#my beau bias is showing

[velvet-vox]

All of the points that go in favour/against Doll coming back to life.

So, originally, I wanted to make a post of theory/analysis on Cyn and the possibility of her being redeemed at the end of the show; one of the points that I was going to make for said redemption was that Doll's death was meant as a cautionary tale, the main team of the series is abuse and how trauma affects us into becoming the worst version of ourselves, Doll was a trauma victim who was so dead set in her unhealthy coping mechanism that she ended screwing over her entire life, granted said redemption for Doll wasn't unreachable as showcased by her last living moments, but by then the damage was done; Cyn, on the other hand, could have potentially realised all of the harm she was doing even as far back as before the gala massacre, but then, it kind of reminded me why I ended up never making that post.

You see, the thing is, I don't understand Cyn.

At all.

Like, I also for the longest time couldn't understand Doll despite being hyper obsessed with her, and took over a year, countless analyses done by other people and (unfortunately) episode 7 until I could finally come to understand her to the deep, narrative level that I do now, and I still don't know if I truly got everything.

But with Cyn, not only do I not understand her like I do with other characters, but..... I also kind of feel left out.

To me, it seems like the fanbase at large is obsessed with this little gremlin; I'm autistic as well, since that's the main head canon floating around, yet I don't really relate to a word she says, to me, the hype surrounding Cyn feels similar to the hype surrounding Nori pre episode 7: we have this almost blank slate character that is characterized enough to not be an head canon dump, she is super relevant to both the plot and to one of the protagonist backstory, it's one of the main antagonistic forces, and is generally super important.... Yet I still don't get her nor do I get her surrounding hype. I've read a couple of analyses, and would gladly accept if someone sent me some more, since just a single Murder Drones character requires a lot of digging to fully comprehend in its entirety.

But finally going back to Doll, I want to make a short list of all the points in favour and against a possible resurrection of her character, starting with the pros.

Pros:

- Doll is definitely a big selling point for the russian audience of Murder drones, as I have seen various people lament her death on the fact that she was russian alone; funnily enough, this was also my main reasoning to not kill her off as I and other people started learning russian all because of her.

- Gonna reiterate the fact that Doll is, currently, peak russian representation, and it just feels rather insensitive from Liam to kill her off permanently when there's already Yeva and her dad, two russians, whose death is much more acceptable.

- Doll, unlike Alice, Beau, Rebecca or others, had so much potential as a character, being Uzi's foil and all, and to not capitalize on that would be a huge waste.

- Her death, although very impactful, was not, per se, as narratively satisfying as it could have been (see Nox from Wakfu), so it might've been a mislead, and if V comes back, there's a chance Doll might come back too since Doll x V is the parallel dynamic to Uzi x N.

- Gonna mention personal bias. It's not important nor is it a valid point but it had to be mentioned.

- Doll parents are already dead but we had a whole Yeva flashback in episode 7 that I can't explain in ways other than she'll be relevant in the future, and if she turns out to be alive, even if mind controlled, Doll's death is inevitably going to lose a lot of impact because, as it stands, it's balanced, but with the twist, it could retroactively feel like drama porn.

- She wasn't unreademable, just unreachable and deeply hurt, if she had a second chance to make up for her mistakes I believe she would take it in a heartbeat, I can only imagine the immense amount of guilt she was feeling while dying, she must've realised she only caused more damage in the long run and couldn't do anything to fix it, so if she could help Uzi out even as a digital ghost, it might just give her the sense of closure she so desperately needed.

- If Nori can come back as a core, so can Doll, they just need to cut Cyn stomach in a non lethal way.

And now, for the sadly more probable cons:

- This is Liam Vickers we are talking about.

- Even with all of her potential, hers and her family backstory feel rather.... disconnected from everything else going on right now? Like, Yeva might have been this important figure into Nori's past, but as of right now, aside from her impact, she really doesn't seem too relevant to the main plot; same thing with Doll, in fact, it was Doll's own insistence to be relevant that led to her demise, because, despite everything, the story revolves around N and Uzi manages to survive because she is important to N, and even then, she still sacrifices her own life for him.

- The narrative has always been pretty disrespectful to her? Like, I'm not talking about her sad backstory, sad development, and even sadder death, (this master guide over here realistically had no end in sight as you could just go on and on forever) I mean in general there was a clear lack of commitment to her side of things from the writing team, I think I've read somewhere else that in the original animation Uzi even walked on Doll's body as she was running to N; many theorised that they only came up with her story only after the pilot dropped, and I can't help but think that it has to be true because she had this air of mystery that in my opinion went anywhere and in the pilot she's a background character. I don't know, from a supposedly sympathetic villain the writing was rather unsympathetic towards her whole situation and she felt more like your average b##ch in the episodes following the prom.

- She still fulfilled her limited narrative role, so changing it back could alter future developments and remove impact from the tragedy of this cautionary tale, since, in all honesty, Doll's side story would require the show to switch off the plot too much and unfortunately that's never been a priority for the writing team. Also bringing back up Nox from Wakfu (still gonna make that comparison post) whose Doll shares some themes with, even though his personal story was extremely tragic, it was extremely disconnected from all of the main characters as he was more of a warmup baddie for Yugo to get in the groove, and he never returned physically aside from passive mentions and an illusion.

- I don't think they went out of the way to showcase Cyn eating Doll's core just for it to be a fake out.

- Even with all of my personal biases, aside from her starring episode she never had a real purpose in the grand scheme of things so her death was probably just a way to cut off loose ends.

- She isn't a protagonist despite what she deluded herself into, so plot armour applies even less to her than it does with the main trio (spoiler: it doesn't).

Ultimately, in my heart and mind, despite what I really want, I know Doll's not coming back.

She was disrespected, screwed over by both the writing and her own twisted mind, and since this is a somewhat heavy horror show despite the comedy, I really don't think we are going to see her reunited with her parents as a ghost nor will she be in robot hell or heaven, I really think she is just dead.

That's so sad. What a shame.

Farewell, comrade.

Want more?

[shinakazami1]

TSP FERNATOR THEORY – THE ROLE OF NATURE IN THE STANLEY PARABLE

Oh gosh, I took this so seriously but hope someone will enjoy my rambling ;w; Just will say it here - this essay is game interpretation, it doesn't talk about Fernator AU (only mentions it).

Contents

0. What is Fernator AU?

 “Stanley, this fern will be very important later in the story.” (Confusion, Bucket Destroyer & Figleys Endings – Fern)

“It's all out of my control now.” (Skip Button)

“Yes, I have something very exciting to show you!“ (TSP 2 Expo)

“And Stanley was happy.” (Outdoors - Freedom Ending and Memory Zone)

“The office could use a bit of decoration.” (Other plants in-game, Games Ending, Epilogue) 

Conclusions

(Click 'Read More')

0. WHAT IS FERNATOR AU

Fernator AKA Fernnarrator AKA Fernie is my TSP AU where the Narrator takes the form of the Fern and gets moved into the Bucket.

His form can change into any plant, either through a conscious decision or subconsciously, based on his emotions. While some of his flowers blooming can fit the conventional flower language, he creates his own based on his own bias for the plants.

The AU isn’t purely cosmetic – depending on his and Stanley’s relationship before the discovery of Narrator being the Fern, it splits into 3 main pathways. 

Each one of them has different ending alternatives and on top of that, the AU has a linear story.

This post will NOT be focusing on Fernator AU - instead, it will talk about the plants of the Parable and my theories about their meaning. These do influence Fernator AU as a whole but I will leave AU talk for another time if anyone would be interested. 

Instead, let’s talk about the two main inspirations for the AU: Fern and The Skip Button.

1. “STANLEY, THIS FERN WILL BE VERY IMPORTANT LATER IN THE STORY.” (Confusion, Bucket Destroyer & Figleys Endings – Fern)

This Fern is one of the few plants in the game and the only one mentioned in dialogue. 

Its placement in the Confusion Ending is a set-up for a joke: something gets mentioned, said to have a big importance and then gets forgotten. Maybe that was its whole purpose - a gag about misplaced foreshadowing or there is more to it.

A reverse situation is the Broom Closet – it can represent the “show, not tell” rule in storytelling where an object isn’t mentioned through text but more through actions. Narrator is displeased with that and on the third reset in a row after interacting with it, the Closet gets temporarily boarded. 

That changes in the Bucket version– you can come in it as many times as you want and Narrator doesn’t get mad at Stanley (which overall is a theme in post-Skip).

So, these two are a perfect contrast:

Narrator doesn’t even mention the Broom Closet at first. However, it ends up getting new unique lines and gives long-term effects on the story (boarding the door).

The Fern gets mentioned in the story but doesn’t show up later in the ending.

However, the plant does appear in the alternative of Confusion – the Bucket Destroyer Ending.

 “We're the ones that matter Stanley! Classic characters from the first game.”

Each of the objects in this picture symbolises a person in Stanley’s life:

the Broom Closet = Player, since in the original version, if you stay longer, Narrator talks about them;

the pencil sharpener= 432 – in lore, madness through never being given a pencil to sharpen;

Stanley’s computer= Boss, due to the orders;

Wife mannequin;

Baby cut-out (might also represent Stanley’s kids);

Adventure Line ™ – it isn’t a person but is said to be conscious;

and the Fern.

(EDIT: Beau in Stanarr server also said that the mugs on the table could symbolise the Employees while the Baby could be The Essence of Divine Art. That could potentially mean that Adventure Line™ could also symbolise curiosity - just like, while TEDA seems to be a conscious being, might just be human creativity. )

We already have the Line ™ from the Confusion Ending. Other objects could have been used for this scene but somehow, it is the Fern that ends up being showcased. It could be just due to it belonging to this pathway but it could be also something else.

“You see, your friends and I are concerned for you, Stanley.”

He could be meaning himself just as the voice – after all, the separation between him and his friends is not that uncommon. He does use the word ‘friend’ positively only in the UD version of the game. He calls Stanley his friend only once and then, proceeds to call the Bucket and Stanley friends a few times, making it obvious the man projects on that object.

Here though, Narrator is against the Bucket - so, why couldn’t he start to project on something else? That way, he could visually show the group of friends with himself. 

So you know,,, Fernator real,,, maybe,,,,,,,

(Big thanks to Chris from Crowsx3 Discord for reminding me about this next part)

I was also reminded that Fern makes one more appearance - in the Figley Ending, Confusion Ending room.

You get to this room after a Red-Blue door choice that doesn't matter at all, leading to an open door. It perfectly blends so many parts of the game together - the choice between two pathways, the illusion of the choice and also brings something new - backtracking. In most of the game, we are unable to do so - the doors close behind us and that's it. But, just like in Confusion - Narrator wants to backtrack, to change the pathway, for one last adventure with Stanley.

Maybe that was the importance of the Fern. For it to show up when Narrator wants to do something fresh, something new, WITH Stanley.

"Oh, I want more memories, Stanley! I want to keep going!"

In the end, he wants to retire and move on. If he does and only leaves his recording, if he stays with everything TK has done - that's up to a debate for another time.

But one thing is known - we all remember the Fern, even if it doesn't heavily impact the story. Unless you know - Narrator took the form of it and then-

Ok ok, but this was the nice task – now let’s talk about The Skip Button.

2. “IT'S ALL OUT OF MY CONTROL NOW.” (Skip Button)

I will talk about the Memory Zone later – here, I want to focus solely on the Skip Button room.

The Skip Button plant is the only thing in the Parable that shows actual ageing. Sure, there are some other symbols of time passage - i.e. clocks, and scratches on objects but nothing else shows decay besides this one single plant.

Changes happen in Skips #5 and #6. 

In Skip #5, Narrator says it’s been a week or two. I know that people have done the math on how much time passed through each skip takes but we will base it only on the plant alone. While a week is too short for a plant like that to show signs of severe dehydration, 2 weeks is more plausible.

In Skip #6 - when he says he had stopped counting once it was over a year - the plant is dead.

Death is overall a bit of a theme in the Parable – the Countdown, Museum, Apartment and Zending especially have a lot of lines about Stanley’s death, which should cause permanent effects. Instead, the game just resets, not making any deal about it. This plant, however, does not return to its original form.

In Skip #13, concrete falls on it, leaving the plant trapped for the rest of this pathway.

I think the room overall (together with the plants and the clock) symbolises Narrator’s psyche. 

The first few Skips are alright for him - sure, the time in-between seems to grow but he still thinks it is a good idea. He starts to panic and begs Stanley not to press the button in Skip #4 and in Skip #5, both the plant changes and the lights dim down. This is when he has been left for those two weeks all for himself and just sounds so tired - and with each skip, another part of his psyche breaks.

The clock stops working and falls around #8 and #9. It’s still long since in #6, Narrator where he says he lost count but he might have just exaggerated it, only losing it in these runs.

After such a long period in solitude, any mind would start to decay - the plant, the pipes letting the water escape through them, the fire alarm going off (since batteries are low), the walls getting destroyed with time… Together with how silent Narrator gets at times, I genuinely believe this whole section is us being in his brain.

But then in Skip #15, (after the sunlight in #14) this happens: 

These skips are special because they are a glimpse of hope. Sunbeams, birds chirping, new life in the form of plants showing up – just for it all to disappear next Skip.

While the last time we hear Narrator talk is in #11 (The end is never), this feels like he is trying to talk to Stanley indirectly. The destruction of the ceiling feels like an attempt to break Stanley free, which, unfortunately, was a bit misplaced since we don’t have the jump option (curse you, jump circle for gatekeeping them / silly).

These can mean several things. 

Narrator hopes that the situation would soon end, as mentioned in the previous part.

It could also show that he is making new ideas and growing. I think it would be a poetic way of personal growth. It is visible in the Bucket version of the game - lack of Red-Blue doors, Countdown becoming silly birds ending, him calling Stanley his friend through the bucket - he wants to change for the better.

“You are not beyond redemption. You may change, and you may become more, so much more than you were before.”

And what better way to show that than through physical growth?

Even if his mind, in the end, becomes the sandy landscape we all know - he had tried to get better and, in some way, succeeded. 

I sometimes wonder if the New New Content & Bucket parts of the game are what Narrator wants to turn the game into during these Skips. How he wants to acknowledge Stanley, show that he cares for him and that he matured.

But, let’s go back a bit. The New New Content happening during these skips in Narrator’s mind are a cute theory but, it’s just that - a theory.

What is real though is the game content, like the plants in the TSP 2 Expo.

3. “YES, I HAVE SOMETHING VERY EXCITING TO SHOW YOU!“ (TSP 2 Expo)

This part alone has 4 new plants that were never seen before in the rest of the office (they later make an appearance again in the Bucket Apartment Ending).

Three of the plants have some resemblance to the one in the Skip button - a long office plant put in a pot, while the smaller ones seem similar to the Fern.

(Small note: these plants are based on real-life ones that are common in offices and are low maintenance but I am too tired to figure out their types. Possibilities from a bud: “the first one in the basket is prob Dieffenbachia Seguine, down in middle is calathea makoyana, low right kentia palm”. )

Interestingly, the whole Expo is red-themed so, to compliment that with the opposite colour - green - could seem like it’s a bolder move. It to be fair isn’t - there are a lot of greys, whites and browns that tie everything together, not letting this become a Christmas-themed event.

Expo gives us a lot of new and fresh Narrator ideas - the Bucket, Figleys, and Infinitive Hole. I think these plants also deserve a mention - they all tie perfectly to the theme of Narrator’s growth.

He wants to be better, to please Stanley and I think, maybe, to fit in more. He could have reused the same plant from the Office but no - he made new ones.

And just like the Broom Closet - they never get acknowledged in the dialogue.

Show, not tell.

4. “AND STANLEY WAS HAPPY.” (Outdoors - Freedom Ending and Memory Zone)

Stanley felt the cold breeze, blablabla, you know the drill by now. Most of us will remember the current Freedom Ending - lots of grass, some trees, blue sky…

But that wasn’t always the case.

The 2011 Mod had a way different ending screen.

The difference is probably due to the limitations of this being a mod but comparing it with the future renditions, it might portray how Narrator had gotten softer throughout the games.

In this one - the outside world is urban. You went out of the building you were mind controlled in into a town of some sort. It doesn’t look too appealing. Trees without any leaves, very short grass - it is SOME freedom but it feels rough. Just like the only other outdoor area in the Games Endings (more about it in the next part).

The newer versions, however, are WAY different.

More saturated colours, some rock roads, trees, and mountains in the background - nature is ALIVE and well. Just like Stanley is, being freed, in Narrator’s eyes.

Because it is Narrator who chose to make this the end screen. It is just visible, time and time again, how much this man adores nature. Sure, he might be scared about the open world (next point, again) but he could have just remade the buildings from the original. But he chose not to - instead, upgrading it into something more beautiful.

This isn’t just an ending for Stanley - it’s an ending for HIM.

I think that’s why Memory Zone is just so similar, in my eyes, to Freedom in this aspect.

“(...) I made something special and tucked it away here where the game’s developers won’t find it.”

Some things do not match - the tree types seem different, the sky is a different colour, and small flowers pop here and there that aren’t in Freedom.

But there is a key element that does match - mountains.

These two areas may be connected - Memory Zone seems to be on a higher standpoint, maybe on a hill rather than a mountain but due to just that, it is possible they are both connected, just in different parts of the world.

Memory Zone is special to Narrator - it is supposed to show his achievements and happiest moments. It would make sense that it was placed in a similar area as Freedom - just hidden so that the other game developers Narrator mentions, would not influence it.

The Maintenance area of the Memory Zone, however, is everything Narrator tried to repress. That is why he might not remember the reviews in there - it’s all hidden in his subconsciousness.

“I don’t recall this part of the Memory Zone before.”

Narrator had been probably working on the Memory Zone way before he shared it with Stanley. It was his safe space, or so he thought. The memory in the name seems to be the most important clue - it’s not like some remembering zone, history zone or something - it’s memory.

And memories like to get hazy.

As I mentioned - to me, Skip Button's room is a visual representation of Narrator’s mind, at least a part of it. And since it’s a part of this area - I headcanon the whole Memory Zone to be that.

Contrasting with the wild flora of the main Memory Zone, the maintenance seems very run down and secluded. The colours in Memory Zone are already desaturated in comparison to the rest of the game but this part looks dirty thanks to the focus on browns and greys. While some of the lovely nature is in there - birds, a big water pool, the trees are dead. 

These dead trees, just like the Skip Button tree or 2011 Freedom Ending ones might be a pattern for Narrator when he is not in his best shape.

Once again, the game shows just how important the nature aspect seems in the key part of the story. Narrator made the conscious decision to change the Freedom Ending and probably also had some saying about the Memory Zone, until the parts he wanted to repress that got run down.

Narrator keeps on repressing things a lot throughout the game. He shows denial and shifts the blame - on Stanley, the Player or the reviewers. At the end of it all - during Skip - he finally realises his flaws and mistakes.

But that realisation happened way too late.

Maybe that’s why he later tries to separate himself from that Memory Zone, putting it in the Executive Toilet.

Or maybe, it’s some not-so-hidden poop joke. But that’s not as important.

So let’s get to the rest of the game.

5. “THE OFFICE COULD USE A BIT OF DECORATION.” (Other plants in-game, Games Ending, Epilogue)

Besides Fern, there is another plant that keeps on being with Stanley a lot. It is there, never in the foreground but it’s always there. It’s like a hidden companion - maybe, as a symbol for not so hidden one.

This plant shows up in most of the Left Door pathway to the Boss’s Office - 5 times in different rooms:

desks 431- 436,

desks 418-424,

left-right door choice,

Meetings Room, 

and the entrance to Boss's office.

It also shows up in rooms we see around the pathway:

room with 456, 457 doors,

413 room,

Executive Bathroom

and two in the room with Elevator Music.

The plant shows up 4 times in Confusion Ending (including the earlier mentioned 456, 457 area)- and thinking how the Fern is also there makes me just feral. Narrator joins Stanley on his little adventure through the unknown territory - so he inserts himself in the story.

In the Right door pathway, we get through the first 3 from the Left door and 2 more - the Loungue and the Games Ending.

The Games Ending has very different alternations between the game version but one thing is stable - nature in the open words games.

“I wonder what he found.”

In 2011, once again, nature is quite dead and dried up. RIP all the plants in this version of the game.

The next alternations, however, take a different approach and make the plants more alive.

The 2013 version uses Minecraft as it outdoor area.

Narrator doesn’t focus at all on the nature aspect - more on the crafting one which is fair, he is a storyteller and a game designer.

In Ultra Deluxe, there are two areas - Rocket League and Firewatch.

Rocket League won’t get that much attention from me - it’s just a typical grass for sports fields. The Firewatch, however, is a direct parallel with Minecraft. And it’s due to it being open-world.

This brings me to the last issue with Narrator and nature - he likes it quite a lot, but it HAS to be limited for Stanley.

Freedom makes you stuck in a cutscene, you can only go to mines in Minecraft due to no jumps, Memozy Zone has barriers, so Stanley has one path to follow, and most plants are potted- expect, for one thing.

And it’s the plants that show up in Skip #15.

I think it’s no coincidence that in the Bucket runs, the Red-Blue choice is off-limits. I think it’s due Narrator not wanting to go through things that hurt. But they hurt not only him - they also hurt Stanley.

We could focus on the fact that each of the Games runs ends up with Stanley being trapped in the 2011 version. But I think that lack of freedom to explore beyond the main area - the set path, the game, is what got Narrator more, in the end. Maybe he is scared about full freedom and lack of full control over the story and Stanley.

And maybe that’s why the Epilogue seems to be a never-ending desert. It’s Narrator’s last attempt to give Stanley the true freedom they both needed.

“An epilogue would be fun. Wouldn’t it, Stanley?”

(Shoutout to a Rammy who gave me the idea to talk about this screenshot.)

The desert, for me, fits the Sandman story (no, not just the song though now it is playing in my head so I hope it will play in yours, too). It shows up at the end of the Skip run and just like the room itself, I think it keeps on symbolising Narrator’s mind.

Once a mindflow, where his thoughts could drift anywhere they pleased became quite stagnant. He fell in hibernation or the mind was just no longer there.

The Sandman brought him the sand and let him rest, cope with the near eternity of solitude.

And to think, during it, Stanley uses wood he finds in this place to bring some light. Lighting up the neurons that still are active.

And this one last time a plant in any shape is present - it is there to serve Stanley.

Narrator, I see you. You probably never left because you are unable to but, you still care about Stanley.

And we care about you.

6. CONCLUSIONS

(painting in the background: The fairy grotto, 1867)

I could mention EVERY single plant in-game: all the nature paintings, plants in Demo and all the Infinitive Hole nature backgrounds, apple in Pink room, try to get through every plant and try to find its significance but at the end of the day- this whole thing is over 3k words IOSFAIHOSAFHIOFSA

I know this post didn’t talk much about Fernator. I could talk about how Narrator’s need for control and being in a confined space makes him want to be in a Bucket that he also projects a lot onto. How plants often symbolise his psyche, show up in important parts of the office and as the only other visible living being besides Other Stanley and Mariella, maybe, just maybe, Narrator, who seems to not be human, might have decided to take such form, for comfort and safety. But I will leave that for another time.

So if you reached this point, I hope you realise that Fernator AU is a superior AU to the point it’s canon /silly/nsrs /j (,,,, or is it / silly)

If you are reading this - thank you so much for reading this ramble or just skimming through it. I do appreciate you.

Thank you and-

“I'm out... I'm out... I'm done! It's over! Thank you for playing! Your input was extremely valuable.”

[berilynzoe]

My official review (that absolutely no one asked for):

🗑️🗑️🗑️🗑️- THIS SHIT IS BANANAS B-A-N-A-N-A-S

I am completely over exhausted & should have just waited until tomorrow to fully delve into the chaos that is Hoard & then write a fucking review.

As I sit here even more heavy eyed then when I went into this, I can’t help but to repeat “wow” over & over while I process.

Words I think best describe what you see: Absolutely immersive madness & heartbreakingly beautifully sad.

Stand outs besides Saura, Hayley & Joseph: young Maria (Lily-Beau Leach) is an absolute stand out being as young as she is, I think her performance alone was so compelling. Laraib (Deba Hekmat) easily one of my favorite characters even if we had her for a short time. Your typical bestie sidekick energy & took over scenes she was in (not to mention goodness she’s beautiful)

Overall impression: I truly think this is a wonderfully beautiful film with wonderfully flawed characters. Maria’s life is filled with abuse as a child as well as a young adult, joy, wonderment & grief. Her journey as a child of hoarding into her own madness of hoarding & her sexual awakening is a whole other level. Michael just as deeply flawed, abused, manipulative, manipulated is tragic in his own way. Desperate for love he’s clearly been seeking his entire life, falls mad for a girl, while on the other hand he has a heavily pregnant fiancée he completely disregards at one point leaving a message he wants nothing to do with her or their baby. Their connection to each other I think sheds light on how we all process our grief & how it can continue to impact our lives even years later. As well as shining light on how being in the foster care system for whatever reason(s) also has a major impact on those involved in it. From foster kids to foster parents alike.

Yeah yeah yeah blah blah blah Burr what did you think about Joseph’s performance: Of course you’re going to say I’d biasedly only praise him because it’s him & im 😍 for’em & maybe you’re right. But if you asked me on a deeper level I’d say I thought I wasn’t going to like him but in the end I just want to give him a deep scrub bath, a hug, a kiss on the forehead, & let him know he (affectionately) needs to go to fucking therapy. Our last glimpse of Michael begging a catatonic Maria in her rubbish kingdom to love him just shows how passionate JQ is for his characters & that’s something he does that I’ll always love & admire about him. I think he takes roles that will challenge him as an actor or really just something he can have fun with. His portrayal of Michael had me hating him, loving him, overall heartbroken for him & really just hoping he can get the help he needs to accept the love he has around him. (That being said Michael & Leah leaving together in the end… there’s no hope in my opinion that their relationship will last, with or without the baby. I would hope that Leah would see through his manipulations & finally break the ties to him. I think she truly loves him, but they both deserved so much better than what they are inevitably settling for) *HERE COMES EVEN MORE BIAS* isn’t he so beautiful though? Dear god dear lord

So in conclusion: Hoard is an absolute batshit crazy, messy, boarding at times of grotesque, mindfuck in the best way possible. If you have the chance to see it it’s worth the 2 hour runtime.

[tiredassmage]

I LIVED, BITCHES. Okay, let's see if I can run down my thoughts. SWTOR 7.3 thoughts, under a cut.

Yelling and related screenshots ahead!

Rivix, what the fuck are you playing at? Whore. Bitch. I don't fucking trust you. Asshole. This sly little fuck and his smug-ass face. God.

Kick his fuckin ASS Tau. Oh god oh no Oh fuck [kazoo noises]

THERON, DON'T LEAVE ME WITH HIM ALONE AGAIN THERONNNNNNN [WHINES PATHETICALLY AS THE CUTSCENE ENDS AND MY BOY IS DISMISSED FOR COMPANION TRADE OUT] oh god not both of them not Rivix AND Oggurobb someone is trying to kill Tyr today.

lmaooo why the FUCK is it floating so HIGH

Sa'har and Ri'kan's facial animations seem... better this patch. Slightly less staring into dead space, my soul, etc. Good for them.

THERON SHAN LOVERS REJOICE THEY FUCKING REMEMBERED HE EXISTED. THERON FLIRTS!!! THERON FLIRTS IN FRONT OF LANA!!! TYR STAY WINNING!!!!!

Shitheads flirt in the middle of an important mission brief and Lana makes exasperated noises, more at 11.

I was literally just chomping at the bit with a mut last night about Tyr's dynamic with Shae, I am SO GLAD I could rep some of that in game. [Two local bloodhounds have different bones and get into a pissing contest about it]

Malgus you bitch I hate seeing you I hate being here I hate this I hate it I hate it I hate it but at least. At least Tyr's not alone in thinking Shae's maybe getting a bit hotheaded and ahead of herself, but like that MALGUS of all people is the one sharing that concern god he fuckin' HATES it here when can he fuckin LEAVE

Anyway, Cipher Nine being hot again, (again) more at 11

WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST TO FIND OUT TORIAN MISSION???? Brb almost in tears. That was really sweet. And tied into a later point, I love... pc actually sitting and conversing with companions this patch? Like normal friends? So incredibly incredibly human and all really really touching stuff and I'm going feral about the running theme this patch about outrunning the past or overcoming it and being more, being different, but destiny- aNYWAY I'm getting ahead of myself and also my bias for my own OC is showing again in interpretation

I. love. what we learned about Darth Null. Shoveling this into my face like I'm horking down spoonfuls of soup. [I NEED her lightsaber pray for my wallet, friends]

The chat with Arcann was... really nice. And oh my god PC's puppy face. This felt really needed. It adds a lot more to what felt so cut short and rushed through from KOTXX.

This did so so much for me for real fOR REAL.

Voss daily section is really good until it's really long. The bonus mission for doing 4 tasks DOES give you a 'chievo but GOD at what cost I was starting to lose my marbles.

Anyway it's fuckin' gorgeous scenery. I love the abundance of waterfalls.

The initial 'unlocks' of the actual dailies themselves are relatively involved though. Not necessarily a bad thing, but ough. A bit much for me to chew off like I did, at least.

Shrine of Silence does not count for that, btw. Didn't expect it to based on how they pitched it as separate from the crit path, but I really wanted to run it anyway. It was fun! I have NO fucking clue what happened in the last half of the boss fight but I only died once the whole run because I missed one of the many holes in the floor and went right through it lmaooooo. So no actual mech deaths. On story mode ofc bc it is me and my beau against this silly silly little world. MVP Theron + Droid fighting possessed bitches that got yeeted under the floor for me while Tyr just looks hot

Good job, boys!!! You got this!!!!

I know there's mixed feelings about the vague prophecy bullshit, but I will continue to eat that shit up. Tyr disagrees, he's so fucking tired of being everyone's solution god let this man rest but!!! Put that pretty bitch in SITUATIONS.

Overall, Dot-approved update. I shall remain intrigued to see how all of these threads are going to come together.

[hologramcowboy]

I just finished writing this ask and I’m so sorry it ended up so long. While I’d love to read more of your insight, please feel free not to post this if you think it takes up too much of your blog space. I don’t know where to edit it as one idea sort of flowed into another. Whether you post this and respond or not, I hope you have a good day/week.

I think part of what made Jensen's portrayal of Dean feel so real and compelling is that he truly liked, then loved, Jared since a good chunk of Dean's character is his love for Sam. That isn’t to say that Jensen didn’t bring his own unique flavor to Dean or play him very well in other aspects because he’s a popular character for a reason beyond Jensen's looks, but I think the fact that he and Jared were close helped. A lot. For the most part, I found the most emotional and compelling scenes by both Jared and Jensen to be the ones they shared with each other (not all, of course, but most). However, I feel a very slight disconnect between them in the latest seasons. They still have amazing chemistry, but it’s not the palpable level it was in earlier seasons, at least to me. I think Jared got tired and put up boundaries with Jensen, and Jensen got resentful (and bought into his own hype) and they started to pull apart. Jensen’s ego didn’t need him bring "crowned" king of Bacchus, or whatever that was around that time. It could just be hindsight (I’m not immune to bias, especially as I started the show only a few years ago, then the prequel happened) but I think it noticeable that "Sam and Dean" don’t feel quite the same, even though I still love them. Even in the gag reels, while they are still funny, maybe even more so than earlier seasons, don’t feel as "real."

Anyway, my point with the above is, Jensen prides himself on going off instinct, acting more off the cuff, and enjoying "playing." These are all good skills to have, but they can’t be the ONLY tools one utilizes. It worked well with a Jared because they had a high level of comfort and intimacy and friends and long-term co-stars. In his new roles, Jensen isn’t playing opposite people he knows well and loves (or the role doesn’t lend itself to that, like SB), and the lack of connection comes through in his performances, or he is hit and miss. If he relies too much of his feelings or just letting the scene go where it does, but hasn’t done the background work of getting into his character’s head (as you’ve noted many times) then his portrayal can quickly go off course or lack focus / consistency. I still tend to mostly find him interesting to watch because he often does have a special spark, but SB was not as intense as he could be and Beau has some love,y moments but is inconsistent. I guess all of this rambling was just to say, I agree with the points you and anons have been making about Jensen.

Selfishly, I’m glad Supernatural went on for a long time because I love it, but it could have probably been more focused or maintained better quality if it ended by Season 12 or 13 at the latest (not on those story lines per se, but those amount of years). The show going for over 15 years didn’t really do Jared or Jensen any favors in the growth department. Jared got to play more variety of characters, but the last time he was anyone other than regular Sam (although a Sam has changed considerably from where he started) was season 9, and Dean, even after the mark of Cain in Season 10 was still just Dean, just slightly more open to Talking and more angry. He was Michael for about 4 episodes and that wasn’t overly focused or well-developed because the show runners were too lazy to give Jensen the guidance he asked for. So, the show wasn’t giving them a ton of room to stretch or play with new versions of their characters for quite a few years. It was safe, but not really a place for craft development for years. Frankly, the show was lucky that Jared and Jensen seemed to care as much as they did at the time because their chemistry (even if I think it wasn’t as strong as in earlier years, at times) was the only thing that kept the lazy Supernatural ship afloat.

If you or others disagree about their chemistry, I’d love to hear it. Maybe it’s just bias on my part.

Sadly, Jensen seems to have relied on being comfortable too much. I think he both resented that Jared's character was mostly the focus of the arcs (While this is understandable, he signed on to be second on the call sheet, so get over it.), and yet also resented the fact that Jared wanted out. Meanwhile, AAs and hellers are shrieking from the mountaintops that Dean is the best, Sam is boring, and Jensen is carrying the show (🙄). So, Jensen gets wind of at least some of the fan histrionics and buys into the notion that he’s the one making this ship sail. Meanwhile, Jared gets a holding deal with CBS and they decided to end the show if he’s going to be around. Then, they kill Dean and Sam lives (until he dies as an old man), killing off Jensen's lofty dreams of carrying on the Dean show as he mourns his dead brother in a badass, womanizing, drunken stupor. He probably thought it would be a success since EVERYONE knows Dean is the favorite and Jensen is the golden boy. But what he, and the AAs and hellers failed to bank on was that Sam AND Dean, Jared AND Jensen were what made the show work and beloved. Jensen is mad that Jared bailed and he (Jensen) didn’t get to pick up the first-building torch, but he should have realized that the show had been steadily declining in content for years and if he had just moved on gracefully, maybe discussed going a movie or shorter season in a few years WITH Jared, he would be in a better position today. He bought into his own hype and let his resentment build until he lashed out in a selfish and hurtful move with the terrible joke of a prequel. He’s like a spouse who lets their little resentments build until they get so angry that they feel justified in cheating and betray their significant other for some trashy new person, who is crass and cheap, and ends up leaving them and stealing all their money. (I’m not a tinhat, by the way, this just felt like an apt comparison.). Thus, he’s now known as professional on set (from all accounts I’ve heard), but unprofessional and disloyal on the greater scale, lazy as an EP, and a bad friend, who attached his name to a brand grab that is little more than a joke and an insult to the original show, its fans and his friend. Not a good look.

All this being sad, I don’t think Jensen is doomed in his career or even his friendship with Jared. If he humbles himself, stops bragging about himself and the roles he may or may not have been considered for, and starts memorizing his lines again and doing character work, picks a brand and sticks to it, he has the raw talent to still do well. On the other hand, I have no clue where he and Jared are in their friendship off camera. All I know is they do spend some time together beyond at cons, through people getting vids and pics of them, and they do seem to enjoy each other’s company on stage, and still make each other laugh. I think they can patch things up if Jensen acknowledge (or has) that what he did was sh*tty, but how can a friendship ever fully recover from a betrayal that big? Even if they still care about each other, and Jared seems very loyal, it might be a case of forgive but don’t forget. Jensen should have held on to those values fans still praise him for (however erroneously) of humility, groundedness and work ethic. I hope he genuinely had those qualities at one time because if he did, I believe he can get back to them, if he learns from the last two years.

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 Thank you for this beautiful post. I enjoyed reading each paragraph and there's no need to edit as it all flows beautifully and logically and it is expressed with sensitivity, empathy and objectivity.

"he often does have a special spark" he truly does, he has a vitality and charisma that can be quite extremely captivating and if he were to back that up with well developed performances, he would be unstoppable. "I hope he genuinely had those qualities at one time because if he did, I believe he can get back to them, if he learns from the last two years." I hope the same. As for the chemistry, I do agree, it started to dim at a certain point and it truly seemed Jensen was just going through the motions with his character. It's not uncommon for actors to go through phases where they feel disconnected from their craft and no longer into it so perhaps that was the case with Jensen, he failed to stimulate himself by deep diving into his craft and at some point got bored by repeating the same choices over and over again (as you said he runs on instinct but it's very easy to get tired of yourself when you do that). "Jensen’s ego didn’t need him bring "crowned" king of Bacchus, or whatever that was around that time." Danneel arranged for that to happen because she wanted to call herself Queen of New Orleans, her interest in doing that was also earning a standing for her own family to benefit financially due to the increase in image. She basically pretended to do something for Jensen, when in reality the end goal was boosting her family all along. Just like the sad prequel, the Bacchus thing was Danneel's suggestion. Funny how all the things she suggests always end up benefiting her and her family way more than Jensen, isn't it? "Thus, he’s now known as professional on set (from all accounts I’ve heard), but unprofessional and disloyal on the greater scale, lazy as an EP, and a bad friend, who attached his name to a brand grab that is little more than a joke and an insult to the original show, its fans and his friend. Not a good look." Exactly, fans will only focus on co-stars raving but all professionals will look at how he handled things, the comments he made about Jared, Alba as well as the name dropping, complaining about roles or even worse trying to lay claim on roles he could never even be up for due to type mismatch which shows he has no preparation branding wise. Also, the fact that is constantly buzzed and promoting alcohol even out of context. All those things tell potential buyers he is a production risk. They will first and foremost look at his performances and because he often lacks credibility to due histrionic mannerisms and expressions and also lacks the required inner work to take a performance to the next level, he won't really be competition with the colleagues he so often likes to create comparisons to. I agree, he's definitely not doomed, it will take a lot of pure intention, clear focus followed by massive action but he can redeem his image and his relationship with Jared as well. I'm going to stop here as my reply is quite long, thank you again for the incredibly beautiful post. I know I wrote text above but this is my actual response: 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 Have a beautiful, fulfilling week ahead!

[walkthegale]

So you're an amazing writer - love your stuff! I wanted to ask if you maybe had any explicit fic recs for the Crit Role ladies? If not that's totally fine, mostly just wanted to drop by and say that you're cool and keep rockin on

Hi there anonymous friend! Thank you so much for sending me such a lovely message, it made me really happy, and I’m so glad you like my writing! :D

I do have some E-rated fic recs! All Mighty Nein, as I’m still watching Vox Machina and haven’t read that much fic for them so far. (And not sure if you’re looking for RPF recs with the question, but sadly I’m not aware of there being much RPF femslash for the CR ladies overall.)

These are a few I love, off the top of my head, and I’m sure there are lots I’m forgetting or haven’t got to read yet! Anyone feel free to reblog and add any recs of your own!

you keep saying that by @atlantisrises (Beau/Yasha)

Guard Your Faith, Temper Your Speed by @throughtosunrise (Beau/Yasha)

Count (and Wait For Thunder) by hopelessbiromantic (Beau/Yasha)

we’ll find a way to be alone by @beaurcgard (Beau/Yasha)

o captain my captain by zemnian_nights (Beau/Avantika)

blackpowder by @erebones (Beau/Keg)

wanna stay with me? by @atlantisrises (Beau/Keg)

One Dude’s Tiefling by hopelessbiromantic (Beau/Jester)

[captainsspnanon]

The Kingsley Commentary

My rants about Kingsley, removed from the main reaction post

Putting in the obvious disclaimer that this is all my personal opinion and my interpretations of a character may not match the interpretation that you have of the character.  Feel free to think that I am wrong as much as you like!  But holy shit I needed to VENT.

With the Beau and Kingsley conversation before break

“I can see Jester, I can see Fjord, I can see Caduceus” fucking where?  I’m believing that this is fully pulled from Beau’s/Marisha’s ass, as Kingsley is all the worst parts of Molly and Lucien without having the benefit of being a fun villain.  He smarmily backtalks every line, he’s made it pretty clear that he doesn’t really like Jester or Fjord much and is heavily dismissive of them (and he’s done it loudly enough and constantly enough that it feels like the ‘i’m making a Joke TM but it’s actually true’ versus a friend just picking at each other.  Yes, I did still try to look at this aspect without bias – it’s INCREDIBLY different than when Veth and Fjord pick at each other, versus how Kingsley does.)  *watches more of the conversation* Well, there’s confirmation Kingsley doesn’t have respect for Fjord.  And I call bullshit on the respect for Jester.  Then again, I’ve lost my attempted non-bias at this point.  Kingsley ‘taking care of the crew’ is technically true, though I have no clue how much of it is actually taking care of them or just trying to undermine Fjord – cause part one made it feel 98% undermining Fjord.  Even his asking about Molly is based in “I want to be better than the other two” but in a way that feels arrogant rather than anything else.  YES THIS IS INCREDIBLY SUBJECTIVE OF ME I DON’T CARE

Plank King ending

No.  Fuck you.  I hate this ending because it is the most unearned bullshit ever.  

Percy and Vex’s ending?  Earned, because we followed their entire story through the campaign, see every step and struggle they take, and getting the Good Ending is narratively earned.  

The endings from the very end of C2, where Kingsley joins the Revelry, NOT becoming Plank King (I still can’t find how the hell this entered fan consciousness, as 141 and the wrap up never ever state it), and the rest of the Nein have quiet, normal-ish lifes?  Fucking earned to hell.  In a narrative that was NOT about the big heroes, their biggest reward was being happy.  Even the recap epilogues here which are basically the same thing as 141 are perfect.  But in 141, Kingsley becomes part of the Revelry?  Worked because it matched with his personality (and lol this two shot proves that even more) because he wants to sail and adventure (and steal and kill and be a cruel dick to people that he doesn’t give two shits about).  

Being the Plank King though?  Sitting on a throne while people just bring him treasure, and he has to essentially govern the whole Revelry (even though it’s more of a laissez-faire thing?)  That doesn’t seem to match with his character at all.  

ALSO is the fact that it’s narratively completely unearned.  A character that shows up for two full episodes and I dunno, maybe half an hour in the main campaign?  Suddenly in the ruler of a whole big plot setting from early in the campaign?  Feels like grubby grabby hands gimme the coolest ending.  Not only that, but give me a position of authority that can show up in future campaigns even though I’m still essentially a complete unknown.  Oh, and let’s not fucking forget the “I wave my hand and wipe away a big conflict from the campaign with absolutely no real resolution whatsoever aren’t I so awesome?” No, and fuck this ending forever.  I don’t care if it’s canon, I’m full on headcanoning it away because fuck that shit.  You know what this feels like?  You want to know???  It’s like if fucking Darrow of the Stubborn Stock suddenly sent Caleb a message going ‘no worries, have taken down the Cerberus Assembly, you’re fine!’ It’s not fucking EARNED.  Beau and Caleb slowly slowly slowly taking down the Assembly, or even just clearing out maybe one or two more people?  Fucking earned!  Darrow?  HOW MANY OF YOU ACTUALLY REMEMBER WHO DARROW IS???  But he’s been around for just as long as Kingsley, if not fucking longer.

I went into the two shot giving Kingsley a chance and I’ve ended up fully fucking hating him, officially what I consider to be the worst part of the entire campaign.  Probably even the worst part of ALL campaigns.

[ultraericthered]

Final Fantasy VII - English Dub VAs

Exactly the kind of post it sounds like.

Cloud Strife: 

Steve Burton (pre-Remake content) - Iconic original English dub voice for Cloud. His record is a mixed bag. In the first Kingdom Hearts, about half of Advent Children, almost half of Dissidia,Crisis Core, KH 2.5 Re:Coded, Final Fantasy Explorers, World of Final Fantasy, and Dissidia NT, he does really well. In Kingdom Hearts II, the rest of Advent Children and Dissidia, Dirge of Cerberus, and Dissidia 012, however, he kind of sucked and sounded lifeless.

Cody Christian (Remake continuity) - Hard to believe this isn’t just Steve Burton under a different name! He matches Steve’s voice perfectly and his performance is up there with Steve’s best work.

Justin Briner (Machinabridged Series) - Justin voiced his version of Cloud like Deku well before he actually voiced Deku! It’s normally not the sort of voice you’d imagine Cloud to have in the actual story, but when he gets to play serious and dramatic, he totally fucking kills it. 

FANCAST OPTION - Mark Hildreth. While nowadays I doubt he’s gonna get any work due to having been in a horrible cult, knowing exactly what they were doing but keeping silence about it for years and all that, back in the day he would’ve been my go-to voice for Cloud. Just listen to him voicing Heero Yuy, Terry Bogard, and Angel.

And my favorite one is.... Cody Christian! He’s got everything in the quality of his voice that Steve Burton and Mark Hildreth have got, but like Justin Briner he gets to act out a complete character arc for Cloud, even in just his first game! Definitely glad he’s in the role.

Barrett Wallace:

Beau Billingslea (pre-Remake content) - Back in the day, there was really no other black VA in the industry that could’ve fit this role better than him. He’s deep, gruff, rowdy, and delviers his material perfectly. John Eric Bentley (Remake continuity) - When I heard him in the trailers doing this straight up Mr. T-sounding voice, I wasn’t sure I liked it much. But then we all heard his full performance and....yeah, he knocks it out of the park. Really gives Barret a lot of depth.

Anthony Sardinha (Machinabridged Series) - For the most part, he does a very goofy sounding macho doofus voice for Barret, but for this version of Barret that works perfectly and has a lot of charm to it.

And my favorite one is....Beau Billingslea! Definitely no offense to John Eric Bentley, but Beau’s voice was exactly what I imagined Barret to sound like when playing the game, so I’ve got a bias here.

Tifa Lockhart:

Rachael Leigh Cook (pre-Remake content) - Everything about her voice sounds perfectly fitting for Tifa and she nailed it every time she voiced the role, even in lesser showings like Kingdom Hearts II.

Britt Baron (Remake continuity) - So to play off of Cody Christian’s Cloud, they found someone who sounds almost exactly like Rachael Leigh Cook! This is just getting freaky now...

Sarah Anne Williams (Machinabridged Series) - Makes a full journey from this Tifa’s more toxic, vulgar, self-destructive personality to her hidden depths and vulnerability as she develops into a better person more true to the original canon, and she pulls it off flawlessly!

And my favorite one is.....I can’t really choose. They’re all too good!

Aeirth Gainsborough:

Mandy Moore, Mena Suvari, and Andrea Bowen (pre-Remake content) - Wow. Three different actresses in this one role and none of them get it down pat. Mandy could barely voice act when she did this role in Kingdom Hearts, Mena did a dull sweet-sounding voice that could be even more lifeless than Steve Burton’s Cloud ever was, and while Andrea worked well for the younger Aerith in Crisis Core, I can never fully buy her as the 22 year old Aerith in anything else.

Briana White (Remake continuity) - Thank Youtube for this person and her getting cast as Aerith in Remake! They finally got it right!

Kira Buckland (Machinabridged Series) - A VA I can imagine could pull off an excellent canonical Aerith, but for this series she had to play up this ditzy, peppy, sweet and lovable Good Girl personality.

And my favorite one is....Briana White! Does this come as any surprise? She’s as ideal a match for Maaya Sakamoto we could get!

Nanaki/Red XIII: 

Liam O’ Brien (pre-Remake continuity) - One spoken line in Advent Children, but spoken in a voice from a VA that suits Nanaki so well.

Max Mittelman (Remake continuity) - Probably one of the best roles I’ve yet heard from this VA. He really delivers on the ambiguous age and the gruff, wisened warrior tone the character speaks in for when we get to know him at first. Rebirth steps it up a notch by having him drop the facade and start talking like the teenager he truly is, with the difference being startling and effective in how it alters perception.

Curtis Arnott (Machinabridged Series) - Undeniably entertaining to listen to, but this Homer Simpson-esque voice is the exact opposite of how you would expect canonical Nanaki to sound like!

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Dan Green. They had Mewtwo’s voice as Nanaki in Japanese Advent Children, so I don’t see why not go with a more literal English counterpart, and c’mon, the voice fits perfectly!

And my favorite one is....Max Mittelman! He’s just brilliant all around.

Cait Sith:

Greg Ellis (pre-Remake content) - British VA who decided to go with a Scottish accent for Cait, reflective of the character’s Celtic roots.

Paul Tinto (Remake continutiy) - Silly Scottish voice, again.

Nick Landis (Machinabridged Series) - Silly Scottish voice, again.

FANCAST OPTION - Tom Kenny. He wouldn’t even need to do an accent, just his typical cartoony voiceover would get the job done! Or, if you really have to go for Scottish, then David Fucking Tennant!

And my favorite one is....I can’t really choose. All of them work.

Cid Highwind:

Chris Edgerly (pre-Remake content) - Honestly, I did not like the way this voice sounded in Advent Children, Kingdom Hearts II, and Dirge of Cerberus. A Southern accent is fine, but not a full on drawl! But as of his recent reprisal in the Kingdom Hearts III DLC, he’s got it down.

J. Michael Tatum (Remake continuity) - He gets it down immediately.

Brien Olvera (Machinabridged Series) - Totally perfect and hilarious.

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Michael Sorich, Fred Tatasciore, or Jack Angel. Sorich is a natural for this sort of role, Tatasciore would’ve been ideal casting due to his voicework as the very similar looking Damon Baird, and Jack Angel actually voiced another Cid later on.

And my favorite one is....Fred Tatasciore! I’ve long held the belief that Chris Edgerly and Fred Tatasciore should’ve had their roles in Advent Children swapped, and I still stand by it and forever shall!

Yuffie Kisaragi:

Christy Carlson Romano and Mae Whitman (pre-Remake content) - Christy voiced the role in Kingdom Hearts and Advent Children while Mae voiced her in Kingdom Hearts II, Dirge of Cerberus, and the DLC postgame of Kingdom Hearts III. They sound pretty much 100% identical to each other...or at least they did. Mae Whitman’s KHIII reprisal sounded notably aged, more like Amity Blight than Yuffie.

Suzie Yeung (Remake continuity) - Sound exactly like how Christy and Mae used to! Holy shit, how does Square Enix find this talent?

Courtney Williams (Machinabridged Series) - She sounds a bit like Mabel Pines or Webby Vanderquack due to the hyperness being played up for this version of Yuffie, and she makes it work great,

And my favorite one is...Suzie Yeung! Out of all of them, she’s the only one who’s actually authentically Asian. Points just for that!

Vincent Valentine:

Steve Blum (pre-Remake content) - Steve does solemn and creepy voices like a pro, and he did great as Vincent in Advent Children. What happened to him in Dirge of Cerberus? He sounded so stiff!

Chris Tout (Machinabridged Series) - As expected, he plays up the melodrama of Vincent’s character for laughs, but in a cool voice!

Matthew Mercer (Remake continuity) - Matt is to the role of Vincent just as he is to Ganondorf; he’s as perfecft a fit as you’d hope for!

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Robin Atkin Downes or Christopher Bevins. Downes using his Baron Zemo voice, and Bevins his own amazingly spot on Steve Blum impression.

And my favorite one is....Robin Atkin Downes! Blum and Mercer are cool and all, but this is closest to what I hear in my head for Vincent, and it’s almost a bad joke that his is the last voice you hear in Vincent’s own game....as Genesis?!?

President Shinra:

James Horan (Remake continuity) - The tone of his voice is perfect, but the voice itself isn’t consistently solid. It sometimes sounds a bit like Jamieson Price, who voiced Reeve back in the older content!

Graham Stark (Machinabridged Series) - Good Southern accented president voice that fits the more legit affable Shinra of this series.

FANCAST OPTION(S) - The late Robert Ridgely or the still living Maurice LeMarche would’ve been ideal, as they could’ve delivered the Orson Welles impressions. Or for the Remake version, I wish they’d cast Richard Epcar in the  role, as he’d have matched the late Genzo Wakayama much more perfectly.

And my favorite one is....Robert Ridgely or Maurice LeMarche! Sorry, but I just can’t unhear him sounding like Charles Foster Kane!

Rufus Shinra:

Wally Wingert (pre-Remake content) - Perfect. Everything about it.

Josh Bowman (Remake continuity) - A bit deeper than I’d expect, but pretty solid acting for the small part he got in Remake. Getting to go further into the character with more material in Rebirth really helped him improve, so now he sounds almost as ideal as Wally Wingert.

Xander Mobus (Machinabridged Series) - If he wasn’t doing that Frank Underwood-style accent and goofy delivery, he’d actually be a perfect fit for canonical Rufus. That said, his Rufus is hilarious.

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Geoffery Arend would’ve been an even better casting for Remake Rufus. Given how much his Riddler sounds like Wally Wingert’s, he could’ve easily done the same here!

And my favorite one is....Wally Wingert! They’re all so good in the role, but this initial casting for Rufus was just striking casting gold!

Reno:

Quinton Flynn (pre-Remake content) - He was double-cast as Reno and Axel just like the late Keiji Fujiwara was, and he did perfectly.

Arnie Pantoja (Remake content) - It fits Reno. Just...not as well.

Curtis Arnott (Machinabridged Series) - Same as the above.

FANCAST OPTION - Roger Craig Smith. He took over for Quinton as Deidara in Naruto dub, so I wish he’d done the same with Reno.

And my favorite one is...Quinton Flynn! Got it memorized, yo?

Rude:

Crispin Freeman (pre-Remake content) - Not the role I’d expect Crispin to voice, but he did best he could with a deep, gravelly tone.

William C. Stephens (Remake continuity) - A black VA providing the voice for Rude just naturally fits better, as William demonstrates.

Marc Swint (Machinabridged Series) - And as Marc demonstrated!

FANCAST OPTION - Kevin Conroy. He’s a white guy too, but does anyone else hear an unintended Kevin Conroy impersonation in Crispin’s Rude? Was not able to unhear it after I noticed!

And my favorite one is...William C. Stephens! His Ving Rhames-esque voicework makes for easily the coolest sounding Rude!

Elena:

Bettina Bush (pre-Remake content) - A very nice, very well fitting casting choice for Elena. But she only got like two or three lines.

Piper Reese (Remake continuity) - No voice acting experience to her name, yet she put into her performance everything needed to pull off the ideal Elena and nail both her ferocious and comedic moments.

Morgan Berry (Machinabridged Series) - Cute and hilarious as usual.

FANCAST OPTION - Michelle Ruff. This role is tailor-made for her!

And my favorite one is...Michelle Ruff! See above.

Tseng:

Ryan Yu (pre-Remake content) - Yeah, I get that Tseng is meant to sound stiff and like a pro, but this was just WAY too monotone!

Vic Chao (Remake content) - Another Asian VA, only this one actually has an awesome sounding voice and great delivery!

Scott Ferichs (Machinabridged Series) - He does...an Alan Rickman impression? Even for a parody series, I’m not sure I get this one.

FANCAST OPTION - Eric Vale. When I look at Tseng, I hear Sakyo

And my favorite one is...Vic Chao! He does the all around best job!

Reeve Tuesti:

Jamieson Price (pre-Remake content) - It’s the same performance type as his Janyu Wong from Digimon Tamers. That’s ideal casting

Jon Root (Remake continuity) - Not as distinct as Jamieson Price obviously, but he does very well with what he’s given to work with.

Nick Landis (Machinabridged Series) - The one time Reeve and Cait Sith actually share a VA, and Nick’s versatility makes it work!

And my favorite one is...Jamieson Price! Can’t go wrong with him!

Heidegger:

John DiMaggio (Remake continuity) - John’s no stranger to voicing  Final Fantasy characters and he always does it so well. Heidegger is just the latest example of that. His voice and laugh are on point.

Ty Konzak (Machinabridged Series) - He delivers this snarly pirate-like voice that’s about what you’d expect of a parody Heidegger.

FANCAST OPTION - Charles Martinet. German accented Wario. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

And my favorite one is..Charles Martinet! Just listen to Wario’s laugh!

Scarlett: 

Erin Cotrieli (Remake continuity) - This is a solid fit for her voice, though she’s not done the “kya-ha-ha-ha-ha!” cackling thing so far.

Amber Lee Connors (Machinabridged Series) - Amber’s talent for voicing sultry femme fatale villains and also being really funny shine here, making her version of Scarlet a very enjoyable character.

FANCAST OPTION - Lani Minella. A super veteran VA (and original voice of Rouge the Bat), she’s just got the voice for it, y’know?

And my favorite one is...Amber Lee Connors! KYA-HA-HA-HA-HA!

Palmer:

William Salyers (Remake continuity) - Another stroke of casting genius. Palmer just plays to all of Salyers voice acting strengths.

Ben Creighton (Machinabridged Series) - Can’t really be sure that Palmer wouldn’t sound like this even if it wasn’t a parody series!

FANCAST OPTION - Jeff Nimoy, sounding like an aged Tentomon.

And my favorite one is...William Salyers! He embodies Palmer!

Professor Hojo:

Paul Eiding (pre-Remake content) - VERY outside-the-box voice casting, and maybe with better direction it coud’ve paid off. But what we got from Paul sure didn’t, being easily THE most ill-fitting original dub voice for a FFVII character. Sounds too feeble and annoying!

James Siei (Remake continuity) - Now THIS is more fucking like it! An actually Asian VA who not only delivers a bone-chillingly creepy performance, but who sounds eerily close in tone to Derek Stephen Prince as Vexen/Even from Kingdom Hearts, who shares a VA with Hojo in the original Japanese language (twice over, in fact!)

Edwyn Tiong (Machinabridged Series) - Another Asian VA who hams it up a lot more but can also be genuinely unsettling to listen to! He’d fit just as well as the psychopathic scientist in a non-parody work!

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Ezra Weisz, Dwight Schultz, Sam Witwer, Udo Kier, and naturally, Derek Stephen Prince.

And my favorite one is....James Siei! Paul Eiding’s was a misfire and with Edwyn Tiong and my Fancast picks they’re all in line with how I’d expect Hojo to sound. James “My Cabbages!” Siei being cast as Hojo and nailing him so hard was a total left field turn and one that puts me in his corner. He’s now the gold standard Hojo voice.

Sephiroth:

Lance Bass and George Newbern (pre-Remake content) - Lance Bass was a huge miscasting by Disney when they were getting star talent to voice FF characters and KH-original characters for the first Kingdom Hearts, and he sounds too youthful and not a thing like how Sephiroth would later sound. George Newbern, on the other hand...casting the dude known for Theodore Rex and Superman in the role of Sephiroth became the stuff of voice acting legend, as he blew all expectations out of the water. He’s THE iconic voice of Sephiroth.

Tyler Hoechlin (Remake continuity) - I get what they were doing, casting another Superman as Sephiroth...but Tyler is a Superman actor, not a Superman voice actor. As such he seems to put the work into making his voice sound sinister and Sephiroth-like while failing to convincingly act the material he has to say in that voice. However, in the first 45 seconds and the very last 45 seconds of this video, we can hear how damn good he’s capable of doing. That capability thankfully carries him through in Crisis Core Reunion and Rebirth, where he steps up his game and improves his voicework in the role, in some areas  even shining brighter than George Newbern!

Mike Varker (Machinabridged Series) - Totally obscure VA picked out by TeamFourStar to be their Sephiroth but holy shit, he fucking killed it! Just listen to this villainous monologue and try to NOT get chills!

FANCAST OPTION(S) - Sephiroth is a role that could be easy to cast but difficult to really nail. A handful of VAs I think could do it include:  Skip Stellrecht, Crispin Freeman, Paul Dobson, John Rafter Lee, Christian Bale, Michael C. Hall, Mark Whitten, and of course the Newbern Soundalike Supermen Tim Daly or James Denton.

And my favorite one is....a three-way tie between George Newbern, Mike Varker, and Skip Stellrecht.! All three are 100% godly fits!

Biggs:

Gideon Emery (Remake continuity) - A cool, smooth sounding Biggs.

Chris Niosi (Machinabridged Series) - He gets it down alright.

FANCAST OPTION - Michael Daingerfield. His voice fits well when voicing Biggs from Star Wars, and it’d fit just as well for this Biggs.

And my favorite one is....Gideon Emery! Guy’s got too much charm.

Wedge:

Matthew L. Jones (Remake continuity) - Sounds exactly how you’d expect Wedge to sound like.

Chris Zito (Machinabridged Series) - Same can be said of this one.

FANCAST OPTION - Tyler Labine. Same as both of the above.

And my favorite one is....I can’t really choose. All of them fit.

Jessie:

Erica Lindbeck (Remake continuity) - In her more mellow and mature moments she sounds just like Eli Ayase, but then in her cheeky, playful, flirty trolling moments she just goes full Kaori Miyazono. It’s as entertaining as it is kind of distracting.

Jesse Nowack (Machinabridged series) Ha ha. His name actually is Jesse! He did slur-voiced Jesse of this series as well as he could.

FANCAST OPTION - Grey DeLisle Griffin. For whatever reason, I always heard original canon Jessie sounding like Daphne Blake.

And my favorite one is...Erica Lindbeck! She just went SO HARD.

Marlene Wallace:

Grace Rolek and Ariel Winter (pre-Remake content) - They did fine.

Brielle Milla (Remake continuity) - She also does fine.

Corrine Sudberg (Machinabridged Series) - She did fine as well.

And my favorite one is....I can’t really choose. They all did fine!

Elmyra Gainsborough:

Julie Dolan (Remake continuity) - She played this part wonderfully.

Sandra Espinoza (Machinabridged Series) - Works good for the material she’s given, being both funny and painstakingly sincere.

FANCAST OPTION - Barbara Goodson. Back when she was younger in the late 90s, her voice would’ve really fit Elmyra.

And my favorite one is....I can’t really choose. They’re all so suitable.

Don Corneo:

Fred Tatasciore (Remake continuity) - He camps it up like crazy in this role but also can be threatening when need be, not to mention the horse winnying laugh he does. Much better FFVII role than Loz.

Josh Tomar (Machinabridged Series) - Perfect for the Don in every way, about exactly what I’d always been imagining him to sound like.

And my favorite one is....it’s a tie! They’re both perfect in this role!

Zack Fair:

Rick Gomez (pre-Remake content) - Zack’s expanded presence in this sub-franchise is strange for a lot of reasons, but if it’s to be, then he needs a likable enough voice to sell the character. Rick’s got it.

Caleb Pierce (Remake continuity) - Possibly even moreso than Tyler Hoechlin as Sephiroth following George Newbern, this is a huge trade down. I think Caleb could do well as young, up-and-coming Zack “the Puppy”, but his ability to pull off the tougher, more experienced Zack seems beyond him. He just cannot emote well.

Nathan Sharp (Machinabridged Series) - Perfectly cast, and did an ideal job at voicing Zack in the bit part he was originally meant to be.

And my favorite one is...Rick Gomez! Still the definitive Zack Fair!

[i-can-bench-220]

Pls elaborate on ur Velma and shaggy choices❤️❤️

of course! thank you for asking :D

(some shows i haven't watched in a long time or in full yet, so please excuse me if some things sound vague or incorrect!)

✦ velma ✦

sdway - in a design sense her character was so unlike any female characters on tv before, which is incredible to think about! i miss the sibling energy she has with shaggy in this show, and her one-liners are legendary. she's resourceful, always chill and even a little goofy sometimes (as a treat). i love her!!

apnsd - ok i have to go a little Deep for this one. when it comes to animation, a lot of my favourite works rely primarily on what's conveyed through mise-en-scène, and have little to no dialogue (think pixar short films). i just love the physicality and expressiveness of animation, and it's amazing to see how velma contributes so naturally to the wackiness of apnsd all without having lots of dialogue!! large exaggerated glasses are always a character design win for me, and her little run is so cute. she's just so much fun to watch, and on the occasion that she does speak, you always want to know what she's going to say. 11/10 the most perfect character ever made actually

90s/00s dtvs - i have such a big soft spot for bj ward as velma, and wish that we could have seen more of her!! while i do miss some of her trademark cynicism, she provides a really nice contrast with some of the more recent hyper-sceptic velmas. the witch's ghost in particular played a huge part in why she was my childhood favourite! i love how she nerds out over horror novels (especially since zombie island established her iconic lesbian used book store), but seeing her have to confront their author, someone who was once her idol, is genuinely affecting. also her rivalry with beau is really fun. this is a velma that i would bring home to meet my parents

(more under the cut!)

theatrical live action films - linda cardellini. that is all. except actually it is not! but it could be. women. :,) Anyway the live action films kind of freaked me out as a child, but i always loved how velma was portrayed! i don't like the forced heterosexuality or the weird makeover scenes, but i do like her just being a very charming and relatable introvert, and how they explore her place within the gang! she always felt very human to me, and is still a big comfort. ;o;

wnsd - i'm a bit biased because i grew up with wnsd and it's still my favourite version of the gang overall, but wnsd velma is so underrated! she's sceptical and sarcastic, but these traits aren't as amplified as they are in the more recent dtvs and sdmi respectively, which makes her just a little easier to enjoy and root for. again she has so many great one-liners ("ah irony, we meet again"), and gets lots of really fun interactions with daphne in particular! this velma is like your cool gay older cousin whom you idolise

✦ shaggy ✦

sdway - an absolute classic!! he's just such an entertaining and perfect balance of goofy cowardice and charming wit. his corny puns are the reason i get up in the morning. he is So Much all at once but it all works because he's just that fun and engaging both alone and when playing off the other characters!! thank you casey kasem for my life

wnsd - nem's wnsd bias is back!! this shaggy is so friend shaped it's unreal. in that the friendship between him and scooby is focused on a lot in this show, and it makes for so many wholesome moments!! he feels like your slightly out of touch but very well meaning uncle who always tries his best. i also love how he's canonically vegetarian here! i love seeing all of his ridiculous yet completely meat-free food combinations because as a veggie myself that is very relatable (i am having plain lettuce and doritos for lunch as i type this). i really wish that this was something they kept for his modern character out of respect for casey kasem more than anything. :(

legend of the phantosaur - i rewatched this movie the other night and it just gets better every time, due in no small part to shaggy's central role!! the concept of his Fear Disease ("isn't that just anxiety?" - my friend) and how he becomes Brave Shaggy is just way too fun, and God that moment in the caves where fred tells him that he's brave no matter what made me sob. this movie was also the birth of the ultra instinct shaggy meme, which of course isn't strictly within the film but i find the entire concept so unironically cool. iconic movie with an even more iconic shaggy!

shaggy's showdown - another central shaggy movie!! this movie just has such wholesome and cosy energy that i can't fully explain. i'm a sucker for character development, and i know that scooby doo isn't really the best place to find that, but i loved watching shaggy try his best to genuinely do good by people and uncover his ancestor's legacy, all while the gang support him every step of the way.

thank you for reading my rambles this far if you did! this was a lot of fun to write. :)

[stardustedknuckles]

Me writing the next chapter in the b/y werewolf AU is just a constant shitshow of me going ‘god everyone’s just sitting and TALKING’ before remembering that like. None of y’all know any of this stuff I’ve been building the world on since october (with stuff evolving since then of course). Like it feels so motionless to me but it’s because all of this is foundational tenets of this world that I have not yet stated and as such is not the boring mess I think it is. I keep forgetting! Y’all dunno how Caleb figured out Wolf (some of you might not even know he did - in which case sorry, that’s def the whole face journey he went on when he showed up for magic practice with Jester). Y’all dunno about the levels of fucked up the collar has or how werewolves work here (loosely how they work - to be fair, Yasha doesn’t know a whole lot either and Caleb’s read too many books to know what’s fact or fiction til he sees it).

It’s all fresh! I just have this bias from holding it all in my head for so long. also I still have one tiny detail I need to figure out and it’s killing me, so. you know.

Anyway I’m working on it. :P using pike/beau/yasha smut and bodyswap etc. for when I need an easy break.

[luci-hemwin-evanson]

Idk if nobody cares I’m doing this anyways bc I just saw someone on YouTube doing it so…

My favorite Disney Channel (+ Disney XD) ships

Jay & Carlos - Descendants

Simón & Ambar - Soy Luna

Liv & Holden - Liv & Maddie

Alex & Mason - Wizards of Waverly Place

Jack & Kim - Kickin’ It

KC & Brett - KC Undercover

Pedro & Delfi - Soy Luna

Nick & Macy - Jonas L.A

Maya & Josh - Girl Meets World

Teddy & Beau - Good Luck Charlie

Sonny & Chad - Sonny with a Chance

Ethan & Sarah - My Babysitter is a Vampire

Joe & Stella - JONAS & Jonas L.A

Olivia & Wen - Lemonade Mouth

Ben & Mal - Descendants

Gastón & Nina - Soy Luna

Im sorry Derek & Casey - Life With Derek

Charlie & Mo - Lemonade Mouth

Zed & Addison - ZOMBIES

Uma & Harry - Descendants

Zack & Maya - Suite Life on Deck

Maddie & Josh - Liv & Maddie

Poli & Felix - Supertorpe

Bia & Manuel - Bia

Miley & Jesse - Hannah Montana

Brady & Mikayla - Pair of Kings

London & Marcus - Suite Life on Deck

Riley & Lucas - Girl Meets World

Peter & Lola - Peter Punk

I didn’t watch That’s So Raven, or any shows previous to Hannah Montana / Wizards of Waverly Place / Suite Life so I didn’t include them I I also didn’t watch all of Shake It Up and I don’t remember caring about ships either, I kinda liked Gunther & Cece but didn’t really ship them

(I included Canadian shows that were aired on Disney/Disney XD, I didn’t included all DCOMS just bc I watched them on Disney growing up so that’s why they count)

[sun-critrole]

Genuine question, is Beau canonically black? I always thought she was a dark-skinned South Asian woman, though maybe that’s just my bias because I’m Indian. Regardless you’re 100% right about everything you’ve posted about race and CR, and everyone should check out shows like Into the Motherlands with poc in front of AND behind the cameras

Info on Into The Motherlands

She reads South Asian to me, but again I am a white with no actual say in the matter. But South Asian people, Native people, and all people of color can be affected by whitewashing. This isn’t a thing limited to just black characters.

Here’s a Guardian article specifically about Asian (East Asian) whitewashing.

Here’s an article about South Asian women being whitewashed in media.

[anexplanationofunfortunateevents]

BUT HIS [SON’S] [IRRELEVANT AND PROBABLY FAKE] EMAILS!

In a world where people were trying to do their jobs, this story would not make sense to anyone, now or ever. But because we live in the dumbest fucking timeline, you need to know the shape of the Trump cartel’s latest disinformation campaign against the American democratic process.

Former Vice President Biden is being attacked through his family, which means that his family’s story is the vital context here. Back in the ‘70s, when he was Senator-Elect Biden, his family was in a terrible car crash. His first wife and their young daughter were killed. His sons Beau and Hunter survived, though Hunter suffered a traumatic head injury. The boys went about 80% Parent Trap to convince their dad to marry his current wife Jill, and both grew up and went to law school. Beau became the attorney general of Delaware before dying of cancer in 2015. Hunter went on to a lucrative career in the private sector despite an intermittent struggle with substance abuse, which is a common aftereffect of psychological trauma and brain injuries.

Republicans generally believe that being a Yale Law grad with a wealthy father and a history of substance abuse qualifies someone for the Supreme Court, but for some deeply principled and intellectually honest reason, they have decided that Hunter Biden’s employment in the field of transportation and energy can only be a sign of spectacular corruption. So nefarious and sinister was the Biden family’s treachery that they managed to destroy every iota of evidence before multiple investigations by Senate Republicans could find any of it!

Obviously this little tabloid narrative was derailed when Trump went and got his dumb ass impeached over it. But it’s the middle of October, Trump’s down ten points in the polls, and he made the mistake of replacing the wildly unethical FBI director who threw the last election for him with a guy who at least knows to act professional, so he’s looking for a Hail Mary pass. In the wackiest of coincidences, some random Trumper had what he says might be Hunter Biden’s various hard drives, one of which apparently contained a backup of his most sensitive videos and text messages, in his computer repair shop. Of course this man did the only sensible thing and, uh, copied every file in the drives one at a time before bringing it to Trump’s TV lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and then the FBI. Giuliani, who was a former federal prosecutor before becoming the former mayor of New York City and current new bestie of Random Tech Store Guy, handled this situation with the assistance of someone who has a mere “50/50 chance” of being a Russian agent. (Poor old Rudy does appear to have limited communication skills beyond his personal safe space of a noun, a verb, and 9/11.) It’s unclear to me whether Giuliani or Tech Store Guy was the one who shared the hard drives with Steve Bannon, the white supremacist propagandist and former Trump campaign manager who is currently under indictment for fraud.

As with a lot of Trump trash, it’s impossible to describe without sounding like you’re exaggerating for comedic effect, but the stakes are too high for any of it to be funny. 

Over the weekend, a right wing tabloid published what it said were emails from one of Hunter’s laptops. (Reporters at that particular tabloid do not believe the story.) The emails don’t show any wrongdoing by the vice president and seem fake for a lot of reasons – but never mind, the bullshit laundering worked well enough to get some supposed actual reporter to harass Vice President Biden about it, and then a bunch of other supposed actual reporters to collapse into their fainting couches when Biden responded with appropriate impatience.

That apparently didn’t have the hoped-for effect. The next day, what appeared to be a series of highly emotional text exchanges between the vice president and his son appeared. There was nothing even vaguely scandalous in these, to a point where it’s not immediately obvious why anyone would bother publishing them. My best guess is that it’s meant to throw Biden off his stride by trying to hurt and humiliate his son, though it may also be an attempt to soften the ground for an even more theatrical reveal.

A lot of Very Serious Politics-Knowers have deluded themselves that the But Her Emails debacle of 2016 was the legitimate kernel of a story that was “blown out of proportion.” But Her Emails was about people a) having some degree of misogyny, conscious or unconscious, which led to a bias against Clinton and b) wanting to tell other people and/or themselves that it wasn’t because she was a woman. They understand that the But Her Emails-ing was a) enormously consequential and b) incredibly dumb. They don’t want to think too hard about that tension, because if they did, they’d have to take responsibility for how the dumb thing became so consequential.

Meanwhile, Trump campaign insiders know better than the rest of us how much they cheated in 2016, but they’re still people and therefore susceptible to the cognitive bias that they got what they wanted because they earned it somehow. The closest thing they had to an above-board strategy was yelling “emails!!” a lot, so they expect yelling “emails!!” to be successful again. They’re just desperately throwing pasta to see what sticks – but Joe Biden is a man, so they’re throwing it at the theory of relativity instead of the refrigerator door.

There are differences between 2020 and 2016 which are significantly less depressing. Trump’s co-conspirators are resorting to ridiculous methods because so many of the key players who made the 2016 operation work are actually facing punishment for some of their crimes. Paul Manafort is under house arrest. Wikileaks guy Julian Assange is in jail.  Social media companies, especially Twitter, were prepared to slam the brakes. Some mainstream reporters have refused to learn their lesson from 2016, but others were prepared to be critical. And, I cannot emphasize this last one enough, voters are more prepared for it. So Team Trump isn’t as good at doing the crimes as they were four years ago, even if they were as good at it they wouldn’t be able to use traditional and social media as effectively as they did last time, and even if they could adjust to that they’d have a harder time manipulating us. Maybe it got frustrating and boring for you to hear and talk about the 2016 attack for years on end, but the whole point of that was that we needed to be ready for exactly this scenario. So far, it seems to be working better than I would have hoped.

Obviously, this is infuriating. All else aside, putting this enormous, invasive pressure on a private citizen’s mental health and substance abuse problems is abusive and gross and genuinely dangerous. I don’t give a shit who his dad is, it’s fucking evil. We need to be ready to remember everybody involved in pushing this story – not just the con artists behind it, but the “mainstream” reporters who validated it in their behavior toward the Biden campaign or who spread what were (allegedly) entirely personal text messages of no news value.

But first, we need to win next month. On that front, I want to reiterate what I said when they first started cooking up this story late last year: it’s actually encouraging that they’re resorting to something like this, because it means they’re flailing. They haven’t been able to make FBI Director Wray abuse his power in the way former Director Comey did, despite the fact that the only real tool they had to manipulate Comey four years ago was taunting and pressure from conservative media. They don’t have a cutout like Wikileaks to launder the documents for them. Most importantly, they’re trying to influence voters’ opinions of Biden because they think voters’ behavior still matters. The only thing Trump knows in life is how to get away with a scam. If they thought they had it “rigged” they would be trying to act normal, because spending the three weeks before a heist reminding your marks of what fucking criminals you are doesn’t help you get away with it.

One last thing: this is a less obvious reason why it’s important to vote as early as you can. All these other increasingly desperate stunts depend on the ability to overwhelm everyone all at once, without enough time for them to be debunked or brought back into proportion. The more early votes are in the bank, the less effective their next stink bomb can be, and if it can’t be effective, there are a lot of people around Trump who would rather save their own asses from prison than help him throw it.

[moonelf19]

Remember when they were in the boiling pot? Travis/Fjord tried to look for things he recognized, things people he knew had once had. Things like Caleb's necklace which hadn't been found yet from the pile. He rolled a 21, didnt find it. But Veth who rolled a 21 did. I think that's kinda lame that Fjord had the same score and got nothing out of it while another roll for the same thing did. Imagine if he had actually been given that find?

(I had most of this answer written and tumblr flushed it away so here is take two!)

I hadn’t noticed that moment (but my roommate, who usually misses subtle things in the show, totally DID notice it and thought it was weird). This is now the second time in this arc that Matt has overlooked Caleb when Fjord was looking for people/things.

The first time was when Liam specifically said Caleb sat down next to Fjord at the bonfire to work on his wand (insert conspiracy theory about the wand here). About a minute later Travis asks Matt who is nearby and Matt listed people who were a little ways off doing food preparation but failed to mention Caleb sitting right next to Fjord.

And now Fjord looks for his friends belongings and finds nothing, but Veth looks for her friends belongings with the same roll and gets rewards?

Matt is a GREAT dm, I love watching him work. I also disagree with some of his choices (Veth unable to step across a 6 inch gap without rolling a save, her failing the save and dying in lava??? I was mad for a week lol). He can be a little harsh, which I actually REALLY enjoy! I love challenging DND, where the players have to be paying attention and thinking hard and involved.

However I think the reality is that Matt sees the characters and the story a certain way, and so the way he answers things, what he asks certain people, are all affected by that bias. It reinforces certain dynamics because he’s trying to help the players tell a story.

Do Veth and Caleb have a strong story connection? Yes, absolutely. I LOVE seeing Veth’s story play out because it’s been developing consistently since the start, her personality and choices have been shifting as she learns and grows, the wretched choice she is trying to make between her original family and the M9 is heart wrenching to watch.

I also think that Sam is really good at stepping into the spotlight and interacting with other characters. Veth has a connection with Jester (detectives), Yasha (the development from distrust to offering to give Yasha her flask), Fjord (pseudo-antagonistic friendship), Beau (dex based friendly rivalry). That’s all happened because when Matt asked what they want to do Sam took initiative and incited interaction with another player.

But the rest of the group is not doing that to the same extent. Case in point Ashley. Hardly ever seeks people out, very much still on the fringe of the party. 

All rambling to say that Veth has sort of monopolized Caleb’s connections. Their relationship was/is sort of codependent. If the group is taking watch, Veth immediately pipes up she is on watch with Caleb. If the group is rooming in pairs Veth is going to room with Caleb. If the party is reporting their marching order sometimes she is on watch, but often she will place herself with Caleb to watch over him.

100 episodes in of course Matt has created a Veth-Caleb connection in his head. It’s been hammered in there. Sam has no sense of fear or reservation making sure Veth is where he wants her to be. Her story is being told fantastically. I wish the other characters were getting that sort of treatment, even if I know why they aren’t.

So when Fjord asks for things he would recognize, Matt probably thinks back to when Travis/Fjord has interacted with other party members, and in the heat of the moment he can’t immediately pull up an idea, so he passes it off that Fjord sees nothing. Because Travis is more timid at the table. Because he hasn’t laid the groundwork to have that instant connection to other characters in Matts head.

When Veth asks for things she might recognize, Matt thinks of Caleb. He even mentions sometimes that he assumes Veth is paying extra attention to Caleb unprompted (in the dungeon under Bazzozan, when they were descending the staircase. I just re-watched that episode so it stands out.) And so Matt says that Veth finds Caleb’s necklace. Of course she would.

From a mechanics standpoint it’s like the DC is different for Veth vs Fjord because Veth has seen the necklace so much more. Even if in game Fjord has seen it enough to recognize it, even if the necklace is VERY important to Fjord because it is keeping Caleb safe while he carries the Cloven Crystal. Even if Fjord had a pointed conversation with Caleb about making sure he was safe while carrying this horrible item for Fjord, even if Fjord said he doesn’t want Caleb to be in danger and is soothed by the fact that the necklace protects Caleb from Ukotoa’s followers.

That wasn’t in the forefront of Matt’s mind. So Fjord didn’t see it. Veth did.

And we got another Veth and Caleb interaction instead of a Fjord and Caleb one.

And things stay the same.

[roc-thoughtblog]

Sense and Sensibility Readthrough Part 15

Chapter 18, Pages 83-88

Past two weeks have been... rough isn't the right word, that implies a specific level of hardship. Mismanaged implies that I made management decisions at all. I think "thoroughly paralyzing" and "difficult to manage" were what it was. If I ever mention emails in the preamble again you can be sure there's a 50% chance I'm imminently falling apart and disappearing for a while under the pressure. I still haven't conquered them at the time of writing this, but I've made some progress..

Over the weekend two sets of friends dragged me out, so that's helped a lot in resetting my mind to a less frozen space. I got to see a bird art exhibit and pick up a friendly kitty! I have no idea where yesterday went but I finished DDLC the day before, which was fun and I'd like to write something about.

This week's looking better.

Anyway! Previously, Edward Ferrars has returned, and makes his greatest spoken appearance thus far with all the sisters; and in the comfort of their familiar company he sounds very much at ease and how Elinor would refer to as "as himself." It's very sweet, but it also sounds like he's nursing something broody underneath it all.

Geez it's been almost two weeks.

It took me a good four hours today to get back into reading again, but I'm glad I did. This chapter was so sweet, and I feel like it's helping me get my life rolling again.

Readthrough below.

Chapter 18

Edward Ferrars is doing a good impression of me during social outings. Poor Elinor, he's so despirited she's not able to even read if he still loves her/wants to see her;

and the reservedness of his manner towards her contradicted one moment what a more animated look had intimated the preceding one.

Another for the nice line stack. I really know the feeling though; that you should or even are genuinely happy to be there but something weighs on you in a way that whatever you should naturally feel gets swallowed. Like happiness is a poor signal being intermittently obscured by static and noise. And other people can pick it up easily even if they don't know the cause; poor Elinor is feeling insecure right now being made to guess what it could be.

Edward's behaving oddly, not just in Marianne's opinion but in mine as well I think. Or at least, very detachedly. He skips breakfast with Elinor to go a walk around town to admire the scenery; I have to pause my train of thought for this actually:

"I shall call hills steep, which ought to be bold; surfaces strange and uncouth, which out to be irregular and rugged; and distant objects out of sight, which ought only to be indistinct through the soft medium of hazy atmosphere. [...] I call it a very fine country - the hills are steep, the woods seem full of fine timber, and the valley looks comfortable and snug - [...] I can easily believe it to be full of rocks and promontories, grey moss and brush wood, but these are all lost on me."

When Marianne tries to press Edward for the details of his aethstic opinion after his walk, he gets pre-emptively defensive over his inability to meet her standards of aesthetic appreciation. Asides from illustrating that Edward knows how to describe what he lacks, it's really helpful to me for being an incredibly easy to reference breakdown on the difference between observations made from aesthetics versus utility.

Steep hills, out of sight objects, comfort and resource presence are all practical concerns. Meanwhile, uncouth surfaces imply personality, a hazy distant skyline adds atmosphere, promontories are dramatic and grey moss and brush wood are appealing visual details. I haven't really stopped thinking about narrative voice, so I'm suddenly struck wondering about a detective/reporter dynamic where two characters cover the same scene but one is practical and the other is poetic, and seeing the difference... Well it's probably been done and I should nix this train of thought before it takes me interstate.

Amusingly, Elinor undercuts her beau by explaining to Marianne that Edward is not nearly as exclusively utilitarian-minded as he acts... he just masks the latent poetry within his soul because he holds a slight reactionary bias against aesthetics, because he finds some aesthetic appreciators to be fake and pretentious. Oh dear. :'D

Fortunately for Edward, Marianne agrees that florid language has been done to death. Unfortunately for Elinor, Edward refutes her claim that he has any hidden poetic appeal. He goes as far as to use language like "crooked, twisted, blasted trees" while doing so too, which, I think we can all agree it's a waste that he doesn't employ them more often. :'D

Marianne looked with amazement at Edward, with compassion at her sister. Elinor only laughed.

Same. :'D

Oh, oh no.

Next paragraph Marianne spots that Edward has a new ring and blurts out the observation for a conversation topic. Oh no, no that can't be any kind of good in general. A surprise new ring? In a romance novel? Murder! Bloody murder! It's like finding a bloody handprint in a murder mystery; Edward what have you done??

I might be having a little trouble following what comes now though. So there's a hair inlaid in the ring (what is it with people keeping each other's hair?), which Marianne asks if it's Fanny's. The hair's not the right colour to be Fanny's, but Edward makes an excuse while glancing (guiltily?) at Elinor. So now, both sisters think it's Elinor's hair, and he's lying about the source because he's embarassed? Marianne thinks it Elinor gave to him, but Elinor thinks he secretly stole it from her?

I think that's what happened?

Elinor doesn't even like... particularly mind that her hair might have been stolen to make a ring.

That hair is definitely not Elinor's though, which I think she will mind.

[Elinor] internally resolved henceforward to catch every opportunity of eyeing the hair and satisfying, beyond all doubt, that it was exactly the same as her own. [...] how little offense it had given to [Elinor].

Elinor's natural skepticism, at an 11 for Willoughby, is turned down to a 1 for her beau. In fact, her natural skepticism is playing second fiddle to her basking in attention; from the rest of the context it sounds like she's just using it as an excuse to admire her beau apparently wearing her hair. We've seen paranoid hyperaware Elinor, and this is definitely not her. This is a new Elinor, this is aaaaaaaaaa my beau has a secret memento of me aaaaaaaaa i can't betray my secret internal happiness aaaaaaaaaaa Elinor.

I don't even think I'm reading too much into the secret internal happiness thing, girl has feelings and biases. If it were Willoughby with the strange ring of hair she'd be driving herself up the wall with concern, but that it's Edward she's already half-convinced herself of his fidelity. Either it's not her hair, or he stole her hair behind her back, and neither is a good thing! In fact, the latter is quite a stretch, and Edward seems like an awful liar. And even though she assumes the latter option, that he stole her hair without her consent, she's not even upset! That's not just creepy nowadays, Elinor acknowledges in the text that she should be affronted! It's creepy then too! Poor girl has it bad.

Mama Dashwood are you gonna say anything? I don't think Marianne is useful here, she's just happy to see signs of love.

Oh boy, there's not even much of a reprieve before Sir Middleton and Mrs Jennings show up to meet the new lad in town. 0 seconds for Mrs Jennings to figure out Edward is Elinor's secret beau. Poor Elinor is gonna get her match made so hard. I expect exponentially increased amounts of unwanted advice.

Sir Middleton invites them to more parties, as he do, which may or may not be the coming chapters. Marianne is still despirited that Willoughby is absent. Edward catches on to all these mentions of a mysterious Willoughby and Marianne's despondent reactions, and pieces things to together to come out and ask Marianne privately... if Willoughby hunts.

He just made a joke, that cheered Marianne up. That's adorable, I love it so much. Bonding... :')

Not just him too, the entire narrative was setting that one up for the reader, trying to build it up into some kind of serious question or confrontation so that Willoughby could deliver the punchline on Marianne. On a dry technical level it conveys the same bare minimum of information that it otherwise could have (that Edward has figured something out and confronted Marianne about it), but on every other level it's so much more heartwarming and just adds such a fine, tender touch to an interpersonal relationship that really doesn't get all that much positive attention.

And beyond touched, Marianne is all of happy, anxious and certain that Eddie would be great friends with her Willoughby, which, I need many new sentences to express how incredibly meaningful that is.

Marianne's relationship with Eddie up until now has been marked by a frustrated inability to understand him, and mostly held together by the good words and attention of her sister. They're established to be friends and positive, but there's always a fraught element to it, especially since we've seen that she and Willoughby together have had a similar antagonistic relationship towards Brandon, and that doesn't play out well even with Elinor's defense. Given how much she insists that she shares her heart and mind with Willoughby, we can reach the implication that she treats her opinion or place as interchangeable with Willoughby's. If she can confidently opine that Eddie will like Willoughby, then I think this is that tender moment where we can see that, no matter how or if they fight or disagree, Marianne truly believes that Eddie deeply likes and appreciates her, because that's what's necessary to like Willoughby.

And Eddie reciprocates! "I do not doubt it." He has no reason to know that Willoughby and Marianne have appreciably interchangeable level singlemindedness, so he just likes Marianne enough to be ready to accept whoever it is that she loves.

It's such a lovely note to end an otherwise tense chapter on. That interaction alone might have made it one of my favourites so far.

[theantitote]

A Call to Action + A Few Resources for These Times of Unrest in the US

On the Recent Unrest and Our Worst Fears (Is a civil war brewing?)

These times are uncertain, dire even. A mismanaged pandemic has and will continue to claim many lives and ravage our economy, yet several Republican governors still stand poised to reopen schools in the fall, and economic woes potentially put millions at risk of falling victim to mass evictions. Police and government brutality has long plagued our nation with near impunity and in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the violent crackdowns on protests, we seem to be reaching a breaking point. Police have been seen on numerous occasions assaulting the media, and federal agents sent to Portland, Oregon have been responsible for among other things, shooting Donavan La Bella in the head with “less lethal” impact munitions, cracking his skull and nearly killing him, arresting protesters into unmarked rental vans, and striking a Navy vet with a baton after he attempted to confront them on their oath to the constitution, breaking his hand. Now as anger swells in the streets and fears rise of an apparently fledgling secret police force due to the actions of federal agents, recently threatened to be deployed to more cities as part of Trump’s Operation Legend, a question thought unthinkable just a few months ago seems to be becoming uncomfortably plausible - are we heading for a civil war?

Anyone with even the slightest bit of morality and an inkling as to what such an event would entail should be struck with terror at the mere thought of the possibility. So it is imperative in these times that we do our due diligence as citizens of this nation to learn from history and do everything in our power to deescalate such a situation before our worst fears are realized, all without loosing sight of the problems and what must be done to solve them. To this end I have compiled a fairly brief list of videos, podcasts, articles, and webpages that I recommend all Americans observe and heed the messages and warnings found therein.

Top Recommendations

Note: All podcasts link to Spotify pages however you should be able to find them elsewhere if needed, including most popular podcasting apps from my experience.

1) The Youtube channel Beau of the Fifth Column, and his recent covering of the events in Portland.

I link his playlist of videos covering Portland and how the federal response runs counter to the guidelines of their manuals because it’s most relevant however I can’t recommend his entire channel enough. For further reading, here are a few links related to what he discusses in those videos:

FM 3-24 - Insurgencies and Countering Insurgencies - FAS PDF link

Federation of American Scientists - their website hosts a sizable amount of information some of which is relevant, including the aforementioned pdf

The Rand Corporation’s website, which has more public documentation and who also plays a large role in the making of classified documents for policy makers on the subject.

The nonprofit archive.org free online library

2) It Could Happen Here - A podcast from 2019 by Robert Evans, who has a background in investigative journalism on the conflicts in Iraq and Syria and Ukraine among others, exploring the possibility of a Second American Civil War, what might cause it and how it could be prevented. Though he is rather open about his own leftist bias he does not shy away from addressing the valid grievances rural America might have with the government as well as areas where the true left of America and rural conservatives might share some surprising common ground.

3) Behind the Police - Another podcast and a recent spinoff of “Behind the Bastards” that covers the history of American policing and how it has led to the often corrupt institutions we have today. Also hosted by Robert Evans and joined by the hip-hop artist Jason Petty aka Propaganda.

A few reminders of recent state violence

Tweeted video of the moment Donavan La Bella was shot in the head by a US Marshal

Tweeted video of the immediate aftermath (CW: profuse bleeding)

An update on Donavan La Bella’s condition (CW: distressing images) - “His mother, Desiree La Bella, previously said her son’s face and skull were fractured and that he underwent facial reconstructive surgery in the hours after the encounter. She said he had a tube in his skull to drain blood and had vision problems in one eye.” - the good news is the article says he’s recovering better than doctors expected.

Tweeted video of Navy veteran Chris David being struck with a baton by federal officers, breaking his hand, dubbed by some as “Captain Portland” after the viral video showed him taking the blows unflinching

A Newsweek article with an interview with Chris David - "I want to use my 15 minutes to put out a message to my fellow vets. I also want to use my 15 minutes to try to refocus this whole discussion back to Black Lives Matter as opposed to an old white guy who got beat up because I don't think I'm worth the attention, to be perfectly frank" - He states in the interview that he sought to confront the federal agents on their oath to the constitution when the beating happened, after hearing of the seemingly random arrests using unmarked rental vans.

NowThis News compilation of police violence against journalists from June 1st

Another NowThis News compilation of more police violence against journalists from June 3rd

Vice coverage of the protests in the wake of George Floyds death, posted on June 2nd. This includes a rather emotionally intense moment when the crew is assaulted by police with pepper spray and tear gas along with a small family who were attempting to protect their local business.

What Now? A Few Words of Advice

The times ahead are uncertain and fraught of dangers to say the least, but if we wish to avoid the worst we have to act. So, what do we do? Don’t just hope but organize, strategize, plan, and fight for the best, while preparing for the worst. At the very least and most simple take the advice from Beau’s videos and make your voice heard. Demand the government start following their own manuals and stop escalating tensions even further. 

Yet distressingly enough, it seems unlikely that the onslaught of violent federal crackdowns will slow down anytime soon regardless of what we do. Preparedness seems more important now than ever, so here are a few basics. Try to get at least a month's worth of food if you haven’t already and still can. There are several sites for such things, such as Mountain House as one example, however much of this might be sold out or unaffordable so you might have to consider buying canned goods little by little as you can. Prepare a bug out bag, especially if you live in the city. There are countless tutorials and advice on this topic but try to stay focused on what you might need - things like a first aid kit, water, a filtered straw and other purification methods, a way to light a fire and cook, and so on. If you’re sane and responsible and wish to acquire a firearm for self defense if you haven’t already, and want to train but don’t want to have to involve yourself with the toxic conservative dominated gun culture, look into the SRA (Socialist Rifle Association) as they might be offering range days and training in your area. 

But most importantly, start networking and organizing. No matter what comes to pass it will be imperative that we develop close ties with those within our communities which we can call upon not only to help try to prevent the worst, but also for protection should our worst fears become a reality. You might consider joining your local IWW if you’re an advocate for democratic unionization and workplace democracy like myself, or you might look into and maybe get into touch with folks like Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, and see if there’s any local to your area or what you might be able to learn from them. Regardless, try to find some group you at least somewhat fit in with and organize with them together.

A quick final note on my blog

I started this blog spontaneously on July 3rd hoping to ease my way into amateur blogging first and hopefully a career in journalism later, however current events have left me anxious of the future and uncertain of what new tragedies might lurk around the corner of tomorrow. I am however, highly privileged. I live at home in a rural town in the South Eastern US far away from the unrest with a supportive family who have at least for the time being a fairly secure income, and am currently unemployed, meaning that while I have no income of my own at the moment I do have a lot of free time, which I plan to spend much of on my amateur blogging pursuits. So if you want to see more blog posts like this in the future, give me a follow and consider turning on notifications and you’ll certainly be seeing more posts like this from me in the days ahead.