#my-world-mocaps

[my-world-mocaps]

Library of Lives:

a library in -------- that holds the books to everything.

they are organized by planets. then by nature/manmade/ores/animals/and any other general category

from there they are organized even more so

and it continues on and on until it gets as niche as possible

from there everything is sorted in either alphabetical order, or chronological order, depending on what it is

for example, the same species of a plant would be chronologically sorted, from the oldest to newest of its kind

what is in these books can vary.

if it is a living thing, it goes through its entire life, everything about it, everything to know about it, in extreme detail

if it is not a living thing, it goes into its history, how it came to be, what it did, and everything else to know about it, in extreme detail

most often, these books will lead you to other books, with precise and exact details on where to find the other books. this is because most things in this world will not be complete or exist without other interference.

humans are sorted alphabetically and chronologically.

starting with the first humans to live, they are in another section with that year, and so on and so forth (ex: if you were born in 2008, that is where your book will be)

the library closed off to most. only -------- can access it whenever they choose or wish to.

you must get their permission to access the library.

[littlesilentrebel]

i made a new blog about my fictional world of mocaps

check it out if you want lol

[project-sekai-facts]

Have the motion capture artists ever been credited? Do we know if the same person portrays the same character every time?

I don't think they're credited in game but I did manage to find them a few months ago. All the mocap is done by a company called Solid Cube. They post the mocap artists for each MV on their twitter account, but don't say who played who so I've only been able to work out the mocap artists for a few characters.

Rui is always played by an actor called Masaki Murakami. The only reason I was able to work this out is because Murakami is the only male mocap artist credited on the Sukina Koto Dake no Ii desu MV, and is credited on almost every other WxS MVs but only ones that feature Rui (Oki ni Mesu mama being the only exception I could find. Maybe he was sick that day). Murakami also seems to be the mocap artist for KAITO aside from MVs that have Rui in them, and sometimes for either Akito or Toya (no way to tell which one).

I think Kohane is played by an actress called Maimi Atarashi. She did a stream with Akina back in 2022 where they talked about 3DMVs. Also she's credited on Wah Wah World and the unit rep songs and she is credited on almost every MMJ MV but based on the fact she's credited for Romeo to Cinderella she's not the actress for Minori. I think she's also the actress for Emu, since she's credited on a shitload of WxS MVs including Sukina Koto Dake no Ii desu, alongside an actress that I'm like 99% sure is the primary actress for female vsingers.

I also think that someone called Jakko is the regular mocap artist for female vsingers, and she's the mocap artist for Blue Planet so this holds some weight. Jakko also did the mocap for Luka's Afterglow MV. Jakko is credited on an assortment of other 3DMVs as well, like Children Record (I'm assuming she plays An) and Tondemo-Wonderz (likely as Emu, considering Maimi Atarashi isn't credited)

Len seems to be played by an actor called Keito Okuyama. He did the mocap for Buta ni Natte yeah yeah and is credited on various other Len MVs, like Flyer! and Watashi wa Watashitachi wa (which he definitely has to be Len in). This guy is also credited on quite a few WxS 3DMVs, so it's safe to say he's the regular mocap artist for Tsukasa (in instances of Len and Tsukasa being in the same 3DMV, I'm not sure which one gets swapped out).

Due to Leo/need playing instruments, they have mocap actors who can play the instruments. One of these is actors is called Moe Hirakawa (not entirely sure if that's the right reading of Kanji) who upon looking her up turned out to be a drummer, so there's Honami. The others that are most frequently credited are Hiyu Tsukigami (who is apparently an idol but I couldn't find anything about her playing instruments), chloe (basically impossible to google), and Reika Kisumi who is actually an actress under Solid Cube. I believe Kisumi is the mocap artist for Ichika, since she's credited on the unit leader songs as well.

Also we can work out Kanade based on some cast lists for Colorful Lives. The credits for SEKAI list Keito Okuyama (Tsukasa), Jakko (Miku), Reika Kisumi (Ichika) and another actress called Kanon Ookawa. Ookawa is also credited for multiple Niigo songs, including the Kanade/Mafuyu/Miku cover of Cutlery, so yeah she's Kanade. For lives at least. Journey 3DMV credits someone named Yukari instead, but Journey live credits Ookawa again. More recent 3DMVs don't credit either of these people just to make my life harder.

Continuing with Colorful Live credits, Wah Wah World lists an actress called Yuuka Nakanishi alongside Jakko and Maimi Atarashi, so we can assume that Nakanishi is Minori. She's also credited for multiple MMJ 3DMVs, so it's incredibly likely.

That Yukari person I mentioned is also credited on a lot of MMJ 3DMVs and live choreo. I think she might be Shizuku. Sometimes Ookawa and Yukari are credited alongside each other in Niigo MVs/lives, and in those instances I'm not sure who is playing Kanade and who's playing Mafuyu.

I worked out some other stuff but this is long so just check under the cut for a speculative cast list.

Speculated cast list based on my findings (**not confirmed at all**)

(some have multiple actors as I've mentioned, I just listed the most frequent ones)

Miku: Jakko & various (3DMVs done by Jakko)

Rin: Jakko & various (her 3DMV was done by Maimi Atarashi)

Len: Keito Okuyama (definite)

Luka: varies (her 3DMV was done by Jakko)

MEIKO: Jakko & various (her 3DMV was done by Maimi Atarashi)

KAITO: Masaki Murakami & a few others (definite)

Ichika: Reika Kisumi

Saki: Hiyu Tsukigami

Honami: Moe Hirakawa (definite)

Shiho: chloe (definite)

Minori: Yuuka Nakanishi (definite)

Haruka: Akari

Airi: Maimi Atarashi

Shizuku: Kanon Ookawa & Yukari (in older 3DMVs and lives), Momoka & various (more recently)

Kohane: Maimi Atarashi (definite)

An: Mari Kasuga & various

Akito: Either Keito Okuyama or Masaki Murakami (both occasionally swapped for TACCHI)

Toya: see above

Tsukasa: Keito Okuyama (definite)

Emu: Maimi Atarashi

Nene: Akari & various

Rui: Masaki Murakami (definite)

Kanade: See Shizuku

Mafuyu: Either Yukari or Kanon Ookawa (older 3DMVs/lives), Suzuka & various (more recently)

Ena: Likely either Yuuka Nakanishi or Reika Kisumi

Mizuki: see above

Niigo MVs are the least consistent with their casts, so it is very hard for me to tell who is playing who, especially when some of the actresses seem to swap roles between MVs.

[mythalism]

i'm back in the building.

i'm still on my first playthrough, slogging through it but i think i realized what it is about this game that feels more like a chore than an actual gaming experience. i talked about the cinematics and like that's a whole thing i have beef with in the world where we have mocap and also just genuinely amazing technology for animation development but WHATEVERRR.

as a person who enjoys story games even without creating my oc, like red dead 2, the witcher series, the reason i find veilguard lacking is that rook is neither an every man character (ala hawke & shepherd 🩷) nor are they an empty enough canvas to fill in (ala hof, inq, tarnished in elden ring) it kinda feels that even as a player you have to suspend disbelief for your own character.

like for example in the witcher, all of geralt's choices cross over through three games and really you can dress him & comb him how you like but the choices are story related and you can still find satisfaction in them. same with red dead 2 and arthur where the game is more rigid storywise but still, you can unlock two endings depending on how you approach arthur's personality as a person.

and the crux of the issue is rook is not a person. they are in every way, a video game character. the infantile gameplay (left off from the mmo no doubt with no tactical view, quest summaries, limited "loot" boxes, no interaction with fauna, no actual crafting just upgrading) the juvenile writing / "storytelling" (telling fans to interpret the plot however they want, trick saying it's possible the evanuris aren't even all gone which renders the entire game pointless if we did all that and elgar'nan is in turkey getting new veneers fitted.) the fact that rook is basically woe. storyline be upon ye. (taash's identity being chosen for them ???, telling either low app, high app, or rom inq what to do w solas and yes the dialogue option of yay let's save him! also exists w low app inq?? which is to say to stop solas isn't the same as having low app but they didn't even let players choose that lol you can still change inq's mind)

like the whole game is an mmo without the multiplayer aspect. the storyline is loosey goosey because well most multiplayers are bc they go through rancid updates and additions (fallout 84 comes to mind specifically, and considering how badly that flopped idk how bioware saw the reception and went yay!!!!! lets do that!!!) and all your companions prefer to interact w each other than you because well. yeah. you're a player. you're not playing a character, you're basically playing yourself or at the very least a very conceptual idea of yourself in this fantasy realm.

anyway i have a nuke enroute to ea's HQ. that's all 🙂‍↕️

i just read this like an old man reading the morning paper, sipping coffee and nodding along like 🙂‍↕️ mhm mhm 🙂‍↕️ 🙂‍↕️

i completely agree with all of this and it really clicked for me how much the multiplayer bones of the game impacted the story and choice specifically. like obviously ive known about the multiplayer foundations for like 5 years and how it’s sooooo clear in the gameplay but this just made it click for me that it’s literally to blame for the story too… of course none of the choices are truly significant. multiplayer games fundamentally cannot have significant choice that affects the world because not everyone will make the same choice. the only MMO I’m super familiar with is ESO and when i think of the choices you’re allowed to make in that game versus what you’re allowed to do in veilguard…. yeah. they’re both shallow, and usually only cosmetic. it makes sense to me that the choice like minrathous vs treviso is pretty much just cosmetic, and then it takes content away instead of adding something new. the companion choices seem to really only manifest in some new banter? except for maybe emmrich? like it’s so clear that they had this multiplayer foundation, which is mutually exclusive with meaningful player choice, and then were told to build a single player RPG on top. it was literally an impossible ask.

also hard agree on everything you said about rook. i literally hate rook LMFAO they are so nothing - like a voice acted MMO character… i do want to play the game a second time but i want to play a veil jumper elf and genuinely the fact that my dalish elf character would have the dread wolf in her back pocket and just never ask him a single fucking question on anything that she and her entire culture have devoted their lives to figuring out and learning is so fucking infuriating I cannot stand to put myself through it

[swearingcactus]

Obscure Far Cry Promos and Content

I'm a big far cry fan, which means I have to make my own food in this economy. But sometimes I just want some ACTUAL canon or canon-ish or even just canon-adjacent content, y'know? It has gotten to the point I go into youtube rabbit holes or watch a remarkably below average hallmark movies for 5 minutes of an actor's screentime to hopefully hear Jason or Ajay or whoever talk. And so in these quests, I've found a couple obscure promos. Gonna compile them here for myself mostly :)

Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3 - The Voices of Insanity: Doctor Earnhardt //a live action video with Alec Earnhardt's VA

Far Cry 3 - The Voices of Insanity: Vaas //same thing but with Michael Mando

Hoyt Audition Far Cry 3 //the last part of "The Voices of Insanity" videos, couldn't find the one from Ubisoft's own account but someone else had posted it on youtube

Far Cry 3 for PS3: TV Spot

Far Cry 3 -- Island Survival Guide: Psychopaths, Drugs & Other Dangers // video narrated by Willis Huntley

Far Cry 3 -- The Savages: Vaas & Buck // this video shows a rare render of vaas with tataus on his arm!

Far Cry 3 | The Tribe: Citra & Dennis //this video has a deleted scene where Jason hallucinates the tatau snaking up his arm

Far Cry 3 -- The Tyrant: Hoyt

Far Cry 3 - Insane Edition // this is a promo done for a special edition for the game, Michael Mando probably couldn't shoot the promo himself and just voice acted, and so they used another actor and made it so the camera never sees Vaas's face.

^ There is also a survival guide titled Face Your Insanity written by post-Rook events Jason Brody as part of the Insane Edition.

Far Cry 3 | E3 2012 Step Into Insanity Trailer [NORTH AMERICA] // this has a few close-ups of Jason and Vaas switching places with each other

Far Cry 3 Interviews (via @lulu2992)

Far Cry 3 Tweets by Jeffrey Yohalem, the lead writer. (also compiled by @/lulu2992! Thanks again!)

Far Cry 4

Divya Kandala's Blog (archived on the Wayback Machine) // Divya Kandala is a fictional journalist who wrote a blog about her travels to Kyrat, her blog's basically world-building promo for FC4. You could also find the house she stayed at in Kyrat!

Far Cry 4 TV Commercial

Far Cry 4 | Kyrat Tuk Tuk Stories //this is the MOST we see ajay in third person in promo content

Far Cry 4 - CGI Trailer // this isn't exactly RARE but it took forever for me to find that clip of ajay's eyes reflecting from the kukri. plus he looks EXTREMELY caucasian which really doesn't help the rumors I've heard that they originally wanted Jason again as FC4's protag

Comedy Central Far Cry 4 Commercial feat Danny Pudi & Donald Glover

Far Cry 4 and Childish Gambino: The Collaboration | PS4, PS3 // a music video for Crawl by Childish Gambino done as a collab

Old Archive.Org link to the Far Cry 4 webpage that had a choose your own adventure campaign

^ and the youtube video to promote it

Far Cry 4 | Behind the Scene Trailer 1/3 [Europe] // developer vlogs when they visited Nepal and interviewed the ghurka that became base for Golden Path, you can see the village that resembles Banapur a lot!

Far Cry 4 Performance Capture Interview // you can see Janina Gavankar, Amita's actress doing some mocap in this

Janina Gavankar Talks Far Cry 4 - ^ and the interview with her after

World Gameplay Premiere - Walkthrough E3 2014 - Far Cry 4 // this was to showcase gameplay but they eventually took out this entire mission where you have to wingsuit to Ratu Gadhi (Yuma's fortress), which is a shame because it looked very nice.

Far Cry 5

i'll be honest, im not a fc5 girlie, so i dont usually do a lot of digging, and im pretty sure these are actually not obscure at all. but these are trailers i found that really blew it out of the park. the marketing team for 5 really went HAM

Far Cry 5: Teaser Trailer | Ubisoft //this has a peggie banging someone's head to a church bell rhythmically with the gorgeous view of Montana mountains as backdrop and i for one, find it hilarious

Far Cry 5 | The Sermon - Live Action Trailer

Far Cry 5 | The Baptism - Live Action Trailer //somebody once mentioned this one has Joseph looking like Trevor GTA and i have never quite known peace ever since. it really also shows the reality of how Joseph is actually just really Unwell, and lore that Joseph killed Pastor Jerome's daughter that never showed up in-game.

Far Cry 5: Anything Can Happen, Everything Will - Live Action TV Spot | Trailer // mixes live action and game CGI renders, pretty cool actually!

The Making of Far Cry 5 | Behind the Scenes of Ubisoft [Documentary]

Far Cry 6 Comics

not gonna put in FC6 stuff because they're actually very easy to find! lots of trailers and mocaps and interviews on youtube :) Far Cry 6 actually has a more obscure lore in their comics

Far Cry: Esperanza's Tears comic // this is a Juan-centric prequel comic that features a completely new country, lore about Far Cry universe's political landscape, and lots of cameos from 3-6's characters! very interesting read especially if you're a sucker for backstories like me

Far Cry: Rite of Passage comic // this is more popular as it features Anton telling Diego the backstories for 3-5's villains.

There is also a book titled The Official Far Cry Survival Guide written by a fictional character called Hunter Nash, who supposedly grew up with Hope County-level of a doomsday prepper dad and winds up as a journalist who travels to the locations of 3-6 and wrote how to survive each location accordingly. It's adorned with official artwork of the games and plenty of survival tips. Not much lore-wise, but cool nonetheless! it also fuels my co-workers au ideas but that's personal.

i have actually found stuff like a really old MTV show called Undressed with Gianpaolo Venuta where he uses his Jason voice for his character, and how Patrick Kwok-Choon, the new voice actor for Ajay does voice acting in Thomas the Train Engine and Paw Patrol, and an indie movie with Greg Bryk where he wears fun sunglasses like Joseph, but that's neither here nor there to the franchise, so eh. // i'll edit this post if i find more, so maybe check back sometimes!

[wavesundo]

i just experienced lae'zels act 3 romance scene for the first time and i am fucking blown away. devora wilde's voice acting in this to me triumphs over her act 1 delivery of the line "what good, this heart of stone" this has to be my favorite out of all the romance scenes. once you consider who laezel was when you first met her, and who she is now in this scene (depending on what she aligns herself with). dev truly captures lae'zels growth in how fragile and gentle her tone is here. the delivery is absolutely impeccable. THAT and the mocap??? her expressions are so SOFT. i love lae'zel. thats all. she deserves to see all the sunrises in the world

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

This thought about rocorro is live in my mind for so long and excuse me for letting it out on you,,

But like I think Rotxo didn't have much interest in Spider at first, I mean of course he interested in Sky People but not that he want to be around him too much, after everything that happened.

Still, that small pale one keep come in his sight to help with chores or do something that always make him interested.

That time he still not pay much attention though.

The Sully siblings always protect and prevent anyone that came and have, even, a lil hint of harm to Spider anyways. He doesn't want to risk.

Until

Seem like the youngest, Tuktirey, want to braid his hair in return or something, Rotxo is not so sure but he assumed from next day Spider has new hairstyle, and the blonde has to wash his matted hair

That's when he, finally, know what exactly pull his attention toward Spider, except from his natural concern after saw his wounds

His golden curls literally are the same as sand. They're so bright, bland, (look so)soft, just as the sands on the beach. When he rethink his matted hair also the same as sands but in the night where no bioluminescence, how could he never noticed before?

Rotxo adores sands, he maybe prefer it than water sometimes even

That's why he can't understand why Spider seems to hate his own hair so much

Spider hates his hair cuase it's just like his father, now that's not the big reason but still, it's freaky amongst the na'vi that have pit black haired

So

Rotxo courting gift mostly involved his hair, the shell which he said to decorate his hair and ofc it's up to Tuk how to do so or beads string together he made and said that to tie his hair and make him more convenient in water.

And if they start dating Rotxo will always look at his hair and compliments no matter how they look and how messy or dirty they are.

Of course Rotxo also compliments Spider for everything, he just a softie and want his love one feel loved

Spider doesn't think he could ever use to that, got so obvious love expression is just too much(he love it tho) he always try to show Rotxo love in return(but receive much more love back)

I love love love the idea that Na'vi love Spider's hair, and I totally agree that it would be one of the things the Metkayina would be super interested in first. I know the reason he has dreads and I know its important, but in fic, we can live in our unrestricted little non mocap world where he can have curls.

I think Tsireya would be all over them, and her and Tuk would be braiding them and styling them and teaching Spider how to care for them, all while Rotxo is lurking in the background pretending not to be super invested in how pretty and shiny and golden Spider's hair is. And for the longest time Spider thinks Rotxo stares at him because he's a demon, but really it's because of how much he loves the curls.

[poppetsisters]

I'm gonna challenge myself: I have to say ONE good thing about every MCU thing since Endgame:

Spider-Man: Far From Home: Mysterio's Mocap costume is one of the most genius, galaxy brained adaptations of his comic book costume I've ever seen.

Wandavision: Incredible miniseries with the coolest formatting mechanic. Genuinely the best MCU thing to come out of phase 4, and still the best MCU TV show of them all.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier: US Agent's characterization (before the finale) was incredibly well realized as a critique of American foreign policy and American exceptionalism

Loki S1: The design of the TVA is one of the strongest aesthetics in the MCU.

Black Widow: Haven't seen it, but Florence Pugh is a great actor and I'm glad she's the new Black Widow.

What If...? S1: Some of the episode concepts are interesting.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: Retconning the Mandarin to be Tony Leung Chiu-wai while keeping Ironman 3's message of "not assuming all foreign people are terrorists" was a good move. They get to have their cake and eat it too.

Eternals: Any time they're talking about philosophy is my favourite part of the movie.

Hawkeye: Didn't watch it, but I like the Kingpin.

Spider-Man: No Way Home: The suit worn in the final swing is my favourite live action Spider-Man costume.

Moon Knight: I liked the episode that was a specific reference to Jeff Lemire's run on the character.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: Elizabeth Olsen slays as a villain, also the entire section where Strange astral projects into his zombified body is genuinely one of my top 10 MCU moments.

Ms Marvel: Very colourful and stylish show with a perfectly cast Kamala Khan.

Thor: Love and Thunder: I liked it when Thor wore the classic costume when he was doing that running montage.

I Am Groot: Didn't watch it, but looks cute.

She-Hulk: The gag where we saw an 80s TV Movie version of She-Hulk got a chuckle out of me.

Werewolf By Night: Getting jumpscared by the Marvel Studios intro was incredible. The whole presentation was visually and audibly fantastic. they should let Michael Giacchino cook more.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: The entire adaptation of Namor and Atlantis becoming a Mesoamerican culture genuinely makes it way more interesting than its comics counterpart.

Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special: I can't believe they let James Gunn do this. Very fun special with Mantis being the clear highlight.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: I like that this movie didn't make a whole lot of money at the Box Office.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: I could say several good things about this movie but I'll say that Chukwudi Iwuji's performance as The High Evolutionary is one of the best MCU performances. He should've been Kang.

Secret Invasion: Didn't watch it, but I remember Fury had a decent speech about the civil rights movement I guess.

Loki S2: I still think about the scene in the record store a lot.

The Marvels: This film is just a very fun time and handled its three leads well. It finally made me like Captain Marvel as a character.

What If...? S2: Kahhori is a cool character and should be in future movies.

Echo: Didn't watch it, but Alaqua Cox deserves the world.

Deadpool and Wolverine: The bit where Handsome Deadpool said "The Proposal" and Default Deadpool got personally offended made me laugh.

[probably-iron-deficiency]

TWST x Kingdom Keepers #1

Idia Shroud

Welcome to my first official twst x kingdom keepers AU post!! I have,,, m a n y,,, thoughts for this AU, but my storyline for Idia is the most fleshed out right now. This is my VERY (very) rough sketch for him!!

AU/Character Notes below!!

Firstly…

What IS kingdom keepers?

It’s a book series from the early 2000s set in Disney World, but eventually expands to other disney locations as well. Following a group of middle schoolers, Disney has kids auditon to be part of their new “DHI” program (Disney Host Interactive), in which the kids will be motion captured and projected into the parks as holograms to act as virtual tour guides. However, the kids who become DHIs wake up in the parks in their hologram form after they sleep, and realize that all the rides/characters/animatronics/etc are REAL and come to life. Oh yeah also the disney villains have formed a coalition group called the Overtakers and they want to take over the world.

Obviously this series has some connections to TWST, so I think it’d be fun to explore the characters there! (Plus I make a TWST au for everything so-)

general au notes:

Scroll to next section if you just want AU Idia Lore!

these will be compiled in a master post later, but for some context here:

All characters are aged down in this AU!! First years are ages 11-12, second years are 13-14, and third years are around 15-16 (Leona being the oldest). There are some exceptions to this, though!

➡️➡️Ortho is 9 (truly a little baby😭😭). Lilia is 17, making him the oldest (ancient) member of the DHI kids.

Rather than just one area, the DHI gang were scouted/auditioned from all over the world. By chance, some of the characters already know eachother or are aware of eachother (similar to canon). When they all showed up for audiovisual recording to be done, it was a little chaotic.

In order to theme their hosts in accordance with the parks, these DHIs were assigned to different units that correspond to different disney properties.

Each unit acts as the hosts for different areas of the magic kingdom, corresponding to their theming. (Ex. Ignihyde/Tomorrowland) however, in later updates to these DHIs, and due to their popularity, guests can choose which DHI to interact with in ANY area of the park through their smartphones.

Unlike the original book, some DHIs were given altered appearances in order to better suit the theming (I.E, Heartslabyul members having card suit face paint, Ignihyde members having blue flame hair).

Each unit also has a unit leader, who serves as the default host selection in their respective regions. These are the house wardens in canon.

notes about Idia:

He is 15 in this AU! Still a gamer though.

His parents are pretty high and mighty in the tech industry, leading him and Ortho to be interested in pursuing it as well.

He’s always wearing the same exact pajamas, barring his constantly rotating armada of cringe 2010s hot topic anime tshirts. (Vil has tried to convince him to get some other clothes. This does not go well).

Him and Ortho made matching friendship bracelets for eachother when they were young, and haven’t taken them off since!

The yellow around his (and ortho’s) iris’ are almost neon, and will shine in the dark like an animals. This gives them a vaguely cat like appearance.

Him and Ortho were homeschooled through very expensive tutors, for better or worse (definitely worse)

Once they begin meeting the other DHI units, Idia begins sleeping with his noise cancelling headphones so they spawn in with him. These people are just too loud.

some Idia origin story notes (not everything!! I wanna write some fics detailing the events more):

The Shroud bros decided to audition to be DHIs out of their mutual want to “become heroes” like in their favorite games and Disney movies (and because they were interested in the new tech)

They both passed the audition, and recorded their lines and mocap stuff smoothly! Unfortunately, soon after the brothers were in an accident that left Ortho near death.

He survived, but has since been comatose, with the doctors projecting an extremely low chance of survival. Although Idia’s parents aren’t hopeful about the circumstances, they agree to keep him on life support because of Idia’s mental state.

(despite the tragic event, the Shroud bros DHIs roll out anyways, and Idia uses the money to pay off the hospital bills. His parents could afford it, but Idia feels responsible)

Since then, Idia has been staying with Ortho in the hospital, never once leaving his side. With his parent’s weight in medical tech, it was pretty easy to allow him to stay there.

When Idia wakes up in the park, the first thing he notices is that his DHI’s flaming blue hair seems to have carried to him. Naturally, he assumes he’s dreaming.

Not long after waking in the park, he felt a familiar tug on the back of his hoodie. Turning, he was face to face with Ortho. Notably, Ortho was completely inhabiting his holographic form, not wearing pajamas but dressed in the style of his DHI.

OK THATS ALL FOR NOW BYE FEEL FREE TO SHARE ANY THOUGHTS OR WHATEVER (scuttles away)

[my-world-mocaps]

what are really strange or weird or obscure fears that you or other people have

ill go first: im fucking terrified of buttons, no idea why, scared of them my entire life

[koskela-knights]

Night Springs DLC ramblings

Spoilers under the cut. And since this is a Koskela/Huotari main blog, my focus will be mainly related to these boys in relation to the DLC content.

Alright, my friends already confirmed it and I just watched all NS DLC chapters on YouTube becos I didn't wanna miss out lol, but yeah there's just no mention or appearances from the Koskelas and who was I to think they'd touch upon the Huotaris if even Ilmari is already forgotten and left out in most media surrounding AW2 😔

But yanno, it just irks me how erased the Koskelas seem to be.

Like yes, Night Springs gives us a look into alternate realities/universes/versions and you're telling me we only looked into worlds where the Koskelas (and in extension the Huotaris) just never existed. At all????

So in this post I'll look at what I've seen and how I might've made the boys a bit more relevant/have them make a lil cameo.

Rose's Chapter

In Rose's chapter, Scratch is wearing a biker jacket but it lacks the Kalevala Knights text on the back so I guess the KK didn't exist here..

I love that Rose wasn't interested in Scratch's biker look or the werewolf thing at all lmao. She's more vanilla than I thought xD

Funny how they went with the 'they're twin brothers' but now it's for Scratch and Alan lol. Even the twin thing the Koskelas had going for them, now attributed to other characters instead.

There was also someone at the Diner in a biker jacket. But again, a different design.

How I'd add them back in:

The Koskelas could've been NPCs at the Diner at the beginning. Or the ones out on the street, just outside the Diner

The NPC in the biker jacket could've worn a Kalevala jacket

Additionally, I think it would've been fun to see the Valhalla residents as NPCs at the Diner.

If we had more named characters as NPCs, I think this chapter could've felt even more personal. Now I felt a bit of a disconnection/detachment from Rose vs the other characters outside of Scratch. Like, yes this was sort of her fanfic/dream world but wouldn't it feel more effective/real if the people cheering her on were like the Anderson brothers, the Valhalla residents. The people you've already met in the main game that had somewhat of a personality? Becos now you might as well have used the shadow people characters at the Diner.

Tim's Chapter

In Tim's chapter we don't see anything either. Don't get me wrong, I liked his chapter too. It was wild and I'm glad to see Door play a bigger role here. The comic section was well done, rly liked its aesthetics and I liked how they tried to mix up the game as a medium. I think this chapter didn't irk me as much, given the context of it.

How I'd add them back in:

There's a Seine poster in the Oceanview Hotel and the tiniest bit they could've done is add Ilmari Huotari again in the credits. you wouldn't even have to put his face on the poster T_T

Jesse's Chapter

My biggest hopes were for Jesse's chapter. It has literally Coffee World as its setting. But again... Literally nothing, no mention in text or as a 3D character.

@zephyrone01 pointed out to me that despite all the other changes, Coffee World remains mainly the same. Even the attractions still have the same names. BUT! The Huotari Well no longer exists as an attraction. There's a well. But well, it's just that lmao.

So what's the point of CW even existing here other than being a little call-back/connection to the main game's universe? Coffee World was clearly a project of the Koskelas but they're nowhere to be seen or mentioned. Instead, we have a vague, faceless shady government (perhaps the Board?) wanting to take over through coffee indoctrination.

Of all the DLC chapters, it would make the most sense to have the Koskelas be present or at least acknowledged/mentioned in Jesse's chapter. And like... if they couldn't get Peter back to voice/mocap them, it could've been a note, or they could've used a distorted voice to highlight how they got corrupted by the coffee or something. But instead, it's Tim who gets suddenly corrupted by the coffee? Was it mainly to tie Jesse's chapter into Tim's? Also, it seems Tim's animations when he tries to convince Jesse to drink the coffee, seem to be copy-pasted from Ilmo's Deer Fest animation that is bugged and not easily triggered at all in the vanilla game/average run 😭 Tim never has been that vivid or animated in the base game, but you know who was? Ilmo Koskela.

The 'Cult' stashes & the math puzzles no longer make narratively sense other than being mechanics/little obstacles to be solved. Again, Ilmo was the 'mastermind' behind those math puzzles and the stashes were there for Cult members. What purpose do they serve now other than functioning as conveniently placed ammo stock for the player?

I feel Jesse's chapter had some potential and maybe even 'easy' ways to keep the Koskelas related to, yanno their amusement park.

So how I'd add them back in and make this chapter feel more connected to the other universes and the main game:

The Koskelas could've been the ones to get corrupted first and through them, others would easily follow

As @zephyrone01 and @copiasmicalso discussed with me, it would've been more logical to meet a corrupted Ilmo instead of Tim. It was he and Jaakko who marketed that coffee brand and Coffee World to begin with. Why not tie them into this chapter?

The Koskelas could've done that orientation video as pawns of the shady government. Maybe even in a similar vein to the Book Review ad with a clearly influenced/partially corrupted Ilmo.

There could've been some kind of connection to Jesse looking for Dylan and Ilmo looking to bring Jaakko back or looking for his brother or something. It would given us more narrative parallels! A sibling looking for their other half that got corrupted/influenced by a shady government

Make a different amusement park (one tied to the fishery or lumber industry but I suppose that would've taken much more time to make ofc)

The utter lack of the Koskelas makes me revise/question what their purpose in the main game was for then? Were they really that insignificant and immemorable to serve no extra mention in the other universes to the point CW is seemingly owned by a government and the Huotari's also have no historical purpose or importance anymore.

Like, their Cult of the Tree killings are what led Saga to investigate BF & Watery in the first place.

I'd dare to argue that the erasure of the Koskela brothers' existence in the Jesse chapter made the stakes feel lower and possible connections and parallels to the main game less powerful and interesting than they could've been. Plus it would've make more sense to still have Coffee World exist at all becos imo without Koskelas, there would Not have been a Coffee World to begin with.

In general

I like the DLCs for what they are and that they tried to do things differently or highly different from the main game. Alternate realities/universes always give us the opportunity to go off the main path and come up with different interesting stories and theories.

I do think that using generic NPCs most of the time also made the stories blander than they could've been.

The way the Koskelas' existence was all ripped away and sorta re-assigned to other characters

the twin brother thing now being Alan & Scratch

We never got the Actual Bikers get an animation on/with their bikes, but Scratch now gets one 😔

the Kalevala Knights' existence erased too

Tim in Jesse's DLC having the same animations as Deer Fest Ilmo

Coffee World literally not being their thing anymore but somehow still existing (rly why would the shady government even make a Coffee-themed amusement park)

TLDR

Saddened and equally not surprised that the Koskelas (and Huotari's) are just erased from the narrative in the DLC. Like their characters aren't even an afterthought anymore or relevant enough. All these wild different universes and they're part of exactly zero somehow.

The CW thing somehow remains unaltered for a few parts but taking the Koskelas' og involvement in that park into account, it makes no real sense to the state it is in, in the DLC.

I think their erasure (and the non-usage of other more known characters from the main game) made some parts feel less vivid/real.

[laismoura-art]

Who do you personally cast as Harumi if she were to (hopefully) be playable? Me, I'd pick Sumalee Montano. Because 1) since she's the voice and mocap of Yuna in Ghost of Tsushima, it would be cute if she ended up being Jin's husband in another universe, and 2) because I think she has the range and capability to pull Harumi off. She's played so many badass characters like the aforementioned Yuna and Arcee from Transformers: Prime. Just listen to them both and tell me that’s not Harumi. Arcee’s snarky personality can also be for her more funnier interactions with Kuai Liang and Smoke 🤪

Also I kinda ship Jin and Yuna so it would be funnier if they end up becoming partners in two franchises 👀

Hi, Anon!! Thanks for the ask!!🩷

I went after Sumalee's work as Arcee and Yuna, and oooh I can definitely see our vision, and I loved it!

I totally see Kuairumi in Yuna and Jin! Him being more reserved and doing his very best to look always so composed and in control, but just not being able to keep it together when he's around the pretty girl🤭 it's cute!

Meanwhile, she's more open about her feelings and makes sure he knows how much she cares for him!

It's an undeniably cute dynamic!

As for her work as Arcee, I believe Harumi would save the snarky attitude for her enemies and be more of a tease towards her friends!

Especially towards Kuai, who's completely out of his comfort zone and having to take a role he didn't want to nor was prepared to take!

She would tease him and make little jokes just to light up the mood. He would pout at her comments and, for a moment, would just forget about all his problems. It helps, even though he doesn't realise right away!

So, Sumalee is definitely a great choice!🩷

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Now for my personal choice:

See, I'm Brazilian, and most of us take pride in our voice actors and the amazing work they do!

We have so many iconic voices, Guilherme Briggs, Flávia Saddy, Miriam Fisher, Marcio Seixas, and so, so, so many more!

So when I think of a voice for Harumi, I can only think of Brazilian voices for her. My personal favourite being:

Guilene Conte!

Here's a little compilation so you can hear her voice!

Her work as Rochelle from "Everybody Hates Chris" is LEGENDARY to the point whenever we hear Rochelle's actress, Tichina Arnold, speak in English it just feels sooo wrong!😂😂

Her works as Sarah Lance and Capitan Amélia were great, too. She has a really strong voice, fitting with a leader, I can definitely hear her commanding her warriors in defence of the Shirai Ryu!

She would also go personally to Kuai's defence when a student tries to be too bold on him, talking back and acting disrespectful, she would snap at them Rochelle style and make them wish they were never born (that definitely extends to Bi-Han), lol💀

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

In a perfect world, Sumalee voices Harumi and Guilene does the Brazilian dub!👀💕💖💞💓

@madamealtruist you're the pro when it comes to voice acting. Please, girl, do share your thoughts when you're back!💕

[teecupangel]

i have no idea what's going on i just saw an au idea about dc and assassin's creed n suddenly all my senses are alerted hello hi please do let me know more about it hi

Join the club. I don’t know what’s usually going on, I’m just writing what my mind comes up with when I’m given all these absolutely fantastic fic prompts XD

For those wondering:

The “Desmond gets adopted by Batman” idea that started this.

The “Desmond gets punted into the DC ‘verse and follows Constantine because he has no other plans” idea that spawned from that.

Slightly connected: the "Desmond becomes BFF with the Devil" (the Netflix show) idea where I remind everyone that Edward Kenway’s mocap and voice actor is John Constantine which has this little addition.

(Since we can go anywhere with where the hell in DC lore Desmond gets punted to, we’ll focus this AU after John leaves the Arrowverse but we’ll be keeping everything vague-ish so you guys can decide which DC ‘verse you’d prefer this to be in)

More unorganized Desmond in DC ‘verse with special focus on John Constantine’s ‘sphere of influence’

John’s leading theory is Desmond is possessed by various demons, maybe even a legion, and he’s letting Desmond tag along because it’s obvious that Desmond is still in control (most of the time) so John’s curious about this ‘anomaly’.

Also, the fact that his name is Desmond and he used to be a bartender makes John believes this is some kind of sick joke orchestrated by a high-ranking demon or one of his many enemies.

He still believes Desmond is an innocent who got wrapped up in all of these so he’s trying to help… in his own John Constatine-ish way.

Which includes (from @escapism-and-disassociation) muttering Latin exorcism chants like it’s a normal conversation and Desmond (using the knowledge he got from his Bleeds) just stares at him tiredly and continues their conversation before John started doing his exorcism in Latin just to screw with John.

John also tried making Desmond read the actual exorcism chants and Desmond just reads them in a tone of a Renaissance noble so bored with learning Latin and just wanting to go outside and play.

Many of John’s allies also think Desmond is possessed and it doesn’t help when Desmond likes screwing with them by changing his language midsentence on purpose and getting them to believe he’s ‘speaking tongues’.

Desmond treats all these theories of him being possessed with a shrug and a “yeah, sounds about right” because, in a sense, that is what the Bleeding Effect feels like at times.

Desmond and Chas like to hang out whenever John does his thing and they have nothing to do. Chas’ wife thinks Desmond is a good influence on Chas. Desmond is absolutely not since he’s been teaching him Ratonhnhaké:ton’s takedowns.

Speaking of Chas, Desmond and Chas do wonder if Desmond’s laser beam would work on him. John had to forbid the two from trying it out “for science”.

Zed has been having premonitions of Desmond even before Desmond got thrown into their world. One of them includes her painting of the exact moment that Desmond died in his original world. Another is a painting of Desmond that she insists was the painting of a god.

John has a lot of theories about it ranging from the main demon possessing Desmond used to be an old god or a demon who once pretended to be an old god to maybe Desmond is destined to be a god and the demons inside him are stopping that.

Desmond believes the god thing is a reference to how he would have been seen as a god back in his world if he had let the world burn.

Either way, Zed doesn’t like to come into contact with Desmond because she always gets this intense burning sensation before her psychic abilities kick in and she sees visions of Desmond’s life back in his world.

John likes to use Desmond as bait. Desmond doesn’t mind. His Bleeds does though.

John thinks Desmond’s Bleed of Edward is making fun of him, having the same accent and tone as him but drunker.

John can’t stand Desmond’s Bleed of Altaïr because he mainly asks so many questions and still finds a logical ‘scientific’ explanation to every mythical thing they encounter.

On the other hand, Desmond’s Bleed of Ezio tires John because that man likes to ask about God and how heaven works and…

In a nutshell, John prefers it when Desmond takes control.

To be fair, John is okay with Desmond’s Bleed of Ratonhnhaké:ton because Ratonhnhaké:ton doesn’t bother with small talk and focuses on the task at hand.

John likes Desmond’s Bleed of Haytham the most though because Haytham is polite but with a sharp tongue.

[calicobigamy]

Its complicated okay?

I spent a lot of time writing a depressing little post about BG3. So in this post I want to share what kept me playing this damn game for more than 100 hours. 😭 

1) Visuals/ rendering are sumptuous. The environments (although lacking ANY visual hierarchy), characters, everything IS BEAUTIFUL. I was ensorcelled by what the mocap engineers and actors made together. 

2) Astarion. I know, I know, everyone loves him, but it is valid! Neil Newbon did two very difficult and demanding jobs exceedingly well as mocap and voice actor. The visual character building and backstory he put into Astarion radiates in every scene (and made up for where the game lacked in his storyline). His voice is a delightful mixture of George Saunders meets Rupert Everett performed with the mannerisms of a dandy playing the role of highway robber in a melodrama. Underneath the gusto Neil masterfully imbues his performance with an undercurrent of pain, guilt and insecurity that Astarion has no idea how to process in lieu of his accidental freedom. Neil brought this rogue from the script to life in a way that feels very much part of the world of DnD. The mocap technicians and animators did a fabulous job of building on his work. 

I bought this game for Astarion and there was a point where I was only continuing to play because of Neil's performance.

(Please watch his interviews if you have not already. The excitement and love he has for his character is contagious.) 

3) THE FAN ART. There are SO MANY TALENTED ARTISTS making work that I wish actually happened in the game. 

Here are my favorites….

@robogart

@pauvre-lola

@wurstigdurstig

@velnna

Stephanie Pepper (not on Tumblr but you can find her on Insta)

and SO MANY MORE!

[demigodofhoolemere]

My personal thoughts on the controversial animation for The Celestial Toymaker, now that I’ve seen it for myself.

~~~~~

I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy this, and bought the DVD out of a combination of the sheer curiosity to see it with my own eyes and the desire to have the escape room feature at my fingertips. The animation style left me very apprehensive as I prefer the 2D and this looked very janky and awkward, and I lean far more into purist territory and am not a big fan of taking more liberties than necessary, which anyone could see from the trailer alone that this production did unreservedly. I wanted to go into it with an open mind but I was pretty positive this was just going to be a train wreck. And there certainly are things about it that I don’t like, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was still kind of enjoying myself.

~~~~~

To get the negatives out of the way:

- The animation itself is obviously the thing everyone is talking about. The 3D motion capture approach is not something I want from these animations. It is definitely janky in places, especially with the movement of mouths. There are a lot of times it’s not synced very well, as well as the fact that they often don’t open as wide as they should, and sometimes I caught mouths not even moving at all when they should be. The expressions are also quite limited, and granted, none of these animations are ever going to perfectly capture the kind of things that folks like Patrick Troughton can do with their faces, but I’ve definitely seen better emotion from the 2D ones — it’s not that they couldn’t be expressive in this, but it’s not as wide a range as it probably should be and you certainly don’t get any particular emotion out of scenes like Steven panicking that Dodo is going to freeze. I’ve always thought his voice and the production pictures we have of that were quite moving, but you don’t really get that here, even with the audio being the same.

You also get some jerky movements at times, particularly in the legs. I will say however that the mocap is a massive improvement upon The Web of Fear, and you do get quite used to it over the course of four episodes. It felt almost normal by the end. It’s definitely got problems, but it’s also not the end of the world that a lot of us assumed it was.

- Likenesses. They’re not terrible, and I’d say Dodo and the Toymaker are the better ones, but none of them are great either. Though I don’t want to attribute this problem solely to this particular animation, because you can certainly get varying levels of accuracy in the others as well — just ask Jamie. But it is a bit uncanny valley. I also wish they could get something as simple as eye color right. This isn’t the first time something official has incorrectly colored Bill’s eyes blue and I’m sure it won’t be the last but it gets increasingly silly each time. And in the opposite direction, surely you can look at pictures of Peter to know that his eyes are blue and not brown? (And this is more of an overall design choice as opposed to relating strictly to his likeness, but I couldn’t stop noticing that Steven’s teeth often showed way too much when he speaks and I found it distracting).

- Liberties in visuals. I get why it would be enticing to play around and make things as grand as you want, and if this were its own story it would look great that way, but I’m more of a purist so I wish they’d be truer to the original. If you pretend it’s not based on something else, it all looks fantastic and lots of fun, and despite myself I did get caught up in enjoying it, but because I know what it was supposed to look like and have loved that for years, that’s what I wanted to see and I do feel cheated out of an animated version that represents the actual sets and visuals.

In the behind the scenes feature the producer talks about how it’s kind of sad to look at the original sets because they didn’t have the budget to match the high concept, and as a result it feels claustrophobic because they’re just small sets when it should be big and expansive, but honestly I feel the opposite way. I think the fact that these spaces feel closed in help add to the discomfort of feeling like they’re trapped in there and won’t get out unless they win, and to the eeriness of feeling like this is a real place that you could really find yourself in. I see the appeal of the surreality and vast openness, but I actually find it less imposing than feeling like you’re in a more real, physical space with walls and everything. I also just don’t think it feels as cramped as he was acting like it is anyway.

The expansiveness is also often to the detriment of things that should be more grounded — the “make your last move” scene is largely black space, with the Toymaker and the Doctor being quite small in the middle of the screen and you can’t see their faces. That completely detracts from the incredibly dynamic shot we have from the existing episode, where things are up close and personal and this is an intimate battle of wits that we’re right in the middle of. I was shocked that they made that moment — of all moments, too! — so impersonal. I think they definitely sacrificed too many things in favor of scope.

There are also things like the blind man’s bluff game, which I found very Escher-like and over the top (though again, fun on its own), and one very bizarre sequence in episode three as they’ve entered the room with the dancing floor. I can’t do justice to the trippiness of those visuals by trying to explain them, but I have no idea why they did that. They’re certainly fascinating, and I generally like that kind of thing, but they were just so jarring and out of place, only to stop as suddenly as they’d started. It was also quite jarring at the end of episode one when Clara and Joey lose the game; rather than going limp and then reverting to dolls and having Dodo look back disturbed, which I find to be a very evocative and unsettling idea that really sells the horror aspect of this story, they just sort of… fall into a void, or something, and it jump cuts to Steven and Dodo already opening the cupboard door and exclaiming that it’s empty, as if the audience even knew it was there for them to step into at all before that very second. They hadn’t shown the TARDIS cupboard appearing because they were so focused on the spectacle. I found these kinds of choices pretty awkward.

- Liberties with audio. Piggybacking off of what I just said about altering a scene, there are a number of times they mess with the audio track. Thankfully there aren’t too many other examples of them actually removing something from the audio (though I’m baffled by them removing Dodo’s use of Steven’s name before she says that she’s frightened near the end of episode one; just why?), but there are a number of additions to the track. And I do get why, it makes sense to want to add car noises to their booth-turned-toy-car and things like that, and it’s not like these are a massive irritant or anything, but I just don’t see the need and prefer that it be left untouched. I don’t need icy noises to sell the fact that Dodo is freezing and I don’t need electricity noises to convey the electric floor.

- Liberties with character design. This will also be listed as a positive, just because it is otherwise a very interesting thing they’ve done, making the guest cast all be different kinds of toys, but from the perspective of wanting a recreation and not a total reimagining, this is a big drawback. I want to see these people actually be people, and I think they’re far more intimidating that way. It would be easy to depersonalize your interactions with a tiny rag doll or people literally made of cards, but it’s far harder to feel detached from what is clearly a person right in front of you, which makes their determination to beat you more alarming. It also makes it far more terrifying when they do revert to being a doll or a playing card — this item sitting there was someone you were just talking to, someone who’s been punished for losing by having their freedom taken away again. The whole world of the Toymaker is far more horrific to me when you lean into the fact that these really are other people; Clara and Joey stop being funny when they realize they’re likely to lose because they’re so scared of what will befall them when they do, the king and queen are trying to win so they can reclaim their liberty and not spend eternity as cards, and Mrs. Wiggs and Sergeant Rugg are absolutely terrified of the Toymaker when he comes to berate them for their failure. These are real victims, real people who have been trapped here, and that doesn’t come across the same way when you’re not looking at an actual person the whole time who only later becomes a doll again as a terrible consequence. I think this is a critical aspect of the story and it really gets lost in translation here — and it clearly ended up getting very lost on Peter Purves, because in the commentary he kept going on about the toy designs really selling these characters as purely being toy creations of the Toymaker and not real people, which is the exact opposite point of original serial. Dodo is supposed to be right, their opponents really are alive and have their own agency outside of the Toymaker, they do human things, and it really is an awfully sad place because of what’s happened to these people here. That feeling does not carry over at all when you only show them being dolls the whole time in the first place.

- Decisions that go against dialogue. This is tied into the previous point, because it kept happening in regard to choices they made with character design. Specifically, it kept making both Steven and Dodo look incredibly stupid. When Dodo suggests that Steven should recognize the king and queen and he says that they do look familiar, and Dodo has to tell him they’re playing cards, that makes Steven look like an idiot who can’t recognize a very obvious literal playing card when it’s right in front of him lol. It also makes for an odd moment when Dodo is told to touch the king’s arm to confirm that they’re just as real as them, and she is indeed convinced by this, even though in this version she’s just touching paper. Both of these moments really only work when you have real people here that are merely dressed as the characters on the cards. You also then have her comment later that Cyril was the Jack they saw earlier, which makes no sense in light of the Jack having been made of card and looking nothing like the porcelain Cyril, and Steven’s reply that all of the Toymaker’s creations look alike to him just sounds insane considering the sheer variety they encounter in the animation. To top it all off, having Cyril be made of porcelain really makes Dodo’s decision to check on him baffling, as if she could think a being made of porcelain might be bleeding. It wasn’t her wisest moment to begin with, but I find it forgivable because she’s usually quite perceptive (far more than people give her credit for) and only fails in moments like that when her kindness overrides her better judgment — it’s a silly human decision, just like everyone else in the story. But you really can’t justify it here when he can’t possibly be bleeding. Both she and Steven have too many of these moments that are suddenly outrageously questionable in the context of the character design choices in the animation.

~~~~~

However. I was surprised to find that it was actually still enjoyable regardless, and I’m happy that I actually have positives to talk about.

- I want to reiterate that the motion capture is much improved. Not to say it’s not awkward in places, but it’s miles ahead of The Web of Fear, and honestly you do get used to it. At some point it becomes quite easy to roll with, and I eventually even came to the point where I… kinda liked it? There are also things that I’m not sure how well they could have gotten away with it in 2D, such as all the jumping around in the hopscotch game. I do have to admit that the 3D lends itself to a level of mobility that the 2D models have had a hard time with. I would not want this on any other story, but it just about works here and it is actually to the advantage of scenes like the jumping from place to place, or dancing together. (And yet it’s also apparently still not enough to help animate a hug, because when they reunite with the Doctor, Dodo just kind of… walks up to him and puts her hands on his arms after a moment). I also want to give credit for the animation of the Toymaker’s characters, because I felt they were a lot more fluid and good-looking than the human ones. I think the painted look of the human skin can be to its detriment, but the non-human designs do look rather good because the materials they’re made of don’t have that same problem and they’re not trying to mimic exact human movement in the same way.

- A plus just as much as a minus, the character designs. As much as I’m against them on principle for the reasons I mentioned before, they honestly did work very well for a reimagining. Clara is a weirdly cute little rag doll, the card designs looked great, Sergeant Rugg and Cyril make good porcelain dolls, and my standout favorite, Mrs. Wiggs is absolutely adorable crocheted out of yarn. I couldn’t stop looking at her, I genuinely could have kept watching her forever lol. As its own thing, these really were very good character designs. It’s only hampered by the fact that I can’t make myself not think about how they shouldn’t look like this. This all goes the same for the set designs and the choices regarding the level of surreality. All of these things were actually great on their own, it’s just in the context of the original story it’s trying to serve that I think it fails, and that I’m a purist at heart.

- Having anything that moves at all for the first three parts. It may be inaccurate, but there’s still something satisfying about watching ANY moving version of these episodes, and I’ve often found that, even though recons are and forever will be my go-to and I will swear by them until the day I die, watching the animations tends to help me process and retain things better from that point onwards — for example, my memory of The Faceless Ones is a lot stronger now for having seen “footage” of the missing parts, and it then helps make the recon even easier to follow than before. This one is no exception. My memory is good for The Celestial Toymaker anyway, but there’s just something about movement that roots it in your brain that much better. I’m not one who struggles with recons — obviously, since I still love and choose them over animations — but it still helps to have these additional aids to cement it more firmly. Whatever problems this animation has, I still feel like it helps to have “watched” these episodes in whatever way possible.

- Plain and simple, it manages to have a sort of charm to it, in spite of me. Even while I criticized it for different things the whole time, I somehow still had a good time. I’m sure it’s in part down to the fact that I’ve always loved this story, and it would also just be hard for me to be in a bad mood watching Classic Who, but there’s something about this that still made me happy even in the face of my issues with it. I dislike their choices but I nevertheless found it hard to dislike the whole thing itself. I don’t know what it is.

- bonus: you can tell in the commentary that this animation made Peter so happy and I can’t be too mad at it when I hear how thrilled that darling man is with it.

~~~~~

Despite the fact that I went on considerably longer for the cons than pros, I did nevertheless enjoy this, to my surprise. I’m much more of a purist and want as-faithful-as-realistically-possible recreations rather than all-out reimaginings, so on principle I’m still against many of the choices they made, and I really wish this were just a fascinating and ambitious fanmade production rather than the official one because it means I’ll never get a more accurate version out of them, but I can’t bring myself to hate this. It’s kind of like when you watch a movie that’s objectively a bad adaptation of the source material but still entertaining as its own movie. Honestly, I would watch this again and have a good time. I just hope that they do NOT get it into their heads that this is the right style to keep using going forwards, because this absolutely would not work for anything else, and only halfways works for this to begin with.

I do recommend giving this release a shot despite the animation, but your mileage may vary. This is definitely something that you could either love or hate and honestly I think both reactions are valid, because I’m clearly quite conflicted myself. You can really only know if you watch it for yourself.

Verdict: against all odds and my own criticisms, I actually liked this. It’s not what I would have wanted for it at all, nor do I want them to ever do this again for anything else, but somehow despite myself I did like it in its own weirdly charming way.

~~~~~

Bonus: special features

- Great commentaries as always on all four animated episodes as well as a separate one for the existing episode four.

- Optional reconstructions as per usual. I haven’t watched these yet so I can’t say whether they’re on par with Loose Cannon or not.

- There’s a making-of for the animation, though it’s much shorter than I expected since they’ve typically been longer on other releases. Still interesting but not much going on there.

- Very nice to include the VHS intro by Sylvester McCoy. I love that they tend to add things like that.

- They have an old audio interview with Carmen Silvera. I haven’t listened to this yet but I’m looking forward to it.

- Photo gallery as always. There were actually a few I’d never seen before, as well as larger extended versions of things I’m familiar with as being more zoomed in. Always exciting when they can still surprise you with something.

- Comes with the standard informative booklet, which I always love.

- And of course, the gem I largely bought this thing for, the escape room with Maureen O’Brien, Peter Purves, and Lisa Bowerman. I’m thrilled to say it’s everything I was hoping for, and if you’re like me and could watch the Classic Who family do pretty much anything, this feature alone is worth the purchase. You’re following them through this thing the entire time and it was such a joy for me. So many things cut down the runtime of stuff like this — I remember during the Infinity War press tour they had some of the cast in an escape room that had a time of 40 minutes or so, but the actual video we got was maybe 10 minutes tops and I felt robbed of all the material we could have been seeing, because I could have happily sat there for the whole length of what they actually did. This is not a problem here in the slightest, because as usual, the people making these fun features for Doctor Who releases care about me and know what I want. What I wanted was to see these three’s entire experience in there, and I received. There are moments in it where being much more knowledgeable about Who than them is painful because you’re screaming at them to get it right, but most of the time it’s just a ton of fun watching them try to work everything out and to see their different personalities try to take control of the situation at different times. There’s one surprise in particular that had me absolutely grinning from ear to ear, and if you’re planning on getting this release, I won’t spoil what it is, but oh my gosh. Forget this feature alone being worth it, that segment alone is worth it. Could not believe what I was seeing, it was great. Overall I can’t speak highly enough of this and how much I enjoyed the crud out of it, and I am very much looking forward to the rest of them that they’ll be putting out for the other Classic eras.

[messiahofslams]

So I beat the Silent Hill 2 Remake last night. I got the Leave ending which is pretty standard. What a great remake I really loved it. It did drop the ball in some places where the original really shines but I think my next replay will be the remake for sure. Gonna share my thoughts below!

Remake Wins

- JAMES! His voice actor/mocap actor nailed it I absolutely loved his performance start to finish

- Combat is way better and actually enjoyable with enemies that are threatening (I died once!)

- Boss fights have all been remade from the ground up, Abstract Daddy was actually a highlight instead of a momentum killer. The worst fight was double Pyramid Head but it was still enjoyable compared to the original and way more intense

- Angela was also an amazing performance all of here scenes were A+ and I already thought she was amazing in the original but this was just heartbreaking. Every time she was on screen I was engaged.

- The game is WAY scarier, like I found myself jumping alot (mainly from the cheap Mannequin scares) and I was genuinely scared to go to Pyramid Head sanctum in the Labyrinth

- Amazing set pieces and level design, watching the environment slowly change when you run into another character or as you slowly slip into the other world was genuinely beautiful

Remakes Fails

- Maria/Mary was really a negative. Terrible voice acting that really missed the mark compared to the original. Mary's final letter made me cry in the original (to be fair I was dealing with alot) and this time it was...fine?

- Bad Puzzles, I loved hard puzzles in the original. I was playing with some friends (cause I'm a coward) and we would always say 'bloober team doesn't want you to think hard' because the puzzles were so simple. I did hard puzzles too and what a huge disappointment they were...

- Changed atmosphere, not really a bad thing more so different. The lynchian vibe of the original is gone and it went into hard horror and that's fine but I can see why people would enjoy the atmosphere of the original better

I would give it a 9/10, same score I gave the original.