#man this is personal art not some IP

[saint-vagrant]

AN BOIRINN

another piece made during my residency. ink with brush, plus brambles for company 🌿

[beartitled]

Found your art through the STP Reddit and now I have a new TSPUD artist to enjoy!!! Your style is gorgeous :)

Reddit 🤨❔

I don’t have reddit

*sounds of paws tapping on the keyboard*

Aha repost with no permission I see? 🔍🐻‍❄️👓

This ask actually send me on a mini research lmao

I didn’t expect to see like 4 posts on Reddit with ppl posting my comics/sending a screenshot from ?Pinterest? and asking who the author is

That made me chuckle :'D

To be clear, I don’t really mind reposts if a person credits me

Always appreciate ppl askin permission 👍

For the reference: Reblog - a button that looks like this 🔄, shares a post on your page while showing the original author; Repost - when you screenshot/save someone’s art and post it on your page (ideally with credit, but if you’re a meanie you will just post images with no word about og author); Credit - a reference to the author «this art was made by [@author] on [this social media]». Sometimes see ppl mixing up terms 🫡

(Most of the time creators dislike reposts, bc it often leads to art theft)

Since we’re on the topic, specifically what I do have a problem with:

- Don’t use my art for AI training or for NFTs

- Don’t profit off my art (no merch is allowed without my approval, if you want to use my art for commercial purposes, this must be discussed with me in advance)

- Don't pass off my work as your own (here does reposting my art without credit, creating blogs/accounts impersonating me and so on)

- Don’t use my personal projects (this applies to my ocs, any original IPs/content I create: picture books, comics, artbooks, megadrawings etc. At some point in the future I may register a legal copyright for them btw.)

I’m more flexible and forgiving with fandom art, but still would appreciate ppl communicating with me. Fandom comic dubs - are welcomed, just be sure to credit me (tag me and share the final dub too man, I’m always interested). Fandom comic translations - ask permission first please.

This list is a pretty standard for any artist really, if you’re doubting something - feel free to ask 👍

If you see somebody breaking those/potentially breaking those - feel free to notify me 👍

I considered creating “blog rules” or “list of boundaries”, but I’m not sure if it’ll work on my blog 🤔 My header is pretty oversaturated as it is - portfolio, tags, navigation and so on; if I add rules to the pile, something tells me ppl won’t even look at it 💥 + I didn’t have specific issues with anyone yet (as far as I’m aware), I might create a list if something happens, but stayin hopeful for now

There’s certain things that do make me very uncomfortable/are triggering to me. But again didn’t have any specific issues where it was a huge problem + those stuff are highly personal to me to just put publicly. For now, I prefer to resolve issues personally, there wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle at this point 🫡 Mayhaps in the future it may change, we’ll see

Also some might have noticed that I don’t use any watermarks/signatures on my art, again considered that, but never ended up implementing that 🐻‍❄️ Some part of me just likes lookin at pictures in full HD quality with no watermark 😭 (I have an art signature, but I mostly use it in my mega drawings or if someone specifically asked for a commission lmao)

Sorry for a wall of text on such a sweet ask 💥 Just saw an opportunity to talk and took it lmao

Thank you, I really appreciate your words ❤️💕

Made a doödle of the narrator bois for the old time sake :D

Surprisingly there is a bunch of reposts of my art, with is a bit wild to me (you guys actually like my comics? 🤨 what? 🤨)

Especially never imagined my voices x princesses would get so popular 💥

Oh I see you went under read-more

Come closer

Closer

Just a smol step more

I forgot to draw Smitten’s brows in this specific frame

Now you will never unsee it 😈😈😈

*tiny mischievous bear giggling*

[accio-victuuri]

i finally found an account sharing the positive reviews ( by viewers ) for LOCH. thank you to this person for compiling✨

i posted a thoughts piece on here about some issues surrounding the movie’s release and as i mentioned there, i will be sharing the good reviews on here as they come, and now here it is. there is a lot from the reposts of OP so i will just share a couple. enjoy ^^

riddled with spoilers so be warned. ❌❌❌

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

I don't know why the sequels of the IPs in the Spring Festival did not achieve the effect I expected, but The Legend of the Condor Heroes exceeded my expectations. I have watched several of Tsui Hark's movies, and my impression of him is that he is a romantic martial arts old man. After watching The Legend of the Condor Heroes, I think this is even more true. Tsui Hark is really romantic. His lens language has its own characteristics, which is implicit and magnificent. These two somewhat contradictory words can be expressed in the movie The Legend of the Condor Heroes. It is not an exaggeration to say that Tsui Hark is the best.

source

——

The movie The Legend of the Condor Heroes is a very good work. I had low expectations because I saw many people dislike it on Weibo. I watched it based on the idea that I must watch all five movies in the Spring Festival, but The Legend of the Condor Heroes gave me a big surprise.

I have been crying since I saw Huang Rong masked and saw Guo Jing crying. The Legend of the Condor Heroes moved me. I cried for the love that accompanies each other through life and death. This silent love moved me very much. I cried that Guo Jing's mother committed suicide to protect the country so as not to drag Guo Jing down. I cried that Guo Jing did not forget his homeland after decades in Mongolia. I thought of the overseas Chinese, most of whom care about their motherland. If the motherland is in trouble, they will come back across the ocean.

I admire Tsui Hark so much. The shots are so beautiful and the love is so romantic. In Tsui Hark's writing, life is so beautiful. The only regret is that Huang Rong in my heart is more cunning and beautiful than Zhuang Dafei.

source

——

this next one is explaining the idea behind this specific scene that some people are ridiculing. cause they are expecting a big battle to happen.

The painting on the left shows the scene of Chinese soldiers guarding the border, and on the right is a picture of Guo Jing fighting against the Mongolian army. Several Chinese soldiers opened their arms to show their firm determination to defend the country's territorial sovereignty. Guo Jing was also firm in the face of foreign troops. What's wrong with this? This action is actually the first reaction in an emergency. What's wrong with this design? He is well aware of his own insignificance. Guo Jing will not use brutal killing to fight against the Mongolian army, but the Khan is not stupid. He did not retreat because he was moved. He saw Guo Jing's lethality and his own army was also demoralized, so he retreated. He didn't understand this.

source

——

Not a fan, a brief review of The Legend of the Condor Heroes. I took my parents to watch The Legend of the Condor Heroes. The first half was bland, but the second half was exciting, with many big scenes and great special effects. I was attracted by Xiao Zhan's looks before, but this time his makeup made people pay more attention to his acting skills. I think his acting is OK, his lines are also very good, and his Mongolian is well received. The heroine is cute when she smiles, but Hua Zheng is too outstanding and overshadows the heroine as soon as she appears. Tony Leung Ka Fai is worthy of being the best actor. After watching this drama, I am a fan of Ouyang Feng. I have watched too many movies in the past two years and I am aesthetically fatigued. Xu Ke's martial arts films are eye-opening.

The righteousness of the country and the family is a belief that integrates the blood of the Chinese people and will never go out of date. The show I watched was basically full, and most of them came with their parents. I don't mean to say that other movies are bad. It is true that most of my parents are more interested in Xu Ke's martial arts. The end credits of the movie came out, and everyone didn't leave until it was completely over. Most people should be satisfied. At least for me, leaving the heated room and going out in the cold, I would be really angry if I spent money to watch a movie and it was not good. but I think The Legend of the Condor Heroes is worth watching. Finally, I want to complain about the official promotion. The highlight scenes are not used for promotion at all!

source

——

Finally, let's talk about "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Greatest Hero". Tsui Hark is the best martial arts film director. The war scene between the two armies is simply too shocking!

The first 10 minutes are more than just grand and spectacular, it's simply going to blow the world away. Thousands of horses galloping and dust flying, the visual impact is so strong that it is worthy of being written by Tsui Hark.

The following story is full of romantic love and ruthless killing, and the huge contrast of alternating performances is like ice and fire.

What is the greatest hero? In order to protect one side, he is willing to give up everything and never bend. Whether it is against thousands of troops or fighting against Ouyang Feng, the Western Poison, Guo Jing and Huang Rong are both brave and courageous. Both the emotional drama and the fighting scenes are brilliant.

Guo Jing, portrayed by Xiao Zhan, has changed his previous image of being stupid and dull, and his resolute and vigorous spirit is refreshing.

Huang Rong, played by Zhuang Dafei, is no longer the wild girl who only knows how to cheat and deceive people. When it comes to the crucial moment, she is as brave as a man.

The performances of many supporting roles, such as Ouyang Feng played by Tony Leung Ka Fai and Hua Zheng played by Zhang Wenxin, are all outstanding.

Tsui Hark is undoubtedly the golden signboard of martial arts films. From the popular "Unbeatable in the East" to the benchmark-setting "New Dragon Inn", to today's classic, the overall performance of the actors, the extraordinary audio-visual feast, and the interpretation of the spirit of chivalry have all reached a level that amazes the audience.

source

——

Tsui Hark's film "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is quite a pleasant surprise. It restores many of the main characters and plots of the original novel "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". The visual impact is particularly shocking. It is indeed a masterpiece of Tsui Hark's martial arts. The movie is exciting. It not only has touching national justice, but also romantic love, the cruelty of war, and the pain of the people being displaced.

At the end of the plot, Guo Jing's dialogue with Genghis Khan clearly explains what the chivalrous spirit of "the greatest hero" is. It is not only reflected in the high martial arts, but more importantly, it is to have feelings and righteousness, care about the world, and be able to stand up in times of national crisis without considering personal safety and gains and losses. The value of "the greatest hero, for the country and the people" will make people cherish the precious peaceful environment now. When the familiar melody sounded, the call of "Brother Jing" and "Rong'er" instantly pulled back the highlights of the past years, and I couldn't help but think of the green years and college classmates chasing the TV series "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

source

——

Recommend "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", full house, more than half of them are from Hong Kong - three friends from the Greater Bay Area to Beijing and Xiangyang to watch the movie. In general, Tsui Hark's version of The Legend of the Condor Heroes still has his own distinctive style, especially the final game between Guo Jing and Ouyang Feng, which is very exciting. I was also very moved after watching it. The martial arts finally returned with the spirit of chivalrous and brave heroes. This spirit is not only needed in martial arts, but also in our era and this world. People like this are still needed to achieve and write.

A friend who works in the Greater Bay Area, "The Great Righteousness of Heroes and the Family Governing the Country and the World" - Watching "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"

I took the time to watch "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" today. Before the movie started, I made two surprising discoveries. The audience was almost full, and most of them were from Hong Kong. (Since I have lived, worked and studied in Hong Kong since the early 1990s, I can distinguish Hong Kong people and Hong Kong dialect.)

Therefore, Jin Yong's martial arts novels, TV and movies are the memories that accompanied my best years. Through his characters, Jin Yong explored themes such as loyalty, love, friendship, power, and desire, showing his deep understanding of human nature. But after watching the movie today, I have a deeper feeling than the chivalry of the martial arts world and the righteousness of the country.

In the movie, through the different levels of emotional interactions between Guo Jing and Huang Rong, between the master and the apprentice, and between the Mongolian brothers, I felt their deep friendship and chivalry. These have been the indispensable spiritual core of Chinese culture since ancient times. The chivalrous not only violates the law with force, but also walks the world with righteousness. They value their promises and put their lives aside, help the poor and the needy, and use their personal strength to maintain social fairness and justice.

In the movie, there was a dialogue between Guo Jing and the Khan on the battlefield that made me feel deeply. The Khan stared at Guo Jing and said, "I regret not giving you a Mongolian name." Guo Jing firmly replied, "Even if I have a Mongolian name, I still remember that my name is Guo Jing." ... ... The righteousness of chivalry is not only reflected in the protection of the weak, but also in the loyalty to the country and the nation. Such a deep-rooted sense of identity with the nation and the country. Throughout history, those Chinese compatriots who have made great achievements overseas and still resolutely repay their motherland are not so chivalrous!

I saw some comments online saying that this movie can be renamed "Guo Jing Chasing His Wife"... Most of them are negative comments. In fact, as an ordinary citizen, the first thing is of course the love for family and friends. If he can't love his family and handle the small family and small feelings well, how can he manage his family, govern the country and bring peace to the world? Managing the family means family harmony and a correct family style; governing the country means national stability and political clarity; bringing peace to the world means pursuing the great harmony of the world and the happiness of all people.

This concept emphasizes that the thoughts that Guo Jing's mother instilled in him since he was a child have always revolved around the gradual process of individuals, families, and then countries, and finally achieving world peace. This is also an important concept in Confucianism. I think the film team should have a very good understanding and grasp of the central idea and spirit expressed in this film. I think this is different from the previous films of Xu Laoguai, which are more profound thoughts.

The righteousness of chivalry and governing the country and bringing peace to the world by managing the family seem to belong to different fields, but in fact they have a profound internal connection. The righteous deeds of chivalrous people often start with the responsibility for the family, and then expand to the responsibility for the country and the nation. The righteousness of chivalry is the spiritual foundation of governing the country and bringing peace to the world by managing the family. Without the righteous deeds of chivalrous people, it is difficult for the family to be harmonious, the country to be stable, and the world to be peaceful.

In the long river of history, countless chivalrous people have promoted the progress of society with their righteous deeds. They may be hidden in the market or prominent in the court, but all of them put righteousness first and take the world as their responsibility. Their spirit has inspired generations of Chinese people to strive for the ideal of governing the country and bringing peace to the world by managing the family.

Today, we still need the righteousness of chivalry. In the process of modernization, social fairness and justice still need everyone to maintain. Each of us can become a chivalrous person, act righteously in the world, start from the family, and then influence the society, promote the progress of the country, and finally realize the ideal of universal peace.

The righteousness of chivalry and governing the country and bringing peace to the world by managing the family are not only the inheritance of history, but also our responsibility and mission today. Let us shoulder the responsibility of governing the country and bringing peace to the world with the spirit of a knight, and jointly create a better future.

In general, Tsui Hark's version of The Legend of the Condor Heroes shows the details and emotions of Jin Yong's original work, and still has his own distinctive style, especially the final game between Guo Jing and Ouyang Feng, which is very exciting and touching. The martial arts finally returned with the spirit of chivalrous and brave heroes. This spirit is not only needed in martial arts, but also in our era and this world. Such people are still needed to achieve and write.

source

——

this one is very long and goes into detail about some plot points so feel free to go to the source.

Maybe it’s because I’ve praised The Legend of the Condor Heroes too much. Now in the information cocoon of Weibo, Weibo keeps pushing reviews of The Legend of the Condor Heroes to me. They are all overwhelmingly criticizing Director Tsui Hark and Xiao Zhan, and some of them are very fierce.

As I said in my last Weibo post, the quality of this movie has nothing to do with Xiao Zhan. He is Director Tsui Hark’s graphic tool man, and he has fulfilled his duties as an actor. There is not much to criticize in his acting, lines, and actions. Perhaps the only thing that can be blamed on him is that he is not a martial arts actor. If he or the other two or three leading actors had martial arts skills, Director Tsui Hark might not have made this movie, which was promoted as a "martial arts", almost completely without decent martial arts scenes, only fantasy qigong scenes like in cartoons. But it’s not Xiao Zhan’s fault.

So is the quality of Director Tsui Hark’s screenwriting and directing so bad that he is trampled on like this? As a literary youth who has watched countless movies since childhood and a semi-professional novelist, from my appreciation point of view, this movie is indeed not well made. But it’s not that bad. At least my 2 hours of time was not completely wasted. At least 30 to 40 minutes were high-quality viewing time. But it requires more thinking to understand.

In this final climax, the overall logic is very good, and Xiao Zhan's facial expression when he spread his arms, and the lines in Mongolian and Chinese are also very good. The biggest failure is that Huang Rong should not stand beside him. Who is Huang Rong? What is her relationship with the opposing army? Is there any emotional connection of life and death? Nothing. It is unwise for Huang Rong to stand beside him, which greatly weakens the logic behind this contradictory confrontation and the shocking effect of the scene. In addition, it also greatly weakens the charm of Guo Jing as the protagonist in this decisive scene. I don’t know if this big failure is the decision of director Tsui Hark or because of some inexplicable reasons of the investors.

source

——

this is also very long but i will share the part about XZ and GJ.

After watching the movie with Jin Yong fans, I agreed that this version is quite innovative in shaping the character of Guo Jing compared to other versions, with less naivety and more maturity and perseverance. Xiao Zhan's interpretation of this version is sincere and decisive, and he became Guo Jing in the story in a rounded and non-sharp way.

I know a lot about the story, as an audience, I was not distracted for a minute during the movie. There was only the character of Guo Jing in the movie. What I still remember is Hua Zheng's description of Guo Jing: "You will know when you see him." Yes, you will definitely feel it when you see him in the movie world. Yes, this is Guo Jing. He is chivalrous and will never betray justice.

In addition, Xu Ge also respects female characters, and his favorite characters have always transcended the concept of gender. The adaptation of the rooftop confrontation between Huang Rong and Hua Zheng is very exciting. Female characters are no longer based on "who", but are more independent. My division is attacking in the south and will attack Xiangyang. I know that you are loyal to the country and risk your life to report it. I am sorry for your mother's tragic death, and I am ashamed to see you again. I have gone to the remote west to rely on my elder brother, and I will never set foot on my homeland again. May you take good care of yourself and live a long and happy life. The casting of Hua Zheng is extremely suitable for the free and easy and bloody nature of the grassland heroine that is highly summarized in the letter she gave to Guo Jing in the original work, which is very moving.

source

——

First of all, I am not a fan of Xiao Zhan. I started to pay attention to Xiao Zhan because of a little girl who came to my company for internship a few years ago.

Secondly, there were so many people watching the movie. I watched it in the Dolby Hall today, and except for the first two rows, it was basically full. When everyone was waiting to be seated, they actually lined up at the door of the theater. I haven't seen it for many years.

Thirdly, I give the movie 8 points. I feel that the plot can be fuller (I vaguely feel that it has been cut), and Huang Rong is a little bit worse, although I like the last shot of Huang Rong pulling Guo Jing up to make a protective posture, which perfectly reflects that "Guo Jing is Huang Rong's world".

The last point is the reason why I strongly recommend it:

as a generation that grew up reading Jin Yong's novels. This version of Guo Jing should be the Guo Jing in Mr. Jin Yong's mind.

In the novel, Guo Jing is the character that Genghis Khan's daughter loves but cannot get and never marries. He is the character that Huang Yaoshi's daughter, who is proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, falls in love with at first sight. He is the character that all upright masters are willing to teach their lifelong skills.

source

——

I watched The Legend of the Condor Heroes and here are 9 thoughts, some good and some bad. Please forgive me if I said something wrong:

1. The big scenes are quite good and magnificent, and must be praised.

2. Xiao Zhan is the most handsome Guo Jing in history, and his appearance is good, heroic and upright.

3. The greatest heroes protect the country and the people. Guo Jing rode alone to stop tens of thousands of Mongolian cavalry, and said to the Khan, "Heroes must have compassion..." This is Tsui Hark's public evaluation of heroes through the movie, which is very bold. If you don't see this, you underestimate Tsui Hark.

4. Hua Zheng's actor is well chosen, and everyone loves her. Guo Jing has no reason to refuse the marriage.

5. In the final battle, the Western Poison became a demon, and "martial arts" became "demon skills", which is a bit too much.

6. Huang Rong's spirit is gone, which makes people wonder how she can become the leader of the Beggars' Sect. But Zhuang's appearance is still okay.

7. There are more shots of Guo Jing's mother.

8. For some plots, such as the reunion of Guo Jing and Huang Rong, there is no need to go against the original work. Jin Yong wrote about the world of martial arts! It would be great to film it as it is, with lightning rods and dark rainy nights, which is so disgusting.

9. The old songs of The Legend of the Condor Heroes are very good, at least they set off a small part of the atmosphere and feelings. Classics cannot be surpassed, no matter how great the AI ​​can be, which makes people feel gratified about the future of art in the AI ​​era.

source

——

The first movie for this year's Spring Festival was the most popular "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Greatest Hero". As a post-80s generation, I believe that many people, like me, have a strong obsession with The Condor Heroes, and also have their own images of Guo Jing and Huang Rong that suit them best. I was quite surprised that Xiao Zhan and Zhuang Dafei's interpretation of Huang Rong and Guo Jing exceeded my imagination. Guo Jing's persistence and honesty, and Huang Rong's eccentricity are all vividly portrayed on the screen.

The most moving part of the whole play is the handling of the conflict in the core plot, the national sentiment reflected by Guo Jing when he was faced with the choice between family affection and righteousness in the end, and his mother Li Ping's death in the face of national justice, all reflect the theme of the whole play - the greatest hero.

The ending of the story handles the plot between affection and righteousness very well, which is also a plus for this film

source

AND TO THE LUCKY ONES WHO HAVE WATCHED IT VIA INTERNATIONAL SCREENINGS, I encourage you to make your own reviews & share it ✨😊

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Now that there's an animated adaptation of Midnight Sun coming, and given the industry's recent track record (see: Minecraft Movie), what's the worst, bad faith, cash grab adaptation idea you can imagine? I figure if we inoculate ourselves then the reality won't suck so much.

My nightmare: Streaming has a long history of making shitty attempts at "adult animation", so we'll get an Edward who constantly cusses and does lewd jokes. It'll be like the HBO adult animated Velma (Scooby Doo) show where the writers' disdain for the characters fills every scene. The first episode will focus on how Carlisle helps plan a murder of some overly suspicious deputy so they can keep living in Forks.

Anyways, worst case theories? So we can feel better when it's not THAT bad? Or else use the apollo prophecy meme on your post a year or two from now.

My 'realistic' prediction

Twilight: The Edgy Animated Adult Series with Twelve Times More Drugs and Swearing

Oh man, yours is worse than mine. I mean this guessing the future business is a little silly in general, but I think that wouldn't happen as Twilight's not...

How do I put this?

Scooby Doo is a beloved, vintage, IP that's so well-known it's a part of American culture/Americana. It's in that weird place where it's acceptable to do edgy reboots of it because everyone already knows the premise of the Scooby gang, each individual character, the bad guys, and their mysteries.

You don't have to explain who any of the characters are supposed to be, so you get a "ah ha ha ha isn't it funny that Velma swears now?" because you know she's from a 1960's cartoon.

Twilight's not quite old enough for that and, at least in my opinion, not pervasive enough for that. It was a huge sensation, but was never as big as HP, and dominated only a subset of the YA audience (female-targeted YA romance). Ask a person off the street and the most they can probably, maybe, tell you is "sparkly vampires and Team Edward and Team Jacob". So, at best you get riffs like we saw when Twilight came out with the Simpsons and various other parodies where the parodies... really didn't know what to do with the characters or what it was even about. "Milhouse turns into a poodle, I guess? Is that funny? It's funny, right?"

Twilight just isn't old enough and as big as it was, I don't think was widespread enough.

So, I think we're going to get an earnest reboot.

But you do now have me concerned. And I may be eating my words later on this post and reblogging with a clown face.

Other Theories

Alright, let's see what we've got/what we can come up with:

Yours: HBO adult comedy horror fest

Mine: Boring, Snoozeville, Tame, Generically Arted Palatable Twilight that is Designed to Be as Appealing as Possible

Other options I can think of are...

Interview with a Vampirepalooza/Oh God I Don't Know What's Popular: given the recent success of Interview with a Vampire, an edgier adult story with adult characters, Netflix will look to make Twilight their exact own version of that. Except they won't understand what made it work there. We sexy it up but in a CW way, the kids are all still in high school but the fact that the Cullens are fucking each other is brought up relentlessly in an edgy way. The vampires all look hot, hot, hot but in a normal human way where you're not terrified they're some crystal robot out to eat your limbs. We'll keep some of the artsy weird dialogue, but Edward will be both somehow made more sympathetic (as he is the lead we end up with) and 'dark' where he's dangerous in a sexy way and not in a "you smell like my personal heroin way".

The Buffy Route: remember that one teen show from the 90's that was so good it spun off an entire genre of television that essentially hadn't existed before? Twilight becomes a fun teen oriented show where the characters say witty, fun, teenage-like things and get into episodic mysteries while somehow trying to remain in the realm of Twilight. Edward loses his edge, Bella loses her unrelatable nature, and we really play up every time a character has a funny line and write a lot more in there. Unfortunately, it's not a well written teen comedy show and so the lines are just generally bad and the plot never seems to go anywhere and it's just boring.

Hannibal the Twilight: some really artsy director gets involved and we now have a show where the symbolism of Edward walking around as a man-deer takes over the entire fucking thing. Nothing ever happens, Edward just shows up in Bella's dreams as a snarling man deer. When characters talk to each other, it's in artsy nonsense dialogue where it feels like both are reading 2000's era chatbot scripts to one another as they mix metaphors about ponies, china pottery, and dust motes. The plot is so non-existant the only important episodes to watch in a season are the premier and finale, except even then it's unclear what happened.

Audience Input

Anyone else got any wild guesses here?

[aria-greenhoodie]

You asked and ye shall receive. Aria,why do you use birds to symbolize Abigale's inner turmoil?. Besides the obvious surname thing. Also you apparently have more thoughts on the Muse art? 👀,explain?.

So obviously yeah, “Blackwing” is such a bird surname. BUT THATS ONLY THE SURFACE!

Birds are so often used as symbols of freedom, creatures untethered by laws of the land due to their ability to fly. In the same way, I imagine Abigale as being similar; free, not having to abide by the laws of her land as much as others did. In order to explain I think I have to dive into my version of Abigale’s backstory a bit…

(Warning: I’m going off what I know about 1800-1900s American Society. I’m no historian, but I’ve tried to keep things as believable as possible. I will say I’m pretty confident in that believability thanks to my feminist history class I been taking this semester.)

Born in the early 1880s, the Blackwing family was wealthy, yet fairly unknown. Calling it a “family” before Abigale’s birth would be a stretch in many’s opinion, being made up of just Mr. Atticus Blackwing and Mrs. Chastity Blackwing. Chastity tragically passed in childbirth, leaving Atticus to raise Abigale all on his own. He became fiercely protective and supportive of the young Abigale, a tiny spitting image of his late wife.

Abigale was always an insatiably curious child. At first, Atticus tried to teach her how to be a lady, to be domestic, to cook and clean and dote on her future husband, but quickly realized he was woefully unequipped for teaching a subject he knew nothing about. What’s more: Abigale HATED her womanly lessons. Instead, Atticus decided to let her learn something she actually was interested in; inventing.

Abigale loved to tinker, to create. The mechanical was a fascination of hers from the moment she saw it. Atticus as an architect had some mechanical knowledge, but not to the level Abigale’s insatiable desire to learn needed. But what engineering school would allow a woman in? At this point in the late 1800s, women were nearly always snubbed in inventing spaces, most universities not even offering engineering degrees for female students.

And so, Abigale’s “twin brother” Abraham Blackwing was created. A pseudonym for Abigale, under which she would don Atticus’s old clothes from his boyhood and attend a prestigious engineering school. Her father even falsified documents like Abraham’s birth certificate to make him appear like a legitimate person. It was risky, as crossdressing was a punishable offense by law back then, but Abigale was willing to take that risk if it meant she could learn.

Between her rich father supporting her every decision and passion, and her alter-ego, Abraham, to fall back on, Abigale had a lot of freedom growing up. When her father died of an illness just before she graduated, he left “Abraham” everything, which of course meant that Abigale could “live with her brother” and hold a bank account under his name. She was truly given every opportunity for freedom, more than any woman of her time.

And then, Bill Cipher enters her life.

She’s plagued by the triangular demon ip every night in her dreams, but she refuses to succumb to the shape’s demands. As tempting as building a machine like an inter-dimensional portal was, she knew better than to trust a man who wouldn’t explain his motives. When Abigale asked why Bill wanted this portal built, he couldn’t give her a straight answer, and that was enough proof to know he was no good.

After weeks of restless nights and aggravation, Abigale finds a peculiar ad in the paper, written by a certain Thurburt Mudget Waxstaff III…

On some level, she has to thank Bill for entering her life as much as she has to curse him for it. If he had never decided to torment her specifically, she never would have met the rest of the Anti-Cipher Society. Abigale THRIVED in the society, delighted in inventing new ways to ward off Cipher, collaborating with her dear Jessamine to create specialized weaponry, learning self defense from Horace, gossiping with O’Pimm, spending night after night explaining the mechanics of how her inventions worked to Thurburt so he could whip up a stellar sales pitch… she had never felt more alive! She was flying high, much like a bird on the wind.

And then the conference happened.

Thurburt was institutionalized, right then and there. Abigale watched the asylum workers from backstage with mounting horror. Worst case scenario for Thurburt, he’d be locked in a cell or sent out west at some work camp, but for Abigale? If the asylum workers got ahold of her, she knew they’d think her hysterical. Treatments for “insane” men were often much kinder than treatments for women in those times. Deeming Thurburt insane would send him to a locked cell, but he would at least be allowed to remain himself. Abigale had heard of women like her, eccentric unmarried women, “frivolous women” as they were often called, being scooped up by doctors and spat back onto the street with their entire personalities wiped. A hammer and a well placed nail up the inside of one’s nose could do heinous things. Abigale would sooner die then let them take what made her HER away.

So she ran. She tried to take Jessamine with her, but she refused to leave Thurburt. For six days Abigale hid in the society’s underground bunker, terrified of venturing outside, not knowing what happened to her companions besides Thurburt. She only ventured out on the seventh day because she had run out of food.

She couldn’t go back to her house, when she tried to scope it out, she saw the asylum workers already knocking at her door. She couldn’t stay in the bunker, it was only a matter of time before it was found. She was desperate for a way out, to keep herself free.

And here comes Mr. Northwest.

See, the thing about birds is that while they make excellent symbols of freedom, they also make excellent symbols of being trapped. Birds can be put into cages, forced to sing or speak for meager treats, and lets not forget that at that time most birdcages were anything but spacious and comfortable. Most captive birds of the time were expected to die quickly, only purchased in order to sing prettily for a short while before their tiny little hearts stopped beating. Birds are as much a symbol of freedom as they are of captivity, of being trapped, of the LOSS of freedom.

Abigale never wanted to be a wife, but what choice did she have? Mr. Northwest offered her a way out if she married him. Her choice was thus: escape the state with Mr. Northwest as her husband, or stay in town and eventually be found and promptly lobotomized, erased of any trace of her real personality.

She chose the former.

Better to live in a gilded cage, twittering for scraps, then to be gutted and stuffed on som taxidermist’s wall…

Right?

As for the muse stuff most of my trout process I already told you in the notes of the original piece lol

[starship-squalleater]

tell us more about matt please, he was a guest speaker at your uni?

Yes!! yes yes. He was here to do an interview/lecture about 'crafting a narrative', so he answered questions from a professor here about critical role, games, his 'secret origin story', and a number of other things. It was legit so nice. I think I'm a little in love with him. who said that.

It was so surreal to see him in person. He looked kind of sheepish as we were all cheering, like he wasn't supposed to be there- we were all over the moon. When prompted for his origin story, he talked about how his grandmother, a little old lady from georgia, was secretly super into fantasy and got him hooked on piers anthony and isaac asimov as an eight year old, and how his dad doing occasional background voice work got him interested and how that snowballed into years of hard work in hollywood.

He talked about his friend Liam mentioning that he hadn't been able to play DnD since he was little and how he offered to DM a one shot for his birthday- and how a few weeks later he was meeting a few acquaintances to discuss characters (he said he was flustered meeting Ashley Johnson who he'd grown up watching), and then afterwards they started meeting more and more often. Then as word got around they were doing it, Felicia Day offered to put them on a new twitch channel- and how nerve wracking it was to put themselves out there and on the internet.

he said to lean into your passions. Nowadays there's a tendency to call passion 'cringe', but there's nothing shameful about loving the things you care about.

He talked about how capitalism wants you to produce and produce and produce and how that is antithetical to art and to creating, because in order to really make something you're proud of you need to have the time to do it. This led into him talking about making the animated show, how after the kickstarter blew up a bunch of companies approached them, wanting to own the ip. he described it as the moment in a movie when someone pushes a little paper with some exorbitant amount on it- but he said that none of them wanted to be millionaires. They weren't in it for money, so they said no and partnered with the only company who wanted to let them do their own thing: Amazon. He acknowledged the irony of that, and how surprised all of them were when that was the company that gave them the most freedom.

there was so much other stuff- he talked about how the industry is a community, how you can be a really successful actor and also a good person, how everyone should be lifting each other up because it wasn't a race to the top, it was collaboration. Really wonderful stuff, you know? His philosophy of being kind really shone through the whole time.

anyway of course there was more but this is off the top of my head what he talked about!! it was so so good bro I love that man. always meet your heroes.

[lovelytayforce]

Alright, KFP fandom, we gotta talk about "Discrimination" 🎉

Cause, not even to be mean, y'all kinda dumb. Y'all sound like the type of person to tell me "No racism exists in the North" and lemme tell ya as someone from the North, there is but it's DIFFERENT. And before you ask, Yes this is about The Chameleon (who will be called Cammy cause I am lazy and deserve to be paid for this shit.) and the fandoms massive misunderstanding of her single line about being denied access to Kung Fu because she's "little". And I see your lil fingers tapping away to howl about "MASTER MANTIS" and some LOA rejects. And remember that earlier example I brought up about discrimination existing in the north but its just different from the South? Yeah, its the same thing. Some people can get past that challenge but some of us aren't that lucky and you all forget about my MAIN MAN, THE GOAT, Crane!!!

Yeah, the brother whose almost as tall as Tigress, yeah he was discriminated against for his skinny frame and detered from trying out and I think it's funny y'all leave my boy out but that doesn't fit your little gotcha, now does it?

but that's okay, that's why you have me, to be your funny and slightly cute know it all~💕 Back to the topic at hand, this conversation also leaves out how Po wanted Shifu to change him, after all the verbal abuse that lil man hurled at him. This is where that line "We're not so different, you and I." comes to shine. Cammy didn't have an event such as Oogway's death to shake those Master's to their core to train her. No, they were probably just proud teachers who denied all those beneath them, which is not uncommon, you can see this in a lot of Kung fu flicks, keeping certain arts from certain territories close and always wanting to prove whose kung fu is superior. Again, NORMIES GO WATCH IP MAN! Go watch peak cinema!!!! It's on YOUTUBE FOR FREE: https://youtu.be/zGD9OFmxYXM?si=XL-aetJOnCSftIP_

Anyways, I hope this enlightened you all a bit so we can stop this very shallow puddle of an argument against her words cause you sound ignorant doing that considering all the discrimination present in the series as it is, especially Tigress. Whoo, that needs its own post! That's next level of discrimination upon a child. 💀 Anyways, stop forgetting about Crane!!!!

[showakyonen]

ON THAT "GOOSEWORX" DOCUMENT:

I THINK THE INTERACTIONS WITH THE ONE GUY LISTED FIRST ARE WORTH AN EYEBROW RAISE. SOME OF THE ART BEING POSTED AND REPLIED TO IS RIGHTFULLY UNDER CONSIDERATION, ESPES SINCE THE GUY WAS 17. HOWEVER, SINCE THE "VICTIM" DID NOT PERSONALLY SPEAK UP THEMSELVES, I'M INCLINED TO BE A LITTLE... EH. SKEPTICAL ISN'T THE WORD, MAYBE HESITANT? DESPITE SUCH INTERACTIONS BEING PUBLIC, I HAVE TO WONDER IF THE CREATORS OF SUCH A DOCUMENT GOT INTO CONTACT WITH THE NG ARTIST MENTIONED IN THE FIRST PLACE. I WAS PUT IN A CALLOUT DOCUMENT PAINTING ONE OF MY CLOSE FRIENDS AS HARMFUL WITHOUT MY OWN CONSENT OR THE ABILITY TO SPEAK UP ON MY OWN, AND IT FUCKED ME AND MY FRIEND UP HEAVILY. BUT I WILL SAY NOTHING ELSE ON IT

HOWEVER, THE OTHER POINT IN THE DOC IS... REALLY FUCKING STUPID. SORRY. GOOSEWORX HAS A FOLLOWING OF OVER 350K AND IT'S UNREASONABLE TO EXPECT SOMEONE TO VET THAT, AS WELL AS CHECKING THE ACCOUNTS OF ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT REPLY TO HER. NOT TO MENTION THAT IT IS HER PERSONAL TWITTER ACCOUNT, IT'S NOT GLITCH'S AND IT'S NOT AN OFFICIAL TADC ACCOUNT.

HER AUDIENCE WAS MATURE PRIOR TO TADC. TADC WAS NEVER INTENDED FOR CHILDREN, THAT WAS JUST THE AUDIENCE IT HAPPENED TO ACCUMULATE. HER ACKNOWLEDGING AND SORT OF POKING FUN AT THE YOUNGER FANBASE OF TADC ON HER PERSONAL TWITTER ACCOUNT IS NOT AN ADMISSION OF GUILT. THAT CONTENT, AND CONTENT MUCH MORE EXTREME THAN IT, IS RAMPANT ON TWITTER. I DON'T DESIRE TO GET INTO THE DISCUSSION OF "PARENTS ARE LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTROLLING WHAT THEIR CHILDREN SEE ONLINE AND WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA THEY HAVE", BUT THAT'S WHAT IT LARGELY BOILS DOWN TO. SOME OF THE SCREENSHOTS IN THE DOC ALSO DATE BACK TO 2022, WHEN GOOSEWORX WAS VERY VERY FAR FROM THE PUBLIC SPOTLIGHT SHE'S IN NOW, SO THE "LE MINOR FANBASE!11!11" THING KINDA... FALLS FLAT.

THE INCLUSIONS OF HER TWEETS ABOUT "DRIVING AWAY THE FANBASE" AND WHATNOT ALSO FEEL VERY INGENUINE, CONSIDERING THE FACT THEY'RE OBVIOUSLY JOKES. GOOSEWORX HAS SAID THE WRITING IS SET IN STONE AND SHE ISN'T GOING TO BE CHANGING IT

AND, MAN, I FEEL IT SHOULD BE VERY OBVIOUS THAT SHE DOESN'T HANDLE THINGS LIKE MERCH LISCENSING OR THE OUTSELLING OF THE IP TO BE MADE INTO MERCHANDISE. GLITCH IS CORP. THEY HANDLE THAT. I WAS LEGITIMATELY UPSET WHEN I FOUND OUT THEY HAD COSTUMES MADE IN CHILD SIZES BECAUSE THAT. GOES AGAINST HER VISION ENTIRELY. BUT WHATEVER

EDGY BULLSHIT IS EDGY BULLSHIT. EDGY BULLSHIT IS ALSO FROM 3 YEARS AGO.

TL;DR: SEEMS LIKE A LOT OF OTHER RANDOM SHIT IS BEING SHOEHORNED ALONGSIDE THE ORIGINAL POINT TO MAKE THINGS SEEM WORSE THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE. READ CALLOUT DOCUMENTS WITH NUANCE AND DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH PLEASE I AM BEGGING WOW!

[avaisnerdytoo]

Just let artists cook.

I am genuinely so freaking hyped for this game. I am really surprised at how much effort they are putting in!!

Obviously it hasn't come out yet and all, but from what I've seen it looks great!

Nevertheless.

The art style is lovely!! And very free as well, I really like how they are working with the proportions, a comic book feel matters a lot, it allows characters like Doom to feel so imposing. It is also very fun to see how all the movements are very swift, from what I saw even in game.

I can see the Overwatch inspiration, the anime inspiration but also just fun yk? Obviously the game needs to be cartoony to allow for all types of skins down the line, but allowing themselves to go hard on the effects and scenarios really hypes you up to want to be in that world, and to want to be your favorite hero.

Think about it, when your team wants to give you a callout they'll call you: "Iron Man, Spidey, Venom, Doom, Strange". That's fun haha.

"you Spidey you suck" that'll happen to of course...

The benefit of existing iP huh?

-

It also does well one of my personal biggest peeves, an Iron Man Suit that's bulky and done well, I feel some artists overdo it and they give him what feels more like a mech, he's always meant to be sleek, cause that's Tony. They struck a lovely balance.

-

And the idea that the story has a Future Dr. Doom vs a Present Dr. Doom is hilariously in character, imagine being the Goat to such a point that a future version of you that has more knowledge is still challenged by yourself.

[romanceyourdemons]

Besides Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, what kung-fu actors would you personally recommend the filmography of the most?

donnie yen is an easy answer. he’s frankly a genius at fighting and choreography, and although most of his filmography is pretty bog standard hong kong action stuff, it’s pretty good bog standard hong kong action stuff, with a couple of standout pieces like ip man (2008) and the lost bladesman (2011) that are must-watches. sammo hung is also hugely talented, both in his comedic and serious performances, and with films he performs in himself and that he choreographs. chow yun-fat, ti lung, and cheng pei-pei are not only very skilled actors and martial artists, but following their filmographies will show you some of the best and most-renowned martial arts films of the past 70 years. not all of the venom mob’s films are good, but the ones that are easy to find are very very good (especially the fight choreography). and of course you can’t beat stephen chow for a comedic performance

[theliterarywolf]

Okay pleeeeeeease tell me you've been seeing the Latin community tearing this new show from Disney to shreds

It's called Oye Primos and from what little I could gather (my Spanish is very bad) the name alone is a grammatical error, (its supposed to be oye primo, no s?) when someone tried to point it out to the creator she got upset, one character is name cuqito and some said it meant "cockroach" while others said it can also mean "pussy" another named Gordita (obvious what that means) the town they live in literally being named Earthquake Heights (holy shit that's fucked)

The opening theme ended up getting universally panned everywhere online to the point Disney removed it everywhere except for YouTube

And the pitch Bible just kept tossing the word latinx all over, and well we know how much controversy that word has

And this is just a me thing but personally, I hate the art style it's really ugly

Oh, you mean 'Mexican Loud House but Not Even Because The Casagrandes Exists?'

Yeah, I've seen that shitshow of an initial promo-run. I think it says something that the few decent Mexican/Mesoamerican IPs that we've gotten in recent years have pretty much been via the shoulders of one man who just so happens to be, I don't know, passionate about good-looking animation and good writing?

[booksinpiles]

A Book-Buyer's Manifesto

Allow me to preface this with two qualifiers:

I spend far too much time researching and purchasing books, so the things that rub against my soul like a large, invisible and slightly rusty cheese grater may not trouble most book lovers; this is in the nature of a personal rant and may not generalize.

I understand that the complaints I am making are not, by and large, the fault of authors. Furthermore, I understand that capitalism sinks its thick, warped, blood-hungry roots into everything, and I am sure that editors, reviewers, designers, etc. are simply reacting to the panopticon market.

On to the complaints!

“I wish to register a complaint.” - Monty Python’s Flying Circus

***

Stop 👏 Using 👏 AI

I do not care what publishers are being told by investors or marketing teams or anyone else with an inherent fondness for a well-placed decimal point. I do not want my books read to me by machines. Even if publishers can ethically source and reproduce the voice of my beloved Andrew Robinson, (and pay him handsomely for the trouble) who is capable of sending many a merry sparkle down my spinal column, I do not want books read to me by machines. I do not want the rich tradition of oral storytelling (of which audio books are the heirs) stripped of the cadence, the laughter, and the magic of human intonation. If AI is growing bored, it can do some laundry.

In this same vein: I do not want cover art created by AI. I do not want AI-generated summaries. Fuck off.

Speaking of Summaries:

🧑‍🎓 If college freshman can do it, Simon and Schuster, baby, so can you.👩‍🎓

I have spent many semesters teaching writers how to summarize the words and the works of other writers with whom they find themselves in conversation. One of the surest indicators of a researcher’s grasp of their topic is if that writer can explain the material to another student. To do so, summary is usually required.

I have no connections with or insight into the world of publishing, but, apparently, everyone in the last decade decided to call in sick on “how to sum up this book” day.

The back of a book should include a brief description of what in the Sam hell that book is about. In four to eight sentences, tell the reader who the main character is/characters are, when/where the story is occurring, how it all takes place, and why they should care.

A book summary should not:

excerpt the book in italics. If I want an excerpt, I will undertake the radical and transformative step of opening the book.

compile praise from famous names. I don’t care that Stephen King liked this book (or was paid or pressured to say as much). I am not Steve. If I want to read book reviews, various publications and websites have me covered. I don’t care how great the book is if I don’t know what it is about.

write an equation in the form of: “if you liked X and Y, you’re going to love the book in your hands!” I do not currently wish to consider X and Y IPs. I am considering this book which is neither X nor Y. If it cannot stand on its own merits without the mention of Star Wars, Jurassic Park, South Park or whatever television series is hot right now, why should I bother with it?

On that note:

🍿 Leave Derivation to the Movies 🍿

I understand that one of the ways to “win” at capitalism is to observe a successful product and then produce one’s own version of it. However, I would like to propose a decade-long moratorium on all titles that are intended to conjure A Song of Ice and Fire. To all authors currently at work on A Vest of Mites and Mouse Droppings, I wish you joy of finding a new title. Likewise, the next person who strips a woman’s identity by using a title like The Radish Pickler’s Wife gets slapped. Magical schools of any kind are right out, as are any version of The Hunger Games.

Likewise, readers may no longer be lured in by the marriage of beloved IPs. That is, no more “The Terror meets The Wizard of Oz.” Don’t get me wrong - arctic, brooding Tin Man sounds a delight, but if the story containing him cannot be described independently of the source material, keep working on that synopsis.

🎉 Representation for All 🎉

Publishers are also to be discouraged from using identities (transgender, disabled, cultural, etc.) as marketing tools when the book in question makes no serious effort at actual representation but, rather, seeks to check off any “buzzy” term in order to sell more copies. I am delighted that readers are now seeing more representation in literature; everyone deserves to see themselves reflected in art. However, publishers should not introduce characters as Suzie Queue, a person of color who struggled with chronic illness and poverty unless these traits are (a) part of the story in question and (b) actually explored and engaged with during the course of the narrative. If Suzie can be stripped of all the markers listed above without altering the story, revision is needed. If Suzie has been constructed solely as a sales pitch, said book should be edited or reconsidered.

Publishers should also stop trying to seize on certain categories to the exclusion of everything else. I adore sapphic content - but not in cases where I feel that it was generically stamped onto a story because another title sold well. Please release a variety of books with a variety of characters and representations - but do it with some modicum of honesty. (Yes, capitalism, I know).

1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣ Not Everything Needs to be a Series 4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣

‘Nuff said.

💙💙 The Book with the Blue Cover 💙💙

Stop making every book cover in a given genre look identical. The technology  (and the underpaid artists) exists to make even the spines and the page edges beautiful; don’t let medieval monks outdo you, publishers. Make covers unique, distinguishable from one another, and breathtaking.

No more cutesy animated people on book covers. Romance novels are especially bad for this. The options seem to be (a) male gaze, (b) female gaze, (c) this cover art appears to have been designed for a third grader. All of these make me feel icky.

Artists, I am not trying to harm you, here, but, sometimes, art must bow before practicality. With that in mind: titles should be clear. Do not include a hyphen if there isn’t one. Do not “artfully arrange” the subtitle so that it is unclear which is the primary. Boring is fine if that is what is required to achieve legible. Do not break a word across lines or make letters “wavy.” I realize this seems silly (can’t I just look up any confusing titles?) but internet algorithms are currently hell on wheels (looking at you, Amazon, and your popularity nonsense), so I would rather not.

Why (YA), why!?

Blink 182 famously informed listeners that “nobody likes you when you’re twenty-three,” but, as a reader, seventeen is the age that has me grating my teeth. As a lifelong reader who did not have a rich, varied YA market (the options were Christopher Pike, kids with cancer, or Amish life at my local library and I cannot explain why), I am thrilled to see YA thrive and provide representation to all sorts of readers. However, life does not end at twenty-five. There should be more fun novels for readers of every age. Release the coming-of-age book, by all means, but, publishers, here is a money grab for you: release it again, with slight modifications, as a book with grown-up characters.

Readers, what else did I miss?

[demonfox38]

Completed (Early Access Content) - Palworld

Look, man. I know I can't call this an official completion, given that the game is still in early access. But I trashed all available bosses and 10/10'ed each of those little Pal bastards, so that has to be indicative of some level of mastery, right?

Or maybe I've got to explain why I disappeared down this hole for the last few months.

I'm not what you'd call a cutting-edge kind of person when it comes to technology. Considering that most of my game consoles are old enough to purchase cigarettes and alcohol, it's safe to say I'm fairly retro. A throwback. Happiest with something made between 1986 and 2005 (or, at the very least, looks and acts like that.) Getting in on an early access for a game is not my thing at all.

So, "Palworld" is a bit of an anomaly. Maybe, in many ways.

"Palworld" is a hybrid crafting, survival, base management, third person shooter, and creature catching game. It stars your customizable character de jour who is forced to survive on an isolated island full of inhospitable terrain, monsters of various levels of aggression, and asshole humans. What's the secret behind the looming towers and massive Yggdrasil-like tree glowing in the distance? I don't know. The tree part of the content isn't out, yet. But, you can at least explore the island and wail on the asses of those that dare to conquer it for their own varied ends. That's at least 100 hours of content right there!

Since its early access release in January of 2024, "Palworld" has garnered a fair amount of attention. Good. Bad. All over the place. Definitely a case of the old phrase "all publicity is good publicity." While not the first in terms of creation when it comes to edgy monster collecting games (with "Megami Tensei" loudly coughing in some dusty old corner), it is unique in its game style mix. Perhaps not visually unique enough, given how certain "Pokémon" fans were sharpening their Honedges after the very first glance they took at this game. Its publisher having a previous game that openly used AI art generation didn't help its credibility, either! (Although, that game also is about rewarding players for detecting art made by an AI opponent a la an elementary-school art class "Among Us", so judge accordingly.)

I get it. I've got some degree of Nintendo brain rot, too. Did you check my avatar and username? But, I also know that Nintendo can and will obliterate anything in its path with Death Star-adjacent precision and power, especially when it comes to any potential IP infringement. Hell, they crumpled two emulators into a black hole mere weeks after this game's early access released. If they had any notion that something was off with this game, they'd have it annihilated—for better or worse.

Like most modern games, my attention was drawn to this title via watching several streamers play. (In particular, PatStaresAt, WoolieVersus, and Vinesauce, if you're wanting names.) Now, I'd like to be coy and pretend that online videos don't influence my interest in games, but I also own a copy of the SNES game "Lagoon" because I loved watching PJDiCesare clown on it. Hell, I only backed "Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night" after watching Liam Allen-Miller replicate "Castlevania"-Metroidvania physics in a YouTube preview! I see a video, my brain makes judgements, I variably engage in commerce. And, to be honest, I like games like this. "Breath of the Wild." "Pokémon Legends: Arceus." "Minecraft." I wanted a game like this, so hell. I was willing to gamble $30.00 USD on this, bugs and unfinished status and all.

I think I may have gotten my money's worth out of this.

Was the game play that addicting, or was I in a depression spiral triggered by bad working conditions at my job and my maternal grandmother's health issues precipitating more labor on my family's behalf? Yes. To which part of that question? Yes. While the game attempts to guide the player via an early game tutorial and tasks for building up your bases, you're mostly left on your own to build both the world and yourself in whatever image you'd like. Want to build a Babylonian tower to offend whatever god created this world? Okay. Want to drop everything on the floor like an agitated toddler and/or "Resident Evil 0" protagonist? Whatever makes you happy! Want to build a rocket launcher and shoot it at a dragon's face? That can be done! It just might take some time.

Because the game consists of different play styles, I found myself alternating often between game loop sets. Usually, it broke into a stack of tasks like this:

Determine nearest threat (monster fighting.)

Gather materials (crafting.)

Return to/establish a base (base management.)

Build what I can (crafting/base management.)

Loop steps 2-4 until items of desire were created (crafting/base management.)

Gather/raise Pals to attack nearest threat (monster fighting.)

Return to Step 2 for final repairs and/or weapon creation (crafting.)

Attack threat (monster fighting.)

Reset to step 2 on failure and step 1 on success.

While catching and raising monsters tends to garner you the most experience points, your character will more or less remain just a nuisance to a bulk of the major threats in the game. At best, you've got a rocket launcher, an automatic rifle, a sword, and shot-deflecting shields and armor. You put out maybe around 600 damage with a weapon that takes a second to reload. The bosses you fight? They can have anywhere from 30,000 to 200,000 HP. When it comes to survival, it isn't about how much damage you can take or give. It's about what you learn and how you deploy your so-called Pals.

If you are planning on taking a shot every time I write the word "Pokémon" in this review, you might want to switch off the liquor now and move to a soda. Do your liver a favor.

A lot of the game's rules can be reduced to "Pokémon - 1" or "Pokémon / 2". This includes:

How many monsters you can take with you (5 instead of 6)

How many moves they have (3 instead of 4)

Your level cap (50 vs. 100, but that may just be an early access limitation)

How many elements are in game (9 vs. 18. Also, don't expect much in the way of complex monster typing line-ups. You may end up overthinking fights.)

Having said that, the complexity here isn't lost. You're obviously doing a lot more home ec to keep your bases up to snuff. Where "Palworld" really succeeds is in its battle speed, scale, and options. Pals will automatically engage based on whatever aggression level you have them set at, performing moves without your instruction. Several different monster types and human factions can be thrust together to duke it out. It can get quick and chaotic, often forcing you to get your ass out of the line of fire. When you do want to get manual? Well, hell. Some Pals can be a ridable mount, and some can act as living artillery for your use. Is it responsible to give a giant panda a grenade launcher? Well, who's gonna stop you? The cops?

Also, it's awesome that you can teach Pals whatever moves exist via fruits. It's nice not to have to look up some table online for move compatibility. (A shame that the same can't be said about its breeding, but more on that in a bit.)

"Palworld" certainly has a different take on its so-called Pals, especially in compared to "Pokémon" titles. Don't expect the first monster you pick up to go on and become some powerhouse fueled by respect and love for you as a caretaker. There are Pals that are great, and there are Pals that suck. (The game is more than happy to tell you which is which in its Paldeck.) You're rewarded for getting at least 10 of them, but you won't have the space to keep 10 of every species. You can slaughter Pals for parts or mush a bunch of them together a la "Shin Megami Tensei" to make the surviving unit stronger. Basically, you're expected to keep updating and consolidating your inventory of friends so that you can cut down on your work loop time and challenge the other assholes vying for territory on Palpagos Island. (Seriously—that is its name!) You're not really supposed to be getting attached to any of them.

And yet…well, the nature of a person eventually reveals itself, doesn't it?

While the game allows you to take many unscrupulous actions, you're rarely rewarded for acting like an inflamed, gaping asshole. Yeah, you can slaughter your Pals, but you're losing out on making others stronger if you do that. You can capture other humans like you would a Pal, but they won't provide much in the way of help on your bases or in battle. (Apparently, you can sell them off, too? Fucked up all around.) Hell, you can even kill NPCs and end up having to bolt off like a "Grand Theft Auto" protagonist when the cops show up to bust your ass! About the only defiance I got away with routinely was ransacking Wildlife Sanctuaries, and even that required me to sneak around at night and keep a low profile.

There is a bit of a conflict going on between the game's tone and appearance. It very much wants to be the edgy "Pokémon" game any average teenager would dream up (again, with certain Atlus RPGs coughing and wheezing for attention in the background.) Supplementary journals and Paldeck texts describe a world full of violence, blood, animal trafficking, suffering, death, and birds with cocaine addictions. (I'm not kidding—it's literally the bastard cop's monster of choice.) But, the monsters look like an average social media artist's attempts at combining Pokémon species together, and the humans all have some degree of generic anime cuteness to them. It's hard to take the leader of a bunch of martyrous pyromaniacs seriously when he looks like the protagonist to some Sega Dreamcast rhythm game. (Also, why he has an electric/dragon type as his Pal of choice when he leads a bunch of fire freaks is beyond me.) 

At this point, I wouldn't say the music is much to write home about, either. It tries to kick up for encounters, letting you know how much danger you are in (from piddly little twinkling music for typical cannon fodder to bombastic choral arrangements for tough sons of bitches.) A lot of times, it can be rather quiet. This didn't bother me with "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," but it does bother me here, especially when I have to take 15-20 minutes to work in my base. I think what the game needs is something like "Minecraft"'s Mice on Venus track. Just a few pieces of music to interrupt the quiet when it's gone on for five or ten minutes.

I'm also not super thrilled with the breeding system in "Palworld." With "Pokémon" games, you generally know what you're getting based on who the mother in the coupling is. (Well, barring the use of specialty items, I suppose. Speaking of things that annoy me…) Here? About the only guarantee you get is if both parents are of the same species. The resulting couplings for other species isn't random, but it is a weird mess. Generally, you can assume the resulting offspring to be of a poorer quality than at least one of the parents, if species of different rarity are mixed. Through on top of that several structural, item, and time-based requirements, and you've got a very expensive and irritating system to work around. Honestly, this was the thing that finally broke me into looking up help guides online. It's just that off-putting.

If you are looking for a breeding calculator: palword.gg has you covered. Mostly. I think I did run into some issues there as well, but I don't know if I read something wrong or was just stupid tired when I set something up.

"How about bugs?", you might be asking.

"There's no Bug type in this game," I would reply.

Maybe you'd start hitting me with a shoe after that.

But, in terms of glitches I encountered? I played from versions 0.1.3.0 to 0.1.5.0, so I saw my fair share of issues that came and went. The biggest problem as of 0.1.5.0 involves terrain clipping and occasionally being shoved beneath the map. (Big Pal bodies + me going all Goemon Ishikawa XIII on them resulted in some unfortunate subterranean exploration.) Generally, I got myself back into the map without too much struggle, but there were times where I did have to respawn myself. I also lost several boss captures to a combination of freezing status + a rocket launcher round blasting them into the horizons beyond, so that was unfortunate. There was also a bug where you could get the game's dungeons to respawn bosses to another Pal type if you didn't like what you got, but I started having issues with the dungeon's barriers failing to drop on the boss's death when I screwed around with that, so maybe just stick with what you get. I also had the occasional text goof-up where my instructions would be in Japanese instead of English. Given the Goemon commentary above, you may surmise that this was not a huge deal for me. Still goofy, though.

If you'd like, the game offers you quite the list of customizable settings to alter your experience. I'd highly recommend playing around with them, particularly when you are vulnerable to taking a one-way trip to the Backrooms via a bad clip. It's one thing to lose your inventory to a fight you lost; it's another to lose your inventory to an issue with collision detection. Do yourself a favor and remove that penalty. I also eventually grew tired of the exponential experience curve and jacked up the multipliers for experience as high as they could go. I put several hundred hours into this game, man. And that was on top of working in a half-staffed job while babysitting my mom's dog for weeks while she got my grandma into an assistant living facility. All of these bitches needed a break.

Also—for the love of your hands, please flip the "Hold to Toggle Interaction" setting to On in your control style of choice. You can recap a shredded controller stick, but you can't recap your fingertips.

While I spent a lot of time on this game, I also spent a lot of time on this game with good reason. Even in its unfinished state, I had a good time. In the midst of building up my first character—a punished tribute to an Abrahamic icon forced to repeat his edict from God once more—I kept thinking about making the next character. Doing it all over again. Honeymooning it. There is a risk that this game doesn't get any further than where it's at now, but I can't say that where it's at is a bad place.

So, you can't get to a giant, sparkly tree. Boo hoo. There's a lot of other good stuff to see. Maybe even conquer, if you're up to it.

[hrodvitnon]

Ok, forgive me if the following is a bit aggro but I feel like a lot of people seem to forget some very important facts about Godzilla (the IP, not the character)

I genuinely can't take people who place blame on directors for 'bad Godzilla characterization' seriously. Especially Dougherty and Wingard. Before I get into my rant, I just feel the need to remind everyone of this quote Wingard gave in regards to writing Godzilla for GvK:

Toho actually has an entire laundry list of rules Godzilla needs to follow that came out around GvK's release. The actual list is super long and with a lot of frankly weird points, but this is one of their main ones. Theatrical Godzilla doesn't emote. That is what they tell directors and that's a rule they need to follow. But, on the same token, there are ways around it and some directors are afforded some negotiating power on this front. The quote, for example, is in reference to Goji's famous smile from GvK.

One of the largest ways around it in fact is having characterization come from external sources that aren't the films. In fact, almost every single piece of info that builds Godzilla's character in the MV comes either from moments in the films that are intentionally vague, things like the comics or novelizations, or Word of God tweets from Edwards and Dougherty (sidenote: the reason you never hear about stuff like the Dougherty tweets coming from Wingard is that he literally doesn't have Twitter. A lesson I think we can all learn from). This is not unintentional, these are literally the only times they're allowed to get away with breaking a few of these rules.

Wingard, Doughtery, Edwards- all are huge Godzilla fanatics and it gets on my nerves a tad when people tear into them for rules out of their control. I probably don't need to tell everyone that Dougherty used to retweet ship art for Mothzilla and engaged with fans at length back when he was still on Twitter (Oh yeah, he also has since left Twitter. Man, maybe these directors had the right idea or something?); and Wingard has come out saying he wants to do a Godzilla-focused movie next if Legendary lets him come back, probably because he himself recognizes he's been playing favorites a little bit. I'm sure the directors would love to give Godzilla more depth and personality, it's just that Goji's always been Toho's favorite boy that they're very picky about. Like- I hate to be that guy- but we easily could've gotten the Transformers treatment and gotten saddled with a director like Michael Bay for one of these films and the Monsterverse would be dead on arrival. These people clearly care but are obliged to follow some ground rules they may or may not agree with. Godzilla's characterization is left mostly ambiguous for this reason. Audiences are supposed to fill in the blanks. Hell, people in this blog/hellsite have already done that! We've done that with our own interpretations and that's what the directors are going for in lieu of being allowed to do that themselves. May just be a me thing, but I'd much rather have audience interpreted characterization and very high quality content then shitty/no content and Godzilla becoming a dead franchise again.

And- in regards to the Twitter stuff-

-I don't care. Nobody should care. Just- just don't even give them the light of day and let their asinine takes die in the darkness. It's better this way.

I understand all this. I understand. I've heard that Toho has their rules for what not to do with their favorite monster, and I still think "Godzilla can't emote" is a dumb rule, but what the fuck can I do about it beyond the usual fan content. I know this. I get it.

I'm just getting tired of discussing it and want to stop before the discussion starts going in circles or something.

I'm going to go outside for a while.

[creator-yimynany]

（Just to be clear, we definitely distinguish between Bridgette and Marinette, they are two different souls.）

Yimynany：Looking at it now, I'm glad this version wasn't made... Or this brainless Thomas will destroy it.

mutual：I saw that the company that would be responsible for producing the anime would be the same creators of Dragon Ball Z

Yimynany（me）：Yes，but it will also be influenced by Thomas Astruc, if he always wants to interfere in the plot.

mutual：I believe there are episodes made, but they are stored away.

Yimynany：！Me too😭When I saw the information from Zag, I felt that there must be a real episode... I really don't trust the crew but I'd like to see some footage.

Before, I was afraid that the plot released by Zag would cover up my understanding of Bridgette, so I first shared some analysis of Bridgette on Tumblr.

mutual：Here in Brazil in 2012, they announced the Ladybug anime on TV, and said it had 26 episodes, and that it would premiere in August 2012, and they never brought this anime.

Yimynany：It's so sad... And I read Tumblr that it actually expanded to 54 episodes...

Although I was only six years old at the time (and I didn't get to know miraculous until 2021), I started writing. I did not expect this to be a work that I would choose to change old canon's IP name and continue to create even if the production team violated the bottom line of China)

mutual：I believe these 26 episodes may be saved.

Yimynany：Oh my God... I heard that not many episodes were made, just promos, but there should be at least six episodes 😭 I saw a screenshot of Bridgette.

Yimynany（before）：Me too，although I think adrien is good，but I don't think he is suitable for love, and should see a psychiatrist first...

mutual：I believe that too, I like Adrien but Felix would be more interesting, and more difficult.

I think it's cool that Félix has a similar personality to Gabriel Agreste and that would make a lot of sense in the story.

Yimynany：Yes... And Felix is my favorite character and character (I've always liked characters who are essentially indifferent to villains.

But it happens that Felix is principled, which is why I really like him, rather than a good man, it is a kind of convergence and wisdom, although his portrayal should not be as extreme as that of the oc hero in my own works...).

Ah ha, actually speaking of this, I remember that in the development of the past dynasties, Felix and Bridgette's personality characteristics, strengths and weaknesses were partly exchanged, which led to the birth of Adrien and Marinette, which is why they are not the same...

I prefer to create the image because of the essence of different, and Adrien and Bridgette sometimes surprisingly similar... That's why I call these two soul family.

The bad news is that while TV Marinette is nice on the outside, her insides are now more and more like Felix (pv).

It's kind of like growing backwards, more toward profit... I know it's normal, but I don't want to see her cross too many ethical lines,

Anyway, I actually went and observed the development of the setting and Thomas Astruc's presentation.

First of all he was the poisonous creator of Marinette doctrine.

It's pretty obvious why he hates pv.

But the point he said was that Felix was not interesting, he did not like Marinette, did not deserve to be liked by Marinette, and ignored the nature and characteristics of Bridgette (at that time Bridgette was still Marinette), and Bridgette was born objectively.

In fact, judging by his attitude towards Adrien... I don't think he's gonna like Bridgette.

Because pv's Felix's strengths are in line with his opinion of Marinette, and he hates that Felix is stronger than Bridgette in study (even though they have equal strengths, Bridgette's strengths lie in music, art design, comics and martial arts (according to pv analysis, Not the most popular alternate version of the fusion adrienette)), so you will see that Marinette has excellent grades in all subjects.

He's more jealous and dissatisfied with Bridgette's portrayal than he is disgusted...

I can only say that Feligette's emotional line is impossible for him to understand, let alone accept, because Thomas Astruc is a complete individualistic npd fool, and there is no need to think of any objective thinking to shake him. I am more inclined to dump him than pity him, and he should not be the creator of an animation work that focuses on friendship and characterization.

[pikagatogirltits]

Magic x Marvel: Idle Speculation

I have a lot of random thoughts about the upcoming Magic the Gathering x Marvel crossover, and I thought it would be neat to just ramble about them in a post, especially so I can hopefully find that post again later when the sets release and see how much I was right about. I'm just gonna bullet point this because this is kind of a stream of consciousness sort of deal:

We know that we're getting multiple "tentpole releases" a.k.a. more than one full set for this particular crossover. I'm thinking at least one is going to be a straight to Modern draftable set similar to the LotR set, but I don't think they're necessarily just doing that for all the sets. I speculate that the other (or one of the others if there's more than two) set is going to be a gimmick draft set, such as 2-Head Giant or Commander draft.

I personally am hoping one of the sets is a Commander draft set, and that our partner variant for the set goes the Stranger Things route and just creates a subset partner variant. I propose the name Team-Up, to represent the ubiquity of team up storylines in comic books. (I actually made an entire post about this but Tumblr's wonderful search function is choosing not to find it on my blog.)

Ooh, if they do go the Commander draft route they can make the Prismatic Piper equivalent a Skrull or something

I really, really want a Squirrel Girl card that makes squirrel tokens that I can jam into my Chatterfang deck. Squirrel Girl is my favorite superhero and I just want her on a card so, so badly.

I think it would be cool to have a Mjolnir equipment that in addition to its other effects also has a bit of trinket text along the lines of "equipped creature is a God in addition to its other types."

Thor and Loki and any other Asgardian that represents an actual god should have the creature type God. It already exists. Like sure, we could make Asgardian a creature type if we wanted to, but that's the coward's route.

I saw someone make a comment on Reddit about adding Hero and Villain as creature types, but I really, really hope that doesn't happen. It runs the risk of making the creature types in the set super repetitive, and we're already gonna see a lot of that from the sheer number of human characters. Sure, we'll have some mutants and aliens and robots to occasionally break things up, but it'll be much worse if the class types among cards aren't varied.

Like seriously, let's use the movie Avengers lineup. What's better...having four Human Hero cards, a God Hero, and whatever we do with the Hulk...or a Human Soldier, Human Scientist, Human Archer, Human Rogue, God Warrior, and whatever we do with the Hulk

Yeah, actually...what are we gonna do with the Hulk and related characters? In a vacuum, I would probably type the Hulk as Mutant Berserker...but for IP reasons I wouldn't be surprised if the Mutant creature type is reserved solely for characters with the X-Gene. I don't have an answer for this, just wondering...

Oh, and since I mentioned the MCU, I do want to say one thing, if they're smart they'll base the sets on the comics and not the MCU. Gives them a lot more material and characters to pull from

Booster fun treatment should lean into this and be comic book themed, but I think they would also be smart to offer some Secret Lair drops featuring alt art versions of the characters based on the MCU...if they're willing to deal with the likeness rights and whatnot.

Multiple tentpole releases does mean multiple commander precons. Some themes I could easily see them basing decks on: the Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man/Spider-Verse, Guardians of the Galaxy+other space themed characters, a deck for a bunch of the more mystical Marvel characters probably led by Dr. Strange, S.H.I.E.L.D., A.I.M., Villains in general (from my memory Marvel doesn't really have a singular Legion of Doom type team up of its iconic villains, but I'm definitely picturing a Villains deck that tosses a bunch of iconic villains together in one deck...you could call it the Masters of Evil as a deep cut though.)

If Gambit gets a card, he should have an ability that lets you discard cards to deal damage to a target to represent Gambit throwing cards at his enemies. (This is the kind of wink at the camera stuff I love in UB products.)

Koi Boy should get a card purely because he's a canon trans man and Magic really needs some trans masc representation.