#more like stereo is her 'human' incarnation

[entityandstereo]

This is Stereo Bayle, my main oc and self insert

This is Stereo with her hair down

She's part wish fulfillment, part online identity, part her own thing entirely. She is also the one I ship Ornithicera with :3

The full body above is propably the best thing I have drawn to date and also my third rendition of her design. I'm very proud of it

Here is her character bio

General facts

•She's the shortest of her trio of friends at 5'11, but the oldest at 34 (the height and age is incorrect, but this does reflect real like xD) (she's been 34 for the last several years)

•She has mild shapeshifting abilites, mostly just affecting her vocal cords, feet, and hair length/color

•It's not shown here, but she has shark-like teeth and insectoid wings. these are both entirely natural. To her, anyway

Background

•She was originally born in our world as Sierra Boon

•She had a brief stint in the military before work as a security guard for E.H.E Facilities (think a mix between the Magnus Institute and the SCP Foundation with significantly less horror)

•She was put in charge of a missing persons case involving the disappearances of several Minecraft YouTubers after she revealed past experience with a similar case

•After a whoooole lotta shenanigans, including the loss of her arm and eye, she ends up in Minecraft (that is a massive understatement)

•She now leads one of the largest anti-slave efforts

This is vague, but that's intentional. I have a podcast/audio planned and I don't want to give too much away yet

General Facts

•She is as wild as she is kind, which is a good bit

•She loves to fight, especially if it's wrestling. She loves it even more when whoever she's fighting enjoys it as much as she does

•She might be a little crazy about farming (you should see my crop fields)

•loves to listen to music and long video esseys

•loves animals, especially big dogs, cats, and horses

•doesn't have much respect for most authority figures, or governments. doesn't claim to be an anarchist though

•if it were her choice, she'd be completely nocturnal. unfortunately, her body keeps waking her up at 8am

•not so smart in academics, but terrifying when it comes to observatin and reading people

•manipulates bad people into doing good for fun

•her only fears are snakes and insects. and public speaking

Design

•The scar is supposed to emulate the wither effect

•The prosthetic arm is powered by redstone; the bulk of it is netherite, while the fingers (and swords) are diamond

•her hair has a loose curl to it; she usually keeps it down too, I just wanted to draw a bun :D

Relationships

•her two closest friends are @fusciaguardian (hi fren) and Veil

•romantically involved with Captain Ornithicera (more on that when I make his post)

There's more I could probably say, but some of it goes into spoiler territory. Plus I've been stuck on this all week :⁠-⁠\

There's something I'm forgetting though, hmmm...

Oh right,

•she's related to Entity ;⁠)

[tillidontneedfantasy]

‘WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?’ - Billie Eilish REVIEW: Making ‘Em Bow One By One

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

An interesting question you pose there, Billie. When I fall asleep, I usually dream about being a part of the Harry Potter universe and trying to defeat Voldemort with the golden trio. But unfortunately, I don’t go there every night. I mean, believe me, fighting off The Dark Lord can be scary sometimes. But sometimes I go to even darker places, and it always takes a few moments when waking up to believe I’m really in my bed. Much of Billie Eilish’s debut album invites you into the dark parts of her subconscious, and sometimes her extreme consciousness, to which she goes. Of course, “asleep” could also be interpreted as, well, dead. Which is a nice way to phrase it. Ideal, really. How wonderful would it be if death was just an eternal nap? No one would ever be afraid to die.

Maybe that’s what Billie believes it is, and why she seems so desperate to go there on WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? (WWAFA,WDWG?) For a then-16-year-old girl, I wish she wasn’t so tired. “ilomilo,” “bury a friend” and most concerning, “listen before I go,” explore her friends who have been taken from her, and her desire to join them. I’m glad she hasn’t.

So is she. In a now traditional Vanity Fair video, Billie answers the same interview questions three years in a row, exactly a year apart. Expect The Fourth Year one October 18th, 2020. It is one of the most fascinating videos I have ever watched. Though the same at the core, there is a different version of Billie in each year. Which is to be expected, as she is a teenager in the limelight. But the video of year 2, which was around 5 months prior to WWAFA,WDWG?’s release, Billie openly admits to being in a very dark place, discussing how her friend had died. Her posture and affect are noticeably different in years 1 and 3. In the third and latest installment, Billie is an upgraded, happier and more comfortable version of the previous two. You can hear the change in her voice, see it in her face. In response to the question, “What’s most important to you right now?” her answer is, “Maintaining my happiness, which I have been experiencing for the first time in many years….I wanna stay happy. That’s a big goal for me.”

Billie Eilish is one of the biggest breakout stars of the past few years. Her following is enormous, and though fans vary in age, many of them fall in her cohort. Generation Z is special in many ways: morbidly funny, proudly outspoken, self-aware, and unafraid to be different. Billie Eilish is all of these things incarnate, the perfect spearhead for this generation and what they represent. She dresses how she wants to dress and makes the kind of music that she wants to make, refusing to follow the molded expectations of young up and coming female stars before her. In that music, she also does what very few artists, young or old, have ever done: candidly explores mental illness and suicidal ideation.

These issues have become more and more prevalent in today’s society, yet they are still extremely stigmatized. Like many teenagers, I experienced the sadness and darkness Billie is singing about. I’m almost 25 now, but I can imagine how 15-year-old Cass would feel hearing this album and seeing Billie as she is in the third year of that Vanity Fair interview. Understood. Not alone. And hopeful, hopeful that things get better. At that age you feel like everything is the end of the world, because it is developmentally and socially some of the most difficult years in the human experience. And to hear someone you look up to say, “I feel this way, too,” and then see them continue fighting, and happy that they did...that can change someone’s life.

Thankfully, Billie still injects some levity into the album. The musical hook in “bad guy” feels like a defining moment for Gen Z the way the musical hook in “Toxic” was for us Millennials. “all the good girls go to hell” unflinchingly decrees that God Is A Woman™, and “my strange addiction” has cuts from The Office, Eilish’s favorite show, interspersed throughout the song. Gen Z is taking over, and Billie’s one hell of a ringleader.

STRONGEST TRACK(S): “i love you,” “xanny”

The phrase “I love you” has never felt so intimate as it does coming from Billie’s mouth in the penultimate track on WWAFA,WDWG? Sandwiched between two tracks where all together they form a sentence (listen before I go, I love you, goodbye) "i love you" is the most mesmerizing and most vulnerable, not just of the three but of the whole album. As a listener, you are dying to know what's hidden between the lines. Why doesn't she want to love this person even though she clearly does? What did she do to make him cry? Why are you, the listener, crying right now? With the smallest breath, the quietest whisper, the emotion Eilish emits is enormous. Every once in a while you hear a song that you feel will never leave you, and “i love you” has all the makings to be everlasting.

As does the message in “xanny,” a dynamic song that mostly sounds like an old-time jazz track, although infuses a blaring noise over the chorus, as if you are standing right next to the booming stereo at the party setting in which she speaks. The layering of hums in the background and at the end of the song provides a necessary subtle softness, making it all the more beautiful. The track is a statement from Eilish that she has no interest in the lifestyle that so many kids her age- famous or not- lead, partly because she does not understand the appeal of its effects, and partly because she does not want to invest herself in someone willingly bringing harm upon themself, as she previously has. “I can’t afford to love someone who isn’t dying by mistake,” she asserts. Of course, most things in moderation are good and fine, but there is an ever-persistent pressure for young people to use substances, for easier social interactions or easier claim to desirable social status. There is a plethora of music out there promoting the party lifestyle, but very few saying, “hey, it’s okay if you’re not about this, you’re still cool,” and so a celebrity as big as Billie abstaining from it, and providing a reasonable explanation, gives a figure of understanding and solidarity to all the outliers.

WEAKEST TRACK: “8”

Not a bad song by any means, “8” is just the least memorable on an album filled with extremely intriguing and standout tracks. There is an interesting choice of vocal styles that alternate throughout, one of which it sounds as if Eilish is emulating the voice of a little girl. She is asking the subject to just give her some common courtesy and hear her out. "Who am I to be in love / when your love never is for me?" she asks, in the most compelling moment of the song. It is a difficult line to walk, knowing someone doesn't owe you anything but wanting them to anyway. Although the song is effective, its replay value doesn't quite match with the other contenders.

THE IN-BETWEENS

Although Eilish is authentic in her own right, you can see the draw of inspiration from unique artists before her. Lorde's imprint is all over "you should see me in a crown," a catchy song about ruling the world and making everyone bow down to her with the sound of a knife sharpening at the top, and “listen before i go” is reminiscent of Lana Del Rey’s morose romances. “when the party’s over,” written solely by Billie’s brother, collaborator, and best friend, Finneas O’Connell, is a beautifully quiet moment in the middle of the album, with absolutely gorgeous high notes from Billie. The song is succinct and poignant, noting the inner conflict between wanting a friend to be more than just that and yet feeling the need to keep up boundaries to protect your heart; but when has that done anyone any good?

BEST PROSPECTIVE SINGLE: “my strange addiction”

In the age of Netflix, The Office continues to grow in popularity with younger viewers who missed it on air. Who better to bolster the movement than Verified The Office super fan, Billie Eilish? In “my strange addiction,” Eilish and O’Connell draw inspiration from the classic episode, “Threat Level Midnight,” where Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) has finally finished his movie and is ready to premiere it to the office. In his movie, Scott’s character, Michael Scarn, teaches the entire bar how to do his signature dance, “The Scarn.” “No, Billie, I haven’t done that dance since my wife died!” the song begins, which is a real line from the episode. “my strange addiction” borrows from the track for “The Scarn,” which is simply genius. Everyone is doing “The Scarn,” fictional or nonfictional, even NFL player Trey Quinn, who did the famed routine for his touchdown dance. Not only will “my strange addiction” convert The Office fans to Billie Eilish fans, but just imagine the amount of TikToks there could be of people doing “The Scarn” to this song…think about the meme potential, Billie! *Ed Helms voice* There’s a whole crowd of people out there who need to learn how to do the “my strange addiction.”

                                                                   *****

Billie Eilish, and her debut album, WWAFA,WDWG? is impressive in a multitude of ways: she is raw, candid, silly, wildly intelligent, and most importantly, full of a lot of love, no matter how much she claims she does not want to be. Perhaps most impressive is that the only writers and producers credited on this album are Eilish and O’Connell, ages 18 and 22, respectively, at the time of this review, yet 17 and 21 at the time of its release, which means they were 16 and 20 at the time of writing and production. For two young people to create such an impactful album on such a massive scale on their own is a rarity, and has not been seen since the beginning of Taylor Swift’s career, and look at where she is now. Billie’s music might be different, but her trajectory seems quite similar. At Billboard’s Women in Music ceremony in December of 2019, Swift was honored with Woman of the Decade while Eilish was honored with Woman of the Year. Both artists paid homage to the other in their speeches, harkening back to Swift’s 2014 Woman of the Year speech where she alludes to a future Woman of the Year recipient learning piano and singing in choir; Swift had said back then that we need to take care of her, and Eilish tearfully thanked the room for doing just that. As Swift continues to fight against the system to pave the way for female artists, the clearing is all Billie’s. If Billie continues to maintain ownership of her voice, as I’m sure she will, it looks like the woman of the next decade is a lock. The crown looks great on Billie, and I cannot wait to see where she takes us while we’re all awake. Grade: 4.5/5

DISCLAIMER – REVIEWER’S BIAS: The first time I listened to WWAFA,WDWG? the only tracks that really captured my attention were “bad guy” and “my strange addiction.” I wanted to like it so bad, but I felt like I was missing something. Maybe that’s because I listened to the album at work and did not take it in properly. But I also felt like she was whispering too much, which made it difficult for me to stay interested. So I did not revisit it. However, over this past year, despite not listening to her music, I started to form a big-sister-type love for Billie, feeling as if I must protect her at all costs (any man over the age of like, 20, reading this: stay the fuck away from her you sickos!!!). I loved how she embraced her individuality and did whatever she wanted. I watched many interviews of her on YouTube (one being the Vanity Fair one, where she talks about how the criticism that she whispers a lot is hurtful yet true- Billie, I’m sorry!!) and found her to be so intelligent. To me, her and Taylor Swift (my number one love) are two sides of the same coin, or two paths to the same destination. What I mean by that is that as a lover of music and as a girl going through a difficult time, sometimes you need positivity to counteract the negative feelings, other times you need to lean into the sadness to release it all; though they both possess a bit of both, Taylor is more of the positive route, Billie more of the sad route. The thing is, you need both options. Billie reminds me of Taylor so much; she writes all of her own music (with her brother as her only co-writer), she has blown up at such a young and vulnerable age (if WWAFA,WDWG? wins AOTY at the Grammys, Billie will be the youngest ever recipient since Taylor won for Fearless at the age of 20), and she is committed to saying and doing what she wants to do the way she wants to do it. After listening to the album a few more times leading up to the Grammys to write this review, I get it. I truly get it. I’m sorry it took so long. And although her super soft vocals are definitely effective, I still want her to project more. The girl has a gorgeous voice; she should use it! But also she doesn’t need my advice, she’s doing fine. Keep whispering, baby girl. I feel very nervous for Billie, because when a woman reaches the top this quickly, everyone gets ready to push her off just as fast, and the fall can be fatal. But I believe in her ability to stand her ground. Please protect Billie at all costs!!!!

[robotsandromance-blog]

Can you do drabble about human reader with yandere harem team prime? I envy Spike~

yeaaaa!(yes there’s 80s music in this because im fucking enamored by a talking tree(and if you know who im talking abt we should be friends))

There wasn’t a single aspect about your delicate frame that couldn’t be admired.

Every scarred portion of soft skin, every marred piece of hair on your skull, every expression that appears on your lovely features whenever you feel strongly of something. You were a magnet to admirers; human and non-human like. And when you had accidentally come across one of the youngest of the non-humans in your little city, you found yourself surrounded by a group of new robotic “friends”. 

You had no problems adjusting, of course. It was a group of giant, alien robots, fighting in a couple thousand year war. What was not to love about it? You were… surprisingly excited to be involved in such a feat. To break out of your shell and escape into a world outside of your normal routine. It was relaxing; as it shouldn’t be.

And that was the first thing that brought the bots to you.

You didn’t panic while meeting them. You didn’t try to run. You didn’t fight with them when they said that they’d have to keep you there much, much longer than the other kids have to stay; because the cons know exactly what you look like, and won’t hesitate to use you as ransom. After all, you don’t have school like the kids do. 

So, you stay as long as possible at base with the bots. You’ll bother Ratchet as he works, play games with Bumblebee, chat with Arcee as she uses silly pickup lines on you, talk about your day with Optimus, hang out on Smokescreen’s shoulder as you walk around the base with him, crack jokes with Wheeljack(who you truly wish was around more often), and listen to shitty music with Bulkhead. There’s nothing more that you could want from your new, loving family; people who you know and trust with your life and anything you want to share. You’d even go so far as to say you love them.

But you’d never know just how much they adore you.

They had come to an agreement, when everyone had realized just how much they felt for you. You were almost Primus’ incarnate of a perfect being; from the symmetry of your features, to the curve of your hips, and to the way your lovely organic optics shine like gemstones. They would share, in a way; work their way to your heart naturally, while keeping you to themselves. Away from the outside world and threats that could come to you. 

Even if that meant trapping you at the base for good.

“Heya, guys!”

Your voice startled quite a few of the bots out of whatever they were focusing on. No matter what you did, you always managed to distract them.

Your delicate, graceful frame was stepping out of Smokescreen’s alt-mode; who had come to pick you up that day. They all take turns picking you up from your home and dropping you off. Today, it was Smokescreen’s turn to pick you up, and Optimus’ to drop you off at home; a certainly interesting combo. But the more interesting thing at the moment, was the duffle bag you carried; the bag itself your favorite color and looking packed full of items.

“I brought a lot of stuff I wanted to show you guys. Some new music, movies, video games, and my laptop just in case we want to do something else. Oh, and a change of clothes, because Miko has to do her science project today.” You wink devilishly at the Autobot leader, who went you a small, confused smile in return. What a cute dope! “Your weirdo human friend has got y’all hooked up, don’t worry.”

You were quick to set up your items on the little human platform near Ratchet’s station, pulling out what looked to be an old stereo. That definitely caught the attention of your harem; specifically oldie Optimus, who had a little sparkle in his optic.

“[Name], might I ask why you have a stereo with you?” His voice stopped the movements of your hands just as you had pulled a cassette out of the loosening duffle bag. You were quick to respond with an eager vigor that left everyone in a better mood than beforehand.

“I brought some cassettes with some of my favorite music on them! I hope you don’t mind if I play some. After all, these are human classics, O.P. You gotta know em.” You chirp, winking playfully at the Autobot leader; finally completing your motion of inserting the cassette. Within a moment(and a gentle smack to the side), the stereo kicked to life, and so did Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling”; starting the list of cheesy 80s music on a high note.

Ratchet let out a deep, understanding sigh, Bumblebee and Smokescreen instantly standing up and starting to dance shittily along to the pop music. It was endearing, but still terrible dancing. It didn’t take long for you to join, though, nodding your head and shaking your hips to the beat. More out of pity than anything.

Your innocence is distracting, and your silly personality is almost spark-wrenchingly adorable. Every bot present in the base could feel a warmth spreading through their chest at the sight of your silly dance fest; a warmth that always seemed to follow you around. That sent their processors spinning, that made their helms ache just with how much thought runs through them; all of which pertaining to the beautiful human that they adore. 

And you stay unaware, all the same.

[indigozeal]

Remothered, the one-time Clock Tower vaporware remake turned giallo-esque horror game from NightCry artist Chris Darril, launches in early access tomorrow in a two-thirds-complete state (meaning, you won't be able to play through the whole story).  I was part of the beta a few months ago, and I thought I'd share my impressions of what I played before tomorrow's quasi-release.  The game's promising and gets some things very right, but there are problems, some of which may prove a barrier to mass-market acceptance.

Before I start here, I want to say that it's an accomplishment that there's enough of a game here to fuel a substantive discussion.  Longtime Clock Tower fans might remember the origins of Remothered over ten years ago as a straight remake of the first CT, featuring rough 3D graphics straight out of an FPS mod and a Jennifer with bowling-ball tits.  Darril was keen on remaking Clock Tower, though, and pursued his idea through a couple drastic revisions: a 2D, straight-to-the-plane remake with memorable magazine-collage graphics and more extreme gore, and what was presumably a more modern remake featuring multiple imaginatively-designed stalkers in a Haunting Ground vein, promoted solely with detailed art from Darril (who is a professional video game illustrator).  These ideas, however, never progressed beyond trailers or concept art (with its third incarnation not even producing a screenshot), and being such a bald remake, the project always had the spectre of copyright smackdowns hanging over its head  -  even the third version, which was allegedly a unique title, merely changed the names Schmennifer Shmimpson-style.  Combine the wheel-spinning with Darril's weird style of communication  -  always through third parties who should not have been in the PR biz, giving conflicting information as to the status of development and the IP's ownership  -  and there was no reason to expect anything to come of this start-and-stop endeavor.  But Remothered has resurfaced, fully reborn, and that Darril persisted and grew from a fan developer to a professional to shape his remake concept into an original idea and get it to market is encouraging.

That said: from what I experienced in the beta demo, I don't know if I could play this game to completion.  (And I don't mean that in an "I'm too scared to continue" way  -  though the game is very tense and scary.)

Let me start with something good: the look of the environments.  Given Darril's background, art was always a strong point of the various Remothered projects, and the mansion in which the story takes place looks really great.  It nails an aesthetic you don't often see in video games: an old, lived-in grunge.  (This is as opposed to the pure-filth grunge of Resident Evil 7, a game to which Remothered will receive many comparisons.)  The outdoor gardens are predictably, grandiosely overgrown, gorgeous and giallo-esque in their unbridled lushness yet speaking to decay.  The interior is convincingly old and neglected in the way of fallen wealth  -  the furniture is ornate but old-fashioned, with a musty museum quality of things that were previously treasured but aren't used or tended to on a regular basis anymore.  The environments are dank in the manner of a once-grand environment that no longer is populated enough to require proper illumination, and there's a clutter that denotes both accumulated wealth and disuse.  

I'd also like to single out for praise the design of the Red Nun stalker, an element justifiably carried over from Remothered's previous incarnation.  She has a lurid, dramatic presence that instantly announces itself as giallo and is more than strong enough on which to hang a horror title.

A problem on the art side: the faces look somewhat stiff and weird.  Rosemary's face did, at least, in the beta, and while it's impressive that Darril's been able to get as far as he did with the faces on an indie budget, he still has a way to go to compete with the modern standard for face technology and expressiveness -  and this is not an area in which audiences are forgiving.  (I remember Run Button criticizing Mia's face from RE7 as fake-looking, for example, and that's near the current cutting edge of realism.)  And the title screen, the first thing you see of the game after the studio logos, is a big close-up of Rosemary's face.  Again: this factor doesn't matter as much to me personally.  I can see this, though, being a big stumbling block for the game.

(Also: while Dr. Fenton's incidental voice acting is very good (the actor is having a lot of fun), the pacing of dialogue between characters is remarkably stilted (in a very Argento way, but: despite his influence, the man has a limited audience), which adds to the "unnatural human" feel. )

Another problem is the game system.  It's a combination of Clock Tower elements: the "find disposable weapons to ward off stalker attacks temporarily" system from 2 with (apparently) the change-ups in stalkers for each level of later installments and the "move, or don't move, your cursor to hide successfully" thing from NightCry.  It also adds, though, a number of original mechanics, mostly involving how you and your stalker track each other.  The game makes extensive use of stereo sound to clue you as to your stalker's location  -  there's an early sequence, for example, where you're stuck in a bathroom and are expected to gauge by the volume and direction of the stalker's jabberings when he's left the adjoining bedroom and it's safe to sneak out.  Stalkers can detect you using similar methods, however, so you have to use care in your movements: don't make too many footsteps on bare floor in a row, for example, or he'll hear you.  (Carpets, conversely, can cover your footsteps.)  It's very smart, and very tense.

A number of choices detract from this, though.  First, there's the sheer number of actions available to the player at any time: you can run, crouch, place a diversion item (taken with you from the environment here instead of being usable only at hotspots like traditional CT), throw a diversion item, and try to use a stabbing item (separate from diversion items, which are like teacups and stuff you can throw).  Typing that out, it doesn't seem like much, but it proved rather overwhelming for me.  Horror games, with their focus on primal fears, are in great part about instinctual reaction: they need simple controls.

(And speaking of controls, a related gripe: movement is, naturally, mapped to the L stick, but to crouch, you depress the L stick.  That seems intuitive, but when you're trying to move your character quickly (y'know, like in a horror game), it's easy to make movements that the controller registers as depressing the stick.  As a result, I spent a good amount of time during chases trying to run away but going into crouch and creeping at a snail's pace.)

Second, while the environmental-tracking gimmicks are very tense and smart, the game, disappointingly, doesn't always play by its own rules.  Once, for example, I thought I had successfully escaped the starting bathroom/bedroom early enough to get a head start on my pursuer, only to have him materialize in front of me Jason-like on the first-floor landing as I was going down the stairs.  That ain't fair; the stalking system is so good and tense on its own terms that it shouldn't need to cheat.  (This incident might have been just beta jitters, though; I hope it was.)

Also, while gameplay is very tense, there's no let-up to that tension.  Once chasing had started, there was no point in what I played of Remothered where I was not being actively hunted, and  -  for me, at least  -  that was detrimental to the game.  Clock Tower depended on a rise and fall of tension, periods where you were free to explore punctuated by chases where you had to drop what you were doing and focus on eluding your pursuer.  The tension in the exploration segments slowly builds as the possibility that your explorations of your environment might trigger an encounter with the killer  rises higher and higher  -  then comes to a head when the killer does appear and you have to find a way to elude them, then subsides when they are, for the moment, thwarted.  Hitting a single high note of sustained tension for a half-hour, 45 minutes, an hour is too draining, too much of a barrier; it's wearying to have to be constantly vigilant, constantly creeping around.  There's no release, and it's not tense and fun but annoying and unpleasant.

Which brings me to another problem with Remothered: it's unpleasant.  This sounds like an odd, illegitimate complaint to lodge against a horror game, but there is a difference between horror and disgust.  For one, Remothered is much more invested in gore than I am personally.  In the game's early fail states, I would again and again watch Rosemary's skull get cleaved open like a cantaloupe; in later stages, the stalker makes to put out Rosemary's eyes with his thumbs before, again, busting open her brain cavity.  Giallo is a huge, obvious influence on Remothered, and grand guignol deaths are a hallmark of that genre (though I'll note that they're usually big, isolated setpieces meant to have emotional significance in the story; bringing the same spectacle to ad nauseam game overs threatens to make its impact overwhelming or fatigued).  This might all, though, be far from home for Clock Tower fans, as those games actually weren't all that bloody.  

Then there are other accoutrements, like the appearance of a prominent parent-child incest subplot before the first chapter is up, or the first stalker shrieking "you stupid BITCH!!!" in unpleasantly shrill tones constantly throughout the chases.  Yeah, I know: oh, man, look at this nut, doesn't want the villains to do anything villainous!  But with games, the player is continually facing the question: do I want to keep spending time in this world?  Are intrigue, mystery, and tension carrying the day, or are the skeevy elements taking over?  Before, I would've really pushed for, say, a supergreatfriend run of Remothered.  After playing, though, I just don't think it's suited to a "fun" horror game reaction run.  Then again, people love RE7, so what do I know.  

(To get on another tangent, though: RE7 has a lot of humor & humanity (the behavior of the conceited anchor guy in the demo; Jack's lines & voice acting) that defuses the tension & impact of the exploitation material in a good way.  Not to the point where I'd be able to stomach the worst of what's going on firsthand, but it has a positive effect.  That's not really present in what I played of Remothered.)

Also, a word about the PR.  I'm on the mailing list, and the missives from Darril's home office have, thankfully, been much more polished than previously.  They do, however, have an element of carnival-barker to them.  In a way, communication is much clearer now (given that it's actually more or less straight from Darril himself, though there's still a level of remove), but in another way, the hard-sell approach taken makes me feel as if he's trying to put something over on me.  That's not an approach this project needs, particularly given its previous history of bad information, copyright-dodging, and starts/restarts.  (Darril is also pushing hard for Remothered to be a trilogy: hold your horses, friendo.)

That's pretty much it from me.  Again, a two-thirds-complete beta of the game releases tomorrow.  I'm glad for Darril that he got to this point; I might not choose to take a front seat to it.

[cupcakeshakesnake]

Watching The Lie of the Land for the first time

Episode aired more than two weeks ago, still, spoilers below the cut

-Well the monks might have caused a ton of bullshit in the last episode but at least they haven’t been complete tyrants in the alternate history they made

-As in, they didn’t kill the entire effing planet

-exCUSE ME THE DOCTOR DEFEATED THE DALEKS AND WHATNOT

Earth History v.2, featuring BBC’s Photoshop skills.

-ah nevermind

Featuring... THE MONK OF RIO instead of Jesus

oh shit doctor

-Who made you record this

-Why

-Are you being tortured right now

-Did someone lock you up

the fuck WHAT DID THEY DO

-...wow

-So for some reason she is not affected by the monks and seeing through the false history

BILL??!!?!

-Okay but how long did it take Pearl Mackie to straighten her hair

Stop with the glitches, you’re freaking me out

Two statues in one town is a bit too much don’t you think

DOCTOR STOP FREAKING ME OUT WITH THAT SMILE AND THAT TONE OF VOICE

-It’s been a while since I was this worried about an episode even before the intros

BILL’S MUM IS ALIVE?!!

-Well this is one dystopian univese.

-Okay, I’m actually tearing up. Not downright crying, I don’t really do that for some reason (and if I say something like I’M CRYIGHN;; anywhere it’s just a metaphor) but this.

-Imagine the pain of being one of the few, if not the only one, in this entire world who knows what actually happened, but no one believes you nor is it wise for your own being if you let loose your knowledge. Imagine watching the people you might have known, the people you knew once shared the same knowledge and lived in the same universe as you did, completely brainwashed, and not even aware of it. You’re the only one around who knows that things had been better for them.

-And your college professor/alien is (apparently) locked up in an interrogation chamber somewhere and forced to make propaganda videos.

-Come back, Doctor. Please come back.

-...And then your mother suddenly disappears...

tHANK GOODNESS (but also hahahahasd)

aw yiss

-the what now

-so Bill’s mum wasn’t actually there?

-That’s... really sad.

-I think you guys should cover your windows with your curtains

-”Found it in the Tardis. Yeah, it was in one of the drawers with some old takeaway menus and fifty Danish krone.”

-Bill stop punching Nardole <:P

-”His son is serving ten years in a labour camp for possession of a box of comics.”

-Well that’s bullshit, I take back what I said about the Monks earlier. Literally the only thing they did well is not committing genocide (unless they edged on Hitler to cause the Holocaust.)

Yikes. Quite the ominous entrance for a ‘savior’ type of species, wouldn’t you say?

I have bad feelings already. Whovian intuition

-Okay, so if they locked him up and forced him to do broadcasts all day that would be horrible but WHAT IF HE WAS BRAINWASHED TOO OR CONTROLLED IN SOME WAY, THAT WOULD BE EVEN WORSE

-WHAT IF BILL AND NARDOLE WALK IN TO FINS THE DOCTOR SEEMINGLY COMPLETELY SIDING WITH THE MONKS

-I HAVE THE EPISODE ON PAUSE AND I AM TAKING MY TIME TO FREAK OUT

-Monk: “Hello, who is this?”  Doctor: “Epsilon. Fire. Jupiter. Lily.“  Monk: “K gotcha fam, I’m going over”

Why is his suit so ragged again

-(Okay, at this point I went away for lunch, and I had to close all windows because I’m using a library computer, and when I came back and tried to find the approximate point where I left off I accidentally ran into the regeneration bit - the one they showed in the trailer - and a little bit of me died on the spot)

-”It's like that time we discovered that huge fish creature in the, in the Seine in Paris.”  ...?

-”And whose fault was that, huh? I didn't ask for my sight back. No, you took it upon yourself to ignore me, to do what you thought was best. All I can say is that we are lucky it was a benevolent race like the Monks, not the Daleks. Yes, I know the Monks are ruthless. I get that. Yes, they play with history and I'm not exactly thrilled about that. But they bring peace and order.“ Ooph.

-But I can’t shake off the feeling that the Monks aren’t just here out of good will, and they’re actually planning something bad for humanity for their own gain. Because so far none of their actions seem to directly benefit them in any way except gaining humanity’s respect, and this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense since they have shown themselves to be not that benevolent.

-I’m very confused and worried

?!!!?!1?!?!?!!?11?!??what?!?!?!???!!

?!??!!?!?1?!!?!??!?!?!???ㅇㅁㅇ??!?!?!!!!

-...what the fuck....

Holy shit...

-So yeah I know he’s not regenerating until the finale or the Christmas special but my worry levels have gone all the way up to 100 nonetheless

SHIT it’s the bit from the trailer

-Okay

HUEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH

-Twelve, your Ten is showing.

what  thank fucking goodness

me right now

the owl is proud.

-he is a proud alien pap.

-Anyway, *breathes in* *breathes out* THANK FUCKING GOODNESS.

-”And there's loads of them. I could do with a Strepsil.“  I looked it up and Strepsil’s a throat pill. Okay. I get the joke now.

-(I don’t really get how guns work but what does ‘blank’ ammo exactly mean? Bill fired the gun and something came out, didn’t it?)

-”I called the kitchen. Oh, could you pop down and explain it to them? They're going to be really confused.“

-In that case, lemme do this again:  Cook: “Hello, what I do for you?”  Doctor: “Epsilon. Fire. Jupiter. Lily.“  Cook: “...???”

-”Oh my God I am going to beat the SH-”

-Second time Bill has ALMOST spoken the s- word in this show y’all

-”The only person I know almost as smart as me.”  “Oh. Oh, I see. Blimey. Has it really come to that?“

-Oh boy.  Are we gonna see Missy?

-”We could have snuck back in, but the Doctor being the Doctor...”

*hijacks huge ship* *runs - or sails - straight into a bridge* *crazed laughter* Yep, that’s the Doctor alright.

-I think I hear a bit of 11′s theme in there too

-”OH MAN I HAVEN’T DONE THIS IN YEARS”  “Doctor you were in there for only six months”

-Kinda random, but I’m wondering if they ever repaired the wall after the UN broke into his office.

THE VAULT IS FINALLY OPEN

-AFTER SEVEN EPISODES IT’S OPEN

-”But it’s just a woman.”  you think

-"The way you and Nardole have been carrying on, I thought you had some kind of monster in here, or something!”  “I do.”

-”Wait a sec. Why have you got a woman locked in a vault? Because even I think that's weird, and I've been attacked by a puddle.“  “She's going cold turkey from being bad.”

-THE STATUES ACTUALLY HAD A PURPOSE

-THERE WAS A REASON THEY HAD ALL THOSE STUPID GODDAMN STUATUES

-FORESHADOWING

-”The Monks put up statues in every town square, and every park, and every playground.”  ...Playgrounds. Really.

-”Oh well then it’s sorted. Just kill them.”  Welp

there goes that plan

-”Well, at this point, all that was left of the bloodline was a wee girl, and I just pushed her into a volcano.“  oh wow

-”You'd be a husk. Completely and irrevocably brain-dead. You couldn't even get on Celebrity Love Island.“  AHAHAHAHAHHAHAA

-Did the Doctor just walk through that forcefield

-Well what was the point of said forcefield

missy is taller than twelve??

-”I could even throw in some other stuff. The things that I could change just by thinking. Racism. People who talk in cinemas.”  Please do

-”Are you sure? This would be an incredibly sophisticated transmitter, powerful enough to beam highly detailed propaganda to the entire world twenty four hours a day, and you're going to plug your brain into it?” “I know. It doesn't stand a chance.“  WOOHOO!

-”Now, have you all got your stereo headphone i--thing?“

-Oh shit that guy’s player is broken

Nardole has stars on his earphones :D

-Tarovian Neck Pinch. Yeah, I er, I studied their martial arts for a while, actually. Yeah, reached the level of Brown Tabard. Can't do it with this hand though. Kind of bugs me. Course, this wasn't my original hand, as you know. I won this in a game of -- yeah, let's crack on.”

Interesting visuals.

oh holy shit

-holy shit that’s one hell of a mindpower

HE’S DOWN, I REPEAT, THE DOCTOR IS DOWN!!

-”I don't want our last conversation to be this.”  ”I don't want this to be our last conversation.”

-Oh god it’s dark again

-dsssaskkldasjkadsjkladjkl

one ugly head you got there

oh shit

-I’m stoked for two reasons:  1. This whole scene.  2. The fact that the whole Bill’s mum side story in episode 1 was foreshadowing.

they’re still at it

-”Bill’s mum, you just went viral.”

haha what

-The pyramid was a spaceship? I wasn’t expecting that.

“You, appalling hair.”

-Well excuse me let me remind you of your sixth incarnation

-And tbh that hair kinda looks like Missy’s

-”Er, we thought they were just like filming something here or something?“  Realistic dialogue, that’s actually what a late teen would say, 10/10

-”Thank you. Very helpful. Now go away, or something.“  HA HA HA

-The funny thing is that at the moment the Doctor says “-or something” in the episode, distant laughter can be heard.

-”Why do you put up with us, then?”  "In amongst seven billion, there's someone like you. That's why I put up with the rest of them.“  Aww.

Awwwww

She’s- crying? She’s, actually, crying.

“I keep remembering all the people I've killed. Every day I think of more. Being bad, being bad drowned that out. I didn't know I even knew their names. You didn't tell me about this bit.” “I'm sorry, but this is good.” ... "Okay.”

[fusciaguardian]

THAT LOOKS SO COOL

THE POSING?? THE DETAIL??? THIS IS AMAZING!!!!! 😍

This is Stereo Bayle, my main oc and self insert

This is Stereo with her hair down

She's part wish fulfillment, part online identity, part her own thing entirely. She is also the one I ship Ornithicera with :3

The full body above is propably the best thing I have drawn to date and also my third rendition of her design. I'm very proud of it

Here is her character bio

General facts

•She's the shortest of her trio of friends at 5'11, but the oldest at 34 (the height and age is incorrect, but this does reflect real like xD) (she's been 34 for the last several years)

•She has mild shapeshifting abilites, mostly just affecting her vocal cords, feet, and hair length/color

•It's not shown here, but she has shark-like teeth and insectoid wings. these are both entirely natural. To her, anyway

Background

•She was originally born in our world as Sierra Boon

•She had a brief stint in the military before work as a security guard for E.H.E Facilities (think a mix between the Magnus Institute and the SCP Foundation with significantly less horror)

•She was put in charge of a missing persons case involving the disappearances of several Minecraft YouTubers after she revealed past experience with a similar case

•After a whoooole lotta shenanigans, including the loss of her arm and eye, she ends up in Minecraft (that is a massive understatement)

•She now leads one of the largest anti-slave efforts

This is vague, but that's intentional. I have a podcast/audio planned and I don't want to give too much away yet

General Facts

•She is as wild as she is kind, which is a good bit

•She loves to fight, especially if it's wrestling. She loves it even more when whoever she's fighting enjoys it as much as she does

•She might be a little crazy about farming (you should see my crop fields)

•loves to listen to music and long video esseys

•loves animals, especially big dogs, cats, and horses

•doesn't have much respect for most authority figures, or governments. doesn't claim to be an anarchist though

•if it were her choice, she'd be completely nocturnal. unfortunately, her body keeps waking her up at 8am

•not so smart in academics, but terrifying when it comes to observatin and reading people

•manipulates bad people into doing good for fun

•her only fears are snakes and insects. and public speaking

Relationships

•her two closest friends are @fusciaguardian (hi fren) and Veil

•romantically involved with Captain Ornithicera (more on that when I make his post)

There's more I could probably say, but some of it goes into spoiler territory. Plus I've been stuck on this all week :⁠-⁠\

There's something I'm forgetting though, hmmm...

Oh right,

•she's related to Entity ;⁠)