses that have been canceled, and yeah, it’s nice to see, at the same time… isn’t that the same thing I’ve been complaining about? To be fair, Deadpool is a character who is built on making meta jokes and references, so if there’s a Marvel movie it fits with, it’s a Deadpool movie. And these characters actually do something, unlike the Illuminati. Mostly, they matter to both the narrative and the characters in it. It’s not the annoying way of writing it to say, “Well, they’re from another universe, so no one actually cares what happens to them.”

And what I found interesting, and uplifting about the movie, was how it made this point: a lot of these movies mattered. Yeah, they weren’t perfect, but hard work went into them, and they had their fans who didn’t forget them. The credits have a reel of behind-the-scenes footage from several non-MCU Marvel movies, including Fan4stic, to show that they haven’t been completely forgotten. And I find it a nice gesture.

I am a bit troubled by how disconnected this movie feels from the last two? Domino, Rusty, and Cable aren’t in this movie, and Colossus, Vanessa, and Warhead are barely in it. That latter one makes sense, because Wade is trying to get back to them and save them, though the exclusion of the former means we probably won’t see them again in movies? It’s a shame, because they’re great characters, and I’d hate them to be sacrificed because of the MCU’s weird canon-shuffling. It makes this feel a bit disconnected, and you could watch this movie without having watched previous Deadpool films at all, which is weird.

There’s a lot of funny stuff here, though. Again, I don’t usually go for this sort of humor, but that doesn’t mean it’s not hilarious at times. The montage of Wade going through Wolverines was quite fun, and their interactions–especially as this Logan’s really worn out and tired of life–provide many of the best scenes in the film. And since they both have healing factors, if they get into a fight, they can really go at it, so you never wonder why they haven’t stabbed/shot each other yet. They have! It didn’t stick.

Fight scenes in this movie tend to be good! I liked them. They’re not the best action Hollywood has produced lately, but they’re serviceable, and the final battle was great fun. The filmmakers utilize a cool long shot in that battle to make it memorable.

Paradox is a fun villain, too? A bureaucrat that thinks he’s so much better than the system he’s in, and is willing to do what he wants to prove it, even if it means going behind the backs of his superiors. He’s still overshadowed by Emma Corrin’s Cassandra Nova, though, who is an absolute joy to watch. She is an unhinged villain, and Corrin is clearly having a ball playing her on screen. 

Do you like Deadpool? You’ll probably like this movie, though if you’re a mega-fan I suspect you won’t like it as much as the previous films. If you’re a more casual fan, and if you’ve kept up with superhero movies for the past couple of decades, you’ll have a good time. If you’re a massive continuity nut, desperately hoping for the MCU to move forward in some way…I think this is probably not for you.

[the-fandom-crossroads]

Unity News Round Up!

So at the very end of last week sep 23 Unity backed off of SOME of the new policy. So my original post about what games will be affected is no longer accurate. Link I am making this post to summarize how things are now and kill a few rumors that are still floating around. So Please reblog this one instead of the older post!

What Unity changed back

Legacy downloads will no longer be counted towards the 200,000 downloads! So older games will not have their downloads counted towards the bill. The 200,001 download to happen after jan 1st 2024 is when the fee will activate.

Cult of the Lamb is NOT being removed from store fronts jan 1st. That was a joke tweet and now it is extremely untrue. But the studio is switching engines for cult of the lamb 2.

Also this fee is not being added to the 2023 version of unity or older nor the Personal plan version. (because a lawyer finally informed the execs that's illegal) It will ONLY affect the 2024 version of Unity. So as long as your game is coded on the 2023 ver and you don't update to 2024 when it comes out your game can be published in 2024 and still not have the fee!

HOLLOW KNIGHT SILKSONG IS SAFE! Seeing as 80 to 90% of it has been coded in the 23 version there's no reason they can't finish it in that version.

But if your game will take longer than a year to finish I still recommend switching engines now. It would not surprise me if in a few years they end service for 2023 or older versions to force people to update to the newer versions with the fee.

Here's a link to the open letter announcing the changes.

Mihoyo/Genshin's connection to all of this.

Mihoyo has not yet made a public statement about all of this. But any change to the international unity tos would not affect them. They are partnered with Unity China which is it's own separate company. Unity China would have to adopt the change for it to affect Mihoyo. Which they have not made any statement implying they would.

The reason Unity China is a separate company is because of China's strict foreign company laws. But convincing the Chinese government to allow even an off shoot of a foreign company to set up shop is hard. Nintendo is still fighting to get their foot in the door. The only reason Unity C got in was because Mihoyo backed them. Unity C owes Mihoyo it's very existence. They are in no position to make demands by changing the current contracts without warning.

There were a few rumors about Mihoyo hiring people to develop their own game engine and that is false. Mihoyo did post 5 or so job listings for folks specialized in game engine coding. But it was clearly for code optimization of their current engine Unity. If Mihoyo decided to start building their own engine from scratch it would require the hiring of at least 100 coders focusing solely on the new engine.

Genshin and Honkai will stay on the Unity Engine. When the 2024 engine comes out Mihoyo might upgrade to it. But they would have a customized contract with Unity China and it would not include the current fee plan.

What about all the other Live Service Mobile Games?

In theory their creators could keep using 2023 and not have to worry about the fees. But as I mentioned I can't see Unity keeping the 2023 version usable past 2025. All of these games will easily pass the download threshold as they are free to download and they will pass the profit cap too.

Pokemon Go, Pokemon Unite, Duel Links, Master Duel, Hearthstone, Fates, League of Legends Wild Rift, and Marvel Snap are all still getting updates and won't be closing anytime soon. I don't know how important updating to the newest version of Unity is for these development teams. But in theory all their parent companies can afford the increased fees, they just won't like it.

With Mihoyo off the table Pokemon GO is the big fish Unity execs are aiming for. It gets a couple million new downloads every year and goes well past the profits cap and definitely isn't made using Unity Personal nor is Nintendo/GameFreak allowing Unity ads to play on their mobile game (those are all ways to lower the bill). Pokemon Go can't be moved to a new engine and has too many current users for Nintendo to risk dropping the app entirely to start over with pokemon go 2 on a new engine.

Nintendo has not yet made a comment, but if they do cave and pay the fees. Then there's no way the middle tier games devs can argue against it. even if the couple 1,000s in fees hurts the indie dev more. Unity can point to the couple million Nintendo is forking over for all their mobile games and say "if they can do it why can't you?"

So keep an eye out for what Nintendo does because of all this.

What about Demos, Charity bundles, or game subscription downloads?

The Updated version described in the open letter mentions the game devs being responsible for recording the number of downloads. Most likely because there isn't a legal way for Unity to truly monitor it and so their numbers would never have been trustworthy. If devs are reporting the numbers it's very easy to say downloads before a certain date are only the demos or keep track of how many charity bundles are sold and not count those downloads towards their total.

For Subscription Services, Unity has started to intentionally keep the answer vague. The first time they said developers would pay it like the legacy downloads. In an interview before the correction letter above the Unity President said the subscription hosts would pay the fee. After the correction letter he clarified that he "misspoke". AKA Microsoft and Playstation said "hell no!" that's super illegal to charge us in a contract we never signed we'll sue you to oblivion if you do that. But Unity is being unclear on if that means developers are back to footing the bill for Game Pass downloads. X

To understand exactly how vague they are being. A Reddit FAQ says developers will not be responsible for the fee of game downloads from subscription services. While the site FAQ section answers the question "Are Downloads from Subscription Services required to pay the download fee?" with "Yes" and Nothing more.

TOS Changes and How bad it really is

So the reason we don't know who is paying in some of these situations is because the final version of the 2024 licensing contract is not yet finalized. All Unity did was announce this new fee would be in the 2024 contract. That is why they were able to so quickly go back on what they said. It's just back spacing on a google doc it's not redacting and adjusting an actual legal document yet.

That means this might not be the only change they put in the new contract. This is just the only one they bothered to mention. most likely to convince shareholders they were going to be boosting profits in 2024 even if 23's Q4 is really low.

There being more unmentioned changes is a bad thing because they removed the github extension that updated you on changes made to the TOS. They argue it was because "traffic" was too low. There reasoning for removing an archive of Legal documents was click through rate being too low. They also argued that the TOS was available the entire time on their website. But please understand that is only their current TOS. So being able to compare changes from past TOS's wouldn't be possible on that page. X

The Possibility of this all being a Stunt

One of the theories going around is that they knew this would go over badly to some extent. Not this bad, but still drop the stock value a bit. Enough that the company would look cheap enough for a buy out from another company. The possible buyer being Apple's Mobile Gaming division. So far Apple has not shown interest in buying them and no solid evidence of this happening on the back end has shown up.

But it is pretty well known that the CEO sold stocks the week before this news came out. Which is called insider trading and super illegal. Unfortunately it looks like he might get away with it, with the argument that the sale of those stocks was scheduled months before this announcement was planned.

But that doesn't change the fact that he's sold over 50,000 shares this year alone. Two other officials have sold 37,000 and 68,000 of their shares this year. It's very clear they see the writing on the wall and are trying to offload stocks before the final numbers for the year reach the shareholders and the value of shares plummets. X

If they truly believed in the chance of a buy out they wouldn't be offloading so much of their stock. Because when they are bought Apple would have to pay them based on the number of shares they have at the time of the buy out. So they don't believe they'll be bought any time soon but they do believe the value of Unity stocks are only going to continue to go down.

Even without this stunt the end of Q4 report would have shown losses and caused the stock value to drop. This was most likely their last ditch attempt to show their shareholders something that implied the possibility of future profits.

That's the important thing to remember. They didn't care about how the devs reacted. They knew there were going to be complaints but they didn't care because they saw how much money they could milk if they charged every game to ever use unity for every download of that game. And they knew that would show profitability and increase the value of the company. They only back peddled when it became clear the news was affecting the stock more than anticipated.

Even then the .20 per download was never removed they just pushed back the cap and the downloads counted in hopes that would shut protests down enough for the stock value to go back up. as of Sep 29 their stock value has still not recovered.

Conclusion

Don't trust Unity. Anything they say now is just PR to try in get the stock value to go back up. They did pull back on some of the worst parts of the original agreement and older and most indie games are now safe. But Mobile F2P games and Game subscription games are still at risk of getting hit with the bill. They have also kept things vague enough to allow them to change things in the future once the dust has settled.

So I would heavily encourage those in the early stages of their games development to look for a new engine. If you have any Unity Stocks and haven't already sold them for whatever reason I'd find the time to start selling them. Unity might recover for a bit but they are not going to last long with business decisions like this and even the board members know that.

Oh wow this got so long I am so sorry. But It's all important information and I tried to link to actual articles as much as I could. As of the end of September this information is as accurate as it can be. Nothing major should come up until Unity announces the finalized TOS rewrite or Nintendo comments on the Pokemon Go fees.

PLEASE reblog this one if you reblogged my initial post about Unity Games that were at risk. It's important for people to know those games are no longer at risk of being removed from store fronts. Oh and feel free to reblog with a summarized version.

[wonderlandmind4]

i've returned to talk about daredevil AHA, i swear to fucking god i WILL SUE I WILL SUE FUCKING KEVIN FIEGE I WILL SUE THE WRITERS omg i just needed foggy and Karen back AND THIS IS WHAT I GET OMG IM NOT BELIEVING IT FOR A SECOND BRUH

Hi friend!! I’ve missed you.

Okay so. I am holding onto hope that:

1- The first half of the season (if that rumor of the first part being episode 1-9 are true) will be when the blip happened and during the blip, which would give the excuse and reason for Foggy and Karen NOT being there. It’s now seeming like Matt never got snapped away- which I would LOVE to see how they do that with his senses cuz that shit would be so so tragic in Matt’s pov having no idea what’s happening and nothing he can do to do stop it- so Matt doesn’t get snapped, but Karen and Foggy do- so their firm….is also gone. It would be too painful for Matt to continue that business without them.

Due to these reasons and pain and guilt and PAIN and Matt, because he’s Matt, will somehow blame himself for not helping in a battle he had no idea was happening and stopping it. He may go into a depression again, maybe this is where and when he meets Kirsten or something. But during the 5 years of the blip, he decides to work for/with another firm, or start a new one again.

2- Again if the rumor is true and the second part of the season is episodes 10-18, maybe that’s when End Game happens and everyone comes back. (I don’t think Born Again was even close to finising that first half of filming before the WGA Strike so reaaalllyyy, maybe there’s wiggle room here once selfish studios pay writers and actors what they deserve and more and filing starts again whenever that will be)

But my theory and some other fans theories, that the second part will be AFTER the Blip, and they can do a little time jump if they want or flashbacks or something idk. Let’s not forget in She-Hulk Matt actually looked and seemed happy, in a good place, at times lighthearted and having fun and THE SAME WITTY CHARMING ASS (i say fondly) HE IS (that didn’t change) with Jen and he even says “we” talking about his firm and Matt has always kinda been against bigger/giant law firms because most of the lawyers that work at those places tend to be more corrupt and not have the clients best interests at heart. Maybe if he joined a bigger firm during the blip there would be some conflict there.

And after, this would be A great reason and opportunity to bring back Foggy and Karen and could potentially start up their business again, or at least get Foggy to join the firm, OR they have a little branch under the bigger firm. The point is, they could use the second part of the season to bring back Nelson and Page.

And Matt’s words to Jen sounds more like he has Foggy back in his life and he’s still in a pretty good place. You don’t think Foggy would get an absolute kick out of Matt having a one night stand with She-Hulk!? He’s be so proud and cracking joke’s because “she literally spanked your ass twice” 😂 (Kevin if you’re reading this…)

3- After seeing Charlie Cox at two cons and meeting him twice, I firmly and 100% believe he has somewhat of a voice in some decisions for Born Again. The studio KNOWS this show or “reboot” or continuation wouldn’t be possible or the same without Charlie. Kevin knew that. And the reaction Charlie/Matt got in NHW PROVED how much the entire fandom loves him as Daredevil. So, I feel like his input and opinions are valued. Which makes me hopefully guess/theorize that Charlie has at least spoken to someone about bringing back Elden and Deborah. And I know Vincent really loved Deborah as Karen too, and I feel like he would also have a say because you just can’t change him as Fisk either. Same with Jon as the Punisher.

So again, I am holding out for being hopeful and not truly believing anything until it’s in the actual episodes I watch. It’s marvel, we have to remember that, they lie and gaslight fans all the time and try to convince the fans what’s not true and what is. So a twitter account from “sources” is a little harder to believe.

I have nothing against Deborah Ann-Woll or her as Karen because I actually loved Karen. But 99% of the heart in Daredevil was Foggy and his relationship with Matt. To not have AT LEAST Foggy be in the show at some point is utterly ridiculous. Matt’s not suddenly going to have a new best friend who truly gets and understands every single side of him and knows his past and martyr tendencies like Foggy. Matt isn’t just gonna straight up trust others and tell them he’s also Daredevil (Jen literally just ripped his mask off but he had no intention of telling her know)

And honestly, just as no one else but Charlie Cox could play and be Matt/Daredevil, no one else but Elden Henson can be and play Foggy. I just don’t think that amazing heart of Foggy’s can be the same without Elden.

Wow that was long and it’s 3:45am so I’ll step off now.

[cookieblobber]

The Strength of Knuckles in Sonic Frontiers

After seeing how so much better the writing and characterization has been through Amy, it only leads one to wonder:

What are they gonna do with Tails and Knuckles?

By now you’ve probably already gotten the idea of what’s the issue with Knuckles. Once a fascinating, unique character who was the only one left in his species and isn’t very familiar or accustomed to the rest of the world due to the burden he has to carry of protecting the Master Emerald/Angel Island full of his ancestors’ history, to a big goober who talks about how much he is so strong and can do anything, yet gets easily shoved aside for comic relief (ala Gens and Lost World; also I don’t wanna really bring up Boom Knuckles since it is a whole different interpretation of the character and as we all know, he can be pretty funny).

Imo he was probably at his worst in Forces. Sure the idea of him leading the resistance makes sense since you know, ancestors being warriors and all, but…the motherfucker KILLED 80% of his troops doing “Operation Big Wave” …and it’s just kinda brushed aside too??? Like this isn’t even brought up as like a devastating emotional scene where Knuckles realizes he fucked up and nearly wiped out a whole army, or shows the whole resistance is losing hope or anything, it’s just a random text box told by Amy during a level…but we can’t focus on that as we have an Infinite fight with the Avatar coming up!

Ok ok I’m straying off topic; Frontiers Knuckles is beautifully written and the story takes his shit with the severity it needs

———————

Knuckles

was surprisingly given his own little animated short before the game came out, acting as a prologue (there was also a little comic featuring what the rest of the cast was doing before the events of the game but, it’s nothing noteworthy. Just kinda shows how they got interested into heading to Starfall Islands). After watching the little cartoon….

That was some of the best animated Sonic content I’ve ever seen.

The animated short establishes Knuckles’ character and background so fucking marvelously. A lot of past animated shorts from the official Sonic YouTube channel/Powerhouse Studios usually went for more slice of life, silly and cartoony stuff (which is fine and dandy, I like them too), so it was surprising how they went for a more serious and quiet route with this short.

We see Knuckles finally back guarding the Emerald again. He ponders once again about his ancestors, monologues about preferring to do things on his own while doing his job guarding the Master Emerald. He begins though to question about where did the emeralds even come from, why is it so important for him to guard what is essentially a burden to him? Tikal’s light shows up and guides him to somewhere through Sky Sanctuary, and along the way we see such beautiful animation of him gliding around (pretty sure this is the first time in 2D animation he’s shown to glide) and helping out Chao that inhabit the area.

After some exploring, Knuckles finds a Chao trying to retrieve a stone mask (eerily appearing to be the face of a Koco) buried under a pile of rocks. He smashes the pile, gives the mask, but notices a teal green gear on the ground obviously ripping off Pokémon Mystery Dungeon and a whole newly opened ruin…older than anything on Angel Island. At the end of it is presumably a Cyber Space structure, with a gear slot that he puts the gear in, transporting him to what, honestly seemed like Chaos Island; enemies show up, and a massive beatdown happens, showing just how fucking amazing Powerhouse Animation Studios’ can be and only blue balling every fan watching from the idea of a 2D animated Sonic tv show to happen one day.

Sage though shows up with Asura and defeats Knuckles. We then see Knuckles contained in Ares Island, no way to come out on his own. He begins to monologue again

“I don’t need anyone to get by…

“but sometimes…”

———————

In just 6 minutes, Knuckles has been redeemed. Yes he’s a bit clumsy, he can be hotheaded, but it’s clear he has his reasons for his flaws than just being the silly character who is that way for the sake of jokes. The red echidna is capable of having more serious thoughts, thinking about his family and his current position, how unfortunate things are. And regardless, it’s shown he really can do things on his own, he’s able to run the island by himself and be a strong presence any creature that lives on the island can rely on. He’s shown to be capable of putting up a good fight and taking out a whole group of enemies, he’s finally showing to be more than just all talk no game; out of all of the friends in Sonic’s group, he’s the one we’ve wanted to see again for so damn long considering his first ever introduction was being Sonic’s main rival who runs this floating mysterious land. Sonic works best with his legs, Knuckles works best with his fists.

I mean the motherfucker PUNCHED the Super out of Sonic, I think it’s reasonable people would have their expectations of the character to be somewhat high.

And coupled with the stellar animation and choreography, it’s some of the best 6 minutes for any Sonic fan to enjoy and revive their appreciation for the franchise, reminding them why they’re invested in it all these years later with all of it’s ups and downs.

———————

Sonic crash lands into the desert-y Ares Island, and see he has to hunt down the emeralds once again

Unrelated, but something I’ve noticed is that mostly each island in this game kinda acts like…it’s own Sonic game? If that makes sense???

Like, you look back on the classic games, specifically Sonic 3, right. You find a character and get a gist of their personality, throughout the new island you’ve landed on however, you go through levels and obstacles, entering special stages to retrieve emeralds, collect all 7 to take down the final massive boss in this epic Super Sonic showdown.

What do you do in an island in Sonic Frontiers: You find a character, get a gist of their personality, throughout the new island you’ve landed on however, you go through random separated obstacles, enter special stages Cyber Space portals to retrieve keys to unvault emeralds, collect all 7 to take down what many consider to be on par to a final massive boss in this epic Super Sonic showdown.

Specifically in Ares Island, you’re shooting back the missiles the boss is firing to be able to weaken and attack them…hmmmmmmmmm

Fascinating parallels if I do say so myself.

Sonic immediately starts investigating and to his surprise, Knuckles is trapped here. Freeing him starts some dialogue, and once again Ian Flynn showing off his skills and giving us quite possibly some of the best interactions between the two characters the franchise has ever seen. Sonic usually keeps teasing Knuckles and making jokes at him to of course get a reaction out of him; both are at bit of playful odds with each other, like genuine bros just handing out teasing each other and having a good time and bantering, and it’s just so wholesome to watch. Admittedly, probably cliche to say at this point but, some moments lead to slight homo energy, especially with how Sonic keeps looking at him 💀

Sega isn’t making things any less subtle 🫢🫢🫢

————————

What I like the most about Knuckles’ writing here is that he barely boasts about how strong he is an all akin to Generations and Lost World. In Gens and LW, it’s usually really played up where he says, “I could’ve done better, you know!” but then something overly comical happens to him that might make you think he’s just talking to look good and make you eye roll, that he’s a bit of a fraud overhyping himself up. Here in Frontiers: he definitely still tries to keep up a tough demeanor, but it’s not immediately met with him looking weak and powerless. Around the end of the boss fight, he claims about Super Knuckles could’ve done better, but it’s obviously just bantering with Sonic like how they’ve been doing throughout the whole story. And even then, it’s already been shown he really is capable of putting up a fight, shown in the prologue video and a scene in this game where he was about to fight Sage for attacking Sonic. There’s a level of respect still done to the character instead of being there for the sake of comic relief.

Like Amy, he’s helping his own Koco, that being soldiers of some sort of army. It turns out through a sort of interactive flashback, the Ancients that inhabited the islands had created massive walls of defenses of some kind. Unfortunately, some random powerful being immediately wiped it all out in an instant. This leads to Knuckles approaching the Koco that brought him to these defenses and noticed it’s still, signifying that the Ancients were killed in that sudden attack (since the ancients’ souls seem to be related to the Koco). A moment of silence is given for the fallen Koco, who’s soul has been now laid to rest.

Later, we see Knuckles trying to round up an army of Koco soldiers, cowering in fear of what happened to one of then, to head to their bunkers to protect themselves. Essentially it’s just Knuckles playing along to help the souls of the ancients within the Kocos be laid to rest as well. Sonic helps out, and in the middle of it, Knuckles notices the ruins around them seem similar to the ones on Angel Island, theorizing if the Ancients that have survived whatever attack on Starfall Islands have once inhabited Angel Island. It clearly resonates with him as it shows there could be a more noticeable connection between his people and the Ancients than he thinks (after all the ancients seem to look a lot like Chaos, the water god who protected the Master Emerald).

Suddenly, giant towers launch an attack on the ruins, and in this case, Knuckles is unable to fight due to his cyber form (he could only do so with Sage as she was able to interact with whatever happens in Cyber Space and Starfall Islands). He starts to worry about another sudden attack ruining the Ancients home, so it’s up to Sonic to stop it.

This helps put the rest of the Koco army finally to rest as whatever unfinished business they had has finally been settled.

———————

After everything is settled, Knuckles is seen sitting down, pondering again. The scene is silent, gloomy, and gentle. Sonic approaches him, attempts to say something but, realizes he’d just ruin his little moment thinking alone.

With him being alone with Sonic, he shows a rare moment of vulnerability: a fear of being alone. Knuckles starts to monologue about his ancestors and what they’ve done, and the consequences of their actions; being the last of his species. Seeing in the flashback how the Ancients were wiped out by an unknown powerful force, and seeing them be attacked at random by another unknown force, it reminded him of his own generational trauma.

Sonic, as optimistic and cheerful as always, reminds him he may be the only echidna, but it doesn’t mean he’s the only living person, as he got other people. Knuckles admits he’s into Sonic’s freedom lifestyle, which Sonic encourages him to pursue as well, of course once things are back to normal.

———————

As mentioned in my essay on Amy Rose, it’s gentle, quiet moments like these that sell the unique tone of Frontiers. Moments like these showcase why even after all these years later, no matter how these characters are made out to be in all these stories, there’s a good reason to be in love with them and invested with their personalities and goals. This franchise may be all about running around and going fast, but it doesn’t hurt to take a step back and sit down; these moments we haven’t seen since I guess, Sonic Unleashed, and moments that could’ve benefited games like Sonic Forces.

It’s so nice to just have characters taking a moment to talk things out and show appreciation for one another. It’s such a breath of fresh air to see them show to be more than just background characters that tag along Sonic; they have their own goals and wants in life. And at the time of me writing all of this, it makes me more excited to see what Update 3 does to these characters.

———————

Knuckles is a very special character, where the fact he has this very specific burden he has to put up with that no one he knows might ever be able to relate to or fully understand…oddly makes him relatable. We all have some problem in our lives that may feel like no one else will ever get: certain trauma, mental issues, just things that we just have to accept will be a part of us for the rest of our lives whether we like it or not. Said problem may never have a proper solution or a way out, it’s the unfortunate truth.

But, like Sonic, there will always be people around to keep you on your feet and show you why you should always put up with said issues and do what’s right. They may not fully know what’s going on, but they will always try to help you find a work around to your problems and other ways to enjoy life regardless of the issues that may hold you back.

You may be the only one who may go through a certain dilemma, but you’re not the only one in the world who can help you deal with it. There’s always people out in the world to turn to when times get tough.

[agentnico]

Loki - Season 2 (2023) Review

Ke Huy Quan is literally jumping from multiverse to multiverse. At this rate he should only be allowed to appear in projects about the multiverse, as one can never get enough of hearing him fast-talk sci-fi mumbo jumbo exposition. Ke Huy Quan - never change your wonderful weird self.

Plot: Season 2 of Loki follows the death of He Who Remains, with Loki desperately trying to figure out how to keep the multiverse from unraveling into another war and hold the TVA together.

I hear that the new The Marvels film is a turd. In fact, as of late all that Marvel has been doing is turd after turd, as if the entire studio had suffered a collective food poisoning and is now regurgitating and also releasing crap out of their bowels. Since Endgame they have really struggled, with of course some exceptions such as WandaVision, No Way Home, and Guardians Vol. 3 sticking the landing, but those are far few amongst a plethora of oversaturated dull superhero content. In this day it's all about quantity over quality, and the cracks are finally beginning to show with the negative critical response and diminishing box office returns.

So I am more than surprised to reveal that the new season of Loki that has just completed its run on Disney+ is actually really good. Great characters, solid storytelling, exciting twists and turns, well-done visual effects (another aspect lacking in other recent MCU projects), an exhilarating music score, and great production design - it's all there. I read somewhere that season 2 of Loki is the first MCU project to not undergo any reshoots, and it shows. The writers evidently had a solid plan from the beginning and stuck to it, and thus the results show. What a plan it must have been. I can only imagine what kind of Charlie Day-level board of post-it notes and interwoven lines they would have had to organize the time-dealing narrative. The writers really manage to deal with a big-scale multiversal time-traveling scope, yet at the same time succeed at keeping things grounded by focusing on the character development of its central cast.

I had mixed feelings about the first season of Loki. I enjoyed some ideas, the Tom Hiddleston/Owen Wilson pairing was enjoyable and the visual palette stood out. But there was plenty of useless filler, the character of Sylvie annoyed me to no end, and it only truly found its footing in the last couple of episodes. Oh, and Richard E. Grant's cameo was great, but when has Withnail not been good?? In comparison though Season 2 feels like a full-fledged pay-off to the events of the first season. So much so that it never really felt like any episodes had unnecessary junk in them. Each episode was filled with lots of stuff going on, with the show moving at a very fast pace. I'd say the first half of the season takes some time getting into, so the showrunners could have patched it up more, but the second half definitely balances it out. The production design also seems to have improved this season. The set pieces were all very well designed, and the detail put into the look of the TVA felt like this show had the budget of an HBO Max Game of Thrones-type series.

The cast are all great. Luckily there is less of Sylvie (no offense to the actress) and that weird Loki-to-Loki romance subplot is largely ignored thank the heavens. Also the writers must have taken on the feedback from the previous season and have now given us more buddy time between Hiddleston's Loki and Owen Wilson's Mobius. Those two together are hilarious, and share some of the best moments this season. Tara Strong gets more chance to lean into the creepy element as the eerily cheerful voice of Miss Minutes. Ke Huy Quan and Eugene Cordero manage to deliver the scientific exposition in an entertaining and breezy way, even if what they re saying doesn't always make sense, but like who's looking for logic in the MCU? Gugu Mbatha-Raw returns as Renslayer, and honestly, the season could have done without her. The writers seem to desperately want to include her, but her character has hardly anything to do. Rafael Casal as a rogue TVA agent also didn't work for me. The chap's acting was way too over the top and silly.

Naturally one must touch upon the Majors problem that Marvel is facing. They are really leaning into Kang as the Big Bad with more set-up than Thanos has ever had, yet the actor playing him is in some serious legal trouble. So will be interesting to see how Marvel gets out of that one should the court find Jonathan Majors guilty of the accusations, but nevertheless let's talk about Kang in this show. The essence of Kang is felt throughout the entire season, and naturally, some variants are involved. Primarily the character of Victor Timely, and look, I'm hearing many rave about Majors' performance as Kang but I'm not buying it. As Timely he's this blubbering awkward scientist who comes off way too over-the-top. At the end of the season Timely does find his groove and I actually began liking him, but as a Kang variant, he's not threatening at all. In Ant-Man as the Conqueror, he is just this macho man with a big mouth but not much else to him. And then all those variants in the Quantumania credits scene where they're all dressed up as if they are part of the circus, and then many of them screaming like apes.....like c'mon. He's supposed to be the Big Bad, but whatever Majors and the writers are doing, I don't get it. Except when it comes to the Loki season 2 finale...

So the finale of Loki season 2 is easily some of the best television work Marvel has done, at least in regards to the Disney+ shows. It brings not only the events of the entire Loki show to a satisfying close with a sense of finality that hasn't been felt since Avengers: Endgame, but also gives Tom Hiddleston's character such an incredible arc, from seeing how he started out back in the first Thor film, and how his intentions and persona have changed, yet the irony of life still plays its part and where his character ends up at the end of season 2 of Loki was really awesome. In fact, it's such perfect closure to his character that I don't believe we need to see him again. I get that the Marvel machine would naturally want to bring him back down the line, however… I don’t think it should happen. As much as I do love Tom Hiddleston as Loki, I think sometimes things need actual endings. And it was such a fitting yet tragic arc for Loki that I think adding anything else to the character, whether a multiversal variant or what have you, would only cheapen what they accomplished last night. As for the aforementioned comment about Kang, in this finale episode was the first time where we actually witnessed a Kang variant have some real power that could have big ramifications. Not the kind of cheap physical macho stuff they had in Quantumania - nope. In the Loki season 2 finale his power was more of knowledge and skill, which depending on how they take it from here could be really interesting.

Loki season 2 is a visual and narrative treat for any sci-fi time-travel pop culture fan and is very much a reminder that when the time and creative effort are put into a project, Marvel still has the potential to deliver. It is a shame then that these occurrences are happening less and less, but nonetheless, this show is worth celebrating. Also, we finally got to see Owen Wilson's Mobius on a jet-ski! That is what I call fan service done well!

Overall score: 7/10

Season finale score: 8/10

[felassan]

Some more snippets of interest and insight from Mark Darrah, from an older Mark Darrah on Games YouTube video where he was livestreaming playing Dragon Age: Origins some months ago -

Chat asked why Marvel's Avengers and Fallout 76 are still being supported yet Anthem isn't. Mark replied, "Two reasons, but they're basically the same reason. EA is definitely not something that likes to support things that they consider to be failures. But the other reason, which is kind've the same thing, is that because BioWare has so much going on, there is a tendency, there's always a lot of pressure to move people onto the biggest need, and Anthem is not the biggest need. If BioWare was allowed to add fifty to sixty people that wouldn't be the case, well at least it wouldn't be in the short-term, but it isn't because EA is very cost resistant, resistant to spending costs, so it's really about corporate structure and culture than anything else. If you look at something like Battlefield or other games at EA that have failed and then recovered, it's usually because the studio that made them literally had nothing else going on so the only option was to let them fix it or to basically shut the studio down. In the case of BioWare, there's always something else they could be working on and as a result, when things don't go as well people tend to get moved onto those other things. That's essentially what happened with Mass Effect: Andromeda as well, though in the case of ME:A there was also pressure from Jade Raymond's studio to steal all those people, which is what ended up happening. So it's really about the approach to these things at a corporate level."

Chat asked "Can you make a video about development hell and how games with long production cycles like Dragon Age Origins avoid that?". Mark replied "The short answer to how do games avoid development hell long production cycles is basically that they don't. It's probably worth a video to talk about what happens in the middle of long projects, but the short answer is what often happens is that they spend some period of their time kind've going in a big circle because the time is so long that projects can get lost. DA:O added and took out multiplayer three different times. Anthem spent a ton of time not being able to admit that it was making Destiny. ME1 spent a ton of time trying to figure out what it wanted its combat to feel like".

Chat asked "What do you feel about the revival of the Griffons?". Mark said "I think it's going to be hard to pay griffons off in gameplay but I'm glad that they are back, it's an interesting addition".

Chat asked "Did you know about the Netflix show? If not what are your thoughts?" Mark replied "I did know about the Netflix show so I'm not going to comment on it at this time, I'll wait and see what it looks like. It's been in the works for a while" [note: this video is from before Absolution released]

On the reason why Dragon Age has so many multimedia things e.g. books, comics, compared to other IPs: "I mean Witcher has tons. BioWare actually has a dedicated business development group which looks for opportunities to make money with the IP".

[source]

He also talked more generally about DA:O and the franchise and things in general. These bits are collected under a cut due to length -

[on the lyrium spirits/ghosts that provide the riddles during the Gauntlet] Chat asked "I've never been sure if these spirits are accurate memories of these people, or just how the masses believe them to be. I presume that's deliberate?". Mark said "Yes, definitely the accuracy of these memories is definitely up for debate and that is on purpose. Definitely DA:O, Dragon Age in general is filled with the unreliable narrator"

If you go the Gauntlet with no party members, the game gives you a bunch of indestructible ash wraiths instead. "It's super weird"

Chat asked "Is there an answer to the question of what the Ashes and this whole [thing] are really about, or is it left deliberately unknowable?". Mark said "It's left unknowable, I don't think that the Ashes is ever discussed. It doesn't really fit in with the magic of the rest of the setting does it?"

"Definitely there's a lot of 'Andraste taking over old elven temples' throughout the world"

The Queen of the Blackmarsh "was definitely combat design firing on all cylinders"

Chat commented "I noticed recently that many character models in BioWare games have a 'collar' on clothes even when it doesn't otherwise fit with what they're wearing. Is there a reason for that?". Mark said "The collar is probably to cover a neck seam. That's usually why there's something weird going on with the head"

Chat commented "I still don't know how I feel about the 'every class gets their version of lock pick' in DA:I". Mark replied "The reason for the every class gets their own lock pick thing in DA:I is, the problem is that what you usually end up with is rogues get a bunch of stuff to do outside combat and nobody else does, so the goal was to try to get a variety of activities for different classes. I don't know that it was super effective because I don't think that it was used widely enough, but that was the thinking. 'It's useful to have a mage along because a mage will let you get into these spots, it's useful to have a warrior along because they can lift heavy things and reach jars on high shelves'. But I think there's a lot of established game design around locked doors and locked chests, and I think the things in DA:I, people just weren't used to introducing them"

"I think the reason why you can't recruit anyone into the Wardens in DA:O is you don't know how to do that and Alistair doesn't either I guess. But there are a couple of opportunities in DA:O where you could sort've imagine, 'hey, we could use some more of us'." Chat commented that it's also a blood magic ritual and Mark said "It is totally, I mean it is fairly obviously blood magic, but yes it is not really ever [addressed]"

"Jade Empire had gay romances, that's probably the first mainstream game that had them"

Chat commented on the difficulty spikes in DA:O being a bit random at times. Mark said "There's only limited auto-balancing in DA:O so things are triggering on certain assumptions and those assumptions are definitely not always being met." Chat mentioned character movement speed and hardware engine speed at the time and Mark replied "Speed is most likely a limitation"

"I don't know if inventory limits are worth it. It's an interesting question. I get the idea but, I don't think everyone loves inventory management. It's been done better but I don't know that it's ever been done good. Especially for stuff like this where it's just, y'know, punishing you for not having sold stuff. I think having a weight limit on what you can equip, maybe, because then it's more you just can't carry around everything and the kitchen sink, but punishing me and my treasure-gathering for not having bought the extra backpack, kinda stupid, honestly. From Baldur's Gate 1 to modern games, inventory is pretty similar"

Chat asked "Were the Warden Colors (from DAII on) not decided on in DA:O? The mods prove the engine can handle the graphics". Mark replied "The art direction in DA:O is a little loose. So it's really about art direction in future games, it's not about technology, I mean you have to remember that this thing was supposed to run on a much crappier console, but yeah it's really more about art direction than anything else. DAII is where the art direction starts to establish a look for Dragon Age"

"Infinite healing is problematic. But yeah toxicity works, some other form of limiting works, but if you can heal infinitely then every single combat needs to be able to threaten you all on its own which is a problem"

Chat asked "How do Sha-Brytol and Golems function in terms of Titan connection? They're identical minus the rocks right? Instead of rocks Sha-Brytol are bound to armour?" Mark replied, "I don't know lore-wise the difference, I mean it's possible that golems are sort've a broken construction in comparison, the lost lore kinda thing"

Chat commented "I asked Mike [Laidlaw] about the golems and I got the impression that there was some sort of implementation difficulty that he couldn't easily explain". Mark said "I do think there was an ask for golems for DA:I from an art perspective and we didn't have the model, the time for the model, so that's part of it for sure". Chat mentioned that we fight golems in The Descent. Mark said "If so they were created after the fact, I don't really remember though"

Shale is small for a golem so they can walk through doors in gameplay. That's why they are the size they are

Chat said "I'd be curious to know how the global metrics break down, what the most popular race and class people choose is. I imagine BioWare has those numbers." Mark said, "I don't know if we have numbers on DA:O because our telemetry was so bad, but yeah, humans are usually the most popular. Dwarf is a pretty niche one but people who play dwarves pretty much always play dwarves. Elf is probably the second most popular. I think human is just sort've the choice that people who don't understand fantasy well, so it's also I would say often the one that's often chosen by people who are less engaged in the game. I'm not saying everyone who plays human is doing so because they don't want to engage n the system, not to deride that, but it includes that group as well". Chat commented, "The order was Human > Elf > Qunari > Dwarf. Dwarf was the least played race in DA:I". Mark replied "Yeah, I think that's probably right. Dwarf is sort've a 10 percent sort of thing. It's got a very strong group that play it any opportunity they can ever have but it doesn't get a lot of play otherwise"

[source]

(pls note that in places there is a bit of paraphrasing of the info, the best source is always the primary source with full quotes in their original context)

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

Hey, this is thread I found that related to the Matt Walsh stuff

https://x.com/sophianarwitz/status/1768351030536708158?s=46

I been thinking about how a resonate with larger than life characters like iron man and Damian more than miles morales, because of the internal issues I got (especially with how Tony stories show how your mental illness can make you unintentionally fuck up stuff worse)

But like the sbi thing, I think one of them basically said if you don’t like miles as Spider-Man you are part of the kkk

Surprised reveal, I’m the Huey zoomer in Nunya DMs. So you might know what big game I’m excited for this year. Can we talk about it in DMs? I like nuance conversations

But at a 23 year old autistic black guy, half of black characters written by modern black writers are by people who never got out of their 15 year old bitter view of the world.

Also I like many legacy characters like Terry McGinnis and Damian. But I’m tired of getting TRENDY metropolian legacy scraps for black rep

Perhaps the game crash will cause that project to end. But there are reason I got hype when I learn the Dishonored studio is doing a Marvel Blade game.

Sorry it like PB&J to me

Sorry it took me a while to get to this one. Feel free to talk to me about any games you want in my inbox :)

As for the rest of your ask, yeah, it's hard to trust any media with black characters these days. They all seem to be written by racists who have a massive inferiority complex about their skin color. And the few that escape being written like that end up getting canceled. Yes, I'm still bitter about Netflix canceling Archive 81, why do you ask? XD

But the whole way black characters and stories are being written now is doing so much harm to "black media" as a whole. Even beyond the whiny racism and slavish adherence to far left talking points, its so limiting. These characters can only be one way, and you can only tell one or two stories over and over again. I was hyped for the Blade game too, but realistically how different is it going to be? Are we going to get real Blade? Is Arkane going to make a great game that respects the character and the fans? Or is it going to be Ibram X Kendi in a Blade skinsuit lecturing wypipo about how irredeemably evil they are?

[random4townheadcanons]

How about headcanons on the 4town guys' favorite places to chill or hang out?

Btw, i love your hcs! <3

4town members’ favorite places to hang out headcanons!!

Robaire - Robaire likes places where he can relax. He loves going to cafes, sometimes alone, but he prefers when the other members come with him because he likes the company and getting to hang out and talk while getting out of the house. He also LOVES anywhere in nature. He really likes going anywhere mountainous or woodsy to relax and have fun. He likes to bring the other members along with him to go on adventures. These adventures do not include hikes because Jesse will complain the entire time. Usually they end up having picnics and going swimming/playing in a river or lake. This is Robaire’s favorite because he loves the outdoors and getting to enjoy them while having fun with all of his favorite people. It makes him really happy.

Jesse - obviously Jesse loves art and pottery, so he really enjoys hanging out in the studio to escape and work on his projects. He could be there for hours and won’t get bored or tired and it really helps him de-stress. Aside from his art studio, he loves hanging out by the pool and laying in the sun. This is not always a good thing because sometimes he falls asleep and gets sunburnt lmao. He also really loves playing pool games with the other members (this is him awakening his inner child). His favorites are Marco Polo and colors. T gets really invested and is the best out of all of them because he never gets bored or tired and stays committed. Jesse will also throw torpedoes and force the other members to find them (Z hates this and always rolls his eyes when it’s his turn).

Tae Young - Tae is a big animal person, and he fosters injured animals, so he loves going to humane societies to volunteer to take care of them. Caring for them brings him a lot of comfort so he will try to find enough time to hang out at shelters and humane societies. He also really loves hanging out at home and baking different goodies all day and finds it really relaxing. Otherwise, he likes playing Animal Crossing at home with Robaire or just chatting and hanging with the other members on the couch. He really likes doing movie nights and having movie marathons watching franchises like Star Wars and Harry Potter (modern universe) and making snacks and drinks based on the movies (ex: butterbeer, every flavor beans, fizzing whizzbees etc).

Aaron T - T has a lot of places that he loves to go to to hang out, but he won’t really enjoy them if he’s alone. He never has to worry about that because Z always goes everywhere with him, but he really loves doing everything with all of the other members. He loves going to Disneyland at night with all of them, and sometimes they have gotten to go after closing. He also really loves having beach days and watching the sunset and having a bonfire. He really values his time playing video games in the living room late at night with Z. He also loves to go to skate parks really late at night when no one else is there. Z always comes to watch (obviously) and oftentimes the other members will go to cheer him on. One of his favorite things is making pillow forts and wearing matching pjs (picture baggy t shirts with cute personalized graphics on them and fuzzy shorts and socks, all in their respective favorite colors) with the other members and watching movies all night.

Aaron Z - Z is happy to be anywhere if he’s with his friends. As someone with anxiety, Z is eternally grateful to always have a buddy like T with him everywhere he goes. He’s a team player so any of the other members could choose where they hang out and he would just be happy. He loves going to the movie theater, whether it’s to watch a new Marvel movie with the other members or hate-watch and make fun of a terrible movie with T. Like T, he really enjoys when they hang out and play video games at night, or when they all watch movies. One of his favorite things is T’s pillow fort parties because he loves being cozy and hanging out with his best friends. Even though Z is terrified of horror movies, a small part of him likes watching them just for the hugs, squeezes, and reassurance he gets from it, plus, he has an excuse to not sleep alone in his room because it makes him really anxious, even though he doesn’t ever need an excuse to sleep in T’s room because they are ATTACHED.

surprise more sickeningly sweet T and Z bromance stuff. Sorry 😔

But anyway I hope you liked these :)

Keep sending requests!!