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hiraya-rawr · 2 years ago

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so i betrayed you, my love– (2/5)

Xiao Version || Childe Version || Thoma Version || Gorou Version || Ayato Version

synopsis !! Part 2 of “You Were The Enemy All Along” featuring the aftermath of betrayal and confrontation, with more depth to their stories! (Part 1 of each character was also included to make reading convenient.)

contains !! some character lore spoilers / a little violence / dialogue heavy in some scenes / reconciliation but also complicated relationships mending together / cameos of other characters! / might be easier to understand if you knew the lore of the characters

notes !! This was commissioned by the wonderful @mh8 who allowed this to be posted in public for everyone to enjoy! and honestly childe scares me to write bc I've barely written anything for him but I tried to bring out his charm? idk 😭

CHILDE

wc !! 2.4k

The noisiest of them all. He doesn't understand at first, tries to deny it by making jokes. The prank is up, what are you still doing? It's only when your betrayal becomes painfully obvious does he allow himself to laugh. It's ironic to be surprised coming from his line of work. He should really be used to these things.

"If you're this desperate for a fight, you could have just said so," He laughs, "Though, I warn you comrade, I won't hold back this time." It's so easy to drown in the adrenaline of battle and if he doesn't think hard enough, it feels no different than any of your usual spars together. There's a battle crazed look in his eyes at the thought of not holding back with you, but it's odd how numb he feels as Foul Legacy takes over.

Whether or not he wins the fight, the result remains the same; with him lying in the middle of the battlefield, mask still on, staring blankly upwards. He thinks of the abyss he fell into as a child, and briefly wonders when did it all go wrong.

— Before Him

You sighed in relief, a long day of training was finally coming to an end. Dottore was not an easy harbinger to be a rookie under; aside from the harsh training requirements of a Fatui Agent, you also had to deal with a lunatic scientist for a mentor. You were lucky enough to have the doctor more distracted on conducting his experiments rather than training fresh meat like you.

You leaned against a wall. You were in an isolated, snowy village, a mile away from the nearest Fatui training ground. It existed quietly, the villagers were as cold as Snezhnaya in that barren wasteland. You knocked twice on the concrete behind you, then an additional four times, then once more.

“Agent (Name), report.” A voice muffles from behind the wall, a figure you can't see.

“Pulcinella adopted a strange boy. . . He's coded as Childe. They say he fell into the abyss. He's quite strong, we've only sparred once but I know there's something off with him.”

“Hmm. A peculiar new recruit. I've heard from the other agents.” Muttered the figure of the shadows. He doesn't talk much. You know it's to keep identities hidden and to avoid letting you know too much lest you get caught and the information forced out of you (and believe me, the information will be forced out of you).

“You think he could rise in the ranks? Perhaps become a general or diplomat?” You question quietly.

“I think he could be the next Harbinger.”

A sharp intake of breath, surprised. A Harbinger. The next and possibly youngest one after so long.

“Continue your work. Do what you believe is best for our organization. Leave any files you found useful under the gap.” Were his last orders before hearing the footsteps walk away. Work was never easy; you dealt with loneliness most of the time. The only comfort was when an ill-reputed plan of the Fatui failed, knowing it was only possible through your contributions and warnings. For every plan you thwarted was a step closer to revealing your identity and getting killed for it.

Yes, you're prepared. You've been preparing for it ever since you joined the Fatui.

With a sigh, you went back to the training grounds.

— With Him

There’s a reason why Diluc Ragnvindr survived the hunt by the Harbingers when he sought out revenge in Snezhnaya. That should have been the first red flag for Childe. You were transferred early under his platoon, just when he was solidifying his position as a Harbinger. You were the subordinate he sent out to represent the 11th and, having the approval of Dottore (The old geezer, what a wack. Should he really be trusting a mad scientist? Childe questions this everyday) he trusted you enough to do your job.

Yet, the winery-heir-slash-fatui-serial-murderer escaped Snezhnaya with the help of those damned underground pests they've been trying to get rid of. Honestly, Childe could care less about the guy— if anything, he was immensely excited to try and pick a fight with him! But it still hurt his pride that one of his early missions as a Harbinger didn't turn out well. He needed to prove himself to the Tsaritsa after all! If not to at least make Pulcinella proud.

Going back to you.

It was always him and you; you and him ever since you transferred; sparring blade against blade. It was easy to get along when you were one of the only trainees close to his age, even easier when you managed to keep up with him in everything, bloodlust and all.

You were his match and he was yours, or so he believed.

“Say, why did Dottore transfer you anyway? Did you get kicked out, pissed him off somehow?” Childe once asked, boots scraping the ground as he dodges an attack from you flawlessly. Despite Dottore’s rather crazed way of managing his platoon, agents were given a handful of benefits for being under a high ranking Harbinger with a budget larger than the others (Experiments don't pay themselves, you know!).

You huff, a little tired from the onslaught of keeping him entertained in battle, “No, didn't he tell you? I requested for transfer.”

“Oh really? What, did the good looks of a new Harbinger catch your eye?” He teases, going on the offensive once more as he sprints to slash his blade. You block it with yours, trying to push him back with force. When he does pull back, getting pushed a few meters away as hir boots skid on snow, you scoff.

“Good looks? If that were the case, I would have transferred to–”

He immediately sprints ahead again, blade nearly catching you off guard as you block the attack.

“Aww come-” Slash. Block. “-on! Don't tell me you're not-” Kick. Jump. “-even a little bit enraptured by-” Hit. Block. “-me?” He huffs heavily, finally catching your eye as your blade stays on his, pushing each other back with all your strength.

“Hmp. Must you be so arrogant?” You strain out, matching his force before– “Maybe. . . maybe just a little bit.” You avert your gaze at the very moment he catches sunlight in your eyes. Childe pauses, his grip on the blade loosens momentarily at your admittance. You take the chance— kicking his stomach back with force as he skids across the training ground, the sword clattering on the ground.

“Does this mean I won?” You giggle, your weapon still in your hand as he looks at you from where he crouches, a smile on your face.

Maybe it's the butterflies that erupted in his stomach, but he laughs out loud. Childe wonders to himself; Is this the thrill of battle? Or something else? You tilt your head in confusion.

“As if! I haven't even gone all out yet!” He yells enthusiastically, “Agent (Ņ̸̛͕͔̏̓ͅa̶͍͊m̸̲̫̄͝ȩ̴̹̙̄̀ͅ.)”

Your smile tenses. Your heart beats. Pensively, you also wonder to yourself; Is this the success of a mission? Or . . . something else?

— After Him .

You should've known.

You should've known, you should've known, you should've known that the Fatui would never have let a betrayal such as yours go so easily. The past few months after him was spent laying low, hiding from daylight and any chance that you could be recognized. A large bounty was on your head and the Fatui weren't cheap by any means. The organization shielded you as much as they could but even you had missions you had to continue fulfilling. You’d gladly risk your life for the better good; after all, if you didn't, you wouldn't have went undercover in the Fatui anyway.

But now, he was chasing you.

It's back to the snowy forests of Snezhnaya, sprinting and dodging all the tall pines in your way. You hear him gaining speed from behind you, hydro blades swishing as they cut through branches, unbothered to waste energy on dodging. Distantly, the sound of a Fatui gunner prepares his shot. You immediately switch directions, a pyro blast landing inches from where you once were. It’s followed by more blasts, each hitting a little closer to you until—

“Ah!”

It grazes your shoulder, blood escaping the wound and soaking your clothes. You don't stop running, adrenaline keeping you alive and conscious. Childe barks something out in Snezhnayan. You’re too distracted with running to understand what he said, but the Pyro Gunner stops shooting and soon enough you focus on escaping.

A clearing appears in your line of sight. A field of snow and endless white and—

Crash! You're knocked off your feet, landing on the snow. You feel him on your back as you quickly force him away, rolling to the side and kicking. It's a blur from there on— a flurry of kicks, punches, scratches, the snow around you forming the most unrecognizable snow angel.

Until his hydro blade was on your neck as he keeps you pinned underneath him. No amount of sparring could've prepared you for a battle to the death with a harbinger. Your breaths fog together with every exhale, the proximity feels bad for your heart but finally, you get a clear view of the face you haven't seen for months.

“I win,” He says, an ever-so-childish grin on his lips, “Any last words?”

It astounds you how casual he is, as if you weren't running for your life just moments ago. Sparring had always been his favorite game but this wasn't like the other times. You do as you were trained (by both the Fatui and your organization)— you keep your mouth shut. Last words are worthless in the face of the enemy, you’d rather bite your tongue off.

“Hmm. . . the (Ņ̸̛͕͔̏̓ͅa̶͍͊m̸̲̫̄͝ȩ̴̹̙̄̀��) I know would have barked back some words. You would've scoffed.” Childe says, the blade pressing deeper onto your neck, drawing beads of blood to the surface. “Or was that some personality you made up? Was it fun for you?”

Silence.

The smile falls off his face. Something darkens in his eyes. “Alright. You won't talk, that's okay. Anyone who would dedicate their lives living undercover naturally wouldn't respond. I can respect that.” He starts, the blade doesn't move an inch on your skin, the snow numbing more of your back, “But at least answer me this. Not for your organization, not for you. . . answer it for me; was I ever anything to you?”

Silence. Keep quiet.

Something unrecognizable crosses his face. There’s a smile on his lips, but his eyes are pained.

“You know,” He whispers, leaning down closer to you. “Whenever we sparred, did you feel anything? Anything at all?” His face contorts to a mix of frustration, “Because I sure as hell knew I loved you. I can differentiate things, (Ņ̸̛͕͔̏̓ͅa̶͍͊m̸̲̫̄͝ȩ̴̹̙̄̀ͅ.)! I knew what was bloodlust, it wasn't just me being battle hungry. I’m not dumb! I knew— know I love you!”

As if wanting to hide from your gaze, he hides his face on the crook of your neck. Forehead to the snow, blade stilling on your skin. Despite how cold everything is, the warmth of him seems enough to coax you in.

“. . . At least tell me how much of it was real. Please.” He mumbles slowly. Did you mean to cause this much anguish? Did you have to go fall for someone like him?

The words fall from your tongue before you could even catch them. The lack of hesitation, the urge to come clean; “Everything. . . everything was fake. Even my name. (Ņ̸̛͕͔̏̓ͅa̶͍͊m̸̲̫̄͝ȩ̴̹̙̄̀ͅ.). It's fake.”

He freezes over you, listening intently. Snow falls quietly into the ground, you wonder if you'll be buried in— caved to become timeless underneath the ice. Briefly, you think it would be fine if it happens if it's with Childe.

“I know it's hard to trust me, but please— loving you,” Pause. You feel tears well up in your eyes, blinding your vision of the descending snowflakes. “Loving you was real. Is real. It was the realest thing I had in that life under the Fatui. I’m so sorry, Childe, I’m really sorry. And I’m sorry we have to end like this.”

“You mean it?” He asks, hushed.

“Yes, yes, archons I mean it.”

“Then what's your real name?”

Your breath hitches, “(Name).”

“(Name).” He repeats.

The awareness of the metal on your throat becomes all too obvious. Breathing too hard would cause it to press more against your skin. You try to calm down, trying to accept the falling of the snow (the fall of you) as the end of your life nears and suddenly—

the blade is retrieved. You hear the shuffle of leather as it's placed back into its holder. Blinking, bewildered, you glanced up at him only to see his boyish grin.

“You honestly didn't think I'd kill you, right?”

Your mouth falls open. You want to hit him.

“You're going to let me go?”

“I mean, I did kind of let the traveler go back in Liyue.”

“The senior Harbingers reprimanded you for that!” You sit uo, hands flailing as you grab a handful of snow to throw at him. He lets it hit his stomach, laughing.

“It's fine, it's fine! The higher ups don't really care about me as much as they do the others anyway,” He shrugs nonchalantly, “It gives me a whole lot of leeway. If I say I don't want to kill you, they'll just nod along.”

You stare at him longer than you mean to, holding his cheery gaze as the snow continues to settle around you. How quiet and peaceful to exist with him in that space.

“Is this really okay?” You ask and he falls silent with you.

He looks away to the white horizon, speaking in a softer voice, “Well, of course not. You still betrayed me, I still got hurt,” He inhales, “But you love me. I think that's all that really matters, no?”

Tears well up in your eyes. You can't bear to think how close you were to losing your life (losing him) and how easily he pushes your lifelong conflicts aside. So who cares if you played for the opposing organization? Who cares if you struggled with love and truth?

You've faked yourself for so long but Childe would still embrace you, lies and all.

“Come on, the snow must be cold.” He extends his hand, gesturing for you to take it, “Sooner or later the other scouts would be arriving. You should keep running east.”

“Ajax–” You start but he hushes you gently.

“We won't be seeing each other for a while. I don't know when we’d meet again but. . . you know, I’m sure it'll work out if it's us. So don't cry anymore, (Name).”

Stiffly, you nod. It was this moment that you tried to memorize everything about him— his eyes, his ginger hair, the way your name -your real name- falls off his tongue. You replay every sound he made to say such a name, just for the sake of remembering.

“Now go—” He pushes you to the direction, “Don't worry! I won't let them catch the love of my life!” He grins widely, hydro blades appearing in his hands once more as you nod towards him, tear stained smile in response. Your feet take you away, further and further away as you hear the familiar sounds of his blades against his own agents. Icy wind whipping against your face. You can't help the laugh that escapes you, surely the agents would think their blood-crazed superior is in another one of his impulsive moods.

You pity them and envy them all the same.

notes !! thoma is up next, featuring some of our fav inazuma characters <3 ill edit it into a post once my finals settle down (currently cramming in a cafe) I hope you guys liked this one

childe // i really tried to fulfill that he's the more talkative of the bunch! and honestly with childe’s history of forgive and forget, i dont think it's a surprise that he’d easily forgive MC and brush everything under the rug. if anything, he kind of likes the complexity as far as i could tell! by the way, did you like the inclusion of “before him, with him, and after him”? i think it was a poem or a dedication in some book. I really like the thought of it since it's a good way to divide timelines. BY THE WAY do you like the parallels? In part 1, he was left on the snow looking up at the sky. Now in part 2, ur the one on the snow looking up at him :D

#genshin #childe #childe x reader #genshin childe #ajax x reader #genshin ajax #genshin tartaglia #diluc #tartaglia #genshin impact #harbinger x reader #genshin harbinger #fatui harbinger #genshin x reader #genshin angst #childe angst #genshin angst/comfort

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thoughtfulchaos773 · 4 months ago

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The Bear Season 3 & Meta Filmmaking I

With the work of Hitchcock

The first two seasons were so critically acclaimed. Despite this season's mixed reviews, it's still going down as one of the top TV shows of all time. What I love about watching The Bear is how each season feels different from the last, and Season 3 stands out the most because of its version of meta filmmaking.

So, what is meta-filmmaking? It’s a language of art where the creator draws attention to the work itself, and characters reflect on the craft of filmmaking.

In my previous post, The BS3: A Conversation with the Viewer, I covered the first four episodes, which were packed with meta-dialogue. But this clip features episode 9, the most meta of all. It has parts of the documentary Alfred Hitchcock & The Pure Art of Cinema, which I'm thinking the creators of this show watched, given that it features commentary from legends like William Friedkin and Martin Scorsese.

This season is about Storer's legacy and how his creative work is influenced by mainly Scorsese and William Friedkin, but both legacies come from the Hitchcock family tree. The family tree Legacy: Storer- Friedkin-Scorsese- Hitchcock.

For this post, we'll start with one part of the legacy and its Hitchcock and his use of self-reflexivity.

Meta Self Reflexive Films :

Self-reflexivity means "consciousness turning back on itself," and reflexive cinema is about films which call attention to themselves as cinematic constructs.

Alfred Hitchcock is widely acknowledged as a “reflexive” or “self-reflexive” filmmaker who inscribes himself within his own works through cameos and authorial surrogates, orchestrates the narrative world as a world of selfconscious artifice, and acknowledges and invokes the role of the audience in his films, ×

Self-reflexivity is often a character Hitchcock would write in the script- this was an audience or director surrogate. This character guides the audience with commentary as they navigate the movie and solve the big mystery, acting as a conduit between the filmmaker and the screen. In some films, they don’t often break the fourth wall but play within the narrative alongside other characters.

Self-reflexivity was something thebear instagram played on for the promotion of the Bear as they called it a paradigm shift- @brokenwinebox discovered this promotion for this season- a paradigm shift- a break between viewer and the show itself:

Back to self-reflexivity in film. Since hitchcock used surrogates- remember, for season 3, who is the director's surrogate?

Author David Sterrit on Hitchcock's choice in director surrogates:

He does this not by becoming a character…but in two other ways: through his famous cameo appearances, which allow him to enter the action directly, costumed unmistakably himself, and through his use of characters and objects that serve as surrogates for his own presence.- link

The first thing that comes to mind for this kind of surrogate is its heavy use of well-known chefs' cameo appearances this season. These chefs like Thomas Keller came in with costumes- chefs' jackets and unmistakably be themselves and would be immersed in the show. The use of characters that play as surrogates to the filmmaker is Richie. The conduit.

Since he is the conduit -what was Richie doing this season?

Based on a conversation with @fresaton Richie as the directors conduit is watching and figuring sydcarmy out for the audience and the art itself.

We're going based on film legacies and what Storer has shown us, then he is, in fact, doing a style of meta-filmmaking based on the legacy of Hitchcock. But he also takes inspiration from Friedkin and Scorsese, which I'll cover in the next 2 parts.

Read Part 2: The Bear Season 3 & Meta Filmmaking

Read:

Hitchcock and His Use of Surrogates

Ancestors and The Bear by @whenmemorydies

Richie and The Viewer by @whenmemorydies

Natalie & Night of the Hunter by @espumado

The Bear Season 3 & The Mirror @currymanganese

Richie's Journey is not Over @currymanganese

The Paradigm Shift @brokenwinebox

Taglist: @yannaryartside @whenmemorydies @ago0112 @chaoswillcalmusdown @ambeauty @anxietycroissant @turbulenthandholding @tvfantic87

#sydcarmy #it just makes me even more delusional tbh #everything is intentional #carmy x sydney #the bear fx

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tritoch · 5 months ago

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for those we have lost; for those we can yet save

just want to write a quick post about the most famous recurring line in FFXIV. People generally recognize it as something characters say a lot, but if you pay close attention to when and how it comes up it's actually very VERY interesting, and deployed in very specific ways. To me, It's Minfilia's line but also in many ways a reminder of Moenbryda, and is very specifically raised by characters close to the two of them. spoilers through 6.0 below.

it's Minfilia's line, first of all, in that she's literally the first one to say it. She says it in 2.55, right before you throw in with Ishgard and assist in the defense of the steps of faith. As the patch number suggests, it's one of the last things any of the Scions hear from her before the Bloody Banquet.

(Quest: Committed to the Cause, 2.55. All this dialogue from the extremely excellent resource xiv.quest, by the way.)

In context, "those we have lost" and "those we can yet save" actually have two pretty specific meanings! While "those we have lost" obviously encompasses all the fallen Scions, from Louisoix to the attack on the Waking Sands to Wilred, its particular meaning here is almost certainly in reference to Moenbryda, because 2.55 starts with you attending her memorial service, and because Moenbryda specifically dies to save Minfilia! "Those we can yet save" refers, in part, to the fact that you are about to risk your lives in defense of Ishgard against the Dravanians, in part due to Aymeric's argument that should Ishgard fall, all of Eorzea is at risk. For these two reasons—to honor the sacrifice of a fallen friend and with an eye toward preventing needless bloodshed—you willingly forsake your neutrality.

When Minfilia returns in 3.2, she says it to you again, an echo of some of her final words to you:

(Quest: The Word of the Mother)

Note how the intent subtly shades differently here. Rather than taking up arms for a cause that isn't yours, Minfilia's use of the line is to justify offering herself to Hydaelyn. Here the connection to Moenbryda becomes even stronger: like Moenbryda, Minfilia is sacrificing herself for the good of the cause and with the aim of protecting her friends. Her self-sacrifice echoes and reinforces the legacy of her friend's sacrifice for her.

She repeats it again in 3.4, and by this point it's clearly and specifically her catchphrase:

(Quest: One Life for One World)

And of course, her use of it here precedes a triple sacrifice: her journey to the First, to remain there forever, to guard against the Flood of Light; the sacrifices of Ardbert's friends, who have already died once for the First and will offer up their aether in death to empower Minfilia against the Flood; and Ardbert, who is about to undergo his own version of Hydaelyn's Endwalk in miniature.

Minfilia says the line three times, taking it on as a kind of mantra and core justification behind all of her actions, and now in 3.X and 4.X they'll let you, the Warrior of Light, do the same.

The very first time the Warrior of Light gets to say it happens in the very same patch:

(Quest: An Ending to Mark a New Beginning)

Minfilia dies (okay sacrifices herself to become a good guy Ascian which will lead to her permanent death), and the very first dialogue option you get in the quest immediately after that is an option to echo her final words.

Because just as she said them to remind herself that she was following in Moenbryda's footsteps and honoring the sacrifice Moenbryda made for her, now you will do the same in her memory.

The next use, right at the start of 4.0, pretty much reiterates the same idea:

(Quest: Crossing the Velodyna)

It's Alphinaud basically giving you a chance to choose in-character why exactly your character is willing to go from minor sellsword work, to saving Eorzea, to saving Ishgard, to taking the fight to the Empire directly. In context, it suggests a sort of fatalism: events keep happening, and all you can do is keep your head high and do your best to honor the sacrifices of those who came before.

(also, notice how even here back in 4.0, the option that boils down to "I just love fights, and also fighting" has Alphinaud specifically call you "an adventurer," a theme Zenos will later build on two expansions later to great effect.)

Its other use in Stormblood, in 4.1, has it as the only clear and concrete answer you're allowed to give Fordola after she sees your memories with the Echo and asks why you keep fighting:

(Quest: The Butcher's Blood)

Nothing against the other two answers, they're just intentionally very vague. Only #2 lets you give a clearer answer. You keep fighting because so many have died (so many of them specifically for you, to save you), and there are so many who may yet still be given a chance to live. To honor the fallen and to protect the living. For grief and for hope.

Now, just as Minfilia and the Warrior of Light say it three times to affirm it as part of their characters, Urianger and Thancred get a pair of uses each, and the ways they use it specifically honor and invoke Minfilia and Moenbryda.

Urianger is the first to use it in 5.0, when he accompanies you to hunt for Titania's relics:

(Quest: A Visit to the Nu Mou)

He textually invokes Minfilia at the start of his lines here, which are intended to explain why he so clearly feels he has some moral duty towards the First. And that's very specific phrasing he uses, ignore the plight: that's specifically invoking Louisoix's oft-quote "To ignore the plight of those one might conceivably save is not wisdom—it is indolence." So even as he says he does it because it is right, he acknowledges that he also does it because he feels its the moral duty that Louisoix, Minfilia, and Moenbryda's sacrifices have placed on him: to labor for those he has lost, for those that they too wanted to save. For Urianger, it's an expression of his deep compassion and almost utilitarian desire to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people, bound up in his grief and regret.

Next is Thancred:

(Quest: The Truth Hurts)

This one really hurts. Obviously, Thancred uses it because he's talking specifically about Minfilia, but he's not talking about her sacrifice. He's talking about the loss of her father, and about the idea that he failed to ever repay that first harm. For him, pressing on is not just about honoring her sacrifice, but about atoning for his unpardonable sins. It's about guilt.

And the irony in Thancred deploying it here is that in his own eyes, he says it as he attempts to expiate his sins by honoring Minfilia's sacrifice and giving Ryne a chance to choose her own future. Yet at the same time, he is adding to his sins because this time, in his eyes, his hands are also on the knife. Before, Minfilia's fate was an unlucky break, a black swan event. The Banquet, Hydaelyn, Urianger's machinations, the Warriors of Darkness, all of that was beyond his control.

But now, he will willingly stand by and let Minfilia die for a final time, because she has asked him to do so.

He is still learning from her, and from her choices:

(Quest: Full Steam Ahead)

To me, his use of it here, after the fight with Ran'jit when he kind of seems like he might die, is almost rueful. Like he never fully understood the import of her words until now, couldn't see past his own grief to the meaning at their core. But now he gets it. He understands why she had to do what she did, and how in turn he can honor her legacy not by clinging to her memory but living life as she would have.

"Your kindness, your compassion, your love..." he says, and this too is an echo of something she said at their parting. The last half of the line is: "These are your gifts to me, and our gifts to them, forming a bond which transcends time and space." Gifts passed from brother to sister, and now back again, and on to the future through Ryne.

Urianger gets the final use of it through 6.55, and it both honors all the uses of it prior and points the way to new lines of thinking:

(Quest: Back to Old Tricks; FFXIV's love for allusion shines through here but rather more subtly than with the Hamilton lines, as "dreadful algebra of necessity" is a direct pull from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series)

Here, the use is explicitly and textually tied to Minfilia and, for the first time since 2.55, Moenbryda. And Urianger is the first person in the text to explicitly question the line, painting it not as the principled output of noble martyrs but as a justification that the people those martyrs leave behind cling to in their grief, something they tell themselves to convince themselves that the sacrifice was justified. Or worse, the reasoning of a cold and bloodless utilitarian, who would willingly sacrifice his own friends and loved ones for the greater good.

They are dead, says Urianger, and we are not. What of those we cannot save? And, no less, what of us, who must go on in this world without them? How can anything ever justify this? How can we ever make peace with this?

It is the Warrior of Light who gets to answer Urianger, but he ultimately takes less from your answer itself than from the fact that you too struggle with the question:

Endwalker is, as ever, interested in the idea that perhaps some questions aren't quite answerable, but that the universality of the questions itself can be a great uniter and creator of purpose. None can easily make peace with the "dreadful algebra of necessity", but from Louisoix, to Moenbryda, to Minfilia, to you and the Scions, to Ryne and others, a rough, developing ethic has arisen: each of you, and the sacrifices you have made, honored the work and the will of those who came before, to pave the way for those who will come after.

Hope, arising from grief.

#ffxiv #minfilia warde #moenbryda wilfsunnwyn #thancred waters #urianger augurelt #warrior of light ffxiv #a realm reborn spoilers #heavensward spoilers #stormblood spoilers #endwalker spoilers #shadowbringers spoilers #meta: durai report

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dont-blame-it-on-the-kids · 1 month ago

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Legacy of Steel

Fancomic Draft: Ang

its not complete and idk how its gonna look in tumblr text post but i have plotted out the entirety of the comic.

gonna be going through and adding dialogue and more details as i work on it

i wont be able to do any of the actual drawings but hopefully if i can get a detailed script then one day i'll be able to do the comic / find someone willing to work with me lmao

Synopsis:

With Republic City changing faster than ever, at almost 60 years old Chief Lin Beifong is ready to step down and find a worthy successor. But her plans are derailed when a series of violent attacks hit the city, carried out by a mysterious group using advanced spirit energy weapons. As Lin hunts down this new threat, she must navigate the delicate balance between her duty to the city, the weight of her history, and the search for someone to continue her legacy. But this final battle may demand more from her than she ever expected.

Examples of cover and Splash pages.

Front Cover Art with Title

Lin, Mako, Korra, and a shadowed/masked figure in foreground, the city behind them split between as it is now - behind Lin - and how it was when Lin was younger (in sepia) - behind the shadowed/masked figure -

Legend of Korra Splash Page

(credit: ruins of the empire part 1)

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Intro Art

Kya healing Lin they’re sitting on the couch in their home

(credit: Toph Beifong’s MetalBending Academy)

All the Splash Pages use this cream and green theme

Legend of Korra Title page w/ credits

(credit: ruins of the empire part 1)

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Legend of Korra/Avatar the Last Airbender legal / copyright page

(credit: ruins of the empire part 1)

Cover art Clear Image

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Scenes:

Scene - Past ATI

Flashback to Lin and Tenzin training as children about 5 and 6 years old with grown up Aang,Sokka and Suki.

LP 1 Lin at 5 and Tenzin at 6 in the garden on Air Temple Island. They are sparring with each other Lin using her EarthBending Tenzin his AirBending. Aang stands as referee and coach. Few panels of action shots of the kids with Aang’s advice in quote bubbles for each kid.

RP 1 Sokka comments on how Tenzin is digging his heels in and taking more of the earth stances while airbending while Lin took more of the air stances and flips while earthbending Suki comments that Lin got her element first so Tenzin tagged along to some of her training.

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LP 2 shots of Lin and Tenzin being trained with Fans by Suki. Tenzin uses the fans to assist his airbending and knocks Lin over.

RP 2 Sokka teaches Lin and Tenzin how to sword fight. He has a No Bending Rule after what happened with Suki’s lesson.

Scene - Present day

Lin wakes up after a fight gone wrong with the new gang “I am married to a healer you know?” When mako insists on her getting checked out

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LP 1 Present day we see a few injured officers sitting down waiting for the medical team to arrive to help the wounded. Mako has taken control of the scene helping the wounded and ordering those who can to document the scene and collect evidence.

RP 1 Lin is down on the floor of the warehouse they got ambushed at, she wakes and moves to sit up, hand to her head. Mako is standing next to her upon seeing her starting to sit up.

Mako: (worried) “You should sit and wait for medical Chief, you took a pretty hard hit just now.”

Lin: (dismissive) “I am married to a healer, you know?”

Mako: “You sure you can make it home with that hit? This gang hits rough.”

Lin: (muttering to herself) “They’re not stronger, I’m just slowing down.”

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LP 2 Lin: (getting to her feet) “Alright Team let's work on recovering what we can-” (see’s they’re already doing everything by the book.)

Mako: “already on it Chief, the medical team is on the way and we’re collecting evidence that's headed to HQ now.”

Lin: (directed at Mako) “Good work detective.”

Scene - Later that Night

Lin at home in pajamas as Kya heals her and she complains about being too old for this.

RP 2 we see Lin and Kya II sitting on the couch in their home Lin is in a white tank top and green pajama pants sitting leaning forwards with her elbows on her thighs holding a mug of tea while Kya II is sitting on the couch next to her with her legs under her healing Lins injured shoulder. We see Kya II’s mug of tea on the coffee table in front of them and the matching top of Lin’s pajama set next to it. (SCAR HC GO CRAZY YESSS)

Lin (grumbLing): “I’m too old for this… I should’ve been done with these street fights years ago.”

Kya (teasing): “Too old, huh? Linny, You��ve been saying that for years, but somehow, you always end up right back in the thick of it.”

Lin: “This time, it feels different. I am getting too old for this, Kya. I’m slowing the team down.”

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LP 2 Kya: (stopping the spot healing and moving to wrap her hands over Lin’s shoulder, leaning to kiss Lin's cheek.) “Maybe you just need to stop trying to carry the entire city alone.”

Lin: (contemplating as she pulls her pajama top on) “Yeah, maybe it’s time I start thinking about a replacement…”

RP 2 We have a final shot of Lin and Kya cuddling on the couch listening to a radio show sipping their tea as they relax.

Scene - Lin’s Office The Next Morning

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LP 1 we see Lin going over the investigation paperwork

RP 1 we see the retirement paperwork on her desk kinda buried and not filled out, She’s about to pick up the blank paperwork when she’s interrupted by an officer with reports on the gang activity

Scene - On the Streets

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Lin and mako with a team on the trail of the bad guys short fight

LP 1 we see Lin and mako assembLing a team of officers and raid the location.

RP 1 There is a short fight and they end up arresting 2 or 3 of the goons.

Goon 1 (smirking as he’s pinned): “You’re too late. We’ve got something bigger planned. You think Amon’s gloves were bad? We’ve got weapons that’ll make those look like toys.”

Scene - Past Metal

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LP 1 we see Lin at 7 years old metalbending training with Toph

Scene - Present RCPD

RP 1 We return to the present and see Mako and another detective in an interrogation room with the captured Goon

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LP 2 . goon reveaLing the group The Echoes were once benders who feel the rcpd didnt handle amon and kuvira correctly

Goon (laughing, cuffed to the table): “There’s an army out there, and they all want Republic City. You can’t stop it.”

RP 2 Lin behind the glass observing the interrogation going over the evidence files. Goon just saying basic take over the city, you cant stop progress, the RCPD is useless comparing them to book 1

Scene - The Next Night Mako’s Apartment

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Lin and Kya having dinner with Mako and Rina with the twins - twins birthday. Kya loves being a Gran Gran and the twins call Lin Grammy Chief.

LP 1 we see Lin and Kya in civilian clothes sitting at the table in Mako’s home, his wife, Rina, sits next to him as two seven year old twins (a boy and a girl, San and Moriko) excitedly talk to Lin and Kya about their school and fire bending practice.

Moriko: (excitedly as she stands beside the table to show off her stances) “Grammy Chief! I was moved into the advanced bending classes!”

Lin: (encouraging) “Good work Rookie, you’re almost old enough to join a junior team.” (glances at Mako for his opinion)

Mako: “We’ve been considering allowing her to sign up or not when the time comes. Still got some rough memories of that place.”

RP 1 San: (Sitting next to Kya) “Gran Gran my teacher wants my painting project to go up on his wall with the previous best in class works!”

Kya: (smiLing wide) “That's amazing San, it's a big honor indeed.”

Rina: “He needs to keep his math grade up before we allow the painting to go on display.”

San: (pouting) “I know mamma, I'm trying.”

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LP 2 once the kids are settled down Lin speaks with Mako about the past and possibly allowing Moriko to sign up for the jr league

Scene - Past Probending Jr

RP 2 flashback we see Lin at 12 years old on the probending stage with her team behind her, shes a part of a junior probending league run by the schools as a sports activity. Her team The Flying Boars is up against the Lucking Lightning Strikes.

Past Young Lin (grunting as she throws a powerful earthbending strike): “You’ll have to do better than that!”

Past Young Zolt (smirking, blocking the attack with a fire kick): “I’m just getting started, Beifong.”

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LP 3 we see the fight ensue ending with Lin knocking zolt off the back of the platform and her team winning the match

Scene - Present Mako’s Apartment

RP 3 We end the scene with Mako agreeing to think about it and Lin and Kya bidding the family farewell as they leave for the night

Scene - RCPD the Next Afternoon

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LP 1 another tip leads to a dead end Tenzin is in the office when Lin gets back

RP 1 Lin and Tenzin talk about her possibly retiring (Kya II wanted him to talk to her)

Scene - Past Lin’s Career

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Flashback montage Lin’s first few years on the force, rising the ranks maybe 6-10 scene ideas from beat cop to getting her chief badge showing growth timeLine / present day Lin’s in her office looking over old news articles and her retirement paperwork - mako interrupts with a fresh lead

Big art Scene across both pages. We start off LP 1 Bookend with Full body 18 year old Lin in her first uniform standing at attention no scars placed floating over the edge of the enclosed scenes

(with in framed comic all blending into each other)

Top Left LP 18 yr - beat cop with mentor officer

Bottom Left LP 20 yr - first arrest of bad guy

Top Right LP 22 yr - scar care with Tenzin and katara

Bottom Rright LP 30 yr - taking the role of chief

Top Left RP 40 yr - her and saikhan arresting/fighting zolt

Bottom Middle RP 50 yr - the swinging from and the winner is

Top Right RP 54 yr - Lin in the city fighting Kuvira Mech

RP 1 Bookend with Full body 58 year old Lin in her Chief uniform. Her arms are at her side and though she's standing tall still she is much older with scars

Scene - Present Lin’s Office, a few days later

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LP 2 we see Lin present day in her office going over old Articles about her career, she appears to be cleaning out/organizing her desk with her retirement paperwork now filled out on the desk next to her.

RP 2 Mako comes into the office with a fresh lead on the new gang location. We see him notice the retirement paperwork but decides to not mention anything right now.

Lin: “You take the lead on this one Detective, I have business tonight. Think you can handle this one without me?”

Mako: (nodding) “Yes Chief, can I take Korra and the team on the investigation?”

Lin: “If you feel they’re the right team for the job, don’t let Bolin and Korra destroy evidence. I want a full report in the morning.”

Scene - Team Investigation

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Investigation decrepit buildings downtown with Korra and team this time find evidence of how they’re making their weapons

Scene - At Saikhan’s

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Lin having dinner at Saikhans talking about her possible retirement and who could step up in her place. Saikhan mentions he’s already held that position and he’s more than happy to “leave it to the kids” and support a new chief Lin picks.

Saikhan: “I’ve held that position before. Trust me, I’m more than happy to leave it to the kids.”

Lin: “Are you sure? There's time for you to think it over.”

Saikhan: “I’m sure, Lin. If it’s time, then it’s time for the next generation to take a shot at it. Maybe Mako would be good to step in, if you feel he’ll be ready.”

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LP2 Lin and Akira talking about getting old Akira mentions her newest grandson

RP 2 Taiyo excitedly talking about the news he's been keeping up with cuz he wants to be chief one day

Scene - RCPD, a few days later

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LP 1 Lin frustrated at dead ends when they get a tip about a location

RP 1 officers raid the location

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LP 2 Lin’s shocked she thought Zolt had been killed by Amon

RP 2 a fight ensues and Zolt and his gang escape with the powerful spirit energy weapons.

Scene - Past w/ Zolt

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LP 1 Flashback scenes on Lin and Zolt school bullying

RP 1 flashback butting heads as they rise in the ranks of cop and criminal

Scene - Present day Zolt and Gang

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LP 2 zolt and his team in the underground hub

RP 2 zolt preparing for the final stage

Scene - Lin’s Office a few days later

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LP 1 Lin talks to Mako about her stepping down after the investigation into Zolt is over and him possibly taking over as chief.

RP 1 Lin offers mako the position of Chief

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LP 2 Mako expresses that he couldn’t picture the RCPD without her and he wasn’t sure he was the right fit for Chief.

Mako: “I’m not sure Chief, this place won’t be the same without you in this position.”

Lin: “Mako, RCPD was standing long before I was Chief and It’ll keep standing long after I retire. I want you to think about taking up the position, I trust you’ll make the city proud.”

RP 2 korra interrupts with a lead

Scene - The Echoes’ Base

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LP 1 Tracking down the lead

RP 1 fight ensues when they find the main operation hub/warehouse

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LP 2 fight goes south Zolt and the avatar team end up fighting on the street.

RP 2 Team on Zolt but his weapons are long range and deal a heavy energy blow

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LP 3 Mako’s hurt, bolin is down, tanzin is on his way, Asami and Opal trying to figure out how to stop the spirit energy whip

RP 3 Lin uses her metal bending to protect korra from a harsh blow

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LP 4 korra gets the opening to take zolt down. As Lin gets hit with the spirit lightning whip

RP 4 korra makes the arrest of Zolt, while Lin does down and doesn't get back up

Scene - Past, Amon

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Flashback Lin in Amon’s holding cell beat up without her bending

LP 1 We see Lin in her white tank top and grey uniform pants in a dark cell, her armor discarded in the cell with her, clearly been injured (she's got a bruised eye, a bloody nose, her leg is sitting at an awkward angle at the knee) and she is in pain, she tries to bend her armor and it remains cold and unmoving on the floor

RP 1 Amon steps into the cell. Lin tries to stab him with the knife from her armor. He bloodbends her before she can land the blow,

Amon: (bloodbending Lin) “Defying me is pointless Chief Beifong. Tell me where the airbenders are.”

Lin: (in pain) “I won’t let you hurt those kids.”

Amon: (intensifying the bloodhold to make Lin cry out) “And just how do you plan to stop me from this cell Chief Beifong?”

Amon: “Where are my airbenders?”

Scene - Present fight ends

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LP 1 fight being over mako and bolin are standing up,

RP 1 korra is trying to heal Lin whos not moving on the ground.

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LP 2 Tenzin comes up joining the fight too late as officers arrest Zolt and his goons

RP 2 Korra desperately still trying to save Lin as the medical team comes up to the scene

Scene - a few days later Lin’s Funeral

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LP 1 Kya II and Saikhan speaking at Lin's funeral

RP 1 Crowd Shot of the family, friends, and officers attending

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Graveside everyone takes their turn to throw in the first handfuls of dirt

LP 2 Kya II, Bumi II and Suyin, Tenzin and kids, Korra and Asami

RP 2 - Mako, Rina and twins, Saikhan and Akira

Scene - A few months later Mako’s ceremony

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LP 1 Mako getting the Chief badge ceremony

RP 1 Crowd Shot of the family, friends, and officers attending

Scene - Team Avatar Talk, Avatar Park

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LP team avatar talk

RP Full page img - Team Avatar standing at Lin's statue in avatar park

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Splash Page Filler

Credits and Thanks

RP Lin’s statue at Avatar park but this time it's snowy and Tenzin and Saikhan stand looking up at the statue.

Credits and thanks under artwork kinda like this

(credit: Imbalance part 1)

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Pg LP back of Last Page

Outro Art Page

LP Lin and Tenzin as kids training with Toph

(credit: Toph Beifong’s MetalBending Academy)

Back cover Art / Summary

Lin and the Avatar Team behind her kinda like the screenshot of the team celebrating and shes smirking in the foreground

(credit: Toph Beifong’s MetalBending Academy)

NOTES:

Set in 178 Ag, four years after show end

New Gang and Plan:

The Echoes are a large group of people in RC who are UPSET because they had their element taken from them by Amon, or were displaced by the Vines, or displaced by Kuvira. Zolt and his gang have developed weapons inspired by both Amon’s gauntlets and Kuvira’s Mech. Using the Spirit Vines they can infuse weapons with spirit energy and use them as an additional hard shocking blow to already strong weapons. Zolt himself has Two Whips that work like longer, more flexible versions of Amon’s Lieutenant kali sticks. They pack about 60 times more punch too. The group's goal is to take over the city and destroy the current system they feel did not protect them.

Characters and Ages:

Lin Beifong - 58

Kya II - 62

Saikhan - 55 (assumed)

Zolt - 59

Tenzin - 59

Korra - 25

Asami - 26

Mako - 26

BoLin - 24

Opal - 24 (assumed)

Pema - 43

Jinora - 18

Ikki - 15

Meelo - 13

Rohan - 8

Original Characters:

Mako’s family

Rina - 28

San - 7

Moriko - 7

Saikhan’s Family

Akira - 52

Rei - 32

Emi - 28

Eiko - 27

Haru - 23

Taiyo - 14

Links:

#Legacy of Steel #fancomic #lin comic #ideas #long post

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xfolex · 2 months ago

Text

Looking through Project Moon's old YouTube channel, there's some interesting stuff. Originally I was going to write about the Tumblbug as well, but there was a lot more stuff there than I realized, so I'll just talk about the YouTube for now.

The first video shows some very early concept ideas for the game. There's actually a lot of information in this first video, which I suppose makes sense as it's the first introduction to the game and the oldest as well. I've added some markings on my thoughts of some of the images and also brightened some of them as well.

Throughout the video we get to see pages from a manual that gives some basic information about the game. These are in Korean so I put them through Google Translate to read them. It's interesting how even from the very beginning the concept of the Sefirot and the Tree of Life was being used. Page 5 has the same list of Abnormalities that I was straining my eyes to figure out in my NDC post, but then there was the same list in color so all my effort trying to figure out each Abnormality kind of went to waste.

The list that explains the attack types corresponds to the way the attack types worked in the legacy version. With Black damage affecting the facility and Blue damage being Instant death (though attack types are very inaccurately assigned in-game). You can also see how it originally seemed like there were going to be only three types of work: feeding, cleaning, and suppressing. Though there's more information about that on the game's Tumblbug.

It's kind of hard to see, but page 15 shows Tangtang being part of the "Command and Surveillance Team" which is something mentioned in the game's code in early versions. According to the game's code, it seemed like the Control, Information, Safety, and Training teams were originally called the Command and Surveillance, Solution Development, Emergency Planning, and Material Management teams respectively.

This manual seems to be missing page 16 and 17, and it doesn't seem to be shown anywhere in any video.

The line of never forget/we remember the day the Abnormality first escaped that occasionally pops up here and there seems to be referencing Nothing There since it's a line from the first training video where Nothing There escapes.

The second training video was released on October 30, 2015. I don't have much thoughts on this video, but I thought the pixel art was very cute. I mention the date this video was posted because this is the last video with the square employee art style. The next video posted on February 15, 2016 has the Legacy art style, so between October and February the art style for the game changed. I'll talk more about this shift in art style when I look at the Tumblbug.

I also want to take this time to mention Jeremy, the original Lobotomy Corp mascot (not really) who appeared in only three videos but still managed to capture my heart. This post is dedicated in loving memory to Jeremy.

The Teaser Trailor video has a few key things I wanted to mention. First, the assign work UI seems to have the Book w/o Picture or Dialogue as the default icon for every Abnormality, and has a very different UI that I'm not quite sure how it works. Next, you can see some silhouettes of various Abnormalities, and most of them I recognize, but there's some I'm not 100% sure on. Throughout the video we see some Abnormalities that ultimately never made it into the game, but we can see My Sweet Orange Tree in the containment unit at the very end, which made me wonder how far along these unreleased abnormalities were in development. Even the ones in the very old videos, were they actually semi-functional Abnos or were they just placeholder images that never got developed?

The Proto-Demo video shows a manual and a line that leads to the target. The manual isn't in the demo version I have access to but can still be found in the game's files. I don't have much else thoughts on it other than how purposely bad the person playing the game is doing. Just absolutely picking the worst option consistently.

I also don't have much to say about the other game test videos except in the Day 14 video where we can see some very minor differences. First, the entire game seems a lot darker than normal, but that might just be due to the recording. Second, the Abnormality's Damage Type is listed instead of the Attack Type, which is honestly more useful information that I wish was kept for the Legacy version. Third, the hallways are all very dark as if Big Bird was breaching, and generic irrespective of the department. Fourth, the employee assign UI is very slightly different not that huge but just enough to be noticeable. Lastly, I found it funny how PM just left a broken icon for Snow White's Apple in the video.

The third training video with Queen of Hatred is pretty interesting because it seems to be following QoH's story where an employee talks to her over the course of a few days and her moods gets worse every day. But specifically the old version of QoH's story, since it seems like a lot of Abno stories were ever so slightly changed sometime after the 1.0.2.2 version. The new version of the story omits the fact that QoH was neutralized with anesthetic, which was probably because that mechanic was removed after the legacy version. Also, another interesting thing about the video is that the background containment unit seems to be different that usual, where some stuff is in different places and the number written on the wall is 76 instead of 27.

The Lobtomi♥High video was PM's April Fools for 2017, released alongside version 1.0.1.0 which introduced Little Red, Big and Might be Bad Wolf, Central Command Team, and most importantly You're Bald...! PM has historically celebrated April Fools a lot, whether intentionally or not. There's a lot of random abnormalities in this video, including some released, unreleased, and joke abnormalities. I find it interesting that Fragment of the Universe was the only abnormality that was unreleased and not shown before when the video was published that was then released later on. This video was the first time Fragment of the Universe was ever made public.

[ I can't show a screenshot of the video because I reached the max image limit for the post :( ]

There's two launch trailers for the game, one for when the game was first released in early access, and one for when the game was about to fully release. Between the two, I personally like the first one better because it has a better sense of progression rather than just showing bad things happening out of context, but maybe I'm just biased since I like first trumpet more.

Ok, I think that's enough for this post. There's a lot of stuff to unpack with these videos, so it was nice to look back through them again since I haven't really sat down to watch them all in years.

#lobcorp #lobotomy corp #lobotomy corporation #project moon

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scarlet--wiccan · 1 year ago

Note

Uncanny Avengers just ended. As a Quicksilver fan how did you find it? Anything you would like/like not to see carried over or explored for our favourite speedster going into Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver?

There's not much to say about Pietro's role in the series. I appreciate that it reaffirmed his friendships and good working relationships with the cast members from the previous run of Uncanny Avengers. I think that having him aid the mutant resistance was a really good decision, because A) it cements the fact that he and Wanda are both back on good terms with the mutants and B) it places him back in a firmly heroic role, which, y'know, hasn't always been the case in the last couple decades.

Duggan's character work wasn't exactly stellar in this series, but I think Pietro came across as snarky and catty while still retaining an overall kinder, gentler personality-- with a lot of charm!-- that I would expect from him post-No Surrender. Overall, I don't think he was very different from the version of the character we saw in #1 of Scarlet Witch. His dialogue was a little strange, and he was a bit too friendly and deferent around Steve for my taste, but I think that's a matter of Duggan not having a good grasp on the character's voice. I felt the same way in 2015.

My hope for SW&Q is that Orlando will find time to at least mention the mutant plight and Pietro's work with the resistance. He really glazed over it in Scarlet Witch, but I think if the twin are still grappling with Magneto's legacy, then it needs to come up at least once.

As for Pietro's relationship with Monet.... I could take it or leave it. I think it was really fun, and I like their personalities together, but unless they're in a book like Uncanny Avengers, they lead very separate lives and it might be hard to fit them into each others' stories. (That was kind of the problem with Emily, too, although the fact that the Inhumans just vanished from publication didn't exactly help.) So, if Orlando finds a way to give M a shoutout, that's great, but I would rather wait to see where she's going to land as Fall of X continues before we touch back in with their relationship.

I support this, 100%.

Beyond that, I don't think Duggan added or subtracted anything really important to Pietro's character. It was a good ensemble role for him, and if this team pops up again in Fall of X, I hope he'll be with them. Overall, Uncanny Avengers is one of my favorite landing places for Pietro, so I'm glad he was in this book, and I hope he'll be in the next version, too. Oh, and shoutout to the colorist for adjust his skin tone-- it looked way better by the end of the series.

[WEIRD gray-ass shading aside]

#uncanny avengers (2023)#pietro maximoff #quicksilver

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riddlerosehearts · 6 months ago

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okay, so i finished my first playthrough of baldur's gate 3 last night!! and then i played the ending cutscenes and the epilogue twice so i could collect my thoughts and reactions and figure out how to write them all out. god, i love this game. for a while i almost didn't want it to end because i loved it so much but i think now that i've finished it i'll only become more attached to the silly little half-elf bard that i created to play this game with, and want to keep thinking about him and posting about him more--especially since i'm planning to eventually get a new graphics card and then i'll be able to make nice high quality screenshots and gifs of the game. i've already been planning out what my next tav will be like too, and thinking about doing so many more playthroughs of this game! i may have some criticisms here and there because bg3 is definitely flawed in some areas, but i mean, what isn't? it's a huge game, i had a lot of fun with it overall, and i'm so glad i finally decided to pick it up in march after months of seeing its characters flood my dash.

i kept hit the "4096 characters per block" limit while making this post btw 😭😭 but it seems i could get around that just by breaking up the bullet points a bit. i don't care if nobody but me is going to read my million words of rambling about how much i love these characters, i am not cutting anything out of my post.

so we have the big goodbye scene at the docks, starting with orpheus wanting you to mercy kill him and lae'zel to carry on his legacy and lead the rebellion. i wasn't sure what to have her do, so i initially picked the option for her to make her own choice because i wanted to see what would happen, and because it's what i've usually been choosing in these situations. she decided to do as orpheus asked and the dialogue she had about it was beautiful, but honestly in this specific case i think persuading her to craft a new fate for herself in faerun is the most in-character thing for elenion to do. so i reloaded and did that. and i think it definitely was the right choice for this playthrough, because what she said about her destiny not being for orpheus or vlaakith or decide, and how it was on faerun that she learned to be free, is pretty much the exact reasoning i had in mind! and the epilogue party, with the hopeful letter from voss mentioning an alliance with the githzerai and the dialogue from lae'zel about fighting vlaakith's army, also ended up confirming for me that her staying in faerun doesn't mean the githyanki are doomed or that she won't still find ways to fight for her people.

the way she's all like "go mingle! that's the word, right?" and "this is... nice. yes, i think that's the right word for it" at the party is so funny and cute. she's trying her best!! i adore lae'zel and i will never understand why she seems to be so much less popular than most of the other companions.

after lae'zel's scene we have a very short scene with gale talking about the crown of karsus. i chose to have him give it back to mystra. i'm going to come back around to gale later and talk about astarion now though! his ending scene makes me so sad to think about, like, everyone is talking about celebrating and then he's just suddenly on fire, nobody really shows any concern outside of one of the companions saying a single line about how he won't get to see the sun anymore, and then that's the last anyone sees of him before the epilogue party?? the tone of the scene feels like it's supposed to be funny but like i said, it just makes me sad :( the epilogue makes things a lot better, though--you get to actually talk to him about and he's surprisingly earnest and apologetic, and seems so much happier and more at peace now. he also continues to be hilarious. the second time i did the epilogue party i chose the "i've been boring--living a quiet, peaceful life" dialogue option and he's like "and fate let you get away with that? i'm impressed!" anyway, though, i love his growth and i'm so proud of him.

next up, wyll and karlach--i totally get why so many people ship them now because wyll is the one to call out to her and bring up the idea of them going to avernus together, and then at the party she says having him there has been incredible and that you can get through anything with someone you love at your side?? i mean, karlach is very freely affectionate with her friends--she tells a non-romanced tav she loves them after fighting gortash, and if you tell her as she's dying that she was spectacular in every way she'll say she adores you. so no, her saying she loves wyll doesn't have to imply anything romantic, but it is just adorable anyway.

the scene with them in avernus feels so weird though... i mean, karlach's part in it is badass, the problem is wyll just standing there being silent the whole time. i know that if you romance karlach your tav can go with her to avernus instead, and it feels really obvious that the scene must've been made with only that scenario in mind when wyll's version of it could've been unique to him and had actual dialogue between him and karlach!! honestly, it just feeds even more into the feeling of wyll's personal quest never being about him. it also makes me even more curious what the ending is like with him becoming grand duke... i mean, does he end up becoming a slimy politician who's corrupted by power? if so, then why did the story itself not do more (or anything, really) to hint that that would happen to him and give him more of a power hungry side and if not, then why do the dialogue options for convincing him to become the duke both talk about power and make it seem super obvious that that's the Bad Ending™?

oh well, i guess i can't say i'm not happy that there's a way to give karlach a more hopeful ending! i understand the appeal of a good tragedy, and i understand that karlach herself would rather die than be unable to live freely, so maybe you could say that letting her make the choice to die rather than return to avernus is the option that gives her the most agency... but at the same time, the song that plays over her ending scene is "i want to live". she says she wants to live, to be free and be happy with her friends by her side, but it just seems so hopeless. if one of her friends is willing to brave avernus with her, to make sure that she won't be alone while helping her have a fighting chance of getting her life back, then i think she should be able to take that chance. i kind of wish it was possible to fix her engine and give her a fully happy ending as well--everyone but her pretty much has one, as even though astarion can't walk in the sun as a spawn he can still be free from cazador. and if the tragedy of karlach's death or the bittersweetness of her returning to avernus resonated more with someone, then they could still choose one of those endings. but i guess larian probably isn't going to add anything like that at this point :(

i also still just can't help but feel like wyll really deserved better treatment from the writing. well, at least his epilogue confirms that mizora isn't bothering him too much, and you get some incredibly sweet dialogue if you tell him you've missed traveling with him.

does... shadowheart not have any kind of ending scene at the docks?? like, she's obviously there, she can be randomly chosen out of the companions to make little comments on things, but i don't get a scene with her at all and i'm unsure if it's bugged or if the writers just left her out?? it feels weird. but i guess that's okay for now, because i absolutely adore the entire conversation i got to have with her at the party. i'm so glad she chose to save her parents in this playthrough--apparently, there are certain hidden requirements you have to meet or she'll agree to let them go, and i guess i came across everything by accident during the brief time that i took her around the city with me. anyway, elenion got snarky with her and pretended to forget her name and then she got snarky back and just automatically hugged him. adorable. the first time i played the epilogue i volunteered halsin to take the owlbear because i hadn't talked to shadowheart yet, but the second time i played i gave him to her because holy shit she's got as many animals in her house as fluttershy. love that for her. and the way she rambles on about her parents, her mother's recipes and her father's terrible jokes, and then apologizes because she thinks it must be a boring topic?? excuse me, no, i am unironically extremely interested in this and i think elenion is too because he's also just been trying to live a normal boring life with his and gale's families for the last 6 months.

and now, back to gale. god he's so cute. the way he does this little bow to your tav during the ending and then they bow back. the silly indirect way he tries to propose by asking if you'll come back to waterdeep and become part of the dekarios clan. the way he says it would make tara and his mom happy if he got married and then goes "oh thank goodness!" when you say yes. the kneeling down and kissing your tav's hand after that. i had to try and get decent screenshots of that part because it was so cute:

i also tried both of the choices, between whether to move right in and settle down with him or continue traveling together, because i was initially indecisive about what would be the best/most fitting choice for my tav's character. in the travel ending, i love how gale says that even while adventuring, he's never been so relaxed and now he spends his free time writing, painting, and knitting. i also had this extremely cute dialogue at the party and now i'm wondering what the variations for each class are:

but, ultimately, after trying both and having both versions of the epilogue convo, i decided that just moving to waterdeep and living a calm life is what felt most right. i figure that what elenion needs most in their life now is stability. also, gale becoming a professor is just perfect for him and is so cute. and so is this:

see, this is why gale with a bard tav is a perfect combination: they can collaborate on their writing! anyway i love gale so much but this post is so stupidly long at this point and i need to try and wrap it up, so uhhh, what else...

tara is so cute and funny at the party, grumbling about being jealous of gale's relationship with your tav if you romanced him and then complaining that he keeps his potions in such disarray that it seems like he was raised in a barn. i also overheard her calling everyone ugly while i had speak with animals up AKJAFGHSKFG. at least half the reason why i want to do a gale origin playthrough is because i need to see more of tara.

volo claims his invitation got lost in the post. i really, really think he just was not supposed to be invited, and yet here he is! one of the first things he tells elenion is that he's gotten good at forging their signature, and then he says their success has been wonderful for his reputation. they just might be considering hiring astarion to kill him.

i did not even know jaheira had kids. i looked it up and apparently you can find her house and meet her family in the city but i just completely fucking missed that. something to keep in mind for my next playthrough!

i love that there's a whole box full of letters from people you helped throughout your journey. honestly, i wish there were a few more, specifically from characters like rolan or his siblings, isobel and aylin, omeluum and blurg, and more from the tiefling refugees in general because i love them. but the ones from alfira and dammon are so so cute. also, i got a letter from shadowheart's friend nocturne, which made me realize... i never met her and i never got the memory related to her either because i didn't know you could give shadowheart the noblestalk LMAO oops. i missed quite a few details, huh!

...and i guess that's where i'll end this post. i've been playing this game since march and i've only just finished my first playthrough, though granted there were like 3-4 whole weeks in there where waiting for a new hard drive + feeling weird from irl stuff meant i didn't really play at all. still, though, i can't wait to start back over in act 1 again! especially since, tbh, i think act 1 just might've been my favorite. i love act 2 for ketheric and isobel and aylin and a lot of other things, and act 3 honestly felt a bit messy and overwhelming but still had a lot of great moments. but there's just something i love about beginnings, and the atmosphere during act 1. so, yeah, can't wait to experience it again as a whole new character.

#star plays bg3

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majorbaby · 2 years ago

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I have lots to say about S07E23 Preventative Medicine but my document was swelling with analysis of this one line from Hawkeye, and I want to write a whole post about it for a very particular reason.

I've often expressed my frustration at the show being wishy-washy with its anti-army messaging in the later years or not doing right by the Hawkeye character by either softening his opposition to the army or making him say straight up OOC shit. And I've talked broadly about the show doing the same thing in general, saying stuff that I think is OOC for MASH - it's hard to give specific examples because they're so numerous and dispersed.

So when I stumbled upon this one example of I think, very good characterization of Hawkeye that is particularly rich yet distilled nicely in a single line of his dialogue and then masterfully camouflaged by the show's tone and Alan Alda's comedic acting chops, I wanted to point it out. I realized, this- this is why I get so cagey about the poor, inconsistent writing on the show in the later years, because when it is good, it is so fucking good. And Hawkeye is so, so, so fucking good:

Hawkeye: Colonel, you left out a lot of good stuff. What about "Into the Valley of Death" or "Remember the Alamo" or the ever-popular "Damn the Torpedos!" Lacey: Doctor, why do you just take care of these brave men? Hawkeye: "I have not yet begun to fight!"

Just before this, BJ does call Lacey's speech "disgusting" which is gutsy, for BJ. I have to say "for BJ" because to be fair to him, anyone will have a hard time looking gutsy next to Hawkeye (with the exception of Klinger, more on that someday)

Anyway, Hawkeye elevates it from the obvious and situates Lacey’s actions within a broader system of military incompetence leading to senseless death. He makes no less than four historical references:

“Into the Valley of death” From Alfred Tennyson’s poem about the Crimean War, which similarly glorifies the high death toll rather than condemns it. Important to note that Tennyson’s poem is in the same spirit as Lacey’s speech and both Hawkeye and the writers of this episode know that. An aside regarding the poem: Because I am so continually gutted and angered by any positive framing and re-framing of Rudyard Kipling, in the world, but particularly in this fandom, I will be the first to point out that Kipling later wrote “The Last of the Light Brigade” in conversation with Tennyson’s poem. It's not that difficult to find out. Yes, Kipling's "transformative" poem is about the hardships faced by veterans (a departure from Tennyson's poem) and no I don’t think that’s enough to see past Kipling’s extraordinary racism and white-supremacist artistic accompaniment to the brutality of British Colonialism waged upon my ancestors and millions of other people's ancestors - the effects of which are still felt deeply to this day by us as individuals, our communities and are imbued in the systems that oppress us. That should always be at the forefront of Rudyard Kipling's legacy, regardless of context.

“Remember the Alamo” - a similar “last stand” often framed and re-framed as being a brave sacrifice. A favourite war story of the American canon.

“Damn the Torpedos!” you don’t have to live like a refugehhh both Hawkeye and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers are referencing a quote attributed to US Navy commander, Admiral David Farragut, although it’s doubtful he actually said it, the meaning of the quote remains: charge forward even if you’re likely to die in your attempt. Farragut was a decorated career army man who fought in multiple wars and after his death in the late 1800s became a mascot for the US Navy and his likeness was used on WWI and WWII propaganda posters, urging citizens to sign up. I think Hawkeye and the writers are aware of this too.

After Lacey tries to remind Dr. Pierce MD that he is in fact a doctor not a soldier (cries in the Hawkeye Pierce complex) Hawkeye exclaims “I’ve not yet begun to fight!" – that’s John Paul Jones during the American Revolution while appearing to have lost a battle at sea with the British. He succeeded, but it's worth noting that the ship he was in command of, the Bonhomme Richard, sustained such damage, it sunk.

That is a lot for barely 20 seconds of dialogue.

Hawkeye being anti-army isn’t just broadly true of him. It’s packed very densely into these kinds of lines (of which I'm sure there are many) and then dressed up in theatrics. Alan Alda hams it up here and I love it, because it highlights how vapid and fake military propaganda and nationalist refrains are.

If you’re not familiar with the references he’s making and the analysis of them that I've laid out here/other facts associated with them, then they might just land as a “haha, Hawkeye is such a funny guy” perhaps with some vague awareness that he doesn’t like Lacey.

It's very hard for me to accept anything less from this show, and from Hawkeye in particular, when you have examples of how concentrated and deep his rage and passion runs.

#hawkeye meta #race on mash #re: mash #notes - s07e23: preventative medicine

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lunamidnight · 1 year ago

Text

November 7th

Fanfiction/Original Fiction

First created: Jan 2021

Last updated: Oct 2023

General Premise: Post-game story after the 4th game, next generation and sorta fix it at some point, not too far in it, but I will be continuing it.

Other notes: I do take some dialogue from the game at the beginning so credit to the game.

Bentley

It's been a while since that night, but there was still no sign of Sly or that cursed blimp. The skunk could barely tread water. So by the time the cops picked him up, he was happy to see them. Word is, he earned a special cell in solitary confinement where the only thing he'll be collecting from now on is grey hair.

Both Paris and the Thievius Raccoonus were back to normal, but that hardly made us feel any better. At first, we just waited assuming Sly would show up the way he always did. But as the days stretched into weeks, we had to face the fact that he was truly lost. We've stopped talking about it all the time, but I know it's all we're thinking about. Even if we show it in different ways. Murray seems like his usual cheery self, but I can tell there's a new level of seriousness underneath it all. He's on the professional wrestling circuit now and he's really been pushing himself. I know he's doing it to keep his fighting skills sharp. Like all of us, he wants to be ready for action the minute we locate Sly.

Carmelita returned to Interpol where she threw herself into her work, busting criminals at a record pace. She's been so busy, I haven't seen her for a while now. My sources tell me, she's conducting her own investigation into Sly's whereabouts. Out of everyone, I think she took his disappearance the hardest. Even if she never shows it. At least not in public.

As for myself, I continue to search. Even using all my technology, I haven't found a clue. The time machine is no help since we need to know where Sly was for that to work. I get discouraged sometimes, but I'll never give up. Because I know Sly's still out there and I know that wherever he is, we will find him.

---

Carmelita

It was a night of passion then and admittedly some desperation on his part. I should have known then. He was so adamant for me to feel everything that night, more than he ever did before. It was like he knew he’d be gone, at least he knew he was leaving. I should have noticed and kept him with me, but that’s too selfish, his entire family legacy was disappearing right before his eyes, I couldn’t stop him, even if it meant we were back where we started. Back to playing cops and robbers. Looking at the old photo of us that I found only a few days ago made me frown as I thought back to how we were since his supposed amnesia. Deep down I think I knew he was faking it, but I also knew he did it to be with me. I’m sure he didn’t leave intending to never return, He probably hoped that despite all the lies I’d welcome him back, and sure I was angry at first, livid even, but...I think I would.

Unfortunately, he was lost in time, and none of us know where or when he is. It’s been about 6 weeks since our last night together, since our last adventure together, and since he was lost. I know ringtail is fine wherever and whenever he is, but…I miss him, we all do. I’ll find you, Sly Cooper...I always do…

---

Carmelita sat up in her bed grabbing the old worn photo of her and Sly from her nightstand, brushing a thumb over it as she reminisced. She actually cried when she found the photo in the river, and she ended up taking the following day off just to look at it. Her boss was quite thankful since she has been working so hard, almost too hard. Of course, she’s since been back to work and busting heads all the more. She sighed as she replaced the photo, before getting up to go get a drink of water, but instead, her body said otherwise and she went barreling into her bathroom and to the toilet to let out the contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl.

After a while, she went on to dry heaving before finally settling down. She sat on the floor for a bit trying to figure out why she got sick all of a sudden, she rarely got sick, and it was even rarer for her to throw up. She frowned when she couldn’t think of anything that she had eaten recently that could have done it, then she looked up at the calendar where she wrote down her cycle, and that’s when she realized she hadn’t been visited by mother nature this last month, she figured it was stress at first but the timing of when her and Sly… she shook her head and got up enough to get a small box from one of the small drawers under her bathroom sink. She kept it for emergencies ever since she and Sly got together, but they were always careful and used protection, except for that night.

She pulled out the test and sat on the toilet to start it and soon she sat there waiting for the advanced stick of fate to beep its finality. While she waited she started to think of what she was going to do. At first, she actually scared herself for thinking too far ahead into the future, but after a moment of calming down, she started to compartmentalize the steps she was going to take. first, wait for the test, secondly decide if your...no...if yes, you accept that and won’t get rid of them...they are his and that’s all you have left of him. Then third...contact Bentley. For now, those steps would get her by, Bentley could hopefully help her sort out the rest. She couldn’t do this alone, Taking down criminals was one thing but taking care of a child was something completely different. She wasn’t even sure how she’d be a good mom and that scared her too.

Before Carmelita could delve into that thought process any further the test finally beeped at her and she shakily picked it up. Upon inspection, it was indeed positive. She sighed as a plethora of emotions hit her all at once, she was scared, upset, happy, and admittedly a little excited. She almost couldn’t wait to tell Bentley and by extension Murray that they were going to be uncles. She’d have to be careful of course because of her job but, it wasn’t the first time she saw them since Sly’s disappearance. She got up and headed to her closet and got dressed into some old gray jogger sweats and a black pullover sweater. She grabbed her keys and headed out into Paris at 330 in the morning. She walked a few blocks and took a few shortcuts through a few alleyways before reaching her destination, one of the only Cooper hideouts she was allowed to know about that was located in Paris.

It was agreed for her to know about this one just in case she needed Bentley for something. If he wasn’t there, there was a way to contact him inside the hideout. She carefully and quietly steps inside and closes the door behind her. She was greeted by two distinct sets of snores. One from Murray who most likely fell asleep on the couch while watching t.v. and the other from Bentley who Carmelita could see passed out at his desk while working on some project of his. She smiled a little at the sight wondering how many times they have been found like this by Sly after one of his midnight runs.

She walked over and lightly shook the turtle from his slumber. Bentley startled awake, drool hanging from his mouth a little bit before he wiped it away and adjusted his glasses before looking up at her. “Miss Fox? What are you doing here? And…” Bentley asked, looking at his watch. “at almost 4 in the morning?” Bentley was confused but also concerned automatically, but he could say he was hopeful for any information about Sly. “I came to tell you and Murray something, I know it could have waited but it’s less of a hassle for me and work if I come now.” Carmelita replied. “Oh sure I understand, Is it about Sly?” Bentley asked hopefully. “Not exactly, but I’d like Murray to know too.” Carmelita explained doing her best to keep her excitement down. “Oh sure, why not wake him up and I’ll go clean myself off.” He said before wheeling himself into the next room.

By the time Carmelita got Murray up and lucid, Bentley was back in the main room, now the two thieves were looking at Carmelita expectantly. “Well, What is it, Miss Fox?” Murray asked, sounding excited, even though he had no idea what it could be. Carmelita took a deep breath before answering. “Bentley, Murray, you both are going to be uncles.” She announced quickly with a small smile. Both boys gasped. “You're pregnant?” Bentley asked for confirmation in his shock. She nodded and smiled more “and it is Sly’s.” She assured them. Murray was pretty much in tears with how happy he was, congratulating Carmelita profusely. Soon He jumped up and bounded to the kitchen saying something about making a cake. This left Bentley and Carmelita alone to talk.

“So...what are you going to do now?” Bentley asked carefully as he watched her reaction. “I...I was hopeing you’d help me figure out that, I only planned enough to the point of telling you two.” Carmelita replied honestly and a little sheepishly. Bentley nodded in understanding before tapping his chin in thought. Murray poked his head out and asked what flavor of cake while Bentley thought and Carmelita decided on Strawberry. By the time they could hear Murray messing around in the kitchen again Bentley spoke up. “I assume you haven’t told anyone else yet, yes?” He asked. “Correct.” Carmelita replied.

“All of our friends and allies will be easy to notify, but….your boss maybe a little more difficult.” Bentley replied obviously thinking of a way to fix that issue. Carmelita groaned in realization. “Oh right I have to tell Barkley…” she replied, laying her face in her hands as her mind went through different results, losing her job was the most occurring until Bentley spoke again. “I do have one contact that could help ease that situation.” He commented thoughtfully. “Really? You do?” Carmelita asked looking up at him. “Yes, when do you go back to work?” Bentley asked as he pulled out his phone. “Day after tomorrow...er….rather tomorrow.” Carmelita replied.

Bentley nodded.“So Monday alright, I can get ahold of my contact and they can go in to help you tell Barkley.” Bentley replied. “Oh? Who is it?” Carmelita replied curiously. “The director of Interpol of course.” Bentley replied with a sly smile. Carmelita’s eyes went wide. “How did you...how on earth did you get in contact with her?” She asked, shocked. “Been helping with keeping Penelope off of Interpol’s system as of late, but I also helped her with a few other hackers over the time Sly was with you.” Bentley replied a hint of malice was heard when he mentioned his ex, but otherwise that subject was not touched on.

“Wow, well then I can’t wait for Monday then.” Carmelita replied excitedly, due to the relationship between Barkley and the director it was sure to be an entertaining conversation. “Yes, I’m sure it will be an eventful morning.” Bentley replied knowingly. After that, the two went on to discuss things Carmelita would need for the baby and when she could come over to tell their friends the news. By the time they could smell the cake, it was cooling from being in the oven, and Murray who had been giving his ideas from time to time during the conversation asked what kind of frosting she wanted. After getting a few choices Carmelita settled on Strawberry buttercream frosting. Soon a cake that said congrats was brought out, and it was nearing 5 in the morning. “Well I sure am spoiling myself, I haven't had cake for breakfast since I was 8 years old.” Carmelita commented as she started eating a slice.

-----

Over the next 24 hours, between resting and shopping for Carmelita, the three of them contacted all of their friends and told them the news. Dimitri, the only one located in Paris was super excited and competitive, stating that he’d be their best uncle no matter what. Bentley and Murray begged to differ but said nothing out loud to the boisterous lizard. Guru who had to be contacted through Murray and the Dreamtime was happy to hear the news even offering to bless them with the Dreamtime when they are born, Carmelita accepted easily. Panda King and his daughter Jing were ecstatic, well Panda King was more reserved about his reaction while his daughter was happy to be a part of the family and offered to make some pregnancy-friendly clothing for Carmelita as well as clothes and things for the baby. Carmelita accepted her offer as well and also asked Panda king if he didn’t mind being a grand-uncle of sorts. He was deeply honored and accepted the title. It was best to leave out the title of grandfather due to the past. By the time Monday morning rolled around, Carmelita was ready to tell her boss.

The Director, an older lady badger, waited for Carmelita at the front doors to Interpol’s headquarters. “Inspector Fox, so good to see you, congrats on the news.” She greeted Carmelita with a warm smile. “Good to see you too Director, thank you so much for helping me tell Chief about it.” Carmelita replied with a smile, slightly nervous now that she was there. “Of course, when our turtle friend contacted me I was elated to hear the news, and if anyone can handle Barkley, it’s me.” The Director replied leading Carmelita inside and Chief Barkley’s office.

After knocking The Director let Carmelita in first before following close behind. “Ah Inspector Fox What do you…..Mother?” Chief Barkley asked in surprise at seeing the other badger. That’s right, the Director of Interpol was in fact Chief Barkley's own Mother, Director Veronica Barkley. “Hello son, I’m here to keep you from doing anything drastic in response to the Inspectors news.” She explained simply, which only confused her son more. “Okay….and what news would garner your presence?” He asked, looking at Carmelita in question.

Carmelita took a deep breath and let the news come forth. “I’m pregnant with Cooper’s child.” She replied bluntly. Chief Barkley’s eyes widened and his expression went through many changes as he looked between the two females trying to figure out the best way to proceed. After several silent moments, he asked in a tight voice when the deed happened, and Carmelita answered honestly, that it was the night before he left, before everything went down.

He sighed in response, closing his eyes in thought with the presence of his mother in the room he wasn’t able to just react, which was a good thing, and he’d have to thank his mother later. With her there, he wasn’t going to fly off the handle and fire Carmelita for all of this. For all, they knew Sly still had amnesia when they were together. So this wasn’t her fault, obviously, though, she was keeping the child, so eventually, maternity leave would have to be put in for her to have and take care of the baby.

Chief Barkley didn’t speak for some time but he eventually opened his eyes and looked at Carmelita and nodded. “Congratulations Inspector Fox, your welcome to tell your colleagues the news, and we will begin transitioning you to office work as time goes, and we will discuss your leave later on, for now, that is all, you may get to work.” Chief Barkley replied gruffly but genuinely. Carmelita thanked him and thanked Director Barkley before leaving the office and heading for her own. Chief James Barkley looked to his mother and sighed. “Thank you, I would have hated myself for firing my best pupil.” James admitted simply. Veronica nodded in understanding. “Yes you would have, but you would have called her back after calming down, I just figured it would be less paperwork if we avoided that.” She replied with a smile. “Indeed.” James replied before frowning.

“They’ll be a thief just like him…” He replied in a statement, not criticizing or accepting it. “True and theft is bad, but think about it, Cooper and his gang have helped Interpol more times than we can count with their thievery, that it is bound to translate into the Inspector’s child. “I agree but he's also wreaked havoc too.” James argued simply ready to point out a few cases that the Cooper gang had impeded Interpol, but as he went to continue his mother pulled out a large folder from her coat and placed it on the table followed by a much smaller folder, both of which were labeled Cooper Gang. James went to speak but shut his mouth at his mother’s gesture to the folders. He had a feeling that he knew which folder was which and opened the small one first.

Inside the small folder were the dozen or so cases that the Cooper gang stole and was not much help to Interpol, the museum from when Carmelita became inspector, the chocolate incident, and so on. James sighed closing it and opening the larger folder, which held every single case that the Cooper Gang helped solve in one way or another, including some cases done by individual members like Sly’s time on the force, and Bentley’s help against Hackers including the notorious Penelope. James groaned as he closed the folder and looked up at his mother waiting for her to speak. “They will most definitely be a thief but, they can be one that will help us rather than impede us, don’t you agree?” She asked. “Yes...I do.” James replied with a sigh.

-----

After a celebratory party at her work from her colleagues and a few months of morning sickness and preparations, Carmelita was at the doctors to see the baby. With her was Bentley and Murray in disguise, Uncle Benard and Aunt Mira respectfully. Carmelita yelped in surprise when the cold gel went on her belly but it was quick to warm up when the doctor placed the wand on top of the gel. The baby’s heartbeat echoed through the room and brought tears to Carmelita’s eyes. The Doctor carefully moved the screen to show them the baby’s face. “Beautiful and healthy, would you like to know the gender?” She asked with a smile. “Oh. Can we do the gender reveal thing? Aunt Mira, would you do the honors of making the cake?” Carmelita asked looking up at the currently blonde hippo who started to tear up at the question. Not trusting his voice Murray simply nodded excitedly. “Course I’ll put it in an envelope.” The doctor replied by turning the screen away for a moment and getting the results down on a paper and placing it in an envelope and handing it to “Mira”.

The doctor then turned the screen back and started the process of taking pictures periodically, careful not to reveal the gender. The three of them watched as the child started to stir at the feeling of their wand looking quite irritated by being bothered. “You know, that reminds me of when I used to wake up their father, and he didn’t want to get up.” Bentley said with a chuckle. Carmelita chuckled too. “Yes, I know how that is.” She replied with a smile. “I do hope you don’t mind me asking,” the doctor began as she took the last photo and sent it to the nearby printer. “But, where is the father now?” She asked carefully.

Carmelita and Bentley looked at each other for a split second before “Benard'' spoke up first. “He’s helping a few tribes in South Africa, not sure when he’ll be back, but he calls every day, we just couldn’t plan around his allotted internet time for this appointment.” Bentley explained simply. The doctor nodded in understanding. “Oh yes, I have a brother who did that last year, only got so much time in town, and it was often at the oddest hours for us. That’s fine, Hopefully, he gets back before they are born.” The doctor said before getting the photos and placing them in an envelope before giving them to Carmelita and helping her clean off the gel. “Yes, here’s hopeing…” Carmelita replied, trying her best not to frown.

She pulled it off well up until they got into the van behind the hospital. “You alright Carmelita?” Bentley asked as the two thieves took off their disguises once they were in the safety of the van. Carmelita swallowed back the beginnings of a sob. “Yes, I just need to go home and lay down.” Murray and Bentley exchanged a knowing look not believing her one bit. Murray nodded before starting the drive through Paris while Bentley patted Carmelita on her back, then he asked to see the pictures, which brightened up Carmelita’s mood even though it was only slightly.

The baby looked to be more racoon than fox, but had more fox like features in the face. A perfect blend of Carmelita and Sly of course. The color of the baby’s fur became the subject for the rest of the ride to Carmelita’s apartment. Once they arrived, the two boys walked her all the way to her door, before heading home themselves. Once Carmelita was alone she went to her room to get ready for a relaxing bath. She sighed with relief when she finally got in, then she looked over at her calendar, she’ll be 5 months in a couple days, and she has been on 90% office work as of last week. Only time she gets to go out on the field now is if it's something specific, and with Sly gone, it was rare for her to be called. Thinking about it only made her sad, but that would go away when she looked down at her growing belly.

---

A few months later at almost 8 months pregnant, Carmelita was at her gender reveal party, that was only “close family and friends” as she described to her co-workers who wait at home to get the gender for the baby shower they will throw her at work in the next week. Currently however, Carmelita was seated on the couch at the Hideout, with Murray and Bentley nearby. Demitri, the Kings, and the guru were around too, mingling and talking to one another. Soon Murray went to finish the cake and came back with a decorated cake with a huge question mark on it.

Carmelita smilesmiled at the sight and got giddy when she got handed the cake knife. “Carmelita looked ecstatic as she set the knife into the cake, then took it out to repeat the process for a complete slice, no debris stuck to the knife either time so she slide the knife under the recently cut piece and took a deep breath. “Everyone ready?” She asked aloud. “Are you?” Bentley asked with a smile getting a chuckle from the inspector. “Alright then, 1….2….3!” She said pulling out the cake causing a wave of pink sprinkles to fall out, fortunately it was set on a high sided platter to help catch the sprinkles. “It’s a girl!” Everyone cheered happily. Carmelita let loose a few tears before getting hugged by Murray.

After that they cut and ate the cake before presents got brought out. Before anyone could hand Carmelita ay of the present the front door bell rang. Bentley smiled as he rolled over to the door. “Ah the last guest is here, figured he would be a little late.” He said aloud. Everyone watched confused as Bentley opened the door to reveal Jim McSweeney. “Welcome, glad to see you out free my friend. “Glad to be out, too bad the kid couldn’t be here too, did I miss much, where’s the lassie that's carrying the next Cooper.” The walrus asked as he was ushered inside. “Yes over here, Carmelita this is Jim McSweeney he worked with Sly’s father in the original cooper gang.” Bentley explained while also explaining who she was to the walrus.

“Oh goodness I have heard of you, congrats on finally being released.” carmelita replied a little sheepish. Jim laughed heartily. “ Thanks there sweety I see why Sly liked you already, kept him out of trouble more often than not right?” He said taking a seat on an adjacent couch. “More or less, If not me it was Bentley and Murray.” She responded with a laugh of her own. It was nice to meet an older family esk member of her soon to be child. “Same with his father and me, anyways sorry i’m late but release processes and all, plus i had to pick up the newest Cooper’s present up.” He said while taking out a long but skinny present out from his large fisherman’s jacket.

#writing #video games #writing ideas #fanfiction #sly cooper #fix it fic #next gen #national novel writing month #nanowrimo

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nexusvcrti · 1 year ago

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TVDU TIMELINE IN MY CANON

This tends to be one of the most controversial topics out there, but since canon has confirmed that season 4 of Legacies takes place 3 years after season 5 of The Originals, I'm going to map out what that means in the timeline of what we see on the show with my personal canon. The timeline on the show (particularly Legacies) is just… super compacted, so if anyone hasn’t watched Legacies or actually cares about spoilers… beware. (note: This is revised based off the original meta I posted here.)

If you pay attention to the words and the dialogue in the show, they actually drop a fair number of hints as to the passage of time during the episodes. In the past, I always assumed that it followed the same timeline as most shows, where each season is roughly equivalent to one year, and with episode air dates matching with what’s happening canonically on the show, but it’s actually not the case in Legacies. Between the pandemic and general wonky primetime airing schedules, the timeline is a little more difficult to follow and not spelled out so neatly.

Examples of the above include early S1 where the first few episodes are literally happening over the course of several days, maybe two weeks. There’s a few times the characters say things like “yesterday” or “a few days ago” or “last week” in their dialogue which I use to track the timeline.

Starting from the top, S5 tells us that Hope is 15 at the time that all of that plays out, and there’s an unknown time jump between the end of TO and the beginning of Legacies. In my canon, she is 15, almost 16 when the end of TO occurs and she loses her father and uncle. She takes the summer off from the school to grieve, while also learning to control her wolf side, and she is 16 when she rejoins the school, but she also spends half a year being a loner and watching Cutthroat Kitchen in her room. S1 begins while Hope is a few months shy of her 17th birthday on May 2.

Like I mentioned above, the first few episodes of S1 happen very quickly (going to find Raf and Landon, Landon stealing the knife, the dragon, the football game, the discovery of the monsters, the twins’ birthday). These all happen in a matter of days, maybe two weeks at the most. When the Honor Council stuff is happening, Lizzie asks Raf to the twins’ birthday “on Friday”, so we know it’s coming up quick. And the twins’ birthday is the first real date that we have confirmed on the show. So 1x06 is occurring on March 15. The next real “date” we have is in 1x12, where we know the school is on spring break. Now idk about y’all but in the States and when I was in school, the latest spring break ever seemed to be was like early/mid-April? So it sounds like the gap between 1x06 and 1x12 is a handful of weeks at most, which makes sense. During this time is the whole part where Hope goes and gets Landon back, the djinni episode, and the slug debacle. As far as the passage of time goes, there isn’t a lot of it during these plot points. S1 plays out over the course of like... three months, and Hope throws herself into Malivore right before her 17th birthday.

S2 picks back up at the beginning of the next school year and Hope crawls out of Malivore probably in August? Since it's after the Fourth of July but before the school year starts. Unfortunately, events like the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant and Founders Day don’t actually have set dates in canon so it’s difficult to tell what the passage of time is supposed to be like. However, we do know that 2x08 (the Santa episode) occurs in October. So the first half of S2 takes place over the course of a month or so? After that, the next hint of time that we get is the culmination of the season, where Dark Josie intends to push up the Merge timeline and do it on the twins’ birthday of that year. So we’re back to March 15 of the next year, and two seasons have passed in the span of one in-canon year.

Now this is where the timeline gets even MORE messed up because of the pandemic and the weird airing schedules. But 3x01-3x04 were always supposed to be part of S2, so that’s where I’m putting it. Given the reactions by Alyssa and the rest of the witches in 3x01, not that much time has passed since Dark Josie was banished, there is again urgency with Raf’s problem, the musical, and then the final confrontation with the Necromancer where she loses Landon.

There is likely another time jump after 3x04, because Kaleb references Sheriff Mac moving to Savannah with Maya, and Josie is working on her transfer over to MFHS. I’m guessing that most public schools aren’t going to handle transfer requests at the end of the school year, so it sounds like we’re back to the end of the summer again by the time 3x05 happens. This also makes sense in context of what’s happening in the A plot, where Hope is losing herself in her search for Landon, which probably would actually take months. However, once she finds the Monkey’s Paw and Cleo enters the picture, things begin to pick up again. Hope has also turned 18 during this period.

Now I’ll be perfectly frank, I only sat through S3 once and I still haven't fully watched the back half of S4 so I’m not as in tune with those episodes as much as I am with the others, but again, it does feel like time moves quickly in S3. With the monsters constantly coming and the appearance of golem Landon to push along the narrative, I can believe that this happens over the course of a few months, taking us to maybe November or December of that year, approximately a year and a half since S1 began. And of course, once Mali-Landon leaves, everything kicks up a notch. Like with S2, 4x01-4x04 were meant to be part of S3, and that’s where it makes sense narratively.

Hope makes the realization that she needs to become the tribrid in the Star Wars episode, and everything from that point on shoehorns her into that plot. Again, we don’t have direct dates or events to mark the passage of time, but just going off what happens in canon, from the time they wake up from the vision quest to the end of 4x04, I don’t think there are any days where the Squad is just taking a break and lounging around (with the exception of 4x03, but I wouldn’t call that lounging around).

Now we know that there is no timeskip between 4x04 and 4x05 because Lizzie directly alludes to the night before in her opener, so everything that’s happened since the beginning of the show has now occurred within something like two years (not the four I was assuming up until now). Again, with the urgency of the plot, Hope is not just sitting around and twiddling her fingers once the threat of Triad comes up, and the Squad is not waiting for Hope to come back. Hope’s actions include learning about Triad, having her misadventures with Clarke, Salvatore Idol at the school, her confrontation with actual Triad and Aurora, and her confrontations with Lizzie. Similarly, there is no time jump between 4x09 and 4x10, as the episode tells us. All of this is happening in a span of weeks, not months.

All that said, by the time she has gone through the events of Legacies and is struggling with her humanity, about three years have passed since Hayley, Klaus and Elijah died, and about two years have passed since S1 starts. Hope was 16 at the time S1 begins (having turned 16 a little while after the S5 finale of TO, and taking the summer off to grieve, and mostly spending the first half of the year in her room watching Cutthroat Kitchen by herself or recruiting with Alaric. She is just about to turn 17 by the time she jumps into Malivore, actually turns 17 while in Malivore, and a few months shy of her 19th, when she has her first death in 4x03.

This functionally doesn't change much of how I was playing Hope before. I've always played that she is 18 when she fully activates her tribrid side, permanently sealing her at that age. The only real difference is that she doesn't take a gap year between her parents' death / the new school year, just probably the last month of school and summer break. She returns that fall, but remains a recluse until February or March of the following year, which is when S1 of Legacies begins. It does mean she's only had her wolf for a handful of months, so her control is not nearly as stable as what we see in the pilot (aka easily shifting back and forth at will) and will likely play a role in her early characterization.

#[ lore. ]#does any of this ultimately matter? no #did my autistic brain demand that i walk through it anyways? yes #other than tweaking the year off she took post-TO #i think i did a pretty okay job of matching up with the timeline in my original meta #long post tw /#i have a meta coming later about hope's age being 18 and why that's actually important for her portrayal

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dashawfrostart · 1 month ago

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These Three Weeks in "Time & Again" #25: More Cover Arts, More Thoughts, More Everything - But NO MORE Legacy Editions! ☝

It's been a while since I posted the last update on how things were going with "Time & Again". A lot has happened. First and foremost, prep for GPop Culture Fair. Damn, I'm looking good I'm excited. Truly. I've never done anything like that before, and I'm beyond happy to be presented a wonderful opportunity to let everyone know about my crazy kiddos 😱. I want to make them famous!!! Because prep to GPop has been one of the biggest chunks of my artistic activities lately, there's not much to report on the matter, because, well, it's self-explanatory. The booth setup, decorations, designs, etc. I might post some photos later on if possible.

Now, friendly folks, here's the biggest news for today:

The Clean Cut Editions of "Time & Again" are finally available on GlobalComix and Itch.io to read and buy! 🥳🥳🥳🥂🍻🦆

(why is there a cute duck? I dunno. Because Frosty is a bird nerd, that's why 🙃 I have 4 birding apps on my phone; how many do you have? 😁)

Just a quick reminder: Clean Cut Editions of "Time & Again" are updated, slightly expanded editions of the graphic narrative that has been proofread anew, as well. Each chapter now comes with a special section of commentary, which is optional to read, for those of you who want to go down the "completionist" route and 100% all of these tiny little easter eggs and mysterious interconnections within the chapters 😁. It also contains some insight on the chapters' development. Here's the old announcement post for the Clean Cut Edition, if anyone's interested to refresh the memory.

Also as a quick reminder: legacy editions are no longer accessible. They're gone. Forever. And that makes me incredibly happy 😁 Because the Clean Cut Editions are definitely superior.

Might be necessary only to the most dedicated fans, but to clarify what kind of metamorphoses the chapters have undergone for the Clean Cut release, here's a little improvised list:

As already mentioned above, "Notes, Commentary & Hints" for every chapter as a part of bonus materials;

Chapter 4 has been expanded and now includes 2 extra pages of purest shapeshifting idiocy craziness (more about how I worked on that addition is in this post);

Chapter 4 now has a completely different epigraph that better matches the idea of the chapter and sets the tone for the story that awaits ahead (yup, I most certainly do not miss the old ridiculous one);

Some bonus materials have been rearranged or partially swapped to ensure the reader's enjoyment (especially in Chapter 4);

Extra SFXs have been added for the better impression and consistency;

The placement (and sometimes design) of certain speech bubbles across all first 4 chapters has been corrected to improve the looks; the text arrangement within the speech bubbles has been corrected accordingly, as well;

All the dialogues have been proofread, and the shameful typos are now removed (hopefully all of them);

Minor tweaks to art (unfilled pixels filled, missing detail added/modified, artist's epic fails corrected 🤦‍♀️, etc.);

... And some other, super minor stuff that was important to me to correct even though the readers might not even notice.

As you might've guessed, YES: that was a lot of work for me this year. And it was 100% worth it. I am happy.

The next important announcement for today is that I have completed the cover art for Chapter 6.2.

I cannot show it just yet, because it contains major spoilers to the story - so you'll have to wait a bit 😁

Now, onto a somewhat sad part. With all my life endeavours, and the fair preps, not to mention THAT TIME OF THE YEAR approaching (you know, the time that most retail workers as well as the buyers themselves seriously dread, lol!), it is becoming quite clear to me that it's very unlikely I will be able to finish my work on Chapter 6 this year. I probably will be lucky to finish up the lineart alone by the end of December... But as I said before, I don't exactly have them deadlines. And timed levels are my worst nightmares. Screw timed levels. So I'll simply do whatever I can 😁

My next objective in "Time & Again" Chapter 6 development is to draw all the panels and to arrange all the text boxes and speech bubbles properly on every page.

So, basically, the main body of work on the chapter starts from now on. And that is going to be... an adventure. Yup. Because Chapter 6 will be different. Oh so different. I truly hope it's gonna be the most creative chapter of all in the series.

And before I wrap it up for today, I want to expand on some techy stuff that I touched in the previous post. I mentioned that creating a timelapse video through Krita Recorder produces an odd flicker in random moments which makes the video highly unenjoyable. When I checked out the folder containing the snapshots, I've noticed that there are some files that are solid white with no art on them. Just empty white spaces. Manually deleting the weird white snapshots forces Krita to fail the conversion of the video; it doesn't automatically skip missing frames, it simply gives an error and, well, gives up on life. While I found no clue on the genesis of the empty white frames - seems that it's just a glitch in Krita for now - I have indeed found a resolution! 🥳 Unfortunately, it's not super straightforward and, to make it even worse, it requires some extra work on the artist's part (and the artist is already busy enough, but whatever will you do?.. everybody knows that the artist's life is very hard, lol). But it works!!! And let me tell you how! I came across this post on the forum that described the exact same issue I had. The comments below have a link to a GitHub repository that contains a handy tool called Rebecca's Krita Tools. What one must do is to simply follow the instructions to install the plugin (BTW, I've never installed plugins directly from GitHub before! That's super handy!). After that, you head directly to the location of your recording snapshots, and you have to manually go through all the snapshots to remove the white empty files. After that is done, run the script called Reorder Image Sequence in Krita, select the folder that contains the snapshots - and MAGIC HAPPENS! The frames are all renamed, and you can create a timelapse now! Without flicker and epilepsy warnings!

... So I manually went through all the 11300 frames of the recording I made when working on Chapter 6.1. cover, and then I did the same for the next one.

My workspace for the manual clean up looked approximately this way:

Cool, eh?! EH???!!! I will repeat again: there were 11300 frames that I had to manually look through, with my very own set of eyes. I will brainstorm a way to automate this process somehow in the future. That's why, I think, we need help of AI - for the situations like that that require little to no real creative involvement, for techy stuff that might be difficult to do programmatically and/or manually. To help the artists deal with annoyances faster, so that they could create more art in the meantime!!!

And I was finally able to create a good video. And I will be able to optimize it to be posted on YouTube in the future. Sweet!

I should write a feature/ bug fix request on Krita forum concerning the issue. I hope that Recorder glitch gets a fix in one of the new versions of Krita. But for now, we have a perfect - although a bit time consuming - solution 😁 But that will do for now.

Time to wave good bye. See you next time! 👋 And that will be after GPop 🎨🤪🤩

P.S. Before THAT TIME OF THE YEAR, Halloween is approaching fast. We're already prepared. Das ist gut. Alas, this time I will not produce light not produce a new Halloween artwork. I've noticed I already have plenty. I have ideas swirling in my head, but I don't think I have enough time to fiddle with that on top of everything that's been happening lately.

But I've been playing some little horror games to stay in the mood - and to discover my new sparks (well, in some cases to improve my Spanish, too, because ¿¡por qué no?!). Amongst all, Harvest Festival 64 and Feet In The Snow especially stand out. Those were very different from one another, very captivating short adventures, very well worth experiencing. I highly recommend.

P.P.S. Oddly for me... not many references to music and video games in this post. Hmm. Something is surely off... I blame Lothar. It's always Lothar's fault after all. [that urgently requires a comedy one shot]

P.P.P.S. Added a couple more references to enforce the stylish continuity of my blog posts. Yaaaay! 🥳

#TimeAndAgainbyDWF #krita #This Week In Time And Again

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lunarsimmer · 1 year ago

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[Begin Image Description:

Image 1: A toddler sim with long dark brown hair in a yellow short romper sleeping in a large ten with a beautiful meadow design on it

Image 2: A sim with light brown hair in braided pigtails using a boxing bag

Image 3: A teen sim with long wavy dark brown hair seated at a computer desk, behind their head is a blue text box reading I’ve posted on the pen pal forums. Now to wait to see if anyone responds!

Image 4: A dark grey and light grey gradient banner with the words Stone Legacy on the left with a swirly heart inside a house above it and the words gen 1 on the right with a swirly heart inside a house above it

End Image Description]

Story and dialogue below cut:

Sonia: *Snoozing happily*

That tent really is amazing and Gemma please don’t send yourself to the hospital, we’ve had enough health scares to last a legacy.

Gemma: Out of everyone in this household, I’m the one doing the least dangerous thing possible.

What is that supposed to...Hazel, were you never taught about stranger danger (even though I suppose it’s technically more a myth now but I digress)?!

Hazel: Considering our track record, even if my pen pal turns out to be a murderer, I’m sure they’ll run screaming once you start talking.

Ha ha, you should be a comedian.

Beginning / Previous / Next

#sims 4 #ts4 #simblr #sims legacy #stone legacy #stone legacy gen 1 #the family jewels challenge

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thetoxicgamer · 2 years ago

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Elden Ring’s Storytelling Inspires the Last of Us Director’s Ideas

The storytelling in video games is continually developing. In contrast to 2022's Elden Ring, which uses a non-linear storytelling to explain more of the RPG game's tale through things and the setting itself, games like Naughty Dog's The Last of Us use cutscenes and cinematography that show its more traditional filmic heritage. Neil Druckmann of Naughty Dog has become captivated by the latter approach. This doesn’t mean the next Naughty Dog game after The Last of Us PC release is going to tell its story through obtuse item descriptions, but it’s certainly interesting to hear Druckmann wax lyrical about a style of storytelling so different from that of Naughty Dog’s, and what this could mean for the studio’s games going forward. “I’m more recently intrigued by stuff like Elden Ring and Inside that doesn’t rely as much on traditional narrative to tell its story and I think there’s some of the best storytelling in The Last of Us,” Druckmann tells The Washington Post. “But a lot of it is in gameplay and moving around a space and understanding a history of a space by just looking at it and examining it. And, to me, that right now is some of the best joy I get out of games that trust their audience to figure things out, that don’t hold their hand. That’s the stuff I’m really intrigued by going forward.” Druckmann then adds that this doesn’t mean they won’t ever use dialogue or cutscenes in their games, but that the more non-traditional methods of videogame storytelling may leak out into future Naughty Dog titles and how they tell their stories. With the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection on PC and The Last of Us following it, Naughty Dog’s games seem like eventual shoe-ins for PC after a console release at this point, so the prospect of the studio’s next game taking cues from the storytelling of Elden Ring and coming maybe to PC is definitely exciting. If you want to play more games like Elden Ring or The Last of Us, why not check out our best-of lists for open-world games and story games, where you’ll find something to scratch that itch. Read the full article

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historyhermann · 2 years ago

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Challenges of archival digitization, Robert Caro, and digital archives

Recently, when going through LinkedIn, I came upon a post by Margot Note, whom wears many hats simultaneously as a records manager, archivist, author, and consultant, about the shifting concepts of preservation in the digital world, which had been written last fall. She argues that information professionals, like archivists, have questioned existing assumptions about preservation, with the creation of new principles to born-digital materials (like tweets, Instagram and Facebook posts) and those materials which are digitized. This change is happening while physical records deemed to have "enduring value" are still acquired, stored, and made accessible. She goes on to state that the ever-changing digital landscape has added complexities to archival practice, altering existing procedures, especially in the realm of preservation, since those methods used to preserve physical paper materials no longer translate to digital resources, requiring new methods. For example, she notes that you can't reverse preservation treatments for digital records, unlike with paper records, such as migrating digital files to new formats when old ones are not usable anymore. These are transformations that, hopefully, do not constrain the original functionality of records.

Reprinted from my History Hermann WordPress blog and also the Wayback Machine. This post was originally published on April 25, 2019.

She also adds that for digital materials, the content is what important, not the carrier for such content and that unlike physical paper materials, which may not deteriorate rapidly if they are ignored, digital files are stored on media that "deteriorates, and rely on hardware and software that may no longer be available" which means that neglect is not an option. This means that despite differences in preserving digital and paper materials (often called "analog" or "legacy" materials), some practices can apply to both, like appraisal and addressing information as a collection rather than on an individual level, while recognizing that all materials have "the tendency to decay." She ends by saying that digital and paper preservation considers needs of patrons, with action needed, ultimately, to preserve materials in the immediate future, "ensure the survival of research materials for our users," and ultimately sustain "cultural heritage for the next generation."

While this is a good start, there is a lot more to talk about. I could bring in some of her other publications, like a book on family archives [1], but I'd like to broaden the scope. This article will talk about the challenge of digitization in archives (with connection to Robert Caro's recent comments) and challenges of digital archives. There will also be a connection to sister institutions of archives, libraries, which are distinct in and of themselves [2], as I have noted on this blog in the past, even as you get a MLIS/MLS (Master of Library and Information Science or the rapidly dwindling Master of Library Science) to study...archives. As the SAA notes on their "So You Want to Be an Archivist" page, the "number and content of archival education offerings, especially multi-course programs, has continued to expand in recent years, and a few institutions now offer master's degrees in archival studies." I've recently wondered why degrees like archival science (or perhaps archival studies) are not more widely offered, but perhaps that is a discussion which can branch out from this post.

Robert Caro's faulty argument and archival digitization

From the NARA Strategic Plan (2014-2018).

In order to begin this discussion, I am reminded of some dialogue in the 1971 science fiction movie, The Andromeda Strain. One character, Mr. Mark Hall (played by James Olson) asks "where is the library?" to which his colleague, Dr. Charles Dutton (played by David Wayne) responds: "No need for books. Everything's in the computer." And the movie goes on, as there is no more discussion. Later on, the computer does have an error and overload when too much information is inputted by the scientists, the "heroes" of this film in this top-secret facility in the Nevada desert called "Wildfire." The fact that everything is stored on the computer is not mentioned in any reviews of the movie I have found, and as such, perhaps people should revisit this movie for just this reason, as it is still relatively enjoyable. We have gotten to the point that everything is "in the computer" like in this film, not only with libraries and other public institutions, but more and more with archival institutions in recent days.

That brings us to the recent debate of what Robert Caro, a presidential scholar of the Johnson Administration said about digitization, whom was criticized by fellow archivists on the Twittersphere (and likely elsewhere), of archival records. He tried to describe how people are differently interacting with the records now than they had in the past, in the "pre-internet" days, those before the internet was publicly available, the days in which it was available only to universities and the government which Joe McMillian tried to exploit in a few episodes (starting with the Yerba Buena episode) of the third season of the short-lived series, Halt and Catch Fire, but not having much success as the show is all about failure.

Caro's words come from a recent interview by Eleanor Hildebrandt of Popular Mechanics because of the publication of his new book, Working, about his research process, apparently a #1 best-seller on Amazon. He told the interviewer that he still does much of his writing on a typewriter although he has a laptop on his desk (apparently a Lenovo ThinkPad). This is because he was told by those at the Johnson Presidential Library that his "typewriter was so noisy, it was disturbing the other researchers" which is telling. He also tells the interviewer that he took notes on his computer but still uses his typewriter and writes in longhand (who does that anymore?). While some would argue that this is fine, what he stated next is what was criticized by archivists on Twitter:

It [writing on a typewriter] makes me think more. Today everybody believes fast is good. Sometimes slow is good. Almost two years ago, Ina [Caro’s wife] and I went down [to the archives], and I’m sitting there, in the reading room, writing my notes. Everybody else is standing there taking photographs of their documents. They do it with cell phones now. If you saw me there, you’d see one person who’s not in the modern age.

Now, while each researcher can choose their own way to use documents, it seems like he is glaring down on those whom use their phones, or other electronic devices, to take pictures of documents. How can you even argue that those individuals are not taking their own notes or that they can think the same amount when using digital devices? As Jan Murphy, a family historian whom is a big fan of encouraging people to take notes, added on Twitter, it wouldn't be right to "insist on all handwritten notes all the time," the latter of which is "just nuts." Adding to this is the fact that digital photos can be transcribed at home, even comparing information from different archives. Additionally, sometimes people like Caro, whom could be considered to be part of the traditionalist/silent generation since he was born in 1935, may not even be able to read their own handwriting! This is the case with other people, especially those whom have dysgraphia, with the extent this learning disability affects the general population not currently known. With this, we should also consider that not everyone has the leisure/ability to transcribe material needed from an archive in longhand. Some, as Murphy noted in another tweet, would rather "spend the time in the archive, having taken my photo, making notes about the record's condition & taking notes for my source citation etc." The question is simple, as Murphy, who sometimes wishes she had a small manual typewriter when electricity is off, asks, posing a question which Caro never really answers: "But what's wrong with taking digital photos of records in archives?" I could concur with that. I don't see anything wrong with it. In fact, I would argue that institutions like the Maryland State Archives are examples of institutions which allow electronic devices such as phones to take photos of documents.

After this, he goes into the use of paper records:

I feel there’s something very important, to be able to turn the pages yourself. I don’t want anything standing in between me and the paper. People compliment me on finding out how [Johnson] rose to power so fast in Congress by using money. That happened down there, and it was a vague, amorphous thing. I was sitting there with all these boxes, taking all these notes. And you saw letters, his very subservient letters—“Can I have five minutes of your time?”—and then you see the same letters coming back to him. And I said, Something happened here. What’s the explanation? Why is a committee chairman writing to Lyndon Johnson, asking for a few minutes of his time? So I sat there and put my notes into chronological order. And then it became absolutely clear. Would the same thing have happened if I’d stood there taking photographs and went back? Possibly. But I don’t believe it. To me, being in the papers is really important.

While I understand what he is saying here, more and more records are online than ever before, meaning that the records of the Obama Administration and future presidencies will undoubtedly be different from those of the Johnson Administration. Caro is almost stuck back in time, part of the old guard of presidential scholars whom inhabited presidential libraries (which can more accurately be called presidential archives). I won't touch on the plans for the Obama Library only because I have written on that topic for one of my classes at UMD and it may be published in an academic journal in the future (fingers crossed), so I don't want to tread on the same topics in this post. I would add that using paper records is not the only way to interact with records, as users can easily interact with them online using new and exciting methods.

From here, Caro becomes a bit ridiculous:

Well, there’s no reason why that [a deep dive through thousands of digital pages of emails] has to be a different kind of research. Someone else could come along who was nuts like me and say, I’m going to look at every email. What’s more worrisome to me is that, when you talk about digitization, somebody has to decide what’s digitized. I don’t want anyone deciding what I can see. It’s very hard to destroy a complete paper trail of something. Lyndon Johnson was very secretive, and he wanted a lot of stuff destroyed. But the fact is, they were cross-referencing these pages into ten or twenty or thirty different files. There’s always something. But the whole idea of emails—I don’t use emails, I may be wrong—I’m not sure there’s a trail like that. It’s too easy to delete.

While he makes a good point that there can be the same kind of research, that doesn't mean he is right overall. It is laughable for him to claim that "when you talk about digitization, somebody has to decide what’s digitized" and to then declare "I don’t want anyone deciding what I can see." Clearly, he does not, understand the fundamental archival principle of appraisal, which has been debated from the time of those like British archivist Hilary Jenkinson in 1922 and U.S. archivist T.R. Schellenberg in 1956, the selection and description within archives. The records he is looking at, while researching at the Johnson Library, are chosen by professional archivists, specifically those from NARA, so people are deciding what he can see. As such, deciding what records are digitized is also a responsibility of archivists, which will be explained later in this post.

He further claims that it is "very hard to destroy a complete paper trail of something." I'm not actually completely sure about that. Taking from NARA's official history of presidential libraries, they write that before these libraries came about, with impetus from FDR in 1939 when he donated his personal papers to the federal government, presidential papers were often dispersed by former presidents and their heirs after their time in office. They further note that while many collections of records exist of presidents before Hoover at the Library of Congress, others are divided between historical societies, libraries, and private collectors. Even worse, as they acknowledge, "many materials have been lost or deliberately destroyed." So, a "complete paper trail," as he described it, CAN be destroyed.

Considering that "Lyndon Johnson was very secretive, and he wanted a lot of stuff destroyed" as he notes, this contradicts his point that it is "very hard to destroy a complete paper trail of something." I mention this because it would mean that if Johnson wanted, he could have worked to destroy a complete paper trail, especially since it was after Watergate that presidential records were considered property of the federal government rather than "private property" of the former Presidents, a view also widely held in the archival profession at the time. Furthermore, when he talks about cross-referencing of the pages, he seems to not understand how emails work. This is no surprise from someone who doesn't "use emails," as he admits! He claims that he is not "sure there’s a trail like that" and that "it’s too easy to delete" emails. While it is true is easy to "delete" them, think about "deleted" files on a computer. They are not really deleted but rather the directory to them is eliminated. The same is also true of any file, whether a PDF, a photograph, or something else you upload online: the file is never truly deleted, but only the directory to it is deleted. Just like when you throw something away in a garbage can, it is not simply eliminated, but it is sent somewhere else, like a horrid waste-to-energy plant or an overflowing landfill. There was actually a whole Futurama episode about an overly wasteful society back in May 1999, titled "A Big Piece of Garbage."

As Curl Hopkins wrote in The Daily Dot six years ago, when a user "deletes" an email normally it becomes "invisible to that user and is immediately a candidate to be overwritten" but until then it exists and it may even "persist longer on company servers." He further notes that even if a computer is "taken off your computer, it may still be available on the host’s server," adding that you must "presume that any email you compose will be available remain accessible forever," although secure email services are available. There may still be "elements that indicate the prior presence of the email" and logins that are often retained, to say the least. Even one article recommending how to delete emails forever warns that "some online email services maintain an offline backup of email accounts," adding that "your permanently deleted email may still reside in these inaccessible backups...There is no way to force immediate deletion of emails in these backups." Also, there are specific data retention rules on the federal level and likely within various organizations, which require retention of such emails. I am also reminded here of "Testimony" (S4, ep9) of Veep. I mention this because, at one point during the episode, Mike McLintock (played by Matt Walsh), the incompetent press secretary, is brought before a congressional committee. He thinks he deleted the voice memos of then-president, Selina Meyer (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus). In fact, as the committee reminds him, these memos exist in the cloud and they plan to listen to them for any further evidence in their investigation! [3]

With that, it leads to the next part of this post, which goes to a question that the public, taken in by stereotypes about archivists, often asks of archivists and archival institutions.

Why can't everything be digitized?

In May 2017, Samantha Thompson, an archivist at the Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives, wrote a post which aimed to answer the question of why archivists don't digitize everything since it is a common question. As such, it is clearly important to remind people who not everything is digitized and that, in fact, "only a tiny fraction of the world’s primary resources are available digitally," coupled with the fact that archivists and librarians themselves are "behind the abundance of primary sources already available on the internet" while organizations like the Internet Archive, or Ancestry.com have raised "public expectations about access to historical resources." [4] She goes onto argue that digitization, the "production of an electronic image of these record," saves information from a paper record, but it does not produce "a clone of the record" but rather results in an "approximation...of a dimension of the record," often called a surrogate. She further notes that while archivists commonly digitize records in order to increase access (which some cataloguers do as well), they also argue (rightly) that mass digitization is costly in time and money, which sometimes people are skeptical of, not realizing that "large-scale digitization in an institutional setting is not your average home scanning operation." There a few reasons for this, including archives holding vast amounts of material, with digitizing of even small archival collections as a big-time commitment since many groups of archival records are not easy to scan in quickly.

For instance, while you could use an automatic feeder to quickly scan a stack of pages, the benefits of such speed must be "weighed against the risk of a one-of-a-kind document being mangled by a paper jam" which is always a concern! This means you must engage in manually scanning which includes tasks such as removing staples (and paper clips), positioning the item, processing the images, and entering the appropriate metadata, all of which is a lot of work. As such, "scanning a single archival box of records can take days" as she puts it. This is even more the case if records within the file are various shapes and sizes, or if they are large enough that they must be scanned in sections and "digitally stitched together." While sometimes taking a photograph is the best option, you need a "high-quality photographic set-up including lighting, document holders, and a camera with an appropriate lens" which obviously is expensive enough that not all institutions can afford such a set-up. This means that scanning produces not an exact copy of the record "but only an impression of certain aspects of it" and it may be hard to convey annotations (like sticky notes) on the paper record itself in a digital form, or physical characteristics of the paper records. This brings us to one of the most important parts: linking the digitized record to crucial information, which is often called metadata, some of which is technical and other parts that describe the record itself. The latter is information like a date or time the record was created. But some elements are more complex like determining the "story of the person or organization that created it." As she puts it rightly, an individual record "within an archival collection does not tell us its whole story." This means that without vital descriptive work of paper records in the first place, those electronic records which are produced through digitization would be an unusable and undifferentiated mass.

She goes onto note that since digitization involves investment of resources and time, archivists need to be clear that the electronic files produced adequately represent the originals, meaning there need to be quality control checks in place. This involves factors such as scanning resolutions, typing accuracy and photographic skill, since archivists are responsible for ensuring that "people are getting a reliable and authentic view of records." There is another conundrum with digitization itself: archivists are required to not only retain the paper originals but the digital files as well. These are files that are subject to disorder and decay just like paper records, with a tiny shift causing a set of errors, with even unused data subject to random degradation and loss, often called "bit rot." Coupled with this is the question of future readability of the data, since digitization of files is not worthwhile if no one can open the files as software and the accompanying "hardware inevitably becomes obsolete." Luckily for all of us, especially those in the archival field, archivists are at the forefront of pushing boundaries of digital longevity as technologies and file format standards are improving. However,as she notes, the "average lifespan of a hard or flash drive is still a fraction of that of a piece of paper stored in optimal conditions" with digital data needing to be stored in specific temperature conditions as well. All of this means that when anything is digitized, archivists commit to maintaining the digital file and the original on which that file is based.

This connects to the resources required for digitization and post-digitization duties. For one, cameras and scanners which are high-resolution which can accurately capture the data are relatively expensive, with the same being the case for software to process images and attain digital storage which is secure. In order for digitization to "make a dent" in an average archival collection, a scanner, or several scanners, need to be constantly working, with some large archivists maintaining specific digitization units while smaller institutions fit it in when and where they can among their other duties. As a result, digitization of specific records is often part of projects which are funded by partnerships or grants, as she notes. In terms of the post-digitization duties, it is needed to make sure that the records are responsibly shared on the web, after checking with donor(s) to make sure the records can be freely shared in the first place with some not wanting this to happen for various reasons or due to copyright restrictions. Such sharing is important as it allows archivists to make the full meaning of records available to those accessing them online.

As such, digitization itself, as she argues, is a process that is approached by archivists methodically. This requires, of course, assessing archival collections beforehand in order to determine whether the records are worth being shared and digitized. Such a process takes time, even if an "inexpensive pool" of labor can be mobilized, along with a big investment of resources and time. As a result, as she puts it, we may never, in fact, have everything digitized, with trials and triumphs of digitization being a "constantly unfolding process" while new models are coming about. With that, access is still important, as is digitization, with archivists continuing to "grapple with this immensely powerful way to broadcast the knowledge we steward." Her article ends by stating that everyone can help support digitization through sharing information that goes with a photograph from an institutional collection, and to, most important of all: "be curious about what archivists, information professionals, and cultural workers do." The latter requires, of course, asking questions and spreading answers, since the more people who understand the value of archivists, the more support they will get, and the more support archivists can provide to the public at-large.

It is worth recalling here a paper I wrote last semester (which will likely never be published anywhere academically) where I asked different archival institutions about their approach to digitization, using different forms of interaction, like Twitter, email, web-form submissions, and web-chat (AskUsNow!), the latter which is relatively horrible/annoying from my experience, although others may have had different experiences. [5] One of the best responses I got was from Corey Lewis of the Maryland State Archives (MSA) whom told me that I could personally contact him if I was interested in their digitization efforts. It was a response of high quality I wouldn't have gotten if I had just looked on their website. To this day, they still don't have their digitization strategy on their website from what I can tell (perhaps its hidden somewhere). I also got responses back from the Council of State Archives (CoSA) on digitization and even from the Oregon State Archives, the latter of which I hadn't even tweeted to, which was impressive. In a similar manner to the person from the MSA, I got a message from Joanne Archer, the head of Access and Outreach Services at Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Maryland Libraries, which said I could send her any further questions. Interestingly, when it comes to digitization they do not "directly solicit campus input."

With that, we can move into the final part of this post which focuses on challenges of digital archives and the digital world.

Challenges of digital archives and the current digital landscape

In the "Mars University" episode of Futurama, which first aired on October 3rd, 1999, the Planet Express crew go to Mars, which has, in the universe of this wondrous animated sitcom, been terraformed and has a typical college campus called Mars University. Before the episode becomes an homage/parody to Animal House, there is a scene where Professor Farnsworth tells Leela, Fry, and Bender about the Wong Library, adding that it has "the largest collection of literature in the Western universe." After that, Fry looks in and sees these two disks:

That's obviously the joke, and is more than a "bookish moment." It's basically saying that all the knowledge can be stored on two disks. It's still kinda funny, although the joke is dated, as these are supposed to be something like CDs (which first came about in 1982). In a future post I'll definitely bring in the Futurama episode ("Lethal Inspection") that fellow archivist Samantha Cross of POP Archives reviewed, when I get to that season, as I'm currently only on Season 2 of the show as I plan to re-watch all the show's episodes, over time.

This brings us to digital archives, specifically, which goes beyond the digitization of paper files. This applies to files which are born-digital. It requires, of course, a digital preservation policy as Margot Note, who was cited at the beginning of this article, writes about, which would need to be integrated into the program of an archives itself. It would also necessitate collaboration with other institutions and individuals in preserving digital records, and making sure that digital preservation is specifically tailored to your institution. Beyond this, there are two elements that apply to digital archives: choosing what will be preserved and file formats that are sustainable.

For the first element, I turn to an article, again, by Margot Note. She writes that selection and appraisal of digital records is similar to physical records,but that long-term preservation of digital records relies on "understanding of how file formats work." It also requires, as she notes, access to the appropriate hardware and software, with the appropriate skills, with the unavailability of these factors in an archival institution meaning that preservation of the digital files will not be successful. As such, technical appraisal of the digital files, themselves, considers whether they can be read, then subsequently documented, processed and finally preserved. Helping choose what digital archives preserve depends on whether the content itself is relevant to the mission of the archival institution, the historical value of the records, specifically if they have enduring value or are significant socially or culturally. For the digital records themselves, archivists also need to consider the integrity of the files, if they are usable or reliable. This means answering whether the materials themselves are in "preservation-friendly file formats" and if there are limits on the records, in terms of privacy or intellectual property, which makes them "inaccessible for research." Another important factor, as she describes is funding since the preservation and management of such digital records is by no means cheap. Finally, she notes that one must consider whether the digital records are unique or whether they are fully documented. She adds that keeping everything, when it comes to digital files, is not wise, since there are limited resources and mechanisms to search (and access) collections of a large-scale are often not adequate, and that selection curates collections which will ultimately have "high research value." She ends with her point that no matter how complicated the systems for managing digital records become, people need to be involved in choosing what is preserved as digital archival records. Even with the possible automation of some decisions in days to come, archivists would need to balance benefits of saving certain digital records over other digital records, at a time that archivists continue to rise to the challenge of selecting and maintenance of "digital artifacts in a changing technological landscape" as she puts it.

In a related article, she writes about archivists choosing the right and sustainable file formats. This relates to digital archives because the sustainability of digital records in and of themselves depends on file formats that will last for long times, with the Library of Congress putting in place "some criteria for predicting sustainable file formats in digital archives" as she puts it. It further requires considering whether a format is widely used, the files can be identified, specifications of file formats are publicly available and documented, the files can function on a variety of services (be interoperable), and they have an open format since issues with licensing, patents, digital rights, and property rights complicate preservation efforts. She points to efforts by the Digital Preservation Coalition to analyze file formats which are commonly used. She also writes that over time some file formats have become preferred over others, like TIFF files used as master images for preservation during digitization and PDF/A as a standard file format. Even so, some standards for file formats are still in flux, with no consensus among archivists, as she puts it, as to what "file format or codecs should be used for preservation purposes for digital video"! At the closing of her article, she argues that regardless of the preservation actions you take, having file formats that are sustainable is crucial, since having file formats which are lasting influences the "feasibility of protecting content" in the face of a changing environment in the technological world where repositories and users co-exist at the present.

Speaking of all of this, I am reminded of an ongoing study by S.C. Healy, a PhD candidate in digital humanities at a university based in Ireland (Maynooth University), trying to find how "wider research and cultural heritage communities’ can progress from creating web archives to establishing paradigms to use web archives for study and research." I plan to sign up for this study as I've talked about web archiving in several classes. This is relevant since, as Genealogy Jude, as she calls herself on Twitter, noted, "the Internet...has shifted the demographic profile of genealogists." This matters to archives and archivists because many of those genealogists are some of the most common users of libraries. [6] In fact, one of the articles I found during my research for my paper on the Obama Library, a scholar in the 1990s (I don't remember the exact date), National History Day, where I am being a judge again this year on the state and national levels, and connecting with genealogists as a way to bring in more users to archival institutions.

Perhaps we can even bring in one of the SAA words of the week, specifically level of description. Simply it is defined as the "level of arrangement of the unit being described" and the "completeness or exhaustiveness of the description." It connects to recent discussions like one at Hornbake Library recently which focuses on impact of digital repositories, which is in the same realm as digital archives. Perhaps discussions like this will make it easier to define what archivists do and what archives are, as some have tried to do through teaching.

I also think about, apart from creation of some digital archives portals, of what Lilly Carrel, archivist at the Menil Archives in Houston said about digital preservation: "I think digital preservation offers creative ways to enhance the post-custodial approach and ensure important records are preserved" whom was recently interviewed by Vince Lee of the SAA's Committee of Public Awareness, also known as COPA. That is even more the case when there are digital archives, whether completely digital or part of traditional archival institutions like those at universities or serving specific states. There is also a job at the Library of Congress about web archiving, with applications that close on May 1.

With all of this, there is, not surprisingly, a debate among scholars, especially in the field of archives and libraries, over a possible difference between a digital library and a digital archives. Some within the field say there is a difference, while others dismiss that, arguing that there is not. Currently, I don't want to go down that road, or talk about some continuing tension between historians and archivists, despite past efforts by the SAA to make connections with the AHA, the American Historians Association. I also could talk more about the challenges when it comes to archiving born-digital material, but perhaps I will revisit that in a future post on here.

I'll end with what one archivist, blogging on the New Archivist WordPress over five years ago, put it, "please keep up the discussions, and contribute in ways that you think have value," adding that the "seeming lack of support in public" doesn't mean that archivists are not doing anything. [7] That is what I am trying to do with post and this blog, as a whole, changing from a focus on historical explorations about the Maryland Extra Regiment, the Maryland Loyalist Regiment, reprinting past posts and biographies I wrote when I worked at the MSA on the First Maryland Regiment, which is often called the Maryland 400, and other topics, as readers of this blog from the beginning will know. This all connects to my newfangled newsletter on SubStack, which I recommend readers of this blog subscribe to, which I hope expands in the days to come.

Until next time! I look forward to all of your comments.

Notes

[1] She has written so much that I recommended that she could even write a few e-books. She has actually written a number of books already, like Creating Family Archives: How to Preserve Your Papers and Photographs, a paperback book, and two other books more specifically for information professionals: Project Management for Information Professionals (seems like a textbook, although she calls it a "handbook") and Managing Image Collections: A Practical Guide (Chandos Information Professional Series) (a guide for those at institutional archives, perhaps?).

[2] If you want to know more about the distinction between the two, there is a new book published by the SAA (Society of American Archivists), titled Archives in Libraries: What Librarians and Archivists Need to Know to Work Together, which seems to make these distinctions and could be a good read. I can't give a firmer assessment as I have not read the book.

[3] Interestingly, in the review of this episode by Kate Kulzick of A.V. Club, this part of the episode is not mentioned. In fact, Mike's role in the episode is not mentioned at all!

[4] If you are interested, I'd also recommend reading "How do archivists organize collections?", "How Do Archivists Describe Collections? (or, How to Read a Finding Aid)", and most importantly "What do archivists do all day?", two of which are also by Samantha Thompson.

[5] Perhaps at a later time I'll bring in my other papers I have currently uploaded to academia.edu like "The concept of a Baltimorean Homeless Library (BHL)," "Uggles and the University of Illinois: a very furry situation indeed!," and "Strategic Plan Analysis--Maryland State Library Resource Center (SLRC)," the latter of which is relatively technical. All of these are mainly in the realm of libraries rather than archives, however.

[6] She also stated, in a tweet following, that it is good that genealogy has found new people with "energy and new ideas, otherwise it would be a dying hobby" which I will agree with, as a millennial genealogist myself, beyond what someone like fellow genealogist Amy Johnson Crow will describe. Others whom responded to her said that its a time-consuming hobby, while others said that retired people still have some advantages over young people, and her responding to a concern that the internet has isolated people (not an invalid concern), that "the Internet has enabled people to contact relatives and share research much more easily than before" which also is a valid point! This also includes, as Carolynn, another genealogist, argued: "challenging racist, misogynistic and xenophobic genealogists" even if that can be hard. At the same time, I see those, in the wake of the racist ancestry.com ad (for Ancestry Canada) to grumble about how much they "hate" them, for justified reasons, although I don't necessarily feel the same as a person whom runs two genealogy blogs and is a family historian for both my mom and dad's side of the family. I seem to sympathize more with those whom say that there are reasons "why you can't rely on search engines like @Ancestry" with misspellings and mistaken listings.

[7] They also said that the lack of supportive views on Twitter or lists "does not mean that the vast majority of people are not appalled by the few rude ones" but rather that the latter are shown indifference by the many.

#digitization #archives #robert caro #preservation #veep #substack #maryland state archives #ancestry #genealogy

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