#look twitter has me on the brink with its character limitations

[bobbyathena]

i haven't been in consistently on tumblr in so long i have forgotten the fandom etiquette. is using the 911 spoilers tag proper form when discussing any new content?

[hannahstarshade]

Been looking for Twitter alternatives, and other social media sites in general. I'm on the waitlist for Bluesky. No idea when I'll see that, and I haven't heard much about it either. I signed up for CuriousCat for funsies, but I don't think it's what I was looking for. I likely won't use it much. Now on to the juicy stuff.

Last night I signed up for Threads and I already don't like it. Right now, there are zero ways to control your dashboard. Or much of anything, really. Just the basic functions of Instagram, but with words. I'll see one or two posts from people I follow before an endless stream of thoughts from people I don't know or care about. Seeing the 4,508,877th member badge on my Insta page, as it relates to Threads, just hammers home how we're all just pieces of data to get swallowed up by the conglomerate. Not even bothering to hide the fact that it's all a numbers game. The app itself is clunky, lacking soul and personality. It's so boring to look at. A lifeless machine, and all 30+ million users and growing are the franticly spinning cogs.

I've signed up for Pilowfort a little while ago and I like it so far. Its closer to Tumblr. Given that Tumblr is always on the brink of disappearing, it wouldn't hurt to have a back-up. There are posts for everyone to see that live on your blog, but there are also individual communities that act as forums. Posts can have individual comment sections, which I guess helps keep things on-topic. I'm going to slowly transition to cross-posting both old and new posts there. It seems promising, and the interactions I've had with other users thus far have been pleasant. I've already seen a few guides and helpful tips for the internet refugees.

Then there's Spoutible. It was touted as black-owned, having no algorithm, and having mods that handled hate speech and bigots swiftly and appropriately. Those are some green flags. They also have a cute little whale mascot, so all that combined had me. It is the closest to a Twitter clone I've come across so far. The interface is easy to understand and navigate. Posts are limited to 300 characters, and can include pictures, gifs, videos, and polls. There are a lot of safety measures for you to customize your experience to avoid malicious accounts. One being a rating system ranging from Normal to Problematic to help distinguish normies from bots. To post something is to "Spout Off." The trending topics page is titled "Making Waves." I like the vibes, and I believe this app has a lot of promise.

The truth is I've been kind of ambivalent to Twitter, even years before the Elon fiasco. When I first joined, it was for following my middle school and high school friends. After I graduated, those relationships fell off one by one. My dashboard morphed into a cascade of influencer updates and artist promotions. All I could offer was superficial consumption and meaningless life updates. Posting became a competition of who could be the funniest or who had the hottest take, and your whole psyche takes a hit when you just can't hack it. Maybe a restart was inevitable, and necessary for all of our sakes. I'll be taking Twitter off of my Linktree and other socials for the time being, and I don't see the point in linking any of these new socials until I've had enough time to play with them and figure things out.

TLDR: I'm not a tech genius. I simply operate on vibes. Bluesky is mysterious, more data needed. Threads is bloated and leans heavily on the algorithm. Pillowfort is a nice comfy space, just need to get used to it. Spoutible has potential and immaculate vibes.

[segadores-y-soldados]

@pastels-bunnies-guts:

I love your theories btw, Many of the details you show I would have never noticed on my own! Anyway on to my question, so do we have any what Reapers 'condition' is? How much of his abilities come from Moira's experiments and how much come from himself? Did they start from birth or in the SEP? I'm actually not asking you to answer some of these questions because that's a lot, I just wanted to give you them to think about. Personally, I think maybe Reyes had some form of cancer? I'm out of words

---

(I’m answering this as a full post because I hate the limited functionality in the Ask format)

TL;DR: Basically, Gabriel’s condition is on-going and changes over time.  It is caused by three main things: SEP’s modifications to his genes and phenotypic expressions; Moira’s “experiments” on him (and possibly her search for a cure - legitimate or not); and the Swiss Base explosion.  His “symptoms” are his lifedraining ability, his wraith abilities, and his inability to age correctly.

Super long answer is here: “Long Reasons Not to Trust Moira in Retribution”

Summary is below:

(There IS a “read more” link)

There are two twitter answers from Michael Chu which act as our baseline for this discussion:

The first one:

User: You missed an important one there - What about Reaper? Can he even still be considered alive in his state? Michael Chu: That’s a good question. ;)

(Source)

And the second one:

(Source)

The second one is specifically talking about the wording on Reaper’s Hero Profile which says:

The twitter conversation is talking about this line: “[Reaper] has fought in many armed conflicts in the last decades, showing no loyalty to any cause or organization.”

Michael’s response shows that the wording about “decades” is deliberate.  This means that parts of Gabriel’s “condition” are at least 20+ years old.

However, Reaper’s Hero Profile also says:

“It is possible that he is a byproduct of failed genetic alteration which forces his cells to simultaneously decay and regenerate at a hyper-accelerated rate.”

So basically, we need to look at the factors which can influence his abilities on genetic, transgenic, and epigenetic levels.

When Moira was released, everyone immediately assumed that she was the biggest factor in “creating Gabriel’s Reaper condition”, which is exactly what her Origin video was tailored to make the audience believe:

However, at the Moira reveal panel, Michael Chu said something that implied a very different story:

Moira Blizzcon 2017 Panel: transcript

> Quote:  “She was recruited by Gabriel Reyes to be a member of Blackwatch.  And uh, during that time she had relationships with the Blackwatch crew - McCree, Genji - they all have their own sort of likes and dislikes for each other.  Reyes wanted someone could help advise him on, uh, some matters of genetics that he was, uh, interested in, shall we say.” - Michael Chu

When the Oasis map was updated that day, one of the things found in Moira’s Genetics lab was this:

This implied that some parts of Gabriel’s condition had been caused by the Soldier Enhancement Program:

(Source: Soldier: 76 Hero Profile)

When “Retribution” came around, this was also semi-confirmed by two things:

Gabriel’s “Soldier: 24″ skin, which showed a number of tubes injecting things into his arms (and possibly his chest).

Two:

That even through the comic and the playable event of Retribution - no one was surprised by Gabriel wraithing around.

Not McCree, not Genji, not Moira -

And honestly? Not Jack, Ana, or Gérard either.

It is also important that characters like Moira and the Talon Snipers are able to use “Wraith” and/or Lifedrain without any known side effects.  This means that whatever controls the abilities at the core genetic and transgenic level can be reproduced artificially.

This all points to SEP.

The hypothesis: SEP injected Gabriel with trangenic modifications that allowed him to “steal life” from other beings (lifedrain/The Reapening) and “dematerialize and rematerialize at will” (Wraith/Shadow Step).  These abilities made him extremely hard to kill, and allowed him to fight on-par with Bastions, OR14s, and other Omnic units.

However, no one knew what the “long term” effects of these abilities would be.

And by the time of Moira’s recruitment, it has become clear that these abilities are somehow impacting Gabriel’s life.

For example, here’s Reinhardt.

Here’s Ana.

And here’s Gabriel.

This brings us back to the first tweet by Michael: was Gabriel aging properly?  Is he even medically “alive” anymore?

I don’t know.  And I don’t know if Blizzard will ever 100% define what his “condition” is, but it does seem that parts of Gabriel’s health were aging and/or deteriorating, while other parts where actually improving.  His outward appearance ages significantly less than Rein, Torb, Ana, or Jack.

But “internally”, we have no idea exactly what was going on with him.

But here’s what we know:

SEP modified Gabriel on a genetic level, which then manifested/activated on a phenotypic level.  These abilities likely included lifedrain and dematerializing/rematerializing.  While these abilities are superhuman, the original Strike Team gets used to them, as do select members of Blackwatch.

By the time Gabriel is 50 (Retribution) he has enlisted the help of an unethical geneticist to help “cure” the deteriorating parts of his SEP condition.

How do we know Gabriel wanted Moira to cure him?

First off, the easy part:

Her paper is literally called “Repairing Degenerative Genetic Structures.”

Next, we know from Nesskain - the artist of Moira’s Origin Video - that Gabriel was “scared” during Moira’s trials on him:

(Source)

This implies that Gabriel was afraid of what was happening to him - he did not recruit Moira to make him “Reaper.”

He recruited Moira to “unmake him” Reaper.

However, we know Moira had her own ambitions and plans for Gabriel - and for Blackwatch:

We also know that whatever Moira was doing to him, she expected it to have an impact on Gabriel’s SEP condition:

Moira: How are you feeling, Commander? Gabriel: Fine, no ill effects so far. Moira: Let me know if that changes.

---

Gabriel: Am I the only one who feels hungry? Moira: That could be an unforeseen side effect… Gabriel: …I was making a joke.

(source)

So in Retribution, Gabriel’s condition can be summarized as: “SEP abilities + Moira’s experiments”.

But that’s still not quite enough to make him “full” Reaper.

Personally, I think Gabriel is lying to Ana in these panels.  He’s not telling her the truth.

However, what’s important here is that Ana has no idea what made this man:

become this:

Which means that between Ana’s “death” and Recall, there is at least one additional thing that happens to Gabriel.

And the only real “event” between Ana’s “death” and Recall that Ana specifically missed was:

The explosion of the Swiss Base.

When Reaper respawns, one of his potential lines is: “This is my curse.”

It implies that he is unable to die.

So: SEP condition = “hard to kill” but able to be wounded.

But SEP condition + Moira’s experiments + explosion = effectively immortal

Reaper is able to fight one on one with Winston and avoid both dying and being captured, which is not something even Doomfist can do.  Reaper can also 1v1 a new Volskaya mech and still walk away from the fight unharmed.

It’s interesting, because Reaper consistently calls himself “Death”, and while this is probably just for show, it seems very likely that Gabriel has somehow become elevated past death, mortality, and human life expectancies.

This aligns with why Moira is so interested in his condition:

“We stand on the brink of a breakthrough in human evolution.  I have dedicated my life to unraveling its secrets.  I take risks that others would consider to be ‘unwise,’ for I do not share their caution.”

- Moira (source)

I don’t necessarily think Moira wants to become immortal herself - I think she just really likes the challenge of “defying death” and elevating humanity into a new stage of existence.  This also aligns with Doomfist, and his belief that conflict makes humanity stronger.  Both Moira and Doomfist want the same thing - to see humanity “reach its true potential” - but they use slightly different methods to get there, and the two methods are not mutually exclusive.  Moira wants to use unethical, unchecked scientific experiments to get there, and Doomfist wants to use a war.

Interestingly, another character might be very close to achieving Reaper’s “elevated” status:

Post: “The Immortal Soldier?”

If Reaper’s “equation” for possible immortality is: SEP + Moira + explosion

Soldier: 76 is actually very close to that:

Jack has been through SEP, and he has also been through the explosion.

The part that Jack is missing is:

On a more personal note:

I wouldn’t...hold out hope for Blizzard to “confirm” anything more concrete than this.  They’ve already effectively implied what they have wanted to imply, and while I know people aren’t satisfied with this answer, the truth is that “SEP + Moira + explosion” pretty neatly ties up all the major “factors” that make Reaper “Reaper”.  The theory accounts for his Hero Profile, Michael Chu’s statements, Moira’s role in Blackwatch and her betrayal, and the explosion.  It gives Gabriel an “easy” way to start working with Talon (thought personally I think he also wants to bring Talon down), and it also gives him a very human, very empthatic motivation (aside from the revenge part): he simply wants to “get better” from the condition that has plagued him his entire life.  His condition makes him more emotionally complex, and moves his plot from “Why did Gabriel join Talon when he hates them?” to:

“What is more important to Gabriel: finding a cure for his condition, or stopping Talon?”

[twh-news]

The BFI Radio Times Festival hosted key members of The Night Manager’s cast and crew last month, with Oscar-winning director Susanne Bier, executive producer Simon Cornwell and cast members Alistair Petrie and Tom Hiddleston sharing backstage secrets on this magnificent edge-of-the-seat spy thriller.

There will be some paraphrasing – you try deciphering my notes a month later! And apologies to any of the speakers if I attribute a quote wrongly or misquote.

Radio 4’s Front Row presenter Samira Ahmed was on hand to chivvy the info out of them.

What made you want to do it?

AP: The scale – even though it was the BBC – the settings, the budget to make it happen. Thanks to Tom and Hugh’s involvement, AMC and others got on board. The budget worked without being gratuitous.

SB: I come from low budget film, so I’m used to expanding small into something worth looking at.

SC: The budget was bigger than many films, we were free to do stuff we wouldn’t normally do.

SB: The story is about being drawn into the world of lavishness. You can’t do that without it being rich. Crucial was Roper’s location. That would set the bar for everything else.

TH: The crew make it look more expensive than it was. The interior of the Alps hotel was inside tents! It’s a testament to an impeccable crew.

SC: When we found the Majorca location – originally Greece in the script – we had to rewrite.

AP: The private jet was a cardboard loo roll.

SB: It was a private jet!

AP: There was a guy with a light pretending to be the shining sun. Secrets revealed!

(At this point, Susanne’s reactions made it unclear whether AP was making this up!)

We revisited the clip of Danny’s attempted abduction, closing in on Pine’s eye through the hole in the door. Remembering how the tenseness set in almost immediately, you could almost taste the IMAX audience relive the original moment. The panel discussed how that frantic scene came together.

SB: Whenever you direct a scene you have one single idea. We had this leisurely, relaxed scene completely turned over.

AP: Susanne’s method is to go straight into rehearsal, thrust straight onto set. The crew can get nervous when cameras aren’t turning and you’ve nothing in the can.  There are so many elements of the story to fit in but endless rehearsal means everyone knows where they should be. Being in the middle of it is a privilege.

SB: You have an idea, you collect material. You know this particular moment is going to be there. There needs to be real emotion. You don’t see the actors acting, you’re in the emotion. And child actors are just as ambitious as adults.

TH: The casting of Hugh Laurie was genius. His presence, his casting presented a conflict, so affable and likeable (in comparison with evil Roper) he (Roper) is charming, funny, loves his family but is responsible for awful things – all the stuff is paid for by arms.

SC: That scene was a Masterclass in acting and directing. A brilliant piece of construction. It’s in the book but came alive on screen.

AP: The nanny was the director’s daughter, Alice, just 19. I felt like a creepy old man but she put me at my ease: no, we’ll have a dance, no worries.

They moved onto the fire alarm test scene, where Pine breaks into Roper’s office looking for evidence.

SB: This shows why Tom is so brilliant. What he does, he thinks, “Who is Roper? Where would he put stuff?” Not many actors can do things just with their face like Tom.

TH: It’s my favourite scene in the book and a testament to Le Carre. You read it with a propulsive momentum. The internal compulsion within Pine is active even when he’s still. It’s classic suspense, a ticking clock time window. The props were chosen carefully: Churchillian. Boxing. Stalingrad. Roper’s fantasy of powerful statesmen yet rough enough for a boxing ring.

We took a moment to appreciate the glory of Tom Hollander in the restaurant scene where Corky loses it.

TH (jokingly): The manhandling was improvised. He didn’t ask permission. I’m scarred for life.

SC: John le Carre loved the whole experience on set. The scene is in the book but not so bold and exciting.

SB: Tom Hollander went way more extreme than we’d all anticipated.

TH: It was such a pivotal scene and so exciting. The moment of Corky’s demise and Pine’s elevation to the top rank. JLC was magnificent in that scene. Pine settles him quite quickly in the book but JLC refused to be settled – like any great actor, he forced me to achieve more.

SB: I had to direct him to accept the apologies! He was: “What about her? What about him? (being brought their correct food). Well, I think this is very shoddy.”

AP: We’re on the coffee and mints by now on the next table.

Pine v Roper

TH: The whole character was an exploration of the malleability of identity. There is something broken and unique about Pine. All his grief curled up inside. It’s why he’s a night manager, he hides behind darkness. Burr identifies that Pine is able to slide between characters. He had to embrace the side of himself that is quite like Roper. They’re looking in a mirror divided by a moral red line.

AP: My dad was an RAF pilot who came across interesting people. One guy became a good family friend. Great company – but he was a legit arms dealer. There was a disconnect between the job he did and what it led to, and the human being. You start with the human being, before the ‘what do you do?’ They do normal things and you layer in everything else.

We’re reminded how Roper likes to show off his arsenal – and then Pine blowing it all skyward.

SB: You need the scale and the drama of the explosions but it was a metaphor of the shoot out between two men. Roper doesn’t know how powerful Pine is until then.

AP: Looks bloody good on IMAX!

TH: There could only be one attempt at the explosion, everything after that had to be shot very fast while we had the smoke and flames. Hugh is magnificent. He realises he may have lost and loses his cool.

AP: Dr. House, put the gun down! Sometimes, when you’re pressed for time, magical things can happen. Tempers can get frayed. Then it crackles and Hugh grabs the gun, unscripted. An extraordinary thing captured under time pressure. We were blessed with catching lighting in a bottle moments.

SB: In a way, limitations can be advantageous. It forces you to be accurate and push the boundaries.

Twitter got a bit shirty over Pine having sex with the women he rescued after they were tortured – apparently, even Bond doesn’t do that.

SB: That’s not true – Jed is rescued by Olivia Colman. I don’t think they had sex.

TH: He’s in love with Sophie. She awakens his moral duty and he’s motivated partly by guilt.

Any scenes that took you to the brink?

SB: Every day! There’s always an element of not knowing what’ll happen, it’s part of the creative process.

TH: Fight scenes always look violent but have to be very safe. I love shooting action, it’s choreographic, like dance.

How do you feel, watching it now?

SB: It was a heart in mouth process but now I can sit down and enjoy! It was so much fun to do – none of us anticipated the impact . We showed it at the Berlin Film Festival and everyone loved it. So rewarding.

AP: If you’re really lucky as an actor you get something that strikes a chord. I’m genuinely bonded to the people involved. You share something very special. A special little gang. You’ve no idea the emails I’ve been sending with ideas for Series 2.

SB: It’s a privilege. I’m also sending emails. JLC doesn’t respond – I’m joking – I’m really scared of saying anything!

TH: I’m really proud of the team effort. The commitment and detail of every department adds up to more than the sum of its parts. It’s like a 1000 piece jigsaw landed intact. I couldn’t possibly comment on my email correspondence.

Having raised the bar for TV drama, is there a green light for Series 2?

SC: We are working on a story for Series 2. There’s no book and no Le Carre adaptation without a book. We’d love to see it happen. There’s an unspoken contract with each other but we have to come up with something really great.

It’s the greatest export in British cinema! (Audience member)

AP: Aw, shucks!

If you think Hiddleston a bit of a charmer (yes, yes, me too) it has to be noted I did leave the room with a bit of a crush on the very funny Alistair Petrie. You might say he’s now my … Petrie Dish. #sorrynotsorry

[recentanimenews]

Fight & Save The World With Your Friends In God Eater 3!

  God Eater 3 is the third in a line of hybrid action/RPG hybrid games by Bandai Namco, and God Eater's premise is much more stylized and more in line with its inspirations taken from the more post apocalyptic end of anime and manga, complete with an anime OP that wouldn't seem out of place in the God Eater TV anime. While many have compared the series to Monster Hunter in the past, the game itself is so much deeper and after working through the game, I'm a fan. Here's how Bandai Namco describes the game:

All of sudden, unknown life forms called “Oracle cells” begin their uncontrolled consumption of all life on Earth. Their ravenous appetite “devour” and remarkable adaptability earn them first dread, then awe, and finally the name “Aragami.” In the face of an enemy completely immune to conventional weapons, urban civilization collapses, and each day humanity is driven further and further toward extinction. One single ray of hope remains for humanity. Following the development of “God Arcs”—living weapons which incorporate Oracle cells—their wielders, the “God Eaters,” appear. In a world ravaged by mad gods, these “God Eaters” fight a desperate war...

     The game is split into pre-defined areas and you'll face off against monsters of varying sizes and scales. You’ll also hunt monsters with a time limit ticking away in the background and slice key body parts from the monsters and bosses to use them to craft more powerful upgrades for your weapons and armor to use as you progress through the game.

  The game starts as your character is forced to become an AGE (or Adaptive God Eater), a human who’s been biologically bound to a giant weapon. The world in God Eater has been overrun by monsters known as Aragami, and weapons—called God Arcs—are the only instruments capable of slaying them. God Arcs are multi-faceted weapons that possess multiple forms that can be accessed in battle and even modified outside of battle to serve more specific needs. The crafting of items and weapons is key to making progress in the game, and it's easy to get bogged down, but the game doesn't make the process tedious, which is a welcome relief. 

    I should point out that God Eater 3 allows you to customize your character as well when you first start the game, you have a choice between a male or female AGE and you can also customize hair, facial features and accessories, with more options being added as you progress during the main Story mode in the game. As you can see from my custom character, I decided to model her after a particular Android found in the Dragon Ball universe! 

  The bulk of the game is through the optionial side missions, which there are plenty of. I will say that the meat of the game isn't in the Story Mode, but in the missions outside it, such as Extra Episodes, Certification Missions, Time Attack, and Special Missions which are unlocked during the course of the game.

      However, the main problem I found with this is that while God Eater 3's Story Mode is supposed to serve as the training ground for the mechanics of the game so that you can open up the Extra Episodes and all of the additional content, it does a poor job of engaging you to get invested in the story. By the end of the Story Mode, I wasn't invested at all and I merely wanted to finish it out to get to the next set of missions.

  The narrative is supposed to be about how the AGEs are the last line of defense against the Aragami threat and the world is on the brink of collapse, but you'll quickly forget about it once you start playing the game because the narrative is built around constantly talking to your AI partners in your rolling base/prison cell that serves as the nexus of the game. 

      There are eight melee forms, four gun-based forms and three shield forms for your AGE character, but you’ll need to customise your God Arc with blueprints and monster materials before you can access them. Items and enemy drops are based on a percentage, and luckily the percentage calculation isn't designed to punish you for being successful.

  If there is a drawback to this system, it's that the tutorial missions don't do enough to emphasize that you need to loot each and every enemy and scout every inch of a mission area to make sure you grab everything you can for future upgrades and crafting. Another drawback I found is that even with the generous drop percentage, the game can be very selective in what kinds of blueprints and monster materials get dropped, forcing you to replay missions multiple times if you're looking to craft a particular weapon or item for a specific mission, which does get tedious unless you enjoy grinding.

  God Eater 3 also introduces a new style of special attack called Burst Arts. Similar to the Blood Arts found in God Eater 2, these moves see your weapon grow an actual mouth and take an actual bite out of your enemies, which is really neat to see in action. Once you learn and add Burst Arts to your character, you can then access a variety of ground, air and step-based special moves that do massive damage with flair.

     You can play through the entire Story Mode with AI companions or you can cooperatively tackle missions with up to three other players, locally (yes!) or online. There’s even eight-player raid missions, where you’ll take on much larger Aragami as part of a much bigger team. In fact, God Eater 3 on the Switch emphasizes co-op play as the ideal way to play the game, but it does not go out of its way to require you to play the game as such, since I was able to play through Story Mode and ancillary missions without feeling like I needed to find a partner, though it does make certain missions much easier to complete and rank higher if you do.

      God Eater 3 on the Switch is a really fun action RPG that caters to people that are into monster hunting games, but really goes out of its way carve out its own identity. This latest installment's focus on co-op really makes the game shine, since it encourages teamwork and strategy. So if you've been looking for that co-op game experience, look no further!

  As an aside, as someone living with a physical disability, I appreciated the customization in the controls for the game, since I found myself playing the game more often in Portable mode than I normally would. Games of this type don't usually allow for in depth customization and it's incredibly appreciated. I would like more developers and publishers to allow for deeper control customization on Switch games to accommodate different control styles and even complete customization to play such games more easily for those with physical disabilities. Being able to swap between multiple control types makes it easier for me to play in Portable Mode for instance, and having different controls for being in battle and out of battle makes things much easier. 

  I had a ton of fun with God Eater 3 on my own and I'm convinced that the focus on co-op, with local multiplayer support will make the game a much easier sell for friends looking for an action game to play and complete together!

    REVIEW ROUNDUP

+ Third entry in series keeps the action consistent and Switch version rarely suffers slowdown despite being a port

+ Story Mode builds to massive amount of post-game content

+ Crafting weapons and items is made much easier and less tedious  

+/- Controls are decent, but camera during combat could use a toggle to make missions easier

- Narrative in Story Mode is incredibly thin and wasn't engaging enough for emotional investment

  Will you be picking up and playing God Eater 3 on the Switch? Let me know in the comments!

Humberto Saabedra is a freelance writer and general Jack of All Trades. He can be found on Twitter @vdeviance for general industry musing and politics and @hsaabedra for a more personal look into his daily life. He also sporadically writes on his blog at vdeviance.rocks.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com