#people really be taking every line of dialog literally

[tackykachowch]

If I see another "Silco didn't accept Powder" take I'm breaking tables I'm so serious right now

[aotopmha]

One thing that really hasn't changed about the Sonic fandom in the years I've been away from it is the very specific obsession with the most miniscule details.

It used to be the green eyes, now it's Amy being slightly less of a token obsessive love interest or there being a sniff of a continuity/references to previous games in the story.

(I mean, it also used to be voice acting and model wars, and those are actually still alive, so the more things change, the more things also stay the same.)

But that's literally all Amy was by Sonic 06, down to one of her abilities being able to turn invisible to stalk Sonic better and it's so crazy to me how people actually defend that as "having more personality" these days when all Frontiers and Generations did was tone it down just a little bit (which is actually in line with her arc in the original Sonic Adventure).

I think Heroes might've actually been the worst of it, but I think Amy definitely deserves to have more to her character than just her crush on Sonic.

The only bit of that criticism I think is understandable here is her "losing her spunky attitude", but I don't see it with the minor changes with her in Generations in particular. And Frontiers is kind of a more somber story to begin with.

These small changes are always framed as this egregious misstep when it's really something like the character having a mildly less extreme reaction or a reference to a different relevant element to what people want.

The Time Stones are pretty relevent to bring up in a game about time travel considering getting all of them was what lead to the bad/good future at the end of CD, for example.

And Sonic and Tails vaguely alluding instead of referencing locations really doesn't make a difference to me. This is just basic continuity stuff every story does to me.

I think a few ended up strange, like the silly implications of how dialog worked out in that scene with Sonic and Knuckles, but it's just strange instead of deeply offensive to me.

And the outrage I've seen about these details is just so funny to me.

Especially since Generations itself is a nostalgia game to begin with and is the time to make references.

(All of this said, apparently the jp version is pretty much the same outside of some of the added Modern Sonic dialog, so ultimately it's inconsequential as far as true substance goes?

Generations has a really simple story to begin with, so these don't do much to ruin anything, either.

I do understand the game preservation aspect of these changes, though. They definitely should've kept the old cutscenes as a toggle or option to still look at; remasters should include the game in its original form for the sake of preservation.)

As far as criticism of that aspect goes, to bring a different example, I think I really liked the cutscene with Sonic in the Shadow portion of Generations because it clearly was in good fun with the characters taking a jab at each other about those events that happened, in other words, true continuity.

A bunch of moments in Frontiers really felt like stilted "remember this" moments, rather than just a story with these characters and I think this is what some truly take issue with, rather than "the references" themselves.

People just want a fully new story with these characters.

I think this is also why Shadow's portion has a more positive response. It's just continuing his story.

And in my case, actually retroactively somehow making me care about his character after Sonic Adventure 2.

I think the main thing is that I just did not buy any of the turns his story took after Adventure 2.

The clone stuff in Heroes was alright enough, but not enough for me to think he was fine to be brought back.

And Shadow (05) was just a mess with a character conclusion I found zero satisfaction in because just "forgetting" everything you clearly cared for is just as bad as obsessing over it.

Looking into the Shadow The Hedgehog game just to refresh my memory has been a wild journey because while the forced, immature elements are mostly the localisation as I've always known, the story still is the same mess otherwise.

And Shadow Generations somehow, miraculously put all of that insanity together into a simple, but heartfelt package that somehow didn't end up too tryhard and made sense emotionally.

You have to work through trauma to truly move on from it. You can't just say you move on and have it be the end of it, just not how it works in my eyes, unless you want the characters to feel completely alien, which I think Shadow is intended to be the complete opposite of.

I think the fact that Maria remembered stuff from her time on Earth is an issue for some people (and an apparent inconsistency with the animation), but I think there are advantages to both: if she doesn't remember/know anything about Earth, it's a big additional tragedy added to her character of never being able to see a world she grew to love through all she learned about it.

If she does remember good times on Earth, it, in turn, makes more sense why she would love it so much and want everyone on it to be happy. If she has seen the beauty of it and wishes to go back and never can, it is a tragedy all the same.

In my eyes, neither of these really take away or add to her character nor Shadow's because their bond exists regardless of whether she knew what Earth was like for herself or not.

This game actually also made me care about Maria as a character, in fact, I'd posit she became a character because even Shadow's own game didn't really go into what her illness felt like or what her general life was like on the ARK or how she felt about everyone around her.

But to loop back to my point of people liking it, it's just really nice to have a complete, substantial story again.

I don't need it, and I especially like my Sonic stories more cheesy and silly, but if you're going to do a serious story, do it this way.

Be straight to the point and sincere and add some silly elements to not go too far in the indulgently tedious hyper-drama direction.

Revisiting this crazy and wierd, but fun series has been a lot more fun than I ever thought it would be, even if I think this fandom is one I'll probably mostly keep my distance from.

All bigger ones have their issues, but the bad parts of the Sonic fandom are just not anything I even want remotely anything to do with or tolerate.

I'll watch some more of those massive video essays, though.

[charliefqirie]

What made you so drawn to Ozzy

you know, i’ve also wondered that myself for a while, but i think i figured it out.

ozzy, at first, did not stand out to me when i first got into the game. ozzy was just, there. my favorite was ted when i started.

ozzy’s a side character that doesn’t have much going for him. literally his only purpose in the game is to be killed. he’s just there to die. and he does not show any likeable traits to the average player, he’s a whiny, annoying, self-centered brat who’s constantly complaining every time you speak to him. he even told madison to take a bath first thing after she escaped (which i really don’t believe makes him a jerk, i mean being covered in unidentifiable slime is kinda gross don’t u think) who would like a character like that? ozzy’s really the most forgettable character in the game. these are thoughts i’ve noticed people always have abt ozzy. i didn’t really share these sentiments and didn’t think of ozzy as annoying but i certainly wasn’t that interested in him before, he was just neutral to me.

buggs and cindy are less liked than the rest of the characters but they’re still more liked than ozzy because they are fun and hilarious characters, with interesting dynamics to explore. i feel like the SLIME GANG, the characters who have like 3 lines of dialog at most get more love than ozzy. gives people a lot of room to explore the potential of what their characters could be. and ozzy? ozzy’s just there.

but maybe, that’s the reason why i started to like him?

i’m not much for genuinely hating characters without reason, the very idea makes me sad and pitiful. i never hated ozzy, he’s just five, of course he’s going to act like that. but i wasn’t that drawn to him back then either. (i also dont like it when people hate on cindy to a concerning extent. like yeah she’s a little brat i can understand why people would dislike her, i don’t like it when that happens but i still understand why people would, but to the point of genuine burning hatred is when it’s concerning and disturbing. she’s still just five. ah, but that topic is for another day. i’ll continue abt ozzy.)

back then in the old fandom, i had a friend who loved loved ozzy a lot, ozzy was their favorite and they cherished him. they shared their thoughts on why they loved ozzy and the potential his character has. it was their love that made me start to appreciate ozzy a bit more. but ozzy was still not my favorite still. i appreciated him a bit more but he was still kind of put to the side with me.

then kg3 got announced.

with the new game coming out, i found myself returning back to my old roots, with new people to share the interest. i didn’t even realize there was still a fandom after all this time. a small one, sure, but it’s still just as lively. it was around this time when ozzy started to shine to me.

i looked back at previous memories, looked back at old kg convo’s with friends, and one person stood out to me. this person, very obviously, hated ozzy. it was upsetting to me to see, especially since i had a friend who loved ozzy. they cut ozzy out of his own canon friend group a lot, made jokes of “who cares abt ozzy” and made his character quite unlikeable in their au’s. made madison break up with ozzy even, and made ozzy into this pathetic mess of an unlikeable character. essentially made him even more unlikeable than canon. all of this, genuinely upsetted me. i hate seeing characters treated like this. maybe they had a valid reason for disliking ozzy, maybe ozzy reminded them of a toxic friend they used to know or smthn, but looking back at old convos and seeing all that ozzy hate really perturbed me. i couldn’t stand seeing characters treated like this. and it was all that hate that made me realized really just how underappreciated and exaggerated ozzy was in the fandom.

seriously, ozzy really wasn’t as bad people thought. and he’s NOTHING like tweek from south park?? he’s not spazzy and nervous at all? he’s really more angry and uptight! (AND BY THE WAY MADISON DID NOT ASK FOR A HUG AND I DONT KNOW WHERE PEOPLE CAME TO BELIEVE THAT SHE ASKED FOR ONE WHEN SHE DIIDDNNNNTTTTTTTTT ITS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION IN THE FANDOM AND IT MAKES ME ANGRYYYYY. LITERALLY LOOK UP A CREATURE FEATURE PLAYTHROUGH, SKIP TO THE END AND YOU CAN SEE SHE DID. NOT. ASK. FOR A HUG. Anyways,) and, he was even willing to make friends with kidd after an act of kindness (which, tragically, ended in ozzy’s demise.) he was just sad. he was just sad and miserable that his friends were gone suddenly, and he lashed out. but people focused on his tantrums, they didn’t focus on why. all they say was a whiny brat who constantly complained and it was all of that that made the fandom turn their backs on him. people didn’t even remember ozzy CANONICALLY HAS FRIENDS. HAS A GIRLFRIEND. madison and ron. barely did i ever see them all in one post. BARELY. i was an avid member of the fandom and saw lots of fanarts and i saw almost NOTHING of ozzy and his friends. ozzy was always by himself. madison and ron were always paired with alice. ozzy was literally REPLACED with alice to make the slime gang. ozzy’s friends were paired with alice instead. ozzy was fucking replaced and it made me genuinely upset to see. did no one fucking pay attention to that? did everyone really fucking forget when ozzy literally complained about missing his friends all the time? why was ozzy replaced?

it was all this mistreatment that made me pity ozzy. perhaps this was why i started liking him. perhaps it was out of pity and anger at how much his character was mistreated. and with all this pity, all this anger, it made me pay attention to him more, it made me see his potential as a character.

it opened my eyes.

i started to think abt him more, thought about his good sides and moments, thought abt how fun his character could be and the potential dynamics he could have. and with his little quirks and traits, i even started to headcanon reasons for it. why’s he so germaphobic? haha, perhaps it was dr danner’s fault and he traumatized him. why does he like destructotron so much? perhaps his friends introduced him to it, and now that toy is his favorite, as it is the only memory he has of them now. and, i think ozzy’s more kinder than people think, he opened up to kidd after a single gift, ozzy’s really just mad at the new kids that they took his beloved friends away, but with that single act of kindness made him realize, ah, maybe they aren’t so bad. really, he’s just lonely, you know? my pity for him opened my eyes to how much potential his character has, especially since he wasn’t as developed as the other characters, so i did it myself. i developed him myself, gave him lots of headcanons, as i am passionate about him and i believed in him, all this pity was the stepping stone in me starting to enjoy him a lot, lot more. he has a lot of potential and i want to use it. i believe he’s an underappreciated lovely, lonely child who’s angry at the world. and i like to believe he’s genuinely kinder than people think, and that he cares. (i believe he felt a heart dropping amount of guilt when he told madison to take a bath. how could he say that after seeing her again? his germaphobia is somethign he cannot control and he hates it, it inconveniences him and now it’s inconveniencing his loved ones and he hates it. i believe the next day, he gave madison (knowing that she already took a bath ofc) a hug and a gift because he truly missed her and felt guilty he couldn’t hug her before.) he loves and cares and he laughs and cries. he loves his friends and he loves his toy and he loves his games. and i cherish him, and i want to give him something to be happy about. i want to be part of the tiny tiny club that truly enjoys ozzy as a character because he deserves it. he deserves some people who genuinely like him in this cruel fandom who only saw him and ignored him because of his whiny tantrums.

I believe he’s a good character and I like him.

perhaps it is pathetic to be so passionate about a fictional character, but does it really matter? i am still passionate. i am passionate and it gives me a drive.

[lightandfellowship]

In honor of the finale anniversary coming up, I’m sending you a deep question:

What do you think is the main theme/message of Dark Road? Or, alternatively, what theme of the story resonates with you the most?

That's a good question. I can't say I'm the best at identifying this sort of thing, but I'll try.

I see two main themes. The first is what I believe to be the more overt "thesis statement" of the game, the one line of dialog that both references the title of the game (and a good title will usually try to convey a facet of the Main Theme of the work) and also is telegraphed as being really significant because it gets said directly before the title card.

"Your world can change in an instant. Sometimes all it takes is a single step." [fade to black] KINGDOM HEARTS —Dark Road—

I have a post sort of outlining the various ways this idea manifests in the game, but at its core I think it's just saying that your worldview can be drastically altered (for better or for worse) if you just take the initiative to seek answers. I think you see this theme reiterated by Heimdall and Baldr near the end of the game, too. Heimdall: "Your lives are not ours to judge, but yours to lead. Broaden your horizons and find your own answers." Baldr: "Seek answers...to the unjust ways of the world...to the darkness." Considering this is the Xehanort game, having the thesis statement revolve around self-determination, expanding your world, and the pursuit of knowledge makes sense.

As for the second main theme, probably something along the lines of: "light and darkness aren't so different but the continued belief that they are results in an endless cycle of unnecessary conflict and tragedy that could've easily been avoided if people were just more open-minded and tried to better understand each other." Like almost every awful event that happens in this game can be traced back to this flawed belief causing the characters to act in a certain way that seals their doom.

Eraqus is openly and unashamedly anti-darkness in front of Baldr which seems to make Baldr's anxiety about his sister abandoning him grow. Baldr being scared of what might happen to him if he's left alone with his darkness, along with feeling like Hoder's light is the only thing redeeming him, causes him to chase after her into Enchanted Dominion, subsequently getting her killed (in a situation that wouldn't even have existed had Hoder not made the rash decision to go after the dark being, Maleficent, all by herself). His utter dependence on her now-extinguished light makes Baldr's darkness spiral out of control and primes him to be manipulated by a dark being who's taking advantage of his vulnerable mental state to further its own goals. Oh, and Odin kept Baldr isolated in what appears to be solitary confinement for a week because of his darkness situation, which just made everything ten times worse. Baldr's grief and directionlessness makes him decide that the world is too rotten to exist anymore, which compels him to kill all of his friends in order to destroy that world and end it all. And things get so bad that a brother and sister who love each other feel like they have no choice but to kill each other because their differences are just too large and they're never going to understand. Literally all of this could have been avoided if Hoder wasn't tasked with being this "flawless and pure" beacon of light and Baldr wasn't made to think his darkness was Bad and Scary and Unacceptable.

Then there's the upperclassmen. Hoder, Heimdall, Helgi, and Sigrun dying to darkness is what convinces Vidar, Vala, and Vali that darkness is absolutely evil and needs to be destroyed forever via Kingdom Hearts (with the added benefit of Kingdom Hearts hopefully purging the darkness out of Baldr and sparing him). And they're so focused on their plan to summon Kingdom Hearts and destroy darkness that they don't even care that innocent people and entire worlds might get hurt in the process. Nor do they even care to ask Baldr if he wants his darkness to be purged (given what happened to Ven when Xehanort removed his darkness, it's not exactly the type of thing you should forcefully do to someone.) Which, it turns out, summoning Kingdom Hearts wouldn't have destroyed darkness anyway, at least according to Darkness Baldr, so it truly was a pointless endeavor that was only going to cause harm. Again, the upperclassmen might not have pursued such a misguided and extreme plan if they hadn't been convinced by their upbringing and circumstances that destroying all darkness was undeniably a Good Thing.

In actuality, this second main theme isn't just implicitly conveyed by the plot's events, it gets stated pretty directly by Heimdall, Helgi, and Sigrun during their conversation with Xehanort and Eraqus in the Underworld. They talk about how, after they ended up in the Final World without their bodies, they realized that the darkness and light in people's hearts might not be so different after all, and that everything is a matter of perspective and personal beliefs. Quite a change of heart coming from people who were raised to believe the exact opposite, especially Helgi who was the most vocal about not approving of darkness and who was willing to use brute force against those he disagreed with (you see the "seek answers and your worldview might get drastically altered" theme crop up again here.) It's hard not to believe them when they experienced something as spiritual and eye-opening as the afterlife, which gives credence to what they have to say about light and darkness, and emphasizes all the more that the narrative is using them to convey a Truth to the audience.

Anyway, it makes sense that these two concepts would be major themes of the game since there's some synergy between them. The answer to the question "how do you prevent the tragedies caused by the light vs. darkness stuff" is...knowledge. Expanding your world. Connecting with others. Being open-minded and compassionate. Taking the initiative to try new things. Being committed to seeking truth/letting your worldviews be challenged instead of stagnating in your biases. Characters like Eraqus embody the opposite of this and are examples of what not to do. Eraqus refuses to open his mind or budge from his beliefs. He takes almost no steps to change for the better (or rather, doesn't understand what the right steps are.) His world is small, and as a result he unknowingly causes harm to the people he cares about to a catastrophic degree, perpetuating the cycle.

Xehanort sort of has the opposite problem? He lets his experiences and the MoM's influence change his beliefs for the worst, losing a lot of the nuance and integrity he already had in his youth. Any pursuit of truth gets twisted and replaced with him selectively believing the things that support his condemnation of the world and prop up his status as the chosen one ("[People] believe what they want to believe.") He starts to see "change" as being the only way to save the universe, but specifically the sort of "change" that means destroying and recreating the universe entirely. He succeeded in broadening his horizons and explored the entire span of the world, yet deemed it rotten to its core, unfit to exist. The knowledge he gained became a reason to feel superior to everyone else, instead of a reason to feel kinship. His ability to empathize just became a way to manipulate others.

[ganondoodle]

fuck it, elden ring DLC rant (spoilers) (long post ... oh dear)

so, to start this- this is a very emotional reaction, so take everything with a ton of salT (i need to get this out of my system bc i need to go and do stuff today, i literally couldnt get much more than 3 hours of sleep bc my mind was racing) i only know two screenshots and what others have told me (thank you) so i might be missing more context and havent seen or read it myself

(more details and spoilers for the DLC below the read more thingy)

also, just to explain a bit, i dont usually get this upset about things i like, i like alot of things, but its RARE as fuck that i care, like actually care care about something, and that just kinda happens, i dont choose it or can decide to not care, i just do, and when something like this happens its like ... a sort of grief? i cant help but care about it but it messes with me emotionally, i have no control over it and cant change anything about it when it gets bad or done dirty, leavign me to just have to watch it be real even when i dont want to accept it-- i wouldnt say so much that i 'expect' somethign specific and cant handle when its not like that (common accusation about disliking totk)- and no i dont have somethign specific in mind, i just dont want it to be bad OR things that seem done and closed off suddendly out of nowhere be revealed to 'actually' have been like this, new stuff that either makes no sense or invalidates alot about what i valued about it, what i thought was the point

(i remember two .. my only two other intersts before- see what i mean RARE- that also went down simiarly like this; transformers (bay movies and mainly prime series, listen i didnt choose it either) with each movie it got more messy and stupid, primes second(?) season had an end i hated and the following movie was the final nail in the coffin- and one piece after that, which i slowly fell out of love with bc every chapter seemed to go more into a direction i didnt like, then the reveal that luffy is a god actually was my final ok i hate that moment)

i knew demise for a long time but wasnt obsessed about him at all, it took me learning about how hylia was depicted in a non canon (?) manga (which made me annoyed me bc i didnt like it and made a design for her to counter demises instead) and then reading his few lines of dialog about her again that it suddendly HIT me, like cupids arrow into my head-- i liked but wasnt that super interested into elden ring until radahn showed up, instantly his design made me go owo and then learning his (base game) lore it HIT me (i love sort of tragic side characters that might have been powerful or heroic at some point but now arent anymore- not saying he is that elden rings lore i messy and no ones good tm- and especially so if that character is widely hated for no good reason, dismissed or forgotten, has little lore etc)

i have things i like but dont care this much about, like okami or bloodborne, i like it alot, theres characters i really like (oki) but im not like, fixated on them?- and to have two at the same time, while not equally strong, i dont think i had before, and then have both be damaged or potentially lose it in a similar way within barely a year hurts so damn much--- anyway, getting into the actual rant now lol

so, to sum things up (that i know), in the elden ring DLC later on

miquella is actually a master manipulator and brainwasher (even to his sister???? which means alot of impactful things about his relationship to people is kinda invalidated or made meaningless, shitty)

he wanted to become a god by marrying radahn (his half? brother, same father) of all people that has never been mentioned before until now somehow?? ) you can argue it was hinted to but i find it completely out of left field

miquella sent malenia after radahn to kill him so he could be put into the realm of shadow so miquella could marry him (there were better candidates for that??)- its unclear (to me) if radahn ever actually accepted when sound of mind or even knew about it at all, but failed and he was isntead inflicted with rot to slowly waste away but not die (like he is in base game)

which also means that, what i found really impactful in base game, the festival of radahn, that i thought was a tragic sort of last wish/effort for of radahn to grant him an honorable death as a respected general after being made into mindless people eating zombie, organized by his soldiers/friends- might have been just yet another attempt to kill him and get him over there to miquella (and even if not, it still makes it way less impactful and now i feel like letting him continue to roam as a zombie is more of a favor than killing him bc hes just gonna a puppet again! which turns the whole tradgedy of the stuff in base game on its head imo)

you need to kill him to get into the DLC (and i was even sus of that but shrugged it off when i heard it ..) bc that way miquella could take whatever was left of his soul and stitch it into mohgs corpse?? (which is why hes so small in that DLC fight) bc his body was rotten by that point, which also allowed miquella to control radahn and make him agree, force him to do whatever miq wanted (which ALSO might mean mohg 'kidnapping' miquella wasnt that actually but mohg too was manipulated so oud kill him and make his remains usable)

radahn in DLC is a voiceless meat puppet essentially ... like a mindless rotting zombie eating friends and fow alike wasnt enough- also means that we never ACTUALLY GET OT KNOW RADAHN HIMSELF bc hes eithe a zombie or a literal puppet (if you are gonna do him dirty at least let us meet actual real him *cries*)

his fight is super hard apparently (though i have been hearing people complain about the entire DLC being too hard, while the -casual player- streamer i watched is beating main bosses so fast they dont even get to start their second phase) when his fight in base game, and him by extentsion, was also hated bc of that ALREADY, which means more people are gonna hate his guts (he doesnt deserve that!!) AND most people probably wont get or care that its not actually HIM him so its like a repeat boss that everyone hates

it feels weirldy forced in for it to be radahn (like miquella was already said to be one of the strongest gods out there .. why hed want radahn so badly when his goal seemed to be rather .. combat less?? if you get what i mean, and radahn also rejected him??? and the tarnished is right there too????) bc theres plenty others it would have worked with that are barely used- it feels like someone jsut wanting him to be tha main guy not matter what (when he worked so much better as a side character!!!!)

a tragic but well rounded off side character (imo) was made into the main guy this is all about actually tm (i generally dont like main guys and this jsut feels so .... it just hurts, it didnt feel foreshadowed at all, and its not even truly HIM that is reveal to be a creepy asshat but hes just manipulated and controlled with the whole time, be it by rot or miquella)

and for miquella its like, no theres no even mildly good people there, hes brainwashed and manipulated everyone actually tm, a giant plan all to force his half brother into marrying him by making him into a corpse puppet bc he rejected miquella- inlcuding potentially manipulating his own twin sister, which goes agaisnt what you learn of what hes done for her in the base game i think?? (not that much into that part but yeah ... it feels unfair to her too)

it also kinda just leaves other lore from the base game in the dust? like the whole haligtree plan, how miquella cared for the rejected (i guess he didnt then??? and it was just more manipulation tm??) that castle with the eclipse stuff

(is the gloom eyes queen, marika, and or st trina even .. important at all to any of this??)

ok from reading tweets from people talkign about it, miquella says radahn agreed apparently but whether thats true remains uncertain and given the circumstances i do not think radahn did- others said that it kinda sounds he agreed to something that he didnt think would involve him marrying miquella

everything feels like its in shambles for every fan of every involved chaarcter

yes i know you can argue that it was all planned from the start and meant to be a twist and everything and that people having a different idea of characters isnt the fault of the creators .... only to some degree bc why then build up make so much lore and story about stuff that turns out to be like saying 'actually it was all a lie' like its not valid to feel betrayed then, you can plan things out all you want but that doesnt mean it cant be bad oder underwhelming

(i wished to be able to meet or know more about radahn but like in a non rot way or like past flashback whatever kind of way and then not like this anyway, like i was interested into his relationship with jerren and just .. more about him i suppose the monkey paw has curled hasnt it -or however you say that-)

and there i was like two days ago going "omg radahn mention!!!" when that one .. feyja? NPC says she fought alongside him at some point ............................................................

leonard isnt there in the DLC to my knowledge, you know it cant be truly radahn if his horse isnt there (the sole reason he learned gravitiy magic for and it stayed with him even after the rot!!! i know people have started to hate it bc people love that but i love that, it made him so endearing to me, like a character i already found cool omg has a confirmed softer spot??? in MY fromsoftware title??)

sorry for the long post of rambling, i am a mess, barely slept 3 hours, yes i am weird to care, autisms or whatever .. i need to go somewhere in an hour and havent prepared as all bc i needed my thoughts out of my head- might have forgotten stuff, idk if i will add it later or just kinda .. stew in it for a while

(and yes a big point why i feel so strongly is both bc its just gonna make more people hate him even more AND feels so invalidating of alot of other stuff- pulls other characters down with it- the entire time i was watching the streams i and trailers i thought i was like, its onw thing, with miquellas littel adventure and more background info on marika mostly on its own from the base game BUT NO I GUESS)

(read all this in the sense of an utteraly disoriented confused and drunken seagull yelling around pls i am not in serious mental distress ..)

[maxwellatoms]

I don’t know why more people aren’t watching this show, but it’s worth a peek.

This particular episode touches heavily on storyboards and animatics, and while these guys are all talking about feature films, just about everything they’re talking about applies to animation (half of any given superhero film is animation anyway).

Animatics are such an incredible tool that I’m shocked that they aren’t an industry requirement. We literally weren’t allowed to have animatics on Billy & Mandy due to “budgetary restraints”, and since I’d never utilized them before I didn’t realize what I was missing. Now, I basically board right into animatic. If I have a line of dialog for a character, I’ll just temp it in. That way I’m both writing and directing (essentially) at the same time. As I go, I know more-or-less how much time everything is taking, what’s working, and what drags. If I hit ten minutes and I’m still not into Act 3, I know I need to cut something to make room. I can make a version of my movie or show for (essentially) free and share it as a blueprint for others to follow or give feedback on. Why would you NOT do that?

There’s some good stuff in here too about the insane pacing of Television production, the amount of stuff you somehow have to hold in your brain when you’re dealing with all of these moving pieces, and the importance of having a plan for everything. As the director, you’re the only one who is really capable of keeping track of the project from the microscopic to macroscopic scale. Everything from overall tone to the tweak you want to make to line 236 is your responsibility.

I’m not a huge fan of Snyder’s body of work, but Zack Snyder films are Zack Snyder films. His stamp is all over them. The Russos come from a much more Disnified, collaborative background. And lest that sound too noble, the collaboration is all directed toward making a product engineered to be enjoyable. In a very real way, it’s The Auteur vs. The Machine. Listening to this episode, you can tell that no one ever say Zack Snyder down in a room with a bunch of lawyers and research executives to talk about whether or not he was accidentally delivering fascist messages or how many girls aged 8-12 were into Steppenwolf. Whereas that would be Day One at Disney, and every day after would involve some other checks-and-balances meeting, a number of high-level sign-offs, and the upkeep of an intricate company-wide roadmap.

Snyder and the Russos both found themselves making superhero movies for two very different companies in two different very ways. The ways those movies were produced are as much a result of the studio culture as it is the personalities and desires of the directors. As much as Jellystone has reminded me how much I love deep collaboration, methods of production are often not my choice. Depending on the studio, I’ve occasionally felt either overwhelmed by too much “support” or left alone in the woods to die. Neither situation is exactly ideal, but both present their own unique challenges and opportunities. The Machine is efficient, gets things done, and will protect you -- as long as you’re in its good graces. The Auteur is laid bare -- flaws and obsessions on display for anyone to see. Neither Snyder or the Russos go too deep into the studio culture at either studio (oh to be a fly on the wall when the pizza is gone), but is one really superior to the other? Learning to work within the confines of a studio’s culture is a whole different layer on the onion, and I wish they talked about it here.

It’s cool to see that from the simplest cartoon short to the summer blockbuster, the struggles in the entertainment industry are all the same. The pay’s way better on the blockbuster side, though. In case you’re trying to choose.

[imaginespazzi]

Hay! I’m new to the fandom and tumblr but you are already my favourite blog ever!😩 and GH is one of the best fanfics I’ve ever read (and I’ve read almost a billion as in my country it’s pretty popular thing overall like everyone loves to read here and we have our own ao3 but even bigger one so I know what im talking about when I say this — you are super talented) Well I will try to share my emotions from recent chapter:

Fist of all, the way Paige felt herself uncomfortable at her own wedding preparations, this dialog with Drew and then Fudds appearance is just heartbreaking. I was literally crying when Katie softened her and gave her the necklace. But than the phone call… maaan it was lethal for me. You can feel the fragility of that convo between two people who care for each other more than for themselves with every bone in body fr. That day left an imprint on their souls.

And going back to the recent days I think both Paige and Azzi understand that they have left too much things unsaid and everything they need is basically talk to each other but to gain that ability of having pure communication you have to take it slow as Katie has advised. Rush can ruin it before something stable is built especially after all this years.

Lastly, I looooove our little princess Stephane, shes truly perfect.

Omg welcome to our insanity bestie! Thank you so much for the compliment; it really and truly does mean the world to me <3

You can feel the fragility of that convo between two people who care for each other more than for themselves with every bone in body fr. That day left an imprint on their souls. - do you write? Because this was a really nice line and I think you should. This is exactly what I was going for so I'm so glad it came through!

As with many fics and in real life, it does all come back to communication. They're in a very volatile stage right and they have fundamental differences about how to sort out their issues. But Azzi is finally saying how she feels and opening up which was a much needed step. They're getting there but there's a still a lot more steps to take.

[leafiion]

+more playthrough thoughts. mostly tourmaline aka the bird chapter

first of all, for the people who want to know: you can actually cut off titania's walk-away when she says "you take west, ill see if i can get anywhere north" but she doesn't have collision so she just walks right through you into the next room.

anyway. taka's dialog here is always the best. ive said it already but it's really funny. titania: (ruminating paragraph) taka: ok. anyway titania tells taka what she wishes someone would tell her and we all run off into the sunset because every single one of us in this WTC is still doomed whether to die or otherwise. aughh i hate his little begging segment it makes me so sad. taka i love you really

big gap here to do all the quests and then quickly run through devon. i know a lot of people don't like devon bc it's kinda lame but from a narrative standpoint i think it's so fucking cool like just imagining it. it falls a little flat gameplay wise but the events are very memorable and extremely interesting to reimagine

tourmaline desert time HI TAKA. myguy.. help me not only does he hide behind/lean on that tree but he also walks super slowly over the sand dune. "i know i can't win, not against you... and not against them" every time i see those lines i die a little i think. something that hits me here is how much of a snap decision his "can i come with you?" is. and its very familiar. a la "i don't suppose i can just... tag along with you?" im a huge fan of taka in general... i have a hard time super analyzing him because i see him and i go yippee!!! i love his speech mannerisms we are literally friends.

no fucking way the forbidden lemonade stand AND it has a leafeon. fuck yes. He actually buys you a lemonadeeee cries... taka to me to lin communication taka to me to lin conversation. the narrative connections between taka and lin are insane actually but i wont get into that right now

+1 relationship points for calling him my boyfriend and he doesnt even want my ride chat

"the water isnt even drinkable.. i guess id try in a pinch" god please dont drink the corpse water taka. keeping this guy alive is so hard. for obvious reasons such as that one and other things he says and does. chiefly being him trying to kill me by being so cute. anyway now we have to go to the steel gym and put taka on the shelf :( killing myself is scheduled for right now.. his princess tower scene is sooo. can we get a little gayer justa little. asking for me. anyway fine go run off whatever..

[mineofilms]

voluptas indignationis

This all stems from a series of bulletins posted on the social media platform SpaceHey.com where I was attacked by multiple people; doxed and also they went after a family member. Not okay…

"Passive-Aggression: An infuriating behavior where people express hostility indirectly, leaving you puzzled and annoyed. They cloak their resentment in subtle sarcasm or backhanded compliments, making you question your sanity. It's a maddening dance of veiled hostility that drives you up the wall." -ChatGBT (Joe Rogan Persona master prompt).

"Believing Their Feelings Come Before Common Sense, Critical Thinking and Logic."

That one line is what I am being attacked for, as far as Snarky and Heath are concerned.

"Why Are Conservatives the Biggest Snowflakes of Them All?" Passive Aggressive title to a bulletin by Heath ‘the brief’ - [SpaceHey Conservatives Are Weird] - Blanket Statement, he means ALL and shows no actual examples or even explains himself in an articulate way...

He uses passive aggressive tendencies using words/phrases like “a 'certain someone,'" where "certain someone" is a link to my profile. Again more Passive Aggression. Heath ‘the brief’ says he is a chill dude, doesn't start trouble. Yet, talks about people in a condescending way, but really means me personally in the negative. Doesn't call me out by name, but then says ‘a certain someone’ with a link to me in it. Could be sarcasm, but to me this is a prime example of being a petty beta male practicing all they know in the form of passive-aggression and for a man to be "this much" on the passive-aggressive scale is just such a Pussy-FK'n-move. Like no testicular fortitude whatsoever...

Testicular Fortitude: A metaphorical term praising bravery and courage, traditionally associated with male resilience. It signifies inner strength and fearlessness in the face of challenges. It's not about physical attributes, but the boldness to persevere despite adversity.

Heath ‘the brief’ does not practice any of this from his ramblings about me. Even girls that like me never pay me this much goddamn attention, Jesus LOL…

I did try to have a civilized conversation about all this, which I could have handled better, but I was pissed all to hell. We did have some dialog, but Heath ‘the brief’ is an under handing little coward that talks to me from a position of "who, me, what did I do?" I have my opinions. I over explain these opinions to such a level of a degree that if someone wants to challenge me on them, one is gonna have to match the energies, intelligence, logic, time, patience and research I put into those efforts. Heath ‘the brief’ cannot do this, so he takes to the bulletins and starts all this madness that later becomes hostile when a misogynistic SpaceHey user named RILLO posted my home address on the platform, all while Heath shrugs his shoulders and is all coy about it.

He says I blocked him. I do not believe I did, as we are messaging, but I actually do not know if I did physically block him from before or not. I doubt it since he was able to comment on another thread where this all started. He did start this. He just cannot handle it and had to have a comment about it and now we are here. Again, he commented on my comment, then I told him off and he throws a fit on his bulletin about it. He literally states this: "He's exactly the kind of riff-faff that should have stayed on Facebook and left us alone." ~Heath ‘the brief’

HUH? He commented on my comment and then went and wrote a bulletin about it. Leave you alone? What? All he has to do is leave me alone and poof, done... Yet, he calls me all these things, but I am not leaving him alone? At what point is it NOT okay to defend myself, my character, my conceptual value here? Especially, when my reasoning for my words is embedded in nearly 8 years of writing, research and development of these blogs… At no time has anyone here on the SpaceHey every paraphrased my exact words and then come to me and tell me these things. It is always some half ass insult with no evidence, no breakdown, no nothing. Just a Twitter-like insult.

I was never blocked, I did remove him as a friend not long before this because of his radical concepts of equality and no explanation at all outside of: agree or be called a bigot, again with no explanation that defines his reasoning on the subject. Hence the name Heath ‘the brief,’ because he only talks in little tweets and cannot have big-boy conversations with some articulation behind it. He tells me to go back to Twitter. Yet, his whole persona is that of a ‘tweaker’ (Twitter addict). He will play the game like he can, but then say hateful shit to justify why he cannot. I wonder what he is trying to cover up by that lack of personal resolve?

That is how they operate, no debate, no dialog. I am too brash, I too toxic. I am too masculine. I get that. However, brash or not you cannot turn logic upside down and tell people up is now the new down and if you do not except that, we'll get you...

A Handful of Concepts That Were Shared in This Bashing of My Character: 

Snarky Brewster: Hates anti-pedos…

Snarky hates me for something so petty. I removed her and blocked her for not using a real pic of herself and basically being a Karen. Oh look at how she does her business and you tell me if this isn’t a Karen? She really took my rejection of her to heart to spy on me for over a year using an alternative profile or friends like Heath, RILLO and Tooterz.

I absolutely do not support adults that prey on children for sexual gratification whatsoever, is what pedophilia is. I also distrust and loathe the extreme opposite of that and chose a really bad word to describe what I meant, which I have explained a few times now, but will explain it again.

I am not perfect. I make mistakes all the time. Especially, in grammar and word choice…

I hate the anti-pedos on SpaceHey, specifically, the adults pretending to be kids, pretending to be an adult, reverting back to a kid to attempt to trap people into having sexually charged conversations with minors. Not Okay...

Especially when these adults are not targeting potential pedos but rather targeting people with conservative-leaning, opposing viewpoints. Again, NOT okay...

I do not have a problem with people gatekeeping to protect children as long as their goal, mission, core belief is to actually catch pedos on this platform. However, to target people who have a healthy sexual appetite, loves to talk to women, younger, but adult women should not be the target of these often radical thinking gatekeepers who say they are trying to protect the innocence of children on here but really just want me and people like me, gone. They want my voice gone. My Points-of-View gone. I do not hate liberals in general. However, those radical, WOKE liberals that live online in these INTERNET subcultures that do not actually believe in equality, but yet, preach a version of it that caters to radical thinking minorities, the weak minded, the attention whores of the social spaces we call equal, but really should be called “shut up and obey.” They will look for anything in my writing style that they find could be a loophole to get me into trouble with the Admins on here and in every instance they have been shutdown. Because for all their efforts all they have to stand on is made up stuff and opinion, which is NOT evidence of bigotry, racism or even me having inappropriate conversations with females on here.

SpaceHey should be now titled “Eggshells…”

SpaceHey caters to these weird INTERNET-subcultures. One cannot just be celibate without being a cel of some sort. One cannot be just Trans without parading around like an idiot and yelling it to the world. One cannot enjoy the nostalgia of SpaceHey without calling themselves ‘a scene kid.’ 40+ year old scene kids? Really??? ALL the trans/gay people I know do not do this. They actually do not do anything to show their pride. It is pride month and all and the dozen or so LGBTQ people I am close with, do not celebrate this. Their pride is their life. Their pride is being able to live in a free country where they can be this way. Real LGBTQ people are not glory hounds, desperately seeking attention for their efforts. Most of them just want to exist with their partner. Go do stuff within both their living community and their specialized community of people in LGBTQ. What I am saying is real LGBTQ people do not ALL except the LGBTQIAA+/- community as a community that is looking out for them.

If I were Gay or even Trans and I saw some straight people parading around, mocking our lives, pretending to be trans, yell, scream, cry, hold up traffic, clog our social medias, invade our safe spaces, take our sponsorships, pollute our American grown businesses and do it all on the LGBTQIAA+/-‘s behalf, I'd tell them ALL to go FK themselves and find their own group to belong to. Most people that are real LGBTQ like this do not feel the LGBTQ community actually cares about the community. Just like BLM doesn’t actually care about Black Lives Mattering at all, but all about money, money and distraction. It is a FK'n scam for bizarre INTERNET-subcultures to exist in the first place.

“People are addicts… The real problem with a lot of what's going on –on Twitter. There's a bunch of people that I follow on Twitter that don't have anything to do with me they're just negative people and I don't even follow them follow them. I bookmark their page and then I go visit them because they're so FK’n crazy and I see them 12, 13 hours-a-day tweeting. It's straight Madness and it's 100% an addiction and the amount of interactions that they have that are negative. The amount of expressions they have that are negative are overwhelming; that is an addiction. It's an outrage addiction they're addicted to recreational outrage and the response to their recreational outrage. It's constant and consistent it doesn't vary. They're not learning anything. They're not growing… They're not expanding the way they communicate with me, with people, and becoming better human beings and more –more-kind human beings…” Joe Rogan

That above Joe Rogan quote summarizes what is happening here to my account on SpaceHey to the letter. Heath/Snarky/Rillo are the literal translation of this:

• Defined as "Outrage Addicts" - They're addicted to recreational outrage and the response to their recreational outrage.

• People I have nothing to do with.

• People I do not follow or have blocked or have me blocked on here.

• I do not visit their page or care about what they have to say. Besides the doxing and going after family members.

• The amount of interactions that they have that are negative? Be interesting to know wouldn’t it…

• They are addicted to being angry with people with opposing viewpoints.

The key thing isn't the response from these people. They are free to do so and should be responsive. However, how do they respond most of the time? "Believing their feelings come before common sense, critical thinking and logic." That one line is what I am being attacked for, as far as Snarky and Heath are concerned.

Snarky also makes another comment to a mutual friend where she says I was never doxed and that it was never there. Rillo is also claiming the same thing. However, why am I looking at a screenshot with the [a href="link to my home addressDOTcom" target="_blank" – “meet his brother that lives in the same house” /a] tag. If you all know some HTML coding, you know what this rough texting code is. In the photo the direct link is not expressed, but it is in the meta tag. The text is slightly blue, meaning it is a LINK and I have that link handy and it goes directly to my home address. That is doxing. Posting the direct quotes here, along with links to their page is not. I have it, it is here. Snarky boldly and openly lied and not just that, she did it knowing she was lying about it and still tries to sound innocent. That is the sort of broadcel she is. Haha, Broad-cel.

Broadcel – A middle aged Karen that lived in the days when men called women broads.

‘She was a skanky broad.’

–example. Snarky “Karen” is an UNDERSTATEMENT…

Tooterz - is RILLO's mate and her mental health issues are a lot of the reasons RILLO/Tooterz/Snarky are so well hated on this platform and on discord and they actually are... Just their little cel club of people think they are neat and cool... I have been messaged by so many people over the last year talking about these 3 people, specifically…

Others That Jumped In to Have Their Ignorant Say:

Matt – “This guy blocked me months ago, he's a racist and a sexist. He's against anyone that questions what he likes, and he's against anyone who wants the world to change. He's happy with the state of America and thinks anyone that wants it to change is wrong.”

Andy Anarchy - Says I use words like “WOKE to hide my bigotry.” He also likes Volbeat.

Where exactly do I NOT properly define the concept and word WOKE in my blogs? How do I hide any concept in my writings? Find the phrases where I demonstrate I am a racist and a sexist and it isn’t a sarcastic joke... Find the phrases in my writings where I am against opposing viewpoints? Show me where I say I am happy with the state of America and think anyone that wants it to change is wrong? Find the exact wording. Oh, wait, you won't find it. I Wonder Why That Is???

BECAUSE IT DOESN'T FK'N EXIST...

“WOKE is both a Subculture and Internet Subculture that attempts to make minority issues displayed as majority issues and those issues be labeled as normal and/or everyday ‘FACTS…’” I love when these TROLLS make these claims, but cannot ever actually define where/when I stated these things... Amazing... Yes, FK, I love OLDER Volbeat before the radio got to them. Must be a crime... Head check, not…

My BLOG can be seen, free, on my website: mineofilms.me/blogs anyone can go there anytime and find my words with the full context laid out. Any of those people, at any time can go there and look for themselves and they will never find that stuff because it isn’t there…

Please report these 3 accounts for slander and doxing. Thank You for all that still support me and listen to reason…

RILLO - https://spacehey.com/darkstar_ Tooterz – https://spacehey.com/q2tr Snarky Brewster - https://spacehey.com/SnarkyBrewster

  voluptas indignationis (Latin for recreational outrage) by David-Angelo Mineo 6/10/2023 2,526 Words

[saal-school-project]

Part 2

6th grade

In 6th grade, I changed schools, so I didn't have many friends for the first few months, but my notebooks kept me company. I might sound like a loser here, but bear with me. I was really into horror games, movies, and stories back then, and it was around the creepypasta craze, so it didn't take long for me to join in on that too. (Creepypastas are short horror stories on the internet, btw), but keep in mind that I still didn't know any English, so my options were limited to whatever was available in Turkish, which wasn't much at all. So soon I ran out of actual creepypastas to read, and I was left with whatever self-insert romance fanfiction was written about the creepypasta characters. Great, now I'm admitting my dark past for a school project. To be honest, I don't regret it because the lack of good content available in Turkish eventually led to me learning English. There were a lot of creepypastas based on video game characters. I liked watching horror game let's play on YouTube, and I was really proud when I managed to pirate Minecraft to my mom's phone (admitting crimes now). So by extension, I got interested in video games in general, so in the summer of 6th grade, I decided to become a REAL GAMER by making a Steam account and buying some games. I also bought an ininal card because I didn't feel like convincing my mom to use her credit card. I exactly transferred 50 TL to my card and, after some not-so-thorough research, decided to buy the following games: Undertale because people recommended it to me; Hollow Knight because I'm a big fan of 2D animation; Don't Starve Together because I don't remember why; and Deus Ex: Human Revolution because I got leftover money and it was on a really big sale, so my cousin urged me to buy it.

I would try to play these games throughout the 6th grade's summer, but there were some problems. First of all, none of these games are in Turkish (I'm not sure, but that's what I remember; I'm too lazy to check). That fact didn't really matter for games like Hollow Knight and Don't Starve Together (as there wasn't much of a story), but it mattered for Undertale. Oh, I know, I could just use a Turkish patch (unofficial translation); it's not that I couldn't figure out how to do it. It's just that the game recently got a new update, and the patch didn't work with that update. As for the other games, Hollow Knight was pretty hard for a kid who never really played any proper video game other than Minecraft. On top of that, I didn't have a controller at the time, so I had to play it with the puny keyboard my laptop had, and that made it unplayable for me. As for the other two, I didn't like them very much. There was a learning curve to Don't Starve Together, and it just felt like Minecraft without the creative mode (which happens to be the part I like the most). I didn't even bother checking out Deus Ex because I randomly bought it and I don't like first-person shooters. So much so for becoming a gamer, I guess. But one day, while still in the summer holiday, there was a problem with the wifi for a few days, and it really got boring. So I played the games I downloaded before to kill time. I started playing Undertale. I looked up the words I didn't know (which were the majority of them) in a dictionary or something, and I wrote them down along with their meanings in one of my journals. I was pretty used to writing thanks to school being so boring, so my hand never really got tired of writing pages and pages of words. and I really took a liking to the game too! It took me a long time to beat it since I literally had to pause to write some words for every single dialog line, but I enjoyed it, so it didn't feel like a chore. Eventually, our wifi came back, but I continued playing. I also started watching more English content. I watched Lele Pons again, something I'm not proud to admit, but the lightness of the language used in her videos made it perfect material for a beginner like me. I also texted with the cleverbot. Lately, the chatbots are much more advanced, so Cleverbot isn't so clever anymore compared to them. I can't remember why exactly, but cleverbot had something to do with creepypastas I think. like there was a correlation between Cleverbot and Ben Drowned (a creepypasta character) for some reason? It's been years; I don't remember.

 I talked with the bot so much that I could literally predict what they would say with 99% accuracy, so it became boring, and I stopped talking to them. By the end of that summer, I had replayed Undertale for a different route and, for the first time, noticed that I could actually understand what it said without having to look anything up. It was a weird feeling in the best way possible. and I decided that I wanted to make a game too. The summer ended, and I started 7th grade.

[zydrateacademy]

Review: Hogwarts Legacy

My first impressions post was written at around 8 hours played. I just broke 100 with more to go. I’ll repeat certain things, rephrase others, and I have some new things to add. I’ve never played a Harry Potter game before this, because they all seemed to just play through the book and movie plot lines over and over again. Sometimes as Lego people. I read the books, watched the movies, and therefore held no interest in the franchises foray into my favored hobby. Legacy has quite literally the game I’ve been waiting for and that’s a shared sentiment I’ve seen.

Story wise, we play a newcomer to Hogwarts but we’re inducted as a fifth year. Extremely rare but not unheard of. Your custom character’s backstory is completely obscured and the story nor dialog reveals a single iota of information about who they are and where they come from. It’s up to us to fill in those blanks.

Immediately in the tutorial/prologue (the tutorials continue well into the game itself) it’s revealed that our MC (main character) possesses the rare ability to witness and utilize a form of “ancient magic”. We then discover a strange, previously unknown symbol to the wizarding community and alongside your mentor Professor Fig, that kicks off the main plot.

In my first impressions I considered this a bit derivative, as if it’s banking off the movie’s success. The game doesn’t waste a single chance to reference something from the books or movies, like the mooncalves first seen in Strange Beasts or the mandrake replanting class from Chamber of Secrets. Some moments are cute, but during the mandrake replanting I found myself thinking we’d explore literally anything else because per my previous point; I’ve seen that already. Other times are more subtle, like how you can literally stand at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets with a little lore page detailing a little snake etching but no other in-game indication of what it could mean. I prefer the subtle approach to fanservice like that. As stated, some moments are better than others but this game takes the shotgun approach.

One of the things that awed me about the game is how absolutely gorgeous it is, down to the atmosphere. Despite what other reviews state, I find the facial animations to be some of the best I’ve seen. There is the occasional oddity where after every spoken line, an NPC will briefly revert back to their neutral expression which can be jarring depending on how stable your game is. It’s often seamless, but sometimes my computer lags a bit (I’m a bit under the minimum requirements) and I just see their faces cancel itself out.

As I always say to anyone who will listen, the first once or twice I did the flying class I could not stop smiling. The teacher spoke to me as if I was on an amusement park ride but I didn’t care, as I got a fairly scenic route through the Hogwarts grounds that we didn’t really get in the movies. Tutorial mission thought it might have been, the music cues were perfect for the mood it was going for.

Fans of Harry Potter may very well be in two camps. One wants to capture their childhood nostalgia, the idea that they could be whisked away to a whimsical school to be taught reality breaking spells. The other camp perhaps just want a nice action RPG that just happens to be set in the universe and lore that they love. The first camp will absolutely adore the first 10-15 hours, after which the classes will very much dry up. They’re cute, giving the usual “move the mouse in a certain way” minigames. I do wish they were more complex, or there was more to do but I also completely understand that this game is very much marketed towards teens so they need to keep the pace going and the objectives accessible. Meanwhile, the second camp of fans will very much enjoy themselves. The whole prologue of the game can take a few to several hours before the final mechanic of beast-rearing is introduced, so after that the combat takes center stage. ...And the combat is actually quite great. There can be a good flow between using the right category of spell to cancel out color coded enemy shields, while making sure to counter or dodge as the right prompt presents itself. Players of Arkham, Mad Max, or Middle-Earth will be familiar with the flow. After a while however, the region level locking became a problem as the late game became far too easy. At one point I was a level 35 (cap is 40) but I kept facing level locked enemies like 20 or 30, almost all of which only took four basic attacks to kill. I had to resort to mods to remedy this issue and increase the difficulty. Hard mode in-game does well in raising the reaction times needed, and it also makes enemy shields come up much quicker, often quicker than your cooldowns which forces more spell switching which I enjoy a lot. However for those who catch onto the flow of it, even Hard difficulty can come across as fairly easy. Another thing I went to mods to help with.

I feel like this game brings to the table that HP fans have wanted. If you wanted the school experience, it’s here in in bite sized chunks, a class or two at a time for you to navigate the wonderfully designed school with all kinds of bits and bobs to discover. If you’re one of those HP fans who thought the combative implications of the world went under explored, then there’s plenty of it to be had here as well between shooting at wolves, spiders, bandits, rebels, and other creatures with fake made-up names.

It is perhaps not as much of an open world as players may have wanted. There’s plenty to explore to find chests and loot, sometimes blocked by ways you don’t have access to quite yet. The game doesn’t throw every tool at you immediately to let you loose upon the world and for good reason; because there’s not a whole hell of a lot to do town by town. This is not a “pick a direction and go” kind of world, as early on you get a tutorial notation saying that some activities are straight up locked until you get certain spells. The real meat of the game is in its quests. I will say most of the side quests are rather uninspired and after a couple dozen hours I was only really doing them to unlock appearances and crafts for our Room of Requirement, a place you can decorate and utilize as you see fit. But most of the writing in them were fairly basic. You help one goblin get his cart with art supplies, and that’s really the end of that story. Another you help track down a woman’s missing brother, which just introduces the Inferi (undead) of the lore. Game tells you to hit them with fire, and that’s all there is to that story. In fact, a lot of the game is tutorialized in the first half which can be grating for those of us who catch onto how the game works quickly. This was particularly obvious when you are introduced to the Room of Requirement, where a Weasley ancestor spells out every little thing you can do in the room down to making you place five rugs and five wall hangings before the quest continues, as if doing it once isn’t enough to understand the basics. Again I understand that they do this to keep the game accessible for the lower end of age brackets.

While we’re talking about that kind of thing, some of the activities can feel a bit like busywork. I am particularly irritated at Merlin trials, which are never complex but always tedious. There are times where I couldn’t even find the solution, despite flying around spamming the Revelio (revealing the area, Eagle Vision Style) and then discovering that if you go to far away from the trial it resets itself.  They’re also the only way to increase your inventory space (which fills up quickly because loot is absolutely everywhere). I’m okay with the various bandit camps and animal lairs but it does reek of that Ubisoft-ness that has tired gaming in the last few years. There are signs of cut content or things that were scaled back to be crisped for future patches or DLC. There’s a mission mid way through the game that showed us that there were some real stealth design to be had, but it’s underutilized. There’s a total of two stealth based missions in the game that I as an Assassin’s Creed veteran found very fun, but both areas are free to explore after said missions are done. Be it the faculty tower or the restricted section, there’s a hint here that they could have expanded the red-zones during the night time phase of Hogwarts but was likely cut because such a restriction would have become tedious or annoying for basic castle traversal, even though you can wait out the night on demand. A grand idea for a separate difficulty setting, I will say. Along those same lines there’s even a stealth attack so there’s an option to stealth your way through a grand portion of the game. You can even cast silently and are only revealed if you make too much noise, but one cast and run away to the side of a camp and you’re clear. You can draw enemies out, force patrol patterns and get them to turn around. There’s some real stealth framework in this game, I just wish it was more incentivized to do so.

It’s rare that a game can hold me until I finish it. I play a lot of open world RPG’s with the likes of Fallout and Skyrim and collectively have beaten then just a handful of times while I prefer the sandboxy nature of it all. I have beaten this one however, and with plenty more to do as mods help refine the experience further and I’m always excited to catch a smooth conversational screenshot of my character in a mask or with her knife-wand.

100%ers will find this game rather doable without too much of a fuss, mostly taking on the form of those Ubisoft-like collectibles I mentioned earlier. I had my fill at the endgame at just 80% of my stuff filled in, and that was plenty for me. I will say there’s little in the way of replayability. Nothing really changes between save files, my only recommendation is trying going from Normal to Hard to really spice up your reaction times but beyond that it’s all the same people saying the same things in roughly the exact same order. I had more nitpicks here than my First Impressions post had but don’t mistake me: 100 hours in and I probably have another 20-30 more to go as I continue exploring the nexus mods page. I do not at all regret buying the game and I’m enjoying it greatly. It really was the game I was waiting for, and I really hope the developers take notice and work on expanding the great foundation they laid out for us.

[onyxbird]

These are my thoughts about fan content clarifying what fandom values about a work that I mentioned in a response to @trivalentlinks.

The optimistic side of this post is that I think there is value in fan content forming a record for whoever chooses to look (even if that's only other fans), in the form of thousands of fanfics and fanart and fanposts, that these are the things fandom got out of a source work that made them love it. These are the versions of the characters that fans loved (or hated), whether or not that's quite what the writers/actors/etc. intended. These are the story beats that resonated so well that fans delve into them over and over and over, and these are the ones that flopped and get "fixed" again and again.

However a lot of the stuff below the cut is more pessimism and frustration about the crudeness of the "dialog," such as it is, between fandom and creators, using Leverage/Leverage Redemption as an example. I have no real answers, here.

Mostly, the thing is gets me is that 1) I know viewer numbers and ratings are what drive decision-making in TV/movie production and 2) on the viewer's end, the choice to watch or not watch a show/movie/whatever is such an incredibly crude, binary signal about something that so much factors into.

So taking Leverage as the example, since that's what touched this discussion off, imagine if Leverage Redemption just tanks next season. Lots of people who tuned in when season 1 launched stop watching. The obvious question that a lot of people are going to be asking is why. When Leverage originally aired, it was clearly popular enough to get 5 seasons and to eventually spawn a sequel series, and enough people started watching Redemption to get a second season greenlit, so the question would be what changed?

If you're looking solely at the show end to try to diagnose viewership/ratings trends, there are quite a few changes that could factor into reception, both obvious and subtle, and very limited "signal" from just numeric viewing/ratings data. Some of those changes are (all stuff I recall seeing discussed in fanposts in one form or another, BTW):

They became an Amazon production. They killed off Nate. They added Harry. They added Breanna. They made Sophie the Mastermind. They moved the setting to New Orleans. Hardison was away for most of the season. They gave Eliot a multi-episode love interest for the first time. They shifted the focus more towards the way the powerful can twist the system to their own ends to legally screw people over (linked to Harry's incorporation in the team). They had a more diverse pool of clients for the crew. They went little further over the realism line into the fantastical (e.g., literally talking guards to sleep). They seemed to explicitly refute the OT3 dynamic ("robot bodies" scene). They made a number of smaller, possibly unintended characterization changes to established characters (e.g., various stuff with Parker's portrayal). And, separate from Leverage Redemption itself, a local Portland news outlet put out an article (which doesn't appear to have been picked up by any wider news outlets) about alleged sexual harassment/assault on Electric Entertainment productions, including Leverage.

Lots of changes, both large and small. Some changes I think were excellent. Some were not. Some were non-ideal for the show, but obviously limited by circumstance (e.g., working around Aldis Hodge's availability). With (I hope) the exception of the abuse allegations, I suspect every change on my list has some fans who like it, some who hate it, and some who don't really care.

So… how would you figure out what accounted for a hypothetical drop in ratings/viewers?

In the absence of any direct feedback about what the fans are saying (or expressing through other fandom participation), there would be a lot of guesswork. The show is very centered around the crew, so I would guess the impact of cast changes would be a major objective change to look at. The original crew was well-liked in OG Leverage, so they'd probably assume no problems with returning cast. (Fans perceived some changes to how the OG crew were portrayed, but those are relatively subtle/subjective and likely not deliberate on the show's part.) Harry is a newcomer, but Noah Wyle was a core character in The Librarians, which also got 4 seasons, so I doubt him turning off fans would be the first guess. That leaves removing Tim Hutton (well-established actor, central to previous well-received series, resulted in major restructuring of crew once removed) and adding Aleyse Shannon (who seems to have fairly few previous roles) as major cast changes. (If the "Silence on the Set" article had gotten more press and really blown up, then that might make the list of possible reasons for turning people off, but I have only seen that discussed on Tumblr so far, and it appears to be only the one local article in a location they don't seem to be filming in anymore.)

Now, from what I've seen in the Tumblr fandom (both on my dash and in the main leverage tag), my impression is that people here largely think removing Nate was the right choice (either because of the allegations against Hutton or because Nate's arc had ended or both) and adore Breanna and her casting. But to know that, you have to look at what fans are saying and/or how they're engaging with the fandom rather than just looking at the fact that the new line-up isn't holding viewership. Otherwise, you might conclude, e.g., that getting rid of the (older, white, male) Mastermind and bringing in a young, queer, woman-of-color geek were a mistake for the show's popularity.

In terms of fanfic (the topic of the other post), I've seen people remark before about how little "fix-it fic" there is for Leverage. In terms of the changes in Leverage Redemption, I certainly haven't seen much, if any, fic that brings Nate back. I've seen plenty of fic that's enthusiastic about both Breanna and Harry. I have seen fic "fixing" the OT3 or having Parker do more masterminding or keeping Hardison in closer contact, suggesting that those are things that people genuinely did think were problems with the new setup.

Another obvious takeaway from the Leverage fanfic/fan content in general is that the Leverage fandom loves Eliot, but from the fic and posts I've read, my impression is that the Eliot the fandom loves is one who would never do the kind of shit Christian Kane is accused of. E.g., the fan content often delves more deeply into Eliot's bloody, ex-hitman past than the show ever has, while at the same time "Parker and/or Hardison have to practically sit Eliot down for a Powerpoint presentation to convince him they are romantically/sexually interested in him, too, because otherwise he will never make a move to avoid crossing their boundaries" is practically its own Leverage fic genre.

Now, are the creators/producers/etc. going to come to Tumblr and AO3 to figure out why their show is or is not doing well? Likely not, especially not AO3. (In this specific case, perhaps more likely than for other shows, since I think at least one of the creators has explicitly mentioned writing fanfic themselves.) But I do think there is value in the fandom talking about what they do like, what was done well, in addition to the things that make them walk away from watching further, even if the only people listening are other fans.

Leverage/Leverage Redemption isn't the only place where I have this frustration, BTW. I had a lot of fun with the MCU, before Infinity War/Endgame killed a lot of my enjoyment. And then, of course, they start rolling out a lot stuff following more diverse heroes, etc., whether that's highlighting already-established side characters (Sam Wilson, Black Widow), stuff that I'd never heard of before (e.g., Moon Knight; Shang Chi), and stuff that I had heard of and wanted to do well (e.g., Ms. Marvel, one of my cousin's favorite comics). And I just want to shake the people in charge and say "Why didn't you feature these characters before you soured me on the franchise as a whole? I didn't stop wanting to watch because you shifted away from white male superheroes. Now, if ratings go down, you're probably going to say people just don't want to watch [POC/Muslim/mentally ill/etc.] main characters, and that's not it at all."

I'm not really arguing that the fandom version of the show is actually going to get back to the creators/people deciding show funding/etc. and influence their decision-making or have a tangible impact on the way mainstream media operates, outside of (perhaps) explicit reviews of the work. I'm not arguing that people should continue to make fanworks for this reason, or should continue supporting shows just to avoid creators drawing the wrong conclusions. I'm just saying I find it comforting that there is a record out there, in all the fan content, of what it was about these works that spoke to people. And of what, in the show universe, put them off enough to warrant discussion or fix-its. I just think it matters.

[kass-storycorner]

Hello!! i stumbled across your works and i absolutely fell inlove with your writing (especially the angsty ones)

Can i jump on the angst train and request a fic with a line that goes "I'm here, you dont have to wait anymore," with childe? Like maybe the reader told childe that theyll wait for him no matter how long it takes (and maybe a sprinkle of argument) but something happened that made the reader be on the brink of death. With or without comfort/happy ending is up to u!!

first of all thank you so much for the request! and it really makes me so happy to hear that you like my writing, especially my angst haha secondly I am so sorry that this took so long, since I saw this ask in my inbox I couldn't stop thinking about it and finished the first part of this pretty quickly - only to be stuck at how to end it (and actually fulfill the request haha). right now i am not really happy with the ending, though I feel like this is the best I can currently do! I really hope you enjoy, please let me know if it was alright haha (also I fear that I didn't really...wrote Childe in-character, I don't know)

Waiting for you

Genre: Angst, Hurt, comfort at the end

Characters: Childe x gn!reader (Childe is referred by is actual name by the reader, but outside of dialog he's called Childe)

Format: bullet points (backstory) + Text (actual fic, answer to the prompt)

Word count: 4324

Content warning: veeeery slight spoiler warning for the Liyue quests, its literally just one sentence and I tried to keep it as ambigious as possible, slight cursing (using the word bitch too, though thats the only instance of using gendered-vocab for the reader, i still wrote them gn!), mention of blood, mild violence, not proof-read ahah when will i ever do that

you can find the fic under the cut, have fun reading!

You and Childe knew each other since you were just little kids – him and his family being neighbours had meant you always ended up playing with him and his siblings, though you both got along the best.

On more than one occasion you both just ran off to somewhere no one could disturb you, your secret hideout, trading stories of great warriors from outside of Snezhnaya you heard the fishermen at the docks talk about.

Most people and children were wary of Childe, he was always the one who wanted to ‘play-fight’, which ended most of the time with the other kid running home, crying. However, you were the exception, always able to beat him or at least have a tie. Your parents, especially your father, hated it when you came back home with bruises on your arm, a bright smile and telling how you beat Childe up that day. He never felt like Childe was someone you should surround yourself with, but he kept quite for your younger years, also thanks to your mother who wasn’t fond of the fighting either but saw how much time with Childe meant to you.

Things however changed after Childe fell into the Abyss.

It was apparent how violent he got after it, even his own family was completely helpless when it came to him. So his father send him off to join the Fatui, which was a very controversial decision in the small town you both called home – most were happy to not have Childe be around anymore, for he picked up more and more fights and became more violent, but even within Snezhnaya the Fatui have a bad reputation, so most people were convinced that he would only become even worse.

Your father was one of those who was happy, but also concerned. Your mother died shortly after Childe fell into the Abyss, so your father forbade you any contact with Childe.

This, however, did not work. After Childe had to leave Morespesok you kept in touch through letters and whenever he was in town you always met up in secret.

The letters you send each other turned sweeter the older you got, changing the feelings for friendship you both felt for each other slowly into a romantic love. Childe always ended his letter with saying that he would return soon and you always with “I’ll be waiting for you Ajax”.

You always looked forward to his letters and so did he for yours. When he came back to Morespesok after every mission he had to do for the Fatui you both would meet up in your secret hideout. This place became your save haven. Conversations, hugs, kisses and even more – everything that wasn’t written in a letter between you two happened there.

Childe was fine with this and so were you. He didn’t want people to know there was someone he loved as much as he loved you, as one of the Harbringers of the Fatui it could endanger you. You on the other hand were fine with it because, even though you had no understanding for why your father forbad you the relationship with Childe, you couldn’t stomach to disappoint him. After all he was your father and you loved him dearly, no matter how much you both might disagree on things.

Still, you longed for something more – with Childe and for your own life. You wanted to travel too; you haven’t had the chance to leave Morespesok past the few neighbouring villages. So, when Childe wrote to you that after his next visit, which would only be a few days long, he was going to Liyue and didn’t knew for how long he had to stay there – you asked him in your reply if you could join him. Him writing that it wasn’t possible and better for you to stay in Morespesok and just wait for him hurt, but you understood. You are fine with waiting for him, you always were.

You were expecting a sad but loving last night with Childe before he had to leave, ending with a bittersweet goodbye. You weren’t expecting what happened instead.

Childe was angry, it was clear to see. The moment he stepped into your secret hideout you knew something was off – how he averted your eyes, how he didn’t return your kiss with a passionate one, like usual. “Ajax”, you purred in a sweet voice, “what’s wrong?”. You tried to take his hand, but he only pulled it away. Ah, that was unusual. He never refused your touch, no matter how angry he was before. “There is nothing wrong, I just was curious if there is something you want to tell me?”, he replied in a bitter tone, not even looking at you. It took you completely off guard; you saw him be angry or sulky before, you two had your fair share of arguments in the past, but somehow this was different. “No, there is nothing except for the fact that I missed you very much,” you told him, but you could feel how you started to become irritated. When you saw him two days ago visiting your family’s shop with Teucer he gave you a warm and loving smile, winking at you when he handed you that piece of paper asking to meet up tonight. What had happened in between that made him act like this? “Tsk, fine,” and with that he was on his way out. You moved quickly in front of him, blocking the way out. “Now wait a moment, would you kindly tell me what is going on here?”. He just quietly looked at you for a few seconds before he shoved you aside. “AJAX!”, you couldn’t hide your irritation and growing anger anymore, burying your fingers in his arm in order to stop him from leaving. “What did I do to make you be angry at me?”. “It doesn’t matter”, Childe replied coldly, while trying to get you to loosen your grip on his arm. “Now let me go and run home to your father and your fiancé, I bet they are already asking where you are right now.” “My what?” you replied with bewilderment. “Childe, is that why you are angry with me? Because you think I am engaged to someone else?”. Honestly, you would find this situation hilarious if it weren’t for the fact that Childe still looked at you with a sour face. “Well, I don’t think you are engaged to someone else; I know you are. Your father was really excited about the whole thing when he told me, he even invited me to your wedding, granted if I could find the time.” As he said this, he noticed how your face was a combination of confusion and anger. And oh yes, were you angry. Angry at your father for telling such blatant lies and at Childe for believing them, confused as to why he would even believe your father in the first place. “Ajax, I-“you let go of his arm, pinching the bridge of your nose and letting out a deep sigh. “I am engaged to no one, never was. I didn’t tell you this, because I didn’t want to upset you or worry you needlessly, but maybe I should’ve done it. My father continuously tries to marry me off whenever he finds anyone, he deems a worthy suitor. I guess he might have found one of your letters, though he never said anything about it, but I can’t explain why he suddenly started to become so interested in my marital status. Every few weeks he brings another person home, tells me I should marry them, for me to turn those poor fools down and tell my father he should stop. Most accept it that I have no interest in them, some stick around for a few weeks until the realise that nothing will come of it, but yeah. Ask anyone, Archons ask your family, it’s already a running joke here.” You expected the atmosphere to become less tense after you explained the whole situation to him, for him to even turn it into a joke and to apologise for his behaviour. Instead, it just grew more tense. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”, his voice still being cold, underneath it you could hear how angry he still was. “Because it wasn’t important, at least not to me. Honestly Ajax, I don’t see what the issue is here. I am not engaged and I do not plan to agree to one unless-“, you stopped yourself right there. ‘Unless it’s you who’s asking’, is what you wanted to say. You could feel how your heart fluttered even just at the thought. Childe, however, did not notice where you were going with your last sentence, too

occupied with his own anger. “Unless what?”. “It doesn’t matter, can’t we just drop the topic and enjoy our first and last night in months with each other without fighting?”, this was your last offer of peace, hoping he would finally calm down. But you knew deep down – Childe never was one to back out of a fight. “No no no, continue, tell me what you wanted to say!”, his voice growing louder and louder with every word. “Ajax, let it be,” you really weren’t in the mood for anything tonight anymore and the least you wanted to do was discuss your wish of a future with him. “No, I won’t. Tell me, because I would love to know. Or don’t, you can also just go and choose one of the various suitors your father picked out for you to fuck, I bet you really enjoy it how they are all standing in line for you,” he spit his words out, full of anger and disgust. This was the final straw for you, it was apparent that Childe choose words that he knew would hurt you with intent and it made you explode. “You know what? I’ve had enough!”, you screamed at him, feeling how tears were pooling in the corner of your eyes. Not out of sadness or because his words hurt, those were tears of pure rage. “You come in here, after I haven’t seen you in weeks, before you leave for an unspecified amount of time and all you have to do is pick a fight? Fine, here have a fight! You are unhappy that I didn’t tell you how my father wants to force me in a marriage I don’t want to be in? Boho, I am so so sorry for you Ajax. Really, I can’t fathom to imagine how much you must struggle with this, but oh well, life must be so hard when you keep travelling around Teyvat. Because I really can’t imagine how life would be outside this place, what it’s like to have anything to do. Have you ever noticed, ever realised how much I hate it? Hate the wating? Because that’s all I do! I wait for your letters, and I wait for you to return. All I ever do I wait, wait, wait. Wait for you to come home yes and wait for you to finally be ready for something, anything more!”, the tears were now streaming down your hot, angry face. Childe just looked at you, waiting for you to end what you had to say. “I am tired of waiting! I am tired of keeping us hidden, yes, I agreed to it too in the beginning, but now? Dammit, Ajax. I don’t want to be left alone here when you go to Liyue, I don’t want to wait if I don’t know for how long I should wait. I just- “it became harder for you to speak, sobs interrupting you every few seconds. “I wish you would let me join you.” Except for your sobs, which you tried to supress, silence fell over the two of you. Childe just stood there in front of you, watching how you tried to stop the tears. “You know I can’t take you with me. It’s… it’s not safe,” he said after a while. You didn’t expect for him to change his mind, however his words didn’t make you feel any better… on the contrary they made you feel even feel worse. “Leave me alone,” was all you could tell him in that moment. You didn’t want to have him near you, you didn’t want to see his stupid face or look at his sad, blue eyes. Right now, you only wanted to be alone. “(Y/N)”, Childe began softly, wanting to take you in his arms but the look you gave him made him stop dead in his tracks. “Please, I need to be alone now”. The atmosphere was heavy, both of you didn’t want to part on bad terms but – right now wasn’t the right moment to make up. “I will leave you alone, but (Y/N)”, he said, looking at you with regret about how he acted just earlier, “please wait for me.” You scoffed at his words. Wait for him, again. “(Y/N)”, you turned away, so you didn’t have to see his face when he spoke your name again. “(Y/N), please. Please promise me that you will wait for me, I’ll come back, I promise you and I will make up for this… and for making you always wait for me. I promise. You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life. You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice.” At the mention of the nursery rhyme you had to chuckle a bit. “The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend,

the frost will freeze your tongue off, so you never lie again,” you finished it, looking back at him. “Fine, I’ll wait. But leave now.” And with that Childe left you alone, leaving Morespesok for Liyue the next day.

It has been a few months now since Childe came to Liyue and while his endeavours here were more or less successful, what was on his mind most of the days was you and how you both parted. He wanted to kick himself in the arse for how he acted that day, for making you so angry and for making you cry. The worst however is how you haven’t written him a single letter yet and Childe, though he would never admit it because of his pride, was too scared to send you one first. That he should be the first one to send you a letter was something he was aware of but still – he couldn’t find the right words. What should he write? Every time he sat down at his desk, looking at the piece of paper in front of him… he was never able to make it past “Dear (Y/N)”, and even with this he wasn’t sure, maybe “Beloved” would sound better? Childe would’ve even considered asking Zhongli for advice, however after finding out that Childe was just a pawn in his plans – he still considers Zhongli a friend, but before he could ask for advice the feeling of betrayal needs to fade out. And now he got the order to return to Snezhnaya by the end of the next month… he felt so anxious at the thought of seeing you again, not even knowing what happened with you the past months. So in the letter to his family in which he announced is return, Childe asked them, after months of not hearing anything from or about you, how you were. When he held the letter of his family in his hands, he started to feel nervous, it included the answer of your wellbeing. He knew you would keep your promise, but still. What if when not? Reading the contents of the letter, however, made him wish that he had asked sooner. Childe couldn’t stop reading the few lines his family wrote about you over and over again.

You asked about (Y/N) wellbeing in your last letter. Ajax, we wish we could tell you some more pleasant news than this, but we haven't seen or heard anything of (Y/N) for a week now. No one really knows where they might be, the last we know is that they left their home after a fight with their father, but there is nothing more we can tell you.

After reading those few lines, the letter already crumply at the edges from the way he held onto it, Childe decided to immediately make his way back home. In his opinion it didn't matter if he returned sooner than ordered and that was a problem he will face later. For now, he wanted to know what had happened to you, because he couldn't, didn’t want to, believe that you left Morepesok... you promised that you would wait for him. But doubt crept into his heart and his mind - you were so frustrated with waiting, he noticed it before you even said anything that night. However, he kept ignoring it. It wasn't like that Childe didn't also wish for more, to build a home with you, to spend more time with you. The feeling of not being good enough for you, something your father and others in Morepesok made clear to him since your childhood together, and the fear of putting a visible target on your back by being by your side... all of it held him back.

The way back home only took him a few days and when he came close to his village, seeing the once so well-known roofs and chimney of the houses, he took a junction into the woods, making his way to the secret hideout of you two. When he arrived, he noticed how it looked lived in, at first a relive for Childe, until he saw the traces of a fight - and blood on the floor. He was quick to follow the trail of blood, the father he went away from the hideout the more blood was on the ground. Suddenly he could hear a strangers voice in the distance.

"Answer me you stupid bitch!", you felt a hand pulling you up by your hair, but you were already too tired, too beaten up and injured to even respond to that violent pull. All you tried to do was to keep your hands on your stomach, trying to stop the blood from gushing out. You could barely remember what had happened, how you got there. It all started over a week ago, when you father came with another suitor wanting to marry you. Like always you turned him down, saying you had no interest in marriage, this time however he wasn't as understand as the others were. The whole thing ended in you having a huge fight with your father about it, he tried to pressure you even more than usual to take that fella as your husband. It made you sick, you just couldn't stomach being around him anymore. You always wanted to make him happy, always feared of disappointing him. But this? Him asking you to marry a random person? It was something you just couldn't do. So you went away, ran out to the little hideout planning to stay there until Childe came back. You wanted to wait for him - you even got over your stupid pride and sent away a letter for him earlier this morning... and maybe this was your mistake. Carefully you tried not to be noticed by the people in your village, you didn’t want anyone to worry about you, however you also didn’t want to explain your disappearance for the last few days. The man who your father tried you to accept as a fiancé however seemed to have spotted you when you left the post-office. It was already too late when you realised that you were followed - the man made his way into the place that was only meant for you and Childe. After that your memory started to get blurry, how was that even possible it just had happened. He attacked you, you fought back, though the man was just stronger... you ran away, feeling the blood already coming from your stomach. Your body started to become weaker, your legs grew heavier and slower until you fell. Now he was above you, grabbing your hair and screaming. It was hard to even focus on what that man said to you, too tired grew your body and mind. 'I have to stay awake', you thought. It was clear that if you lost consciousness now... well, who knows what would happen then, you only knew it wouldn't be good. You had to wait for Childe, you had to be there when he got home.

There were more than a few things in Childes live he wished he never had to see. Seeing your limp body, blood streaming out of your stomach which you could barley cover with your hand, your hair in the hands of some stranger and your eyes struggling to stay open – yes, Childe wished this was something reserved for his nightmares, not for the reality he had to face now. It didn’t even take second for him to react at that sight, swiftly being next to that man and cutting his hand off with one of his blades, kicking the rest of him away. Childe would have loved to take his time with that man, torture him, make him regret that he was born, but what was more important was to stop your bleeding. Quickly Childe sat down next to you on the ground, using his scarf to stop the bleeding. “Ajax,” he could hear you whisper quietly. “Hey, I’m here, everything is fine, everything is going to be okay.” You desperately tried to keep your eyes open, to look at him. He was a mess, his eyes filled with fear and panic spread across his face. Never had you seen him with such an expression. For only what felt a few seconds you closed your eyes and then – “Hey, (Y/N) hey, open your eyes, talk to me”, you opened them and realised that you were in Childes arms now, his eyes switching from you to what was apparently the way to Morepesok. “Ajax…”, it was so cold. When did it became so cold again? “I waited for you and now you’re here… I waited. Kept my promise.” The last few words came out slurred. “Yes, I'm here, you don’t have to wait anymore. I promise you don’t have to wait for me ever again, just please-“ his breathing was heavy, he ran as fast as he could to the village in the hopes that the healers there could help you, that there was anyone who was able to help you now. “Please, don’t close your eyes, okay?” Before you could even answer him that you will try to keep them open you could already feel yourself slip out of conscious again. All you could say before everything went dark was his name again. “Ajax…”

The first thing you noticed was a warm hand on yours. Even before you opened your eyes you knew which hand it was. “Ajax,” you were a bit shocked at the sound of your own voice. It sounded so weak. You opened your eyes, seeing into those deep blue eyes looking at you. “(Y/N)”, he didn’t sound any better. Only now you started to notice the dark circles under his eyes and how his hair looked even messier than usual. Was he by your side the whole time? “How are you feeling?”. “Better than you apparently”, you joked, weakly grinning at him. He smiled back, rubbing the backside of your hand with his thumb. “I’m glad you’re better,” he replied quietly, looking down at the hand he was holding. “I’m glad you’re here.” At that his smile faded, turning into a sad expression and you already knew what this meant. “Don’t tell me…” “I’m sorry, I wasn’t even supposed to be here just yet and my early departure from Liyue apparently has caused some issues and… well, I was able to stay here until you woke up. The deal was when you wake up or-, well that doesn’t matter now. The deal was that I had to go back and fix the damage I caused once you wake up, which is honestly way more generous than I had anticipated.” You didn’t really understand what he was exactly talking about, you were still tired, but all you knew was that he had to go again. There wasn’t any energy left in your body to hold back the tears that were now falling down your face. Childe cupped your face in his hands, wiping away your tears with his thumb. “Hey, listen,” he said softly. “I promise you won’t have to wait for too long, when you recovered, I will send for you.” At this your ears peaked, looking at Childe with hopeful eyes. “Send for me, you mean-?”. “Yes, this time around I’ll be the one waiting for you to arrive in Liyue and not you’re waiting for me to come home.” At that you threw your arms around his neck wanting to hug him, causing you to hiss in pain. You forgot that you still had a stomach wound. “Careful now”, he laughed a bit at how enthusiastic you were about the news that you forgot your injury. “You promise that I will really join you in Liyue?”, you still couldn’t fully believe that he really was fine with it. “You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life. You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice,” you leaned back and held your pinkie up in the air. Childe smiled at you softly, interlocking his pinkie with yours. “The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off, so you never lie again.”

[annakie]

Mass Effect Trailer Thoughts

*EDIT* -- there are now TWO UPDATES to this post with additional screenshots, thoughts and theories, please check that one out! :) 

I wrote an unhinged disorganized post before... now I’ll attempt breaking things down in a much more logical way. :D

1) It’s basically confirmed that this is both the Milky Way and Andromeda in the same shot.

2) The audio is some actual and I think some fictional mix of communications -- 

“We know now that in the early years of the 20th century, this world was being watched” is from War of the Worlds

“Eagle Houston, you are go for landing, over” is from the moon landing.

“Arcturus Station, uknown vessel approaching, we need first contact protocols” would probably be new dialog from the First Contact War.

“Humanity now stands as partners in the galaxy” is likely new dialog from after the end of the FC war when humanity was accepted as a Citadel species.

“Ark Six is away, godspeed” is new dialog, likely a reference to the Andromeda Initiative.  There were six arks in the initiative.

3) This system isn’t in any of the first three games as far as I can tell -- and I logged into ME3 with the EGM mod wherein literally every system in all three games is used as extra content and looked at them all.  Anyone recognize it?

4) This is anyone’s guess but... possibly... what’s through the Omega relay?  the rings seem... very densely packed.

5)Two moons and a gas giant looking planet.  I don’t even want to hazard a guess.  The planet itself could look like Jupiter, but Jupiter has a lot more moons.

6) Then of course, we have the destroyed mass relay.

This comes with the dialog about taking down a dreadnaught, and (sensors?) are going crazy, and abandoning the ship, and then the REAPER SOUND.

Then “Is anyone receiving this?  We’ve lost contact.”

So all of this felt like traveling through time, and here we finish Mass Effect 3.

7) Then comes this image... which again, does not really look like any system recognizable in any of the games.

An indistinguishable female voice says something about Humanity (something like “Humanity is all the problems its faced”?  Maybe?) and a male voice... which sounds a little like Clancy Brown (Alec Ryder) to me, but... maybe I need to play through the Andromeda prologue again. 

The slight break in the action there may be accounting for the 600 years passing before Andromeda.

The break in the action could also mean it’s something in the future of what we’ve seen, something new.

8) Now, we come to this planet.

There are THREE MOONS...  and Alchera has three moons.  Maybe this is a coincidence.  Or maybe this is Alchera.  It seems oddly specific for them to show the three moons in sequence if there wasn’t a reason for it.

9) It’s confirmed that Liara is walking up a reaper here.  There ALSO appears to be a SECOND reaper in the background (look just above the sun, you can see reaper-like wires and follow that outline to see the other reaper’s legs.)

10) There appears to be more stuff, maybe N7 striped stuff, than just the fragment Liara picks up buried in the snow here.

11) This may be a part of an N7 helmet, but it can’t be Shepard’s N7 helmet.

You get the helmet as a reward for finishing the Alchera DLC in ME2 (so basically, Shepard brings it along after planting the monument), and although the part is similar on the side here, it’s definitely not the same.  This is Shepard’s helmet on the SR-2 in ME2, loaded it up and took the pics with flycam just to confirm.

14) That’s definitely a Salarian on the left and probably a Krogan on the right. Guesses for the center person... Human?  Turian?  Angaran? (Comedy answer: Javik?  Though we don’t know how long Protheans lifespans are so... hey!  Anything’s possible!)

13) Liara has crow’s feet and laugh lines -- she’s most likely much older in this trailer than we saw her last in ME3.  Perhaps... 600 - 700 years older?  Grunt would likely be the only other ME/2/3 companion still alive. (Wrex was alive to fight in the end of the Krogan Rebellion in 700 CE, if this is post-Andromeda that would place him at over 2000 years old, I don’t think Krogan lifespans are that long.  Drack is considered an old man at 1400.  But it could be possible.)

So my best theory right now aligns with what I’ve seen other people guess -- this game will take place sometime after Andromeda and serve to bridge the two galaxies, but how that happens and why Liara is retrieving a piece of broken N7 armor is anyone’s guess.  I have a few wildly unhinged theories myself. :D

[rootfish13]

A couple weeks ago I was bored and saw Thor Love & Thunder at the theatre because I was morbidly curious and I haven't watched a MCU movie in a long time. I didn't have high hopes for it but the trailers made it look fun. Boy was I wrong. It was SO BAD. Astronomically so. I'm halfway convinced Taika was sabotaging his own movie, like this was the superhero equivalent of What We Do in the Shadows but less funny and clever. I haven't been this pissed off at Taika Waititi since Jojo Rabbit, his twee take on nazi Germany movie.

All of his and the MCU's bad habits were dialed up to 11. The worst thing to me was how much contempt the movie had for it's audience. Characters literally talked out loud about other character's motivations & character arcs in that obnoxious MCU snarky way. Korg tells Valkyrie literally something like this: "Oh you don't want get close to anyone again ever since Hella killed all the Valkyries and your girlfriend so you just sit alone wallowing in your own sadness while getting drunk."

Multiple characters have similar 4th wall breaking dialog multiple times in the movie. I felt like I was watching an episode of Rick & Morty. No one talks like this in real life unless they are a huge asshole. God that is so irritating when characters sarcastically talk about their own tropes meanwhile saying an info dump to the audience because they are too stupid to pick that up through the character's actions. It's lazy dialog and it comes off as the writers being so smug and pleased with themselves thinking they are clever and too cool for school to write a serious scene.

Modern media is so littered with this bullshit they can't have characters have authentic feelings or interests anymore, everything has to be buried in 5 layers of sarcastic irony. It's like the characters are winking straight at the audience saying: "Wow isn't this so dumb and funny and ridiculous?!" It's like I was written by an insufferable 13 year old showing everyone how he's too cool to enjoy anything because everything is stupid.

Every scene is robbed of any kind of seriousness because it's always undercut with a lame joke. Why should I take this seriously when the movie doesn't? There is no stakes, suspension of disbelief, meaningful character arcs, sense of drama or even any sense that anything in the movie even matters. There are two character death fakeouts. Thor's friend Sif is dying in his arms and he treats it like a joke. A major character dies sacrificing herself for Thor but he doesn't seem to be too broken up about it other than spouting off some cheesy dialogue. Doesn't even shed a single tear.

This whole movie should really be called Thor: Mid Life Crisis as he mopes around the whole movie like a divorced dad. The acting is horrendous except for Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher as he acts circles around the main cast. Everything else screams first takes no direction given by the director as people robotically utter their lines without ant kind of conviction. I know this is a superhero movie and I wasn't expecting the Godfather but jesus this is Shumacher Batman & Robin level of cheese.

I've written way too many words than this movie deserved but this movie, Taika Waititi, Disney and The MCU royally pissed me off by wasting my time and money.

[ganondoodle]

why does it seem so impossible for theory people .. or any people really to even consider that rauru isnt the firstest of the first kings of hyrule, its been remade so many times already and the 'forgotten era of myth' might as well have included hyrule being forgotten; instead its always messing with the old titles and timeline and im so TIRED

is it rly some sort of complex to HAVE to connect the new stuff to the old titles somehow?? again i get that theorizing and all that can mean anythign but i havent seen anyone even bring up the fact that maybe, this is just a new hyrule and rauru was just the first guy on this one to call himself king, maybe the name hyrule survived but it didnt connect back to a kingdom so hey jsut thought thats a neat old name lets call it that, hell, maybe it was a surname of sonia even so he literally just called the kingdom after her not knowing its been called that since the beginning of time, wouldnt that be a cool coinsidence!! and also rly sweet of him!! like him being called rauru!! like a guy loooong long before him that no one knows of bc its been so long its long been forgotten he ever existed! isnt that cool and somber connection!

id also love if someone could just kinda ... consider botw/totk(uhg) as their own thing, like, i love the old titles, but i also love them as being done, their era has ended, this is a new era, what if we could just ... view this new era as their own thing without having to chain every little bit of dialog to the old titles

i really wish rauru/sonia never said they just founded hyrule, and zelda(i think) never called him the 'first' king bc apparently some people are unable to think oh this is a new hyrule and he was the first king of this one like i did but instead go into a rampage trying to make everyone believe totks past is somehow canonically right after fucking SKYWARD SWORD; like ... some people take every line of dialog like wayyy to literally, rauru probably THOUGHT he was the one who founded this kingdom bc he literally couldnt know any better with everything of the old stuff being so loong forgotten already, hes just some dude and not literal god who knows it all, characters can be wrong even when they believe they are right!!

(yes i am annoying about this bc i hate this on a personal level)

like .. i cant be the only one who thinks botw to be of a new era so long after all the old titles its basically a new world entirely, with no direct links to anything in the past, with references and callbacks from all old legends, but still a new world, without chains to the old, reoccuring names and happenings haunting it just the same as it did all the ones before them yet not being aware this has been happening over and over .... .. and, after it was said that oh rauru was the name of the 'first' king of hyrule, immediately thought oh shit he founded this new hyrule coolio (lets ignore how much i grew to dislike totk in general, i was hopeful still at that point) (lets also ignore how many problems totk alone has with its own damn lore for this ok, its its own mess that dragged botw into its mess but that doesnt mean it ALSO has to drag literally every single other game into its mess too)