#i have an idea for a standalone render at least

[barbieaiden]

i love sam and aiden but damn sometimes they are very depressing i literally havent seen them smile in 8900 years they are always like :| or :( or :/

honestly. it's mostly because i can't perfectly capture the way they smile in my head in blender so i just make them. not smile lmao. but they will smile eventually!!! and genuinely too i will give them good moments that don't mention anything bad at all and they will smile the entire time

[dalesramblingsblog]

Brief Thoughts on Judge Dredd Novels, Part VII: The Hundredfold Problem by John Grant

The Hundredfold Problem is in many respects the odd one out when it comes to Virgin's Dredd novels. It's the only book in the series not to be written by an author who went on to cross over to their Doctor Who line, and the only one to later be republished as a standalone novel with the Dredd/2000 AD elements taken out.

As you might expect, it's a rather strange beast of a book. I certainly didn't actively hate reading it, and it rarely outright bored me; in fact, there's an appealing number of appropriately gonzo ideas crammed into the novel's pages, not least of which is the Big Dunkin Donut, a Dyson sphere populated by transported Neanderthals millions of years ago.

As a certified enjoyer of The Also People, I'm always a sucker for Dyson spheres, and Grant captures the BDD in enough detail that it makes for a suitable first off-world excursion for the novels - and, depending on how Silencer and Wetworks shape up, possibly the only such excursion. The culture of the Skysouls is fascinating, and doesn't really feel derivative of the People at all. The exploration of colonialism is perhaps not as elegant as it could be, but it's basically functional. And, well, as far as nineties explorations of a hypothetical "War in Heaven" go, I suppose I've got to give it points for originality in being the only such piece of media where the solution to said War is to get involved in a lesbian polycule with a deity.

So y'know. It's got that going for it?

But equally, there are numerous little things that don't quite annoy, but definitely make for an odd reading experience. Petula McTavish is a reasonably solid character with a good arc, but the way the novel consistently sexualises her left me feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

The exploration of faith - a perennial nineties theme, this being the decade of "I Want to Believe" - through a heated theological conflict between two rival atheist sects named after Oliver North and Margaret Thatcher of all people is an amusing premise, but the decision to give all the preachers comically thick Southern accents really starts to grate after a while, even if it makes sense for 1994 and the era of Pat Robertson's ascendance.

Similarly, the idea of Heidegger's possession by a force opposed to Korax fades completely into the background for much of the novel, rendering its eventual importance to the climax borderline incoherent until the final chapter just relentlessly infodumps to explain everything with a handful of pages left to go.

So ultimately, thinking about it, we're left with a deeply mixed bag. It's more coherent than something like The Medusa Seed - though coherence never seemed to be Stone's primary goal with that book, or arguably ever - and fleshes out its setting better than Dread Dominion, while its ideas are far more adventurous than anything in Cursed Earth Asylum.

And yet, thinking back on it, the various little annoyances really do start to pile up and colour my perception of the book, so I can't really put this above second-last. There's still a pretty sizeable gap between this and The Savage Amusement, as barring the climax it was generally pretty easy to keep track of the plot's motion from point A to point B, though Grant does have a tendency to elide what would seem to be rather crucial details in the timejumps between chapters.

So yeah, ranking so far looks like this:

Dreddlocked

Deathmasques

The Medusa Seed

Dread Dominion

Cursed Earth Asylum

The Hundredfold Problem

The Savage Amusement

[mono-rogue]

Throwup Thoughts: "More Than Anything" Poster

(If you want to see the time lapse, click here for the original post!)

So you know how my usual art has a sketchy (and sometimes fuzzy) feel to them?

I decided to return to full on line art for the More Than Anything poster, partially because of Sam Haft's tweet, and partially because of Sam Haft's tweet (looking for poster-style fanart of Hazbin songs)

I probably wouldn't be as miffed if I didn't slave away a straight 9 hours (For comparison, that Rosie/Charlie only took at most 3 hours!), and the fact that I did not like to do line art at all... But you know what? Creating and posting art that didn't rely too much on cleanliness and instead focusing just on rough sketches and colors unironically helped me here, and it's really hard to explain how. For example, I was originally going for this shot as is:

Then midway through the sketch phase, my intrusive thoughts intruded: Why not shift the perspective? It would both serve as camera practice and to not just be a screenshot redraw (though you could consider it to still be one, depending on what you think it means)

I did also consider fully drawing both Lucifer and Charlie so I could have their own standalone renders, but I really only ended up doing that for Charlie since Lucifer's missing his right arm (his right leg... it's a perspective thing), and even then the way I did the composition wouldn't have worked for Charlie...

Adding in all the effects was fun though, figuring out what color treatment worked best (mostly linear dodge)! It just ends up becoming one big piece of eye candy. A very orange piece of eye candy. If you get orange diabetes from this, I apologize.

Angular Sharpness

I think one of the main issues I had with line art before was figuring out how to make angles appear as sharp as they appear, especially when considering the style of Helluva/Hazbin. I looked up how to make sharp lineart, and ended up on this short guide!

(Original DeviantArt post here)

I'm mildly conflicted now because now I feel like combining sketching and composition was already fun enough, yet now line art is actually fun. We'll see where this goes I guess?

Colors Are Weird

I noticed also Krita was exporting pics out as dull as Alastor's time, so I looked into a solution and the solution arrived:

So now colors should work the way I want them to be. Nice!

Off Topic Topics

I've been going back and forth on my post schedules a fair bit, figuring out what works and what doesn't. A couple early morning posts feels the most fitting for my style, so I might roll with that going forward, at least for a while

Hopefully I'm going to start to embrace the multifandom part of this blog and start making more of whatever. UT/DR? Lackadaisy? Who knows

The state of the Vox Alastor comic... it's in hiatus as of now. It's honestly that since the show was releasing at such a quick schedule that my initial ideas for how the comic would play out kind of got jumbled around? I don't know honestly, so for now it's on hold for now.

However, I got struck with an idea for another one...

[bloggedanon]

I'd argue that communication doesn't necessarily require a means to communicate back, purely by virtue of the existence of books', manuals', and other standalone media's ability to communicate information to people without any reciprocity involved. I'm defining communication as simply the relay of information among at least two entities, but for the sake of it, I might as well actually look up the word for clarity bc why not ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

OK SO THAT'S WHERE THE-- yeah, okay, so you're going by definition 2 with heavy emphasis on the mutual connotation of the word exchange, while I'm going by definitions 4, 5, & 6, that makes more sense JSKSKSK (also you'll never guess who just learned how to italicize on mobile 🤡👍 took me long enough, all the caps prior to this post were me substituting for that and being a fool ignore my ass)

As for the popularity reduction jazz, most of the methods you named don't really reduce a following so much as halt its growth (disregarding that all these may not be applicable to other platforms amyway), and I feel like there's not really any context where a person would hear the sentence "It would be abusive to not delete your blog after an unnamed, arbitrary amount of growth purely because you experienced growth," and have it really make any sense to anybody. Creating anything that people enjoy well enough to voluntarily stay up to date and keep up with your content sounds like a mutually beneficial arrangement, with both parties enjoyingnwhat the other offers freely, and no coercion (necessarily) involved. Can it be? Yeah! That's where I'd draw the line and call it abuse, but I wouldn't go any sooner than that, personally.

I feel like the major thing about a post reaching a wider audience that may not get the context is that the logical conclusion of that being abusive... is that the capacity to be not /mis --understood automatically renders a message abusive? Which I suppose makes sense IF we were going to be running with the idea that any human interaction is abusive by nature of being an interaction (because anything would be at that point right?), but that just renders the words "hierarchy" and "abuse" effectively meaningless, no? (Not to mention it'd kind of defeat the idea that our survival depends on interaction, and to cease would be like to stop consuming, or to stop being human, and the idea of just existing near people being abusive just... I can't really get behind it.) ┐⁠(⁠‘⁠～⁠`⁠;⁠)⁠┌

I mean--?

If someone tries to or issue a command as if they were trying to lead, or pose an authority of any variety, I'd call that an attempt at starting a hierarchy, and therefore abuse, but with most things that don't, I can't really make the same claim about. °_o

is this… satire?

[dgcatanisiri]

I’ll stand by this and die on this hill.

Whatever merits The Last Jedi has - and before you start debating me, I’m not saying it doesn’t have them, just that this outweighs them - it fails as a part of the ongoing narrative. It may be a fine standalone film, but as movie two of the Sequel Trilogy, movie eight of the Skywalker Saga, it fails to connect itself to the rest of the story, existing more in isolation than in concert. Rian Johnson’s Star Wars is VERY different from JJ Abrams’ Star Wars, a clash that makes it all too clear that Rise of Skywalker - and the Sequel Trilogy in general - was doomed to fail from the moment it was decided NOT to maintain the same writer across it.

It shifts gears, taking moments that were played for drama in the previous film (or films) and playing them for laughs. 

It drops plot paths, with Rian Johnson explicitly saying that he didn’t use the Knights of Ren because they “didn’t fit” the story he was telling. Or the fact that, if the movie is taking place shortly after TFA, then where is ANY mention of Starkiller, the massive superweapon and installation that the Resistance just blew up?

It demotes Finn, the character who was the lead male of the last film, to a “comedic” c-plot that ends up going in a cul-de-sac, one that even the film’s defenders have said could have been cut and nothing be lost. And, in particular, this is noticeable because the plot of TFA moved BECAUSE of Finn - without Finn, Poe doesn’t escape, Rey doesn’t get off Jakku, the Resistance doesn’t go to Starkiller and destroy it. TFA hinged on Finn. TLJ treats him like a vestigial limb it can’t sever.

(No, really, based on what TFA establishes, FINN is the counterbalance to Kylo Ren - Kylo is a scion of a powerful line of Force users, Finn didn’t even have a NAME until TFA began, Kylo is the face of the First Order, Finn was a faceless stormtrooper, which is why the moment he first takes off his helmet means so much, Kylo was raised by heroes of the Republic and turned to the First Order, Finn was raised by the First Order and turns his back on it... The thematic parallels between them are ALL FUCKING OVER TFA! But TLJ wants him to go away, and there’s no chance for him to rebuild that plot momentum in Rise of Skywalker.)

Also on the level of connection to the previous film... Why the HELL is a coma patient stuffed in a storage closet, rather than the medbay with doctors monitoring him? And he’s then repeatedly tazed by Rose, which is again played for laughs. Finn’s injuries are played as a joke.

With Finn’s demotion, it elevates Kylo Ren, the villain, an explicit parallel to neo-natsees (because the Empire ALWAYS had its roots in natsee imagery, and the First Order is explicitly drawing on those, just like neo-natsees), into the lead male position. 

Rey ends up reduced to his prize - over the course of TFA, her interactions with him were, in order, him rendering her unconscious and kidnapping her, torturing her, killing her mentor (his own father), and grievously wounding Finn, the first person in her life who came back for her, which was part of her driving characterization in the previous film. Her motivations are reduced to proving to Luke that she won’t be like Kylo Ren, and then trying to get someone she has no motivation to genuinely care about to redeem himself.

That “redemption,” I say again, is being offered by her after, again, she was kidnapped and tortured by him, she watched him kill Han Solo, who she saw as a paternal figure herself, and he put Finn, someone she’d already come to care for and who was the first person in her life to come back for her, in a coma. What motivation is there for her to TRY to redeem him? And if you want to say “Force Bond,” then that means that something is forged between her and Kylo, without her consent, that makes her care for him, actively manipulating her mind, and this just... happens.

The whole “Rey’s parents” thing is also a problem because it is ignoring HER reaction - it’s all about subverting the audience’s expectations, without caring about how she as a character responds. She never needed her parents to be a Kenobi, a Jinn, a Skywalker, whoever. They didn’t need to be somebody to the audience, they just were people she needed. Even the idea that they were drunks... They were the drunks who gave birth to her, who left her behind, and she wanted just to know why. 

And why should anyone even believe that Kylo Ren would know that they’re just nobodies when it’s been like three days since they even met - none of his informants could have chased down any leads to the point of determining this in that time, if he even WAS looking for them. So by the same measure of “how does he know this?” is the question of “why should she believe him?”

It does not explain Luke’s change of character in near enough detail - this is a character who refused to kill DARTH VADER, his father, a man he barely knew, only really knowing him as the great boogeyman of the Empire, and yet I’m supposed to believe that he would actively attempt a premeditated murder of his own nephew, who he would have known all of said nephew’s life, for what he MIGHT do? There NEEDED more of points B and C to connect points A and D here.

Also on the subject of Luke, in the last movie, it was explicit - Luke had vanished and left a map behind. Why would you leave a map to a place you intend to run away to and be forgotten and die? 

This movie, indeed, SHRANK the galaxy far, far away to ludicrous levels - the Resistance is in the fringes of the New Republic, yet Canto Bight, a major casino resort hub of war profiteering, is a casual jump away? Also, if the Resistance fleet couldn’t jump there, how can a small ship like Finn and Rose’s do that? Doesn’t the fleet need every vehicle and every drop of fuel? Rey’s gone after Luke, to a planet forgotten by the rest of the galaxy, her training pretty clearly taking place over days, at least, if not more. And yet simultaneously, the ticking clock of the Resistance’s fuel running out happens, and she still manages to arrive in the midst of their escape? This timeline is a goddam mess.

Rian Johnson explicitly said that he wanted Holdo to be flirtatious with Poe. And told the costume designer NOT to dress her in the uniform befitting an admiral. Right there, you lose me on Holdo being in the right during the mutiny - we have an existential threat to the Resistance, and she’s dressed like she’s going for drinks with Senators and apparently supposed to be flirting with Poe. 

And I’m giving this its own bullet point - they actively changed the language of the film to try and frame her as more in the right. She was redubbed after the fact to have different dialogue and tone with Poe, while leaving his side of the conversation alone, seemingly to portray him more as a hotheaded maverick when what we’re seeing is him responding to the existential threat they are facing. I HAVE to address this, because they changed what the characters are reacting to after the fact to push a narrative of Poe being wrong, when he WAS acting in the Resistance’s best interests throughout.

Because his demotion is crap - the Original Trilogy showed the X-Wings and similar snubfighters having independent hyperdrive, there was no reason to keep the fleet there for the sake of recovering them based on the text of the film and the established technology of the setting. Leia could have jumped the fleet and let them rendezvous later. Keeping the fleet there? That was her blunder, not Poe’s. 

Meanwhile the dreadnaught? That was a MAJOR target - It had over 200,000 First Order troops. For a group on the fringe, LIKE THE FIRST ORDER WAS IN TFA, that’s a major loss of personnel and material. And that slow-moving target of the dreadnaught was the kind of target those bombers should have been designed for. And if they were really so valuable that they were all lost against the dreadnaught and it was a major blow to the Resistance, those bombers should have been scrapped for parts long before. So, based on what the First Order was originally established as in TFA, Poe did the right thing. His problem is that TLJ CHANGED what the First Order was.

And, again, with the existential threat of the First Order on their tails, Poe, one of the Resistance’s best pilots AND the guy who blew up Starkiller, should have been on the list of people who deserved to be in the know of the plan - if you’re worried about traitors (which Holdo never actually SAYS), he’s pretty clearly not working for them. So she’s holding over the fact that he lost people on a mission against him, which... I’m sorry, but what the fuck with that, EVERY fighter pilot mission we have seen in the films has led to losses.

And when he does find out the plan - the plan that he asks her, three times, in private, in public, and at gunpoint, to even just tell him EXISTS, not even the details of - he’s completely accepting of it. So the whole conflict exists because she doesn’t talk to anyone about it.

Because, before anyone brings up “she has no responsibility to tell an underling her ideas,” she may not, but there was a chance, right before the mutiny went through, for her to defuse the situation entirely, since, as we see, once he knows the plan, he’s willing to go along with it. And it’s not like Poe was acting alone - there were others in the mutiny, including Connix, who we’d seen in charge of the evacuation, which gives the impression she has at least some position of authority. And she wasn’t filled in on Holdo’s plan either. 

Holdo’s flaw is assuming that, because she is the named authority - explicitly the last link in the chain of command - that all the people under her command should just fall in line. But the Resistance was, like the First Order, reverted into the Rebellion for this movie - in TFA, it was not a military service but a volunteer militia of people who were acting in service specifically of one person, Leia Organa. Not Holdo. So when the whole damn organization formed to follow one person, and that one person is taken out of commission, it NEEDS someone willing to extend trust to take charge. Poe was doing that by wanting to hear her out. Holdo was failing to do that by not even bothering.

Yoda’s appearance is undeserved - this is the same Jedi who, if he’d had his way, would have refused Luke’s training in Empire Strikes Back because he was “too old,” even though that was always the plan, to train the Skywalker child, and, as shown by the prequels, was the embodiment of the Jedi Order’s hubris back in the days of the Old Republic. If anyone deserved to have that moment with Luke, it was Anakin, because Anakin was the embodiment of where the Jedi teachings and values had failed - when your prophesized “Chosen One” ends up being at odds with almost all your expectations of the “model” Jedi, the Force is probably trying to tell you something. But no, Yoda’s the fan favorite, so Yoda appears and undermines his own message of “failure, the greatest teacher is.” Yoda’s failures had as much to do with the fall of the Jedi as anyone else’s, and when he had the chance to learn from it, he was going to pass it up.

By the end of the film, both the Resistance and the First Order are devastated. Kylo Ren is Supreme Leader of a handful of vessels with no real power base, while the Resistance fits semi-comfortably in Han Solo’s old beat up weed van. Meanwhile the New Republic is still in shambles. No one WON. All they got from victory was survival. By this point, they’re BOTH defeated, so... Where even was the story going to GO from here?

Also... That focus on the child slaves on Canto Bight at the end? Yeah, fine enough moment on its own, but... We already HAD child slaves established in this trilogy. Because Finn was taken as a child and conscripted, along with all the other stormtroopers of the First Order. So why didn’t THAT get any attention? Indeed, his infiltration of the First Order is no more than show, existing for like five minutes, rather than... y’know, trying to set up a stormtrooper rebellion, something that, by virtue of his character, should have been a running theme through the trilogy. Yet, see again, “Finn is a vestigial limb the movie can’t cut off” - we know from the DVD, he had A LOT of scenes cut and rewritten, at his character’s expense, after, again, being the leading man of the previous movie.

If this film had been a standalone film, like Rogue One or Solo, one of the Star Wars Stories films, rather than a main series film, I’d say it was a good Star Wars movie. But... As part two of a trilogy, part eight of a saga, it fails to connect to the rest of the story, and that, more than anything, is why Rise of Skywalker was what it was. If you didn’t care for Rise of Skywalker, look at what TLJ left for it in terms of connective narrative tissue, and where the story could go from there.

It might be a good film, but it was NOT a good Star Wars film. And I’m judging it as one.

[aion-rsa]

Mythic Quest: Everlight Ushers in the Post-Pandemic TV Era

https://ift.tt/3uTyyaa

The pandemic is still here, regardless of what the headlines (including the one above) would have you believe. Masks, social distancing, and a devastating combination of fear and illness remain a reality for now. 

But thankfully, nearly a quarter of the American population is vaccinated, and a return to something that suspiciously resembles normalcy appears to be on the horizon. After producing the first bit of great pandemic television with the standalone episode “Quarantine” last May, Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest is now aiming to conjure up some great post-pandemic TV as well. 

“We wanted to put the entire pandemic behind us,” Mythic Quest co-creator and star Rob McElhenney says of season 2. “We just felt like by the time we would air, no one’s going to want to watch a show with everybody wearing masks and talking about viral loads and social distancing. So we wrote an entire season that takes place sometime in the near future when it’s behind us.”

Mythic Quest returns for its second season May 7 on Apple TV+. Before it gets rolling into its next batch of viral-free episodes, however, its producers still want to acknowledge what a strange, difficult transition back to normalcy this all will be. To that end the show is going back to the “very special episode” route one more time. Enter Mythic Quest: Everlight, the sunnier followup to Quarantine, which premieres April 16 and gets the whole team back into the swing of office life. 

“We all recognize that it’s going to be a difficult transition,” McElhenney says. “We can’t just fly past that as if it didn’t happen. We have to at least pay respects to the fact that it’s going to be a difficult transition for people to go from where we are now back to a sense of normalcy. That’s where the episode is born out of.”

Read more

TV

Mythic Quest: Rob McElhenney Discusses The Show’s ’90s Flashback

By Alec Bojalad

Everlight finds the Mythic Quest staff arriving back to work for a very important event in the canon of their MMORPG. In the ancient times of the Mythic Quest world, darkness overtook the kingdom and the king vowed to save his people by finding a hero who could wield the blade of light and cast the darkness out. This setup is established through a stunning animated sequence from Titmouse Animation (which kind of resembles “The Tale of the Three Brothers” from Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows – Part 1). The necessary exposition is also provided via voiceover from none other than Sir Anthony Hopkins.

“Anthony Hopkins is obviously the biggest fish in the sea,” co-creator and actor David Hornsby says. “Sometimes it’s just as easy as finding someone who knows someone, who knows someone, getting their number, texting that person and being like, ‘Hey, can you talk to this person about getting Anthony Hopkins number?’”

To honor the in-game event, the staff behind Mythic Quest hold a LARP tourney of their own to determine who will be the hero to cast out the darkness with the Blade of Light. “Everlight” is a yearly event in the Mythic Quest offices, but this year it obviously feels particularly poignant. The concept for the episode was initially conceived as part of season 2, but when it came time to transition the show back into the workplace, the idea proved to be a perfect fit. 

“We wanted the legend of Everlight to bring people into a space that felt very mystical and full of wonder, but also spoke to the feelings that people have been having during this quarantine. This feeling of a sort of darkness creeping in,” Ganz says.

Within the metastory of Mythic Quest as a TV show, Everlight will always be tied into its spiritual cousin Quarantine as bonus episodes without a season accompanying them. But while the aims of the two episodes are similar in their desire to uplift and reassure, their execution is quite different. 

Quarantine was conceived of and filmed under strict early pandemic production challenges, leading to an entirely socially distanced episode with a stunningly intimate conclusion. Everlight’s execution is a bit more…energetic. 

“I loved getting to play with swords, I hadn’t done that since I was a kid. It was really cool to learn how to slash throats,” Jo actress Jessie Ennis says.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Mythic Quest: Everlight premieres on Friday, April 16 on Apple TV+. Mythic Quest season 2 premieres its first two episodes on May 7.

The post Mythic Quest: Everlight Ushers in the Post-Pandemic TV Era appeared first on Den of Geek.

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

[lauralot89]

The Werewolf Problem

Without Googling, make a list of all the vampire movies you remember.  Now make the same list for movies about ghosts.  You can also do witches or demons if you like.

Now make the same list about werewolves.  How many of those werewolf movies involve other monsters, like Underworld, Twilight, or Trick ‘r Treat?  How many movies about just werewolves can you name?  I’m betting it’s a shorter list than the others.

Why are there so few werewolf movies?  And why do so many of them suck?

While there are definitely some diamonds in the rough--An American Werewolf in London, Ginger Snaps, Teen Wolf, the original Wolf Man--they’re few and far between.  I can offhandedly make a list of the top twenty ghost movies of the 2010s.  I’m not even sure if there have been twenty standalone werewolf films in the past decade.

So why do werewolves constantly get the short end of the cinematic stick?  The way I see it, there are three main problems working against silver screen werewolves.  But there’s good news: two of them are completely avoidable.

Problem 1: Werewolves are expensive.

This is the one that there’s no avoiding.  Werewolf movies inherently come with the added expense of making a werewolf.  If you want to make a vampire movie, you can get away with just some sets of high quality fangs from Spirit Halloween.  Ghostly glows and translucence are relatively easily added in After Effects.  Witches are just people.  Even with mummies, all you need are some dirty bandages.  The horror genre as a whole tends to run cheap in the movie industry, and most monsters lend themselves to that.

But not werewolves.

You have three options when it comes to werewolves: make a suit, which won’t be cheap if you want it to look at all convincing; render it in CG and pay the VFX artists; or use a dog.  The dog is probably the cheapest of the three options, but even then you need handlers and supervisors and the Humane Society to sign off on the whole thing.  And this is just the cost of the werewolf itself, never mind the transformation sequence.

Sure, sometimes you can get away with not showing the werewolf, particularly if you’re making a story with a shorter run time.  “Werewolf” is regarded as one of So Weird’s best and scariest episodes, and the most you ever see of the titular monster is a flash of fur and glowing eyes.  But in a feature length film, most moviegoers expect a least a couple of money shots.

There’s no way around this one.  If you’re making a werewolf movie, bite the silver bullet and allocate sufficient funds to make the monster.

Problem 2: Werewolves are boring.

Consider vampires.

Consider the variety of vampires.  We have movies with sophisticated vampires, feral vampires, hypersexual vampires, vampires who can only drink virgin blood, rock star vampires, villainous vampires, heroic vampires, “vegetarian” vampires.  We have Victorian vampires and modern day vampires and vampires in space (yes, really).  There are vampires who die in the sunlight, vampires who can go out in the day but are weakened, and vampires who sparkle in the sun.  We have vampires who look like Count Orlok and vampires who look like Tom Cruise.  Vampires who can hypnotise, who can turn into bats or mist or even wolves.  We have horror vampires and art house vampires and mockumentary vampires.

But rarely do we extend that same creativity to werewolves.

Most werewolf movies follow a formula: bite, transformation on the full moon, silver bullet.  There’s this idea that werewolves are stiflingly formulaic and there’s little new to be done with them.

And that’s total nonsense.

Werewolves transforming under the full moon?  That wasn’t a part of lycanthropy lore until the 1935 film Werewolf of London.  The same movie introduced the bite of the werewolf spreading the contagion.  Werewolves weren’t vulnerable to silver until 19th century German folklore.  For reference, Greek historian Herodotus referenced werewolves in his writings circa 440 BCE.  That’s how many centuries of werewolves unchained by our modern mythology?

Some legends state that one becomes a werewolf by wearing a wolf’s skin or even just a belt made from it.  Others say you can become a wolf by drinking water from a wolf’s paw print or from an enchanted stream.  Still others say picking flowers in a graveyard can make you a werewolf.  In proto-Indo-European culture, lyncanthropy was part of an initiation into the warrior society.  In Greek mythology, Lycaon became a wolf as a punishment by the gods for horrific crimes.  Like the witch trials, there were werewolf trials in Europe in the Middle Ages.  There’s a Scottish werewolf myth about a creature called the Wulver who leaves fish on the windowsills of the poor like some sort of fuzzy Santa Claus.  There’s so much potential for unique takes on werewolves in cinema and we haven’t even gotten to potential werewolf cures yet.

Some werewolves can be cured by piercing through their hands with nails.  Some are stuck in the form of the wolf for a decade, on the condition that they attack no one during that period.  Other werewolf cures involve removing the wolfskin, striking the wolf on the head with a knife, exorcism, converting the werewolf to Christianity, calling the werewolf by its name three times, or scolding it.  Yes, scolding it.

The point is, you can do different things with werewolves.  And it’s no surprise that the best werewolf movies are the ones that change things up: An American Werewolf in London and Teen Wolf introduced comedy elements, Ginger Snaps associated werewolves with menstruation and puberty, Wolf used lycanthropy as a metaphor for a midlife crisis, and so on.  Trick ‘r Treat managed to make even the werewolf pack mentality fresh by making it a pack of women on the prowl for men.  Be creative.

Fun fact: There’s a Anglo-Norman lai called Bisclavret about a nobleman of the same name who is stuck in wolf form after his wife hides his human clothing, which he needs to transform back.  When the king figures out what has happened and Bisclavret returns to human form in the king’s bedchamber, the king kisses him “many times, over one hundred.”  The end.  This isn’t a movie because Hollywood are cowards, I tell you, cowards.

Problem 3: Werewolves look like garbage.

The 1981 film An American Werewolf in London is widely regarded to have the best werewolf transformation sequence of all time, and for good reason.  The visuals and sense of agony are unmatched even thirty-eight years later.

However, nobody regards An American Werewolf in London as having the best-looking werewolf of all time, not even the filmmakers.  There’s a reason most of the werewolf’s scenes are brief and shot in shadow.  The reason is because the werewolf looks like a cotton top tamarin mated with a human and their child desperately needed braces but never received them.

Most werewolves, CGI or practical, look like trash.  The Wolf Man gets a pass on looking like nothing more than a hairy dude with an underbite because it was 1941, but most movies don’t have that excuse.  Teen Wolf can excuse itself because it’s a comedy.  But as for the rest of them?

Remus Lupin looks like an anemic spider-dog.  Dog Soldiers have weirdly smooth bodies that make them seem like fursonas.  Underworld’s lycans look like trolls. Van Helsing has fursonas on steroids.  Wolf didn’t even try and just gave us a more hirsute Jack Nicholson.

The werewolves in The Howling and Ginger Snaps look pretty good.  But for every great bipedal werewolf out there, there’s half a dozen that look like the bat/bear/bug monstrosity from Werewolf.  Luckily, there’s a solution.  Technically, two solutions.  But the second solution is to have the funds to hire Weta or a company on par with it to design your werewolf, and that’s not in the cards for a lot of filmmakers so.  The solution.

Just use dogs.

I promise you, dogs look a thousand times better than budget werewolf effects.  Every time.

"But werewolves are supposed to be human-wolf hybrids,” you might say.  Or, “but they’re supposed to be massive.”  Or, “dogs are cute and not aggressive enough.”

Firstly, I’m pretty sure the idea of the bipedal wolfman came from Hollywood limitations.  Early werewolf legends, for the most part, describe creatures on all fours that are typically indistinguishable from an actual wolf unless one really goes looking for lycanthrope identifiers.  Secondly, camera angles and other tricks can be used to cheat size on screen.  And thirdly, dogs can be trained and filmed to appear aggressive.  Example one.  Example two.

Big Fish used a dog for their werewolf, and it looks good.  Blood and Chocolate has absolutely ludicrous transformations and isn’t a good movie, but at least their wolves look nice.  The Company of Wolves used both dogs and real wolves, and they look great.  And while it’s not technically a werewolf, a dog was used for the wolf transformation in Fright Night, and it’s awesome.

In conclusion, use dogs, be original, and have something of a budget.

The werewolves are good boys and they deserve it.

[littlemisssquiggles]

We've seen Oscar extend a hand of mercy towards misguided foes such as Hazel in the show, but do you believe he would have the moral strength to risk his life and actively save someone whom he may dislike for personal reasons or would his doubts and reluctance win out over duty in the end?

Hello again Al. This is actually a pretty great question. One I’ve considered beforeand my Pinehead headcanon is that Oscar is a selfless kind of kid---the kind of hero in themaking with the drive to risk his life for someone regardless of feelings orany emotional attachment he had to said person. Oscar would do it because it’s the right thing. Oscar strikes me as the type to do everything in his power tohelp if he can and this is extended to anyone he meets; friend or foe. If Oscarwas willing to take the chance to attempt to reason with Hazel in spite ofknowing he’s the enemy then I think he would definitely attempt to save someone;again friend or foe, so long as it is within his power. And ironically enough,Oscar is the type of character to be that unapologeticallyselfless. Not only does he have thereincarnation granted by the God of Light but he also has the potential to usemagic. Magic, in Remnant is literally the power of the Gods bestowing its userswith abilities beyond the likes of anything one has seen.

If magic can be used to turn regularhuman beings into animals and empower them with the forces of nature then whatelse can magic do? Instead of developing a god complex, I can see Oscar comingto view himself as a self-sacrificing saviour willing to put his life on theline because in his mind; he is the one person who can make that daringsacrifice and not have any severe repercussions.

Unlike all those huntsmen andhuntresses who died throughout Remnant’s history to decide the fate ofhumanity, Ozpin---Ozma and the other Wizards of Light have the advantage ofreturning. When one of them dies, he returns as another. I can see Oscar willing to die because in his head, his death will mean something. If he’salready going to lose himself to becoming the life of another then shouldn’t heat least ensure that his life---the one he still has control of goes outmeaning something.

It is for this reason why I think should Salemthreaten to attack Atlas with her army of Winged Beringels, Oscar wouldn’thesitate to surrender himself. He’d willingly hand himself over to the enemy ifit meant protecting or ensuring the safety of a kingdom full of innocent lives.One life in exchange for the lives of millions. Oscar would make thatsacrifice. The only folks who might be against that are the people who careabout the boy---the smaller, more honest soul that is Oscar. I’m seriouslylooking forward to seeing how that part of the Atlas Arc plays out and hope itisn’t turned into a disappointing mess since it’s an opportunity to developOscar’s character.

I actually have two imagined scenariosthat can provide decent examples for Oscar’s noble side. Okay, so hear me outon this one. Once upon a time I was left a question prompt for any theories orideas for a Mombi/Tip interactions in RWBY. For my response, I depicted another bullycharacter reminiscent of CardinWinchester---a genderbent Mombi around Oscar’sage who acted as an antagonist to him during his attendance at Atlas Academy.For the sake of this theory, I will christen this boy Kid Mombi.

For this idea, it plays out similarlylike the events of Jaundice only with Oscar as the focus character. An Oscar-worthyarc of some sort. He attends Atlas. Unintentionally attracts the attention of alocal first year bully named Kid Mombi. Kid makes it his duty to ensure that Oscar’s first timeexperience at huntsmen academy is a living nightmare; harassing him to no endusing the detail about Oscar’s lack of experience as a huntsmen as a crutch tohumiliate him repeatedly. It gets to a point where Oscar becomes frustrated andconsiders quitting Atlas and being a huntsmen altogether. Fortunately he hadclose teammates such as Ruby and Jaune to help him through this tough ordeal.

Ruby offersto be Oscar’s Pyrhha---volunteering to aid him with hiscombat training through private lessons the two will share together. This is afeat I can definitely see Ruby doing for Oscar and she’s the most fittingcharacter to do this since she’s been in Oscar’s shoes before. She knows what it’slike to be the youngest huntsmen in an academy of older more experienced pupilsand have to work hard to prove her worth. Ruby was fortunate to have her familyand friends who believed in her and now she wishes to extend that hand toOscar; if he’d allow her.

I can see Oscar being firmly against thisidea at first due to his pride. But ultimately, he’d accept Ruby’s help. Thetwo start training together thus providing a good bolster for their budding friendship to blossom further.

On Jaune’s end; he offers Oscar someadvice on how to deal with Kid Mombi, using his experience with Cardin to offerOscar some guidance. This acts as a great bonding moment for Oscar and Jaune tofurther solicit the idea of him ultimately joining JNR to revive JNPR. Isincerely hope that part of V7’s storyline with Oscar is building upon his tieswith the JNR gang; particularly Jaune as he is the leader of the team.

I pray that partof Oscar’s side of things for the next volume is showing him developing therelationships that will be most detrimental to his character growth and story OUTSIDEOF HIS SHARED STORY WITH OZPIN. TheWriters need to invest time into developing Oscar as his own character. It isadmittedly very disappointing that even after a full three-seasoned arc, Oscar still feels lessas his own person and more as a vessel through which the CRWBY Writers canprogress Ozpin’s story. Even when Ozpin is taken out of the story, nothing muchhas been done for Oscar’s character. I find it kind of odd that the narrative triesto paint the consensus that Oscar is his  own person yet the writing has done little to nothingto truly justify that; at least in a way that feels satisfactory to those of us who genuinely want to see this done for Oscar. LikeI said, he needs this.

But to be fair, this is only my opinion and asalways feel free to respectfullydisagree if my words sound too harsh. At thispoint, I feel as if the only way the Writers plan on fleshing out Oscar isthrough his relationships. I’m okay with this if done right and with people whocare about Oscar for Oscar and not his connection to Ozpin. They’ve done wellenough so far with making Ruby someone on Oscar’s side.

Another example is his growing comraderywith the JNR gang, particularly Jaune. I can see the JNR gang becoming Oscar’sfamily team---his brothers and sister in arm and I want this dynamic so badly.More than that, I want Oscar to earn this relationship of his own accord. Iwant to see Oscar prove that he would make a worthy addition to the JNR gang. I’dlove to see more moments of Oscar bonding with each member of JNR. Ren includedbecause as of now he’s the one person that Oscar hasn’t shared a bonding momentwith. 

This is why I like the idea of Ren being the one to suggest to Jaune tohave Oscar join their team. Jaune andNora have more or less had their moments with Oscar. Now all I need is one withRen to complete that trinity.

I will be most displeased if the CRWBYWriters end up glossing over this development too and just have V7 begin withOscar already being a part of the reformed JNPR without showing how it got tothat. But I digress.

Going back to my example: so in theend, Oscar grows stronger through the help of his friends. It gets to a pointwhere he’s able to use what he learnt from them to protect Kid Mombi during atraining session that goes haywire. In spite of everything he put him through; Oscar saves Kid and in a twist, earns his respect. After this, Kid stops bullying Oscar and instead learns torespect him as a fellow huntsman. That’s one example involving a potential RWBYcharacter.

My next example is based on a theorywhere Oscar winds up unintentionallykilling Tyrion Callows. I know most fansare probably expecting Jaune Arc to be the one to do that but once more, hear me out. This theoryplays into my musing about Ruby andOscar being kidnapped by Tyrion to be taken to Salem only for the Rosebuds to make their daring escape; winding up stranded in the middle ofthe Dark Domain where they are forced to make the trek back to civilization.Granted there was one in such a dark world.

After failing to bring the children toher, Salem mercilessly disowns Tyrion for his failure, practically leaving himleft for dead in the Dark Domain too. This sends Tyrion into a psychoticbreakdown where he vows to hunt down Ruby and Oscar and bring them back to his goddess;dead or alive if he must.

So Tyrion begins his pursuit of thechildren and at some point, he manages to track down Ruby and Oscar. During hisassault, Tyrion poisons Ruby and threatens to take her life in front of Oscarif he didn’t play ‘good lil boy’ and surrender himself to him.

My Pineheadheadcanon is that should there be a standalone Dark Domain Arc involving Ruby and Oscar surviving together, it would provide theperfect setting for Oscar to hone his magical abilities. I still stand by myhunch where part of Oscar’ssemblance will enable him to take back Ozma’s magic from a Maiden; startingwith Cinder Fall.

In the event that the CRWBY Writersplan on keeping Cinder in the main narrative and not have her killed off inAtlas, I can still see Cinderthreatening Ruby’s life before Oscar with him unlocking his semblance to saveher.

I’ve heard a number of ideas for Oscar’ssemblance from fellow Pineheads and RWBY theorists. But for this squigglemeister, I’m still sticking with his semblancebeing Nullification or Negation. I still feel as if Oscar willpossess the power to render another’s semblance useless; maybe even temporarilydisable it.

I also like this concept for theadditional detail of it having a unique effect on the Maidens. If Ozma possessed the ability to bestow his magicto the Maidens as he did in Isaac’s lifetime as the Hermit then I believe itwould be most fitting if Oscar’s truepower allows him to take that magic back. So inthe event that Cinder shows up, Oscar will relinquish her of her Fall Maidenmagic, rendering her powerless while he in turn regains a portion of hisoriginal magical strength; making him stronger than the average Maiden.

So resuming my point with the DarkDomain Arc, my hunch is that during this potential storyline, Oscar would beforced to master full control of his magic since it plays an important role inhis and Ruby’s survival in the Dark Lands. While Ruby’s Silver Eyes kept themsafe from the Grimm, my belief is that Oscar’s magic offered them nourishmentand accommodation. Like since magic provides control of elements without theuse of dust, I figured it could be used to perform feats like manifest a rockenclosure for Oscar and Ruby to camp during their travels; create fire out ofthin air to keep them warm during the nights; grow food (or the closest thingto it) out the soil for them to eat.

I know the food part sounds a lilfarfetched. However in the World of Remnant episode on the Four Maidens, therewas a shot of the original Spring Maiden growing a sunflower in the palm of herhand I believe. It’s not even to say that she had a sunflower seed in her handthat she turned into a flower. She literally conjured it out of thin air. So ifmagic can do that then surely Oscar would be able to grow some kind of food tohelp him and Ruby through the trek. Even if it’s something as small as himgrowing a small apple tree out of thin air that him and Ruby could pick from.Oscar and Ruby are the two known beings in the series who share the God of Light’slight within them. Ruby has his eyes which can combat the Grimm and Oscar hasthe gift he gave to humanity centuries ago. That’s bound to count for somethingbut who knows.

Anyways, Tyrion threatens to kill Rubyand in a heated rage, Oscar uses his magic to subdue Tyrion. But to Oscar’sastonishment and Ruby’s; the kind of magic he manifests was one he’d never usedbefore. It was a darker kind of magic---one more akin to Salem’s. I can picture Tyriontaunting Oscar. Mocking him just to further enrage him. And when Oscar’s guardis down, he lunges to finish off the subdued Ruby only for Oscar to use hisdark magic again; putting Tyrion in such a tight death grip that heaccidentally crushes the Faunus; killing him in the process.

Imagine…Oscar using dark magic and his first act isusing it to kill someone out of unbridled rage. I can imagine Oscar being horrified by this. Even though Ruby does her best to comfort him and assure Oscarthat everything was going to be okay, Oscar is left traumatized at what he haddone. While Tyrion was an enemy. 

Someone Oscar tremendously disliked since heplayed a hand in Salem’s scheme to conquer Atlas kingdom; separating him and Rubyfrom their allies who they weren’t sure were still alive or dead. Despite beingthe reason the two rosebuds wound up stranded in the Dark Domain far away fromthe security of their loved ones on their own. In spite of the grief thescorpion Faunus had caused them, Oscar believed he didn’t deserve to die theway he did. By his hands. With his power. Something that was meant to be good. Do good.

It was the first time Oscar had comeclose to being exactly likeSalem and that thought frightened him most ofall.

So yeah, that’s my answer. Does this answer your question Al? Let me know if it does and as always, thanks for asking fam.

 ~LittleMissSquiggles(2019)

[michaelgogins]

More Rant-Like Musings on Algorithmic Composition Software

I have recently completed a Haskell foreign function interface (FFI) to Csound, with helper functions for using Csound to render Euterpea Music values. The code is almost completely contained in Csound.hs.

In the process of writing this I have, of course, gained a better understanding of the facilities afforded by Euterpea (by Paul Hudak and others) and its offspring Kulitta and Jazzkell (by Donya Quick). In addition, while searching for other music made with Haskell, I have also learned more about TidalCycles by Alex McClean and others (for live coding music) and csound-expression by Anton Kholomiov (compose both score and orchestra in Haskell, render with Csound).

Below I list other systems that I have used or tried to use or at least examined, followed by a second list of pieces made with some of these systems. This post can in fact be used as (a highly incomplete) guide to recent algorithmic composition software. Repeating the above-mentioned systems, and in alphabetical order:

athenaCL by Christopher Ariza (Python, no longer maintained).

blue by Steven Yi (Java).

Common Music by Rick Taube (Common Lisp version, minimally maintained).

csound-expression and temporal-media by Anton Kholomiov (compose both score and orchestra in Haskell, render with Csound). csound-extended and Silencio by Michael Gogins (JavaScript, Common Lisp, Python, Haskell, C++).

Euterpea by Donya Quick (Haskell).

Grace by Rick Taube (Scheme), the most direct descendant of Common Music.

Jazzkell by Donya Quick (Haskell).

Jeskola Buzz by Oskari Tammelin (a tracker, but you can do algorithmic composition in it using peer controllers).

Java Music Specification Language by Nick Didkovsky (Java, no longer maintained).

Kulitta by Donya Quick (Haskell).

Max by Miller Puckette and Cycling 74 (custom visual programming language).

music21 by Michael Cuthbert, Christopher Ariza, and others (Python). 

nudruz by Drew Krause (Common Lisp, maintained by me, includes a Csound FFI to Common Music and OpenMusic).

Nyquist by Roger Dannenberg (XLisp).

OpenMusic by IRCAM (visual programming language based on Common Lisp).

Pure Data by Miller Puckette and others (visual programming language).

PWGL by Mikael Laurson, Mika Kuuskankare, Kilian Sprotte and others (visual programming language based on Common Lisp).

Reaktor by Native Instruments, which although primarily a user-patchable or visually programmable sound synthesizer, can also be used to compose.

RTcmix by Paul Lansky, Brad Garton, and others (C++ with custom scripting language).

Rubato Composer by Guerino Mazzola (Java, no longer seems to be maintained).

Slippery Chicken by Michael Edwards (Common Lisp, looks like another offshoot of Common Music).

SuperCollider by James McCartney and others (custom programming language).

TidalCycles by Alex McClean and others (for live coding music, Haskell).

Here I have ignored approaches to algorithmic composition based on machine learning, not because I think them unimportant, but because I don’t yet know enough about them. A starting point however would be Google’s Magenta.

I link below to some pieces that hint at the potential of some of these systems. Of course, it’s impossible to list all the best algorithmically composed pieces. My objective here is simply to focus on musical quality and originality and to present the best pieces I could easily find that were made using some of these systems.

Please note, I am primarily interested in pieces for fixed media, i.e., pieces that could be thought of as “through-composed” as opposed to “improvised.” But a lot of the action today is in improvisation, interactive pieces, and live coding. 

My own example piece: Parachronic, 2018 (CsoundAC in csound-extended).

I should stop right here before even starting, and mention the pathbreaking work of Iannis Xenakis, whose works such as La Legende d’Eer and Gendy3 proved very early on that programming could be used to compose great music. Ideas from Xenakis’ software live on in many other systems.

Gendy3, Iannis Xenakis (composer software).

La Legende d’Eer, Iannis Xenakis (composer software).

Rough Raga Riffs, Brad Garton (composer software in Common Lisp, probably rendered using RTcmix).

Le lac, Tristan Murail (OpenMusic).

for rei as a doe, Michael Edwards (Slippery Chicken).

demiurgic ecstasy whispering in streets of ear, Christopher Ariza (athenaCL).

Carlisle Variations, Drew Krause (nudruz, rendered by me using Aeolus).

Tom Johnson - Algorithmic Composition, “Algorithmic Composer” (Pure Data).

Fractus 1, Eli Fieldsteel (SuperCollider)

Algorithmic Composition, “acreil” (Pure Data).

Vanishing Trajectories, Akira Takaoka (composer software and RTcmix).

Zero Waste, Nick Didkovsky (Java Music Specification Language).

Tourmaline, Donya Quick (Kulitta).

Elmas Krizi, Andrew Bergemann (Rubato Composer)

Hypnotize, Donya Quick (Jazzkell).

TidalCycles Jam 1, Eloy Platas (TidalCycles).

Jungle Etude 1, Anton Kholomiov (csound-expression).

This exercise has been exhilarating in that it discloses some hints of the amazing potential of algorithmic composition, yet somewhat depressing at the same time. 

My depression arises from the fact that wonderful facilities provided by one system cannot be used by another system unless, as is actually often the case, they are re-implemented from scratch in that system. Needless to say, this is an immensely wasteful duplication of effort, and often does not quite work. Also, note the large number of systems that are no longer maintained, or are maintained by one aging composer/developer... for an even more extensive and possibly even more depressing list of software systems for composing, see Christopher Ariza’s list. 

Another source of depression is the great efforts expended by many composer/developers without leaving evidence of any music that I would like to hear again.

Composers are like cats, they are impossible to herd. But in algorithmic composition, almost all of the software developers are also composers. In other fields of software development, after a decade or so, standards emerge and the resulting synergies supply a walloping jolt of power to the field. Every new feature or library in one sub-field can then be used by developers in all the other sub-fields. Examples would include the entire suite of W3C standards, the MIDI and MusicXML standards in commercial music software, and standardization on certain programs such as Pro Tools or Max in computer music. As my list sadly demonstrates, this has not happened so much in algorithmic composition software.

I call on all composers who also are software developers to do something about this. It may be too late to do anything about existing systems, but if you are contemplating developing a new system, please carefully consider my strong advice.

Update 15 October 2019: James McCartney, the developer of SuperCollider and other computer music languages, commented “No” regarding these points because he perceived them as obstructing research and personal goals. I think that his point about a continuing need for research in new music programming languages is quite valid, so I have edited my advice to reflect this. I would like to stress that my overriding concern here is to create synergies based on the the ability to use new facilities and features along with existing ones, and to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.

Do not create a whole new system. Instead, create an extension for an existing system.

In fact, create an extension for OpenMusic, Euterpea, Pure Data, SuperCollider, or Csound.

If you do create a whole new system, do not create a whole new programming language, even if you know how. Instead, create a library or package for an existing language.

In fact, choose a widely used language such as C++, Common Lisp, JavaScript, or Python.

If you do create a whole new language because it would just be so cool, do it as a library or package for an existing system (examples would be the embedding of the Python and LuaJIT programming languages in the Csound orchestra language, or the embedding of Csound in Pure Data and Max/MSP), or provide an application programming interface that can be used to embed your new language in other applications. And that leads to...

Create your system first as a library or package, only after that as a standalone application.

Many systems have issues with the representation of music. The developer/composer often creates a representation that suits their own particular style of music but does not work well, or at all, for other styles. MIDI 1.0 as it stands is no good, but it looks like MIDI 2.0 may be better. In any event, make sure that you support arbitrary pitches, rhythms, densities of notes and sounds, tied notes, and so on. Note that Csound has a very good low-level representation of musical events.

I compiled these lists to help guide my own future work in both composition and software development.

Please notify me of any errors you find in this post, or any suggestions you have for improving it.

[katelynrushe26]

Avengers 4: They’re Not Quite Dead.

It's been almost four months since The Avengers: Infinity War hit theaters and turned the whole Marvel fan community upside-down. Practically everyone who's ever seen a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is itching for next summer's release of Avengers 4, and directors Joe and Anthony Russo are doing everything in their power to keep the details about it under wraps until then. They don't even want to announce the film's title yet because they say it might spoil the plot. If the Infinity Gauntlet was powered by Avengers 4 details instead of the six Infinity Stones, the universe would still be safe from Thanos.

Because of this, countless fan theories have been popping up all over the internet in the past two months. Most of them center around characters who died in Infinity War and ways that they could come back to life, and while a lot of those deaths occurred when Thanos snapped his fingers with the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half the universe, some deaths occurred before that. These are the trickier ones to theorize about since they don't seem as easily reversible as the ones caused by the Snap. However, more and more fans are starting to look at some of these deaths from a new angle: that those characters aren't actually dead.

I could spend days researching and constructing my own theories about every "dead" character, but for the sake of brevity, I'll just talk about three of the more likely ones to turn up alive in Avengers 4.

1. The Collector

There isn't too much to say about this character, mainly because there isn't too much to say about his role in Infinity War. All we see is a brief scene of Thanos threatening him for the location of the Reality Stone, then a reveal that it was all just an illusion cast by the Mad Titan to draw the heroes out of their hiding places. The obvious assumption is that Thanos killed the Collector offscreen shortly before this scene occurred, but there are reasons to think that he didn't.

For starters, the MCU doesn't make a habit of killing notable characters offscreen. The only one that comes to mind is Sif from the Thor film series, who's been absent since The Dark World and was said in interviews to have died from the Snap. This lack of closure was mainly due to Jaime Alexander not being available to reprise her role though, and that clearly wasn't the issue with Beniccio Del Toro. The MCU is one of the biggest film franchises in history; if the screenwriters don't have enough time in one film to properly kill off a character and the actor is still under contract, they can probably afford to save that death for another film rather than just having it happen offscreen.

Second, let's consider the illusion that Thanos cast of himself threatening the Collector. He didn't kill the Collector at the end of the illusion, and their conversation throughout it was very detailed and true to the Collector's character. It's possible that Thanos was reenacting what actually happened when he confronted the Collector earlier, rather than fabricating a conversation off the top of his head. It stands to reason then that just like in his illusion, he didn't kill the Collector in real life. Thanos is a surprisingly merciful supervillain, so if the Collector gave him the Reality Stone without too much resistance, Thanos probably spared him.

The strongest piece of evidence though comes from this piece of artwork, which shows the Collector playing a board game with his brother the Grandmaster:

This is an official piece of artwork created by Marvel Studios for a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction in Disneyland, and it's prompted Studio President Kevin Feige to express interest in featuring the two characters together in a future film. Granted, such a scene could end up being a flashback that takes place prior to Infinity War, but it still leaves the door wide open for the Collector to be alive. Bottom line, his character still has a chance of turning up alive since we never actually saw him die.

2. Gamora

Okay, physically she is quite dead, but I think she's getting better.

Unlike the other pre-Snap deaths in Infinity War, Gamora's had a very spiritual element to it. Thanos killed her as part of a ritual to obtain the Soul Stone, an Infinity Stone with the power to control life and death. Her demise is directly tied to the Soul Stone, and the Soul Stone was the stone responsible for killing half the universe when Thanos snapped his fingers.

That was why he had a vision of Gamora in an orange-tinted realm right after he caused the Snap. Her appearance wasn't presented as a hallucination brought on by his guilt over killing her. It was presented as the real Gamora communicating with him in spirit. She didn't know what had happened until Thanos admitted it to her, and the scenery being orange (the same color same the Soul Stone) implied that her spirit was trapped inside of the stone. Thanos using the Soul Stone to huge a large capacity was probably what triggered Gamora's sudden appearance in the first place.

The Soul Stone is the only Infinity Stone shown in the movies to have any kind of rule set attached to it. You can't just snatch it up and use it like you can with the other five; certain actions have to be taken to prove that you're worthy to use it. You have to follow the rules in order for it to function properly. Because of this, it's entirely possible that an improper use or even a forfeiture of the Soul Stone could cause it to reverse the sacrifice that was made to obtain it and then render the stone unusable once more. This could mean a resurrection for Gamora in the near future.

As for behind-the-scenes evidence, the waters are a little muddier now than they were two months ago. Zoe Saldana is still active on the MCU publicity scene even though Infinity War's theatrical run is over, and Guardians of the Galaxy Director James Gunn has said that Gamora will have a "significant role" in the next film of that series. However, Gunn's recent firing from the project could undo a lot of his story ideas. This might not affect the Guardians characters too much though. Marvel Studios plans their films pretty far in advance, and the timeline of the MCU is so intricate and interwoven now that it would be very difficult to scrap story ideas. If the studio did that, it could cause a butterfly effect that would drastically alter their plans for a lot of future films.

Overall, I still think it's safe to assume that Gamora will come back to life. It's just what she'll do afterwards that's foggy.

3. Loki

I know, I wrote that huge two-part eulogy for him when Infinity War first came out and now I don't even think he's really dead. I still stand by most of what I said in my "Looking Back On Loki" essay, and to be perfectly frank, a part of me still likes to think that the God of Mischief really did meet his poetically poignant end in the first scene of Infinity War. That doesn't change the fact though that the events leading up to his death look EXTREMELY suspicious now.

Here's a rundown of what happens: Thor and Loki are cornered by Thanos, Loki stalls for time--promising Thor that "The sun will shine on us again"--and then he tackles Thor out of the way as the Hulk comes crashing into Thanos. The Hulk has a fistfight with Thanos for several minutes, and not once does the scene ever cut away to Thor and Loki to show us what they're doing. This is odd enough, but what's even more odd is that Thor eventually shows up in the middle of that fistfight by himself. What happened to Loki?

There's still no sign of the God of Mischief even when Thanos apprehends Thor and kills Heimdall. It  isn't until after Thanos is about to make his exit that Loki shows up again, and he almost appears to step right out of nowhere. He tries to kill Thanos, seeming to use the bare minimum of his powers, and then his trick backfires and Thanos appears to kill him. This scene raises so many questions that it gets harder and harder to take at face value every time I watch it.

First of all, Loki's faked his death before in the MCU, and we haven't always gotten a clear explanation of how he did it. We still don't know exactly how he survived his fight with Kurse in The Dark World, so he could very well have survived against Thanos. For all we know, the person that Thanos appeared to kill could have just been a random dead Asgardian that Loki possessed and then projected his appearance onto from a safe distance away. We've seen him do both of those things to some extent before, even without the use of his scepter.

Second of all, photos have leaked of Tom Hiddleston as Loki on the set of Avengers 4. The scene being filmed seems to involve time travel since he has his clothing and hairstyle from the first Avengers film, but it still appears that Loki is supposed to be in the next film. What's more, Tony Stark appears in that same scene wearing what looks to be a disguise, suggesting that the Avengers might go back in time to alter the past or tamper with the timeline in other ways. Maybe the Loki who appeared to step out of nowhere at the beginning of Infinity War was a different Loki than the one we saw tackle Thor out of the Hulk's way a few minutes earlier.

Some might say that these theories are all moot, since Tom Hiddleston has done multiple interviews saying that his time playing Loki is over and that Loki isn't coming back to life in Avengers 4. However, Marvel Studios has a history of releasing bogus interviews to subvert fan expectations. Just look at Ben Kingsley's interviews about playing the Mandarin in Iron Man 3. Those were absolutely meant to be misleading, at least at the time when they first came out. Heck, the Russo Brothers themselves have insisted that Spider-Man and Black Panther's deaths in Infinity War are permanent, and yet both of those characters already have sequels to their own standalone films in the works.

Also, the interviews of Tom Hiddleston saying that his time playing Loki is over are only half deceptive; Avengers 4 is the last film on his contract, not Infinity War, but it just so happens that he was done shooting his scenes for Avengers 4 by the time that Infinity War opened in theaters. Technically there's nothing inaccurate about anything he said in those interviews, but having them come out right after we saw Loki die in a new movie does seem like we're being set up to have the wrong idea.

This is all a prime example of where things stand with the MCU these days. The franchise is so huge, the stakes are so high, and the studio has grown so clever with both its writing and its marketing that we have almost no way of predicting what's going to happen in their films anymore. Some fans may find all of this secrecy and uncertainty maddening, some may find it exhilarating, and some probably take it as even more of a challenge to try and figure out what will happen next. Whatever the case, we'll all probably be more and more eager to see these movies with each passing phase. Not many franchises can stay this engaging after ten years and twenty movies.

And if Marvel Studios has been throwing us more of these curve balls than they've needed to, then mischief managed, I suppose.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 17 September 2018

Quick Bits:

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 gives us an “untold tale” of Spider-Man shortly after Secret Wars while he still had the black costume from Saladin Ahmed, Gerry Brown, Lee Loughridge, and Joe Caramagna. It’s a nice bit of embellishment, giving us a look more at the reactions from the people around Peter and what the Venom symbiote was doing while he slept. The dark, moody art from Brown and Loughridge is perfect for this.

| Published by Marvel

Avengers #8 is a bit of a housekeeping issue from Jason Aaron, taking stock of what’s changed for this new incarnation of the team, putting together the status of the various members, and setting up the new status quo. It’s nice to see David Marquez and Justin Ponsor aboard for this arc, continuing the very high bar this volume is setting for art.

| Published by Marvel

Black Hammer: Age of Doom #5 answers all of the questions, with Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston filling in all of the details in Lucy’s quest to find the missing heroes. It’s an interesting, and satisfying, revelation that sets up an even bigger picture and possible looming threat.

| Published by Dark Horse

Bloodborne #5 begins a new arc, returning to the city, and focusing on a scientific and religious inquiry into the nature of the affliction besetting the world. Wonderful art from Piotr Kowalski and Brad Simpson.

| Published by Titan

Burnouts #1 isn’t a bad start from Dennis Culver, Geoffo, Dave Dwonch, and Lauren Perry, riffing on the teen alien invasion vibe of things like The Faculty. The premise of needing to be high or otherwise intoxicated to see the true threat is an interesting one, leaving an obvious out as to whether or not it’s real, but this issue largely takes it at face value. 

| Published by Image

Captain America Annual #1 is very well done. Tini Howard, Chris Sprouse, Ron Lim, Karl Story, Walden Wong, Scott Hanna, Jesus Aburtov, Erick Arciniega, Israel Silva, and Joe Caramagna give us a story set deep into World War 2 of Cap and Bucky behind German lines, helping a group of civilians who escaped from Stutthof.

| Published by Marvel

Death or Glory #5 sets fire to Glory’s life quite literally. This entire series so far has been damned good, moving at a breakneck pace pushing the characters harder and further with each subsequent issue. Rick Remender, Bengal, and Rus Wooton continue to deliver.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Dick Tracy: Dead or Alive #1 is a curious thing, embracing the odd stylistic choices of Chester Gould’s characters with Rich Tommaso and Mike Allred’s art, and the kind of throwback tone of Lee & Mike Allred’s script, but through the use of a cellphone it doesn’t seem to be a period piece. Still, it’s an entertaining beginning to this mini.

| Published by IDW

Ether: The Copper Golems #5 is the bittersweet end to this mini, setting up a new problem for Boone and co. to face in the third series, but in doing so putting him in an even more tragic situation, both in the present and in the flashback back-up. Matt Kindt & David Rubín have bottled magic with this series and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

| Published by Dark Horse

GI Joe: A Real American Hero - Silent Option #1 begins a new limited series following Bombstrike and her team’s investigation of the missing Helix. It’s a bit bloodier and more brutal than the mothership series, but given the subject of human trafficking, it’s kind of understandable. Larry Hama, Netho Diaz, Alisson Rodrigues, Jagdish Kumar, Vinicius Townsend, and Neil Uyetake put together a decent start here. There’s also a great back-up filling us in on Helix’s past from Ryan Ferrier & Kenneth Loh.

| Published by IDW

Hack/Slash: Resurrection #11 is the conclusion to the “Return to Haverhill” arc and it continues with the usual offbeat humour that Tini Howard has brought to the title. Mixing the horror with wacky hijinks.

| Published by Image

Ice Cream Man #7 might be one of the more horrifying issues of the series, telling the tale of a young girl coming to terms with the death of her best friend. That story alone is enough to pick up the issue, but it also brings back more of the ongoing story of the Ice Cream Man’s trials as well, giving us a bit more interconnectivity of what are otherwise mostly standalone tales.

| Published by Image

Immortal Hulk #6 sees Al Ewing working to put the disparate pieces of the run so far together, along with revealing at least one group of antagonists dogging Banner’s heels, and working Hulk back into the broader world of the Marvel Universe to deal with the ramifications that have been hovering since Civil War 2. Surprisingly, none of it is particularly confusing, which is a testament to how Ewing is laying this out. Also, really nice guest art from Lee Garbett (with colours from Paul Mounts).

| Published by Marvel

Impossible Incorporated #1 is a new all ages mini from JM DeMatteis and Mike Cavallaro. I have fond memories of their previous collaboration The Life & Times of Savior 28, so came into this with some fairly high expectations. They were exceeded. The premise for this series taps into the same family of adventurers dynamic of the Fantastic Four and Challengers of the Unknown, and it yields some interesting characters, weird landscapes, and phenomenal art.

| Published by IDW

Infinity Wars: Soldier Supreme #1 is the first of these Infinity Warps tie-in minis to the overarching Infinity Wars saga, blending together two of Marvel’s heroes in this new reality. In this case, Captain America and Doctor Strange. I’m not sure how much impact these will ultimately have on the event, but it’s a fun diversion. Gerry Duggan, Adam Kubert, Matthew Wilson, and Clayton Cowles deliver an entertaining beginning to this story, laying out Stephen Rogers’ origin and showcasing a number of other amalgamated heroes and a rather interesting villain. Kubert and Wilson’s art is definitely more than worth the price of admission.

| Published by Marvel

The Life of Captain Marvel #3 delivers more heartfelt and strange complications for Carol Danvers. I’m really enjoying the drama that Margaret Stohl is creating in this series, it’s really been injecting a real element of humanity in Carol that’s been missing for years.

| Published by Marvel

Mr. & Mrs. X #3 gives us an explanation for the egg that everybody and their bird-brained aunt are fighting over. This development is definitely very interesting for the cosmic side of things.

| Published by Marvel

Olivia Twist #1 is an updating of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist, gender-bent and worked into the future, by Darin Strauss, Adam Dalva, Emma Vieceli, Lee Loughridge, and Sal Cipriano. The premise works quite well adapted to a dystopian future, with the protections of society broken down and oppression at an all time high. Although this is set in a future Britain, it’s easy to see similar conditions in America today. What really brings the book together is the artwork from Vieceli and Loughridge. 

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

Patience! Conviction! Revenge! #1 is the beginning to what looks to be another beautiful sci-fi epic, starting out with a bit of a western feel, before moving on to the city. I quite like the voice that Patrick Kindlon gives to the protagonist, Renny, as he doesn’t seem to shut up. Also, the artwork from Marco Ferrari and Patrizia Comino is wonderful. Ferrari has a style that reminds me of Sean Gordon Murphy and Devmalya Pramanik and it perfectly suits a lived-in future.

| Published by AfterShock

Return of Wolverine #1 is not a terrible comic. In fact the artwork from Steve McNiven, Jay Leisten, and Laura Martin is very, very good. McNiven seems to be channelling Barry Windsor-Smith for the artwork and it’s perfect. The action and page compositions are wonderful. I can also say that the story, dialogue and such, from Charles Soule is not bad. I’m not sure if I like the implied idea of pulling Wolverine’s history from him, putting the memory genie back in the bottle when we already know his Origin, is a good idea, but his issues with Persephone and Soteira are at least interesting.

What ruins this comic, however, like the Hunt for Wolverine: Dead Ends issue, is that it renders the entire Hunt for Wolverine event superfluous. It doesn’t respect the readers’ time or money, showing that Hunt for Wolverine didn’t build to anything. There’s absolutely nothing in this comic that necessitates having read anything before it. That’s good for new readers, but it’s a crappy ploy from Marvel that manufactured an empty event that seems like its sole purpose was to bilk the customer. I feel terrible saying that, since for the most part the mini-series weren’t bad in isolation, but as a whole, it just seems like a marketing stunt. When it comes to a character like Wolverine, who has previously been associated with the idea of market oversaturation, it’s just worse. 

From Marvel Legacy through to now, it doesn’t feel like there’s been any guiding hand. It doesn’t feel like there’s been any coherence between any of the appearances. It just feels like Marvel turning to some of their worst tendencies in making this past year or so a marketing ploy, tarnishing something that possibly could have been special, and ruining the return of Wolverine. Wolverine’s still dead, Marvel’s just pimping a corpse.

| Published by Marvel

Seven to Eternity #11 checks in on Adam’s family at the farm while he’s hanging around with the Mud King. Like every issue, beautiful, stunning artwork from Jerome Opeña and Matt Hollingsworth, somehow outdoing themselves with the brilliant colour schemes and impressive character designs. Also, I love the biting, almost subtle, humour that Rick Remender employs for the Mud King’s dialogue.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #86 begins the Earth Protection Force’s assault on Burnow Island, the new home to the Triceratons and Utroms. The action depicted by a returning Dave Wachter (with colours by Ronda Pattison) is very nice, even as we get some interesting moral and ethical hemming and hawing from both the Turtles and Burnow’s defenders as they choose whether or not to release their war criminals to help fight against the EPF. This feels like the beginning of something very heavy.

| Published by IDW

Thor #5 resumes the King Thor story from the first issue, in the far-flung future, with a reunion between Thor and Logan. It’s not quite as bonkers a story from Jason Aaron as the opening Niffleheim arc, but it’s certainly up there. I almost get the impression that Aaron and Donny Cates are seeing how far they push the cosmic envelope at Marvel right now, between their respective series. In any event, it’s led to some great storytelling. Especially when you add guest artist Christian Ward, who just makes this a must buy.

| Published by Marvel

Venom #6 is a not-so-subtle reminder that the art team of Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Frank Martin, and Clayton Cowles are absolute beasts. Every issue of this series has been impeccably crafted so far and I swear that this one ups the ante. Gorgeous work from the team.

| Published by Marvel

West Coast Avengers #2 is more ridiculous fun. If you liked the first issue, this is more of that, with some even more over-the-top shenanigans with the team, as they try to get to the bottom of BRODOK. Kelly Thompson’s dialogue and humour here are a highlight, reminding me of some of best of Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis’ work on the bwahaha era of the Justice League. A book that doesn’t take itself too seriously is a nice balm these days. Also, gorgeous artwork again from Stefano Caselli and Tríona Farrell.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #23, Aphrodite V #3, Black Badge #2, Bonehead #4, Britannia: Lost Eagles of Rome #3, By Night #4, Coda #5, Coyotes #6, Crude #6, Curse Words #16, Days of Hate #8, Doctor Strange #5, DuckTales #12, Edge of Spider-Geddon #3, Encounter #6, Evolution #10, Flavor #6, Hit-Girl #8, Infinity 8 #6, Jeepers Creepers #5, John Wick #3, Kick-Ass #7, Lost City Explorers #4, Luke Cage #2, Lumberjanes #54, Mae #9, Mata Hari #5, Multiple Man #4, Quantum & Woody #10, Rick & Morty Presents Sleepy Gary #1, Robots vs. Princesses #2, Rumble #7, Secret Agent Deadpool #2, Shadowman #7, Star Wars #54, Star Wars: Lando - Double or Nothing #5, Stellar #4, Strangers in Paradise XXV #6, Summit #9, Superb #13, Sword of Ages #5, Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #6, Vagrant Queen #4, Venom: First Host #4, Witchfinder: Gates of Heaven #5

Recommended Collections: Beowulf, Cable - Volume 3: Past Fears, Coda - Volume 1, Cold War - Volume 1, Descender - Volume 6: War Machine, The Mighty Thor - Volume 4: War Thor, Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe, Skybourne, Spider-Gwen - Volume 6: Life of Gwen Stacy, Venom - Volume 4: Nativity

d. emerson eddy enjoys doing stuff some times. And things other times. Stuff and things.

[railumarta]

Autodesk revit 2017 x64 無料ダウンロード.30 日間の Revit 無償体験版

Autodesk revit 2017 x64 無料ダウンロード.Autodesk Revit 2017 製品 Update

                                                                          Interesting tutorials.Autodesk FBX Review - Windows 64 Bit | Revit | Autodesk App Store

    Autodesk 3ds Max Download. on 30 votes. Autodesk 3ds Max is a professional 3D editing and animation tool. Autodesk 3ds Max is a professional compatible with Autodesk Revit, Inventor, Fusion Autodesk Revit コンテンツ. 下記のリンクは、サポート対象のすべての言語とロケールの Revit 製品インストールに含まれている、ファミリ テンプレート、プロジェクト テンプレート、ファミリ ライブラリを表しています。. 目的のコンテンツの実行 Mar 22,  · Descargar X-Force , aplicación para activar cualquier producto de Autodesk Con X-Force podremos activar AutoCAD , Revit , ted Reading Time: 2 mins    

Autodesk revit 2017 x64 無料ダウンロード.Download autodesk revit for free (Windows)

Autodesk Revit Autodesk Revit LT Parallels Desktop ® 11 for Mac: 推奨レベルの構成; ホストのオペレーティング システムとハードウェアの種類: Mac ® OS X ® (El Capitan) MacBook Pro ® 10,1、iMac ® 14,1 以降: メモリ: 16 GB: CPU の種類: GHz クアッドコア Intel ® Core i7™ を Autodesk 3ds Max Download. on 30 votes. Autodesk 3ds Max is a professional 3D editing and animation tool. Autodesk 3ds Max is a professional compatible with Autodesk Revit, Inventor, Fusion Mar 14,  · Autodesk® FBX® Review is a lightweight, standalone software tool for reviewing 3D assets and animations quickly and efficiently. FBX Review enables users to view 3D content without using a 3D authoring tool, to help speed up asset sharing and iteration         

 FBX Review enables users to view 3D content without using a 3D authoring tool, to help speed up asset sharing and iteration. More at www. Customer Support: fbxreview autodesk. I've been using it on Windows where it works seamlessly for reasonably small models.

Reading larger files is super slow but works, at least. Tuning the options in such cases is hardly possible, and also unclear because not documented it seems, not even popup bubbles. Also missing basic help about keyboard shortcuts etc.

Not sure if we will ever get higher quality rendering on modern GPUs like lighting with an HDR image. It does open fbx models however it lacks an option to change blend modes like in noesis and I think it need more features because my assets aren't shown by this programm correctly.

FBX review tool is good to view models. I need to convert FBX to DAE Collada format. But it doesn't work. Also, for DAE there are no options to choose from export. Any idea how to export to DAE from AutoDesk FBX review? then again that Converter did ruin the Normals or Texture. never been able to use this app, crashes every time when trying to load on W7.

Best software, make my work simple and fast in order to open, view and analyze the FBX before using it in my project. FBX Review is a very cool application. It could even be a light "game engine" if it would be possible to package this app as redistributable and to remote it.

It should be able to represent a background e. HDR , to add and remove a single actor to the scene, to play remotely a motion on the actor, to send remotely the user inputs, to change the coordinates, size and angle of the actor. The best would be if an additional scene could hiddenly be prepared. So that different scenes could be represented and walked through.

Morphs and Morph animation is not displayed? I made a simple FBX to test if this supported basic morphs and it does not. Would be perfect for our asset review workflow but unfortunately doesn't include the bones which have been animated inside 3ds max. We work mainly in Site Design using InfraWorks. Being that you can only export FBX models out of AIW, it seems like a great tool.

However, the performance of navigating the AIW export its disappointing. Wish there was ways to adjust the quality or geometry fidelity like anti-aliasing. The options under settings are geared more towards the animation products. drag and drop worked in version 1. Just like the Windows App, this could not even open up Unity Chan FBX only the disembodied head mesh appears. However, once I regenerated the UnityChan rig with Adobe's Mixamo it worked.

A bad SDK version? Anyway, this app should have 1 better error handling to display to the user that something is amiss, and 2 a quick-help to assist new users with navigation - a UI is only 'obvious' to those that already know how to use it ;.

Just what I was looking for with a need to interactively display electric transmission data draped on a terrain model. Using windows 10, never been able to use this app, crashes every time when trying to load a fbx. I have tried this software in late and twice in I realy would love some sort of fix pls.. Please put the FBX title into the window title bar, and grow the drop-down box containing the take name as the window is resized - they're all too truncated to read!

Would also love to see skeleton joint names and coordinates on mouse-over. On Win7 can't open even simple box exported to fbx , 3ds , obj from 3ds max Older fbx files also cause crash.

FBX Review 1. Some models are rendered with a "bulgy" look. we were working, and thought to check for update to V1. and found 64Bit v1. However, now the system refuses to allow FBX files to be opened into the FBXReviewer tool as MotionBuilder opens instead. Maya has been around for such a LONG time and I've seen and used many software's to view so many file formats. MA files?

Autodesk would please so many users out there and make life that little more pleasing. I can't use this application cause of appcrash fail it isn't open What should I do? is there any suggestion? Muy buena Herramienta sin consumir memoria!.. Aunque algunas veces se pierden materiales y no aguanta las animaciones de Fluidos I have been trying to play an animation in fbx review, but have some issue with this.

I have keyed the material in maya and then exported as fbx and opened it in fbx review. I tried with texture also, but same problem. my question is why textures are not visible when you fbx in fbx review and some of the animations are also not playing. I exported fbx from Maya LT. 问题事件名称: APPCRASH 应用程序名: fbxreview.

exe 应用程序版本: 1. dll 故障模块版本: 8. One of the best things about this tool is that it is very quick compared to the software Autodesk released in the past. FBX converter was the next best thing - it looks like this is what we'll be using going forward! Hopefully they deploy this with Max, Maya, MotionBuilder and Mudbox going forward. There's a substantially lacking feature though. If you're an animator, particularly for games, and only want to export the skeletal animation - you cannot preview that alone.

Only if there is a skinned mesh in the scene will FBX review show you the skeleton drawn over the mesh. I don't understand why the skeleton cannot be displayed if that's all there is in the scene. I tried exporting a hierarchy, yet I was left with an empty FBX reviewer.

The timeline was appropriate in length, though. its perfect. my only suggestion for improvement is if you can give preferences on shortcut keys, this will help. simple example is showing skeleton on off etc.. Autodesk FBX Review - Windows 64 Bit.

Autodesk, Inc. Toggle between wireframe, shading, texture, and lighting options. Review animated 3D assets using familiar play, pause, and scrub-through controls. Review assets while on-the-go without having to rely on a 3D content creation tool. Formats supported:. Free FBX Sample File! ヘルプ ドキュメントを読む. このバージョンについて バージョン 1. New in FBX Review 1. カスタマ レビュー. レビューを書くにはサインインしてください テクニカル ヘルプを表示.

Steffen Roemer 11月 30, 確認済みダウンロード これは何ですか? Riki Risnandar 11月 16, 確認済みダウンロード これは何ですか? this tool is times much better than 3d viewer internal software in win ac6eb63 ss 9月 25, Shree Nandan 3月 15, 確認済みダウンロード これは何ですか? Jcr Jcr 11月 29, you should be able to convert using Blender. Nefily Nefily 4月 06, 確認済みダウンロード これは何ですか? Andrew Chapman 1月 07, Riki Risnandar 11月 16, Christopher Campbell 8月 26, 確認済みダウンロード これは何ですか?

[lunamanar]

Another random question: Do you think Rinoa and Cloud would get along?

(OR: In which I write a three-page disclaimer and spend half as much time actually answering the question.)

So this question caught me by surprise, and I had to take some time to think about it. Because a lot of SquarEnix main protags get pegged as being same-y, not just facially but in their general dispositions, and “The Weather Team” of 7-8-13 fame in particular is often held up as a prime example of this. Quiet, surface-level misanthropy covering up a mountain of sensitivities is admittedly a tired teenage/early 20s trope, and especially when it comes to Cloud and Squall, I think it’s easy to paint their personalities in broad strokes, and assume they’re basically all the same person with just enough details altered to pretend they’re different. 

But I really don’t think that’s a fair assessment, and in order to answer a question like this I felt I had to really get into why it’s not. So, sorry for the delay in answering, because I had to take some time to organize my thoughts about it. 

OK, so, story/ramble time: 

Part of my need for that time is that, while I really like FFVII, it’s far from my favorite Final Fantasy. FFV and FFVI vie for the number 2 slot, FFXIII and XIII-2 as a unit occupy number 4, and FF Type-0 number 5…FFVII is a somewhat distant 6 or 7, depending on my mood switching out with FFX. I think that when I take FFVII on its own terms, I like it better than most other FFs, but all the additions–Crisis Core, Before Crisis, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, even Kingdom Hearts if you count that–have kind of muddied my appreciation for the original. So VII and its characters, as a whole, are a very complicated box of other self-contained boxes that my brain interprets differently depending on whether I take them as their own standalone set of stuff or consider them as part of a larger whole. 

I admit to a bit of pearl-clutching in this regard; when FFVII came out, I was dazzled by it. I loved the post-apocalyptic vibe of Midgar, and the empty, lonely feeling of the low-poly overworld. I think my enjoyment of that world was actually helped by the sheer lack of knowledge I had about it. At the time I first played it, I knew nothing about its conception or what had been lost in translation. I knew nothing about the Japanese fandom, the huge shifts that were happening within then-Squaresoft as a company, or the reject-characters (Edea, Fujin, Raijin, and Irvine) who would one day star in FFVIII and what their role would have originally been in FFVII (Edea had something to do with JENOVA, Fujin and Raijin were going to be Turks, and Irvine was replaced by Vincent). I had no idea that literally half of FFVII’s story was missing from the game itself, and that half again that amount would later be added and ret-conned into the original. 

And frankly, when all that started to happen…I didn’t like it. I lost interest for quite a while. By that time, I already had FFVIII, and I didn’t really care to sink time and money into a game world whose story, and that of its characters, had already been told as far as I was concerned. I didn’t actually revisit VII at all until circa 2013, when a friend of mine convinced me to start writing FFVIII fiction again. She was a big Crisis Core fan who loved Genesis, and she really pulled me back into VII as an entity just because of her enthusiasm about it. 

So it’s kinda funny because I really only started exploring FFVII’s “extended universe” with any real vigor at the same time I was re-immersing myself in FFVIII’s comparatively cohesive lore (which is an…odd, way to describe FFVIII, to say the least, but by comparison, it’s true). 

All of this is to illustrate that, simply, I am not the most qualified analyst of FFVII-anything, including Cloud, his personally, who he is and how he acts. There are many more intelligent people who have spent far more time and effort picking apart his character, who know more about him than I do and can render a more complete picture of his motivations and likely reactions and interactions with various personalities. My Final Fantasy “home” is FFVIII, and that is the only game (with the possible exception of FFV) that I feel comfortable enough in my knowledge to form complete and detailed opinions about re: any given character. It’s much more likely that my understanding of characters outside of that universe, especially a character with as much backstory as Cloud Strife, is going to be missing a lot of potentially pertinent details and considerations that I would ideally have at my disposal, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that before I answer, if only because there are so many fans out there who feel very passionately about FFVII and everything to do with it. So, I am in no uncertain terms saying it: I am not a Cloud Strife expert and I may at some point make an assumption about him in this answer that is contradicted entirely by canon evidence that happened to escape me at the time of writing. 

I’m basically winging it. I’m going off my personal impressions of his character, some of which are 20 years old at this point, plus a little bit of fact-checking I did before posting this. So to my knowledge, no individual facts I’m referencing here are incorrect, but it’s possible some of the conclusions I draw may be inaccurate because I missed some information somewhere due to not being 100% invested in the vast, complex and in some cases contradictory plot that is FFVII. For that I apologize ahead of time. 

(This is, actually, the single reason why I have never written any kind of crossover fiction. To do so and feel good about it, I’d have to be equally invested in each and every universe involved. The three games I feel comfortable enough with in my knowledge to actually write for are FFVIII, Secret of Mana, and the R-TYPE series. Uh. Those aren’t exactly the best candidates for overlapping themes/universes, so…)

*breathes*ANYWAY. Okay so I’m going to actually answer your question. And it’s going to be short by comparison. Sorry about that. 

The way I understand Cloud, and the reason I felt the need to preface this with all that mess, is that the answer is “yes, sort of, eventually.” But with caveats. 

Rinoa is the sort of person to wear her heart on her sleeve, unashamedly. And she actively advocates just that: that emotions are part of who a person is and not something to feel shame over, and expressing them is as much an act of integrity as it is courageous (that’s why, assuming you make certain dialogue choices, she may accuse Squall of being ‘dishonest’ at certain points). I think, assuming Cloud treated her with his oft-wordless, minimalist’s-guide-to-introvert-socialization front right off the bat, she would initially find him to be frustrating and–where Squall emoted at least enough to indicate he had an emotional reaction that contradicted his attitude–Cloud’s more practiced cynicism and “why speak if you can just stare or shrug” philosophy would be a lot less cute to Rinoa. Where Squall deflects with whatevers and various degrees of you’re-doing-it-wrong, which at least indicate discomfort and a degree of genuine interest, Cloud’s unmitigated I-don’t-cares and when-do-I-get-paids would be likely to come off as genuinely dismissive, rather than defensive. This would make her less curious, and in turn less tolerant of Cloud’s apparent misanthropy. 

(Though I start with these comparisons for the sake of illustrating Rinoa’s way of filtering information, I don’t think her impression of Cloud is a question of comparing him to Squall; this would all hold true whether she knew Squall already or not.)

So I think, at first, Rinoa wouldn’t really like Cloud that much, and at least for a while, he wouldn’t give her a lot of reasons to think she was wrong about her first impressions of him as arrogant, cynical and maybe even a little greedy. Basically she’d echo a lot of what Barret had to say about him, but with a lot less swearing. 

And I think, actually, Barret is a good comparison, because it would take about as long for Rinoa to think much differently of Cloud. Not to wander too far into the land of the hypothetical, but a few dizzy spells and flashbacks in, she’d probably clue in that something wasn’t quite as it seemed with him. The more opportunities Cloud has to abandon the group, and doesn’t, the more she’d begin to suspect, and she wouldn’t be quiet about those suspicions; either Cloud has an ulterior motive, or he’s not as callous as he seems. Either possibility is exactly the sort of thing Rinoa would pick at until it bled, for good or ill. 

Without knowing more about the scenario (if there is one), I can’t really say how Rinoa, as I know her, would ultimately stand with Cloud--as a friend, an enemy, or somewhere in between--but I think the more she knows about him, the more she would think he’s actually a pretty okay person with a ton of problems oh my goodness, even if it really seemed at first like he was just an immature jerk. The fog of war is especially thick with Cloud (appropriately, no?), but given time, I think Rinoa would find her way through it. Perhaps, however, not without doing some damage, in the process. 

[aion-rsa]

The Last Podcast on the Left Comes to DC Horror Comics

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Edgar Wiggins is a Soul Plumber, and the hero of the new DC Horror title of the same name, created by The Last Podcast on the Left trio of Ben Kissel, Marcus Parks, and Henry Zebrowski. The enormously successful podcast, now available exclusively on Spotify, combines comedy and high strangeness for deep dives into the paranormal, ufology, dark history, and true crime.

And with Soul Plumber, the deep dives continue by — as Zebrowski describes him — a tolerant and pure-hearted “wet Chihuahua” of a man driven by a sincere belief in a loving God, but is just too weird to fit in anywhere. The gas station attendant builds a pirated version of a machine intended to deliver souls from Satan, but ends up getting more than he bargains for when he goes after a demon. 

While an original concept, the second title from the new DC imprint draws from older, weirder podcast episodes involving demonic possession cases and alien abductions involving arcane religious imagery. Soul Plumber is accessible to audiences unfamiliar with the show, but will go deeper into layers of esoterica than even die-hard LPOTL fans have previously encountered. 

But how did these swearing, R-rated creators connect with DC in the first place? Kissel, Parks, and Zebrowski briefly weigh in.

What was the initial meeting with DC like? Did you ask if they even listen to your podcast, and if they’re sure they were ready for you guys?

Ben Kissel: I used to think that we were like, ‘Whoa, that might be a little far.’ We’re just mainstream at this point. In many ways. The fact that they would come to us and ask us and talk with us about that. It was awesome. At this point I feel like everyone else is able to pervert the minds of our, of our youth. So at least we can try to right some of those wrongs.

Henry Zebrowski: DC called for the meeting and we’re like, we’ll go see what this is. Show business is just a fun experience. You know why show business is fun? Because you’re always screaming. It is like an amusement park. You are just always upset and screaming, and it’s fun.

Sometimes a big company comes to you and says, ‘We want you to do something.’ You put together all of this stuff for them. And then you show them everything and they go, ‘Actually, nevermind, we don’t like you anymore.’ And then they disappear into the night. You just get the vacuum of space from them, which is really very scary in a way that someone could disappear so fast. But with DC, they came to us to do this project and it was really very nice to hear them like our ideas. 

Marcus Parks: I grew up on Vertigo. All those books are the ones that blew my mind. Preacher, Sandman, Y the Last Man, Fables, I could go on and on about how many great books came out. The Filth! Nothing gets weirder than The Filth. All of these great, weird books came out on Vertigo. So, when DC got a hold of us, we were like, this is pretty cool.

The Last Podcast on the Left is huge with this dedicated fanbase, but you’re now operating within the DC machine. What’s the balance there, and what’s in it for LPOTL listeners versus folks who just want to pick up a horror comic?

Henry Zebrowski: That was a big part of the original breakout of the idea of trying to figure out what idea we were going to write, because we really wanted to write something that encapsulated a lot of what we cover on Last Podcast, but also would be an exciting horror story.

If you know all of the bullshit from all of the years of listening to us, or your own adventures into the world of the paranormal and the occult and dark history, you would see references throughout the book. There’s little Last Podcast inside jokes in the book, but the rest of it is something that would entertain us. And we hope it is also a very unique idea. I have never read what we’re writing before, and I think it’s going to be very interesting.

Marcus Parks: The very original idea came from me going back and reading a bunch of scripts from old episodes … ideas that were a little stranger, and aren’t what you would call the fan favorite episodes. The weirder episodes.

Part of it came from the Michael Taylor possession story back in the seventies when a guy believed he was possessed by the devil. He ripped his wife to shreds with his bare hands. And the other part of it is it also came from the Andreasson Affair, which is one of our like deep cut alien episodes, about a woman who believed she had an alien abduction, and the abduction was full of old, old Christian imagery. But she would have no idea that it ever actually existed. All these ideas kind of came together, percolated and created Soul Plumber.

Kissel: Our fan base has been so unbelievable in allowing us to explore different talents. The fact DC even came to us is a testament to how sticky and great, and sticky in a positive way, our fan base is. They show up for the things that we do.

Has there been a moment where DC became concerned you went too far, and something had to be cut?

Parks: It didn’t get cut, they just said, but they told us we have to run this by legal. That’s only happened once though. And we had not heard back yet,

Kissel: We don’t show any nipples because you’re not allowed to show nipples, but you can show a lot of violence.

Zebrowski: We’ve been very transparent about the fact that we’re an R-rated show and we make R-rated content … Everybody at DC seems to be into what we’re doing. And it’s kind of nice that it worked out like this because that’s like five percent of the time [in the entertainment world].

Was there a conversation about you using established DC characters?

Zebrowski: We had options to use DC characters … so we’re looking through their IP, and we’re like, we’re not really sure what to do here because there’s also a lot of baggage. They said you could use anything you want in our library. And we kind of were like, ‘I don’t know if you want us to do anything we want.’

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Parks: I’m actually a big DC guy. I’m a huge fan of even the more optimistic of deep storylines. But I could not see myself sitting down and explaining the history of Ted Grant to Henry and Ben, and telling them this is what this character would do, this is what this character wouldn’t do. It would have just been too much of a headache to try to write those characters. But in our own standalone universe, which we have created this little universe, we can do whatever we want in this. And there are no limits whatsoever. Aside from no nipples. 

Soul Plumber is out from DC Horror on Oct. 5.

The post The Last Podcast on the Left Comes to DC Horror Comics appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[fapangel]

Have you seen 'Star Wars: the last Jedi' yet?

Nope, and I don’t intend to. If ever I do, it’ll be at the comfort of my own computer, and Disney won’t see a thin dime of my money for it, because fuck them. 

Having heard from my friends, they either think it’s a work of incredible genius, or the biggest pile of shit ever foisted upon the silver screen. That the friends with positive opinions tend to be those who openly and admittedly hated the original trilogy says something, I think. Of course, every story is won or lost in the execution, no matter how bad the plot details sound. TVtropes has an entire page devoted to the phenomena wherein reducing any movie to sound bytes, by necessity, can make it sound rather weird. So to judge it, I really would have to watch it, and watching it right now would entail giving Disney money (which I won’t do) and watching it later would require giving up 2.5 hours of my life and probably more since I’d get rather angry. If people really want a Planefag Special style rant over it, I might consider it, but otherwise… nah. 

But there is one facet of the new movie I can safely criticize without having to watch it - something underlying and structural that really exposes the problems with it. Ross Douthat of the National Review puts his finger right on the problem:

Also, Del Toro is egregiously bad—though he does get off one good line, speaking dismissively of the Resistance–First Order battles: “They blow you up, you blow them up.” Which, on the evidence of the B-plot, seems exactly right: Without explaining why or how, the new movies have basically wiped away all the military victories of the original trilogy and returned us to exactly the same balance of power that existed when we first met Luke and Han and Leia. 

The idea is to raise the stakes—can the Resistance survive?—but in truth it lowers them; if nothing that happens militarily in these movies matters from one to the next (including the destruction of a huge First Order Death Star … er, sorry, Starkiller at the end of The Force Awakens, which seems to have barely set back what was supposed to be an Imperial start-up, not a full-fledged empire), why should we care a whit about the latest imitation of the Battles of Hoth or Yavin or Endor that the Disney nostalgia factory conjures up? 

The answer is that we shouldn’t.

This, right here, is a crime I cannot forgive. Everything else might - might, despite mounting evidence to the contrary - be forgiven by flawless execution, but for this. As Douthat points out, completely erasing every single accomplishment of the original characters is more than just a “fuck you” to the fanbase - it actively undermines the stakes of this movie itself. Disney can shrug and blow the Extended Universe out an airlock if they want; they paid for the IP after all, but they can’t just ignore the canonical movies that are the chronological prequels to the story they’re trying to continue. And without two fucking seconds of exposition to even try to justify it, either. How, exactly, the Evil Empire loses two massive, expensive Death Stars (and the better part of a warship fleet with the second one, to boot) and is not only not on the back foot, but has the funds to make another death star the size of a planet - and has that blown up, and still has resources so vast that “The Rebellion” is still “The Resistance…?” That, my friends, is something you really have to fucking explain. 

Even if everything I’ve seen on the internet about the plot being an SJW’s wet dream, with arrogant bitchy purple-haired womyn (”of color”) domineering a bunch of whiny useless violent “toxic males” is all just spleen-venting horseshit - and given what I’ve seen so far, I really, really fucking doubt it - that staggering, monumental sin still renders the entire story completely moot. 

Let me put this in terms as stark and brutal as I possibly can: this is the same thing that Aliens 3 did. But at least Aliens 3 had the decency to just say “rocks fall everyone died fuck the last movie” and proceed to tell a story so different from the first two it could’ve been its own standalone movie, unlike Star Wars 8 which is still a derivative rehash, but it has the temerity to insult you for ever having liked the horrible bad no-good shit it’s currently aping. 

And there’s one more thing. Something that I just can’t get over. Spoiler warning, I guess. Apparently there’s a “romance sub-plot” or “tensions” or some shit with Kylo Ren. Who, I must remind you, looks like this: 

That’s in the damn movie, no less. Here’s the image straight from that National Review article’s banner, which makes the problem even more evident:

At every opportunity, this ugly fucker’s chin vanishes into his fat neck, leaving that huge, ugly honking nose dominating his droopy face. Adam Driver is one ugly motherfucker, and his Dramatic Performance is nowhere near strong enough to forgive that, based on what I saw in The Force Awakens. 

I can’t take that seriously. I won’t be able to take that big dramatic sub-plot and character Thing seriously. I can’t take the plot seriously, and after Disney made a point of making The Force Awakens a shameless fucking cash-grab where they devoured the corpse of Star Wars, then oozed into its skin and made it shamble around as a doppelganger to bilk more fucking cash with as many cringeworthy, shameless and dissonant nostalgia call-outs as fucking possible, I can’t take the entire franchise seriously anymore.

Fuck Star Wars. Lucas did incredible damage with the prequel trilogies, but the sequel trilogy had the opportunity to build off the original trilogy; much, much more solid footing. The only thing Disney could’ve done worse than what they did with The Force Awakens is hand the franchise to someone with a modicum of talent, someone with the will To Make An Effort, but who also fucking loathes every core theme of the story and takes especial delight in insulting fans of the story. And that seems to be exactly what they did. 

Star Wars is dead. If we want a future where Hollywood actually invests in new stories and takes a fucking risk once in a while instead of becoming an unceasingly soulless exploitation machine obsessed with regurgitating the same shit in worse and worse ways to bilk us for cash, I suggest we stop rewarding their crimes with our money and save it for new filmmakers and storytellers willing to stick their necks out and risk everything to see their own artistic vision through. Pacific Rim was pretty damn perfect. Lets hold out for more of that, instead. 

Goodbye, Star Wars. It was good while it lasted. 

[periodicreviews]

Yoko Kanno’s “Online Tanabata Festival” Review

It’s been a while since I talked about a concert, let alone been to one, especially given the current state of the world. I’ve been watching some livestreamed concerts and DJ sets and I’ve enjoyed most of them.

However, Yoko Kanno’s Online Tanabata Festival, easily outshines them all.

It was pre-recorded, so it’s not exactly fair to compare to a truly live show. As a fairer comparison to other real life concerts, I’ve only seen two other anime focused concerts, Georgia Philharmonic at AWA and Godzilla vs Evangelion in Japan. Godzilla vs Eva is obviously #1 and this show moves into the #2 spot.

At 35 dollars, it feels like a steal for 46 minutes of music, especially when they were able to include hits from Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, and Macross F.

The event was streamed on a site called Zaiko, but it had been previously recorded and edited. There were two types of tickets, the participation ticket and the viewing ticket. I opted for the participation to get the setup/teardown parts. Unfortunately, that meant waking up at 5:50am today, but it was worth it.

With the participation ticket, the opening and ending of the stream still had that unedited feel as they showed the musicians setting up, tuning, and packing up their gear. But by pre-recording, you avoid all the technical issues that are common place in some of these streaming events, where the audio goes out, the stream dies completely, etc.

The editing simplified the transitions when Yoko moved to a different room for a segment that involved CG, involving Steve Conte who lives in the US, and allowing for Mai Yamane to sing outside for one song. All of these would’ve been nightmares to do live.

If this had just been 46 minutes of those musicians in that studio in Japan, that would’ve been more than enough. But these extra elements I think show just how much Yoko cares about going above and beyond.

Tuning

Just from the tuning segment, I was excited. The tuning would take place as it normally does with any other orchestra. Yoko would play a note on the keyboard and the performer would match the note. Then Yoko would play a few notes and the performer would “reply” in a sense with a little tune that fit right along with it. If I had any doubts before at the skill of any of these musicians it was certainly gone at the ability to “jam” so effortlessly on the spot.

Setlist

Starting with “Tank!” and moving into “Rush” and “Bad Dog No Biscuit”, these were all great high energy selections for the start of a show. During “Bad Dog No Biscuit”, they cut to Yoko’s drawings of a good dog, bad dog, an alien, and one or two other messages I couldn’t read.

From the first few notes of “Rain”, I began to cry. The combination of this being performed live and its place in the finale of Cowboy Bebop makes it hard not to immediately emotionally connect to it. Mai Yamane was visibly crying during this song as well, so it’s nice to feel like not the only emotional person in the room or the stream. It was great they were able to include Steve Conte from the US.

The first 4 songs were from Cowboy Bebop and after that Yoko Kanno got up from the piano and walked out the room. I had absolutely no idea what was going on or what was coming next, which is something I can say I’ve never experienced at another non-EDM live show. Minus that time I watched part of a stage collapsing.

Once I saw that she had some type of programmable device to repeat her playing, I knew it definitely couldn’t be Cowboy Bebop. As Origa’s vocals faded in, I began to cry again knowing that it was “Inner Universe”. The crying intensified continued as a pixelated CG version of her appeared and later on as Yoko herself was rendered in the same kind of pixelated fashion. She died too young at 44 due to heart failure or cancer according to Wikipedia, but I can think of no better tribute than how she was included in this show. She lives on in the data streams that make up the internet, in a way fitting for her part in the Ghost in the Shell franchise.

After that, Megumi Nakajima appeared and even though I didn’t know the song, I knew it had to be from Macross F. I really need to finish that show. I could barely contain myself as I awaited more song(s) from Macross F that I knew had to be coming.

I was glad that they played a variation of “Real Folk Blues”, that felt like a standalone track. Between the “Real Folk Blues” cover produced to benefit the CDC Foundation and Yoko’s own lockdown version, doing the same track again would feel too similar.

Like all good shows, there was an encore.

Even though I’ve heard “Lion” from Macross F hundreds of times, just the fact that both Megumi Nakajima and May’n were part of this is what makes it special.

I hadn’t heard “Rakuen” from Wolf’s Rain before, which was the song that played as the credits rolled and I’m not sure if I had heard “What Planet is This?” which was second to last. In either case, both were fantastic tracks.

Again, I would’ve been satisfied if this was just Cowboy Bebop songs for 46 minutes. But having Inner Universe from Ghost in the Shell SAC and two songs from Macross F put it over the top.

Packing up

This was a nice segment to see all the musicians packing up and hear goodbyes from Megumi Nakajima and May’n. As they packed, clips of the musicians’ Tanabata messages were shown, along with Yoko swinging around the bamboo piece that they were all tied to. Stuff like this makes the performance feel more intimate and memorable then just seeing the stream turn on then off.

Final thoughts

I later learned that this show was a sequel of sorts to a previous show called Tanasonic http://worldwide-yk.com/2016/07/tanasonics-lucky-number/. That show at 3 hours long in a stadium venue makes me wish I wasn’t still in high school at the time, horribly lacking the funds for an overseas trip. You can’t see them all, but I’m glad I was able to see at least this Tanabata show.

I can only hope that in the future, they try to get another event like this together, as I think it’s pretty clear the demand is there. Obviously all these performers are normally super busy, so logistically a pandemic is probably the only situation when they are all free at the same time. I also hope that everyone is safe after this performance as there have recently been slight increases of cases of COVID-19 in Japan. It seemed clear that Yoko was trying to keep her distance from the others and I was glad to see the camera crew wearing masks.