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carmenxjulia · 4 years ago

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I put together a transcript of the 1 hour Q&A Interview the Carmen Sandiego Discord did with Abby Trott (Ivy) and Rafael Petardi (Chase Devineaux). All of the questions were submitted by server members. You can read everything below the break!

PizzaHorse:

Hello everyone! Please welcome Abby Trott and Rafael Petardi to our Q&A today.

Abby Trott:

Hiiiiiiiiiii!

Rafael Petardi:

Hello Bonjour!

PizzaHorse:

Let's get started. How did you get started as a voice actor? Was there anything that inspired you to pursue it as a career?

Abby Trott:

Oh MAN. Long story.

Rafael Petardi:

Mine is very short. I'm an actor and my agent started sending me on voice auditions and eventually I booked some!

Abby Trott:

This is a novel so I started typing it ahead of time, haha. I was an acting/theater major, and when I graduated from college I moved to Japan on the JET program to teach English because I wanted to travel so freakin' badly. I had never even been on an airplane. I was placed in rural Akita, (inaka), and absolutely LOVED it. The only problem was I wanted to be and actor/singer… womp womp. At that time, I also started to mess around with characters and voices - I would record voice memos and conversations with myself while driving around. One day, a friend was in the car and my phone was on shuffle and one of my "scenes" started playing - I was absolutely MORTIFIED. But that moment solidified for me that I need to move to the big ole city if I wanted to really pursue acting. I ended up heading to Tokyo, where I performed in children's musicals, and did other gigs here and there. That's where I started doing VO professionally! I was able to do some character voices for the shows I was in, and some other side projects. I realized how much I loved VO, and eventually decided to move back to the States to pursue it, since most English VO for games and animation is produced here.

When I moved back, I started searching online for VoiceOver opportunities, and stumbled across a contest hosted by Bang Zoom! Entertainment. I BARELY got my entry in on time. The contest took place over several months, and in the meantime, I moved to NYC and started taking VO classes. For the finale of the contest, they flew me to LA. I ended up winning! Still can't believe it. (O-O) I got to dub my first anime "Miss Monochrome," and realized that if I wanted to work in games and animation, I should probably move to LA… and the I DID.

THE END

PizzaHorse:

What do you think are the best and worst things about being a voice actor?

Abby Trott:

Oooh. The worst things? Job insecurity... constant rejection...

Rafael Petardi:

The incredibly talented and cool people you meet and work with.

What Abby said

Abby Trott:

The best things? Working with amazing people, AND it's so much fun - even auditioning is fun!

PizzaHorse:

How did you land your role on the show?

Rafael Petardi:

I auditioned

Got the job

pretty boring I know

Abby Trott:

I auditioned through my agency, and got a callback. I went to the callback and their note was "more Boston." Then I had a second callback and their note was "even MORE Boston." So I went WICKED BOSTON and got the job

PizzaHorse:

What was your favorite/the most fun thing to record (episode/scene/line)? Any least favorites?

Rafael Petardi:

For me, the funnest scenes to record are the ones I got to play opposte the incredibly talented cast.

The least favorite... did not have enough scenes with the Wonderful Abby Trott

Abby Trott:

Awww Rafe! Singing was the MOST FUN! The Karaoke Ep, and the choose-your-own adventure one, where we got to sing the theme! Mikey (Zack) was cracking me up constantly.

Least favorite was the last ep because I didn't want it to eeeeeend

PizzaHorse:

Were you allowed to suggest lines to be said by your character, or improvise the script at all if you thought something would add to the scene?

Abby Trott:

YUP! And Mikey and I definitely did, hahaa. It was encouraged. Always fun to see what they keep...

Rafael Petardi:

Yes we were. I improvised mostly sounds and noises. Words once in a while but not very often. Thank God for Duane

PizzaHorse:

What was the hardest part of voicing your character on Carmen Sandiego? Was there a particular episode that was difficult to record?

Rafael Petardi:

Keeping the consistency episode to episode of the Chase's accent, pitch and energy

I did not want hime to sound different ever

Abby Trott:

I think the hardest part was keeping up the EXTREME Boston accent. But it was also SUPER fun...

PizzaHorse:

What traits do you share or have in common with the character you play?

Rafael Petardi:

I am like Chase in the sense of a Dog with a Bone. If I get pasionate about something, I go to extremes. Abby Trott has scene this for example in my bread making endeavors

Also, I'm an idiot in life too sometimes

Abby Trott:

Ivy and I are both... from Mass! we both have brothers who we argue with but really do love when it comes down to it. We love chocolate, aaaaand... I think we're both brave. (brag?)

Can confirm Rafe is v. passionate about bread. And and idiot.

Rafael Petardi:

All True

PizzaHorse:

What character on the show would you voice if you had the chance?

Abby Trott:

Chase

Rafael Petardi:

I would love Maelstrom

Abby Trott:

Jk... Coach Brunt seems SUPER fun

PizzaHorse:

If you could meet a character from Carmen Sandiego in real life, who would it be and why?

Abby Trott:

Carmen! she is the coooooleeest. I'd ask her to teach me some tricks

Rafael Petardi:

Julie Argent. She's cute

PizzaHorse:

Which character do you think you are most like or that you most identify with?

Rafael Petardi:

CHASE

I think that's partly why we're doing the roles we do

Abby Trott:

I think Ivy, for real! Casting was ON IT. I can be serious when I need to be, but I'm a giant goofball (if you couldn't tell from my latest tweet/insta post...)

PizzaHorse:

Who is your favorite character, other than your own?

Abby Trott:

Mime. Bomb.

Rafael Petardi:

Other than my own? Hmmm... uuuh... mmmm. tough...

Abby Trott:

Seriously, I think Mime bomb is hilarious.

Rafael Petardi:

Yes Mime Bomb!

PizzaHorse:

Do you wish your character had more interactions with another character in particular?

Rafael Petardi:

Yes, I would love to interact with Ivy and Maelstrom

I think the interaction would be odd and awkward and funny

Abby Trott:

Yes. I would love to see how Ivy handles the specific VILE members... I would love to see IVY try to go to VILE academy...

PizzaHorse:

Are there any themes or lessons from the series that you would want people to remember?

Rafael Petardi:

yes, don't jump to conclusions and be an idiot

Abby Trott:

Yes! That! also, don't be evil. ALSO also, be loyal to your friends.

PizzaHorse:

Do you ever look at fan content?

Rafael Petardi:

yes all the time. It helps when I'm tagged rafaelPetardi on Instagram

Abby Trott:

Yes! I look at fanart sometimes, and see what cosplays are happenin'

Rafael Petardi:

I've posted many as well

Abby Trott:

Haven't read much fanfic... but I know it's out there.

PizzaHorse:

What did you think about your character's development and arc throughout the series?

Rafael Petardi:

I absolutely loooooooved Chase's arc

Love redemption stuff

he was just misguided

just was alway his thing

Abby Trott:

I love Ivy's journey - she really grew up, from a troubled kid to an adult, accepting responsibility and accepting new challenges. Donning the hat, if you will.

Rafael Petardi:

*justice as always his thing

PizzaHorse:

How do you feel now that Carmen Sandiego is at its end?

Rafael Petardi:

sad. miss evrybody so much

we will have to have a cast reunion when this pandemic thing is over

Abby Trott:

SAD! But grateful. It was THE MOST fun to record, and I wish it could continue forever.

Rafael Petardi:

I'm grateful too. yes

Abby Trott:

and YES reunion!

PizzaHorse:

Yesss can't wait for that group photo to pop up on social media!

Were there any moments in the series that had you legitimately emotional?

Rafael Petardi:

yes ofcourse

losing Julia was tough

Abby Trott:

A lot. But one that stands out for me is after Carmen gets stuck out in the snow, and is reunited with her crew. (:_;). Also the stuff with Shadowsan and his brother... and anything with baby Carmen...

Gah. So many...

PizzaHorse:

Did you enjoy how the show ended? Is there anything you would have changed or would have liked to see more of?

Rafael Petardi:

I loved the way the show ended! I think Duane did a fantastic job tying loose ends and bring the story to a satisfactory close for all characters

I do hope for an ACME Ivy, Zak, Julia and Chase spin-off

Abby Trott:

I love how it ends. I think it wrapped so well considering the number of eps - the writers really got it done. I WISH Ivy and Zack could follow Carmen forever, but she has her own story to unravel it would seem.

And Ivy does look good in that suit let me tell ya

PizzaHorse:

Can you share a favorite behind the scenes moment?

Abby Trott:

Mikey. Is. So. Funny. Hard to choose one moment - he would make me laugh harder than anything. Especially when we were singing. Or any time he had to gag...

Rafael Petardi:

OMG!

That singing stuff we had to do together was hilarious

we could not stop laughinh

PizzaHorse:

What, in your opinion, are the best pizza toppings?

Abby Trott:

Cheese. Caramelized onions. Roasted garlic. Spinach. Mushrooms.

Rafael Petardi:

buffala mozzarella and tomatos period

oooooo fancy Abby

Abby Trott:

Rafe why aren't you as obsessed with pizza as you are with bread? And can you be?

Rafael Petardi:

I am

Abby Trott:

Rafael Petardi:

I just don;t like to share pizza

PizzaHorse:

Here's a specific question for Rafael. Did you sometimes get mad at your own character for the way he behaved towards Julia earlier on in the Series?

And one for Abby. As a Massachusetts native, how did you feel about voicing a character from Boston with the iconic accent?

Rafael Petardi:

I did not. I always felt, however misguided Chase was, he was always on the path of turth and justice no matter what was in his way. It's the same principals that led hin to see the truth about Julia

*principles

Abby Trott:

I think it's so cool, and kind of an honor, in a way. I was worried about it being too much, and people saying it's over the top. Turns out comedy wins, haha.

PizzaHorse:

Were you familiar with the older animated series when you started work on the Netflix original?

Rafael Petardi:

I never heard of Carmen Sandiego before I did this series

Abby Trott:

Yes! I had seen a bit. I also remember watching my brother play the game. Someone gifted me a mini arcade version of the game this year, and I'm excited to play :slight_smile:

Rafael Petardi:

Which I think helped when I had to say the iconic line

"Where in th world..." there was no pressure

LoL

Abby Trott:

LOL

PizzaHorse:

Okay, last question. Do you have a favorite quote from the show?

Abby Trott:

"La Femme Rouge!"

or Mime Bomb's classic "..."

Rafael Petardi:

"the game is over!"

PizzaHorse:

Woohoo!

Abby Trott:

Hooray!

PizzaHorse:

Thank you so much Rafael Petardi and Abby Trott for joining us today! I hope everybody had a wicked awesome time.

Abby Trott:

Thanks for having us! What a pleasure.

Rafael Petardi:

It was great! Thank you to all the great questions.

Abby Trott:

Thanks for watching the show! Great questions. I'm sure I'm going to think of more quotes as soon as I log off... haha.

Rafael Petardi:

See you all soon!

Abby Trott:

Stay safe, take care, and see you all on various social media platforms!

#Carmen Sandiego #Ivy #Chase Devineaux #CS Crew #Rafael Petardi #Abby Trott #Carmen Sandiego Discord #Carmen Sandiego Discord Server #Interview #Transcript

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danwhobrowses · 5 years ago

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One Piece - Void Century Theory Dump

So as promised I am ready to do a dump of theories that mainly involve the Void Century, so that’s the stuff involving the Great Kingdom, the Initial D, the ancient weapons etc. They will be like my other Theory dumps I’ve done on this page but possibly in more detail. Spoilers for Chapters leading up to Chapter 968

Right so the Void Century happened 900 years ago, it’s a Century which led to the World Government being formed of the 20 Kingdoms, the fall of Shandora and the Great Kingdom, Joy Boy failing to keep his promise to Fishman Island and leaving something of his in Laugh Tale, the Tontattas being oppressed in Dressrosa and the overall forbidding of reading Poneglyphs. There’s a lot there that can be digested and there are a lot of theories about it already, so sorry if some may sound familiar. Im the Immortal

We’ll start with the one who sits in the empty throne, Im or Imu, is a mysterious individual. Gentle to butterflies but knifey to sweet princesses who did nothing wrong. It is a common theory that Imu is an immortal being, someone who has lived since the Void Century, but I believe it goes a little deeper. Imu isn’t immortal ‘just because’, Imu is immortal because he has had the Perennial Youth Operation, what makes the Ope Ope no Mi one of Marejois’ most beloved treasure. It’d explain why the Gorosei answer to them despite being pretty old themselves and how they could keep to themselves so much that nobody really knows that they exist.

Eight Moons

It’s a combination of many theories I’ve seen, but I do believe that the One Piece world has 8 Satellites orbiting it. Of course there’s the standard moon otherwise known as Fairy Vearth, but Ohara’s globe showed at least 5 other satellites, including one with a satellite of its own, but we always see this kind of globe from the front, as if there’s a missing moon behind the planet. The idea that there are eight moons go beyond just the globes of Ohara, the Kozuki Crest and the Alabasta flag also have a symbol of a circle with eight dots around it. Right now I do believe that at one point Wano’s borders were very open, it’d explain why Toki was born in Wano yet never saw it - since her time jumps do not affect her geographical position. It’s also unusual how often the moon is a focal point around the planet, from the Minks’ ability to perform Su Long, the ancient city of Birka and the Wano Daimyo names all relating to moons. A Spaceman Came Travelling...

We already know that the Shandorians, Birkans and Skypeians all once inhabited the moon thanks to Enel’s cover story arc of him going to Fairy Vearth, whereby he entered the advanced and abandoned city of Birka. Given that there is potentially 8 Moons, why could there not be life on those moons. I speculate that this story runs much deeper, we know there are even Space Pirates from the cover story, but what if most of the races from these 8 moons all came down to the planet and they comprise of the 20 Kingdoms. Not only that but this could explain how some races could’ve come to be, the technological advancement of Birka and the fact that their automata match the invention of other automata Enel meets is proof of that but the Minks’ ancestral race may’ve also come from the moon, since they seem to react to a full moon’s radiation. This could also be why there are races such as longarms, longlegs, fishmen and merfolk. The Creator Race

So, through Enel’s cover story we can prove that there was a dude that happened to create 4 Automata that almost exactly matched the design of Automata in the Moon City of Birka, this robotist happened to live on one Karakuri Island as well, the birthplace of Dr. Vegapunk. Vegapunk has been a heavy mystery himself almost as much as Im, what we know of Vegapunk is mainly through their creations; Seastone manipulation, Cybrogs, Artificial DF, Lineage Factor, Artificial life etc. It seems that there’s only certain things that Vegapunk has failed to achieve; Climate Control and Gigantification which could be key to other parts of these theories. Now Vegapunk could simply be a born genius, or maybe he’s from a race that was the most advanced race out of the 8 moons, Oda did say in an SBS that Vegapunk may already know what Devil Fruits really are and thus how they work, and the World Government have him locked up so much that even the threat of Kaido has made CP0 only hesitate about handing Vegapunk over to Orochi - how Orochi would know of Vegapunk is another question, was Vegapunk from Wano? Digging deeper this could also explain how the races of moon people integrated themselves into the ‘Blue Star’ and even created some of the aforementioned races like Minks, Longarms and Longlegs, even maybe the Kuja and the Three-Eyed Tribes, all a product of Lineage Factor tampering or natural selection not unlike how humans created dogs out of wolves or oranges out of citron. A key point could also be the theme of Electricity, Enel was able to call himself God by virtue of having a lightning Devil Fruit, all Minks naturally have the ability of Electro, the city of Birka ran on electricity and like in the modern world electricity had been key to many advancements. Of Dwarves and Giants

One of the things I mentioned that Vegapunk failed at was Gigantification, it seems a little odd that he would need to research that. But imagine that normal humans were from the moon, a much smaller land space, and they come to the Blue Star where everything is either Huge or Tiny. We know that Giants can live for at least twice as long as a One Piece human would and that they have always been a sought after force, even Big Mom believes that with the Giants she would be unstoppable. So perhaps the Giants are the native race of the Blue Star, alongside the Tontotta dwarves. There is some evidence to this as well, Oda seems to lean on a lot of Norse myth (even Im’s name is based off of a Jotunn) and if Giant Jack is a part of Elbaf’s Yggdrasil tree that could further fan the flames. The interesting thing is that the Giants and the Dwarves seem to live in areas where flora thrive, often a sign that they are symbiotic with the ecosystem, there’s also the matter that there are various giants; Oars, Saul and the Yeti Cool brothers being different kinds and sizes of giants, even Kaido and his Numbers could be a form of Oni giant and attempting to obtain gigantification the ways they influenced other races led to smaller scale creatures like Ceasar and outliers like Magellan, Big Mom and Whitebeard, people who seem like they could be like giants. The Kingdom of the Dawn

This then leads to the ‘Great Kingdom’ that Clover was talking about in Ohara, a kingdom whose name Clover couldn’t even speak of before being shot. When you hear Kingdom though you think of one country or one island, but what if the Great Kingdom was actually an empire. I mean you’d think it excessive for 20 Kingdoms to need to take on one right? But what if the Great Kingdom was a combination of kingdoms that included Shandora and Wano, two countries who have been called the ‘City/Country of Gold’. It’s worth reminding that neither of these lands had a ‘King’, Shandora may’ve had a God and Wano has a Shogun (sans an Emperor) but not a king nor a queen. I definitely believe that Wano had ties with the Great Kingdom, the main reason being Poneglyphs: Wano is where the texts were made, where the language was written and taught how to translate, if the Kingdom ‘disappeared’ leaving their story on Pongelyphs then that implies a Wano connection, potentially from the Amatsuki clan - as demonstrated with Toki not being in Wano when we meet her properly - or the Kozuki clan given their blood bond with the Minks on Zou, their crest being placed under a Rio Poneglyph of a millenia-old City. A common thing is also the term of the ‘Dawn’, a symbol of an event in the future where dreams will come true and I believe like others that this is the core belief of the Great Kingdom, a kingdom of many races and cultures living freely and prosperously, the Kingdom of the Dawn. Though whether that was its actual name I’m not sure of, I feel like it’d have another name since Luffy was born on ‘Dawn Island’, so I feel like if the WG didn’t want that name out there so badly they wouldn’t allow one of their Affiliated Kingdoms to have that kind of name. I think it’d have a name similar to the pirate havens like Tortuga, Port Royal, Libertatia and New Providence. This Kingdom however was clearly something threatening to the other leaders of the world to the point that they were terrified of their skills and the creation of what they deemed ‘(Ancient) Weapons’, which led to a war that caused the fall of Shandora (but didn’t ravage their gold) and possibly the closing off of Wano. The Great Kingdom ‘Disappears’

Defeat is feasible yes, but it was rare even for the WG to eradicate even a single island, would they really be able to do that 900 years ago? Part of the reason CP9 wanted Pluton was for its destructive power. So how did the Great Kingdom ‘disappear’? The wording makes it out like it just vanished rather than dissolved. So what if the main country of the Great Kingdom did really disappear, just not in the way that the WG thought. Remember that the Pluton was said to be able to destroy an entire island and we know that Poseidon could command Sea Kings that were capable of carrying the Noah, so what if the Country itself was ‘blown up’ by the Pluton itself but secretly, the island was scattered across the world with the help of the Kingdom’s allies; the Sea Kings and the Giants. Oars is known as a ‘Continent Puller’ so it’s possible to have that strength, and if that is true then maybe islands such as Zou, Ohara and possibly even Dawn Island and more could actually be remnants of the Great Kingdom, hidden or assimilated into the world. The Nefertari Redemption

Alabasta is noted as being one of the 20 Kingdoms that made up the World Government, but the only ones that didn’t go to Marejois after the Void Century. Why seems to be the appropriate question and the appropriate answer could be because they regretted the outcome of the war. It’s possible that the Alabasta Kingdom was the Garp to the Great Kingdom’s Roger, there was emnity but also understanding, which could explain why Alabasta then held not only a Poneglyph but also the entire Pluton hidden within their kingdom. Perhaps Alabasta regretted the side they chose and instead decided to withhold the Ancient Weapon (remember Robin scoffed when Cobra said that the country was charged to ‘protect’ Pluton) from the newly established World Government, and sometime down the line after holding the Poneglyph explaining where. An answer Robin never found because she never read the First Poneglyph the Straw Hats first came across. There are other ‘Ancient Weapons’

As said in a Sherlock Episode “There’s always something so comforting about the number 3″, so far we are told of 3 Ancient Weapons; the ship Pluton that can destroy an Island, the Mermaid Poseidon who can command the Sea Kings and Uranus. Each of these weapons were named after Gods because of their incredible power, but what if there are other ‘weapons’. People speculate that Momonosuke is Uranus or Zunesha was Pluton, but do we consider that there are other things that could be tools of destruction? Take a Dragon for example, Kaido is considered the strongest creature but the WG doesn’t call him a Weapon, it’s gotta be odd as well that Oda mixed the namings up to have the common trifecta of Sea, Sky and the Underworld but gave two of them names of Roman Gods and one the name of a Greek God. It’s possible that there are other weapons out there but they’re not deemed weapons because the World Government have them, and thus don’t fear it being used against them. The Tequila Wolf Project

Tequila Wolf has been a World Government project for at least 700 years, a massive bridge with an unknown stopping point starting in the East Blue. We saw it with Robin and recently Oden so the question is why is Tequila Wolf important? If Kuma wanted Robin to meet the Revolutionary Army why not send her to Baltigo, the army’s HQ? There was something here that Kuma wanted Robin to see, something she needed to learn about it to better prepare herself for the New World. Its name may be a hint, Tequila is named after Santiago de Tequila (much like how Champagne is after the French Province or Stilton after the English Village), the village translating to ‘Place of Tribute’ so it’s possible that this bridge is a Tribute - though wolf does imply deception, like the Crane and the Wolf fable. I personally think this was the WG’s plan to lock in all the islands they deemed important and like most nobles we have seen, leave the outside to suffer, thus the trickery of the wolf, while in Japan once worshipped for protection the rest know it to be a trickster that deems itself superior. Joy Boy and the Initial D.

Recently, the name “Joy Boy” returned to the limelight having been the writer of the Poneglyph in Fishman Island, then we discovered that Joy Boy was a key part of what lived in Laugh Tale, a gift he left behind being able to bring the Roger Pirates to tears of laughter as Roger muses that he wished he lived in his era. So who was Joy Boy? What was Joy Boy? I think the answer lies in the giant Straw Hat, Joy Boy was a giant, or at least partly giant, a leader of the Great Kingdom who constantly smiled and brought joy to people around him, was able to turn even his enemies to friends, someone of deadly strength that his allies are called ‘Ancient Weapons’. Joy Boy is the person I believe is the reason the World Government outlawed the use of D. the D stands for something that Joy Boy’s real name had, whether the D is his smile, Dawn, Dragon, Devil or something else, the D likely comes from Joy Boy and the people and friends that rode with him as Nakama thus adopted the name D to carry on his will. A small thing I want to note as well, I feel like each of these D holders initially named themselves after animals or parts of an island; Monkey, Jaguar, Rocks, Water, it’s possible other D holders over time married into other families or corrupted their names (imagine if Roger’s family were Gull then changed to Gol) while keeping the D a secret note to the will they carry. Inherited Will

Joy Boy may’ve been this charismatic figure, but there’s still the matter of Fishman Island, his failure to bring the Fishmen and Merfolk to the surface via Poseidon being a deep regret for the character. This could’ve been a human trait had it not been for Chapter 968 alluding to the fact that Joy Boy can ‘reappear’. I don’t think this is Joy Boy pulling a jesus though, I think Joy Boy’s particular race is capable of reincarnation the same way Poseidon is. Poseidon is reborn over time in a Mermaid Princess so maybe the timelines of reincarnation are iffy and the Poseidon of Joy Boy’s time died (or Joy Boy themselves were dying) thus rendering them unable to carry the Noah. If certain characters are able to reincarnate this can give a whole new dimension not only to the Will of D but Inherited Will as a whole. Luffy may’ve inherited Roger’s Will but what if Roger inherited Joy Boy’s Will first and thus Luffy is the reincarnation of Joy Boy that Roger was hoping his ‘son’ would be. This can be further evidenced by the fact that Luffy does intend to reopen Wano’s borders for Momonosuke, thus the point where Joy Boy has returned to Wano. The Devil Tree

Which leads to our finale part of the theory dump. It’s often considered that Devil Fruits were born from a moon, since as Enel noted the moon has no Water. However it cannot be Fairy Vearth, since Enel found a dried canal. So the Birkans, Shandorians and Skypeians did not have the Devil Fruits, instead I believe that the Devil Tree came from the same moon that brought Im and/or the founders of the Great Kingdom and with them they brought a seed for the Devil Tree. From what we know of SMILE, a Devil Fruit seems to take away a key property of its eater, usually their ability to swim, so it’s possible that the Devil Tree’s fruits were initially normal, but when eaten or exposed to a property reincarnated itself into the Devil Fruit we know today, leading to an endless cycle of gestation within a host and reincarnation through the lineage factor. The tree was likely also called the ‘Devil Tree’ not because of its properties but because the ones who planted it sported horns, which can explain why SMILE Gifters and Pleasures grow horns after consumption. I also believe that the Devil Tree isn’t the only tree brought by this race, like many things Trees seem to have properties unlike the simple tree would, there’s the Sabaody mangrove with its bubbles, the Boin Archipelago Venus Fly Trap islands, the Tree of Knowledge, Treasure Tree Adam sporting strong wood durability, Sunlight Tree Eve which can emit light (Like Dressrosa’s sunflowers), Hiriluk’s fabled healing Cherry Blossoms, Weather balls and Shandora’s trees of cultural significance. The Key note of the Devil Tree was its further cultivation, something I believe was the role of the Donquixote family. Doflamingo was key to the production of SMILE and he seemed to want to follow in the footsteps of his ancestor. So it’s possible that back in the Void Century, the dwarves were enslaved to use their botany skills to cultivate multiple Devil Fruits, a fate they’d then repeat with SMILE. Phew! That took a lot out of me, but that’s my Piece, whether it’s key to One Piece we’ll have to wait and see, but I’ll just wait by the phone, see if Oda gives it a ring.

#one piece #one piece theory #theory #void century #will of d #devil fruit #wano #tequila wolf #im #ancient weapons #world government one piece #joy boy

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literallyjusttoa · 5 years ago

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THEORY TIME

So ToN is forever away, but I wanted to talk about something I hope will happen, and has a bit of evidence backing it up (not a lot of evidence tho im kinda stretching here but bear with me)

(Theory stuff under the cut)

I was thinking, what if Python joined Apollo’s side?

Now I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out! In the past four books, there has always been an enemy who needs to be defeated, and an enemy who has shifted stances and joined Apollo’s side. For example:

THO: The only real villains other than Nero were the myrmekes, who were redeemed through Mama, and helped defeat The Colossus.

TDP: Lityerses was the right hand to Commodus and an antagonist in the HoO series, but Apollo rescued him and he was eventually redeemed, helping to defend the Waystation.

TBM: Probably the most obvious example, Crest worked for Caligula, but decided to join Apollo’s side, sacrificing himself to distract Medea.

TTT: This one’s a bit tricky. There’s no outright redemption in this book, but there is Harpocrates, who heard of how Apollo changed and decided not to kill him. Harpocrates didn’t really need to be redeemed, but he did need closure, and learning of Apollo’s growth helped him get that.

All of these characters have two things in common, They changed sides, and they did so because of something Apollo did. The theme here seems to be that as Apollo changes and redeems himself, he also helps to redeem the people around him. With that being said, we only have two definite villains for ToN, Nero and Python. Nero is DEFINITELY not getting redeemed, so it would make sense that Python would join Apollo’s side. I don’t think we’ll have another villain, because introducing someone new that’s major this late in the series seems like it’ll come out of nowhere. I might be wrong tho, I got no clue what’s going on in Uncle Rick’s brain.

Another thing I find interesting is that throughout the four books, we have gotten almost no characterization for Python. Think about it, right now, all we know about Python is that he wants Apollo dead. We can’t even say he wants control of all the oracles, because in the conversation he had with Nero, it’s implied that that’s only the Trimunitave’s goal and Python only wants Delphi. Of course, Python could just want Apollo dead because Apollo had killed him before, but that’s such a basic answer and provides no depth to his character. In every other Rick Riordan series, the big bad has been given complex motives that are explored throughout the books, but we’ve had almost no mention of Python other than random throw-away lines. This might be because Rick wants to redeem Python in ToN and therefore would need to keep his motives a secret.

Also, Apollo is regaining a lot of his strength, but he’s not at full godly power yet, and even if he was, he’s said himself that the battle with Python spanned many days and was a very close victory. I just don’t see Apollo having enough strength to beat Python with brute force by the end of ToN.

I mean, wouldn’t Python joining Apollo’s side be super cool? It would show Apollo’s growth as a character by having him work with his worst enemy. And it would be a nice callback to the very beginning of Apollo’s mythos. He started off by killing Python, and now he has to end off his growth by talking to Python instead of killing him. It would also add a lot more characterization for Python. Why was he in Delphi? What connections does he have to prophecy? Does he have any connection to Tartarus due to being an extremely powerful monster? (And sense he spent so much time in Tartarus, since he only just reformed now, 4000 years after he was killed) On that note, why did it take him so long to reform? He has sentience and seems rather intelligent, so what are his views on the emperors/gods/other stuff? Some of these questions might be answered in mythology and I just haven’t heard about it, but even so, Rick often strays from mythology to advance the story. Idk I just think it sounds pretty awesome. Also it would be a big fuck you to Zeus, because the whole reason Apollo was made mortal was to slay Python, and pissing off Zeus is always a good reason to have something happen.

wow, this was a lot longer than I thought it would be. Hope it wasn’t too rambly, I kinda just typed it out stream of consciousness style oof. Tell me what you guys think! Love the idea? Hate it with a burning passion? Don’t be scared to share!

#trials of apollo #theory #long post #apollo pjo #python pjo #shut up sunny

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miraivan · 7 years ago

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi

I saw the new Star Wars movie, and I have a lot of Thoughts that it seems most people who have seen it haven’t had. So here there are in a VERY SPOILERY format under the cut. Please do not click if you haven’t seen the movie. Mostly I am just sad.

This is gonna be ramble. Just got back from the new Star Wars movie, and I'm still digesting it in my head, but I wanted to put my thoughts down because overall I think I came out of this movie really unhappy with it, and I want preserve my thoughts before I start reading other reviews or whatever. I didn't hate everything, but overall I left feeling unhappy. So, in no particular order:

Too many characters doing too many stupid/unimportant things. Lots of plots kind of everywhere, a lot of which just weren't interesting/felt tedious. Number 1 was the casino detour which was so stupid it hurts, and it amounted to nothing but a big waste of time. It gave Finn something to do, I guess, but it was really dumb. Maybe the betraying dude will come back at some point, but mostly that whole sequence left me twitching in my seat.

The whole movie felt like one of those movies where shit keeps happening just to fuck the situation up a little more so they have to keep running? It's a common theme in some movies and I absolutely hate it. The exit is clear and then suddenly EVENT happens and the exit is moved back five paces, then it happens again and again and again. It's a cheap and unrealistic way of building suspense, and gets absurd when you push it to the scale this movie did with people running from a planet to space ships, to smaller space ships, to another planet, to a door, to a tunnel, etc. It's just exhausting and tedious. It's not exciting, it's frustrating. And the longer everyone important to the plot lives through events like these, the less and less meaningful they are. Not that I want important people to die, but if they don't then there are literally no stakes. I don't care (much) about the secondary/background characters. Obviously I don't want the Rebels to all die, but when 20 ships are being picked off one-by-one and 19 of the ships have faceless background characters on them and one has all the main cast... there's just no fear. It's just tedium to get to the next sequence because I know everyone in the main cast is not about to be blown up.

Kylo Ren is such a fucking baby whiny manchild brat asshole dick. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS CHARACTER. I do not understand his motivations or why anyone likes him. His actor's choices for the role are also often mindboggling. There were a few moments where he had some personality and interesting traits, but overall I just don't understand him. I cannot comprehend what went so terribly bad in his pampered little baby boy life that he got so seduced to the dark side by Snoke that he's totally down with killing his family, and also all these millions of Rebels. I just don't get it. I don't get why he hates Luke with such a fiery passion, either. Hating Luke I get, but the whole scene where he says FIRE EVERYTHING ON THAT MAN.... why? Why do you hate Luke so much? There's one scene where Luke maybe tried to kill him, and I get that was traumatizing for him. But, where did the fiery rage come from? I can make excuses for it, like Snoke convinced him Luke was some crazy asshole, or whatever. But it just doesn't make sense. That's just me making excuses for the movie's bad writing. There's no good explanation for why Kylo was so seduced so thoroughly. When you compare his upbringing to Anakin's, it's like a joke. Anakin makes sense why he went to the Dark Side. We got a real understanding of his descent into the Dark Side and how he was seduced, and how he thought it was his only out/the only way he could protect people he loved/etc. There's none of that with Kylo. Basically the only explanation is that he's a psychopath, and like... that could be okay? Some people are psychopaths. Hux is probably one. But I don't think that's the interpretation we're meant to have for him. We're meant to think he's got light remaining and that he's redeemable, I just don't see how.

As he is he's just an utterly unlikable, nonredeemable character. Because he has no logical motivation for his petulant behavior, he's unsympathetic and since he's unsympathetic I can't root for his redemption. Even if he was turned to the light side, he'd still need to die for all the shit he's done. There's just no coming back from that. He's not a villain with shades of grey to him, he's just all black and that makes him really uninteresting to me.

Did they really need to kill off Luke like that? What an anticlimactic and unnecessary death. The stuff before it was interesting/cool, and the whole projection thing was very neat. I get why it would've exhausted him so much... but so much to the point of death... ehhhh. That seemed unnecessary. I suspect he'll be around as a Force ghost, but. Meh. It was very underwhelming after what was otherwise a cool fight sequence.

I'll never understand why they don't land their ships and things closer to their destination. Like the huge cannon thing, why not land it within immediate firing range? Why land 5 miles away?

Didn't need Rose randomly kissing Finn. Not sure where that was coming from? Was it just to try to drive a wedge into the Finn/Rey romance/relationship that seems way more natural and obvious? If it amounts to nothing then I guess whatever. She's a fangirl and was dying so whatever. But if it turns into a romance I'm gonna be seriously side-eyeing everything.

Overall there was too much happening and not enough down time. When I think about this compared to Empire Strikes Back, there's just no heart to it the way Empire had. This just has too many characters and kept trying to follow them all. They needed to focus on just Rey and Finn, with everyone else pivoting around them as secondary characters. Their reunion should've felt like Leia rescuing Han in RotJ. But instead we're following Poe (who is relevantly unimportant, I'm sorry, he just is) for huge parts of it, and what he's doing is largely uninteresting/tedious/boring because he's fighting in battles we are almost positive he won't die in, and causing trouble that we almost certainly know won't affect the major plot of the show. In fact, I'm almost positive if you removed most of Poe's solo scenes the movie would progress just fine on its own.

And instead of giving Finn something useful to do, they just sent him off on some illogical chase to some other planet to fuck around for a few hours? What? Why not just send everyone with him? Why not at least send as many people as could possibly fit onto that ship to get them to safety? Why not try to do more trips like that to other nearby planets? If they could get to that casino world so easily in that ship why was it taking so long to get the other ships to that old rebel base planet? Also, why didn't they fly the freighter into the Star Destroyer way earlier? Why was that not even a consideration? Why just let the Admiral die pointlessly when they could've planned from the start that after abandoning ship she'd fly it straight into the Star Destroyer? Why couldn't THAT have been the plan she was saving all along to tell Poe? And not wanting to tell him because he'd be angry about it, but it would've proven that she really was a capable, desperate war general and would've made a lot more sense that just having her sitting in her chair piloting (WHY IS SHE EVEN PILOTING??) the ship. How does that thing not have auto pilot? Aughhhh, that was all so stupid.

I don't know why everyone is frothy about the porgs. They were kind of cute when the first showed up, but got real old real fast. Overused. The salt dogs were much more interesting and way less gimmicky feeling.

We should've seen more of Leia's Force abilities prior to her flying through space. Don't get me wrong, that was awesome, but I wanted to see more build up prior to that, or at least a few words somewhere that she'd had some Jedi training.

I did like how Snoke was the one orchestrating the link between Rey and Kylo, but I think it's absolutely moronic that Rey didn't tell Luke that she was having these visions/connections. How did she not think that was a *little* important? I would've also liked to have seen more actual Jedi training for her. Lifting the X-Wing out of the water, running with Luke tied to her back, actually sparring with the lightsaber instead of just swinging it at a rock. I was so excited for her to meet Luke and train from him, but I feel like almost all of their time together was wasted. She wouldn't open up to him, and he wouldn't open up to her, and the training she got was sort of half-assed/stories. Some interesting moments, but just nothing really deep. (I also still think it's really dumb that the rebellion was depending SO MUCH on finding Luke that they based the whole first movie around finding the map to him, but once they finally found a way to him... they sent one random girl they'd just met. And Chewie. Why didn't they at least send a couple of people? Or at least someone Luke knew?)

Speaking of the previous movie, we got several scenes there that gave the impression that Rey was originally trained as a Jedi and witnessed Kylo's attack on the others. Didn't we? I distinctly remember a scene of her as a small child watching as a shadowy figure with a lightsaber attacked and her being abandoned on Jakku by her family. And I remember her reaction and visions when she touched Luke's lightsaber the first time. I'm TOTALLY FINE with her parents being nobodies (if that's even the truth), but it doesn't explain those visions. I'm totally fine with her naturally being awesome with the Force and I like the idea that as Kylo grew stronger in the Dark Side someone would grow equally strong in the Light Side, but I still feel like Rey needs more explanation for why she can do the things she can do. Maybe that'll be in the third movie, but I suspect we're just supposed to believe she naturally knows how to influence minds, sword fight and lift rocks, and I don't quite buy that.

I'm trying to think of more things I liked. Seeing Leia was wonderful. She's a hardcore badass, but of course it was tinged with a lot of sadness. I wanted a much better reunion between Luke and Leia and it's sad to know that even if she were alive we wouldn't get it because they decided to kill off Luke. I'm not opposed to Luke dying, but it didn't serve a really big purpose. Just bought them a bit of time to escape from a retarded situation they put themselves into... Wait, sorry I'm complaining again.

Ugh, I dunno. Everything I'm thinking about is annoying me. Yoda's scene was weird. Can he just show up whenever? Why then? Why not during a more important moment? The way he talked made it seem like he hadn't seen Luke in a long time, but showing up then just seemed random since he didn't stop Luke from destroying the Jedi books.

A whole host of native nuns living on that tiny island was kind of weird/unnecessary.

Ugh, I dunno. Overall I just wanted a more streamlined story, following the main character, where shit *actually happens*. Other than Kylo killing Snoke, almost nothing happened in this movie. The rebels moved from one location to another taking ridiculously huge casualities and killing some Imperials too, and that's about it. I think the whole movie took less than a week. (Gotta love their magical time travel.)

The visuals were stunning, and it was great to see some characters interacting again, but a much better story would have involved the rebels escaping to a small base, having some quiet down time with just our main cast all together (Rey, Finn and Leia, maybe Poe), and following them as they went as a group together to confront Kylo (or vice versa). Spreading everyone out in varying storylines did no service to the story, and weakened it a lot in Finn and Poe's case because their stories weren't interesting. Rey's was the only interesting storyline and should've been the main/central one, but it felt quite sidelined at times.

The Force Awakens wasn't perfect, but it definitely felt better written, with much better pacing and characterizations than whatever this was. I felt like this was just really jagged and poorly put together, with lots of superfluous/time filling scenes, many of which went on for way too long. I constantly felt bored, thinking, "Get back to the main plot!" while I'm watching yet another pointless space battle.

I'm really sad/diappointed. I love Star Wars. I was so pumped and ready for this movie, and I just don't think I liked it. I can't see myself settling into excitedly rewatch this the way I could other Star Wars movies. There's just no heart in this one for me. It's almost all empty action.

Ugh. Convince me I'm wrong.

#star wars #star wars review #the last jedi #star wars: the last jedi #review #the last jedi review

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clouds-of-wings · 6 years ago

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I finallyyyy finished Bannlyst. I became slower and slower at reading it over time because the book, uh, starts out great but loses a lot of steam and gets progressively more unrealistic as it goes on.

The beginning is awesome, reading the first scene online was what convinced me to buy the book. The scene is about an old married couple, the parents of the protagonist, sitting outside one Sunday evening and talking. The way the scene is written, with all those little observations about the dynamics that develop between two people who have been together for decades, was a delight to read. He tells her what’s in the newspaper because that’s what he always does, and she lets him talk because he enjoys it so much but she doesn’t really care what he says and thinks about other things instead, but he knows full well that she doesn’t listen and intentionally gets her attention later and alludes to their son coming home which he’d been talking about but she doesn’t know and he relishes her confusion because if you had listened like you pretended... then she becomes angry and he drops the smugness and placates her because if she talks herself into a rage, then...

So I buy the book and no other scene in the rest of the novel is like that.

Which is not to say the book is bad, there’s plenty of good. Lotta was definitely the best part of the book, she should have been the main character... somehow. She is in contact with God and gets divine visions which are canonically real and truthful! The part where she talks of her youth was my favourite part of the book. There’s so much mystery and intensity in her tale. She’s way more interesting than Sven and Sigrun. I know that “being sidelined and not living up to her potential” is established as a big theme in in her life when she is first introduced but 1) that’s no reason for the author to treat her the same way and 2) that theme is somehow dropped completely after the initial conversation between her and Sven ends and is never mentioned again. For the rest of the book, Lotta is happy working for Sigrun and Edvard and helping Sigrun with her escape plan. I found Lotta’s situation very intriguing when she was first introduced - growing up having visions, convinced of her special status, of her grand fate, and then to have nothing come of it, to have her visions ignored by everyone, having to work in a factory, being sort-of-betrayed by her crush friend... that’s fascinating, tragic, relatable, and would have merited a much fuller exploration. But it’s never mentioned again and instead Sigrun and Edvard take center stage for the rest of the second and most of the third act.

And, yes, Sigrun and Edvard. I hated their relationship. When she and Sven first met, I thought they’d end up together. It would have been beautiful. The book would have spent much of its space on these two sensitive, wounded souls slowly getting to know each other in secret, each being appreciated for their kindness and generosity... after their boat ride I was totally on-board, no pun intended, to read a touching romance. And they do get together, but only at the very end after a lot of not being in contact at all, after unnecessary stuff that doesn’t add to their romance and when it does happen, it’s just weirdly, shortly mentioned, Sigrun is suddenly in love with him but also not and... then it isn’t mentioned again?

Sven was in love with her the whole time but his love for her is never really explored, apparently that one boat ride impressed him so much? Or it was just her beauty and kindness, the same thing that fascinates Lotta? I understand if he idealizes her because she’s the only one except for his parents who shows him any kindness when he’s made an outcast, but if so, then he spends years of his life longing for an idealized version of a woman he barely knows, which, again, relatable and touching, but then this should be explored as a function of his lack of real human connections and his emotional need for someone to rescue him from his messed-up life. Instead it’s just said and alluded to a lot that he’s in love with her and that’s that.

And Sigrun’s feelings for both Sven and Edvard are all over the place. I don’t even know what to make of them. Speaking of Edvard, I hated his redemption arc. I thought it was unrealistic and corny. He’s clearly abusive, which becomes especially clear when he enters the room to chase the old guy who was talking to Sigrun away (which in itself is fucked up of course) and Sigrun tells the old guy to run, which tells the reader clearly that stuff like that has happened before. He’s dismissive and possessive towards Sigrun from the beginning, even Sven knows right away (for some reason?) that he might kill her from jealousy. And then Edvard just... realizes he was wrong because he listens to Sigrun and Sven’s conversation at Rhånge, changes completely and becomes chill and not possessive at all? ...right. Not how abusers act, but good for Selma Lagerlöf that she didn’t know that!

Toward the end the story gets more and more unrealistic. Things just come together because they have to, against all odds. Maybe we’re supposed to think that God directs the whole thing because he wants it to happen - this is kind of a theme after all, though the end directly contradicts this idea - but everything that happens from the moment when Sven’s wife shows up at Sigrun’s door is just wayyy too convenient and I rolled my eyes a lot at everything that happened afterwards.

And then there’s the ending, which is just terrible. Every character who has ever said anything bad about Sven goes up to him and apologizes, then Edvard holds a several pages long sermon (not even a term I use dismissively, he’s an actual priest holding an actual sermon) about how awesome Sven is, everyone forgives one another, then Lotta has a vision about how war is wrong, then the whole class gets up and claps, Sven lives with Sigrun for another year until he dies from happiness. Oh, and the most absurdly unrealistic thing in the whole book happens when Edvard just so conveniently finds a letter on an English corpse that just so happens to be addressed to Sven’s foster parents and that just so happens to talk about how Sven is actually not guilty about cannibalism.

We are also told (much too clearly) the moral of the story which is completely absent for much of the book. I had skimmed the Wikipedia summary of the book before reading the book itself and it said that the major theme in the book is how crimes against the living are worse than crimes against the dead and therefore war is the worst crime, but most of the book just isn’t about that at all. Most of the book has nothing to do with that moral. At first, when Sven keeps getting shunned by everyone, I thought the book was going to show how these “respectable” people who think they’re better than Sven are actually way worse than him, but they for the most part remain a faceless collective and these stories seem to only be there to show us what a good person Sven is.

Sven is, by the way, a really good person and I liked that little detail about how he wears “that patient little smile” whenever things are going particularly badly and he just agrees with everything and tries to please everyone - and when he’s feeling better he doesn’t have that smile and he actually stands up for himself. That was a great idea by the author - the common view is that you get cranky when you’re feeling bad and are friendlier when you feel well, but if you’re a low status person (or are used to being treated like one), complying is a lower energy behaviour than insisting on your worth - and I wish she had fleshed out the character more like this. He seems more like a symbolic stand-in for the idea of altruism, which would have been fine if the anti-war message had been stronger and the whole book had been more like an analogy, but since it isn’t, he should have been a more distinctive character. Same with Sigrun, actually, who too is all goodness and patience.

In the end, it was the psychological simplicity and the contrived plot that made me slow to finish the book. But there were a lot of good things too and considering how slow I still am at reading in Swedish, I wouldn’t have finished the book at all if I hadn’t liked it. What will stick with me is more certain scenes of the books that are particularly vivid, especially from Lotta’s tale of her youth, which, as I said, was the part I liked the most (but probably also the part that has the least to do with the overall plot).

#selma lagerlöf #book review #swedish literature #swedish #long rant about moderately famous 100 year old book GO #crowingses

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paoulkaye-blog · 8 years ago

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Redemption in 8 Bits

I’ve mentioned before how I have been a Mega Man fan ever since I’ve been able to pick up an NES controller. If you missed it, hey, brief recap: I’m a fan of a game series by Capcom that stars a blue robot who jumps and shoots other robots and acquires their powers to stop a mad scientist. And I’ll tell you, it’s been a difficult time for me and fellow fans of the series.

We used to be spoiled for choice in Mega Man. There was Classic, X, Battle Network, Zero, ZX, Legends, and Star Force. We’d get one, maybe even two games a year. Mega Man used to be more common than Call of Duty. And I’m not going to say it was always quality stuff, and personally I had no use for Star Force at all, but they were all fun to play and spoke to the nostalgia of my youth.

But that’s a time long past now. Capcom decided to bury my favorite Video Game character for various reasons, and managed to completely piss off the fans as they did so. I’ve never seen a company treat an intellectual property like this, and I am anxious for the future because the only news about Mega Man I have seen is in a cartoon show made by Man of Action (the guys who are doing the current rendition of Ben 10), and last I heard they were looking for writers familiar with the series.

So my confidence in that isn’t high, is what I’m saying.

So, I am a Mega Man fan in what is, for the time being, a post-Mega Man world. Sure, it turns up now and again as a cameo or as a reference or a character in one of Capcom’s bland and increasingly vanilla-flavored fighting games, but I have serious doubts that I’ll ever be able to play a seriously produced, well-crafted game with the title ‘Mega Man’ in it ever again. So what do I do to get my 2-dimensional jump and shoot itch scratched?

Sure, there are fan-games and indie projects. 20XX comes to mind, a rouge-like take on the mechanics and aesthetic of Mega Man X that plays pretty well. Other projects, like a total Doom conversion called Mega Man 8 Bit Death Match, offer a loving homage to the series while also having some fun with the characters, weapons, and formula. Keiji Inafune even formed his own company after his split from Capcom to create a new Mega Man style game from scratch called Mighty No. 9, which was a ridiculous Kickstarter success that faced delays and disappointment and sort of left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

But for sure, it was important for an official, known quantity to enter something into the conversation to lift the spirits of disheartened fans. Enter Inti-Creates. These guys did a lot of the work on the Mega Man Zero series, four games that are among the hardest the Game Boy Advanced ever offered, and a wonderful progression of the story and mechanics of Mega Man X. They also put together Mega Man ZX, an open-world platformer that followed the Zero series and built even further on it. With Capcom’s edict to put Mega Man into seeming retirement, Inti-Creates took it upon themselves to create something new, and yet familiar.

Azure Striker Gunvolt has an obvious family history. It looks and plays like Zero and ZX, but tweaks mechanics like dealing and taking damage and the way you engage with opponents that put a fresh coat of paint of gameplay basics older than I am. It had a deep story, an interesting world and aesthetic, and really did help fill that particular gap. As a bonus, Inti-Creates would also create Mighty Gunvolt, a crossover between their new hero and Inafune’s Beck from Mighty No. 9, presented as an 8-bit adventure in the most classic of styles.

It was a short game, maybe an hour or less from start to finish, but it felt perfect to me. Beck in Mighty Gunvolt is the perfect emulation of the classic Mega Man, with a few mechanics tacked-on from his lackluster debut. After a Gunvolt sequel, Inti-Creates also went back and remade an old NES hidden gem called Master Blaster. Master Blaster Zero was an excellent dip in a different kind of nostalgia pool, and through the magic of DLC, they went back and added in a full game mode for playing other characters through that story. I actually beat Master Blaster Zero for the first time playing as Gunvolt, who’s skill set can come off as over-powered if you’re careful with your energy management.

Fast forward to this week, when a game I’ve actually been waiting for since I heard about it came along: Mighty Gunvolt Burst. A sequel to a one-off bonus game. Another hour-ish romp through nostalgia land, right?

Except, no, it was way more. After an hour of play, I hadn’t even played more than three stages. Along with a full complement of Mega Man-style gameplay, complete with an intro stage, eight themed boss stages, and four full end-game levels (including the classic boss rush, mirror boss, and final boss rolled into one grueling finale), Mighty Gunvolt Burst would feature the return of the two titular characters. Beck feels great to play, absent his ridiculous xel-absorbtion dash-through-enemies thing which was counter-intuitive as hell for me as a long time Mega Man player. The only thing missing was stealing a weapon from your fallen foes, but…

Well, Mighty Gunvolt Burst features the deepest, craziest customization system I have ever seen for a 2D side scrolling shooter. You unlock options in the customizer, as well as expand the number of points you can spend in it, by acquiring items hidden through the levels, and being able to choose a select reward whenever you clear a stage (three per stage, so you have to play through the game virtually 3 times to unlock everything, minimum.). Once you have a wealth of options and custom points, you can literally design anything.

Do you want lightning balls that bounce and explode? Or to machine-gun knives in any direction? What about a spinning barrier of ice blocks that shatter into smaller blocks on impact with an enemy? Homing missiles that corner on a dime and explode five times? Spinning blades that bounce off walls and slice through enemies? Charge shots that cover the room in homing fireballs that congregate around an enemy and burn them to ashes? Or maybe just one big regular shot that just does a crap-ton of damage? You got it. All of it.

Classic Mega Man would give you a weapon that worked really well against another boss. This game gives you an element that does more damage to a certain boss, yes, but how you deliver that is entirely up to you. The depth of this infinitely increased the replay value for me. I love trying crazy combinations to see what I can come up with. And there’s a challenge in coming up with the best way to hit certain bosses. Every boss in the game from the first eight stages hails from Mighty No. 9, and this game is a glorious representation of what that game could, and maybe should, have been.

Inti-Creates knows what the hell they are doing with Mega Man-like things, and I’m thrilled that they’ve seen fit to fill that now-vacant market. They’ve mentioned releasing more character for Mighty Gunvolt Burst in the future, and I am totally down for that. This game? More of this, please. More of this until I am dead. Please. Thanks for reading.

#gaming

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glassprism · 8 years ago

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As someone who loves studying the psychology of theater in general, I wondered what your thoughts were on Webber's Phantom in terms of development and later continued life? For example, what do you think has grown/changed about the show through each production and how the piece continues to evolve. I know with your collection, you have noticed the different tone/interpretation of each production. Even as someone who hasn't seen it live, I'd love to know YOUR thoughts!

Well, I can certainly give this a try! (Warning: I might have majored in psychology but I sure as heck haven’t tried to use it to look at theater, so who knows what this answer will be like.)

I think what’s really interesting to me is how much the show hasn’t changed - despite 30 years , the majority of productions continue to do replica productions, and non-replicas still appear to be fairly uncommon. I often compare Phantom to Elisabeth, which arguably has no replica production at all - almost every production that opens has their own design, and even when the show was revived in Vienna, it was modified pretty heavily. The most “common” version as of now seems to be that Stage Entertainment touring production that went around Belgium, Germany, and Vienna, and even that gets tweaked now and then every time it opens. Or if you look at Les Miserables, most productions that open now use that restaged tour design (e.g. US Tour, second Broadway revival, Madrid, Korea, Australian tour, etc.), and the ones that use the original production have been running that way since the beginning (e.g. London).

There’s probably a variety of reasons for this. One is that it’s simply easier to make costumes and sets when there’s already designs for it, and there’s so many of them in storage that some productions don’t even have to do much of that, just pull out ones in stock and modify them for their cast. Another is that Phantom is so popular that it’s look has become iconic - most people will probably have at least seen a photo of the chandelier, or the gondola scene, or the ‘Music of the Night’ pose. It can be hard to design something totally new without some influence from Maria Bjornson’s design. (Might be why every dressing gown, even in non-replica productions, is white. Whatever production designs a non-white dressing gown is going to shake the fandom, seriously.)

And finally… I feel like Phantom has a story that is so universal that most productions don’t feel a need to tweak anything at all? There’s a wonderful essay on the musical Elisabeth and how each production has changed blocking, costumes, sets, and interpretations to showcase (or downplay) aspects, depending upon the culture of the country or production it’s in: in Hungary her independence is emphasized, in Takarazuka a romantic figure and idealized figure, and so on.

But Phantom doesn’t quite have that; the beauty and beast tropes, love triangles, redemption through love - these are things that aren’t really set in one culture, IMO. Almost everyone has felt that, or read stories about that. So there’s little need to change the production to emphasize one aspect over another, and little reason to go down the route of Elisabeth and make EVERY production a non-replica. The one production that seems to do anything like this might be the Estonian production, which deliberately set their production between World War I and II and had a couple small allusions to events that occurred there. It’s possible that some of the other non-replica productions did this, but it’s difficult for me to tell - I just think all their stuff look anachronistic. And even then, little is done to change the actual story.

(Also if I keep referencing Elisabeth it’s because it’s the only musical I’ve thought much in depth about other than Phantom…. and Bat Boy, I guess. But there’s literally only been like, two official productions of Bat Boy, so that doesn’t make for great comparison.)

But I’ve digressed badly. So… stuff that has changed? The one that comes to mind for me is interpretation of the characters and the feel of the story, almost. They go hand-in-hand, honestly. I feel like the early interpretations were more… darkly romantic, in some ways, more fantastical in other ways, more high melodrama. Crawford played his Phantom with this incredible sensuality and vulnerability, Christine was this ethereal soprano, and Raoul was your knight in shining armor. But even with their first replacements, that started to change. Phantoms were played with more intensity, more anger and insanity, Christines became feistier and more willing to fight back, and Raouls… okay Raouls didn’t change that much, though some play up the arrogance and over-confidence of the character more. My feeling is that it’s a combination of wanting to move away from the original interpretations, actors bringing in the original source material, social movements asserting themselves more strongly (feminism and wanting Strong Female Characters may be why Christines are much more spirited now than before), and possibly wanting to be more “dark and gritty” in interpretation.

(Side note: I could probably write another paragraph on why I don’t like the “dark and gritty” stuff becoming a dominant theme of Phantom e.g. the way the restaged tour does it, but I won’t because length.)

As for the future? Like many, I want to see more diversity, and I’m glad some productions are heading down this way. (Some of this is probably due to influences from other musicals - like, I’m pretty sure Hamilton‘s popularity and the casting of the first Asian-American Christine and African-American Raoul on Broadway are connected. And they’re following it up with what I think is the first Hispanic Raoul?) I am also actually happy to see more non-replica productions coming, even if haven’t really been pleased by, well, any of them so far. New interpretations of the material beyond the replica are always interesting and can reveal more about this story that we haven’t thought about.

#alexielderavenswood #GP gets asks #I'm trying to be pretty general here #getting down individually to each production would be really fun but would also make my head spin

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koreanpike3-blog · 6 years ago

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Bears vs. Vikings: Notes from a tough 25-20 victory

There is something about Sunday Night games that has every fan on the edge of their respective seats towards the final two minutes of regulation....

Regardless, a stingy defense and Cody Parkey’s bid for redemption balanced out an uneven effort on offense in their return from a 5+ year absence on Sunday Night. They also gained a much firmer grip on the race for the NFC North crown. Plus, this is the type of “signature” win that will make most critics believe in the Bears this season.

First; and foremost, the fans should take a bow for their performance at Soldier Field. They were LOUD from start to end, and surely that electricity was felt in every square inch of that stadium. Well done, Bears fans. I’ll raise a cold one in your honor tonight.

And right on cue, the Bears forced a 3-and-out on the Minnesota Vikings’ first possession of the night. Akiem Hicks is a freakin’ monster.

Also on cue, the Bears score on their first possession of the night, albeit only a field goal. Mitchell Trubisky looked great in their initial march down the field, until he took a sack in the red zone. Jordan Howard was also heavily featured in this first drive. Cody Parkey’s first kick of the night split the middle of the uprights.

Parkey is just having the worst month of his career. After he boots the field goal, he shanks the following kickoff as it flew over the Vikings’ two-yard line. Woof.

“Bend but don’t break,” a saying made famous during Lovie Smith’s career in Chicago, was on full display during the 2nd possession against the Vikings’ offense. Literally, the Bears’ D needed to force a takeaway to keep the scoreboard blank. It almost seemed destined that a big play would be made in the Bears’ own red zone.

And then Khalil Mack delivered. Again. He stripped and recovered his 5th forced fumble of the 2018 season. He came into the night as the first player since 1982 to have 7+ sacks, 4+ forced fumbles, and 1+ interceptions within the first ten weeks of the regular season.

This is where the night started getting rough for Trubisky. And Matt Nagy, for the matter; they appeared to abandon the run while opting to go vertical with the passing game. This drive ended with an interception, where Trubisky tried to thread the needle to Taylor Gabriel in between three different Viking DBs. All three Viking DBs had a significant height advantage on Gabriel, too.

Oh look, that Khalil Mack guy seems pretty good at this football stuff. The entire front seven just whipped the Vikings’ O-Line on all three snaps, with Mack getting the Bears off the field as he hammered Kirk Cousins while the $84 million-per-year quarterback was throwing the ball. Had Bryce Callahan just held onto the ball for two seconds longer, that would have been a pick.

If Trubisky has displayed anything to this point in his career, it’s resilience. After he tossed the interception in their previous series, he teamed up with Jordan Howard — something they should have done in the previous series — to control the clock and score a touchdown. Trubisky and Howard punished the Purple People Eaters on the ground, which set the play-action passing game up nicely.

Anthony Miller has some ridiculously good hands. I initially thought the ball bounced off the turf following a low delivery from Trubisky, yet Miller held on and secured the touchdown. The chemistry between these two players is strong nowadays, as Miller has recorded a receiving touchdown in 3 of the last 4 games.

Oh, boy. A two-point conversion already? Most fans didn’t like that call, as it appeared to be a bit too aggressive for that situation. Me....to hell with it. The days of bubble wrapped offense under John Fox are loooooong over, my frents.

If I were to tell you that Kirk Cousins is earning a fully guaranteed $84 million per year, after watching this series, I’d expect a few weird faces. He continued to crumble under pressure in this series as he failed to connect with Adam Thielen on two separate tries.

It’s nice to see this Bears offense when Jordan Howard is given more than one touch per series. It would also be nice if Nagy could just stop getting cute in critical moments. After Howard trucks for some solid gains, the offense started going horizontal. Against one of the fastest flowing defenses in the league. Not a good idea.

Cody Parkey hit his 2nd field goal just barely inside the left upright. All this while the NBC broadcasting crew was obsessed with the “doink” sound effect trademarked by John Madden. Idk who was happier to see Parkey sink his 2nd kick; the Bears’ coaching staff, or Al Michaels.

Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs went from having a combined 0 catches in the first 29:10 minutes of the game, to making all the catches on this last minute effort to score some points heading into half time.

That was until Leonard Floyd forced Kirk Cousins to toss an arm punt straight to Adrian Amos. Amos now has a career high in interceptions (2) within a season. And that ensured the Vikings would be blanked on the scoreboard heading into the 3rd quarter.

You know, it would be splendid if the Bears’ offense could stop sleepwalking in the 3rd quarter. Despite Tarik Cohen having a nifty 21-yard gain on 2nd and 21, the gameplan just didn’t appear to make sense as the Vikings’ defense stiffened up big time.

Luckily for the Bears, there’s more than one monster on their defense. His name is Akiem Hicks, in case the rest of the NFL hasn’t figured this out yet. He recorded another tackle for loss, and Leonard Floyd joined in on the fun with a TFL of his own.

TRUBISKY NO! That’s all I’ll say on this series of which resulted in his 2nd interception of the night; or should we say, arm punt. It also gave the Vikings excellent field position to begin a comeback.

MACK YES! Just as Thielen and Diggs are heating up in the receiving game, Khalil Mack took Cousins down for his 8th sack of the year. That became too much for the Vikes’ offense to overcome as they settled for a field goal.

This is where I started saying “oh s—-.” Granted, this forced fumble was a result of outstanding hustle from the Vikings’ defense. And I respect how hard Cohen fights on every tout. Still, it’s not a bad thing to just go down and secure the ball after contact is made. Be smart and survive to live another down. Instead, the Vikes are once again gifted with a turnover deep in the Bears’ territory.

AKIEM HICKS YES! Seriously; though, how did the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints miss on this guy? He took Cousins down for a huge sack on 3rd-and-2 that forced Minnesota to settle for another field goal.

At least the Bears chewed up some clock on the ensuing possession. This was a “big boy” moment for Trubisky and the Bears’ young offense, and they missed on a chance to effectively end the game.

EDDIE JACKSON OMG!!! The budding star at safety made a Mike Brown-esque pick six on a poorly thrown ball from Cousins. He overthrew Laquon Treadwell badly, and instead of simply backing away from the play, Jackson attacked the ball and returned it for the back-breaking touchdown.

Here we go: two D-linemen in on the Bears’ 2nd 2-point conversion of the night. Roy Robertson-Harris and Akiem Hicks got their opportunity to play offense in yet another package featuring members of Vic Fangio’s crew. Best of all Akiem Hicks lined up in the backfield as a tailback, in a T-formation, and motioned out wide as a slot receiver.

So because for the sake of common sense, Trubisky lobbed a ball to Adam Shaheen after the 6’7” tight end received a single manned look in coverage. Welcome back, Shaheen.

I would have absolutely lost my mind had the ball gone to Hicks....and I actually wanted that to happen, too. Here’s to hoping that’ll come against the Green Bay Packers.

Another thing that would be nice — the theme of tonight’s thread — is if Vic Fangio could discontinue the soft prevent look in the fourth quarter. Not only does Cousins finally get a touchdown on the board following an impressive drive, but a BS call on Hicks gave them two attempts at a two-point conversion. They, naturally, succeeded on their second attempt.

I swear, Matt Nagy planned on getting Cody Parkey his chance at redemption tonight. Even though the previous two touchdowns resulted in consecutive two-point conversions, after Parkey made his first field goal. Nevertheless, the Bears controlled the clock and forced Minnesota to burn out some of their timeouts. And when called upon, Trubisky made a few decent plays, while drawing an unnecessary roughness from Harrison Smith.

The moment every Chicagoan was waiting for — both in fear and in anticipation — Parkey’s chance to drive the final nail in the Vikings’ coffin. He delivered, beautifully mind you, on a 48-yard field goal that kept the Bears ahead by two scores. Kudos to Parkey for gutting out what was a gruesome week of memes, angered fans, and calls for him to be cut; only to deliver the knockout punch against such a tough opponent.

Barring anything stupid, any touchdown drive this late in the game would be considered “garbage time points.” Sure, Cousins got Diggs and fantasy owners a touchdown to make the score a bit closer. Of course, all it would take is #BearsSpecialTeams to manifest itself again in the obvious onside kick attempt.

Nope. Not happening. Benny Cunningham made a smart play to snatch the ball immediately after Dan Bailey kicked it. And that wrapped up the game.

In all, Mitchell Trubisky completed 20 of 31 passes for 165 yards, a touchdown, and two picks. His performance wasn’t pretty; rather, he did just enough against a top five defense to control the clock and keep Cousins and Co. off the field. The ability to extend drives with his legs is reminiscent of Aaron Rodgers. One could say this is his first true win against a tough opponent.

For those who follow me on Twitter, you all have likely seen how adamant I am when it comes to feeding Howard the ball. Tonight is a great example of that; 80% of the time Howard carried the ball inside, he’d pick up 5+ yards. I, still, can’t see why it’s a good idea to not give him more touches.

After being shut out last week, Taylor Gabriel led all Bears receivers in receptions and receiving yards. I can get used to this whole “spreading the wealth” concept in the passing game.

I’m sure coaches from all levels would agree with the following statement: the Bears’ defense is the best in the league when one considers a “whole team” concept. From Akiem Hicks recording 5(!) tackles for loss, to Eddie Jackson and Adrian Amos recording a pick each, to Khalil Mack feasting on multiple plays. This defense is 1) stacked from top to bottom and 2) built to last for a long time.

The Chicago Bears (7-3), currently winners of 4 straight games, have a short week with a game on Thanksgiving Day being hosted by the Detroit Lions (4-6) this coming Thursday afternoon. They will then be at the New York Giants (3-7) and at home versus the Los Angeles Rams (9-1) the following week.

It feels good to finally be in a healthy position for clinching a spot in the playoffs.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2018/11/19/18102253/chicago-bears-vs-minnesota-vikings-notes-from-a-tough-25-20-victory-akiem-hicks-cody-parkey-nfl-2018

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survivor-hosts · 8 years ago

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Ep. #2: “One Woman Hall of Fun House Mirrors” - Drew

The tribes were given the music video immunity challenge. Jinsei planned out a story to go with their song and what each person will do whereas Naicha didnt seem to care much. Jinsei obviously won. After the results, a plan was made by Jessy and Drew to blindside MJ while MJ was trying to convince Jessy to blindside Drew. Meanwhile, Regan being uber paranoid and started freaking out in the tribe chat and telling people she is going to vote for them and making up fake advantages. This lead everyone to change their votes to take out Regan as she was too much of a liability. Jessy still voted for MJ even though she knew Regan was going.

update: im here but rip to my perfect game cause catherine randomized her vote

Cat: I don’t use sugar she’s cursed I’m using Christy I won with her also cat: gets voted out first I’m disappointed to see cat go first. I was really excited to play a game with her for the first time ever and I just wish there was something I could have done to help her.

Can’t wait to be second boot

[2:30:43 PM] Austin Trevino: Ok!! I’m trying to scroll back right now and catch myself up but Skype isn’t showing like half of the messages for some reason. Did we decide on an idea? [2:31:13 PM] Sam: we’re doing something LGBT+ related since it’s pride month omg the trumpie is shaking

[2017-06-12 4:08:53 AM] Jessy: this is actually crazy [2017-06-12 4:08:58 AM] Jessy: IS NO ONE GONNA DO ANYTHING?????????????????????????? [2017-06-12 4:08:59 AM] Jessy: BKLMASDFKLMASFKLMDFKLSDAFMS [2017-06-12 4:08:59 AM] Jessy: LIKE [2017-06-12 4:09:01 AM] Jessy: KLJSKLJSSKLMSKLMSKMLSKM [2017-06-12 4:09:19 AM] Jessy: THERES LEGIT GONNA BE NO VIDEO [2017-06-12 4:09:19 AM] Jessy: SLKJSLKJSKLJS [2017-06-12 4:09:22 AM] Jessy: BC THESE PPL ARE SO LAZY [2017-06-12 4:09:26 AM] Jessy: OR THEYRE JUST THROWING [2017-06-12 4:09:27 AM] Jessy: BKLMSADFLKDS [2017-06-12 4:10:51 AM] Jessy: LEGIT ITS LIKE [2017-06-12 4:10:53 AM] Jessy: SICKENING FOR ME [2017-06-12 4:10:54 AM] Jessy: TO DO NOTHING [2017-06-12 4:10:56 AM] Jessy: KLBMASKLDMDFSAMKL [2017-06-12 4:10:59 AM] Jessy: I WANNA YELL AT EVERYONE AND JUST GET TO WORK [2017-06-12 4:11:01 AM] Jessy: ME: U DO THIS! [2017-06-12 4:11:04 AM] Jessy: ME: GET THIS PROP! [2017-06-12 4:13:47 AM] Jessy: ugh it makes me mad [2017-06-12 4:13:48 AM] Jessy: KLBMASDFKDSMA [2017-06-12 7:59:26 AM] Trevor [Host of Hosts]: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

For me, this season is about Redemption. I just learned that Connah is looking to break his pre-merge curse he’s adapted to over the past few seasons played, so instantly I need to jump on that connection and form some sort of understanding between us in order to prevent him from going after me. I feel like this creates a whole lot of trust, and when the time comes where I’ll need it most I’ll be damn sure to use my allies to my advantage in securing votes. The thing with Connah is that he’s viewed as our tribe’s local Inactive. The time zone thing really does hurt his game because of my tribe consisting of sleepy old schoolers. Me, the insomniac that I am, can use this to my advantage by being Connah’s go-to for info and reliance. The problem for me though is looking back to Bhutan, where the last time I trusted someone in a different country voted me out @F5… *eyes Max*

It’s Day 4. 4 days since the game started and I’m not in game-mode yet. It’s probably because it’s been a long time since I played a main but even then, in Generations I wasn’t in game-mode at all. I may be too comfortable or I’m not on guard but I haven’t had that “spark” yet. I have no alliances yet, I’ve talked game to no one. Is this new schools Tumblr Survivor? Things are just…slow? Now I’m not sure if everyone is just feeling things out or I’m already in the minority but I just feels so detached from the game. Catherine has been voted out FIRST and that should give me motivation to do better but I didn’t feel anything. I think what made me feel so detached in games is that in the past year, I’ve played two orgs on Facebook. I didn’t mesh well with people there at all and basically became emotionless and indifferent. That in turn led me into FTC and Final 4 respectively. I’m trying to do the same thing and I thought this is Tumblr where my ORG life started I should have connections or know everyone, should be hard but it actually isn’t. People usually label me as a non-threat until late into the game but I have to be careful because I have friends on my tribe and the other tribe but if I can somehow manage to convince everyone I’m not a threat and will be helpful to them I could pull this off for the third time and make it to FTC. That’s my game plan. As for my relationships in this tribe, I’m friends with Connor for about a year. It’s almost common knowledge since we hosted 4 games together but in the event that people don’t we’re both trying to be distant to one another in the tribe chat. The next person I’m closest to (minus Connor ofc) is probably Jessy but we haven’t talked game yet. I’m still kinda feeling things out. I don’t know how to end this confessional PS I have 4 outdated video confessionals because I can’t upload them BECAUSE NO INTERNET !!! FUTURE JOSH REMEMBER THIS MOMENT AFTER THE GAME IS OVER AND HOW YOU FELT THIS CLOSE TO SUING THE INTERNET COMPANY

Catherine deserves all the good things in the world by the way. She’s an angel. Please let the Phoenix Idol be the Arabia twist.

Okay but in all seriousness, can I tell you how scary it was to see my name come up last night… like Catherine made no effort to communicate with anyone so she can’t say “no ones talking to me” when she doesn’t do the same. Communication is a two way street, you get what you put into any conversation. Idk I just find her to be very hypocritical and don’t really feel bad that she was the first boot. I really want to push for a David/Andrew/Myself alliance, but for the moment I am worried that David and Sam are close and he would spill the beans. I feel like Sam is pretty well rounded in this tribe and that kinda worries me, but I can’t do anything about it so early you know?? But I think I have something solid with Andrew, I feel like Austin trusts me, and I have the Amulet of Abduction in my possession. If things go south, I think I have the tools needed to reverse the car and drive north. Now thinking about it, maybe Catherine voting me out was a good thing because the other tribe could possibly think I’m in the minority and save me for the next round. Who knows honestly, but one could hope. I really have no idea what could happen and I think my paranoia at that tribal during the live call has people questioning me. However, I did contribute a lot to this challenge and I think that puts me in good graces. I suggested the LGBT theme in celebration of Pride Month, which got us going somewhere with our video. I really hope we win mainly because I think our challenge idea is so cute, and if the judges don’t see that then they got something wrong with them. Heres to hoping we win this challenge so I have one peaceful night of sleep

omg austin writing #lovetrumpshate on his sign… me: *blurs it out in the video* i hate that i have to be on a tribe with a trumpie… i just hate it so much… it sucks that i actually get along with him? godt

me when we win this music video challenge

so yeah if we don’t win this challenge it’s plain homophobia

So basically the last vote was super easy except our tribe literally doesnt talk….Sam and I had to get the ball rolling which is weird for me because I never take part in that but I guess im like the leader of the tribe or something (Not really) Im really good with Sam like I think we are going to be a solid 2 going into a swap. Im good with Andrew and Lydia and Austin as well. Sam and I want to get an alliance chat of those people + Scott going so that we can have majority and no one feels left out and we can vote out Connor if needed. The music video we will hopefully and and then I wont have to worry about getting 15th!

[13/06/2017, 10:21:03 AM] Josh: I can talk when I get to my desk! I’m driving atm [13/06/2017, 10:23:14 AM] Regan: Okay thanks lmk [13/06/2017, 10:37:35 AM] Regan: you drive slow

A plan to blindside Drew has been made but I’m not sure if it wise. On one side, Drew is a huge threat and he’s on everyone’s good side, but if we’re swapping tomorrow it’s not ideal to have a broken tribe. Only me, Jessy, MJ and Regan know about this and it’s enough to send Drew home but that would leave Connor and Allison out of the loop. I’m more concerned about burning the bridge I have with Connor that’s why I’m gonna try and pull off a unanimous vote. Or at least a 5-2 vote. I need Connor’s trust and more importantly it’s only the first tribal we’re going and I’m already hiding things from Connor. I’m at a dilemma. My vote seems to be the deciding factor if we keep Regan or not. We still have a lot of time to think about the vote and I think it’s better to have a full on discussion together with MJ and Jessy and see what we’re gonna do. For right now I’m gonna feel out Connor and see what he thinks of possibly blindsiding Drew.

So we won the challenge and we did that, the judges just knew not to be homophobic. But honesty the other tribes vid was not that good so we had this shit down. I think Regan is going and thank god because apparently she was trying to kidnap me and im like please get out before you ruin me thanks. I love Matt Summers so much also because we had a little tea session and it was juicy. he told me about the Regan stuff and I told him about why we voted out Cat seaux I hope if theres a swap we are good

Oh okay the game’s starting now huh. I’m sorry in advance, dear readers, this is gonna be lengthy as fuck, I really should’ve done a Meet the People confessional the first week but I got lazy so here we are! So first and foremost, I’d like to personally thank Steffen for messaging me after immunity results like WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT MUSIC VIDEO because we know, babe. We know. Dramatic little fuck, ilysm. ANYWAY my ass is making some interesting mistakes! We’re gonna break this lil confessional section into three segments because it’s how I’m processing my thoughts: All Stars, Congo, and Pacific Islands. 1. When I first walked into this tribe, my first thought was “OH look, three All Stars kids! Well that can’t happen!” and then they turn out to be…….the only…….people…………I talk to???????? dkjlshlkfjhgKJHFLKJSHD kill me now honestly. So now this is the crew I’m accidentally rolling with for at least this first vote. MJ gave me a call on like night two like “I wanna work with you until the end, I think we could go really really far together and it’s not something people would see coming” and I’m like WHEW this probably means I’m not first boot huh. Like okay if by some miracle or twist of fate, I’m actually capable of making FTC here, I’m not going with no damn MJ, but realistically who says no to an F2? Jessy is a fucking angel, and the only person who will semi-reliably reach out and just say hey, which I’m not sure I’ve ever done with her. Actually, because this is reminding me, I’m gonna go do that right now! … kk now that that’s done. She’s a sweetheart, I don’t ever want to do anything against her or without her. Like I will if I have to, don’t you worry about that, but it would hurt. And then Matt Summers who I’ve talked to like twice since the season started because he’s always busy but like they were real conversations, it wasn’t even anything game-related, we like poured our hearts out to each other. And now he’s been kidnapped so he’s not on the table anyway. But like honestly truthfully, these All Star kids are the good eggs of the beach, I could actually see working with them for a while (cut to Connor and Josh and Allison’s confessionals saying the same thing because they’ve gotten the same calls and the same messages and I’m actually just that easy to manipulate). 2. Okay, Congo. Congo is a side season I won a million years ago. Hosted by Connor, Josh, and Cat. So when they all popped up here, two of them on my tribe, best believe I was SCREAMING. And it was cute until I realized the main season history that Cat and Josh had and how that wouldn’t last. And sure enough, Miss Cat was the first to die and that wasn’t completely unexpected but damn why these bitches have to take my secret pair beware??? We literally saw Moana together in theaters, I’d have thrown away my entire game for her. But this boot is probably a better case scenario because now fewer people are looking at Josh and Connor, they lost their footing on the other tribe and are just in general softer more passive people, at least outwardly. Everyone knows they’re connected, Josh hosted Connor in Palawan and they did Arabia together, but I don’t know that I’m exactly linked with them, which is great right now because if we can manage to work together on a lower radar for a while, it could end up being very very helpful in getting things together moving forward in new tribe configurations. 3. Oh Pacific Islands…….a mess. This is Regan and Allison. Allison is an interesting case because on the one hand I love her, she’s one of my favorite hosts, I’ve been hosted by her in three Pacific Islands games before, she’s a lot of fun. But she knows how I play these days. She and Andrew actually did a cast assessment for PI Johto, which was Heroes vs Villains, and some of the things they said were spot-on but not things I want out. Allison talks about how she wishes I’d been cast on the villains tribe because I’m like secretly cutthroat as fuck, willing to stab literally anyone in the back, may not be seen as a villain but has very villainous characteristics. And Andrew is like Drew is super hard to read, you can have an image in your head of Drew’s game and who he’s aligned with and you could be completely wrong and then suddenly you’re the one working with him and making moves, but it’s never shady. And like true but fuck. So like Allison knowing this much about my game, having hosted me through to the finale episode three times, seen me win one and get player of the season once, is a bit of a scary concept because I’m LIVING for the fact that I’m mostly an unknown entity to these people, like MJ and Matt might know bits of my record and stories from Kait or being in VLs or whatever but so few of them have seen me play and I’m ready to not be nearly as known. And then Regan is just being……..whew. Imagine messaging everyone 20 seconds after the challenge ended, like actually everyone, schedule calls with them, literally tell someone on call that you’re leaving to go talk to someone else instead, frantically messaging the tribe chat like “I know I’m the easy choice” “I just want to beat my best placement” like babe we all do, this is a returning season and only two of these flops have won, we’re all hungry to at least better ourselves. She’s been rubbing people the wrong way, especially Connor and MJ. I don’t think anyone except Allison would lift a finger to save her. BUT HERE’S THE THING, THEY MIGHT NOT HAVE TO. Regan. Got. A. Vote. Stealer. From the idol map. Which is apparently a thing! So in this tribe of seven, literally all she needs to stay is me and Allison and her vote stealer. I mean granted, she doesn’t have me and I don’t think she knows that yet, but it’s a nice concept, very cute. Like I’m not going to stick my neck out for her on literally the first vote when if we don’t swap and Matt comes back, everything could quickly fall apart for me. Plus another layer. I have the map now. And Regan is the only one who knows that it’s even a POSSIBILITY that I might. She didn’t EXACTLY tell me so even she might not realize it. She was trying to be vague like “It’s on the blog, it’s super obvious but not something you’d ever think to search for, like what specifically would you be looking for” so I tried board, then grid, then map and BAM. So I make my very first search and find a vote negator!! Oh do I already have big dreams for this little baby This place could be a fucking gold mine for me moving forward, if no one knows that I have it and I never have to expose that I do until it’s time. I was never a captain, I never got a clue, who would look at poor little Drew for any sort of power? Regan, that’s who, who knows if she’d even guess that I did figure it out after all, I never told her I did, but she knows what she told me. Which is why she absolutely has to leave now because she’s the only one who could know. Now I have a way to test the loyalty of whoever becomes captain next, and at least for the moment, of accumulating wealth without anyone knowing. Part of me wants to go for broke and ask Regan what places she’s already searched but I’m not pushing my luck and forcing her to realize that I made it to the map. That’s on her to figure out. I don’t know where I’m going from here, Trevor said it would be beneficial to be on Skype after tribal tonight, which probably means a swap. Which sucks a little because I have a pretty good connection with everyone here right now, I fit into all three of the groups listed above, I think I might actually end up in alliance chats with all three by the time tribal rolls around. But I’ll find new friends if I have to. I’m a lot more confident in my ability since the last time I did a main season, and I’m finally in a season where I can potentially be looked over and befriended as a number and might not have to fight quite as hard to dodge the immediate threat edit. I’m nowhere near the passive player I used to be. Who knows if I’ll win this season, but I was not proud of my performance in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, so it’s time to have a main season experience I can look back on and say I did that. This vote negator and I are gonna go find some friends and get down to business!

[2017-06-12 5:52:25 PM] Jessy: ughhh [2017-06-12 5:52:28 PM] Jessy: i hate this [2017-06-12 5:52:38 PM] Jessy: keeping regan is better on THIS tribe [2017-06-12 5:52:49 PM] Jessy: but im just giving away three free allies to sam and lydia [2017-06-12 8:06:55 PM] Jessy: I love Regan but like I can totally picture being in trouble with her, Matt and Allison if we were to make this move. Making enemies out of Drew, Josh, Connor and MJ is literally so fucking scary but I don’t want to regret this later on thinking that I should have made the move so that this season wouldn’t end with a winner like Sam, Lydia or MJ. But I also don’t want to be one of those players who only make “big moves” just for the flashiness of it. [2017-06-12 9:47:46 PM] Jessy: okay U know what? [2017-06-12 9:48:00 PM] Jessy: I completely understand the logic Matt implied [2017-06-12 9:48:13 PM] Jessy: but here’s the thing. OPPORTUNITY! [2017-06-12 9:48:35 PM] Jessy: By voting out Regan I’m accepting a position at the bottom of an alliance that not only has numbers on my tribe but the other tribe as well [2017-06-12 9:48:53 PM] Jessy: So yes it does make enemies of the other tribe, but the opportunity I have rn is to take out the person that connects them [2017-06-12 9:48:58 PM] Jessy: the head of the snake. [2017-06-12 9:49:21 PM] Trevor [Host of Hosts]: wheres your confessional

Anyways scratch all this bc Regan is targeting me apparently so she’s DONE.

last night lydia and i agreed that we should make a 4 with connor and scott and try to take out austin cause david suggest a 4 between me, austin, him and andrew right before the cat vote but now david is including me, andrew, scoot and lydia in an alliance YIKES G2G!!!!!!

Scratch that it looks like we’re voting Regan again

So the first tribal council was pretty successful aside from the fact that Connor was left out of the loop. But honestly I’m over that. I’ve been talking to him a little more lately and same with Lydia so trying to keep those social connections up! I would give a more extensive recap but essentially the challenge went fine except for a marker fiasco where a new purple marker fresh out the box exploded all over my table…..anyway! Scott and I have been getting closer and he’s really cool tbh. He told me today that I’m his #1 and that he wants to go through everything in this game with me “at his side” and I’m like alrighty! Hope he’s not saying that to anyone else lmao. In terms of other people, David and I have been good and Sam and I have on and off convos - sometimes involving strategy and other times not. Lydia and Connor I’ll talk to here and there but not about strategy. And then there’s the fun Forced Austin Convos™… Okay I ain’t gonna be mean like the conversations I have with him are genuine but also never go anywhere? Like I guess we have each other’s backs which is fine. I’m just waiting for him to really REALLY strike something with me but he doesn’t which I guess is fine because I don’t trust him and therefore wanna vote him out. The big development of the day though was David and I got an alliance going. I basically just cracked open a cold one with the boy and said let’s talk an alliance and before I knew it he was getting Sam I was getting Scott and Sam was getting Lydia. This is also good for me getting close to Lydia btw! Keeping that in mind. Also David wanted Lydia and I wanted Scott but my messages fucked up so we ended up getting both of them? Which is fine… I think. We were going for a 4 person alliance but I’ll work with 5 the best I can. I just needed Scott to be involved. That was a top priority. So now the other tribe’s tribal is tonight and from all the completely expected game related shit Matt has talked on Regan - she’s going home. BUT. This is a main season. Ya never know what wackadoodle-Dan shit is gonna happen.

[1:15:02 AM] Jessy: THIS TRIBE IS SO CRACKEDT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [1:17:00 AM] Jessy: MJ IS SENDING MIXED SIGNALS! [1:17:02 AM] Jessy: LIKE SIS! [7:45:09 AM] Trevor [Host of Hosts]: What’s happening [7:45:13 AM] Trevor [Host of Hosts]: Make a confessional

things are… confusing yet also very straight forward. the vote was pretty clean cut on being regan, then things.. well, they happened. regan told drew that she heard her name from mj (mj i think???) and then she was like BUT i heard your name from mj. so drew messaged me like ‘what is the happen’ and i was like, well, i have never heard your name so thats probably not happening. regan told drew that she has a vote stealer and is going to try and take mj’s vote and vote for mj, but frankly the vote steal probably isnt real. i have a good thing going with allison, i like her a lot and i really hope to work with her deep into this game. im hoping to pull together an alliance of myself, josh, mj, drew, and allison and then a counter one? with everyone else. that would leave me in the middle which is where i play games best. im just hoping regan goes. i know she would be an easy shield down the road, but theres just no clear target going into this vote, and especially with her having a vote steal, taking her out with it and seeing if it’s something that exists will be very beneficial in the long run.

So I really am happy that we ended up winning the immunity challenge. Beforehand I was so scared cause we lost the first immunity and I didn’t want to go back to tribal after receiving a vote at the last one. Plus I don’t know who they would have kidnapped which really scared me. Lydia and I also discussed who we should end up kidnapping outside of the tribe. She was really worried about her relationship with Matt Summers and their previous game history, so she felt it was best to kidnap him. I personally didn’t give a fuck so I just went with it. Even though if we kidnapped Regan, it would have easily changed their tribe dynamic since Matt confirmed that she was an easy vote. I kinda wish he would have like actually given info on the dynamics so I could know who to abduct if we end up never swapping. Also, I’m low key surprised that Regan told the other tribe I had a final 2 with her mainly cause I don’t and know that she’s bad for my game being here. She also told them she wouldn’t take me to the end, which really has me thinking I’m a huge threat on their side. Personally, I think there are more fish to fry on my tribe over myself, so I hope I don’t go home anytime soon. Lydia also told me she talked to Connah and he seems to have a fire lit under him because he’s more motivated now. Which I’m happy about cause he did a phenomenal job on our video. If the tribes do stay the same and we lose again, I would personally like to see Austin go over Connah. Lydia and I compared notes on how Austin’s conversations come across as very fake and in genuine, and like hes only talking to us through a game perspective. I just find Austin to be fishy. Today, Sam told me that Lydia and I would be approached by Andrew and David about an alliance. And she even told us that she has a separate alliance with just Andrew and David. I’m actually happy she told me this mainly because now I have info against her for down the road. Andrew approached me moments later about it and I acted like I had just heard this. So I got added to an alliance with Andrew/David/Sam/Myself called the Pure Four. I’m happy that this alliance was made cause it was the alliance that I wanted, but right now I just feel very suspicious if that makes sense. I think the smartest thing for my game is to lay low until the moment is right. Who knows if that will happen though mainly cause if I use the Amulet of Abduction premerge, it makes me a pretty big target going into the merge. It sucks cause I want to tell Andrew so I can further our trust but I can’t tell him without exposing the Three Muskequeers (Sam/Lydia/Myself) and why Lydia was chosen to be captain was to help our alliance. So right now I just need to lay low and hope that Regan didn’t completely ruin my reputation on the other tribe

I swear to god, Regan is like a one woman hall of funhouse mirrors and all we’re trying to do is walk a straight line.

So IDK IM GETTING VOTED OUT AN DIM FREAKING. ITS ME OR MJ ME OR MJ I HATE LIFE

#torchsnuffers #confessionals

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