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kcaruth · 5 years ago

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Review

Before the dark times, before the mouse empire, LucasArts published several fun, memorable Star Wars video games, from Star Wars: Bounty Hunter to The Force Unleashed series. After Disney’s acquisition of LucasArts in 2012, the Mouse House stopped all internal developments at LucasArts and laid off most of its staff in 2013. Signaling its turn to the dark side, Disney awarded EA (voted worst company in America multiple times) a multi-year license to create Star Wars video games.

EA rebooted the Star Wars Battlefront series (2005′s Star Wars: Battlefront II has to be one of my most played video games) and released the new Star Wars Battlefront in November 2015. Critics acknowledged the game’s great graphics and visuals, but it quickly became apparent that the game lacked content. The hero and villain rosters were very limited, and the game only included content from the original trilogy, not the prequels.

Then came EA’s disastrous Star Wars Battlefront II, the repercussions of which shook the gaming world. Released in November 2017, Battlefront II had some promise. It was the first game since the Disney takeover to feature a single-player story mode that was canon to the film series. The game also contained content from the prequel, original, and sequel trilogies. Additionally, EA greatly expanded the hero and villain rosters. However, EA showed it true colors with the game’s loot boxes, which could award players significant gameplay advantages if they purchased them with real money. Essentially, the game turned into a pay to win system, thereby making players who did not purchase loot boxes feel so disadvantaged that Battlefront II virtually became pay to play.

Although Visceral Games, the studio behind the Dead Space series, was developing a single-player Star Wars game, even getting to the point in the development process where they could tease everyone with in-game footage, EA canceled the game and shut down the studio. Not counting the Lego Star Wars games and mobile games, EA’s Battlefront games were the only new Stars Wars video games on the market, an astonishing reality compared to the rate at which LucasArts used to produce games for the franchise.

Eventually, EA finally came to its senses and assigned a single-player action-adventure Star Wars game to Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind the Titanfall series. Former Santa Monica Studio employee Stig Asmussen served as game director, and heavy-hitting talent like writer Chris Avellone, perhaps best known for his work on Fallout: New Vegas, joined the project. Finally, Respawn released Jedi: Fallen Order in November 2019 to much critical acclaim.

Now, with that long-winded background introduction establishing the recent state of Star Wars video gaming out of the way, let’s get into the real reason why everyone is here. What did I think of Jedi: Fallen Order? I am usually well behind on newer video game releases, but our current state of affairs with the global pandemic has afforded me a bit more time to dust off my controller. Having just beaten Fallen Order earlier this week, I have plenty to say about the game. (I even made a pros and cons list! Can you tell I have also been spending my time watching the misadventures of Leslie Knope and company in Parks and Rec?)

At its core, Star Wars is about family, friendship, and good versus evil, so let’s start by talking about this game’s characters and plot. (Don’t worry; I won’t spoil anything from the story.) Fallen Order nails the spirit of Star Wars. Set five years after Revenge of the Sith, players control Cal Kestis, a Padawan forced to keep a low profile after the Jedi Purge. Cal lives on the planet Bracca, where he works as a scrapper salvaging ships from the Clone Wars. Kudos to the game here. I stopped a couple of times just to admire the visuals of Bracca. It was definitely a “wow moment” seeing TIE fighters shriek by overhead and watching a Separatist ship descend from the atmosphere. One day, Cal taps into the Force for the first time since Emperor Palpatine’s Order 66 to save a friend from certain death from a workplace accident. Unfortunately, an Imperial probe droid records the incident, alerting the Empire of a Jedi fugitive. Two Inquisitors quickly arrive on the scene to track down the Jedi. Introduced in the animated series Star Wars Rebels, the menacing Inquisitors are an evil organization of Force-sensitive beings, some of them former Jedi, who have been tortured and turned to the dark side by Darth Vader and the Empire or otherwise willingly joined the organization out of hunger for power. They are tasked with hunting down surviving Jedi in hiding and others exhibiting Force potential. Somehow, Cal has survived this long even though he still carries around his lightsaber with him everywhere! When the Inquisitors corner him, he literally just pulls it out of his pocket! How has no one ever noticed it before? Did none of the Imperial probe droids floating around the planet ever take a snapshot of the weapon? Plot holes aside, two new characters, Greez and Cere, rescue Cal from certain doom at the hands of the Second and Ninth Sisters and ferry him off world.

Cere is a former Jedi who held the role of Seeker in the Order. A Seeker located infants with Force abilities who could be taken to Coruscant and trained in the Jedi arts (think the good version of the Inquisitors). Greez is a starship pilot with a bad gambling habit, a green thumb, and an insatiable appetite. Cal finds a small droid named BD-1, who reveals a message from Jedi Master Eno Cordova, detailing the existence of a hidden Jedi Holocron containing a list of Force-sensitive children across the galaxy. In the wrong hands, this list could lead to the children’s demise. Cal and Cere want to use the list to rebuild the Jedi Order. Thus begins the race between the Empire and our crew of ragtag misfits to secure the Holocron.

Overall, the story is good, great even for recent Star Wars standards. It fits the Star Wars cannon very well, and I loved the nods to the Clone Wars, mentions of obscure characters, and the foreshadowing of future events. Some moments elicit chuckles from the appropriate Star Wars humor, while others go to some truly dark places. The way the game tackles Order 66 earns it extremely high marks from me. The developers need to be applauded for bringing in new and relatively unknown planets that we have not really had the chance to explore before. There is no Hoth, Jakuu, or the like to be seen here, thankfully. Star Wars is a big galaxy; it is about time we saw different parts of it. We have spent more than enough time on Tatooine. The planets we do visit feel alive. Each one has a different color palette, climate, weather pattern (although the developers may have been a little heavy-handed on the fog in a few of the locations), and, of course, flora and fauna.

Cal fights everything from annoying rat creatures to ram-like slugs, from giant venus fly traps to trampoline spring-plants. Players can even collect plant specimens on different planets and plant them in Greez’s terrarium, which was a nice little way to take a piece of each planet with you on your journey. Oh, and the spiders. Cal has to kill tons and tons of spiders. Again, this is Star Wars! There is a whole galaxy at your disposal full of creatures that look like whatever your imagination can dream up, and the best we get is different species of spiders? That is probably nitpicking, but it felt like it was worth pointing out.

When it comes to the Empire, however, the variety is fantastic. Of course, the run-of-the-mill standard stormtroopers are here, but there are also variations like shock baton-wielding scout troopers, flame troopers, and the dangerous Purge troopers, essentially the special forces of the Inquisitors. The chatter between the troopers is great. Before they spot him, Cal can overhear them talking about their notorious accuracy, the planet’s hostile wildlife, or even mundane topics like food rations. Once Cal starts fighting them, they often taunt him, full of confidence in their abilities, but then they come to the realization that they are facing off against a Jedi. The confidence in their voices gradually turns to panicked fear as Cal slices through their numbers. By the time Cal gets to the last trooper standing, that trooper will regularly plead for his life or confess how scared he is. Every once in a while, the Empire will even throw AT-ST walkers at Cal, which are a fun enough challenge, though the strategy to defeat them becomes clear within a minute or two, and players are never forced to change up their tactics. I do love that after Cal destroys the walker, the trooper will crawl out of the wreckage and start shooting at him. Nice touch!

With all that said, the story is not perfect. In fact, once or twice it just feels dumb. For example, Cal goes on this grand mission seeking out an important leader in hiding, and when he finally encounters him, they exchange maybe one full sentence before the leader gifts Cal a rebreather so that he can swim underwater. You are telling me I conquered various obstacles and enemies, traversing across multiple planets all to get...a rebreather? This whole section could have been cut out and streamlined so that the storyline goes directly to the main setpiece of this planet I am talking about. Have one of Cal’s crewmates give him a rebreather and send him on his way instead. Regardless, at least the back and forth traversal gives players another chance to board the ship, ascend from the planet, and blast off into hyperspace. Seeing that never got old.

Respawn and its writers did a great job with these characters, including one of the Inquisitors (the other one is just kind of...meh). I enjoyed getting to know my crew, but I wish they had a little more to do in the game. In reality, they just stay on the ship 95 percent of the time while you are out running around on your mission (not that I entirely blame them...it is a cool ship). The conversations between these characters were usually good, but sometimes Cal would not mention huge, seemingly significant events or people he ran into to his crew! For a cinematic franchise like Star Wars, this game could have used a couple more cutscenes. The game often feeds the plot or a character’s mindset to players by making them idly stand near a crewmate and tapping R3 a handful of times to get them to cough up a couple of lines of dialogue.

As is to be expected from a Star Wars product, the game’s music is terrific. Gordy Haab and Stephen Barton composed the score and recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Choir of London. Mongolian folk metal band The Hu also wrote and recorded a song that is featured during a couple of prominent portions of the game. The song lyrics were written in Mongolian and then translated into a fictional Star Wars alien language. The music compliments and elevates the game’s setpieces, with one standout part reminding me of Thor: Ragnarok. A couple of times, the game goes full John Williams to really make some moments hit home, and boy does it work! Hats off to Respawn for putting in this much effort in regards to the music for the game.

Getting into the gameplay, Fallen Order is an amalgamation of several other games. Dark Souls, Zelda, Uncharted, Metroid, Castlevania, Sekiro, heck even Sonic...they are all here in some form or fashion. Unfortunately for Fallen Order, it does not elevate the features it borrows from those games. The biggest reason? The bugs. Oh my goodness the bugs. How can a blockbuster release like this have so many bugs? Maybe it had something to do with EA or Disney wanting to push the final product out before the release of The Rise of Skywalker the next month, but the amount of bugs in this game are simply unacceptable. While none of them led to a complete game crash, I definitely caught myself grumbling, “I hate this game,” with my frustration levels constantly reaching the scorching temperature of Mustafarian lava, especially considering Fallen Order’s inexcusably long load times. Seriously, the load times after dying are so long that I had enough time to run to the bathroom, heat something up in the microwave, or make a cup of tea (to help relax me from this rage-inducing game) before the game finished loading. How can I lift off from a planet and travel through hyperspace faster than the game can respawn me after dying? It is not just dying, by the way. The game developers think they cleverly hid load times behind elevator rides, but that did not work either! At least throw in some elevator music or comm chatter if you are going to make me stand there for so long!

One time, I fell through the level to my death while walking on what was 100 percent solid ground. Speaking of solid ground, or should I say the lack thereof, enemies continued to fight me while clearly hovering in thin air when they should obviously be plummeting to their death. Woe is me if I tried to reach them, though, because my Jedi character must not have that ability, leading to, that is right, more death falls for me as the enemy looked on from his invisible sliver of ground above. If I was lucky enough to have an enemy remain in my relative vicinity and not stand off a ledge, that enemy had a chance of pinning and glitching Cal against a wall, leaving me trapped until I died from the beating. The enemy who kills Cal glows gold until players shave off a piece of that enemies health, which is great, but that means players cannot see that enemy flash red when he uses an unblockable attack. How could Respawn not notice this error when it is such an important component of the combat? For all the aggressive enemies with magical glitching powers, there were also those that would have a change of heart mid-combat and go pacifistic on me. I found this especially common in the later game and on one planet in particular with ranged enemies. They would fire at me, I would block their shot back at them and injure them, and then they would just stand there staring at me. It was really bizarre and made me uneasy turning my back on them to explore the area. I also experienced my health and Force bars completely disappearing from the screen. The first couple of times it happened, I thought it was intentional and meant that Cal could not die for that sequence of the game. Wrong! So much for thinking I was momentarily invincible with unlimited Force powers. This bug was especially crippling during big boss fights, as you can imagine. Respawn throws in some quick time events once in a while where players have to press the correct button in a very short amount of time. For the most part, I did not mind these, but one exception got my blood boiling. Cal is fighting a giant creature and ends up free falling. The game requires Cal to land in a very, very precise spot and pull of a quick time event. I cannot count the number of times I fell to my death during this part because of how finicky the game was being. Cal conveniently stumbles across every single icy or muddy slide in the galaxy during his travels, a way for the game developers to disguise a way to get players from point A to point B quickly, but these slides are also quite particular with when players jump and where they land. Another good portion of my deaths came from Cal not making a jump on one of these slides when he clearly had the distance or him seemingly landing and making the jump only for him to glitch and then fall backwards into a never-ending dark chasm. The game developers may have thought players would enjoy these slides, but I came to dread them.

The worst game bugs by far, however, dealt with frame rates and level textures. Not contained to one section or even one planet, unfortunately, garbage frame rates wreak more havoc across the galaxy than the treacherous Empire. I am telling you the frame rate is absolutely abysmal in this game. I can forgive a drop in frame rate if it happens a couple of times, but it is like it is a built-in gameplay feature of Fallen Order. It was maddening! How can Respawn expect me to properly block or dodge if the game cannot even keep up with my movements or camera adjustments? Texture pop ins and clipping were also recurring issues. One time, I noticed a soldier’s helmet load in late. Another time, a Wookie’s fur took a while to fill up the character model. (By the way, the Wookies in this game look horrendous.) Sometimes, it would get so bad that the game would just pause completely so that it could load in the content of the area. I honestly thought the game had crashed and was about to reboot the console before everything stuttered back into place and Cal got moving again.

I have done a lot of ranting about the game’s flaws the last few paragraphs, so let me get back to some things I did like. The combat works well. I cannot begin to tell you how satisfying and occasionally outright hilarious it is to Force push a trooper off a ledge, especially when he is standing there trying to intimidate you. I had so much fun simply blocking stormtroopers’ laser bolts right back at them. Best of all, I started taking every opportunity I had to pull enemies toward me, especially ones perched up on higher vantage points, and stab them straight through with my lightsaber. The lightsaber boss fights were a highlight of the game. Players feel the weight of every strike and every struggle when the blades cross.

In addition to Cal’s lightsaber, he also has his Force powers at his disposal. He starts out with Force slow and gradually adds other abilities, such as push and pull, as the game progresses. Players may question how Cal, a Jedi, can struggle with a squadron of stormtroopers or the local wildlife, or they may ask why he does not start with all of his Force abilities, but it all makes sense when you consider that Cal has to rebuild his connection to the Force. He has not used it since he was a child, after all. It makes sense that this amateur padawan who did not complete his training runs into a tough time in combat. When Cal does unlock new Force abilities, the game cleverly flashes back to show Cal’s master teaching him that ability during his training before Order 66.

Players can further bolster their Force, survival, and lightsaber abilities through a skill tree. Skill points accumulated from defeating enemies grant players access to increased health, stronger stim potency, increased lightsaber damage, and mass push, to name a few skills. Even later on in the game when most of your Force abilities have been unlocked and Cal has found a couple of fun new gadgets, the game still feels balanced. Cal never feels overpowered like Starkiller in The Force Unleashed games. Even when they are maxed out, his Force push and pull do not appear to have much of an effect on bosses. At most, they will briefly stagger them, whereas when they do it to Cal, he will comically tumble over like Palpatine when Yoda Force pushed him across his desk in Revenge of the Sith.

I will argue that a couple of Force abilities become outdated later in the game. At one point, I forgot I even had Force slow because I had not used it in a while. I only remembered it while I was trying to solve a small puzzle to escape from an area and had exhausted all other options. Can you blame me for always wanting to Force push enemies off a cliff instead of slowing them down?

I appreciate that the game developers allow players to adjust the difficulty at any time. I started out at a higher difficulty and found myself dying before I even left the first world, Bracca. However, I persisted. That is, until I faced off against Oggdo Bogdo and his trash hitboxes. Players can stumble upon Oggdo Bogdo very early in the game. Oggdo Bogdo, a carnivorous amphibian creature, is a boss variation of the more common lookalikes of him. There is a similar optional alpha creature boss encounter on most planets Cal visits. No matter how hard I tried or how many different strategies I employed, Oggdo Bogdo proved to be too tough for me, and after waiting through countless death loads and having to run back over to Oggdo Bogdo’s location time and time again, I decided to lower the game’s difficulty, allowing me to finally slay this ugly creature.

Like Sekiro’s sculptor’s idols or the bonfires in Dark Souls, Fallen Order relies on meditation circles as its save points. Cal can rest to full health and restore his Force meter as well as restock health stims. Meditation circles also allow players to access the skill tree and spend skill points. These meditation circles implement a good risk versus reward system. If players choose to rest at a meditation circles, all of the enemies he or she has defeated since the last rest will respawn. I regularly found myself weighing the pros and cons of my situation, questioning if I should heal and get more stims or push on so that I did not put more enemies in my path.

While I am on the subject of these meditation circle save points, I have to point out that Fallen Order does not have fast travel. Instead, it encourages players to backtrack and explore previously inaccessible areas that they can now open with their newly unlocked abilities. This was fine for a while, but I quickly grew tired of it when I noticed how much of the backtracking had me slowly climbing, traversing across narrow walkways that Cal has to carefully balance on, or shimmying over narrow cliff edges. This is padding by exploration. While the vine and rope swinging was fun, especially with Force pull, I stopped enjoying climbing up a conveniently placed arrangement of vines and the like by the halfway point of the game, if not earlier. I will admit that I believe Fallen Order contains just the right amount of playtime, but this stuff had it teetering on the too long side. This is compounded by one important world that players have to visit multiple times that feels too big. The developers’ creativity and excitement got a little out of hand here. Just pull up the map of that world to see how unwieldy it is. When I completed the story on a planet like this, I felt exhausted rather than triumphant. Why can’t I hail my crew to come pick me up in the ship where I am rather than having to run across the entire planet again to get back to the landing pad, fighting the same enemies I already cleared out a couple of hours ago? The game developers do provide a few shortcuts that players can open, but the amount of time they end up saving is negligible in some cases.

I was disappointed that there is no real endgame content. Sure, players can continue to explore or fight enemies for the heck of it, but the developers could have done so much more. After players unlock every ability in the skill tree, the skill points they collect after that become meaningless. I will confess that I chose to rush past enemies to get to my next destination rather than waste time or energy fighting them for the 50th time after I had filled out my skill tree. Why not unlock fast travel after players beat the story? How about adding in a fighting arena where players can test their maxed out skill set against waves of enemies? Heck, let the players unlock dark side Force abilites like Force lightning or Force choke after they complete the story so that whatever they do then is not canon. I would have continued to gather skill points for that!

Now I mentioned Cal’s droid companion BD-1 earlier, but BD-1 deserves a special shout-out. BD-1 is spunky and lovable. Not only does BD-1 shoot Cal stims to heal him, the droid also provides hints for puzzles, scans enemies to suggest tactics to take them down, plays recordings that push the story along, and helps Cal navigate the worlds by hacking locked doors or carrying him across zip lines. Additionally, BD-1 projects the holomap of each planet, which is vital to keeping track of where Cal is in relation to the ship or his destination. The holomap itself is decent. Color coding helps players see what is inaccessible and what is unlockable, but for the bigger worlds with multiple levels it can be quite a burden to scroll across. Not to knock BD-1, but I grew impatient waiting for the droid’s animation that it goes through every single time Cal finds a hidden chest. Cal opens up the chest, BD-1 jumps in and rumbles around, and then jumps back out with whatever was inside it, all while Cal repeats the same lines of dialogue, like “Woah, buddy!” or “Careful now.” or “What did you find in there?” There are 107 chests in the game. Let that sink in.

These chests are one of the rewards for exploration. They contain items that players can use to customize Cal, his lightsaber, BD-1, or the ship. While this is motivation enough at the beginning of the game, this customization serves no purpose beyond cosmetics. It comes down to which poncho or paint job players find more aesthetically pleasing. I love that the game developers let players change lightsaber colors, but I wish these different ponchos and lightsaber parts had some sort of effect on the gameplay, such as restoring more of Cal’s Force meter or refilling a small amount of health after defeating an enemy.

Force echoes serve as another reward for exploring. Cal uncovers lore from past events by reaching out through these Force echoes. They rounded out the worlds nicely and added to the feeling that they were lived in, real places in the galaxy. The final element of exploration is BD-1′s scans. While you are running around, BD-1 will occasionally crawl down off Cal’s back and scramble over to something the droid wants to scan. These unlock data entries on the planet, its flora and fauna, the Empire, or other characters. This is all fine and dandy, but the level of exploration the game developers expect players to do with all of the backtracking involved needs to reward me with more than just basic lore, especially when some of the entries feel like the writers did not even try when they wrote them. Is an entry on a storage crate telling me that the Empire stored materials in it really worth stopping to scan? I think not. Instead, the game developers could have really motivated me to explore more by throwing in a few interesting side quests or fun Easter eggs. Maybe players could stumble upon active Imperial transmissions and overhear characters like Tarkin or Thrawn. Maybe players could find an abandoned Imperial camp and watch Imperial or Rebel propaganda over a holofeed that was left on. They could have even hidden a squadron of battle droids that were forgotten from the Clone Wars. So many possibilities!

Jedi: Fallen Order is far from a perfect game and has so much unrealized potential, but I would not trade away my time with it. For every flaw, I can point to a positive, and vice versa. At the end of the day, I got to be a Jedi, and that is good enough for me.

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so-shiny-so-chrome · 6 years ago

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Witness: Owlship

Creator name (AO3): Owlship

Creator name (Tumblr): v8roadworrier

Link to creator works: https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/owlship

Q: Why the Mad Max Fandom?

A: i am still asking myself this question! something about fury road grabbed me at just the right point in my life to interest me, and the people & community i found have been just wonderful at keeping me feeling interested & connected. i love that the world presented is clearly well thought-out and cohesive, while at the same time allowing for a huge variety of explorations even while staying strictly within the bounds of canon.

Q: What do you think are some defining aspects of your work? Do you have a style? Recurrent themes?

A: well, it's pretty clear that i adore the relationship between max & furiosa, since they star in 90% of my fics, and au's are kind of my thing. i don't consciously have a style that i write in- i just try and write more-or-less what i think could reasonably happen, i suppose, and to be honest i think of my actual writing as pretty utilitarian, rather than anything with a nice artistic style. probably the most frequent recurring theme in my fics is pining leading up to a happy ending, and i like to think i flirt with miller's idea of "engage to heal" pretty frequently as well.

Q: Which of your works was the most fun to create? The most difficult? Which is your most popular? Most successful? Your favourite overall?

A: i have fun with all my fics, or else they don't get written! i'm not good at making myself do things i don't want to do, especially if the only reason to be writing fic is to have fun in the first place. most difficult would probably be "birds in last year's nest" (the omega!max fic) because i really wanted to handle the issues in it well, while the easiest to get written was "out of the bag" (cat!furiosa) despite its length because it basically just wrote itself. my most popular is definitely "around the corner" (petshop au), which has a very dear place in my heart even if it's not the most polished of my fics. my favorite is usually whichever i've published most recently :)

Q: How do you like your wasteland? Gritty? Hopeful? Campy? Soft? Why?

A: hopeful above all, with a good balance of gritty and soft, depending on the particular fic. i like to explore the realistic effects of things, but i'm also happy to gloss over the tricky details in favor of fluff. i've only written one fic with an unhappy ending so far and i don't see myself adding to that number anytime soon, and i am just not great at humor so i avoid trying to be funny.

Q: Walk us through your creative process from idea to finished product. What's your prefered environment for creating? How do you get through rough patches?

A: my writing process is simple: i get an idea (usually i steal it), i bundle myself up in bed, and then i do other things while writing a sentence or two every few hours. sometimes i get into the groove and can bash out a few thousand words in a day, other times i flounder for weeks without anything holding my interest. when i do write i always work chronologically, which means finding the actual start of the fic can take a few tries, and figuring out the end can be difficult if i haven't really filled in the details in my head yet. for rough patches i put my head down and try to force words out, but if it doesn't want to happen i just let it go and move on, unless it's for a gift, or something like nanowrimo where i want those bragging rights. i don't use written outlines or keep notes of anything, which is a bad habit but one i can't shake. if it's not important enough for me to remember, how important was it really in the first place?

Q: What is your biggest challenge as a creator?

A: right now it's finding the motivation to write when i've got other stuff going on in my life, especially on days when i am tired out even on my days off. other than that- staying focused on a project long enough to get it finished! i also struggle with juggling multiple characters especially in the same scene, making sure that everyone gets their turn and sounds authentic.

Q: How have you grown as a creator through your participation in the Mad Max Fandom? How has your work changed? Have you learned anything about yourself?

A: my writing, both in terms of technical skills and how i compose a story, has just improved leaps and bounds since i started writing fics, thanks in large part to the feedback i'm lucky enough to get, as well as the sheer volume i've been able to put out. i've definitely learned a lot about what kinds of ideas interest me to write, which is not necessarily the same things i want as a reader.

Q: Which character do you relate to the most, and how does that affect your approach to that character? Is someone else your favourite to portray? How has your understanding of these characters grown through portraying them?

A: i probably relate to max the most, or at least the version of him that lives in my head- it's easy for me to get inside his pov, but that means i have to stop myself from making *every* fic his pov! furiosa is a close runner up in terms of how much i like writing her, which is lucky because she's the other 50% of my fics, but it's a lot harder for me to get inside her head, so i have to pay attention more to what i'm doing when i write her.

Q: Do you ever self-insert, even accidentally?

A: i probably do, but not intentionally. of course i use my own experiences and feelings when writing, but i always try to translate them to the mindset of whoever i am writing. it's just been drilled into my head too many times that writing yourself as a character is not what you are supposed to do, i think.

Q: Do you have any favourite relationships to portray? What interests you about them?

A: max & furiosa, 100%. platonic, romantic, as soulmates, as enemies- i love every possible permutation of how they can interact with each other since they're so similar but still very distinct. i love how much of their relationship is unspoken but perfectly understood- or not, and how that can set up their interactions.

Q: How does your work for the fandom change how you look at the source material?

A: i pay a hell of a lot more attention to what's happening in canon, and pick apart even minor gestures or bits of speech to really drill down into the character's heads. if i was just watching the movie(s) to enjoy them, i'd stay a lot more surface level instead of analyzing details like what the interior of the war rig says about furiosa, or what's in max's kit at the beginning of the movie vs the middle, etc.

Q: Do you prefer to create in one defined chronology or do your works stand alone? Why or why not?

A: nearly all of my works are unrelated. i love coming up with little tweaks that don't really effect anything but might contradict each other (which of the wives takes on what role post-canon, how long it takes before max comes back for the first time, etc), and writing in a single series would mean i'd have to address those differences. short fluff or pwp pieces where the entire fic is just a single scene tend to share enough similarities that you could imagine they take place in the same 'verse, but to be honest, that's just me being lazy ;b

Q: To break or not to break canon? Why?

A: canon is fake and the author is dead! that said, i do actually try and stick as close to the canon facts as possible unless it's something i'm deliberately changing, because after all without canon there wouldn't be any shared understanding of the characters that makes fanfic possible. this is one of the trickiest parts about writing an au, because i have to find the right balance of familiarity to canon with what's different about each au in order to have the changes i make to the characters/setting/etc make sense to the reader.

Q: Where do you get your ideas for your AUs?

A: all sorts of places! some of them are given to me- i love prompts- others i steal from other fandoms, like bodyswap or wings or turning furiosa into a cat, some i search out via idea generators, and at this point i honestly can't watch/read any new stories without going "but how can i turn this into an au??" i also like to say "what if" almost *constantly* and sometimes that leads to full fics, other times i just make a post on tumblr with some half-baked ideas of how it could work out. what if furiosa's mother didn't die before the movie? what if max had a pet dragon? what if it started raining and didn't stop? it's honestly harder for me to write a strictly canon fic at this point :)

Q: Share some headcanons.

A: i actually don't have a ton that apply to every fic, because i like switching things up- but here's some ones taken for granted in 99.99% of my canonverse fics: furiosa lives after the end of the movie without any major complications, max comes back to the citadel at some point, furiosa has her own room with not much more than a bed, a workbench, and a window, the war boys are willing to accept the wives as the new rulers (and that the wives form a council rather than a dictatorship), and somehow the bullet farm & gastown fall into line with the citadel's new way of thinking. also, max has a sweet tooth and furiosa doesn't remember most of her dreams.

Q: What advice can you give someone who is struggling to make their own works more interesting, compelling, cohesive, etc.?

A: something i try to keep in mind at all times is: write for yourself and not your audience. does your heart of hearts want to ship those two characters? hell yeah make 'em kiss. have a scene that is super cliche or over the top but you can't stop thinking about? write it! your stories need to be interesting to you first and foremost, because a reader absolutely can sniff out the difference between a scene you thought would be "good" and one you had fun with. you can always edit later to shape your fic into a different direction if you feel like you need to.

Q: Have you visited or do you plan to visit Australia, Wasteland Weekend, or other Mad Max place?

A: i've been to wasteland weekend twice now and hope to visit many more times in the future! it's a super fun experience in general, and it's also helped me get a feel for what a mad max world would really be like, rather than just relying on my imagination. i'd love to visit australia some day, both for mad max and other reasons, but ideally not while there's an apocalypse going on.

Q: Tell us about a current WIP or planned project.

A: *throws dart at gdocs* let's see.... i've got a fic started where furiosa is a viking, and after a raid gone wrong she ends up injured at max's farm where she has to learn the language and customs and come to terms with being his slave (until they fall in love, obviously). haven't worked on that one since july but hey, it's not going anywhere.

Thank you @v8roadworrier

#mad max fanfic #mad max fandom #Mad Max Fandom Spotlight #Mad Max Fandom Creator Spotlight #mad max fanfic author spotlight #fury road fanfic #fury road fandom #owlship #v8roadworrier

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dewbond-blog · 6 years ago

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Fatevember: Fate/kalied liner Prisma Illya 2wei

Alright, I've put this part off for long enough.

Many people who are fans of Fate may not be aware that the Fate Stay Night visual novel was originally a piece of erotic literature, in that it had several scenes where the characters would engage in sexual activities either for pleasure or to restore their mana. When the first 2006 anime, and later the PS2 port of the visual novel hit shelves, all of the erotic aspects were removed and replaced with new scenes that depicted the events without any of the sexual themes. This has continued throughout all of the adaptations of Fate Stay Night and the spin-offs.

Such a change is understandable, considering the massive success of the Fate franchise, especially with a younger audience, and it feels like the creators made the decision themselves that the sex and sex scenes weren't doing anything to help with the plot. I myself don't really care that they aren't there, and I've enjoyed Fate Stay Night without them, but different strokes I suppose.

Either way, I bring this up because as we enter into the second season of Fate/Illya, we also are coming into what is probably the most fanservice-heavy out of all the Fate animes, and also the one that is the most...interesting to discuss. So after the cut let's take a dive into the second season of Fate/Illya: Fate/kalied liner Prisma Illya 2wei!

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Fate/Illya 2wei is important for the sole reason that it introduces the third main character to the cast, and over half of the 12 episode season is dedicated to exploring and integrating her among Illya and the rest of her friends and family. Conceptually, the idea of Kuro being the cast off emotions and powers of the Illya that never fought in the holy grail war is a great idea and helps link Fate/Illya to the rest of the universe that makes sense. It addresses the idea that just abandoning the war and Illya's reason for being had drawback effects, and it helps with Kuro's place in Fate/Illya's version of the Kirk/Spock/McCoy paradigm.

In fact, that paradigm is pretty much how you can sum up the interactions and relationship of the three main characters of Fate/Illya. You have Miyu who represents logic, reason and thought. Kuro is passion, emotion, and action, and then you have Illyasviel who represents a balance of both. I'm serious when I say that Kuro is emotion and passion because when she is first introduced in the story, she engages in a fierce battle with both Miyu and Illya, and then..well this happens.

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Now look, the ideas of Yuri and Girl-love is so ingrained in the DNA of the magical girl genre, and while it comes in varying degrees, denying that it's part of it is just fooling yourself. Even Cardcaptor Sakura, while low key and restrained in its depiction of such things is still laced top to bottom with LGBTQ themes and ideas. Fate Illya 2wei however, throws itself completely into the idea of girl/girl love and doesn't hesitate to show it. To the credit of the show, it isn't just there solely for fanservice, Kuro needs to do this to replenish her mana and sustain her existence, and she claims it is the most "tame" way she can do it, a callback to the erotic nature of the Fate Stay Night visual novel, but still...it's something.

I don't shame people for what they want to watch (within the confines of the law of course) and any anime fan who has been around a few years knows that they have to check some of their western sensibilities at the door when you go into this fandom. As a famous anime youtuber once said: It's the part that anime fans have to squint and look past in order to enjoy the shows we love. If you can get past this part of the anime, then that's great, but if this is where you draw the line of what you think is sensible and right, then I don't blame you in the slightest. I admit I was a put off by the sheer commitment this show takes with the Kuro character, and I might have dropped it if I wasn't committed to watching every piece of Fate anime to its conclusion.

Aside from all of that though, how is Fate/Illya 2wei? Well if you don't mind everything that happens, it is a solid expansion to the world. Yuri tendencies aside, Kuro's entry to the cast brings in more development for both Miyu and Illya, and having all three play off each other in that Star Trek dynamic I mentioned above is only a positive overall. The further introduction of Bazett Fraga McRemitz, the original master of Lancer from Fate Stay Night and star of sequel Fate/hollow ataraxia leads to great action and another character for Illya to interact and conflict with. Bazett takes up most of the plot of the second half of episodes and helps lay down some groundwork for events in the next two seasons.

However, the real meat of the series is in the introduction of Kuro and for how significant it is to the world of Fate/Illya, I can say that it is paced well, written strongly and is emotional, touching, though with that 'basic' nature that seems to be the curse of everything Fate-related. You will either love Kuro or you won't, but I can't deny that she brought great comedy, an excellent take on the Archer servant, and helps fill in the corners of Illya's character, which again is only a positive in my books.

Fate/kalied liner Prisma Illya 2wei! is the season in which you have to decide if you are in or out. You either accept the direction the series takes, or you call it quits and take your leave. I stuck around because I wanted to see it through, and I found that 2wei! continues to make Fate/Illya a great spin-off that maintains all the good things I mentioned in my previous entry. This will only continue as we head into seasons three and four, and I look forward to getting into them next time.

#fate stay night #Fatevember #fate franchise #fate prisma illya #fate kaleid liner prisma illya #illyasviel von einzbern #chloe von einzbern #kuro #magical girls #yuri #girl love #miyu edelfelt #bazett fraga mcremitz #anime #Anime opening

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lizardguyaaron · 5 years ago

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Lizard Reviews: Star Wars: Tales of the Bounty Hunters

Hello everyone! Welcome to the first of hopefully many reviews where I talk about various books, movies, comics, video games, and whatever. For my first review, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite Star Wars Legends books of all time. It’s a book that I absolutely adored as a kid, and I recently picked up a reprinted copy of it about a week ago. So without further ado, let’s dive right in.

Star Wars: Tales of the Bounty Hunters is an anthology comprised of five short stories, each one detailing one of the infamous bounty hunters that appeared on the bridge of the Executor, Darth Vader’s flagship, in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Each short story was written by a separate author, so I’m going to be breaking each story down separately in order to give each one the proper attention it deserves.

Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88:

This is the first short story in the novel, and as the title suggests, it focuses on the assassin droid bounty hunter IG-88. The story details IG-88′s creation, his escape from Holowan Laboratories, his takeover of the droid manufacturing planet of Mechis III, and finally his attempt at taking over the Death Star II. Written by Kevin J. Anderson, this is definitely one of the stranger stories to start with. Anderson explores the idea of IG-88 achieving sentience and attempting a droid takeover of the galaxy, while using bounty hunting as a front for his activities. Anderson also introduces this idea of IG-88 occupying four different droid bodies, all named A through D. These ideas seem good on paper, but they take a turn for the truly odd when Anderson has IG-88 take over the Death Star II’s central computer. From here, it becomes immediately clear that Anderson has written himself into a corner. The idea of having IG-88 take over the Death Star II is interesting, but it’s ultimately a dead end when you realize that Anderson is constrained by the events of Return of the Jedi (1983). It makes me wonder why he even bothered to go this route in the first place, considering that there’s only one way that the story can now end. I definitely think that this story would have benefited from a different ending, perhaps one that doesn’t feel like Anderson took the easy way out in ending IG-88′s story. As a result of this story decision, I do have to rank this story lower on my list than the others.

Payback: The Tale of Dengar:

Written by Dave Wolverton, “Payback” focuses on Dengar, the bandaged human bounty hunter. In this story, Wolverton portrays Dengar as a bounty hunter who is out for revenge against the Imperials who turned him into a killing machine following an accident, as well as Han Solo for causing the accident in the first place. During one of his hunts, Dengar runs into an alien woman named Manaroo, whose species possesses a unique technology that allows them to share their emotions, and the two gradually fall in love during Dengar’s hunt for Han Solo. I will say that this story surprised me in the best way possible. Dengar was a character that I never had a particular interest in, but Wolverton writes the character in such a way that makes the reader empathize with Dengar. After a certain point, you actually start to root for Dengar and hope he succeeds in his hunt despite the fact that we know he loses out to Boba Fett. All in all, I have to say that “Payback” is probably my favorite short story in the novel.

The Prize Pelt: The Tale of Bossk:

If “Payback” made me care about a hunter that I normally have no interest in, then “The Prize Pelt” by Kathy Tyers made me feel like my favorite Star Wars character, Bossk, had been completely wasted in this story. “The Prize Pelt” is a story about how Bossk was foiled in his attempts to catch Han Solo and Chewbacca by a pair of bounty hunters, Chenlambec, a Wookiee, and Tinian I’att, a human. While I think the idea might have been there, it’s Tyers’s execution of the story that bothers me. The biggest problem here is that Bossk, frequently considered to be second only to Boba Fett, is easily outsmarted and outmaneuvered by Tinian I’att, a novice bounty hunter studying under Chenlambec. Not only do I find it hard to believe that a long-time professional bounty hunter like Bossk is outsmarted by a novice, but it’s the fact that Tinian I’att feels like a Mary Sue style character. I don’t like using the term “Mary Sue” as I feel as though it’s become bastardized in recent years (particularly by the Star Wars fanbase), but I do feel it is applicable here. Tinian is an heiress to a weapons manufacturing company, lost her parents, grandparents, and fiance (who is Force-sensitive) to the Empire, but is quite easily able to concoct several plans to outsmart Bossk, who again has been hunting far longer than she has. So we have the tragic backstory component and the ridiculously high skill level component, which are both necessary for a Mary Sue character. All of this seems to come at the cost of dumbing down Bossk, and frankly making him seem like an idiot. While I did honestly enjoy the cat-and-mouse elements of the hunters all trying to outsmart each other, it’s the dumbed down Bossk and overly capable Tinian that really ruin this story for me, and I feel as though there were probably better ideas for a Bossk story. Overall, this was probably my least favorite story in the novel.

Of Possible Futures: The Tale of Zuckuss and 4-LOM:

Written by M. Shayne Bell, “Of Possible Futures” tells the story of why the Gand findsman Zuckuss and protocol-droid-turned-hunter 4-LOM are after the reward on Han Solo and The Millenium Falcon. In a similar vein to the “Payback” story, Bell paints Zuckuss and 4-LOM in a sympathetic light, a stark contrast to the outright villainy we see from IG-88 and Bossk. In this story, Zuckuss and 4-LOM need the reward money in order to afford a new set of lungs for Zuckuss, an ammonia-breathing Gand who accidentally was exposed to oxygen during a hunt gone bad. 4-LOM, on the other hand, stays by Zuckuss’s side in order to learn how to use intuition to determine possible futures that their prey may take. I really like this story, and how it shows us that not all of the bounty hunters are outright villains. We’re given a very real world motivation for why the duo need the money, and needing money for life-saving healthcare is something that a lot people can relate to. Furthermore, I like how Bell ends this story on a hopeful note, with Zuckuss getting the medical care he needs, 4-LOM beginning to learn how to see into the future, and the duo joining the Rebellion to help liberate Han Solo from Jabba’s Palace. While I really do enjoy this story, I think it lands firmly in the middle for me, and that’s due to the pacing. Bell can be a bit slow at points and that sometimes drags down the story. That being said, it’s certainly better than some of the other entries such as “Therefore I Am” and “The Prize Pelt”.

The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett:

The final story in the novel, written by Daniel Keys Moran, details the origins, fall, and return of the most infamous Star Wars bounty hunter, Boba Fett. I think this story stands out from the others not because it’s simply about Boba Fett, but because the writers of the early EU had some very different ideas about Boba Fett’s origin than what George Lucas ultimately gave us in Attack of the Clones (2002). Instead of being a clone of Jango Fett, Boba Fett in this story was originally a Journeyman Protector of Concord Dawn named Jaster Mereel, who was stripped of his title after committing heinous offenses in the name of his twisted sense of morality. It’s a very stark contrast to what we ultimately got, and it’s interesting to see how these details of Boba Fett’s life were retconned. This story is where we first get the concept that Fett wasn’t a true Mandalorian, but somehow acquired the armor and gear (an idea later canonized but reworked to fit the prequel origin in the Disney-era). What I also like about this story is that Bell made Boba Fett’s infamous escape from the Sarlaac have long-lasting consequences in the character later in the story. As a result of being partially digested, Fett is missing his right leg and has cancer, resulting in him completing hunts with increased difficulty. We also get snippets from Han Solo’s point of view, and things ultimately come to a head when Fett attempts to carry out one last hunt against his nemesis. I like this story for being an early attempt at trying to demystify Boba Fett. While the story is no longer canon, I think it definitely is worth a read if you’re a Boba Fett fan. That being said, I do think this story ranks as my second favorite for two reasons: first, it doesn’t quite hit the emotional highs that “Payback” reached, and second, there’s a scene between Boba Fett and Leia in Jabba’s Palace that I found rather unnecessary. Overall, it’s in a solid second place for me.

Final Thoughts:

Star Wars: Tales of the Bounty Hunters is definitely a fun read. While the stories in it can be pretty hit or miss, it’s certainly a fun novel that offers some unique insight into the bounty hunters that only appeared for a moment in the films. If you’re a fan of bounty hunters like I am, then definitely give this book a shot. If you’re new to Star Wars and want to get into the Legends timeline, this is a decent place to start since it features characters and moments from the movies. The novel certainly holds a special place in my heart. But despite that, the hit or miss nature of the stories is what causes it to lose points for me.

Overall, I give this novel a 3.5 out of 5.

#star wars #bounty hunters #boba fett #books #book review #lizard guy reviews

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saikaigigi · 8 years ago

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I had a very short update on my Facebook, but since there's NOTHING to do today at work (or for the rest of the week, for that matter), I figured I'd do an entry here. The weather hasn't really continued warming up that much. I'm still cold in the office and we still have the heater on (or the "stove" as they call it...). Warm coffee is a necessity to stay awake and keep warm. The coffee here isn't that great but I think I've gotten used to it and it isn't the worst thing anymore. The coffee at Pearson was still WAY WORSE. That stuff was poison. And yet, I still drank it...every day. We've been quite busy these days. I got to lead classes on my own for about 2 weeks. The end of the year was kind of "anything goes" in my first year classes. So I did a St. Patrick's Day presentation and a few activities that prompted the students to speak on their own - which was honestly the only time they could, since my JTE for that class isn't very creative and just went through the main dialogue of the chapter over and over until the class fell asleep (seriously, one day I stopped him and said - they're too sleepy to continue. Let's do a short activity to get them awake. We then played Simon Says for 2 minutes.) Anyway, my classes went amazing. We studied 2 songs together, described photos, did word jumbles and drew emotions. And all the students were engaged. My JTE was amazed. I was just like, well it makes sense. They are also all relaxed because they know that grading is over. Really, at this point of the year it's like anything goes. Now the students are on Spring break. I still have to come into work even though there aren't classes. It's whatever, I guess. At least I get paid to sit here and think about literally anything I want and type things like this. Last week, the transfer announcements were made. A few of the teachers I liked are moving to different schools. This happens once a year. The teachers who have only been here for a short time weren't really at risk of transfer, but those who were here for anywhere between 2 to 5 years got picked to move. I never really thought about how hard it would be to transfer because at home, there is such a clear line between work and home life. At 5 you leave and forget about work until the next day. And maybe you don't spend so much time with co-workers. Here, the teachers are assigned for a few years to a school who houses them in teacher housing, and the only people they know are the other teachers and the students. Those people become their life. Their friends. Some of these teachers already live apart from their spouses and children. Sometimes the transfers move them FURTHER away from them. I think it can be really hard to deal with. So I understand why there were so many tears at the goodbye ceremony. While I think it's good for the overall educational system to have an even division of teachers and experience, this is really hard on people. But they're used to it. It's just the way it is. And it will probably be this way for a very long time. Meanwhile in the States, you get teachers who have been there for 30 years who have lost passion because they aren't respected by students and they're just getting worn down. They don't like their co-workers or their students and have a hard time controlling their classrooms sometimes. At this point, I don't know whether or not the Japanese educational system is better or not. In ways, I think it is. But in other ways, everyone just works too freaking hard here! Like, after 5 PM GO HOME AND RELAX! Some of my teachers don't go home until 9PM every day. Like, why? They don't get paid overtime to be there, either! Huh, this became a ramble about education in Japan. Somehow. Recently, Philip and I have been getting out more. Last weekend we made it out to Arita with our friend who is in the Navy and stationed nearby. I have never seen so many pottery shops. It was insane. I definitely want to go back there and explore. We also visited a nice shrine and had a good talk with the priests there and they explained how to buy the fortunes (which had an English translation! They must get a lot of tourists). We talked a lot about how we came to Japan and the charms they were selling. The entrance to the temple was up a set of stairs with a train track at the top, then after you cross the train track you can enter the temple. I found it kind of strange. At the top, it just looks like there are train tracks and then an edge you could fall off of. Philip's cousin came to visit this week. He's a college student studying in Tokyo. He's super full of energy so this week is gonna be fun. We certainly had fun yesterday after we picked him up. We spent all afternoon in Sasebo looking around. I found a flute I had never heard of and decided to buy it. It was sort of an impulse buy, but it wasn't that expensive (until I decided to buy a book to learn with, then things got pricey...the book was more than the flute!). I discovered that I got like a learner's flute, and that these flutes come in bamboo. I really want a bamboo one!!! The flute is a shinobue and it's used in festivals. Also, it turns out that it's the mystery flute from Vampire Princess Miyu that I always loved!!! I may have downloaded that soundtrack when I got home...hehe We found a koto concert in the middle of the shopping strip, and the guy who runs the souvenir shop where I got all my souvenirs for family recognized our Navy friend and we got to clarify where his shop was so we could take another peek. We were met by his son on the corner where we needed to turn (he called him!!), and we were shown inside. We were able to ask questions and explore the shop. I asked about the flutes because I noticed they had more than before. Turns out that they now had the flute I had just bought at the other shop, but the real versions. The shop keeper let me try the flutes (which really surprised me!!!) and I discovered that the one I got was SUPER high pitched like a piccolo. I thought "Great, my neighbor will be so happy..." But actually, I'm thinking of practicing at the beach around the corner from my house. Anyway, I discovered that i LOVE the sound of the flute that has one less finger hole. It's such a nice sound that I can enjoy more by myself without killing anyone's eardrums. He offered to sell one to me for half price. I just could not believe that. Really. What?! I was ready to buy it right then and there! But he said I can take some time to get used to the instrument first. What a nice guy! Not like other sellers who are just like "BUY IT NOW". I truly felt cared for as a customer. They also gave us free plants! I was like Okay! Plants are cool! I'm actually terrible with plants. Philip got me an orchid on our first Valentine's Day and it just died. I got a small flower that was placed in a stone at the culture festival here back in November and I haven't watered it once. I think it might still be alive somehow, though. So...we'll see how long these guys last under my care! They also gave Philip a little squirrel because he asked how much it was and they just said "Please take it!" I think maybe no one was buying it lol. He gave it to me as a present. Oh, and the week before hand I got a deal on some Sailor Moon merchandise at this second hand store in Sasebo called Y.Y....something. Y.Y.Boueki I think? The guy there collects a lot of things, including American things, especially Star Wars. He even has autographed things on display. He let me take a picture with a rare Sailor Moon statue he had. I did make it to GU for the Sailor Moon collaboration, but things sold out VERY fast there and I couldn't choose exactly what I wanted beforehand. But I did get a good amount of things! 3 shirts and a Luna purse! I also decided to snag some pants because I needed some. I now own white pants and they frighten me (I'm going to stain them, I just know it...). also, I'm the biggest size there. That's just unreal. And actually, these pants are slipping a little now that I'm moving around a lot >.> But, I'm just saying, the range of body types here must not be large because if I'm the biggest size, I feel sorry for anyone bigger than me trying to shop for pants. Really. That must suck. I was going to wrap this up but I just remembered the enkai on Friday night that we had. We had a big going away dinner party for the leaving teachers. I had to eat fish and I'm starting not to look forward to the food at these gatherings because I have to force myself to eat a lot of things I don't like. I ate some sort of clam thing, I don't even know what it was. But it came in like a conk shell. Is that even what it's called? God, not growing up near the ocean has never been so apparent as it is now that I'm living by one. I don't know a lot of things about ocean life. Anyway, so each leaving teacher gave a speech and then other teachers would stand up and give a speech back. And it was nuts. They all did a Japanese cheer that I had never heard of. It was actually quite educational. And then the gym teacher who was basically the guy who kept order in this place with the kids, is leaving. So the other gym teacher gave the speech to him. But, not before stripping off his top first. Oh, boy. And then he stood there giving his speech topless and crying. And it was sort of charming to see two men who were such good friends have such a heart to heart moment. Even though one of them had stripped beforehand. XD We went to an after party at a VERY SMALL BAR near my apartment. It was so fun! There was karaoke and it was the most fun I've had with co-workers here. Everyone was singing and cheering and just being totally silly. It was really cool. I'm kind of disappointed that my base school is switching to my other high school now. I'll be there 3x a week. So I'm not as affected by the transfers as the other teachers, but I still feel kind of sad? I don't know the teachers at the other school as well, or the students. It's a bigger school. They're awesome, though. Full of energy and the students are generally pretty smart. Plus, there's a rock band club...so there's that. I think it'll be okay. WOW THIS WAS LONG BYE

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cover2covermom · 7 years ago

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Goodbye July, and hello August!

I cannot believe how quickly this summer is flying by. One minute my kids are getting out of school for summer break, and the next I am gathering lists for back to school shopping! July was a crazy month for me, but despite all the craziness I did manage to read 9 books & get a good amount of blogging done! Yay for productivity! My biggest news this month is that we bought a new house. Unfortunately this isn’t a simple move… we are completely renovating the house over the next few months before we move in. My husband flips homes for a living, and assures me that he can get this done in 2 months. I’m not holding my breath lol My goal is to move in before Christmas. Please send me good vibes for my sanity throughout this process 🙂

Let’s see what I got accomplished in July, shall we?

*Book titles link to Goodreads

» Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally

Feelings in a few thoughts: hard to follow at times – possibly due to audiobook format?; love this piece of history; because this is nonfiction it felt cold – would love to read a fictional account; want to see the film adaptation now

» Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Feelings in a few thoughts: took a little while to get into; strong female lead – strength drawn from her mind; feminist thoughts; political intrigue; HOT love scenes; confusing fantasy elements; will definitely continue on with this series

» Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

Feelings in a few thoughts: felt like a bedtime story; perfect book to read aloud to kids; short & sweet

» Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

*3.5 Stars

Feelings in a few thoughts: bad-ass female lead; example of how to do the hate – love trope well; witty banter; good concept with fantasy elements; wanted more action out of a PIRATE book; solid read but could have been more

» The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

*3.5 Stars

Feelings in a few thoughts: outside my reading comfort zone; very much a western; play format? didn’t really understand the intermissions; dry humor – which I appreciated; journey where characters must face adversity along the way; enjoyed how everything panned out in the end – but wasn’t the dramatic ending I was anticipating; slower paced; struggled with my rating – possibly a 4 star book; won’t be for everyone

» Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Feelings in a few thoughts: went in with low expectations, but pleasantly surprised; gave me Wizard of Oz vibes; enjoyed the overall plot – darker than anticipating w/ good mystery elements; writing felt forced at times, like the author was trying a little too hard; too much sensory description – particularly smells; wanted a little more visual world building; wonder if I enjoyed this more because I haven’t read The Night Circus yet?

» This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

3.5 Stars

Feelings in a few thoughts: gorgeous writing as per expected with Schwab; what makes someone a “monster”?; liked how Kate was rough around the edges; a few YA tropes & clichés; didn’t connect to the story like I did with Schwab’s Shades of Magic series; definitely think this book is leaps and bounds above many of the YA books out there

» Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Feelings in a few thoughts: One of my top reads of 2017; completely mesmerized by this story; Lazlo Strange is my new book boyfriend; unique & fantastical; moral questions; what makes someone a hero? a monster?; NOT a fan of the insta-love but this was my only issue with the book; the ending! how will I wait for the second book?!

» Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend

4.5 Stars

Feelings in a few words: this book is a gem – I wish more people would give it a chance; technically WWII historical fiction, but doesn’t go into the war much; fictionalized life of real person, Frances Conway; explores different types of relationships & love; espionage story, but not exactly action packed; more drama than I was anticipating; would make a good book club selection

I am super excited that I *should* be able to hit 100 books this year! This will be my biggest reading year EVER 🙂

Book Reviews:

Book Review: The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis

Kids’ Corner: Diverse Middle Grade Books in Review (July 2017) #DiverseKidLit

Book Review: The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

Book Review: Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

Book Review: The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

Other Posts:

June 2017 Wrap-Up + Book Haul

July 2017 TBR

Book Event: Mary Kubica’s Every Last Lie Book Tour

Top 5 Wednesday: Best Middle Grade Books I’ve Read in 2017 (Thus Far)

Book Tag: Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag (2017 Edition)

Book Blogger Recs: Bloggers to Follow for Romance Readers #BookBloggers

eBooks:

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» The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

» The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

» A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

Physical Books:

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» Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (20th Anniversary – Ravenclaw Edition) by J.K. Rowling

» The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

» Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

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» The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

» Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

» Euphoria by Lily King

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» We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

» The Luster of Lost Things by Sophie Chen Keller

Which books did you read this month?

Have you read any of the books I read or hauled this month? If so, what did you think?

Did you buy any books? If so, which ones?

Comment below and let me know 🙂

I talk about all the #books I read & share my #bookhaul in my July #wrapup. #BookBlogger Goodbye July, and hello August! I cannot believe how quickly this summer is flying by. One minute my kids are getting out of school for summer break, and the next I am gathering lists for back to school shopping!

#Am Reading #Bibliophile #book blog #book blogger #Book Chat #Book Dragon #Book Haul #Book Nerd #Book Talk #Book Worm #Bookish #Books #Bookworm #July #July Wrap Up #Reading #TBR #Wrap Up

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dazzledbybooks · 5 years ago

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The first in an fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction. For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom. But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic . . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition. When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death? Links: Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49629448-a-song-of-wraiths-and-ruin Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bb61Do B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-song-of-wraiths-and-ruin-roseanne-a-brown/1134858719?ean=9780062891495 iTunes: https://books.apple.com/book/a-song-of-wraiths-ruin/id1478613303 Bookdepository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Song-Wraiths-Ruin-Roseanne-Brown/9780062891495?ref=grid-view&qid=1587062543544&sr=1-1 Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/a-song-of-wraiths-and-ruin-1 Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Roseanne_A_Brown_A_Song_of_Wraiths_and_Ruin?id=AQAAAEBs_nG-DM Excerpt: https://aerbook.com/books/A_Song_of_Wraiths_and_Ruin-261829.html?social=1&retail=1&emailcap=0 Review: A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown is the first book in a new young adult fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore. I was so excited to dive into this book. I have been looking forward to it for months. This book takes a bit to get into at first because there is just so much world building and introduction to the characters and their lives in the beginning. I really liked every second of it. The folklore behind this story is amazing. I really found myself wanting to know more. I think the gods and creatures are very interesting and I look forward to reading the sequel. Let's talk about love. I feel like the "love" or "relationship" between Malik and Karina came across very insta-love. I really wish it had more depth to it. Don't get me wrong I think they would be great together, I just wish we had a bit more of a build up vs jumping right into that relationship. Let me also say that romance doesn't play a huge part in this book. I am not too worried about it either. When it came to the magic system, I do with is was explained a bit more. We get so much explanation of the characters and the world that I felt like the magic system was a bit lacking. It wasn't explained to the reader why magic wasn't common and it wasn't explained why some people randomly get magic. I definitely feel like the magic system is lacking and it leaves the reader with a lot of questions. \ Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I will be participating in a reread starting June 12 with a group of people. Why would I want to read a book I just finished? Sometimes when I liked an ARC so much, I like to reread a finished copy to see if anything changed. Other times, I just really want to reread the book. I look forward to diving into this book again ASAP. Definitely check out A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. Pre-order Campaign: Link to the pre-order submission form: bit.ly/ASOWARCampaign A pre-order/order from any retailer or a request to your local library will get you: * A bookmark! * 2 character cards featuring Karina and Malik! * A limited edition signed bookplate * An exclusive digital fairy tale from the A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN world! An order from indie bookstore Books With a Past will get you: * A bookmark! * 2 character cards featuring Karina and Malik! * A limited edition signed bookplate * An exclusive digital fairy tale from the A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN world! * A handwritten note and personalization from the author! Rules: * You must submit proof of purchase/library request. Screenshots and photos of receipts are fine. * Only orders and library requests dated through June 30, 2020 are eligible * Only orders made through Books With a Past (https://ift.tt/3dLSqUg) will receive the note and personalization. * All swag will be sent out on a rolling basis starting June 2nd * Entrants under the age of 18 must obtain parent/guardian permission before entering About the Author: Roseanne “Rosie” A. Brown was born in Kumasi, Ghana and immigrated to the wild jungles of central Maryland as a child. Writing was her first love, and she knew from a young age that she wanted to use the power of writing—creative and otherwise—to connect the different cultures she called home. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor’s in Journalism and was also a teaching assistant for the school’s Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House program. Her journalistic work has been featured by Voice of America among other outlets. On the publishing side of things, she has worked as an editorial intern at Entangled Publishing. Rosie was a 2017 Pitch Wars mentee and 2018 Pitch Wars mentor. Never content to stay in any one place for too long, Rosie currently teaches in Japan, where in her free time she can usually be found exploring the local mountains, explaining memes to her students, or thinking about Star Wars. Links: Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18395190.Roseanne_A_Brown Website: https://roseanneabrown.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosiesrambles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosiesrambles/?hl=en Giveaway: Prize: Win an ASOWAR bookplate, bookmark, two trading cards, and access to the exclusive short story (INT) Starts: June 2nd 2020 Ends: June 16th 2020 a Rafflecopter giveaway Tour Schedule: http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2020/04/tour-schedule-song-of-wraiths-and-ruin.html June 2nd The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club - Welcome Post June 3rd BookCrushin - Story Behind The Cover + Instagram Moonlight Rendezvous - Review + Favourite Quotes A Dream Within A Dream - Review Small Stained Pages - Review + Playlist + Favourite Quotes Vee Reading - Review Lit lemon books - Review + Favourite Quotes June 4th The Paperback Voyager - Review Colby Wilkens - Review Kait Rose - Review + Favourite Quotes Belle's Archive - Review + Video Interview Sage Shelves - Review SeizeThePage - Review + Playlist Paws and Paperbacks - Review June 5th Bookish Looks - Tell Your Story in GIFs Write, Read, Repeat - Review Books.Bags.Burgers - Review + Favourite Quotes Sometimes Leelynn Reads - Review + Dream Cast Black Bookwyrm Reads - Review Enthralled Bookworm - Review + Mood Board by blogger June 6th A Court of Coffee and Books - Review + Favourite Quotes Utopia State of Mind - Review Morgan Vega - Review + Favourite Quotes Tea.Books.Magic - Review + Instagram Caitsbooks - Review + Favourite Quotes + Mood Board by blogger Books and Ladders - Review June 7th Kait Plus Books - Character Interview Hooked on Bookz - Review + Favourite QuotesBiblioJoJo - Review The Layaway Dragon - Review + Favourite Quotes In Between Book Pages - Review + Favourite Quotes Empty Kingdom - Review + Favourite Quotes + Mood Board by blogger June 8th A Gingerly Review - Mood Board bforbookslut - Review L.M. Durand - Review + Mood Board by blogger Dazzled by Books - ReviewConfessions of a YA Reader - Review + Favourite Quotes The Reading Corner for All - Review

http://www.dazzledbybooks.com/2020/06/a-song-of-wraiths-and-ruin-blog-tour.html

#SEO #Local SEO training

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rob-blog1234 · 8 years ago

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WEEKEND TV HOT FILM PICKS!

Check out my guide to the top films on TV this weekend, the best of the rest and what to avoid at all costs! Enjoy!

LATE FRIDAY 31st MARCH

HOT PICKS!

TCM @ 2100 Looper (2012) *****

A thoroughly enjoyable Sci-Fi feast from the director who brought us the outstanding Brick, the little-too-overblown-but-still-decent The Brothers Bloom and is at the helm for Star Wars Episode VIII. In his third outing Rian Johnson has bigger names, a bigger budget and way bigger ambition. Looper really is a good contender to be up there in the list of best films of 2012 with strengths, qualities and conviction that play out this paradox filled plot with style. I accepted the bizarre and very limited use of Time Travel by the future mob, as with all time travel films there is always a certain amount of assumptions and as the film progressed I realised the audience has to dismiss a lot of the why’s, what if’s and but’s, but Johnson makes it easy to simply “go with the flow” with a detailed and immersive story.

My second, third and fourth viewing have been even more enjoyable than the first I fail to see any real problems with this film. Emily Blunt did a sterling job as Sara. The young Pierce Gagnon who played Cid was also a great find.

Overall, this is a fantastic film and immediately cries out for another viewing. Complicated, complex and unpredictable, Johnson has really pulled out all the stops here.

Film4 @ 2305 Kill List (2011) *****

Check out Ben Wheatley’s 2011’s splendidly dark thriller: Kill List. Not only is this extremely violent and affecting film thoroughly intoxicating to watch but also number 3 in my top 10 films of 2011. Bold, brilliant, bizarre and very brutal. Top marks. Lots of questions…not a lot of answers. Certainly not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but it will certainly get you talking. The score is super apt and adds to the unsettling tone perfectly. Couldn’t stop thinking about it after my first viewing. I’ve seen this six times and it’s still as interesting and affecting as the first.

Best of the rest:

Film4 @ 1850 The Addams Family (1991) ***

E4 @ 2100 Prometheus (2012) ***

Syfy @ 2310 Drag Me to Hell (2009) ***

E4 @ 2325 The Adjustment Bureau (2011) ****

#### AVOID AT ALL COSTS! ####

C4 @ 0055 Battle Los Angeles (2011) * AAAC

The characters repeatedly shout “Move Move Move!”, “Go Go Go!”, “Hide Hide Hide!” and various other things always in three’s apparently. Perhaps that is because the target audience of this dross is people who need things in three’s so it actually sticks. That would also explain why after every single thing that happens in this shitty alien infested war zone that the characters explain everything to you that has just actually happened just in case you yawned or was sick or if you were staring blankly at the wall dribbling for a moment. With migraine inducing shaky cam style footage that simply makes this already unenjoyable film almost unwatchable. I can’t remember any single character that resonated in even the smallest way. Faceless, nameless, warzone action bullshit. Avoid.

SATURDAY 1st APRIL

HOT PICKS!

Sky1 @ 2030 Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) *****

It doesn’t really matter that it’s not as impressive as the first 2 films in the original trilogy, this film ties up all the wonderful loose ends as the Rebel Alliance once again, against all the odds, take on the mighty Empire. Lucas could obviously see it’s accessibility to children was a huge money making machine as he introduces us to the Ewoks. This is a much more light hearted entry into the franchise but still a sci-fi fantasy success.

Film4 @ 2100 The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) *****

Check out Scorsese’s balls-out look at some horrible people doing repugnant things with so much swearing if it was edited it would end before it started. This is a film of excess in every way. DiCaprio is Jordan Belfort and the film follows his rise and fall in Wall Street. It’s hilarious and repulsive in equal merit, but where this film worked for me is it didn’t seem to be telling me something clever, having an opinion or educating us on what is right or wrong - it simply shows us the American dream encapsulated in one man’s story to power and money. It’s crass, crude and unabashed about what it is. But no matter how much I dissect it I was addicted to this story and could help but follow along wide eyed and mouthed. It’s worth it just for the Lamborghini scene alone. Don’t miss this.

Film4 @ 0030 A Field in England (2013) ****

In Ben Wheatley’s least accessible outing to date I saw a wonderfully crafted and beautifully shot film, I heard such fantastic sounds and songs, Wheatley’s use of sound has always been spot on. I felt fear, quickly changing into horrified confusion and most importantly I saw a corner turn for great British film making. Yes this film is confusing and will really split the Wheatley fan ranks but this low budget nightmare scape is as captivating as it is incomprehensible. I have my own theories which I won’t harp on about now, but these thoughts and feelings are what I love about film. The Participation. The figuring out, the debate, the pure interest in the subject. Although not for everyone, Wheatley has again proven his credentials. A Field in England. Maddeningly obtuse yet beautifully intriguing. Want more from Wheatley? Check out Free Fire - In Cinemas now.

Best of the rest:

ITV1 @ 1440 Superman (1978) *****

Film4 @ 1635 Rango (2011) ****

C4 @ 1900 Titanic (1997) ****

TCM @ 1910 Beetle Juice (1988) *****

ITV2 @ 2000 The Mask (1994) ****

W @ 2000 Chocolat (2000) ****

Dave @ 0000 Blade (1998) ***

Film4 @ 0225 Straightheads (2007) ***

SUNDAY 2nd APRIL

HOT PICKS!

Film4 @ 1855 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) *****

I will always have a soft spot for this John Hughes classic 80’s teen comedy. It’s total 80’s escapism for me. Matthew Broderick is Ferris - the cheeky high school student who decides he will do ANYTHING to get a day off school. The Headmaster is equally determined to catch him out as he is certain Ferris is up to something. Here we are flung into Ferris’s elaborate plan of freedom together with his best friend. From Ferrari stealing to breaking his girlfriend out of school we are all part of the crazy things you always wished you could get away with as a kid. Even with the Head Teacher hot on their heels they are always a few steps ahead on a great little adventure full of comedy surprises.

Film4 @ 2100 Chef (2014) ****

This is feel good film material and it is done really well. Gorgeous food, fun, funny and upbeat, this film was a big surprise for me as I originally expected nothing from it. Maybe it was the food… did I mention the food. This. Is. Food. Porn. Sometimes all you need is a nice little film to come along and cheer you up. This does just that. Let this brighten up your Sunday night in.

Syfy @ 2300 The Mist (2007) ****

I’ve always loved Darabont’s treatment of this Stephen King story. I was very impressed by the way it was handled and also the differences and changes to the story - particularly the ending that evokes devastation and shock. Each subsequent viewing I’ve enjoyed but it’s been a long time since I have seen this last. Although this is the full colour original version - if you ever get the chance pick up the Blu Ray with the Black and White Directors Cut. This was how Darabont had intended it to be seen. In fact - if your TV has the option - stick it in Black and White.

Darabont struggled to get picture houses to warm to his B&W vision with their unnecessary fear that B&W alienates and immediately reduces audience numbers.

This film is pretty bleak mainly down to the gut punch of an ending but it’s also due to the exploration of certain themes, humanity, fear, religion… There’s loads. The cast play out their parts wonderfully and as the events of The Mist unfold and people begin to take sides this film takes a dark turn indeed. Marcia Gay Harden as Mrs. Carmody is stand out here. I also loved Toby Jones, in fact I completely forgotten he was in this film.

This is a great horror film and deserves a lot more credit. The end once again ripped out my heart as it always does, no matter how many times I see it - it always gets me.

Best of the rest:

ITV1 @ 1145 From Russia With Love (1963) ****

TCM @ 1310 Beetle Juice (1988) *****

ITV2 @ 1915 Liar Liar (1997) ***

More4 @ 2100 Gladiator (2000) *****

BBC2 @ 2245 Dead Poets Society (1989) ****

Comedy @ 2300 Pineapple Express (2008) *****

TCM @ 2315 Enter the Dragon (1973) ****

ITV4 @ 2355 Cliffhanger (1993) ***

C4 @ 0000 Seven Psychopaths (2012) ***

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saikaigigi · 8 years ago

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