#pacific rim is a movie about the world coming together and learning to trust and rely on each other to face their biggest threats

[unfriendlyamazon]

pacific rim (kaijou) - fight

i started outlining a pacific rim au a loooong time ago and it’s probably never going to get turned into a full fledge fanfiction, but i like what i have enough that i don’t want to let it go. i cleaned up some scenes i’ve already written, and i’m just going to drop them here so somebody can enjoy them.

characters Joey Wheeler/Seto Kaiba

rating T

warnings Minor Violence, Gozaburo’s Alive

Joey Wheeler is brought on board the Shatterdome to pilot the latest addition to the Jaeger lineup: Ultimate Dragon. Now he’s just got to find someone who’s drift compatible.

Ranger testing was everyone’s favorite day in the Shatterdome. Those marked for drift compatibility gathered into the training room, with the crowd of support staff and Rangers watching eagerly from the sidelines. They packed into the doorway, laughing and taking bets as the recruits waited, staffs in hand. Seto’s eyes drifted to the already paired Muto brothers and their new companion. Wheeler had an easy indifference to him, hands stuffed in the open military coat. Yugi laughed with him, and Yami’s gaze glanced Seto’s way. He returned to looking over the Ranger files. Behind him, Gozaburo was a rock.

The crowd settled, and Yugi shoved Wheeler forward. Wheeler took the staff and held it like a question. There wasn’t an ounce of formal training in his stance. Seto kept his expression steady as Wheeler shot his idiot grin his way. At least watching him get knocked on his ass would be an entertaining way of spending the afternoon.

But, of course, the universe liked to disappoint Seto in the worst of ways.

Wheeler was clumsy with the stick, but he took no prisoners. The first candidate took the brunt of the training staff to the face, bloodying his nose, and Wheeler was sharply reminded this wasn’t an actual fight. The next two were dropped to the ground in easy succession. The only person who he didn’t hit out right away was Valentine, who matched him hit for hit before she hooked a leg under his and knocked him onto the flat of his back, her staff stopping an inch from his face. He laughed it off as she helped him up, and then Valentine swung the staff around, landing another point at his neck.

Seto scoffed as he marked her off the list. With most of their hopefuls diminished, Wheeler was standing alone. He whirled around on the platform where Seto and the general stood, anger pinching the corners of his lips.

“You got something to say?” Wheeler sneered.

Seto didn’t bother to look at him, and from the corner of his eye he could see Wheeler’s grip tighten on the staff. “I’ve got plenty,” he said. “You’re not trying to win, Wheeler. Compatibility isn’t a game of dominance. And you were going easy on her.”

Valentine flipped her hair back as she returned to formation. Her tone was playful, but her pride was on display. “You can’t blame him for that, Kaiba. Most guys don’t fight a girl as pretty as me.”

Seto did allow his eyes to draw up, and he stared Wheeler down. “You can’t hold back.”

Wheeler’s chin drew up, and he crossed the staff over his shoulders. “Why don’t you come down here and show me?”

He laughed. “You wouldn’t last two seconds against me, Wheeler.”

“Yeah, alright.” He grinned again, giving a theatrical look to his audience. “If you’re chicken.”

Seto’s fingers gripped the edge of his data reader, and his blue eyes bore cold fury over his opponent. Wheeler only smiled back at him. On the platform behind him, the mountain moved, and Seto’s throat went dry at the sound of Gozaburo’s voice.

“That man issued you a challenge,” the general said.

Seto looked at him, teeth grinding down. He set aside his equipment and let his blue coat drop to the floor as he took up a staff. The crowd pressed forward with renewed interest. The Muto twins shared the same nervous expression, but he focused his attention on Wheeler as he stepped down onto the mats. Wheeler held his staff lazily, body slouched back, but there was a kinetic energy drawing in the tight muscles of his arm. Seto twirled his staff for the show of it as the two circled each other.

It wasn’t a surprise that Wheeler struck first. It was an ugly thing too, telegraphed from across the room. He swung the staff up, and Seto blocked it easily, using the momentum to strike at Wheeler’s neck. Seto stopped the momentum an inch from his skin, and Wheeler flinched. His brown eyes drew up to Seto. The joviality was burned out of him by an anger broiling underneath. They took a step apart to reset. One-zero.

Wheeler moved again, arching the stick to hit Seto straight on, and when Seto rose to block it, he dropped, landing a hit to Seto’s stomach. One-one.

Seto didn’t give him a chance to reset. He swung his staff to Wheeler’s knees, but he managed a block. Offering no reprieve, Seto hit for Wheeler’s shoulder, which clacked against his staff, and then his stomach. When Wheeler blocked him this time, Seto wedged his stick and pulled, forcing the staff from Wheeler’s lax grip. It spun across the room and clattered to the ground. Wheeler was defenseless now, and Seto took the moment to gloat, until Wheeler’s fist flew at him, stopping short enough of his ear that he could feel the air rushing past. His hand unfolded, and he flicked Seto in the side of the head.

One-two.

Someone snickered in the audience, and white hot rage burned through Seto. He could feel Gozaburo’s gaze on his back, and Wheeler was smiling again, like he’d gotten the upperhand, like he was enjoying making a fool out of him. When Seto’s hands moved, it was not in the controlled measure. He slammed his staff into Wheeler’s stomach. Two-two. Wheeler staggered back as a heavy breath escaped him, but the second swing he dodged. His arms went up in a boxer’s stance as he avoided every strike, and when his wild swing hit nothing but air, Wheeler punched Seto’s rib. The shot was heavy enough to knock him back, but Seto wasn’t about to give up. He dodged the blow meant for his face and shouted as he launched himself at Wheeler. The two landed on the ground with a heavy thud, both gripping onto Seto’s staff as they grappled against each other. Seto pinned Wheeler to the floor with his knees and they both put the full force of their strength into the contest. Seto’s breath felt ragged in his throat as he bore his icy gaze down on his opponent. Wheeler thought he could touch him that he could strike him like they were equals as though taking his Dragon wasn’t enough when he was just a deadbeat nobody who’d gotten lucky. Rage clouded his head and his vision, and Wheeler twisted beneath him as they both fought for control, and then like a knife Gozaburo’s voice said, “That’s enough.”

Neither let go, but slowly the struggle stopped. Wheeler was looking up at him wild wild eyes, chest moving heavily, his golden hair stuck to his sweat slicked face. Finally, against every instinct screaming inside of him, Seto released the staff, and he stood. His hands were red, his side ached. He steadied his breathing as much as he could, aware that the room was quiet, that the whole of the Shatterdome was watching. Seto turned and stopped when he saw Gozaburo’s face. He was smiling.

“It’s clear who the best candidates are,” he said, and dread washed over Seto like ice cold water. “You’ll both report to the Shatterdome in two hours.”

Seto was happy his back was turned to the others. His mouth dropped open, and he stuttered out, “You can’t be serious--”

“My decision is made,” he said. “Two hours.”

Giving Seto no chance to argue, he turned and walked away. Seto stood there, fists curling, and Wheeler managed to his feet behind him. Realization clicked too late.

“No way,” Wheeler said. “I’m not getting into any machine with you.”

Seto didn’t dare turn around. He didn’t know what he would do. If he would scream, or shake him, or just resign himself to this fate. There was no changing the general’s mind. The choice was made. He and Wheeler would walk into Ultimate Dragon, and hopefully, if they were lucky, walk out again in one piece.

[bettsfic]

hi betts! i got very interested in your posts esp the implied author. i wanna ask a question (if you dont mind!). so about the implied author, i always feel like that my writings though beautiful always lack mentioned maturity and read very... YA-ish? its not something im trying to achieve. i want to make it more mature and 'classical'. do you have a tips for this? im not aware enough of what to improve on to achieve that, basically. thank you in advance!

this is a great question! unfortunately, though, i don't have a handy dandy term like "implied author" to thoroughly encapsulate my possibly abstract answer.

first, while i understand your goals, i think beautiful prose, and the focus thereof, is still a very important pursuit. there's also nothing wrong with being YA-ish; the implied author comes from a book called the rhetoric of fiction, and the title implies that it's a study of fiction in interaction with an audience. so different readers get different things out of what they read (i wrote about this more in my june newsletter). possibly your perspective is something someone else hasn't seen before, and you've offered them something new without even knowing.

that said, i absolutely understand the drive to have a wider perspective, and write things that you find more complicated and challenging. however, the only way i can answer this is with metaphors couched in narrative, of how i learned about how to approach my writing differently, and which presumably, maybe widened a reader's sense of my implied author (but since i can't be a reader of my own work, there's no way to tell for sure).

so, i once took a creative nonfiction seminar during which i read a whole bunch of memoirs, and the final project was either a research paper or a personal essay. obviously i chose the personal essay. i decided to write about my ex-boyfriend, with whom i'd broken up five years earlier, and i was still very fucked up about it even though we'd been broken up far longer than we were together.

looking back on that essay, it reads like a sales pitch, ten pages of me just pleading with the reader to see my side of the situation, to see how i was the victim, sympathize with me and not him. he's the evil one. hate him with me. please please please.

it was not a good look.

there was a lot of unprocessed grief in that essay, a lot of anger. it was clear i had no wider perspective of the situation other than wallowing in my own narrow feelings about it. i was telling the reader what to think about me, about him, about the situation, rather than conveying the situation as it truly was and allowing them to draw their own conclusions.

in nonfiction, that's terrifying, because it potentially paints me in a negative light. a reader may see my actions and think poorly of me. and honestly, looking back, they should. i was as toxic to my ex as he was to me. i was not good to him at all.

but see, that's an example of me telling you what to think. in the essay, i am pretty much saying outright, "he is evil. hate him." i want to force the reader to be on my side. but after a mental breakdown and a lot of trauma therapy, i was able to step out of the situation and my feelings thereof, and see it from a much wider perspective, and instead of putting my actual emotions on the page, i'm able to illustrate honestly the emotions i felt at the time. i am no longer in the story. i'm outside of it.

here are the events as they actually happened: one night, he didn't come home. i texted him. i tried to call him. i waited a couple more hours and called him again. he came home as i was looking up numbers to nearby hospitals, around four a.m. he wouldn't tell me where he'd been. the next day i found a bunch of hickeys on his neck. i was hurt, and angry, and i pushed him. i told him to get out of my house. he still denied it, and kept denying it for hours longer, until finally admitting he'd been dating someone else for months. i couldn't find it in myself to blame him. to me, it was my fault for not being good enough for him, for not fitting into the shape of someone he could love.

there was more to the story than that; he was financially dependent on me, he was no longer attracted to me and felt trapped in our relationship, my father had just died and i couldn't even begin to grieve over the loss of someone whose life mine revolved around.

but an essay -- or a short story, a novel, a poem -- can't ever render reality exactly as it is. we as writers are always just curators of experiences, images, sentences. there's a lot of fear in that, of leaving out details, of being misunderstood. but that's the inherent risk of art.

the lesson i brought back to fiction is this:

it's not my job as a writer to place judgment on my characters, but to simply convey the story as it happens. my characters may have biases, misperceptions, judgments, and opinions, but they are not mine. widening the implied author, so to speak, is a process of removing yourself from your prose.

obviously you will make characters who are like you in some ways, and so they may share traits with you. they may be identical to you in every way. but they are not you, and cannot be you. possibly the implied author is the absence of ego. or maybe it's an embrace of the self and the world as things that can't be fully known.

i think about films that have a wide implied author versus a narrow one (in my opinion; see above point about fiction as rhetoric). to me, pacific rim has a very wide implied author. even though all the characters in the movie take the events therein very seriously, i know that the mind creating this story knows it's kind of ridiculous, even though it's not a comedy. they know this wild, over-the-top conceit is a vehicle for the more complicated and nuanced experience of intimacy and trust.

a narrow implied author would be zack snyder's justice league. that film leaves me with no evidence that the mind behind it is capable of truly understanding experiences beyond their own, or using their medium to render a nuanced portrayal of being. that doesn't mean snyder isn't, in reality, capable of those things, or that the movie isn't enjoyable on an aesthetic level, but that i found no evidence in the text of, well, themes. it's just...characters doing things. i see no exploration in it, no question that the narrative addresses.

which leads me to my second point, which is that i think the widest implied authors are the ones who are vulnerable enough not to have an answer or conclusion, to simply discover and explore larger questions.

so, what questions do you have? what things do you not know? what are you most afraid to convey or admit?

in some ways, my answer to your question is that you don't have to worry about it, because the implied author is the experience of the reader, which you can't control. however, i think all of us, myself included, can work toward a greater perspective of ourselves and our world, to understand things to a more complex degree. and beautifully, writing helps us do that, at the risk of exposing the things we don't know, the questions we can't answer, our true colors which may be darker and uglier than we'd like to admit.

[neverreallythoughtaboutthefuture]

Watched Pacific Rim with my little 9-year-old godson for the first time ever yesterday...

...and a little before the “kwoon trials” with Mako, he asked me if Raleigh was meant to be the “hero of the story”, and it gave me the opportunity to explain to him that the movie was about the world saving the world, and that it didn’t need a single hero to be a good story.

When everyone was cheering the success of the mission and the closing of the Breach, I also made him notice how many other people were there in LOCCENT and in the hangar bay, and gently reminded him that saving the world happened thanks to the concerted efforts of all those people and not only the pilots.

He asked me if Chuck and Raleigh were enemies, and I gently explained to him that Chuck was someone who lost his mom very young and was trained as a Ranger ever since.  So he put a lot of pressure on himself and the success of their mission to save the world, and was scared that Raleigh and Mako’s respective traumas and lack of experience together would put that mission at risk, so he’s initially hostile towards them.

Basically, Chuck and Raleigh don’t know each other, they don’t trust each other, and sometimes, when people don’t know you and see you as being a threat to what matters to them, they can become aggressive towards you.  Just like Raleigh and Mako, you have the right to defend yourself, but that doesn’t always mean you must always become enemies.

He asked me if the fact that Raleigh won the fight against Chuck meant he was the best fighter, and I explained to him that even the best fighters can be too emotional, caught off guard, or distracted to give their best every time in every single fight, and they don’t always win.

So the answer is that Raleigh won that fight, but as for who is the best fighter of them two?  We don’t know.  And it doesn’t really matter anyway, because they need to learn to fight together and not each other.

Competing is fun, as long as it motivates you to become even better, learn and continue to grow your skills.  But you don’t need to be the fastest, the strongest, or the smartest to get involved in something you like or that matters to you, and make a difference.

He went “oh no, they’re not compatible”, sounding all dejected when Mako started chasing the R.A.B.I.T.

So, I reminded him that this was the very first try between two people that barely knew each other to connect their minds.  That although they did connect, they both went through very difficult experiences that hurt them, and made their task more difficult, so they needed time to figure out how to face those issues together.

Then came the scene where Raleigh and Mako are talking quietly together while watching Gipsy’s “heart”, and I made him notice how they were smiling and relaxing together, the two of them acknowledging that although things didn’t go exactly as smoothly they’d have hoped for in their first try (in terms of their ability to pilot together), it taught them that they did indeed both trust and support each other deeply, and that they didn’t have to face their loss and fears alone anymore, regardless of whether they would be allowed to remain co-pilots or not.

They still won something valuable that day.

(And yeah, he was totally cheering alongside Chuck when Raleigh and Mako showed up in Gipsy Danger to kick that Kaiju’s butt!)

It was the first time I was watching the movie through the eyes of a child, and I was fascinated to discover how its narrative was loaded with educational opportunities.

Those are all themes I’d discussed with adults before, but it was fascinating to experience first hand how the usual movie narrative we offer children shape their expectations of storytelling in general.

He was expecting the classic “chosen one” story to unfold, and kept looking for those “chosen hero” traits in Raleigh.  And yet, the movie presented itself as something different that intrigued him greatly and nevertheless managed to captivate his interest.

His favorite Jaeger turned out to be Gipsy Danger, BTW, with Striker Eureka in close second!  Lol!  He loved Raleigh’s creativity in combat and strongly identified with him (which, you know, is not a bad role model to have, all things considered), and also thought that Stacker Pentecost was just the coolest!

And then, of course, he had to ask me when the movie came out, and I had to come to terms with the fact that he was BARELY 3 YEARS OLD when Pacific Rim was released!

Man, 6 years already?  I’m getting old way too fast...

And Yancy only has, like, 7 months left to live...

WHY WOULD I BE SAYING THAT?!?  OMFG!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!?

Still, overall an extremely positive experience that gave me yet another appreciation for the movie.

[houseofswords]

Ash Fletcher

Theme song / Theme song / Moodboard Divinity: Aschere, The Prince of Blades, Star of Omens (judgement, destiny and ill omens, divine vision, truth, stars, destruction)

  

BASIC INFORMATION

Full name: Ashley Renn Fletcher Gender: Male Age: 24 Birthday: 14th April

Myers-Briggs: INFJ Zodiac: Aries Tarot card: Ten of Swords

Nationality: American Birthplace: Holyhead, Clallam County, Washington

Sexuality: Biromantic asexual Relationship status: Single

Occupation: Stage technician (previously studied at MIT)

  

APPEARANCE

Height: 5’3” Weight: 120lbs

Hair: Fluffy, unruly mixed curls and waves, kept in a pixie cut. Eye colour: White-blue

Physical characteristics: Petite in stature, slender in build. He has thin arms and wrists with long, dainty fingers. He’s baby-faced, with heart-shaped features, wide eyes and a button nose, and looks much younger than he really is. Other traits: Faint freckles on his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. He has a collection of scars from his traumatic experiences in Holyhead. Tattoos: None

Clothes: Typically an open shirt and a light jacket over a T-shirt and slim jeans. Prefers muted colours, often green, navy and khaki. He may dispense with the jacket on hot days but always keeps the shirt, as he burns easily. He likes scarves in cooler weather.

  

TRAITS

Personality: Ash is shy and introverted. A pacifist, he dislikes conflict and avoids it where possible, to the point that he’d rather let people walk all over him than escalate the situation. He’s genuinely warm and caring and hates seeing people hurt. He can, however, be remarkably stubborn when he has to be. He’s intelligent, methodical, and hates leaving a job half done or to a poor standard, often his own worst critic. Despite his sensitive nature, he does have serious anger issues simmering beneath the surface and has a very bad habit of bottling up all of his feelings.

Motives: After his horrifying experiences, Ash feels trapped in limbo, unsure what to do. Finishing his doctorate and going back to a ‘normal’ life feels impossible now, so he drifts aimlessly around Holyhead, helping Mike to steer curious visitors away from the dark places where horrors dwell. His main driving motive is to protect others—from himself.

Values: Ash places high value on the lives and safety of others, putting their feelings above his own. He will tell a white lie to protect people if he thinks that the truth will hurt them. Despite his sweet nature, he is not optimistic, and often finds himself questioning whether anything he does really matters in the end. He feels that his life is no longer his to control, and can only make choices as long as outside forces allow it.

Fears: Claustrophobic, hates small, enclosed spaces, especially ones without windows, and has abandonment issues. His greatest fear is his own uncontrollable power, and what happens when he loses himself to it. The thought of hurting people again makes him sick to his core—in his eyes, he’s a monster.

Weaknesses: Ash often refuses help, feeling like his problems are his own to deal with, even from those he trusts. He’s too scared of conflict to stand up for himself in most cases, until he’s pushed too far and snaps. Explosively.

Quirks: Bites his lip or knuckles when nervous, his hands and arms when scared. Likes to chew pencils. Hates being touched without permission except by those he deeply trusts and will reflexively jerk away from unwanted contact. With those he cares about, however, he’s a snugglebug and loves to be close to them. He’s a bit of a magpie and likes shiny things.

 

STRENGTHS AND SKILLS

Skills: Skilled with computers and engineering, codes in several languages and can hack his way through business level security. Able to assemble functional robots from very little, often scrap parts and random household objects. Resourceful, creative problem solver, good at reading people. Also a good climber.

Hobbies: He’s good at drawing and likes to use pen, ink and markers, as well as shiny, sparkly things like foil, glitter and metallic inks. Likes to make up his own robots and mecha and come up with blueprints for them, but also enjoys drawing birds and animals. He also likes watching anime, playing video games, and going for walks in nature.

Powers: — Gifted with psychic vision, able to see eldritch presences, read memories left behind in places and on objects, and knows when he is being lied to. He experiences terrifying visions of the future. — Knows when things are broken, including people, and has an innate understanding of how their pieces fit back together. He can reassemble an engine from loose parts in a fraction of the time it should take. — Power over light, perception, reflections and fate: revealing light that lets others see what he sees, blinding aura, able to bless or curse people by setting in stone what he sees in their future, or by revealing them for what they truly are. — Reality warping, able to teleport short and long distances by passing through fractures in reality, make strong objects brittle with just a touch, shift himself and others between planes. — Eldritch nature, he manifests countless wings which fill the space around him, normally on planes other than the visible. If they clip into the physical plane, they shatter or cut through what they come into contact with. He burns with an unnatural starfire when enraged and withers everything nearby into glass.

 

OTHER FACTS

Favourite music: Lindsey Stirling, Within Temptation, Delain, Wind Rose. Favourite films: Jurassic Park, The Martian, Gravity, Pacific Rim, Star Wars, Sunshine. Favourite food: Blueberries, pumpkin pie, almond-flavoured anything but especially marzipan, chocolate, home baking, pizza. Favourite animals: Small songbirds and garden birds. Sparrows are his favourite. Favourite colour: Sky blue. Also partial to mint and turquoise. Likes: Sci-fi movies, quiet spaces, being surrounded by trees, hugging people he trusts, mecha, books of constellations and space photography, SPACE. Dislikes: Loud noises, the smell of meat, people with sweaty hands, being treated like a child, feeling left out or abandoned, people who are cruel to animals.

Misc. info: Ash is a semi-strict vegan and refuses to eat meat or gelatine, and avoids eggs and dairy where possible. He can speak English and French fluently and is learning Japanese (he can also speak some sparrow, but that’s not exactly something he can put on his CV.)

 

ALTERNATE VERSES

Superhuman: Incredible power is a blessing and a curse. Ash has the ability to shatter reality, but must remain blindfolded at all times to prevent him from unleashing hell on the world. Victorian Gothic: Some call him one of the fair folk, some call him a god. What Ash truly is defies all description. He lives with his father in a world not our own, occasionally helping those who stumble into their realm. Dead in the Water: Ash escaped the wreck on which his father died, but, like others on that fateful ship on that fateful day, was stricken with a terrible curse; he knows the fates of all men, but cannot save them. Swords and Sorcery: Born with dreadful magic, Ash grew up within the walls of a cathedral. But when his untamed power razes it to the ground, he flees into the wilderness in search of solitude and answers. Gotta Catch Em All: Even in the world of Pokemon, not all people are good. Ash rehabilitates those Pokemon who have been so badly abused by their previous owners that Nurse Joy alone can’t help them. Blood and Wine: It is said that Ash can see the future. The mob boss who purchased him and his father used this to his advantage, but beat him when the visions were not to his liking. Despite his newfound freedom, Ash refuses to speak, believing that nothing he can say will lead to good. Behind the Lines:  Ash promised his father he wouldn’t follow him into the war… but he was never any good at keeping promises. When his B-17 goes down in flames over the battlefields of France, he is the only survivor. He’s forced to team up with a ragtag group of jaded soldiers and members of the French resistance to make it to Switzerland alive. Apocalypse Now: Ash and his father live in a tower deep in the wilderness, with only their collection of old world oddities for company. Ash is forbidden from leaving the castle grounds, but sneaks out on many nights to explore alone. Everything changes when he meets a strange man who claims to be from the old world.

[officialotakudome]

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New Post has been published on https://otakudome.com/firewalk-studios-announces-deal-for-sony-title/

Firewalk Studios Announces Deal For Sony Title

Firewalk Studios & Sony announce new game deal:

Bellevue, WA – April 22, 2021 – ProbablyMonsters™ Inc., a new category of game company that builds sustainable game studios through a people-first culture, proudly announces that Firewalk Studios™, a AAA studio focused on delivering world-class multiplayer experiences, has entered into an agreement with Sony Interactive Entertainment as the exclusive publishing partner for its inaugural multiplayer game. This publishing partnership is the first to be announced for a member of the ProbablyMonsters family of studios.

Founded in 2018, Firewalk Studios is led by Tony Hsu (Studio Head, previously GM and SVP of Destiny at Activision), Ryan Ellis (Game Director, previously Creative Director at Bungie) and Elena Siegman (Executive Producer, previously at Harmonix, Irrational Games, and Bungie). The team includes a deep roster of highly talented developers who have helped deliver top-selling, culturally impactful titles, including the Destiny franchise, where all three leads worked successfully together on both development and publishing, as well as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Mass Effect, and Halo. This collected expertise allows this team to focus on delivering a rich multiplayer game experience rooted in great core gameplay and inspired art. Firewalk continues to recruit top talent for its team, which is built on collaboration, inclusion, and respect.

ProbablyMonsters CEO and founder Harold Ryan continues his vision for building and sustaining a family of AAA game studios and original IP through a people-first culture. The company’s inclusive approach has attracted senior-level talent who have collectively worked on dozens of blockbuster franchises from over 60 major companies. Its unique development model empowers its studios to concentrate on game creation while the company’s business team focuses on leadership mentoring, funding, publishing negotiations, staffing, administration, and technology for every studio. ProbablyMonsters builds game studios so they can focus on their team, culture, and games while enjoying stable careers, and thriving as game developers. Firewalk Studios exemplifies how the groundbreaking model ProbablyMonsters has built is succeeding: studios enjoy the creative and financial freedom to transform their imagination into exceptional player experiences.

“ProbablyMonsters has created an extraordinary team at Firewalk Studios with remarkable industry talent, and their original multiplayer game will be an exciting addition to our portfolio,” said Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios at Sony Interactive Entertainment. “We’re committed to bringing a wide range of diverse gaming experiences to our platform, and we’re thrilled to partner with a visionary studio like Firewalk to bring their truly ambitious experience to life.”

“I am proud of the sustainable model we have created for our AAA studios to grow and flourish,” said Harold Ryan, CEO and founder of ProbablyMonsters. “Firewalk Studios’ strategic partnership with PlayStation is a great match for the studio’s world-class pedigree and creative vision.”

“Our goal at Firewalk Studios is to create awesome shared experiences through multiplayer games,” said Tony Hsu, Studio Head at Firewalk Studios. “This goal is supported both by the world-class operations team at ProbablyMonsters and by a team at SIE who love games and are huge supporters of our project and studio.”

ProbablyMonsters has announced and fostered the growth of three game studios in different genres, including Firewalk Studios, Cauldron Studios, developing a narrative-driven AAA game, and a next gen co-op RPG studio. More details on ProbablyMonsters and its family of studios will be shared in the coming months. To learn more about Firewalk Studios, visit firewalkstudios.com.

Follow ProbablyMonsters on Twitter at @prblyMONSTERS and connect on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/probablymonsters.

About ProbablyMonsters Inc. ProbablyMonsters, a new category of game company, was founded in 2016 by former Bungie President and CEO, Harold Ryan. ProbablyMonsters is building a family of sustainable game studios that create and launch original AAA games through a people-first culture. Located in Bellevue, Washington, the company has a strong cast of experienced, innovative game development leaders with a record of launching blockbuster projects. ProbablyMonsters’ mission is to unite, guide, and empower talented game developers to create exceptional interactive experiences. The company has built and fostered the growth of three studios, each with a unique player focus. Firewalk Studios is making an original AAA multiplayer game that will be exclusively published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Cauldron Studios is making an original AAA narrative game, and the third studio is working on a next-gen co-op RPG project. ProbablyMonsters has over 200 employees and continues to grow sustainably. For more information, visit probablymonsters.com.

About Firewalk Studios Firewalk Studios’ purpose and ambition is to deliver epic gaming entertainment – rooted in great core gameplay and inspiring art – that captures the excitement of playing games together. Formed in 2018 as part of the ProbablyMonsters family of studios, Firewalk Studios is led by a team of seasoned developers who know and love multiplayer games. Their experienced leadership team has launched some of the biggest entertainment properties across games and film that have garnered millions of dedicated fans. Such titles include Call of Duty, Destiny, Apex Legends, Mass Effect, Overwatch, The Avengers movie franchise, Pacific Rim, Inside Out, Up, and Cars 2. Firewalk Studios is building a world-class next-generation game studio where people come first. The studio is building a more sustainable approach to game development: where setting a high quality bar and treating one another with trust and respect go hand-in-hand. For more information, visit firewalkstudios.com.

About Sony Interactive Entertainment Recognized as a global leader in interactive and digital entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is responsible for the PlayStation® brand and family of products and services. SIE has delivered innovation to the market since the launch of the original PlayStation in Japan in 1994. The PlayStation family of products and services include PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®VR, PlayStation™Store, PlayStation®Plus, PlayStation™Video, PlayStation™Music, PlayStation™Now, and acclaimed PlayStation software titles from PlayStation Studios. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, SIE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation and has global functions in California, London and Tokyo.

[actualbird]

Hmmmmn do u have any all-time fave fics u could ref? I trust u

OH MAN!!! u didnt specify any fandom so im assuming you mean my all time faves from WHEREVER and OH BOY!!! 

i actually have fic rec page on my blog which spans over a whole bunch of fandoms and has cool legends like humor and angst and stuff (im still working on it tho omg) along with my catchall fic tag where i shove all the fics i reblog. but you asked for my ALL TIME FAVES so here are some off the top of my head (im limiting myself to one per fandom or else id be here FOREVER). 

(note: pls check the tags of fics before you read them)

Designations Congruent with Things by cleanwhiteroom (alt link) [Pacific Rim]

He begins at it already pried apart

OHHHHHH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. oh my GOD. okay i lose my shit over Designations Congruent with Things on a yearly basis because it is, by far, one of the most stunning pieces of fiction ive read. full stop. not only is it a feat of fanfiction (it’s GODDAMN LONG. it’s been taken off of ao3, so i cant check the wc, but damn i remember it was long), but as a story, it’s just. god, i dont even know what to say. ive already talked about this fic in a previous ask, so im just going to reiterate all my love again, just phrased slightly differently.

DCwT is an epic piece of Newt/Hermann Pacific Rim fanfiction. it follows Hermann and Newt after the events of the movie and delve painfully into each and every consequence their actions cause. it’s quite possibly the hardest thing ive ever read, for many reasons; the emotions are so vivid and they hurt; the science is so well researched it took me an hour to get through a paragraph because i my brain was still trying to catch up; Run On Sentences For Miles; it’s really, really goddamn long. i remember it got some flack for being over complicated, but in my opinion, the things that make this fic difficult are exactly what make it incredible. it’s overly cerebral in a way two messed up genius scientists would absolutely be. this fic is. i dont have words for it. i have only read the whole thing in its entirety ONCE and i have tried to reread it but goddamn is it difficult. this fic is definitely not for everybody, but it’s a piece of art that gained a bit of a cult following back when it was updating. (theres a fictional band in the fic that inspired ppl to make the band and the music real. RIGHT???) anyway this fic is basically the cornerstone which i worship when it comes to fanfiction as a genre of literature. jesus christ. jesus christ.

World Ain’t Ready by idiopathicsmile [Les Miserables]

Enjolras presses his lips together. He already looks pained, and Grantaire hasn’t even opened his mouth yet. That’s got to be a record, even for them.

“I need a favor,” he says at last.

“With what?” says Grantaire. “Ooh, are you forming a cult? Can I join? I’d be awesome at cults, I just know it.” He ticks off his qualifications on his fingers. “I love chanting, I look great in robes—”

(High school AU. Grantaire the disaffected stoner is pulled into a cause bigger than himself. Or: in which there are pretend boyfriends for great justice.)

if youve ever been in the les mis fandom i know you know this fic. i know youve already read this fic. i know that your dog has probably already read this fic. i know that this fic has been recced to hell and back, and currently resides as the most kudo-sed work in the les mis tag on AO3. but im reccing it anyways because it’s just THAT GOOD. this fic got me INTO THE FANDOM. pacing. plot. characterization. teen angst. HUMOR. this fic is perfect. literally no other words. it’s just perfect. i read this in my last few months of senior year high school, and never before have i ever read a fic that actually, truly, felt like it was about teenagers. the narrative and the voice. the dialog. god. if this were a book, id buy it. and that’s saying something because im always BROKE. but id buy this fic. several times. who am i kidding. you dont need to know this bc youve read this fic before. if you havent, please. do yourself a favor. oh my god. oh my god. (and when youre done, read all of idiopathicsmile’s other fics too god theyre all SO GOOD)

catch me if you can by isawet [Teen Wolf]

What do you think of my solution to the Kobayashi Maru?

hands down one of my favorite teen wolf fic. a vague summary gives way to a fic with incredible characterization. fucking beautiful writing style. non-chronological story telling done wonderfully. and gosh, that ending. hilarious in tiny bits that make it all the more better. just, honestly. this fic needs so much more love. it’s my go-to fic whenever i want to understand just how one can utilize suspense and tension in writing. what the hell. what the

Segments [series] by d_aia [Kingsman: The Secret Service]

“Are you sure that’s how you want to tell him?” Merlin asked once again.

“He will need space to deal with situation. It’s how he copes,” Arthur explained and a bit pretentiously at that, if one were to ask Merlin. “I’m giving him a place and a reason to run.”

Merlin chose to shut up.

all fics in this series? my favorite. it’s intelligent, brutal, beautiful. it’s been a while since ive read these, but theres a reason these fics still haunt me. god. god.

Graduate Vulcan for Fun and Profit by lazulisong [Star Trek: AOS]

It really does take a village to raise a Jim.

The members of the Kelvin’s crew watch over Jim as much as he lets them.

I LOVE THIS FIC SOOOOOOO MUCH. it’s a really delicate, heartfelt piece that isnt afraid to be an asshole sometimes, which is basically jim kirk in a nutshell. not only does it go through an incredible reflective relationship with some rando vulcan who decided to take him under his wing, but it does so in a realistic way that doesnt over dramatize aspects, but still ends up very vivid. also, THERES VULCAN LINGUISTICS. linguistics + fanfiction = 10000000% Best Shit EVER.

fathers and sons by M_Leigh [X-Men: DoFP]

“I have an – interest – in Peter Maximoff,” Erik said, somewhat grudgingly, glaring. “A – familial – interest –”

Everybody stared at him.

“In that – mutantkind is one – large – family –” Erik said valiantly, if pathetically.

“Oh, shit,” Alex said. “No way. No way.”

ghghgfjhdh the first xmen fic i ever read and by far, the most fukcgin hilarious. jesus CHRIST. theres just something subtly incredible about how the author uses phrasing to make every sentence as goddamn funny as they are. im really in love with the comma placement in this fic. every comma is exactly where it needs to be. every em dash is where it belongs. IM NOT MAKING SENSE, but i would send this fic to people as a prime example of narrative humor uplifted via phrasing and punctuation. just read this fic. it’s got Hank POV, Charles being a “strange lecherous Englishman”, Peter being a Teen, and everybody drags Erik’s fashion choices. 

Repeat After Me by queenieofaces [Yuri On Ice]

Victor learns language through mimicry, hears phrases and repeats them back until the inflection becomes second nature. Yuuri seems to communicate best through euphemism, through metaphor, through talking around the subject rather than approaching it head on, and so Victor tries his best to mimic him, to take his words and echo them back.

(Vignettes in language learning and communication, spanning the whole series.)

SO!! FUCKING!!! GOOD!!!!!!!! i think ive mentioned how much i LOVE LANGUAGE and this fic tackles the language barrier in a beautiful, earnest way. as a bilingual, this fic was just so so so good. victor is just bounding with love in this fic and the writing just feels so..,,,,warm.,,,,, 

OKAY i know you only asked for fic recs and not….all these rambles but. i just have a lot of love for fanfiction. fanfiction is so great. we are so lucky. we are so lucky. dont 4get to leave kudos and comments on fics you like! happy reading anon!!!

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

The Threat

Short opinion: I might have had empathy for David while reading #20, but that all disappeared real fast around the time Jake tells Ax that they need to start looking for Tobias not in the sky but dead on the ground.  

Long opinion:

This book has always struck me as being a study in military leadership.  We get relatively little introspection from Jake for once (and thank goodness; as much as I love that kid even I think he needs to lighten up on the self-loathing sometimes) because this is a book about how the Animorphs are doing something very right.  Specifically, they are operating exactly as a small military unit should—and it takes a clueless, selfish outsider in order to act as a foil and show just how friggin’ competent these child soldiers actually are.  A lot of that competence comes straight from the Animorphs’ absolute, unhesitating trust in their leader, to the point of literally being willing to die at his command.  David throws a pretty huge wrench in the works by simply being there with the team, and none of the Animorphs handle that challenge to Jake’s leadership particularly well.  Then again, considering how much of the plot of this book hinges on the Animorphs needing strong leadership just to stay alive, one can appreciate their disgust at David’s disobedience.  

Because Jake holds that team together.  Marco might tease him for his lack of science knowledge, Rachel might treat him like a little brother, Ax might enjoy winding him up with the whole “prince” thing, Tobias might happily poke fun at his bad grades, and Cassie might be quick to point out his lack of people skills, but they all respect the hell out of Jake.  Again and again in this book (and in the series as a whole) they prove that they literally trust him with their lives.  Sure, it helps that going into the war Cassie and Marco have both been friends with Jake for years while Rachel’s known him her whole life, Ax wants anyone who can tell him what to do, and Tobias has latched on like a barnacle learned that he can rely on Jake to help him out.  But Jake also earns that trust over the course of the war.  He goes into every battle with six Animorphs, and he comes out of every battle except the last one with six Animorphs (X).  He will deliberately refuse to ask his team to do anything he isn’t willing to do himself, and he will physically throw himself between the line of fire and any of his friends if he can.  

…so it’s patently ridiculous that David thinks he can win leadership over the Animorphs through biting people.  It seems almost silly to consider that David thinks Rachel and the others will seriously acknowledge his superiority as a direct result of him hurting someone they love.  And yet that exact trope is incredibly common in fantasy and sci fi.  Highlander, Pacific Rim, Dune, The Sword of Truth, X-Men, Spectrum, Babylon 5, Journey to Chaos, and like 400 other books and movies I don’t have space to list all portray male characters winning or attempting to win leadership roles (or infinitely worse, the respect of relatively passive female characters) through punching each other.  Technically speaking, David and Jake’s little catfight is a classic dominance battle… and Jake loses.  Badly.  Non-technically speaking, David never had a prayer of getting the Animorphs to respect him as much as they respect Jake pretty much no matter what he did.  

Because this whole book is all about showing the boundaries of Jake’s authority, which are far-reaching and close to absolute. When Ax says that it would be smarter for him to join Jake in following David into David’s bedroom, Jake insists on having Ax in the backyard and Ax goes to demorph without question.  During the opening scene, Jake asks Tobias first for clothes for David and then for a seagull, and Tobias runs off (flies off?) to go grab both immediately.  When the Animorphs first pop up inside the banquet hall pillar next to the yeerk pool, Jake asks Rachel to go into battle morph… and then asks her to demorph thirty seconds later.  She does both without grumbling.  When the seven of them are facing down the (apparent) army of hork-bajir controllers, Jake asks Marco to attack the thirty-odd controllers while alone and unarmed (pun intended) and Marco just says “you’d better be sure” before he goes ahead and does it (#21).  Cassie and Jake toss the issue of What to Do About David back and forth, but Cassie defers to Jake’s judgment.  When the seven of them are poised to grab the Russian prime minister and Jake suddenly says “Battle morphs! Now!” without a word of explanation, his narration notes “No one asked why. No one hesitated” as everyone frantically starts morphing (#21).  

However, Jake also repays that trust in spades.  His snap-judgment order to have the team go into battle morph saves their lives when otherwise Visser Three’s trap would have closed on them all.  He doesn’t get Marco killed because he’s right about the hologram within a hologram, and he also correctly calculates that having Ax demorphed during that final battle with David is more valuable than having him in harrier morph would be.  When asking for favors from Rachel and Tobias he says “please” and “thank you” and “sorry for the trouble,” and offers to repay the surf shop out of pocket so that Tobias or David won’t have to.  He freely admits that Cassie’s a better judge of character, Rachel is a better fighter, and Marco is a better strategist than him.  He verbally acknowledges Tobias’s skill at aerial fighting and Ax’s at blade fighting.  

More than that, he knows his team.  Not only does he take the time to study all five of his friends, but he also spends this entire book trying desperately to figure out what makes David tick.  He says, “I knew each of the others. Name any situation. I could tell you exactly how Cassie or Marco or Rachel or Tobias or even Ax would react. But David remained unknown. Unpredictable,” and he’s right (#21).  He moves the chess pieces around and around and around solving the dual problems of the world leaders’ conference and the seventh Animorph throughout this trilogy, and eventually figures out how to solve the leaders himself and how to move out of the way to let Cassie and Rachel solve David.  He knows that when the David situation needs a gentle touch to use Cassie, that when the Animorphs start dropping like flies Ax has to “get Rachel,” and that when it comes to attacking controllers with finesse he needs Marco.  He tells Cassie that “I’m just a moron when it comes to figuring people out,” but the truth is that, while he might not be able to do it as easily as Cassie does, he’s still got the necessary brain power (and empathy, for that matter) to figure people out just fine on his own if given enough time to do so.  

All of the moments when Jake making snap judgments—and the other five core Animorphs following those judgements—result in lives being saved also justify the fact that Jake is pretty harsh at several moments in this book.  He threatens David’s life after catching him breaking into the hotel room, and actually snaps at both Marco and Rachel when they try to ream David out for nearly betraying them.  He risks everyone’s lives by sneaking them into the world leaders’ summit, and he goes after David on the roof of the mall with the intention of killing David to avenge Tobias.  Jake is not anyone’s dad (as he reminds the team again and again) but he’s also not a mere “teacher or principal or whatever” the way David tries to make him out to be.  The Animorphs’ lives depend on them having a strong leader who gives intelligent orders and can expect them to be obeyed immediately without question.  David threatens the continued existence of the entire team by subverting that order.  

Again, if this was a different type of science fiction series, then David winning the fight against Jake would be enough to promote him automatically to being leader of the Animorphs.  If this was a very different type of story, then David winning the fight against Tobias would mean he’d get to be Rachel’s boyfriend.  K.A. Applegate shows that those kinds of gender roles are frankly ridiculous, because the qualities that make Jake the leader of this team have nothing whatsoever to do with his ability to punch or bite things.  

[aion-rsa]

Top New Young Adult Books in June 2021

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Today’s young adult books bring romance, adventure and social commentary. Take a look at our best bets for what to read this June.

A Chorus Rises by Bethany C. Morrow

Type: Novel Publisher: Tor Teen Release date: June 1

Den of Geek says: Morrow’s A Song Below Water was a fun, fierce mermaid story on the borders of urban/modern fantasy and a compelling secondary world. A secondary character from A Song Below Water takes the spotlight in this fable about race, fame and accountability. 

Publisher’s summary: Teen influencer Naema Bradshaw has it all: she’s famous, stylish, gorgeous–and she’s an Eloko, a charismatic person gifted with a melody that people adore. Everyone loves her–until she’s cast as the villain who exposed a Siren to the whole world. 

Dragged by the media, and canceled by her fans, no one understands her side: not her boyfriend, not her friends, not even her fellow Eloko. Villified by those closest to her, Naema heads to the Southwest where she is determined to stage a comeback… to her family, her real self, and the truth about her magic. What she finds is a new community in a flourishing group of online fans who support her. 

At first, it feels like it used to–the fandom, the adoration, the community that takes her side–but when her online advocates start targeting other Black girls, Naema will realize that–for Black girls like her–even the privilege of fame has its limits. And only Naema can discover the true purpose of her power, and how to use it. 

“A watery and melodic crossroads of the real and the mythic, A Chorus Rises lures readers with its seductive and beautifully Black siren song. An enthralling tale of Black girl magic and searing social commentary ready to rattle the bones.” ―Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles series

A Chorus Rises is a timely confrontation of the evolving nature of popularity in a society that chooses “exceptions” and rewards “model minorities.”

Buy A Chorus Rises by Bethany C. Morrow.

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta 

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Type: Novel Publisher: Felwel & Friends Release date: June 29

Den of Geek says: Mecha adventure takes the fore in this mix of military intrigue and romance. Mostly we’re intrigued by the world-building, which seems to draw from everything from Pacific Rim to Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Publisher’s summary: We went past praying to deities and started to build them instead...

The shadow of Godolia’s tyrannical rule is spreading, aided by their giant mechanized weapons known as Windups. War and oppression are everyday constants for the people of the Badlands, who live under the thumb of their cruel Godolia overlords.

Eris Shindanai is a Gearbreaker, a brash young rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside. When one of her missions goes awry and she finds herself in a Godolia prison, Eris meets Sona Steelcrest, a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. At first Eris sees Sona as her mortal enemy, but Sona has a secret: She has intentionally infiltrated the Windup program to destroy Godolia from within.

As the clock ticks down to their deadliest mission yet, a direct attack to end Godolia’s reign once and for all, Eris and Sona grow closer―as comrades, friends, and perhaps something more…

Buy Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta.

Gamora and Nebula: Sisters in Arms by Mackenzie Lee

Type: Novel Publisher: Marvel Press Release date: June 1

Den of Geek says: Lee captures some of the humor and wackiness of Guardians of the Galaxy in a story that is also a heart-wrenching mix of love and rivalry between sisters. While not quite reaching the bombastic heights or distinct character voices of the movies, the book’s attitude and an ending that has lodged itself in my memory put it squarely on the list.

Publisher’s summary: Gamora arrives on Torndune―a once-lush planet that has been strip-mined for the power source beneath its surface―with a mission: collect the heart of the planet. 

She doesn’t know who sent her, why they want it, or even what the heart of a planet looks like. But as the right hand and daughter of Thanos, and one of the galaxy’s most legendary warriors, her job is not to ask questions. Her job is to do what she’s told, no matter the cost. 

What she doesn’t know is that her sister Nebula is in hot pursuit. Nebula has followed Gamora to Torndune in hopes of claiming the planet’s heart first and shaming her sister as vengeance for the part she played in Nebula losing her arm. While Gamora falls in with a group of miners attempting to overthrow the tyrannical mining corporation that controls their lives, Nebula allies herself with the Universal Church of Truth, whose missionaries wait on every street corner to recruit more followers and tithes for the Matriarch. Both sisters hope their alliance will give them access to one of the massive diggers capable of drilling to the center of the planet. 

But the closer they get to the heart of the planet―and to each other―the closer they get to uncovering the truth of what brought them there and the role they may unknowingly be playing in a twisted competition with galactic consequences. A competition they can never win . . . unless they learn to trust each other. 

And trust is the biggest lie in the galaxy. 

Buy Gamora and Nebula: Sisters in Arms by Mackenzie Lee.

Sisters of the Snake by Sarena and Sasha Nanua

Type: Novel Publisher: HarperTeen Release date: June 15

Den of Geek says: Indian twin sisters take on the story of Indian twin sisters in this rags-and-riches fantasy with animal magic.

Publisher’s summary: Princess Rani longs for a chance to escape her gilded cage and prove herself. Ria is a street urchin, stealing just to keep herself alive.

When these two lives collide, everything turns on its head: because Ria and Rani, orphan and royal, are unmistakably identical.

A deal is struck to switch places—but danger lurks in both worlds, and to save their home, thief and princess must work together. Or watch it all fall into ruin.

Buy Sisters of the Snake by Sarena and Sasha Nanua.

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron  

Type: Novel Publisher: Bloomsbury YA Release date: June 29

Den of Geek says: That elegant cover is like a flower to a bee, promising something worthwhile inside. The story of a young witch discovering her powers sounds equally elegant and fantastical.

Publisher’s summary: Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch.

When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined–it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri’s unique family lineage.

When strangers begin to arrive on their doorstep, asking for tinctures and elixirs, Bri learns she has a surprising talent for creating them. One of the visitors is Marie, a mysterious young woman who Bri befriends, only to find that Marie is keeping dark secrets about the history of the estate and its surrounding community. There is more to Bri’s sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it . . . until a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family.

From the bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead comes another inspiring and deeply compelling story about a young woman with the power to conquer the dark forces descending around her.

Buy This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron.

The post Top New Young Adult Books in June 2021 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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