#i also considered just fantasia-ing into another character entirely

[sosei]

I have been considering renaming my WoL for AGES because I am horribly unhappy with the surname I gave him when I had Zero investment in the game. Problem is, I don't like any of the grand total of Two Seeker surnames that are canon.

I know I can say "screw canon compliance" and go with whatever, but that puts me in an even harder bind, that of decision paralysis.

Tbh I'd just drop the surname entirely if that was an option...

[nazrigar]

Watched the Lion King (2019)

I’m just gonna say straight outta the gate... I enjoyed the Lion King... like, a LOT. Much more than I was expecting considering the amount of flack this movie got.

As with Aladdin, I think I thoroughly learned my lesson regarding letting the internet make my opinions of the movie. Because I swear the amount of hatred that the internet piled onto this movie was so intense that I thought it was kinda “huh? why?” inducing. 

Maybe I’m a bit biased, since my art had its roots in realism, but the WAY that people were saying the realism part is like “desecration” was too much for me, to the point it kinda stung on a personal level.

As someone in the animation industry I understand what it’s like to have stylized art be dismissed for “real stuff”, but to say that realism takes “no effort” or “lacks soul” pisses me off to no end. Animation is hard, and very few things are harder than capturing the inherent “flawedness” of realistic movements. I could go on-and-on, but that’s for another post.

So, with that soapbox outta the way, lemme list things that I wish could’ve been handled better:

- First and foremost, they could’ve added a little bit more to make it more original, like, say, add Zira to the mix, showcasing that not all the lionesses followed Sarabi (I mean... that was clearly Kiara at the end, so any shoutout to TLK2 would have been nice).

- Expressions were a hit and miss: Great for funny, romantic and action-packed moments, not as much for sadder moments.

- Be Prepared was WAY too short.

- Some of the jokes didn’t need to be changed (Mr. Pig).

- The Spiritual aspect of Mufasa’s big speech to Simba could have been done better. He felt a bit too much like a force of nature.

Now, for the things that made me enjoy it lots:

THE FINAL BATTLE: By far my biggest highlight and the best part of the movie imo. The one part I can say totally beats the original. The realism is what makes it so intense, you actually could feel like you’re witnessing animals duke it out, and when the critters bite, you could feel the crunch in them. Also Zazu! It felt just as engaging as watching giant monsters duke it out in KOTM.

The Soundtrack: A GREAT update to the original imo.

A greater emphasis  on the Lionesses: We actually got to see the lionesses get more development, and have Nala show off her own skills as a hunter, in this case more for stealth reasons when escaping Scar.

The Body Animation: This is perhaps going to be the most realistically animated animals you will ever see, and the body language is what REALLY sells the emotions for me. As a person who grew up on nature docs, to see how animals jump and bounce to show their emotions, and how they interacted with each other made them FEEL like animals.

Highlights include:

- Scar toying with the mouse... that was creepilly like how an actual cat would toy with their meals.

- Zazu’s entire existence - His animation was so distinct that I could not stop looking at him. If Disney ever decides to remake the Rite of Spring sequence of Fantasia, I really hope they go with Zazu’s direction for the animation.

The Sound Design: An underrated part that doesn’t get nearly as much attention is the sound design. During the scene in the gorge, you could feel like it was rumbling with the thunderous footsteps of a hundred wildebeest, and the way they “crack” the earth really makes you feel afraid of Simba possibly getting flattened.

Biology Details: The biology nerd in me WEPT at the little details that adds so much depth to the world. The look and feel of the rocks, grass and everything. Even details like the amount of fur on characters made it a joy for me to be able to tell the Lionesses apart. (Sarabi had longer fur and spots on her legs compared to say, Nala). Scar looked like what an actual rogue lion would look like, and yet still felt threatening. Shenzi felt like a f***ing matriarch.

The Different Approach to Scar: I love the fact that Scar is less pompous, and more embittered than the original.

Timon and Pumbaa: Pretty much a given. Seth and Eichner killed it.

The Voice Acting in General: What more can I say? It’s pretty good! Donald Glover made a pretty good Simba, while Beyonce was great as Nala, in both speaking and singing.

In short? I enjoyed it thoroughly with its aim for using realism to its fullest advantage, and while it may not be able to capture some aspects of the original, I (and the audience apparently, you should have heard the clapping), left the theatre feeling satisfied.

[waywardskylarking-archive]

My Arguments for Viera

WARNING: THERE MAY BE 4.3 SPOILERS BELOW. 

I have personally seen a lot of arguments against adding Viera to the game, so this is a long post with my counter-arguments. Because I totally haven’t been seething about it all day.

1. There’s no lore reason for them to be in-game / We have no Viera NPCs

We'll get this one right out of the way. As of patch 4.3, during the unlock quest for the second of the Return to Ivalice raids, it is said Viera could be found living in Dalmasca. Therefore, they exist in the world of Hydaelyn, rendering this argument moot. 

As for NPCs, we don't have one yet. We still have patches 4.4 and 4.5 to get through, story-wise, leading us up to the MSQ of the next expansion. We may get an NPC for the third Return to Ivalice raid.

2. It's weird to have them appear in the game without any mention of them before

If you've been playing the game for 5+ years? Yea. It can be weird to wrap your head around there suddenly being a new race of people you've never heard of before just showing up in Eorzea. 

However, as a new player? They don't know. It's not strange to them at all, it's just another race choice that they have to buy an expansion for before they can play it. The same thing happened with Au Ra. I personally know people who bought Heavensward solely to make an Au Ra when they started playing the game and saw them as an option.

3. Please no more Hyurs with animal parts / I want a playable Beast Tribe / Give me Bangaa/Seeq/Nu Moa/[Insert Race Here]

Sorry, friendo. "Hyur with animal parts" is our best chance for another race due to the way they model the clothing for the characters. For Viera, yea, they want to redo footwear to accomodate the higher heel, but that's all they'd really have to do. With headwear, they can do what they do with Miqo'te and Au Ra, and just have the ears clip. The rest of their body would likely be easily scaled from one of the other races. 

For any other Beast Tribe, they’d have to redo the footwear. The gloves. The torso. The legs. Everything.

Also. If they took the time to do it now, rather than waiting another expansion or two, they would then later be able to introduce other races and characters with the same styled foot without having to alter more items.

4. But clipping! I hate ear clipping!

Yea, I would love for there to be no clipping, either. Longer hairstyles drive me insane with some of the collars. But, it's just easier than remodeling literally everything you put on your head for every race and hairstyle. Making the physics more sophisticated would likely be a nightmare and a half, both for the servers, and for the computers trying to run it.

5. It says they're a 'minor race' - so they're a Beast Tribe, so we can't play them

Okay. Look at number three. People want to play a Beast Tribe, so that's not really a valid argument. Also, it say's they're 'minor', not 'beast' - for all we know, that simply means they're less populous in Dalmasca than other races. Like the Au Ra could be considered 'minor' in Kugane simply because there's not as many of them in the city as Hyurs. 

I would love to get the statement analyzed by folks who are able to read other languages to see if there's any more information to be gleaned from the statement.

6. Okay, but, men won't be able to play Viera, males aren't lore-friendly

Yea no. There's always been male Viera. They lived separate the females for a few reasons. They'll likely change that in FFXIV - they did the same thing when they added the Miqo'te. In-game, it says the Mithra are ancestors of the Miqo'te, and in FFXI, they were female-only. Though, if I recall correctly, there were still males, you just couldn't play one.

7. There's going to be a flood of people making Viera, or fantasia-ing characters to Viera!

Yep. I will be one of them! You're under no obligation to join them, you'll live. Also, the same thing happened with Au Ra, and there's still a healthy mix of races in the game. For proof, let’s check the FFXIV Census.

Comparison between A Realm Reborn and Heavensward:

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(Experienced players were ones with at least one class at level 50.)

Census as of May 2018:

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(Active Characters are those who have aquired the Yol mount.)

8. They're going to be overly sexualized and I don't want that in my game

... have... have you been playing the same game I've been playing? Everything can be overly sexualized in FFXIV. People are going to ERP what they want to ERP, and I'm not going to share the horror stories and nightmarish search information I've come across. RP with who you want to RP with. Wear what you want to wear. Ignore the people you don't want to play with.

9. The Devs haven’t said whether or not they’re actually going to be added.

Yoshi-P himself has said not to give up hope. So I’m not.

I admit, it’s stressful as hell not knowing. But I’m still going to hope. Mainly because they’ve been entirely avoiding the issue. I would be 110% okay with them saying “we can’t”, or “not at the moment, but maybe we’ll look at it again in the future”, but we haven’t even gotten that much.