#ps: apparently there are clues in this video??

[lgbtally4ever]

I tried posting 3 different BL edits (video, shot off my TV) of Step by Step containing kissing scenes of Jeng X Pat, but none of them are in my posts. I don’t understand which rule prohibits BL Fan Edits on here.

Anyhoo, it was all to show Man Trisanu’s prowess in making out! I believe him to be THE BEST KISSER IN BL SERIES’ EVER! And pointed out that he deserves an AWARD, if there is one. If there ISN’T, there should be and it should be NAMED FOR MAN TRISANU!

***************************************

Apparently, one of the videos appeared (#3). Where the other two went, I have no clue!

PS I, simply adore it when Jeng whispers in English into Pat’s ear.

[letterboxd]

In Focus: The Truman Show.

Inspired by Letterboxd data that revealed it to be a lockdown favorite, editor-at-large Dominic Corry looks at the ever-evolving importance of contemporary masterpiece The Truman Show.

It has long been apparent that The Truman Show is an unnervingly prescient film. The story of a man who becomes aware that his superficially idyllic life is, in fact, a live-streamed television show has gone from being high-concept to every-day.

Thanks to the three Ps—the prevalence of mass urban surveillance, the proliferation of reality television and the pervasiveness of video in social media—the notion of cameras filming our every move is no longer a paranoid fantasy, but real life. The twist being that, for the most part, we all willingly signed up for it, and did all the filming ourselves. As Yi Jian saliently observes in his review: “Not to get all ‘we live in a society’ on Letterboxd but I know a person or two in real life that would actually give anything to trade lives with Truman, it do be like that sometimes”. It indeed do, Yi Jian.

So it’s something of a cliché at this stage to point out how we are all living in some version of the The Truman Show, and you don’t have to be a member of the royal family to feel that way. Yet, somehow, the film has become even more pertinent over the last eighteen months. And it’s a pertinence reflected in the massive uptick in viewership for the film as seen in Letterboxd activity.

During the month of February 2020, the last moment of the Before Times, The Truman Show had a modest 1,235 diary entries. That number tripled in April of that year, by which time the seriousness of the pandemic had become clear. And by July, deep in the worst of the pandemic, Truman fervor peaked, with a further 178 percent leap over April’s numbers, firmly placing it in the top 200 films watched by our members in a year of lockdown. (By the way, ‘diary entries’ mean activity where the member has added a watched date; many thousands more also marked Truman as ‘watched’ in those dark months, but didn’t specify a date.)

It’s not difficult to imagine why we might become more interested in revisiting this eminently re-visitable film. During lockdown, social media—including Letterboxd—took on a greater presence in terms of how we communicated with each other. We got used to seeing footage of faces more than actual faces. We were all the stars of our own ‘Truman Show’, and simultaneously the audience of everyone else’s ‘Truman Show’.

Christian Torres boiled it down effectively when he wrote: “Now every movie I see seems to be related to my life in quarantine. I am Truman and I want to escape.” And Sonya Sandra eloquently captured the film’s increased contemporary significance in her review: “This is a real-life daylight horror film. The best kind. Even more relevant in 2021 than ever. We are all Truman, we all want to find what is real in our fake lives filled with media, capitalism and ideology. And it’s our job to fight the storm and get to the truth of it all. Nothing is real, everything is for profit, and everyone is selfish. Go out and find what is real, because it’s definitely not here.”

With its deft, dazzling blending of the profound and the humorous, the optimistic and the cynical, it’s difficult to think of anything released since The Truman Show that comes as close as it does to being a modern-day Frank Capra movie. It’s hopeful, but has its eyes wide open. There’s a darkness in the themes of the film that is never replicated in the colors on display.

While everyone involved delivers career-best work, we must principally credit the triumvirate of talent at the center of the film: director Peter Weir, screenwriter Andrew Niccol and star Jim Carrey.

Star Jim Carrey and director Peter Weir on the set of ‘The Truman Show’ (1998).

Weir is a director who inspires much online love whenever his name is mentioned, but he isn’t really mentioned all that often. Or at least as often as he should be. The Australian filmmaker has delivered masterpieces across multiple genres, and it’s extremely sad that he hasn’t directed a movie since 2010’s not-quite-true World War II drama The Way Back, arguably one of his lesser works. That’s also, insanely, one of only two movies he’s made since Truman, the other being Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the wide and rabid affection for which regularly kicks up on Twitter (not to mention demand for a sequel).

Weir doesn’t do many interviews, and while this 2018 Vanity Fair article marking Truman’s twentieth anniversary has many quotes about the film’s modern relevance, Weir doesn’t offer any commentary to that effect, presumably preferring to let the work speak for itself—though in this 1998 interview he did talk about the relationship between the media, the general public and the people we become fascinated with, as a “complex situation”.

The Vanity Fair article does, however, reveal a fascinating ‘what if’ scenario relating to Christof, the god-like director of the in-movie TV show played by Ed Harris, who offers up a pile of pretentious auteur clichés: mononymous, beret, etc. (beyond the whole god thing, that is). When Dennis Hopper, originally cast in the role, wasn’t working out, Weir considered playing the role himself, which would’ve added yet another meta layer. It brings to mind how George Miller styled Immortan Joe (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne) after himself in Mad Max: Fury Road, or how Christopher Nolan’s haircut shows up in most of his films.

Ed Harris as Christof in ‘The Truman Show’ (1998).

And, at one point, it could have gone mega-meta. Weir, in the 1998 interview, talked about a “crazy idea” he had, a technical impossibility back then but easily achievable with live-streaming now. “I would have loved to have had a video camera installed in every theater the film was to be seen [in]. At one point, the projectionist would … cut to the viewers in the cinema and then back to the movie. But I thought it was best to leave that idea untested.” Imagine.

Weir also played a role in helping to shape the originally much more overtly dark screenplay into the cheerier (on the surface at least) shooting script, which is solely credited to fellow antipodean, New Zealand-born Niccol, also a producer on the film. Both men have done the majority of their work in America, but it’s tempting to credit the film’s tone-perfect sense of heightened Americana to the degree of separation offered by their foreign provenance. In any case, it’s clear that open-air mall designers were paying attention.

Niccol’s original screenplay made his name in Hollywood, and revealed a storyteller excited by big ideas. He moved into directing with the smaller-scale Gattaca, released a year prior to Truman (itself delayed to meet Carrey’s availability). Niccol’s subsequent filmography includes several legit bangers (Lord of War hive step up!), and his endearing dedication to lofty allegories in a genre setting makes him an increasingly rare breed in Hollywood.

Like Weir, he is not the greatest fan of giving interviews, but the Vanity Fair piece quotes him making an interesting point: “When you know there is a camera, there is no reality,” thereby making Truman “the only genuine reality star.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by MusicMoviesMe, who writes that “‘Truman Show’ beats all other reality shows out there like Bachelors, Survivors and Kardashians. Come on, when you know there’s a camera at your tail, there’s no reality. So yes, Truman beats all reality shows out there bar none!”

The role was perfectly suited to Jim Carrey’s affected mannerisms, and his status as one of the world’s biggest stars meant he could relate to Truman more than most people. Then, at least. Nowadays, of course, we are all Truman.

“It is always incredible to see how far The Truman Show was ahead of [its] time,” observes The Closer79. “In a world where celebs are monitored 24/7 and we are showered with unnecessary private information on the web, where talent-free wannabes become famous and where you sometimes [wonder] what kind of surreal show society you are in—Truman and his fake show life cleverly have anticipated all of this. Only Truman knew nothing of his luck and he was granted an escape from his glass prison. We don’t really have this possibility… Aren’t we all Truman? Sometimes even voluntarily…”

Austin Burke concurs: “I have always known that I really enjoyed this film, but I had no clue that it would hold up so well years later… Could this be because the strange world that he finds himself in is far more similar to our world today? Possibly, but the idea and themes are so much more relevant now compared to when this originally released.” And while DallasFrance is conscious of piling on about the film’s prescience, his review highlights how there really is no limit to the film’s meta qualities:

“Instead of writing a review about how this film predicted social media, or how we’re all Truman, or yadda yadda yadda, I’ll instead fixate on the miraculous fact that two absolute legends were cast as primary viewers of the Truman Show:

1. The old lady from The Running Man who starts betting on Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger). ‘He’s one bad motherf*cker!’

2. The villain from The Karate Kid Part II:

‘Live or die, man?!’ ‘Die!’ ‘Wrong!’ *hooooonnnkkk*

I’ve never seen either of these actors in any other roles. With the second one, I felt like I was watching a character from my childhood watch a character from his childhood come to realizations about the characters in his childhood. So actually… the movie’s really about me.”

Never change, LB membership.

We are all generally pretty aware of how ahead of its time The Truman Show was, but that doesn’t lessen its impact. Maddie’s review shows that there’s always some new angle to consider: “Imagine being an extra in this movie… You would be an extra, playing an actor, playing an extra. Think about that long enough and tell me that doesn’t make you want to walk into the ocean.”

Kev goes even further: “Watching other people watch somebody else while also watching that person while also watching the person watching over that person is a great reminder that watching is weird, and to be watched is to not own yourself. Don’t watch, don’t try to be watched. Just live.”

Or perhaps Will encapsulates the film’s ability to present an ever-evolving message best, writing that, “clearly, this is video proof that we live in a simulation.” Beyond mere prescience, The Truman Show is a telling mirror to whatever era it is viewed in. Its message will continue to evolve.

Now that we’re finally (touch wood) emerging from the pandemic, it will be fascinating to see what The Truman Show has to say about its audience and the world they live in, in years to come. Rest assured, it will be well-documented by you, the Letterboxd audience.

Also: can Peter Weir please make another movie? Like, seriously.

Related content

A Meta-Reality: Robert’s list of layers of film in life and life in film

Follow Dom on Letterboxd

[komkommertijd]

F1 2020 Grid as German rap songs

Since the 2020 season has come to an end, I thought it might be a good idea to finally share this thing that I’ve been working on since June. I have no idea as to why or how I had this idea, but I’m sure I’m not the first one to do this, anyway. I’m sorry to all my fellow Germans in advance <3

Disclaimer: I translated all of the lyrics myself so some things might not be completely accurate, for which I can only apologize. I do not agree with the way some rappers portray women, so I made sure to steer clear from those lyrics.

(post under the cut because it got kinda very long whoops)

Lewis - Vintage (RIN)

Oh Lord, wo soll das Ganze enden? Fahr' so schnell, ich wechsel' jede Woche Bremsen

[Oh Lord, where is this supposed to end? Driving so fast, I’m changing brakes every week]

It’s a song about being a champion, living a luxury life, nice clothes, and well...driving fast cars. Any more questions? Rin is one of my favorite German rap artists, so I just had to include his songs, and this one makes you feel like a real badass, just like our king Lewis 😌

Valtteri - In meinem Benz (AK Ausserkontrolle, Bonez MC)

Du siehst mich im Benz sitzen, so wie Lewis Hamilton

[You see me sitting in a Benz, just like Lewis Hamilton]

It’s kind of obvious why I chose that song, right? Other than that specific line there are some more parts about how much the rapper apparently loves his Mercedes and this song just screamed Valtteri to me.

Charles - NENENE (Fero47)

Sitze bald in roten Ferrari Geben Gas in der Hood Ruf' ich danach, "C'est la vie!"

[I’ll soon sit in a red Ferrari Rev up in my hood Shouting “C’est la vie!” afterward]

Ignoring the entire part about Monte Carlo and all the French words, this specific part just always reminds me of Charles when I listen to the song. More badass vibes but less seriously so because I can’t take Fero’s voice that serious at all, which fits Charles.

Sebastian - Ferrari (Eno, MERO)

Roter Ferrari Ich gebe Gas in einem Ferrari Roter Ferrari Yeah, ich sitze tief in einem Ferrari

[Red Ferrari I rev up in a red Ferrari Red Ferrari Yeah, I’m sitting deep inside a Ferrari]

There’s a part about “rolling with [a] bro in a white Mercedes” and my brain said Sewis rights. Other than that, this is once again a rather obvious choice, if not all that up to date anymore. Some lines about racing on the German highway, so of course I had to go for Sebastian with this one.

Max - Fame (Apache207)

Die Rapszene ist nur ein Affenzirkus In dem kleine Kinder gern mit Waffen hantieren Ich steh', wo ich steh', weil ich bin, wer ich bin Und nicht weil hier irgendjemand Apache platziert

[The rap scene is a madhouse Where little kids like to make use of guns I stand where I stand because I am who I am And not because someone places Apache]

This simply gives me Max vibes, I don’t have much more to say as an explanation. It just feels right, with criticism towards mentally “weaker” individuals and the confidence in making a name for oneself based on own achievements and hard work. Also, Apache has become a rather popular musician in the past year(s) (especially to obnoxious 5th graders, all tea no shade), which is just...Max, I won’t elaborate.

Alex - HONDA (Ansu)

Hold on, kommt was Schnell – Konter Dreamer, besonders – Willy Wonka Auto – Honda

[Hold on, there’s something coming Fast - Counterattack Dreamer, special - Willy Wonka Car - Honda]

I mean, it’s a song about a Honda driver? I struggled quite a bit with finding a song for Alex, but when I first listened to this song, my mind threw his name at me in blinking neon letters, so this is the vibe we’re going with - a funky fast Honda driver <3 (PS: I have no clue what the Willy Wonka thing is about but....why not)

Carlos - Habibi (Casar)

Sie schreibt: "Habibi", denn sie vermisst mich Ich fahre weit davon mit mein'n Hermanos

[She texts me “Habibi” because she misses me I drive far away with my hermanos]

I can only listen to the word “hermanos” so many times without my mind associating it with Carlos, so this one was a rather obvious choice for me as well. Also, there are some parts about Spain in this song so I had to be lame and do the obvious with this one.

Lando - 500 PS (Bonez MC, RAF Camora)

Ich drück' aufs Gas, hör' die 500 PS Fahren durch die Stadt, GTA Los Angeles

[I step on the gas, hear the 500 HP Cruising through the city, GTA Los Angeles]

This one’s a solid mainstream German rap song (not that I’d call Lando a mainstream person), liked to some extent by most people, and it gets you moving, which reminds me a lot of Lando. Cars and mentions of a video game make for a hit and Lando unites just that in person as well.

Daniel - Emotions 2.0 (Ufo361, Céline)

Baby, nimm einen Schluck Dom P. für die Emotions Ich erhöhe deine Dosis So viel Schmuck Mehr Drip als ein Ocean

[Baby take a sip Dom P for the emotions I’m increasing your dosage So much jewelry More drip than an ocean]

A bittersweet love song with rich boy summer vibes and one of my favorite German songs to be released this year, in fact, it’s my most listened to song on my phone, make for a combination that just screams Daniel to me. This song hits different when driving into the sunset in a fancy car or when biking through town at 1:30 am on three cans of Red Bull (believe me, I tried), and always reminds me of better times. It’s the ideal song to sing and rap along to, so that matches Daniel just fine.

Esteban - Einsneunzig (Brown-Eyes White Boy)

Bin fast einsneunzig, stell' mich auf die Bündel, das' ein Weltrekord Lass' die Zeit Revue passier'n, selbe Jungs und selber Ort

[I’m almost 1.90, stand on a wad of cash, that’s a world record Let’s recall the past, same guys and same place]

1.90 meters as a reference to Esteban’s height, obviously, simply made sense to me, once again. The second line reminds me of his feud with Pierre, so I had to choose this song. It’s better than Ratten im Hof (rats in the yard), and this reminds me of a wannabe gangster, which just screams Esteban to me, I’m sorry <3

Pierre - DAS RENNEN (RIN)

Ich hoff', eines Tages, wir gewinn'n das Rennen Wie bei Red Dead Redemption Irgendwann der Letzte wie Shanks Spinner Rims glänzen

[I hope one day we win the race Just like in Red Dead Redemption One day the last like Shanks Spinner rims are shining]

I know no one will believe this story but I started working on this post like half a year ago and I chose that song for Pierre back then and uhm, manifestation worked, I guess? Once again, I’m a big fan of Rin’s music, so choosing this song for Pierre is a bit like selfcare. The lyrics mention changing the world and well, so far Pierre has as least changed my world 😌

Daniil - One Night Stand (Capital Bra)

Ty moja ljubimaja Takaja diwnaja, krasiwaja-ja Sprawjedliwaja, njepobjedimaja Ty moja-ja, Baby, ty moja-ja

[You are my darling Such a wondeful, beauty Fair, invincible You’re mine baby, you’re mine]

I really hope I got that translation more or less right but other than that, I didn’t simply choose that song based on the Russian part. It’s a song we used to listen to a lot a few years ago and one of those from the days where Capital Bra was famous but less so than he is today. It reminds me of simpler times and it’s a pretty vibey song that, if you allow it to, draws you in and makes you dance. I have a soft spot for Daniil and the song reminds me a bit of him.

Lance - Bronx (Veysel)

Du musst doppelt zahlen, deshalb krieg' ich es umsonst Audemars, Yves Saint Laurent, eine Villa irgendwo Audemars, Yves Saint Laurent, ein paar Villen irgendwo

[You have to pay double that’s why I get it for free Audemars, Yves Saint Laurent, a mansion somewhere Audemars, Yves Saint Laurent, a few mansions somewhere]

This is a song that you have to listen to on high volume in a fast car, one that once again has really badass vibes. It’s nice to rap along to and hard not to move to. The rich boy vibes in the chorus that I’ve included in this post are pretty inevitable and logically, I had to associate that with Lance. When I turn this song on, everyone enjoys it, and I think Lance deserves to evoke that emotion in everyone as well.

Sergio - AVENTADOR (Dardan, Eno, Noah)

Roll' im Aventador Ich fahr' grad vor Gebe Gas, sag': "¡Adiós!"

[Roll in an Aventador I hit the road Step on the gas, say “¡Adiós!”]

I mean yeah, I could have chosen that song only because of the Adiós but that’s a bit lame even for me. Instead, the entire fast car vibe reminded me a lot of Checo. I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for him and this year he once again showed people ([coughs] my brother) that he’s been severely underestimated. So stepping on the gas and outpacing everyone else felt like the right vibe.

Kimi - Sorry Not Sorry (Monet192, Takt32, badmómzjay)

Was du für Karriere machst, mach' ich als Hobby Was du für Probleme hast, interessiert keinen

[What you made your career, I do as a hobby What problems you have, no one cares]

The title itself embodies Kimi and so does the entire song. The not giving a shit vibe, paired with the mention of the hobby thing as an indirect reference to the famous Kimi quote about seeing his job more as a hobby, are just 100% Kimi. I really couldn’t have found a better song for him. 

Antonio - Maserati (RAF Camora)

Capo dei capi Trip noch im Alfa, doch bald Maserati

[Capo dei capi Trip still in an Alfa but soon in a Maserati]

I did very much not choose the song because “capo dei capi” (the boss of bosses) is a mafia related thing, but because of the Alfa part, duh. Roadtrips in an Alfa along the Adriatic coast are cool and all but a Maserati is obviously the main goal, and that reminds me of Antonio quite a lot ~for some reason~. The entire part about making it far in life without a “serious” job is just very F1, so the vibes are there. Happy very belated birthday Toni <3

Romain - HOCH (CRO)

Alles holt dich down, lass es einfach los Und die Dinge unter dir sind gar nicht mehr so groß Ich schau' nach oben und auf einmal geht's hoch

[Everything drags you down, just let it go And the things below you are not as big anymore I look up and suddenly it goes upwards]

This song is just very peaceful and calms my mind when I listen to it, which radiates the same comforting vibe as Romain. The topic of rising despite things dragging you down are a very prominent topic here and reminded me a lot of him, especially with him leaving Haas and everything around that. It just feels nice to listen to a bit of an uplifting song once in a while, and this one does it in a way that still allows you to feel calm and safe, which is something I associate with Romain a lot.

Kevin - Vorbei (Nico Rosseburg, Sierra Kidd)

Sag mir bitte, wie passe ich die Zeit? Der Augenblick war schön, doch es ist vorbei

[Please tell me, how do I pass the time? The moment was nice but now it’s over]

With Kevin leaving F1, I had to go for this song for him. It’s a bit more of a sad topic (so am I with the knowledge of him not being there next year) but without making the entire thing sound melancholic. I only really learned to appreciate Kevin this year and I’ll miss having him around, so this song kind of fits that idea for me.

George - 20 Zoll MAE (Celo&Abdi, Bonez MC)

Ich fahr' mit Schrittgeschwindigkeit, so wie ein Don Hättest gerne meine Felgen, aber wirst sie nicht bekommen

[I drive at walking pace like a Don You’d like to have my rims but won’t get them]

Making this solely about driving at walking pace would be a bit mean but there’s a part in the song soon after about looking beautiful in a Mercedes, so that’s pretty much George. The song just carries that fun vibe and the subtle (not really) flex, which makes it great to listen to if you want to get in a happier mood. It’s a song about Mercedes rims, of course I had to choose George 😔

Nicholas - Standard (KitschKrieg, SFR, Trettmann, Gzuz, Gringo, Ufo361)

Treff' mich in Miami, fliege nur noch First-Class Nur noch unterwegs, kriege Heimweh

[Meet me in Miami, only flying first class anymore Only on the road anymore, getting homesick]

More ~rich boy vibes~ and a song that has been playing what feels like 24/7 on MTV Germany the last two years. It got so bad that some people around me still reply in the trademark Gzuz voice when someone uses the word “standard”. Anyway, I associate this song with Nicholas because just like KitschKrieg did with their first “own” song, Nicholas has joined the game and left an impression on everyone, in one way or another, and I’m willing to see/hear more of that :)

[dribbonart]

Steven Universe Rewatch: The Trial

Apparently Rebecca Sugar said that season five of the show is like a murder mystery. Who killed Pink Diamond? When I first saw this episode, I bet a friend about what actually happened. We each picked a variety of options, and “Rose Quartz killed Pink Diamond like they say” was pretty low on the list. After all, there’s no need for all this confusion if things happened like we already thought.

Technically, they gave us all the clues to figure out what actually happened. There’s no way you could have figured it out conclusively, but you could have built the story. I love that the hint to the key twist of the story was buried in Steven’s story about Garnet’s day.

Anyway, this is a neat episode.

I like that no one ever tells Lars what in the world is going on.

Zircon is fun. She’s having a hard day.

Very nice pacing. 

What an entrance. 

A note on Diamond shippers: There’s no reason to say that Diamonds are sisters/relatives in a human incest sense. One of the best artists in the Steven Universe fanart community is a Bellow shipper, and I bow to their expertise.

Great line. Blue Diamond has a lot of sadness, but there is a deep well of cruelty and anger underneath.

At first we think that Pearl is a courtroom sketch artist. Later we find out that this is just a hobby.

I like that this trial is conducted with an actual logical, legal argument. The prosecution presents evidence for every portion of her conclusion, including the identity of the accused.

You know when people fall back on the dictionary, things are very wrong.

This is the moment things get interesting. No one knows what actually happened.

What a wonderful euphemism. I can’t imagine what it’s a euphemism for.

I like that Zircon is the person to start to put things together. She’s a lawyer, this sort of thing is her job.

I don’t like these reaction shots. It’s implying that these Pearls have some kind of information regarding Pink’s Pearl at the time. (My comic about Pearl hiding her identity during the rebellion got so little reaction I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was funny...)

She’s right, although not in the way she’d think.

This reaction, like the Pearls’ significant glance at each other, doesn’t work for me. The show wants to throw suspicion on characters, but this murder rampage doesn’t make sense unless Yellow is trying to do a coverup, which she canonically is not. I guess she’s just poofing lawyers because she’s annoyed at the trial? I don’t find that convincing.

Putting this grille in the foreground of the shot brilliantly emphasizes how little information Steven (and Lars) have about their situation. Even in their momentary glimpse of the surface of Homeworld they don’t get a clear view.

Just blasting a hole in the wall to make a window. Very cool. I like the Diamond shape in particular.

Some amazing imagery (and a hint at White Diamond) to end the episode. I wonder if anyone figured out that Blue and Yellow’s arm ships could combine with White’s building there?

PS. I saw a hater’s video about how the Diamonds are Nazis and Steven was wrong to not kill them. I’m tempted to put up a rebuttal post, even though that’s probably a waste of effort. 

In short, many countries have totalitarian leaders, kill undesirables, and have social/racial castes. Homeworld could be Sparta, Pre-Revolutionary France, or the Soviet Union. Saying they are categorically Nazis betrays historical ignorance or lazy thinking.

Steven didn’t kill the Diamonds, but he never had the chance, so the point is moot. The important thing is that Steven never agreed with the Diamonds. Steven never allowed his empathy with the Diamonds to stop him from insisting that they stop their bad actions. 

[tartagliaxx]

okay off topic, but like,,, twisted wonderland have rlly pretty boys. it's a shame the game doesn't have an english version but ig that's what youtube is for

also, i've been watching a lot of tro, primink and j aubrey and now i've just sort of lost faith in humanity as a whole since apparently it's hard to be a decent human being

oh yeah, have you played any text based interactive fiction games lately? it's always amazing to see other authors come up with such unique ideas and get to expand on it. i've been playing so many demos and some of them are just,,, insanely good

and have you seen this video? imagine being able to edit this well lmao

— r. anon

i have no idea what you're talking about ajsdjaajkasdahj if you have time, can you elaborate? the title sounds great and interesting tho... is it a japanese game? it sounds like it.

again, i have no clue who the fuck those people are but they must be pretty shitty people to have you thinking like that. honestly it's just bewildering how hard it is for some people to be just... good? average? at the very least, not bad? idk like why do they even bother being shitty when they get zero benefits—

ummm like... otome games? the last i played was the arcana but i didn't finish it for some reason that i no longer remember. on another note, i've indulged more recently in some choose-your-own adventure stories and they're like,, so good bc that shit takes up so much effort and brain power seeing as you're not only writing one plot but many of them. that aside, i agree and in a way, all writers are amazing bc writing is just,, hard and even if some people don't 'like' their output, some would and that's just.. heartwarming? ig.

i know about all of these from the insane amounts of procrastinating i did + the combined efforts of my friends to see me bawling in pain. we all knew that the genshin characters are all pretty sad/dark but most don't quite know the extent of it.

abt lisa, my friend told me that THAT is why her constellation and trademark thing is an hourglass and that the reason she's 'lazy' is because she's trying to 'slow down' time. idk if that's canon or a headcanon but it's still highly plausible and it hasn't stopped making me sad ever since. idk but i saw lisa in a new light after that.

yknow,, i once had a phase (probs still on-going) where i just got invested in nursery rhymes and literally,, every single thing targeted for children bc there's so much hidden meaning and dark themes? personally, we have a nursery rhyme in our country that goes smth about cutting someone else's head off but like yknow buttered up nice and silky. i don't know the exact words bc i don't speak the dialect but i once read smth about it in a blog.

ah well, whatever. point is. mhy better give our boys and girls some happiness or at the very least, square the fuck up bc i'm about this close to losing it altogether.

ps. the reason i replied so late? was i late? i think so? was bc i was focused in not letting my underbuilt starter team die in dragonspine. tbh i would've procrastinated a lot longer if kazuha's not knocking by the door. ugh i really should've played w my alt regularly. anw,, sorry 😞 and i probs should go to sleep soon asdhjkafkja

[d-pennants]

Spoilers for the Dragon Prince Season 4 and beyond.

My collated notes of all the hints about what is coming up in the Dragon Prince, from interviews, AMA, ComicCon panels. Updated with stuff from Through the Moon.

There will be 7 seasons of 9 episodes each total and possibly some side projects. The story will be in three arcs with a time skip between the arcs. Books 4 & 5 makes up the next arc, which may be called the Mystery of Aaravos. Book 4 is Earth.

Side projects have been confirmed to all be part of canon and include a video game set in Xadia, an tabletop RPG game called Tales of Xadia, a possible feature film of the Orphan Queen and a possible side story set during the reign of Sol Regem featuring Sir Phineas the Cursed and his travelling companion an elf professor Delilah Geel (Who wrote the Secrets of Xadia book).

The video game was in play testing in October 2020, and Wonderstorm was still hiring staff to work on it. After S3 came out they said there was going to be an announcement about the game in 2020, but things may have been delayed due to Corvid.

Through the Moon graphic novel is set between seasons 3 and 4. It feature’s Rayla, Callum and Ezran having returned to Katolis and receiving a request from Lujanne to go the Moon Nexus  for a ritual at new moon and bring Phoe-Phoe’s ghost feather. While there Rayla seizes the opportunity to use the lake’s power as a portal between life and death to try an answer the questions that have been plaguing her about the fate of her parents, Runaan and whether Viren is truly dead.

There will also be a second graphic novel set between seasons 4 & 5.

Reminder - stuff said in interviews, AMA & so forth is subject to the team changing their mind when it comes to actually putting stuff in the show or books. They’re still planning things out. So take things as “the current idea is this, but we’ll see how it pans out”

There’s no word on how long the time skip between season 3 and 4 will be, however, Through the Moon starts 3 days before new moon and S3 ended 2 days after full moon, which is only 11 days. About 17 days pass in TTM. The Tales of Xadia TRPG is also going to fit in between these season too. AE said a vague ‘lots of weeks.’

Season 4 will include the hero trio trying to address how to heal and start to change things in the world, however there are scars history has left that will impede them. Aaravos will bring those scars to bear, though the creator did say that Aaravos himself didn’t cause those scars, he ‘brought it out’ in the people who did.

There’s a big theme of understanding what’s happened in the past and how it affects what’s happening now. Questioning what their fore-bearers have done, admitting fault and forgiving mistakes. (BTW, this is on both human and Xadian sides).

“Ezran is the key to everything.” Ezran’s empathic ability will allow him to play a role in the world no other can as he can connect to non-human beings. Though the circumstances of S1-3, who his parents are and his strong compassion, Ezran is in a unique position to cause real change.

Callum will learn more Sky magic spells well as obsessing to work a connection to another arcanum - he is dedicated to being the best mage he can be. Callum will always have a conflict between what do you want to do with magic and what will you do for magic. One hint given is that Callum cannot perform healing with his Sky magic. On an Instragram Live AE admitted he was trolling a bit, but said a betting person would pick Callum being the first human archmage. On an AMA there was a hint that historically there may have been elves that learned a second arcanum. (However, interview stated Aaravos’ mastery of all the primals is just him - he’s special).

Callum’s ‘destiny’ is tied in with the Key of Aaravos Rune Cube. It will be very important coming up. The Key is being pulled towards a location in Xadia. The closer it is to the location, the stronger the pull. (Reminder - it previously belonged to Aaravos and unlocks a great power in Xadia). In Callum’s Spellbook it says that once Zym has been returned Callum intends to find out what the Key does and make Harrow proud.

Writers have been very cagey about whether Callum being able to learn an arcanum means other humans can. “Callum learning Primal magic means that Callum learned Primal Magic.”

They’ve referred to him as the first human to learn an arcanum. However, another interview indicates that humans may have been able to connect to the primal sources in the past - thus Callum relearned something that has been forgotten for over a thousand years

Are non-magical species able to evolve into one that can use magic?

JR: There have been humans long in the past that could have AE: Yeah, right JR: They’re like [waves hand], but modern day he’s a phenomena. Like nothing is done like this no longer. AE: Yeah, I mean if Callum is developing the ability to do Primal magic do you believe that Callum is special because he’s the only human who’s able to do it or do you believe that that Callum is special because he’s the first human in forever to realise it is possible for humans. You know that kind of a little bit the question - I mean he’s special either way and right, but is he special because he’s realising that that maybe those limitations weren’t true or is he an exception to to this limitation.

Cartoon Universe interview

Though they did point out there’s not been much incentive in the last 1000 years for humans to learn Primal magic, given that Dark magic is both easier to use and more powerful.

Rayla will have an inner conflict about her future as a Moonshadow elf that she needs to figure out. Including how being friends with humans and wanting to be a protector rather than the assassin she was raised to be will affect her relationships with her people. (Plus, the whole being ghosted and ghosted parents issue needs to be addressed). Update info from TTM: Rayla ends TTM by going on a quest by herself to locate Viren. Her clues are the Storm Spire, a cave and... a giant cocoon.

There is an unspecified but important storyline involving Runaan. But the coins will get addressed at some point.The coins would require very powerful magic to release the trapped elves and it may not be possible for Primal magic. However, Viren is capable of releasing people he has coined.  Also, Rayla knows something happened to her parents, but doesn’t specifically know about the coins. Viren showed Rayla a pouch and mentioned adding her to his collection. AMA answer suggests Callum didn’t see what Viren did in the history spell - he just know Viren did something to Rayla’s parents. TtM seems to confirm Callum’s spell didn’t show that part. Whether Gren saw Runaan in the coin seems up to debate - in the novel he knew Viren used magic on Runaan came out holding something small, like a button or coin.  (PS. They also confirmed Runaan slew Harrow, and Harrow is dead dead).

Soren has a complicated future ahead of him as he’s lost the only support system he’s known his whole life. He has a lot to learn and many places to go.

Claudia is going to get a lot worse and there’s a long way to go for her, though they did hint that there’s hope for her in the end. Her motivation is love and family, not power. However, she is willing to go to great sacrifices for her family... Also, her hair will get whiter. 

“When we get back to her in Season 4, there is some amazing stuff, just in the first few episodes, which by the way are also funny and quirky and all the things we’ve come to love about the character, but she becomes a very critically important driving force of the narrative in Season 4.”

Inverse interview.

It will be explained in S4 how Claudia was able to perform the resurrection spell. It hasn’t been used previously because she either a) didn’t know it - as in Aaravos taught her it - or b) didn’t have what was necessary to cast the spell.

The story about how Claudia managed to find a supposedly extinct for a 1000 years unicorn and capture it will be addressed in S6.

According to Claudia’s VA -  Racquel Belmonte - Claudia will likely have a protege dynamic with Aaravos. She will change her mind a bit on disliking all elves and open up a bit on seeing Viren’s connection to Aaravos.

They have a backstory about why Viren treats Soren so harshly compared to Claudia (though he’s manipulative of both), though it’s not indicated when this backstory will be shown. New info from the book said that Viren used dark magic to save Soren from dying of an illness. This ravished his appearance and whatever he did scared his wife, Lissa, into leaving him. Also Viren wanted a son who would carry on his path and is disappointed Soren isn’t like him. Viren feels some resentment towards Soren that he refuses to acknowledge.

AMA confirmed that Lissa will not be making an appearance in S4 or 5. There is a possibility she may be included in S6, but it’s just a potential idea. Early mage fam life involving Lissa will come up in the novels.  (BTW she currently lives in Del Bar and was in no danger from the smoky assassin as she has nothing to do with the leadership of Del Bar)

Viren became a bit of a card carrying villain in season 3, however in season 4 & 5 some of the complexities behind his actions will be revealed. (His VA said that Viren had understandable reasons in S1 & 2, but was a villain in S3, however, he’s happy with how S4 & 5 will develop Viren. Also he gave a strong hint that Viren will have a kind of “fresh start” thing going on, and “do a 180″, and his story is apparently kinda wild). 

Viren and Aaravos: Viren didn’t take Runaan’s warning that “you found something worse than death” seriously enough. Viren is ‘in hot water’ in his dealings with Aaravos. The question over time would be - “Wait, am I making my own choices or am I being led to choices you wanted me to make, Aaravos?”

This current era will be known as the Return of Aaravos. Apparently in S4 & 5 Aaravos is going to be very... mysterious. In fact the arc could be called The Mystery of Aaravos.

“The next two seasons are about understanding who Aaravos was, who they thought Aaravos was, how they realized what was happening, and imprisoned him.” 

This is tied into the Orphan Queen storyline, for more info see this post. Parts of this storyline will feature in flashbacks S4 onwards.

A lot of Aaravos’ motivation comes from a relationship he had with a character whose name is featured on the map from the novel. (Candidates are Skall’s Hook, Ruins of Elarion, Mount Kalik and Eboreus. They said on a Q&A that Elarion wasn’t referring to a person, just the city).

Aaravos has a speech coming up in S5 that explains about the history of magic and why he’s interested in humans. Summed up - Over 5000 years ago there was only one kind of magic, deep magic, and it was very difficult to wield, then something happened that split magic into the 6 Primals Source and gave every creature and plant a connection to one of the 6 Primal Sources, which were much more practical magics. Except humans. 

When asked what was coming out of the cocoon an interviewer gave “Aaravos’ physical form” and some jokes options. Ehasz replied, “I’m gonna say none of the… well, I’m not gonna say.” TtM update: In the world between life and death the cocoon held a corrupted version of Viren - a month after Viren was resurrected at the end of S3. Rayla says Viren is caught between life and death, but in the living world.

Janai is Queen Khessa’s heir, so she should be the next Sunfire Queen. Janai also has a brother. (Sunfire elves also have a Light Being form with healing powers that’s even rarer than the beserker Heat Being form. This fact has come up a couple of times so they’re likely going to introduce a character with this form - could be Janai’s brother). 

Janai will find out that Aaravos whispered something in Khessa’s ear before he killed her.

Also on Amaya and Janai:

Also, they did a reveal page for Janai's mount, a Twin-Tailed Inferno-Toothed Tiger, with some interesting info. These flying firecats are believed to only tolerate those of pure-heart and aggressive to those of ill-intent. You can't give a factoid like that and not use it somewhere.

Tales of Xadia will feature storyline content that bridges the gap between Season 3 and the newly-announced Season 4 of The Dragon Prince,” according to Fandom’s press release. “Players can explore the ruins of Lux Aurea, try to restore the corrupted Sunforge, and fight to stop the spread of the evil monstrosities it radiates. This off-screen story will come alive in game supplements—as well as in organized play events—prior to Season 4’s release.

Forbes

Sol Regem will be in season 4. (No character makes me think of “scars of the past” more than this character. He is not going to be interested in reconciliation between Xadia and humanity).

There will be a new elf character - Terry the Earthblood elf. Has similar powers to Toph from Avatar tLA and is said to be very funny. For reference this Earthblood elf is from Callum’s Spellbook;

Also a new dragon in season 4 - Rex Igneous (Fire King) the Earth Archdragon, who lives underground but comes up every hundred years. He’s appeased by food he hasn’t tried before (looking at Ezran and his jelly tart habit here);

They mentioned that both Earthblood and Tidebound elves will be introduced in seasons 4 & 5.

There’s another archdragon who has been mentioned at SDCC and in the novel, Luna Tenebris, who reigned between Sol Regem and Avizandum.. Ehasz said that the end of her reign is being explored in S4, but no current intentions to explore the beginning.

JR mentioned that the territory of the Skywing elves will be visited at some point, and how having a small portion of the population that has wings, and a even smaller population that can magically manifest wings, has an affect on their culture. (The three types apparently have different outlooks - with winged elves being known for moving on when they don’t care to deal with things).

They’ve mentioned a character that will be introduced in the video game will make it into the show. AE & JR were talking about how they were currently writing stuff for S5 and how this character just got their moment, so I think this character is due in S5.

Core novel Book 2: Sky will introduce a very important Dark Mage character not yet featured on the show.

Also, as a tidbit from AE - there’s a scene in S5 where someone makes a sacred promise to Bait.

Sarai will feature in the show again. AMA confirmed Callum’s father is “fully human.” His father may come up in the novels.

In the novel new lore about unicorns was introduced. This lore will be incorporated into the show at some point.

The reactions to elf/human romantic relationships will be a thing.

Aanya will be featured again. Ezran and Aanya will be friends. 

Queen Fareeda of Evenere actually survived the smokey assassin’s attack - she just went missing for a bit. Her story may come up later on.

Captain Villads and Berto are likely to be featured again, but not confirmed. 

They do have some stories about Callum’s father they want to tell, but it’s likely to be in books rather than making it into the show.

Crow Master has scenes coming up. The Crow Lord is real but that’s all they’re gonna say.

Some very epic beings will eat jelly tarts in the show.

And a finishing note to put the fear in you - possible major character death.

PS. It has been confirmed that Rayla, Callum, Zym (and Bait) are the main characters for all seven seasons, so this leaves... Soren, Claudia, Viren and Amaya. 

[kmseokjins]

Mellifluous (Chapter 3)

Fandom: BTS Pairing: BTS x Reader /  Poly!OT7 x Reader Warnings: n/a in this chapter Summary: You get some pampering....and meet the other 3 werewolves. This bunch is weird.

Notes: Alright, here’s Chapter 3. Definitely my least favorite chapter. My impatience strikes again! 

PS: <3 <3 to y’all liking and reblogging! it warms my heart

Archive Of Our Own || Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

----------------------------

You aren’t sure how long the five of you sit there in the room.

In however long of time it had been, Blue, Sleepy, and Blond had hesitantly reached forwards to brush their fingers over your fur several times. You were a little tense and unsure at first, but they were rather gentle about it.

They were odd for werewolves, you had mused to yourself. Did they not know about shifters? About the bad blood? Or did they just not care? Perhaps it was best that you remained stuck in your animal form; it would give you time to figure these werewolves out and decide if it was safe enough to reveal yourself or if you needed to leave as soon as possible. You wanted to lay low, but you also wanted to go home. If there was a home to go back to...

Lost in your thoughts, you give a squeak of alarm when you’re suddenly picked up. You struggle, whimpering at the pain that ripples through your side before you go still.

“Shh, you’re okay, you’re okay,” Food Giver’s chest rumbles with his words as he’s the one who has you cradled against him. He slowly gets to his feet, the other three joining him. “How about a bath?”

You blink rapidly, turning your head from him to Blue as you try to figure out what he’s saying. Is he offering you more food? You remain limp in his arms as he heads out into the hallway and across to another room. When he flicks the light on and you realize your in a bathroom, dread pulls in your belly. Most of you, especially the human part, is delighted about getting clean. Your fur feels greasy and you know you’re still dirty from the night before.

The basic instincts of the animal that you’re impersonating? Livid. No water, no bath please.

The flight instinct takes over too quickly for you to stop it, and you’re halfway clawing over Food Giver’s shoulder before you manage to get a grip on yourself. He’s grabbed you again, his hands gentle as ever as he coos at you over the sound of the water running. Once you’ve relaxed against him, he’s pulling you away and sets you right in the bathtub.

He hasn’t filled it too full, just enough to reach the underside of your belly. The water is nice and warm too. Food Giver holds you in place with one hand, the other unwinding the white cloth that covered your rib cage.

“She’s healing nicely,” He says out loud, a little taken back by the sight of just how much better the wounds look. He says nothing else, however, releasing you from his hold.

You stand there and sniff at the water, before you start to move around. After a few minutes, you’re practically bouncing about, or as much as your body would let you. The four werewolves hover nearby, watching you with varying degrees of amusement.

++++++++++++++

Ten minutes later and you’re burrowed into the fluffiest green towel. Ever. You’re more than content in stay here, purring softly at the hands that are gently rubbing across the towel. You thought it was Food Giver at first, but you’re pretty sure it’s Sleepy holding you in his lap now.

You felt rather spoiled, you had to admit. A girl could get used to this. You had no choice in the matter at the moment anyway, right?

“We’re back!”

A new, unfamiliar voice makes you perk up burrowed within the towel. Had the other three werewolves showed up? At the murmur of voices, curiosity gets the better of you and you’re shoving your nose around to find an opening in the towel. Once you do, you shove your head through cautiously, looking around for new faces.

“She’s awake!”

Three new werewolves have joined the living room, and one of them apparently noticed you poking your head out from the towel. His whole face has lit up and he’s practically bouncing over with a rather undignified squeal.

Your eyes widen in response, that familiar trickle of fear smothering you before you’re promptly diving back into the towel with a sharp whistle of alarm. Nope, nope, nope, nope!  

The towel shifts and you’re mostly exposed back to the room. You raise your head to meet the brown eyes of Sleepy. He grins at you, “Hobi-hyung didn’t mean to scare you.”

You glance around, noting that the excitable werewolf that had run over had stopped short, looking a little guilty. You took a moment to look him over before peering around at the other two newcomers. The shortest of the three leans against the wall furthest way, the earbuds in his ears connected to the phone that he’s intently focused on. His black hair is pushed back by a red headband. He glances up when he feels your eyes on him, but you quickly look away to settle on the one next to him.

It only takes you a second to realize he’s the leader of the pack. He’s the tallest among them, at least, he looks like he is. Much like Blond, he has blond hair, but his is darker than the others. When he realizes you’re looking at him curiously, he smiles. Oh. Dimples appear and you suddenly wish you could squish his cheeks.

Focus. Right.

You stretch out to sniff at the nearest, who realizes you’re paying attention to him, inches forward tentatively, offering out his hand. You nudge at his fingers with your nose, ears twitching at the laugh that slips from him. He carefully brushes his hand over your head, crouching down to be more eye level with you. You blink at him curiously, tilting your head.

“She’s obviously not wild,” He says (you’ve dubbed him Happy), and you mentally sigh when he speaks the same language the others do. Do none of them speak English? You wanted to know their names, but nicknaming them for now would have to do.

“Can we keep her?” Sleepy draws your attention at his words, but his attention is on their leader.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Comes the leader’s reply, and if Sleepy’s defeated shoulders slumping are any indication, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “If she were a cat or a dog…”

“There’s a possibility she’s not an animal at all.”

You feel a sense of alarm when all six eyes turn to look at the man with the headband before they all turn (as one) to look at you .

Ohhh shit. You blink innocently at them because...you have no clue what’s going on.

+++++++++

“What do you mean, Hyung?” Jungkook pipes up, pulling the towel to cover you when he realized you were shaking. Perhaps you still weren’t completely dry; he didn’t want you to get sick.

“Her eyes look far too intelligent,” Yoongi answers, his attention back on his phone.

“Are you saying that all animals are dumb?” The youngest shoots back, slightly offended on your behalf. Even if you were an animal.

His elder’s lips twitched as he shrugged, “No. I meant human intelligence.”

“Aside from that, Management isn’t going to let us keep a fox,” Jin interjects, “Her being here is either because she’s from the zoo or she belongs to someone.”

“If she’s from the zoo, there’s no way she would be as calm as she is now. She has to belong to someone. Surely it won’t take long to find her owners, so we shouldn’t have to get Management involved. The less they know, the better.” Namjoon muses, before settling a pointed look at Jungkook, Jimin, and Taehyung. “You three could go put flyers up.”

There’s immediate protest from the three youngest.

“But Namjoon-Hyung-!”

“She’s cute! Can’t we keep her!?”

“We’ll do all the work and take care of her!”

“She already likes Jin-Hyung! You can’t break their bond right now, it’s fragile!”

Namjoon sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “What happens when we have to leave on tour? When we have to attend pack meetings? When it’s the full moon? Practice? Photo shoots? Music Video shoots?”

“We can take her with us on tour! She can stay here otherwise, we are never gone long…”

“A fox on tour? No.”

“She’s tiny, we could hide her!”

“No.”

“It’s us three against you three.”

“Respect your elders, kids.”

“Jin-Hyung can be the tiebreaker!”

“Ya! Don’t drag me into this.”

“....”

“...maybe we should keep her for a while…”

Triumphant hollering from the three youngest sends you burrowing back into the towel.

Werewolves were weird.

----------

Notes: Next chapter will be a small time skip to get to where Name will learn the boys names! In case you're confused: Sleepy (Jungkook), Blond (Jimin), Food Giver (Jin), Blue (Taehyung), Happy (Hobi), Grumpy (Yoongi), and Alpha/Leader (Namjoon). 

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

Gravity Falls S2E01 - Scary-oke

Season 2 hype!

I wanted to watch the entire first season again before starting the second but it just wasn't going to happen on a reasonable amount of time and I want to finish Gravity Falls before the water wars begin. So, please tell me if I missed any obvious foreshadowing!

I have nothing to add about the amazing title so let's do this!

I _just_ realized that it spells WHAT

...I can't remember if they show Mabel ripping up that poster on the show, but it's an incredibly way to add personality with just a prop.

and now they are dead

BUT WHAT IS IT, STAN

You had to wait 30 years to do it, but I've had to wait... at least a month to find out what it is and that's worse! Maybe. I don't know your story.

Where have I seen that boat before? I just checked and it wasn't in Bill's summoning circle. Hmm

famous last words

Is that Nick Offerman!?

Can't wait for whatever Stan's doing to fail because he's using photocopies...

ooooh, but this photocopier creates exact duplicates probably with all the magic still working.

What's your story, Soos? I'm really hoping he finally gets a backstory this season.

The First Season: Crazy board edition. It should have pictures of Wendy to be really complete from Dipper's perspective though.

nice

Maybe that incredibly conspicuous monocle I don't remember seeing befor–

Wait.

* rewatches a bit of the first episode *

Oooh

Oh please, another uninspired cash-in show inspired by the success of Duck-tective.

my first thought "Is that hand choking that poor bird?"

my second thought "...is that hand grabbing that bird's tear!?"

Validation for Dipper!

It'd be weird for Dipper to work with "the enemy" for too long, but I guess it all depends in how long Powers stays in town (and season.)

"We need to open in a random page" "Let's use one we already drew last season"

or is the Undead going to make an appearance tonight? Last time it was a fake out with those gnomes.

&Sandra is a really good name

In fact, people that sing really well shouldn't be allowed to do karaoke because they ruin it for everyone else.

I feel like there's a ton of jokes to be made of this line but I can't think of one.

This was nice. Who knew that the only thing Dipper needed to avoid being annoying about Wendy was a life something else to care about.

Mabel continues to be the cutest character in television.

Is there anyone left who didn't come to the party? ooh, maybe they weren't invited.

WATCH OUT

KILL ME PLEASE

hmm this is dark

Welp, I guess Nick Offerman was too expensive. Now Dipper has to live with the horrible knowledge he caused the death of two good men and also probably the apocalypse.

Because the safest place to be in an earthquake is the nearby forest? What?

Perfect episode right here. I don't need to see anything else.

I love that he's still very Soos. Dead and zombified but Soos.

It's interesting that his usual personality is a lot creepier when seen "from the other side"

I'm pretty sure this was a Michael Jackson music video.

AAAAAAAAaA

this season is going to kill me if everything I get is these tiny drops of backstory.

I _bet_ this is foreshadowing for Stan's thing.

WAIT WHAT

First of all, HOW DARE STAN LOOK SO MANLY AND COOL

Second, STAN INTERACTING WITH THE SUPERNATURAL!? DIRECTLY!? THIS CHANGES _EVERYTHING_

I WAITED ALL FIRST SEASON FOR THIS AND IT WAS WORTH IT

IT REALLY WAS

Not only the fighting (even if it _was_ amazing) but the fact that he went and actually looked out for the kids even though his thing was in danger.

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, that never works ever. Not in shows, not in real life.

I'm loving these notes. _Of course_ the giant bats only want fruit

Okay, Stan _definitely_ didn't write the journals.

OH

MY

GOD

All this episode I have been thinking about the title and how it's related to what's going on. I thought that maybe Mabel using the karaoke machine to kill zombies kinda applied but this. is. going. to be. awesome.

Pictured: being sober at a karaoke bar

"How are they going to keep the mystery going with all out in the open"

"Oh, that's how."

Oooh, awesome, season antagonist!

I have no idea how to decrypt that!

Anyway, great start! Up to maybe midway through I wasn't feeling it too much, it was a good episode but very middle of the road considering everything that happened in the finale. BUT THEN EVERYTHING HAPPENED. THE KIDS KNOW STAN KNOWS THE KIDS KNOW AAAAAA

I'm not going to get _too_ excited about next episode, because after such a mystery heavy episode I'm expecting it'll return to a more sedate tone, but still, this changes everything!

And the goverment is chasing Stan's weirdness for some unknown reason (that happened 30 years ago)!

There were a lot of clues about Stan in this episode but I'm not sure how to tie them together.

Apparently Stan thinks Dipper is very stubborn, like he is. This was enough to make him go rescue the kids even though he _just_ had said he didn't care. That kinda makes me think he was stubborn about something in the past and it went wrong. Which also makes me think that line I thought was foreshadowing about Stan maybe it _is_ about Stan but about Stan's past. What if he screwed up majorly and put people he cared about in danger 30 years ago? What if that's what the portal is about? Maybe to travel to the past and he's looking for the coordinates?

In any case I loved this episode and can't wait to continue! Until next time!

PS: Is one really long post too annoying compared to multiple short ones?

[aspiestvmusings]

FFH vs MCU: PARALLELS

PARALLELS & CALLBACKS & OTHER LITTLE THINGS: FFH & MCU: 

WARNING...SUPER LONG TEXT POST! THAT INCLUDES JUST A TINY AMOUNT OF THE MANY MANY PARALLELS, CALLBACKS... etc 

Peter’s secret superhero identity (Spider-Man) revealed (not by him/his choice) in the end of FFH &  Tony’s secret superhero identity (Iron Man) revealed by him/by his choice in the end of IM1

Peter’s/The movies last words/line in FFH being “What the F*--” as the screen goes to black (as he sees the “news” on screen) & Aunt May’s/The movies last words in HC being “What the FU--” as the screen goes to black (when she sees Peter in his Spidey costume). 

The “BLIP” video edit “in memoriam” broadcast ending with comment /by Betty, i think) that it’s time to move on...  seems to hint at Endgame lines “Some people move on.../You gotta move on...” by Steve 

AC/DC’s “Back in Black” - the song/band that plays during some iconic Tony/Iron Man moments in past film(s) & the song that plays during the Happy/Peter airplane above the tulip field scene as Peter is about to make himself a new suit. Even though Peter thinks it’s Led Zeppelin #ILoveLedZeppelin as he hears the song starting ;) 

Tony’s glasses: “To/For the next/new Tony Stark” - Tony’s special glasses now belong to Peter. And they have a feature that had previously not been revealed - they include an AI named E.D.I.T.H (Even Dead Im The Hero”, cause Tony loved his acronyms) 

Tony & acronyms: from J.A.R.V.I.S. to B.A.R.F. to E.D.I.T.H. in “Far From Home” 

Tony wanting to build a “suit of armour” around the world/Earth, but being denied in past Avengers films & then literally building/creating a suit of armour around the people he cares about - Rhodey’s suit, Pepper’s suit, Peter’s suit + re-making CA’s shield by/in Endgame. And as revealed in FFH he also did build a suit of armour around the planet - he has tech & satellites that is weaponized & ready to protect the planet from outside (or inside) threats. He wanted to be prepared for (another) Thanos-level threat & he wanted to leave behind a defence system... 

Peter using Stark tech to build a new suit in FFH (and Happy watching him & seeing so much Tony in him - in how he uses the tech and all that...) and Tony building his Iron Man suit in IM1 - the holographic tech used - visual parallels PS. Tom Holland has said that he re-watched RDJ’s scene rom first IM in prep for filming his scene & tried to mimic the movements & all...the parallels & similarity are on purpose

Peter/Happy in FFH  vs Tony/Happy in MCU - friendship and being supportive, while providing transportation & backup to the superhero, also...

Peter doubting in himself & in his leader abilities (bearing the heavy burden of being the Earth’s mightiest hero & protector) in FFH...the same way Tony struggled with becoming/being the Earth’s protector 

Peter having PTSD/anxiety (after the events of the BLIP/SNAPS & his mentor’s, Tony's death) & being pressured by the public... and not being able to take the pressure... escaping the “press conference” at aunt May’s charity event     in FFH & Tony having PTSD/anxiety (after the events on NY battle & the vision of the future & finding out that there are great threats lurking in the universe..) and being pressured by the public...and not being able to take the pressure... escaping the diner/table in IM3, when kids come to him...the hero..for  an autograph. 

Peter making mistakes  on the way.. when learning to be the superhero the world needs (trusting Mysterio, his new friend & giving over the powerful tech to him) in FFH & Tony making mistakes on the way in all the MCU films.  

Peter being betrayed by someone he trusted (his new “friend” Quentin Beck aka Mysterio) in FFH & Tony being betrayed by his old friend & business partner, Obadiah Stane in IM1. 

Peter not answering phone calls from important people - sending “Fury” to voicemail (ghosting Nick Fury) in FFH & Tony not liking answering the phone/talking to important people on the phone - putting them on hold (cause he just likes to put people on the hold) - example: Coulson in A1

The murals & street art in Europe as Peter walks by a wall art with flowers & candles in front of it dedicated to Iron Man/Tony Stark in FFH & the shadows of the six people who died mimicking  “wall art” in Iron Man 3 being a visual parallel to that scene with candles (and flowers) in front of it..to remember those who are gone...but not forgotten.

Peter using the Tower Bridge sign as shield & that tech (DIY project made of car engine & drone bits...) as the hammer on the “Bridge fight scene” in FFH as a visual parallel to Steve holding his shield & Thor’s hammer during the final battle in Endgame.

All three MCU main heroes - Tony (his arc reactor), Thor (his hammer) & Steve (his shield) were represented & could be visually seen during that bridge scene... as Peter prepares to fight the bad guy...

Peter going through many “dimensions”  during the Berlin    “safe house” illusion scene in FFH being visually similar to Dr. Strange & other MCU films visuals of other dimensions/universes - the mirror dimension, the many other dimensions seen... Infinite illusions scene.... 

Peter not having his Spidey-sense (Peter tingle) - one of his superhero abilities not working in FFH... for a while (because of his emotional state - grieving his mentor) & Bruce not having access to Hulk  - his ability to turn into Hulk/go green not working during Avengers 3 (because of his emotional state - after the events of past films)

Peter ending up in Netherlands/Holland (PS. while many people use Holland to talk about all of Netherlands, Holland actually refers to certain parts...two provinces that together “form” & are called Holland)... because Peter/Spiderman is portrayed by Tom Holland. #funfacts

Percentages - MJ was only 67/76% certain that Peter is Spider-Man in FFH & Tony saying Pepper should give herself 12% of the credit for the Stark Tower & Pepper saying she was having 12% of a moment” in A1. 

Tony saying “You reached the Live Model Decoy of Tony Stark” when agent Coulson gets through to him on the phone in A1 & Nick Fury basically using “live model decoys” for himself & Maria Hill in FFH. 

Mysterio and his illusions - making others see things that aren’t: Peter seeing dying Quentin Beck on the ground at the Tower Bridge, when the real Quentin is actually standing next to him, ready to shoot him, but peter sensing it & stopping him in FFH & Loki & his illusions - making others see things in a twisted way: agent Coulson seeing Loki in front of him, when he approaches with the new blaster weapon, when Loki is actually behind him & he doesn’t see the attack coming in A1. 

“Appearances can be deceiving” was meant to hint at both Mysterio not being who he is & also Fury & Hill being not who they seem... That they’re actually skrulls (working for Fury)

Happy’s surfboard mention/clue to Fury... when he calls him to warn about Mysterio’s deception is a reference to the skrull first looks in Captain Marvel... when they arrive. They first take the form of a group of surfers...cause these are the first people they see on the beach... 

The spiders crawling on Zombie IM in the illusion created by Mysterio in that FFH scene are according to someone who paid better attention & knows spider species better than me... apparently Black Widow spiders... IF so then that is a visual reference to BOTH characters who sacrificed themselves...all in one scene.

ETA: Mysterio in FFH was not who he seemed to be to the public & he wasn’t a man...but a Team... kinda... & The Mandarin in IM3 was not who he seemed to be to the public & he wasn’t a man...but a Team...kinda. Quentin Beck pretended to be Mysterio (a caped superhero) in FFH ... using movie magic & mo-cap suits  and visual tricks & Trevor Slattery pretended to be The Mandarin in IM3.. he was a paid actor, playing the role of the bad guy, The Mandarin. 

ETA: Peter &  MJ/Michelle in FFH vs Tony & Pepper in MCU films...there are both story/plot & visual parallels. Both ladies are taller (basically) than their partner (both Tony & Peter are...kinda...tiny/short). And both knew the man before the hero in the suit. And both were (at least at first)not a fan of the superhero “flying” and all (both Pepper & MJ’s reaction to Tony & Peter taking them to “fly” was pretty much the same...they were not fans of it #NeverDoThatAgain  #omgICantTakeThisAnymore 

ETA: all the drones (dummy suits built by Ivan) in Iron Man 2 VS all the drones used to create the illusions in FFH

Fire “monster” (Elemental: Fire) being one of the “bad guys” in FFH (Spidey fighting fire) & Fire “monster” (the “Extremis”  that turns the host bodies into hot fire/fire hot) being one of the “bad guys tools” in IM3 (Tony fighting Extremis)

Tony “creating” his ..and Peter’s enemies in many/almost all Iron Man/MCU films & FFH: Tony's dad vs Vanko’s das and Tony vs Vanko in IM2, Tony vs Killian & Maya in IM3, Tony/Avengers vs ULTRON in A2 (Wanda + Pietro vs Tony/Avengers in A2), Tony vs Charlie Spencer’s mom in CA. CW) The Vulture vs Peter in SM1: HC...and now Mysterio/Beck vs “new Tony Stark” aka Peter in FFH. 

Peter being all alone (with just one ally/friend - Happy)...and creating a suit for himself...from scratch (using tech) on the plane in Holland in FFH & Tony being all alone (with just one ally/friend)...and creating a suit for himself...from scratch... from a box of scraps...in the cave in IM1.

Not to mention all the little details, callback, parallels & similarities..connected to the (original) comics, to past/other Spider-Man films - JJJ as the “news” man, the multi-verse menton, every single Spidey costume from MCU making their appearance again, multiple Spideys all in one scene, LMD (Live Model Decoys)...etc etc...

[tekni]

Apparently people want to know my thoughts about the situation with Priest, even though I’ve gotten all those “no one cares” anons before. Life is funny, isn’t it?

As background information: I’ve seen Priest 7 times on stage and I’ve traveled around countless hours because of them. They’ve helped me a lot and the whole band has become happy place for me. That’s all you need to know.

I was shocked when Tom and Alex made their posts. I was at work and it hit me really hard. This wasn’t exactly what I was expecting to happen. I’m not going to comment on that matter more but I will say this... Alex and Tom both are phenomenal people. They’re talented, brilliant and amazing human beings. I hope they know and remember that. I will miss them both dearly and no one can ever replace them and I think it’s not the goal either.

(In case you guys are still stalking, thank you for everything. Every second, every smile, every word and every other thing you’ve given and we shared during this time. You know what I’m talking about. I adore you both. I hope we cross paths at some point again. 💜)

*dries eyes*

Moving on!

After shocking news there was lot of things and theories going through my mind. I came up with two possible scenarios. Priest being in its end wasn’t one of them. It was clear to me they’re not going anywhere after this setback. Then there was this teaser of new image which looked like female figure and it confirmed one of my first thoughts.

I got excited about the singer. Possible female singer. I had certain someone in my mind and I was waiting us to get new Mercury who was bold, fearless, in-your-face kind of woman who isn’t afraid to step into crowd from the stage like the one before her. I was really waiting for that. Until we got sneak peek of the new outfit. I recognized the jacket and ring right away. I knew I’ve seen those before. When the day of the first show came and first videoclips were published it took me less than 2 seconds to recognize the voice. Oh hell, I would’ve recognized the singer even without voice. His mannerisms gave him up to me. Those movements screamed his name from the first second. (I still can’t understand how someone doesn’t recognize him.)

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t happy with the decisions they made. It was the option I came up at first and which I was fearing. Don’t get me wrong, I love that guy. I love his solo stuff and I love his voice and singing but the fact is that his style don’t fit into Priest songs. And I was right. Sadly. I was feeling ashamed when I watched those videos from the show. There was good parts and not so good parts. But the blame wasn’t only on new Mercury. Playing was horrific too. I’m used to flawless sounds and drum work, as well as singing. Those things pleased my ears and I didn’t have anything to complain. I don’t know what happened in that show, was it nervousness of the first show? Was it some problems on the stage, with machines or technical issues? Wasn’t there practice enough? I don’t have a clue but it made me cringe. Mercury was clearly nervous, that’s for sure. I’m worrying for his technic too. If he keeps going like that, his voice won’t last the whole upcoming tour.

After all this shock and rambling, I still have hope. I have hope that it will be better when times goes by. No one can be perfect at the first show. I have hope. Priest has my support. I’m happy that I’m going to see them in Berlin and Warsaw next month. You’ll find me there, on my usual spot in front of the stage. There’s no doubt about that.

I want to say something to our new Mercury as well... you’ll get there! Keep practicing. I know it’s in you, you just need to find it and work for it. Don’t care what haters say, you still have people who support you. You’re not Tom and you shouldn’t try to be him. Be your adorable, charming self and you’re going to do great things. 😘

PS. I’d be more pissed if they tried to find another Tom who sings like he did, who tried to move like he did. That wouldn’t work. He’s not replaceable.

PPS. To all you Linton haters. You can message me as much as you like but you can’t change my opinion about him. He’s the only one who can do that. I don’t have any reason to hate him. I don’t hold personal grudges towards him at any level. If you do, keep it to yourself. All you say you don’t care what he does or what Priest does and still you’re here to complain and talk shit. If you don’t care you wouldn’t hate or talk. You would just let it be. Ever thought of that?

[ts-autumns-world]

Episode 1: “Autumn you are a crazy fucked up host” - Giraffez

AHHHHHHH AUTUMNS WORLD HI!!!!!! THIS CAST IS AMAZING IM SO EXCITED AND SCARED!!! JINX YES!! AND 4 KILI PEOPLE INCLUDING LILY?? cant wait !!!

Omg! first day and im placed on the Eener tribe <3 love the way it sounds like an alarm so much ! xo love the tribe divisions and love my tribe mates! super excited to get to know them more, and reconnect with others :)

https://youtu.be/9P1GrFrTHnQ

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it’s the way i keep putting my birthday as the date...as if this is a doctors office and not autumns world...I DONT NEED NO DOCTOR THO I AM CURED IN AUTUMNS WORLD ‼️‼️‼️ anyways manifesting a jinx win 🕯 hi my name is jinx and i am the winner of tumblr survivor 103: autumns world. i keep telling myself that. it’s okay to be hungry for the win like i am this time. i can’t let it blind me but it’s okay! it’s okay to say i’m gonna win! if i fail, it’s not smth i haven’t done before. but. im taking a page from autumns book and speaking it into existence. my name is jinx clementine and i WILL BE the winner of tumblr survivor 103: autumns world. *uptown funk vc* don’t believe me just WATCH ‼️

It feels absolutely insane to be back. I feel like I’m a bit oversaturated tbh

I can’t believe this cast. Packed with icons. So many people from Kilimanjaro?? I’m just like??? I’m just so excited to play and hope that our team does great. I just don’t want to lose cause I really don’t want to vote any of these other people out! 

when i’m the annoying overactive player... i keep putting my birthday as the month/day/year 😭 so watch out for that. anyways, important announcement: the only song i ever listen to is potential breakup song by aly & aj. i never listen to anything else. if i feel like listening to music that’s what i listen to. it’s been on repeat since 2007. my itunes consists of 1 song, potential breakup song by aly & aj, and the play count is somewhere around 50,000 plays. if you ever see me listening to music, don’t even ask what song i’m listening to, because you know it’s potential breakup song by aly & aj, so why would you even ask

I don't give one fucks, two fucks, red fucks, or blue fucks, I'm gonna put all my effort and energy into this season. I have a point to prove, not to just myself, but to every person who has doubted me in any way. The biggest concern I have is meta gaming, alot of it but its going to be okay. Chris and Jinx? Vibing. Mikki and Captain? that group chat was made 5 minutes into the game. Monty and Lily C are gonna be vibing since they're winners. Lily O and I played fr*nce, but that's... no good. I'm going to just let go and have a great time. This is Autumn's World, and sometimes, we all need to just relax and let nature take its course

Autumn you are a crazy fucked up host....... Legit i was like oh come in have some fun then BOOM FUCKING MESOPOTAMIA FLASH BACK OUT THE GATE so sevice to say I'm nervous as hell about this challenge i so don't want to get voted out first .....or on the same challenge as before so even if we do have to go to tribal hopefully the winning tribe will take pitty on me and you know give me safety

feeling delusional for writing what i wrote about winning 😭🌚 LIKE DKKDKDKDKDKDDKDKKD IM TRYING TO BE MY BEST POSSIBLE SELF AND APPARENTLY THAT FACILITATES DELUSION GOOD NIGHT 

https://youtu.be/FJM9fQW7evY

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autumn not letting me in the game at first bc i’m mixed. i can hear my ancestors screaming

Yknow I’m not exactly thrilled that the song decision was made without everyone being present but like my stupid night shifts make it completely understandable at the same time. On that topic, though. Party in the USA for our music video, hmm. Not even bleach is that basic.

good morning it’s day 2 in autumn’s world and i don’t feel any better about the whites. ps. daily i love monty 

https://youtu.be/DAXdEjZW1mc

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mQ3vUbaX1nEnsp2Z9

My tribe has a varying amount of timezones which makes it harder to connect with them socially as I cannot PM them as much as I would like to. Additionally, I am finding it difficult to message them because I have to work from 8 to 5 everyday of the week. This sucks because I know I can at least make people like me in the per-merge enough to keep me. However, I can no longer reliably use this strategy. I just have to hope others are way more inactive than me and that my tribe somehow wins immunity. On that note, I am really liking that Mikki and Benj took a leadership role in the tribe. So, they are definitely people I want to keep on this tribe. It would have to be Blake or Khalid that gets the target from me. We'll see how talking to them goes before results.

I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!!!! Ok so starting with my tribe:

Mikki - ABSOLUTELY THE FAV!!! We got along right away on day 1 and are def the closest in timezones which is so great to have someone like that. Sooo fun and easy to talk to really wanna be #1 allies. I know shes amazing at orgs and won and probs is getting along well with everyone but who cares i wanna play w her!!!! The main thing is too have fun and i just know it will be with Mikki

Captain - Also amazing!!! Super active in helping with the challenge and great personally love that hes gonna do english teaching which is smth i was looking into and also in a closer time zone to me and had fun discussing stuff w him so far!!

Blake - We played Kili together!! Shoutout Autumn for getting 4 Kilis back omg. I was on a tribe with Blake and Autumn together for like 2 rounds and we did vote together once so have some positive history at least hes a bit more quiet compared to the others but hes cool and i think we could do good!

Raffy - Iconic parts in the video challenge and also fun so far!! Havent talked as much as the above 3 but still feeling good about him!

Khalid - Seems nice and friendly but we havent messaged yet and no clue if he will do his lines in the music video :O we'll see But overall love my tribe and the overall cast. LILY THE KILI WINNER QUEEN???????? Cant believe shes back would be so awesome to play w her again since last time we were mainly on opposite sides. JINX MY ONE MONTE FRIEND??? YES!! SO excited i hope we get to tribe swap together since in Monte we werent that close and i voted them off i know such a disgrace but since then we have become more friends so would love to play together!! Also played w Chips in Kili and were sort of friends! Chris we are hosting a season together but i think itll be cancelled tbh no ones applying and we dont know each other at all outside of that but i loved his intro and just started getting into agatha christie literally ordered 2 of her books a few  weeks ago sdhksa cant believe he mentioned her in his intro so super excited to properly meet him. Joey we are sorta friends but i voted him out recently in other game so dunno how he feels abt me!! Everyone else i dont really know but will meet some soon surely WOOO AUTUMNS WORLD

SO THE GAME JUST STARTED so there's not really that much to spill right now but I do really enjoy my tribe. I have my bestie captain who I will protect as much as I possibly can. and I've spent all day yesterday and today talking to benj who I LOVE so so so much. I feel so good with him. SO UM ASAHJSHSJAJHASHJAS IM ON THE SAME TRIBE AS RAFFY WHO UM ASHJSAHASHJ I played with once before where I was super chaotic and I literally fought him (playfully) and it was so messy and chaotic and stupid BUT I DIDN'T RECOGNISE HIM AND HE DIDN'T REMEMBER ME SO WE JSUT WERE LIKE "nice to meet you" and I didn't realise until later and idk if he knows yet and I am not bringing it up COS LIKE IDK I DON'T WANT IT TO GET WEIRD AND MAYBE HE DOESN'T REMEMBER BUT MAYBE HE DOES IDK but besides that I love him a lot he's so fun and his videos for our music video are AMAZING he's so full of life. Khalid hasn't been on much but I really enjoy his energy when he is. he's so cool and lovely. Blake is nice!!!!! but I can't help but feel my instincts being like WATCH HIM. like something inside me is saying beware of this white man.LIKE IDK WHAT IT IS but I just get instincts in games with people sometimes where I just feel like unsettled??? and that's how I feel right now. we're all in different timezones so socialising is the opposite of overwhelming. I've never had a game so quiet in the beginning like this before. but I've never played survivor either. I think I might be okay??? if we went to tribal but I really don't want us to go to tribal pls....

JINX IS OVER ON THE TUA TRIBE BTW and I'm sitting here with grabby hands. I wanna play with them so bad and just get to have our redemption arc because we didn't play on the same side the first time we played so LET ME HAVE THIS I just wanna play with them and have fun with them but they are so far away :((((

I'm so excited overall tho the whole cast looks amazing and I'm having fun so far. this challenge has been a blast and. a great way to bond with everyone. I feel so close to benj already. I really love him a lot. so I'm having a good time yes ashjshajjahs YAY

oh and I also did my tarot and idk where things are going to go exactly but I'm very :eyes: raffy got the tower and Khalid got the devil....hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

also I wanna play with women at some point PLS PLS I haven't been this surrounded by men since I was a closeted 15 year old surrounded by posters of Robert Pattinson and Taylor lautner

Benj just submitted his version of the music video and it is..... bad. I don't know why Mikki filmed vertically? Like, I feel like that's the first rule of music videos? You have to always film horizontally. Also, some of these people's energies were not giving at all. The beginning waking up part was cute though. It's just.... these people aren't giving what they think they're giving is all I'm saying. And Benj put this weird filter on all my videos that makes it hard to see what's actually going on tbh. Anyways, time to kick the socializing into high gear so as to not get voted out! Or pray that Mikki's version of the video is better

hello autumn's world.. this is captain's speaking. sorry i'm one day late to this confessional booth stuff but i'm here and i'm ready to give u some tea. *ahem* thanks jarod for these questions.

1. How do you feel about your starting team? Anyone you are happy/upset to see? OOOOH i feel like my team is very CUTE! like i didn't think autumn was gonna put me and mikki in the same tribe lmao .. i thought it was gonna be divided from ur race and u know mikki is white and i'm not. ANYWAYS, im happy to see mikki in my team of course. thats my ride or die and i know i'm gonna have someone i can 100% trust no matter what for sure. but blake knows for sure that mikki and i are very close so thats gonna be interesting. which leads to the next part, i'm kinda eh with blake in my tribe thats only because our previous experience in CoW so i just hope that its gonna be better here this time *prays*.. for others, i don't know them before so i'm excited to get to know them!!!

2. Who are you most excited to play with on the cast? Most afraid of? oh of course mikki for sure and another person is geekoffilm cause u know we're like besties besties and i love both of them so much. most afraid of... probably monty tbh. they tried to gun for me/mikki(/cora) in jarod's mini so i think they know that mikki and i are gonna be tight so i'm just gonna have to keep an eyes on them cause they are a great player.

3. What are your first impressions of everyone based on this first challenge? OH GOD. i love benj!! benj is very organized so we started off pretty well. i threw out lush life randomly and then we decided to go with lush life, how cute!!! but yea, benj and mikki have done lots of works and i love THEM. RAFFY ALSO DID AMAZING in his parts!!! like he has PROPS and his camp is sooooo summery and AHH he's so great. blake.. ahem if blake didn't look at his lyrics at the first part, it would've been a bit better. and idk about khalid. i'm very worried cause khalid hasn't sent any of his parts yet. and like he seems inactive??? so idk but i don't wanna lose the points for full team participation :oooooh: I DIDNT JUST SHOW ANYONE I CANT DANCE TO LOSE AND I DIDNT HAVE TO DANCE AND MAKE MY LEGS ACHE JUST TO LOSE!!! SOBS!! but that is a sign that tells me i should exercise more x ANYWAYS!!!! its just interesting point to add x

4. What is your strategy going into the first portion of the game? trying to lay low and build some connections with ppl from my tribe. benj and raffy for sure. i rlly like their vibes so i need to stick with them. and just try not to lose challenges cause its gonna be suck voting one of them out. also, if we somehow win, i want to send someone who i can trust moving forward to exiled island.. but we'll see. its gonna be a lot of thinking and convincing people.

5. How do you want other people in the game to view you in the early stages of the game? as someone who they can trust and talk to and someone who always puts effort into challenges cause thats what most important in the first stage of the game.. i'll come back here after results x

HELLO AUTUMNS WORLD IM PISSED! not about raffy getting sent to the outback. its what raffy deserved. i like raffy so thats fine i just need to work on my relationship with him after he comes back. BUT KHALID. GOD. he just doesnt care about the challenge AT ALL. he was inactive. he didnt even talk about the challenge. and then coming to the chat and telling us SORRY after we have submitted… god thats BS. we literally all put our effort into this. and for someone who just dont care about the pandemic (idk about the uk but i guess they allow partying now) and go out and party. GOD i mean he’s going back to bahrain anyways WELL GUESS WHAT, HERE IS ANOTHER PLANE TICKET HOME. take that and sashay away babe

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cause thats just FUCKED UP. everyone put their efforts in. benj — his leg is HURTING he cant move much btut he still did his parts and helped us with the editing. RAFFY — he literally worked 8 to 5 but he still found time to just shoot his parts and like more random parts. blake — well even though he didnt study the song much, he still did it and he is a team player. MIKKI — well u know i love mikki and ik how much shes in her head for this challenge but every scene she is on, i smile watching her because she just did it SO WELL PLUS she stayed up late for khalid and her health is not good. fucked up khalid u done fucked up enough. hope u enjoyed ur short time at autumns world.

First challenge, done, middle of the road WOOOOOOOOOOOOO, absolutely love that my music video streak has been continuing! Coming into this game, I felt absolutely nervous as hell about playing with 2 winners on my team, but in all honesty, I’m gonna take the Jinx approach- Embrace it, you don’t get another opportunity like this. I love the fact that I’m being more engaged than before and that’s what I want to be, especially in confessionals. I’m always trying to be better, and how can I better myself I HATE THE WAY MARV ALBERT PRONOUNCES PARENTHESES, YOU DON’T SAY IT LIKE “THE C’s”? JESUS MARV ITS GONNA BE YOUR LAST GAME YOU CALL IN YOUR CAREER COME ON MAN.

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I hate to be called Joestradamus, but when Captain or Mikki get voted out first because of how tight knit they are, don’t @ me

*slides into splits* WE WON YES YES YES YES WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO YEAH

re khalid missing the challenge: no everyone in our team worked rlly hard on that except khalid who went out fucking partying then he lied about going to send the vid soon cause you know what if he already filmed his parts, looking for a vid and click send are not that hard he fucking told us he was about to send ASAP and then disappeared and then had the NERVE to tell us AFTER THE DEADLINE that he's so SORRY OH PLS

This tribe name is Autumn's last name backwards! https://thumbs.gfycat.com/VigorousBiodegradableIrishterrier-size_restricted.gif  

Now that that is out of the way, let me list my tribemates... Giraffez Joey Lily C Lily O Monty. Something is incredibly amusing about how there is a tribe with someone named Chips and someone named Giraffez. What is not amusing is that I get a "I don't like/want to speak to/etc." vibe from Giraffez? I could just be a delicate and annoying flower but our conversations have been short and dry. Joey has some great high energy and excitement and I love that he loves being part of this game. He is also pretty fun to talk to. Hoping that we can keep an open dialogue and that perhaps I can rope him into a future alliance of sorts. Lily C is a sweetheart truly and I adore her personality so much. She is such a go-getter and goes to bat for those with who she feels can be loyal. I'm hoping that we can build loyalty and trust together. Lily O has been busy with work at a bowling alley. That's actually really cool because when I was a child that was my dream job. Not even joking... my parents were in leagues when I was growing up and my brother and I entered ones designed for children. It was a big thing in my family and I thought that I would love to be in that "atmosphere" all the time. Anyway, we haven't spoken until after the results were announced so honestly if I had to guess I was their intended target if we had had tribal council and they were mine?? (perhaps...) It has been really nice getting to connect with Monty and really cool finding out that they are beginning job searching after college and thinking of pursuing education as a career. I have a soft spot in my heart for all educators.

Okay so I'm just going to say this now. Autumn needs to simplify the twists to more like Blue's Clues with an OBVIOUS large blue paw prints where I'm supposed to look. I have no idea what that announcement was about war rooming someone into the game and feel like I"m fifty million steps behind these big-brained people who figured it out. https://media2.giphy.com/media/m59avtxDzXeiQ/200.gif

I think that I missed the message about what we do with tickets or I'm still just as clueless as previously stated but I am intrigued nonetheless. I think even if I knew what to do with them I would just hoard them like I would Chuck E. Cheese tickets in case something else came along. Hope they're not like Fire Tokens and let you buy like Peanut Butter and Idols because I am anti- fire token. https://media.tenor.com/images/d7de1f75f2c43f8e044e958b964430fa/tenor.gif

On a side note, I'm paranoid when I see people on calls because even if they're not talking about me or plotting they are potentially aligning with each other and that does not include me. I don't really know much about how calls work on Discord as I am a pretty big noob generally speaking with the platform but it did say that Joey and Giraffez were on a call earlier?? I'm stressed. https://media0.giphy.com/media/3o7TKRwpns23QMNNiE/200.gif --- http://www.purplerockpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/survivor-pearlislands-lillian-morris-post-savage-blindside.gif

https://voca.ro/1lb9WKsDr6xA

Ok.....so after talking to Joey a little ive learned a few things mikki is a bit of a beast Benj is well......social to and everyone despised Mesopotamia........which i get from the stuff that pumped me up to 16th place that season but I'm mostly hoping that i can make it to the end this time....... So far I've talked to pretty much everyone Lilly and Joey and monty not sure which one really but the one whose discord is 13survivirgirl13 so hopefully soon i can work out some kind of an alliance with them and if we swap or merge from three to two either next week or the week after (probably the week after honestly) i feel i can maybe set us up as one and us four can really rule the roost for a moment....hopefully.....who knows i could just he a delusional old queen whose doomed to be nothing more then premerge every time i play tumblr survivor......or maybe I'm just crazy *shrugs* either way it should be a damn good hoot

we won the first challenge, god bless. which brings up something funky i realized: that the best part about winning immunity is having the day off. and also…idk something just doesn’t sit right…the way autumn was emphasizing that someone would be eliminated from the game…like….hm……….idk….never trust a bitch named after a season!

omg we lost AHHHH but thankfully we have an easy boot sorry khalid im glad i dont have to vote mikki captain or blake eeek pls lets win the next one

I'm totally pumped for this game! Like when I saw my tribe and Jinx is on it I screamed! I want us to have the same success of being together at ftc!! Jude honestly is great to me and I'm enjoying getting to know her a lot, Ricky I remember from HvV4 but we both say no to that and start anew! Bryan I am hopeful to talk more since its been dry and that is okay. Sucks we ended losing Michelle early but I am sure it was for the best! We WILL reign successful

---

Yesterday was so stressful to me like editing I have no problem with but I thought my biggest worry was that I needed Bryan to submit stuff late-ish. But turns out an hour before due time thd program wanted to stop working 🙃🥲 and I felt so close to wanting to forfeit- which is something I never do but I just felt hopeless and guilty and even imagined getting voted out. So I had to call Jinx who assured me something could be salvaged and they'd make sure I would stay (rip Bryan) but after the extension by cool hosts I found encouragement and did my magic stuff. SOMEHOW we won and to be honest I dont think anything will top that feeling of relief in the org (give me 3 days) but man what a ride yesterday was for me!

I got a Super Idol! Well, at least I now know that I can fuck around in this game a little bit more since I have this extra insurance in my back pocket which guarantees I stay around in the long run. I want to start getting into alliances because being a solo person with not much time on their hands is definitely a scary position to be in. Preferably, I want an alliance with Nikki and Benj (though I suspect that they already have an alliance with at least one other person on the tribe). It does suck that I am not at tribal considering that it will help build my bonds even stronger. I guess I just have to suffer for the time being

i think this is gonna be an easy vote cause khalid needs to go. but idk you can never feel safe in survivor :/ but so far everyone has been telling me they're voting khalid so lets pray

Omg that immunity was so hard, I literally did not know what I was doing and I think out of everyone I was a bit lackluster. I will say on the tribe I have not really talked to all of them but I will say I trust Jinx the most and we have talked a lot and I think that moving forward we will have each others back. All I need to do is talk to the rest of the tribe and form bonds that will last me to a swap or merge. 

https://youtu.be/kKOciJGjrzw

https://youtu.be/mx7WPjx8zCk

---

khalid babe this ones for you 🥺 https://youtu.be/QX2boYNUbxw

[popchoc]

15,16 and 19 for the gif questions:))

15. Have you ever had gifs stolen and reposted

Yes, quite a few times actually (that I know of, so it’s probably more). It sucks, especially when it’s like a whole set, instead of just one gif used as a reaction gif. I try not to get angry though, but to educate the person who reposted why they really shouldn’t do it. Some listen, some don’t.

16. How long have you been making gifs

Apparently I posted my first gif in feb 2013, so that’s over 7 years. Man, I should really start doing something useful with my life... lol

19. What is your gifting process like

I have no clue how all these technical steps are called, but I’ll give it a go. This is just about the basic gifs though. The more creative ones come with a much more extensive process.

So first I get the screencaps I need from a video. After selecting them I upload them to photoshop (load into stack). My PS is pretty old so I have to sharpen every cap manually (yes, that’s as annoying as it sounds). Then I use animation to create the gif, set the time, etc. Then I resize the gif and start editing. Lately, I do use my PSD’s more often, but most of the time they still need more edits, especially on color and lighting. But I don’t mind, cause this is actually the only interesting part of the whole process. When I’m completely okay with it - which can take a while - I add the text (subtitles, or something more creative). And then I save it in the best way possible, which used to be a bitch, but with the current limits it’s not such a problem anymore. So there you go. Easy as that! ;)

[artmagine]

Top 8 darkest video games of all time

Hello people!

We’re back today with one of our lists, this time a little creepier than the usual digital art-related article.

That we are huge fans of video games is not a secret, with all the concept art and updates we share, so this post shouldn’t come to you as a surprise.

Before going on, please notice that dark doesn’t necessarily mean horror and that, while this list and titles’ order may seem biased - well, they totally are, we still tried our best to comment on the positive aspects, so no pros and cons in review style, only what we love and take from these games.

Happy reading with our top eight darkest video games of all time or, as this can be a touchy subject for some, don’t kill us in the notes!

INSIDE

Hunted and alone, a boy finds himself drawn into the center of a dark project. (Steam)

And we literally know nothing about this project. Only what's seen, so a combination of perfect design and dark atmospheres immersed in a simple and gorgeous-looking puzzle game.

The soundtrack literally happens inside your head (see Martin Stig Andersen and you'll know what we mean).

The story, again, is apparently non-existent and yet it leaves room for interpretation. The gameplay is linear, the puzzles not as simple as you think.

2016 - PC/PS/Xbox One/iOS

Official Website

On Steam

Silent Hill 2

After receiving a letter from his late wife, from Silent Hill, James Sunderland makes his way to the town in an attempt to find her. (IMDb)

It's one of the darkest games ever and it practically defined the horror genre. Today, Silent Hill continues to inspire other video games and that alone should speak of its relevance.

The survival horror developed by Team Silent is a unique video game of puzzles and action taking place on a disturbing background.

Considering it was published years ago, the graphic is good, the characters realistic and the creatures believably creepy. The story is well developed and examines grief and tragedy in a more mature way compared to the first chapter of the series, making the gameplay the more intriguing.

2001 - PC/PS/Xbox

Official Website

On Amazon

“And so I wait, wrapped in my cocoon of pain and loneliness.”

Outlast 2

You're following a trail of clues that started with the seemingly impossible murder of a pregnant woman known only as Jane Doe. The investigation has lead you miles into the Arizona desert, to a darkness so deep that no one could shed light upon it, and a corruption so profound that going mad may be the only sane thing to do. (Steam)

Disturbing, controversial, dark. A nightmare, really, with its perversion and fanatic cruelty. The story is thought-provoking, the gameplay dread-inducing by dark hallways and open fields, narrow passages and a sinister-looking rural village that you explore, hide in or run from. The design is simply superb.

2017 - PC/PS/Nintendo Switch/Xbox One/OS

Official Website

On Steam

“God give me voice, God guide my hand.”

SOMA

The radio is dead, food is running out, and the machines have started to think they are people. Underwater facility PATHOS-II has suffered an intolerable isolation and we’re going to have to make some tough decisions. What can be done? What makes sense? What is left to fight for? (Steam)

From the creators of Amnesia, Soma is an equally dark and terrifying video game, but not because it makes you jump on the chair. No, as a survival horror, this game's tension comes from an intimate phobia of drowning and disappearing, its well-developed story combined with a dark environment that manages to keep you awake with purely existential and dreaded matters- from the beginning till the grand finale.

2015 - PC/PS/Xbox One/Linux/OS

Official Website

On Steam

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing it, doesn’t go away.” - Philip K. Dick

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

The last remaining memories fade away into darkness. Your mind is a mess and only a feeling of being hunted remains. You must escape. (Steam)

A game that calls to your fears, a tension that makes you shudder, creatures that make you run or fight.

This survival horror presents a dark environment and a perfect sound design, that, in this game, plays a big role. The story remains consistent until the end, the gameplay is the good kind of challenging.

2010 - PC/PS/Xbox One/Linux/OS

Official Website

On Steam

“We are so very much the same, you and I.”

Little Nightmares

Immerse yourself in Little Nightmares, a dark whimsical tale that will confront you with your childhood fears! Help Six escape The Maw – a vast, mysterious vessel inhabited by corrupted souls looking for their next meal. As you progress on your journey, explore the most disturbing dollhouse offering a prison to escape from and a playground full of secrets to discover. Reconnect with your inner child to unleash your imagination and find the way out! (Steam)

Little Nightmares is a dark puzzle game. The atmosphere is sublime and the game a feast for your eyes if you appreciate good, if not perfect, design. The creatures are grotesque yet morbidly fascinating. Although the puzzles aren't as challenging as those from other games of the genre, the (short) gameplay is still good- a masterpiece to look at, actually.

2017 - PC/PS/Nintendo Switch/Xbox One

Official Website

On Steam

Comicbook

The Evil Within

While investigating the scene of a gruesome mass murder, Detective Sebastian Castellanos and his partners encounter a mysterious and powerful force. After seeing the slaughter of fellow officers, Sebastian is ambushed and knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he finds himself in a deranged world where hideous creatures wander among the dead. 

Facing unimaginable terror, and fighting for survival, Sebastian embarks on a frightening journey to unravel what’s behind this evil force. (Steam)

From Resident Evil's creator Shinki Mikami, The Evil Within is a game aiming to impress with its disquieting environments and great design. The gameplay is simple, intuitive, and, even if it doesn't have the scary elements typical of a survival horror, never boring.

2014 - PC/PS/Xbox One-360

Official Website

On Steam

Artbook: Art of Evil Within

“You think I’m some kind of monster.”

DOOM 3

A massive demonic invasion has overwhelmed the Union Aerospace Corporation's (UAC) Mars Research Facility, leaving only chaos and horror in its wake. As one of only a few survivors, you must fight your way to hell and back against a horde of evil monsters. The path is dark and dangerous, but you'll have an array of weapons--including a pistol, a chainsaw, grenades, and more--to use for protection. (Steam)

One of the darkest, claustrophobic video games, Doom features macabre creatures, bad-ass music and disturbing elements. Compared to Doom 1 and 2, this spin-off sees less action and more darkness, its genius being based almost solely on the eerie atmosphere- this is a horror game.

2004 - PC/Xbox/Linux/OS

Official Website

On Steam

Honourable mentions:

LIMBO

Created by Playdead, this is the first game of the Danish studio, a dark puzzle, generally simple, but a very good experience.

What Remains of Edith Finch

A walking simulator, dark at times with an emotional story and a house whose walls feel confining and way too many. This game has one of the best graphics ever seen.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

An atmospheric, unique dark adventure.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Not really horror or even as dark as the video games listed above (and it doesn't want to be one) but this is a personal favourite of ours. As a mystery puzzle game, it's amazing, and the art is droolworthy- but the story is what really stabs you in the guts, not exactly in the beginning, but certainly towards the end. Patience and wonder, the two virtues for this game.

This is it, people.

If you like these games or have different favourite ones, feel free to let us know in the notes!

Thank you and peace out,

G&M

Other articles:

10 inspiring and helpful YouTube channels for digital artists

6 inspiring Art Podcasts for digital artists

Top 12 alternatives to Photoshop for digital painters and illustrators

[dr-coffee-2009]

From one scientifically oriented individual to another, what do you think of your (and your cones) interactions with the flux? Seeing as we both have done a little bit of research into the subject I wonder how it has come to affect your view of it and it's potential. Does Nano's method of infection differ from how it happened in other dimensions? (ps. attached is a short video with poor quality of the incident seen in the series) Hope you can take some time to share your opinion, thanks~

I wouldn’t mind seeing the research papers you have on the subject, if you would not mind me reading them. It’s not my first priority at the moment but it is an intriguing clue to my own pet project I have been working on.

Onto the video you’ve sent me.

[10 or so minutes later]

Very Intriguing! 

It appears the Flux does react somewhat differently in my dimension compared to your own (assuming the footage is from your own dimension). It appears to be some sort of gooey sticky residue that latches itself to the skin.. or perhaps grows into it... yes, it seems to act more like a fungus like infection; latching on and growing, presumably eventually consuming the host. I wonder what would happen then. Ah, but that would just be speculation.

What I find fascinating is the amount of magic clearly apparent in that world. You see, in this world, the Flux is drawn to or possibly created by the presence of magic itself. It is absurdly rare. You’d need a machine like my own arcane sphere to collect and condense magic into a solitary space to even make it properly habitable for the Flux to grow in the first place. Well, you probably already know that since you’ve been researching into it. Miss Sounds did have a higher then average arcane aptitude before her accident, so it is not outside the expected results that she was infected. As it stands now, I see very little use for the substance other then weaponization against beings of high magical aptitude. They are few and far between here in this dimension, but likely a much bigger threat to those outside of our dimension.

[sovietbutch]

Bree in the wasteland, log 9

Ok back to frantically typing. So I get in and I wake up in the suburbs. I’d learnt about them. Apparently it was where everyone lived. Fields of houses in the sun and trees where they’d grow free range people. Always seemed a little creepy in those pre war holovids. Like they were all slaves afraid to say anything, especially the women. Anyway I wake up there. I’m tiny, my super hot bod is replaced with a teeny chubby thing and I’m surrounded by the people in the pods, walking around, thinking they’re happy and at home. They don’t seem to understand it’s a computer simulation when I tell them. Only direct me to some Betty. I go to her and she starts telling me to make some little lad cry. Usually I wouldn’t but I’m stuck in a video game and it’s not real so I punch the kid and this makes Betty talk like an old German. I nearly shit myself. They tell me my Dad is in the simulation and if I wanted to know more to do what they said.

They wanted me to break up some couple. I figured karma wise if I made a real couple get married back in Rivet City, I could split this digital couple up no problem. I did it and the old dude in Betty tells me about the GECK, some terraforming device my dad is after off of him. There’s a dog called doc hanging close by and his not so subtle hints clue me in that he’s made my dad into a dog in his game so I keep that to my chest and play along while I try to figure out how to undog my dad. He tells me to kill someone and I peace out of playing along. This old woman, deprogrammed, fighting back, approaches me and tells me to go on the abandoned house, there’s a way out. There was. Inside I had to make some random tune with some items and the soundlock unveiled a terminal. It took me an embarrassingly long time to guess the soundlock tbh. I run this failsafe the Doctor was keeping and the simulation goes mental with Chinese soldiers shooting the place up and a door opens. I leave Betty to her shit world and get out. The lounger opens and it’s Dad. He’s safe! He looks haggard and tired but it’s still him. I legit found him. But he barely stayed still for a minute, more interested in project purity. He tells me he’s going to Rivet City to further his plans. I ask if I can come and he seems to recalculate and says yes I should be there. Very odd vibes. We haven’t really spoken since, we’ve just been running, haven’t even stopped to sleep yet. We might run all the way to Megaton. Idk. I’ll have to get him to talk eventually but for rn, I’m glad to have him back.

Signing out, Bree.

PS- these raiders have real taste