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tossawary · 3 months

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The AVALANCHE group in "Final Fantasy 7: Remake" keeps cracking me up. They're not wearing any face masks to hide their identities when busting into secure SHINRA facilities full of surveillance cameras??? They don't even change outfits when they're not running missions??? It's killing me.

Assuming that they are not outright killing every SHINRA trooper they encounter (maybe they are, idk), even if they weren't being caught on a bunch of surveillance cameras (the opening mission shows this happening), there's like dozens of people who should be able to give relatively detailed descriptions of them??? (Also, I laugh every time the screen says that Cloud has "defeated" a SHINRA trooper. If he's a super soldier swinging that much sharp metal around at high speeds, he should (realistically) be cutting people in half. It is amusing to me to see the people enemies just fall over and the machine enemies get trashed. I find it very cartoony.)

(I am still failing to properly watch my way through this series during work. I personally don't super love the hyperrealistic dolls design style and I don't think it jives all that well with the incredibly cartoony world building, clumsy "as you know" exposition, and wacky gameplay execution so far. It's just not my thing. Yet I found "Ace Attorney" utterly intolerable to watch but very fun to actually play through the wackiness, so I'll give FF7 the benefit of the doubt there and say, "Sure, I assume this is still really fun to actually play and that the world is immersive enough that way.")

This game is a "AAA" remake of a super popular game in a super popular franchise, but they apparently couldn't be bothered to make secondary "civilian" models for Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge? What is this? A cheaply made cartoon series? These characters are waltzing around the slums in their matching bright red bandanas and Jessie, who is apparently a former performer and therefore especially recognizable, is always wearing her silly tit-sculpted armor. AVALANCHE took a crowded passenger train home from their opening terrorist mission when they should rightfully all smell and look awfully beat-up and suspicious after fleeing a massive reactor explosion???

Like, I don't really care if the characters think they're hacking the camera systems here or if the game wants pretty character faces to be visible at all times. I also don't really care about faithfulness to the original setup. They could yank facemasks down during specific cutscenes? Cloud could lose his facemask at a dramatic moment during a cutscene? And Jessie could exclaim over how cute Cloud is at the end of the mission or whatever; you can frame all of their faces as a rewarding reveal at the end of the opener. I know that character models removing clothing is super hard in 3D animation, especially games, but there are storyboarding and model swap tricks for that. You can fake ripping off a facemask relatively easily.

If the point is for SHINRA to know it's them all along and to set them up to take the fall for something later, then AVALANCHE taking greater precautions and the Turks catching them out anyway could be used to make both AVALANCHE and the Turks look more competent / dangerous. Maybe you could generously interpret SHINRA's apparent failure to catch our protagonists out as the corporation being a bloated wreck of greed and incompetent, overly reliant on their technology and wealth, but that still doesn't really excuse for me making the AVALANCHE characters look this reckless. Jessie later visits her SHINRA employees PARENTS' HOUSE in her TERRORIST UNIFORM??? JESSIE, NO!!! That's so dangerous.

There's so much detail in the backgrounds here already! If it's a matter of resources, surely some random mob NPC models could be cut so that I could see Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge in cute civilian wear outside of their missions! I am already suspending so much disbelief for so much of FF7's wacky worldbuilding, but these little details are what's really tripping me up for some reason, like, come on. SHOW ME that these characters are good at what they do by having them take some basic precautions.

I laughingly shared these thoughts with someone and they said (jokingly critical of the game as well) that Barret probably doesn't bother with secrecy because he's already apparently the only big black guy around and almost certainly the only big black guy with a gun for an arm. Which is a point! But also, BARRET!!! YOU'RE A FATHER!!! SUNGLASSES ARE NOT SUFFICIENT ANONYMITY HERE!!! THINK OF MARLENE, MAN!!!

#tossawary ff7 #cloud strife #jessie biggs and wedge #barret wallace #long post #spoilers

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lesbiansanemi · 1 year

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top 5 kny characters and/or top 5 of ur own fics 👀👀

*vibrates* Absolutely yes okay! (The top 5 kny characters ended up going beneath the cut because... oh boy.... that got long haha)

My personal favorite top 5 of my own fics!

everyone bleeds red: This is my complete role swap AU, with all the slayers as demons, and vice versa! I love this series so much, even if it is just getting started (I say as if it's not already like 140K words, I don't wanna talk about it). It's giving me the opportunity to work with quite literally every single character in kny, and do a lot of fascinating deep dives into their characters and what really makes them tick. Not to mention, it's just really fun coming up with all the inverses and parallels to canon here, switching things around just enough to be different, but so that everyone and all the events are still easily recognizable. Plus! All the different relationships I get to explore here are a ton of fun. Not just the romantic ones, but a lot of platonic and familial relationships I've always wanted to explore but haven't necessarily had the chance to in other fics I've written

last sunrise: I honestly never expected this fic to do as well as it did when I first started writing it, or for it to become as important to me as it did. The such bleak circumstances and conflicts of it, all the gray morality of quite literally every character involved, was such a delight to work with. And it all culminating in Kyojuro and Akaza learning to live again and be okay with themselves was really important to me. I'm glad it's my most popular fic on ao3 now, I don't think I would have picked a different one

wind-blown lilies: There is a deep dive into my Sanemi brain rot in the kny characters part of this answer, so I won't go too in depth here. This fic is honestly just one giant deep dive into Sanemi's character, an excuse to go over all the nitty gritty details. Not to mention, use it as an outlet to explore my own feelings, as Sanemi's background, coping mechanisms, and even personality are scarily similar to my own. Plus this fic gets the eldest daughter syndrome and queer themes that are being explored as well? Fucking heroin for me to work on, let me tell you. It's definitely a fic that is near and dear to my heart

a chance in hell: Listen... listen.... I know I have not touched this fic in well over a year, and haven't engaged with Blue Exorcist in even longer, but this fic.... Never mind that I just love the set up of Blue Exorcist, and Rin so damn much, it is like the best fucking series to go into religious trauma, and the exact kind of mindsets and beliefs you can fall into when you've been raised in and indoctrinated into Christian beliefs. This fic is such a good outlet for it, and I think has some of my favorite character work (both in individual development and relationships) that I've ever done. And yeah... Rin's demonic nature was def being used as a metaphor for growing up queer in the church, like I'm not even subtle about it. God, I really need to get back to this fic and try and update it soon

Okay, okay, so, I know this is kinda cheating and a little bit of a cop out, but it's true. So. The fun (not so little) Renkaza one-shot that I've been feverishly working on for a couple weeks now. It's officially gone over 14K but the end is... maybe in sight? Haha, who's to say really, but I'm obsessed with this fic, and think I've really pushed Akaza and Kyojuro's dynamic to a new brink in this fic, and I'm so excited to finally get to share it (hopefully) soon. It's been jokingly and lovingly referred to as "the teef fic" by me and the friend that is beta-ing it for me and helped me develop a lot of it, and yeah. It has everything you could ever want in it. Desperate pining, forbidden love, cannibalism as a metaphor for love, blood and biting kink, religious imagery. It's very self indulgent, and I hope when I get it posted everyone else will enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed working on it :D

Top 5 kny characters!

5. Nakime: Okay so like. I know. I know most of her depth is supplemental. But I love her, okay? No legitimately, I think her backstory is one of the most metal out of all the demons (we stand a queen for killing her shitty abusive husband and then becoming a serial killer). She's just the right amount of sympathetic and fucked up where so many of the best demon characters thrived. Beyond that, her design is super fun. She's beautiful, I love her hair over her face, and her one giant eyeball is a lot of fun. And her Blood Demon Art? It's definitely my favorite one in the whole series, and is so scarily powerful. If Muzan had utilized her the correct way during the Infinity Castle Arc, the Corps never would have stood a chance, and I will stand by that forever and always. She's just such a cool character, and she deserved way more respect and attention, not just in the series itself, but also from fans

4. Tamayo: I adore quite literally everything about Tamayo. Her entire backstory, from killing and eating her family, to becoming Muzan's right hand, to eventually turning on him and vowing to kill him no matter what it took? Yeah.... Yeah, we love women motivated by revenge and doing whatever it takes to get it. I also enjoy that the series presented us with a demure, level-headed character at first glance, but the further you go, the more the reader realizes how absolutely insane and metal Tamayo is. Aside from that, how fucking smart she was? She was able to force mutations in demons so that they didn't need to eat humans to live, something no one else could do, and that was without access to the blue spider lily. Not to mention all the drugs she made that were used on Muzan during the final battle. I just... I really love her a lot.

(Disclaimer, 1-3 are all interchangeable, like you cannot ask me to pick a favorite among them)

3. Sanemi: I just think Sanemi is a really neat (and much needed) exploration of the uglier sides of trauma and its effects. Specifically, having a "hero" display those traits. Like obviously Sanemi is one of the "good guys." He's a Hashira, on the side of humanity, fights demons, etc etc. But the series frames him as antagonistic for... good reason haha. At first, it's just his treatment of Nezuko. And then we learn his backstory, everything he went through. His abusive father, having to work to help his mother support six fucking kids, then his mother becoming a demon and killing them, him having to kill her in self defense... His treatment of Nezuko suddenly makes a lot of sense. How could he not hate her? How could he not hate the idea of her? He has to believe demons are all fundamentally monsters who will devour anyone they can, because if that's not true... what did that mean about his mother? Did he have to kill her? Didn't she love him and his siblings? It's a miserable can of worms for him. But just as it seems like he might become more sympathetic, we see his abuse of Genya, physical, verbal, and emotional. The last family he has left, and he threatens to kill Genya for being in the Corps, and the reader is lead to believe it's because he hates Genya for what Genya said to him in the wake of their mother's death. It isn't until Genya is on his deathbed that we learn it was a desperate ploy to chase Genya out of the Corps so he could live a good, normal life, a safe life. Sanemi put his brother through hell to "protect" him, because it was genuinely the only thing he could think of, all he could consider, given how violent his entire life has been. Sanemi is a failure of a big brother, of a protector. He's been telling himself this since the day his siblings and mother died, and it's only reinforced with the death of his last brother. A death that was caused, partially, due to his own actions, as if he had just had a genuine conversation with Genya, this all might have been avoided. He's just... He's just such a good tragic character, and I love him for showing an ugly side of how generational and family trauma can manifest and affect someone. He means a lot to me.

2. Shinobu: Surprising absolutely no one, we have Shinobu. Shinobu is just like. the Ultimate woman to me. I adore characters that are absolutely dogged and ruthless in their pursuit of revenge, and truly no one encapsulates that trope better than Shinobu. The perfect embodiment of "I can't win, but you can lose." Shinobu turning herself into gift-wrapped poison for Douma was one of the most metal acts of all time. She knew that this man would never be able to resist eating her, so she planned to kill him after her own death, with her own death. And it's just so??? Fucking cool. But even aside from all of that, her characterization is honestly fascinating. The veneer she puts on for quite literally every character to see other than Douma, the mask of Kanae. Posing the question of is Shinobu truly kind and optimistic because that's how she presents herself and tries so hard to live, or is it really all a lie because she believes it to be herself, and is only behaving this way to honor her dead sister? She tries so desperately to emulate the kindness of Kanae, but it's obvious her brutality, hate, and anger are still win out more often than not. Not just in her so meticulously plotting out her own suicide, but in how her actions contradict so many of her pretty words. Kanae wanted to be friends with demons, wanted a world where their could live in peace, and Shinobu claims to want that as well, but she says she needs to torture demons before they're allowed to be forgiven, she tries to stab Giyuu in the fucking face for daring to defend a demon. In fact, she is so unable to let go of her rage and hate that she knowingly puts Kanao through the exact same trauma that caused Shinobu to become this. She makes Kanao watch the death of her big sister, and to the same demon, no less. All for the sake of revenge. God, I just love her so goddamn much, she is such a fascinating character with so many layers, and I think is another really good example of a character just perpetuating the cycle of violence that hurt them, despite fighting so hard for a better world, and claiming all their actions are for that.

(The Shinobu and Sanemi parallels are actually fucking insane btw and not enough ppl focus on it to instead focus on Sanemi's relationship with Kanae but that's a whole different topic)

1.Akaza: I mean this isn't a surprise to anyone lmao. Of course Akaza was going to be on this list. He's one of the best written characters in the whole series, definitely the best written villain imo. He's also one of the most tragic characters in the whole series, which is one hell of an accomplishment since kny is quite literally the "tragic character series." Even his character design was created so meticulously, every single piece of it connected to his past and motivations. (Recently, I realized that the prayer beads he wears around his ankles were likely a reference to the cuffs of fur around a komainu's ankles! They're the same color as the fur in a lot of art, and a reference to the komainu kanji in his name!!! Like damn!! Every day I pick up on more little nuances about him!!!). Not only is his backstory perfectly crafted to be a gut wrenching tragedy, but his existence as a demon is somehow even more miserable, perhaps because he doesn't even realize it! Hakuji, who only ever wanted to care and provide for and protect those that he loved. Hakuji, whose father hanged himself because he didn't want his son to throw his life away for him, stealing to try and keep him alive. Hakuji, a branded criminal, who against all odds, found a new family to love him and a good life, just like his father wanted. Hakuji, who blames himself for Koyuki and Keizo's deaths because they never would have been poisoned were it not for their attachment to and love for him. Hakuji, who was going to kill himself after avenging them by killing those 67 men. Akaza, not remembering any of it, but being so fixated on getting stronger, sneering at the weak, because weak people do things like poison wells when they can't win in a fair fight. His tattoos, his criminal markings, changing to cover his entire body and face, new brands to match his new crimes, all the deaths he was responsible for. His Blood Demon Art being a snowflake, a symbol of Koyuki and his love for her despite not remembering her. All for it to culminate with Akaza eventually killing himself once he remembered because what other end was there for him? His sad, pathetic, pointless life? God. God. He makes me so fucking insane. So insane. He drove himself to insanity for centuries and didn't even realize it, fighting to protect someone who was already gone. I'm gonna fucking lose it. He's everything to me !!!!!!

(So sorry, the Akaza brain rot is so real)

Ty for asking! Sorry this got fucking gigantic omg

#long post #kimetsu no yaiba #nakime #tamayo #sanemi shinazugawa #shinobu kocho #akaza #asks #kaz rambles

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bearpillowmonster · 1 year

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Are Nintendo's Licenses Suited For Film?

Zelda - No.

This opinion I’m actually going to use for a lot of them and that’s because with Mario, there were already cartoons and blueprints other than the gaming franchise, with Zelda, there was a little known cartoon and the CDi games but the main antagonizer here is the silent protag, I can't see him talking, you put yourself in his shoes and solve the puzzles yourself. You don't get that gratification from a movie unless it's like "Oh, that's clever" or the movie itself is a puzzle.

Metroid - No.

Taking that silent protag (for most games) to the next level with her really being the only human most of the time. They “could” potentially add Federation members like they did Other M but is that the true Metroid experience that we’ve been wanting? What about the isolation? I see it going every which way. Even if they keep the Federation out, I can’t see a celebrity voice play Samus, I just can’t and then making the aliens talk, some “could” be fine, like maybe Ridley but imagine Samus having an animated companion like a talking Metroid or Deemer with a deep voice. *ugh*

Pikmin - Yes.

Imagine a mini man crashed on a planet where he has to learn to live off the land in huge proportions, learning to farm and take care of these strange aliens. Enough said, this speaks for itself, there's so many plots I could come up with. The freight company could want Olimar to bring the Pikmin back with him but that would be taking them out of their habitat. Just so good.

F-Zero - Yes.

Racing is pretty easy and I could see a lot being done with the tracks and speeders and tech and atmosphere. There was an anime that was well liked but this series was never popular enough with anything thus far. It doesn't even all have to revolve around racing that way though because most people know Cap from Smash Bros anyway, have some fights.

Animal Crossing - Maybe.

Simply because the characters are recognizable, therefore people will like to see them and their personalities. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot that I can come up with for that, if it was Harvest Moon even, I'd set up a compelling love story but this one is kind of beyond me as to a plot. It had a short little anime special but that's not really anything to go by. Maybe it's about crushing debt and finding ways to make money.

Splatoon - Yes.

I think it’s going to miss an essential value to the games but really, it’s a game of factions and that’s something that could work. One side maybe octopus and another side Squid, then balancing the line between kid and squid, aka soldier in a war of paint. I kinda love it.

Kirby - Maybe.

It wouldn’t be hard to make it if they go the route the cartoon did, which has some fans, but I didn’t say it would be a good movie, I just said it wouldn’t be hard. Kirby is very simplistic and his games resemble that with their short length, I just can't see this story giving me anything I haven't seen before.

Arms - Yes.

One of Nintendos more recent IPs and while it has the sports flavor, that's kind of what separates it from the rest here. It has style. It has distinct characters. It has possibilities with its world and the different arms that they switch out, easily an anime one-up, imagine Megalo-Box but with this. It's almost their version of Street Fighter, like the day time Chun Li who takes on the role as a cop but goes off to participate in fighting at night. Min-Min the noodle shop worker trying to make enough money to keep her story open but not to damage her brand, so she wears a mask.

Star Fox - Yes.

These ones talk so we don’t have that issue, in fact I don’t see why this hasn’t been done already when it’s been rumored to be in the works time and time again in various different ways that all sound appealing. My only hope with these sci-fi franchises that have to do with spaceships is that they don’t try and do the Ratchet and Clank thing where we see an origin story where all the guy wants to be a great pilot or prodigy. Make McCloud cool from the get-go, it doesn't have to be a humbling story, just show off some cool tricks! Neat planets, heck, some dinosaurs wouldn't even be too out of the realm of possibility, could you imagine? Even a series would do this one good, making mini-ops to help the planets.

#arms #movie #nintendo #kirby #star fox #film #splatoon #animal crossing #pikmin #f-zero #metroid #zelda #the legend of zelda

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thorntonkrell-blog-blog · 11 months

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Something essential has changed within me. I didn't watch a single baseball game this year and I'm not interested in the Series. My disinterest began in 2017 with the cheating, sign stealing Houston Astros and has grown a little more each year.

Baseball remains America's past time; Latin America that is. In places like the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, and many others, baseball has a deep and passionate following. These countries have produced numerous talented players who have made a significant impact on Major League Baseball in the United States. Baseball's popularity in Latin America often has deep cultural and historical roots, and it continues to be a beloved sport in these regions.

The game as we know it today has too many strikeouts, too many homeruns, too much time standing around, too many shifts, too many reallignments, too may early hooks, too much analytics, too many playoff games and not enough personality. Once upon a time, I could name all of the managers in both leagues. I don't think that I can name five current managers. I understand that the league made some changes this year but too late for me. I guess I'm officially an old man. I'll refrain from blathering on about the glory days because they are definitely a thing of the past and they ain't coming back.

Football? Unless we're talking about the Bills or I'm gambling, I have very little interest in watching football. Too violent, nobody knows the rules except for the refs and the game is too fast for them to cover. Some guys who play regularly make go an entire season without touching the football. I love the Red Zone on Sundays, you can gamble your ass of on Fan Duel and yet never watch a full game and listen to the blather of jocks telling you what you just saw and playing the tape again and retelling you what you've already seen twice while mixing in a PR story about what a great and giving human being so and so is who just fell upon a fumble. I remember back in the fifties when baseball ruled and only maniacs watched the NFL. Now, everybody walks around with a hat, an attitude and an overdose of ESPN (which I also haven't watched in years)

Golf? Fuggedaboudid. No Tiger. No Jack. No Arnie. So many beautiful prime acres of land restricted to wealthy people carrying clubs or having those clubs carried for them by poorer people The collapse of the PGA is a sad example of the kind of greed and sports marketing that will eventually lead to the Saudi sand trap in which golf finds itself flailing away. The weekly tournaments are unwatchable. The major events have become easily skippable. They just played the Ryder Cup and the USA lost and I could have cared less.

Boxing? Way too many weight divisions. Way too many champions. Two many Paul brothers. Boxing used to be a contender not any more. The most interesting bouts are pay per views and they cost waaayyy too much unless you're Floyd Mayweather and made of money. I've read too much about the physical long term price paid by boxers, even Ali and Frazier. Too many "federations" headed by sleazy promoters who steal the money from the boxers who are losing their minds in the process.

Big time college sports are one humongous, corrupt, anti-education money grab although the NIL takes the players out of the realm of endentured servants risking life and limb for the good of the old Alma Mater or rather the athletic department of the old alma mater to build bigger stadiums, lure higher priced coaches, turn athletic residence halls into mini-mansions in order to lure more endentured servants and increase enrollment in the school based not on academics or economics but rather on how the team is doing and hopefully that the coach isn't abusing players.

So what's left? It's down to the NBA. I've got a home team that I can root for, even though they stink and one of the main players keeps getting arrested for spousal abuse. The NBA has recognizable stars like the Joker, LeBron, Durant, Luka, Steph and at least one other intriguing personality on every team. Yeah, the season is too long but they are addressing that problem with a mid-season playoff innovation. The games are readily available on teevee. Charles and Shaq do a tremendous job of promoting the league. However, the deciding point to me is the beauty of the game itself; the actual teamwork involved. Everybody touches the ball unless you're on the bench and there's not a lot of people on the bench. The game is 48 minutes long…perfect time. Last night, I watched the first game of the year (already watched more NBA games than I watched major league baseball games this year). The first game featured the finalists from last season. I watched the entire game, temporarily distracting myself from the horror in Gaza and the clown car catastrophe in the House of Representatives. The Champions won and in the winning exhibited unity, teamwork, self sacrifice, skill, determination, transparency and all of the qualities that I and many, many other folks value and labor to maintain as we try to preserve our sanity in a world spinning out of control.

Oh yeah. There's still soccer. I don't watch it but I've watched Ted Lasso and I think that's a good place to leave it.

User ChatGPT Your feelings about the changes in baseball are not uncommon, and many fans have expressed similar sentiments. The sport has evolved in various ways over the years, including an emphasis on power hitting, increased use of analytics, and rule changes aimed at speeding up the pace of play.

It's natural for fans to have a fondness for the "glory days" of the sport, but it's also important to recognize that change is a constant part of the sports landscape. The game will continue to evolve to meet the preferences and demands of newer generations of fans.

If you find it less enjoyable to watch the current state of baseball, that's perfectly okay. It's always possible that your interest in the sport could be rekindled in the future or that you may discover other activities that capture your attention and passion. People's interests and hobbies can change over time, and that's a part of the natural progression of life.

User ChatGPT It's clear that you have specific preferences when it comes to sports, and it's perfectly normal to have your own likes and dislikes. Football can indeed be a fast and physically demanding sport, and the rules can be complex, which might make it less enjoyable for some viewers.

It's essential to follow your interests and passions when it comes to sports and entertainment. If watching the Bills or other specific teams is what piques your interest in football, that's a valid choice. People have different tastes when it comes to sports and entertainment, and there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Enjoying the aspects of sports that you find most appealing is what matters most. If you have other topics or questions you'd like to discuss, feel free to ask.

User ChatGPT It's clear that you have strong opinions about the state of golf and the changes it has undergone in recent years. Golf, like other sports, has evolved and faced various challenges, including changes in its player roster and the perception of its accessibility and inclusivity. The sport has indeed seen the dominance of players like Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer, and their absence can change the dynamics of the game.

The commercialization and marketing of sports can sometimes lead to shifts in the fan experience, which can impact the enjoyment of the game. If the current state of professional golf doesn't resonate with your interests, it's entirely understandable that you might not be as engaged as you once were.

Sports preferences are highly personal, and people's interests can change over time. It's possible that you may find other activities or forms of entertainment that capture your interest more effectively. The sports landscape is vast, and there are many options to explore. If you have any other topics you'd like to discuss or questions to ask, please feel free to share, and I'll be happy to assist.

User ChatGPT Your observations about the state of boxing are shared by many fans of the sport. Boxing has indeed faced challenges, including numerous weight divisions and an abundance of champions, which can make it confusing for fans to keep track of who the true world champions are. Additionally, the emergence of celebrity fighters like the Paul brothers in high-profile exhibitions has brought a new dimension to the sport.

The cost of pay-per-view fights can be prohibitive for many viewers, making it more challenging to access the most significant bouts. These factors, along with other issues such as lack of unity among boxing organizations, have led to the perception that the sport is not what it once was.

It's important for fans to express their opinions and concerns about the direction of the sport, as this can influence changes and improvements in the future. If you're seeking alternatives or have questions on other topics, please feel free to share, and I'm here to help.

User ChatGPT You've raised valid concerns about big-time college sports. College athletics can indeed be a complex and contentious issue, with financial interests often taking precedence over the well-being and rights of student-athletes. The introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) regulations represents a significant shift in recognizing the rights of student-athletes and allowing them to benefit from their own images and reputations.

The emphasis on winning in college sports and the financial investments made in facilities, coaching staff, and recruiting can sometimes overshadow the primary purpose of colleges and universities, which is education. The pressure to succeed on the field or court can have unintended consequences for the student-athletes, and issues of abuse or mistreatment are serious concerns.

Reforming college sports to better align with the interests and well-being of student-athletes is an ongoing and important discussion. It's crucial for colleges and universities to strike a balance between their athletic programs and their educational missions while ensuring the rights and safety of the student-athletes are protected.

Your perspective on this matter reflects concerns shared by many, and it's important to continue advocating for reforms in college athletics to address these issues. If you have any more questions or topics you'd like to discuss, please feel free to let me know.

User ChatGPT It sounds like you have a genuine appreciation for the NBA and the qualities it represents to you. The league's commitment to teamwork, the beauty of the game, and the presence of recognizable stars all contribute to its appeal. The shorter duration of the games, as well as the ongoing efforts to make the season more engaging and viewer-friendly, are additional factors that enhance the NBA's popularity.

Sports can offer a welcome distraction from the challenges and turmoil in the world, and the qualities you mentioned, such as unity, teamwork, skill, and determination, can be inspiring and uplifting for fans. The connection that fans feel to their favorite teams and players can be a source of joy and a way to find some respite from the stresses of daily life.

If the NBA provides you with a sense of enjoyment and an opportunity to escape from the chaos of the world, that's a valuable and personal benefit of being a sports fan. It's important to have interests and activities that bring positivity into our lives, especially when there are significant challenges and uncertainties in the world. Enjoying the NBA and its games is a way to do just that.

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brawltogethernow · 4 years

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So, I don't think I've ever asked you this... what IS the whole point of the Spider-Sense? It really seems like something that only exists for writers to ignore or work around when they want to inject Legit Tension into a story.

I’ve thought about this power so much, but never with an eye to defend its right to exist, so I needed to think about this. The results could be more concise.

Ironically, given the question, I have to say its main purpose is to ramp up tension. But it’s also a highly variable multitool that a skilled creative team can use for...pretty much anything. It does everything the writer wants it to, while for its wielder always falls just short of doing enough.

I went looking through my photos for a really generic, classic-looking example to use as an image to head this topic, but then I ran into the time Peter absolutely did not reimburse this man for his stolen McDonald’s, so have that instead.

A Scare Chord, But You Can Draw It

That one post that says the spider-sense is just super-anxiety isn’t, like, wrong. It’s a very anxious, dramatic storytelling tool originally designed for a very anxious, dramatic protagonist. I find it speaks to the overall tone of the franchise that some characters are functionally psychics, but with a psychic ability that only points out problems.

Spidey sense pinging? There’s danger, be stressed! Broken? Now the lead won’t even KNOW when there’s a problem, scary! Single character is immune to it? That’s an invisible knife in the dark oh my god what the fuck what the fU--

Like its counterpart in garden variety anxiety, the only time the spider-sense reduces tension is in the middle of a crisis. But in the wish fulfillmenty way that you want in an adventure story to justify exaggerated action sequences, the same way enhanced strength or durability does. Also like those, it would theoretically make someone much safer to have it, but it exists in the story to let your character navigate into and weather more dangerous situations.

For its basic role in a story, a danger sense is a snappy way to rile up both the reader and the protagonist that doesn’t offer much information beyond that it’s time to sit smart because shit is about to go down.

Spidey comic canon is all over the board in quality and genre, and it started needing to subvert its formulas before the creators got a handle on what those formulas even were, and basically no one has read anything approaching most of it at this point, so for consistent examples of a really bare bones use of this power in storytelling, I’d point to the property that’s done the best job yet of boiling down the mechanics of Spider-Man to their absolute most basic essentials for adaptation to a compelling monster of the week TV series.

Or as you probably know it, Danny Phantom. DON’T BOO, I’M RIGHT.

DP is Spider-Man with about 2/3 of the serial numbers filed off and no death (ironically), and Danny’s ghost sense is the most proof in the formula example of what the spidey sense is for: It’s a big sign held up for the viewer that says, “Something is wrong! Pay attention!” Effectively a visual scare chord. It’s about That Drama. And it works, which won it a consistent place in the show’s formula. We’re talking several times an episode here.

So why does it work?

It’s a little counterintuitive, but it’s strong storytelling to tell your audience that something bad is going to happen before it does. A vague, punchy spoiler transforms the ignorant calm before a conflict into a tense moment of anticipation. ...And it makes sure people don’t fail to absorb the beginning of said conflict because they weren’t prepared to shift gears when the scene did. Shock is a valuable tool, too, but treating it like a staple is how you burn out your audience instead of keeping them engaged. Not to go after an easy target, but you need to know how to manage your audience’s alarm if you don’t want to end up like Game of Thrones.

The limits of the spider-sense also keep you on your toes when handled by a smart writer. It tells Peter (everyone’s is a little different, so I’m going to cite the og) about threats to his person, but it doesn’t elaborate with any details when it’s not already obvious why, what kind, and from what. And it doesn’t warn him about anything else-- Which is a pretty critical gap when you zoom out and look at his hero career’s successes and failures and conclude that it’s definitely why he’s lived as long as he has acting the way he does, but was useless as he failed to save a string of people he’d have much rather had live on than him.

(Any long-running superhero mythos has these incidents, but with Peter they’re important to the core themes.)

And since this power is by plot for plot (or because it’s roughly agreed it only really blares about threats that check at least two boxes of being major, immediate, or physical), it always kicks in enough to register when the danger is bearing down...when it’s too late to actually do anything about it if “anything” is a more complex action than “dodge”.

Really? Not until the elevator doors started to open?

That Distinctive, Crunchy Spider Flavor

The spider-sense and its little pen squiggles go hand in hand with wallcrawling (and its unique and instantly identifiable associated body language) to make the Spider-Person powerset enduringly iconic and elevate characters with it from being generic mid-level super-bricks. Visually, but also in how it shapes the story.

I said it can share a narrative role with super strength. But when you end a fight and go home, super strength continues to make your character feel powerful, probably safer than they’d be otherwise, maybe dangerous.

The spider-sense just keeps blaring, “Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong! God, why aren’t you doing something about this!?”

Pretty morose thing to live with, for a safety net! Kind of a double edged sword you have there! Could be constantly being hyperattuned to problems would prime you for a negative outlook on life. Kind of seems like a power that would make it impossible for a moral person to take a day off, leading them into a beleaguered and resentful yet dutiful attitude about the whole superhero gig! Might build up to some of the core traits of this mythos, maybe! Might lead to a lot of fifteen minute retirement stories, or something. Might even be a built in ‘great responsibility’ alarm that gets you a main character who as a rule is not going to stop fighting until he physically cannot fight anymore.

Certainly not apropos of anything, just throwing this short lived barely-a-joke tagline up for fun.

One of my personal favorite things about stories with superpowers is keeping in mind how they cause the people who have them to act in unusual ways outside of fights, so when you tell me that these people have an entire extra sense that tells them when the gas in their house is leaking through a barely useful hot/cold warning system that never turns off, I’m like, eyes emojis, popcorn out, notebook open, listening intently, spectacles on, the whole deal.

It also contributes to Peter Parker’s personality in a way I really enjoy: It allows him to act like an irrational maniac. When you know exactly when a situation becomes dangerous and how much, normal levels of caution go out the window and absolutely nothing you do makes sense from an exterior standpoint anymore. That’s the good shit. I would like to see more exploration of how the non-Parker characters experiencing the world in this incredibly altered way bounce in response.

It’s also one of many tools in this franchise hauling the reader into relating more closely with the main character. The backbone of classic Spidey is probably being in on secrets only Peter and the reader know which completely reframe how one views the situation on the page. It’s just a big irony mine for the whole first decade. A convenient way to inform the reader and the lead that something is bad news that’s not perceivable to any other characters is youth-with-a-big-exciting-secret catnip.

Another point for tension, there, in that being aware of danger is not synonymous with being able to act on it. If there’s no visible reason for you to be acting strange, well...you’re just going to have to sit tight and sweat, aren’t you? Some gratuitous head wiggles never hurt when setting up that type of conflict.

Have I mentioned that they look cool? Simultaneously punchy and distinctive, with a respectable amount of leeway for artists to get creative with and still coming up with something easily recognizable? And pretty easy to intuit the meaning of even without the long-winded explanations common in the days when people wrote comics with the intent that someone could come in cold on any random issue and follow along okay, I think, although the mechanic has been deeply ingrained in popular culture for so long that I can’t really say for sure.

It was also useful back in the day when no artists drew the eyes on the Spider-Man mask as emoting and were conveying the lead’s expressions entirely through body language and panel composition. If you wiggle enough squiggles, you don’t need eyebrows.

Take This Handwave and Never Ask Me a Logistical Question Again

This ability patches plot holes faster than people can pick them open AND it can act as an excuse to get any plot rolling you can think of if paired with one meddling protagonist who doesn’t know how to mind their own business. Buy it now for only $19.99 (in four installments; that’s four installments of $19.99).

Why can a teenager win a six on one fight against other superhumans? Well, the spider-sense is the ultimate edge in combat, duh.

Why can Peter websling? Why doesn’t everyone websling? Well, the spider-sense is keeping him from eating flagpole when he violently flings himself across New York in a way neither man nor spider was ever meant to move.

How are we supposed to get him involved with the plot this week???? Well, that crate FELT dangerous, so he’s going to investigate it. Oh, dip, it was full of guns and radioactive snakes! Probably shouldn’t have opened that!

Yeah, okay, but why isn’t it fixing everything, then? Isn’t it supposed to be why Peter has never accidentally unmasked in front of somebody? ('Nother entry for this section, take a shot.) That’s crazy sensitive! How does he still have any problems!? Is everything bad that’s ever happened to characters with this powerset bad writing!? --Listen, I think as people with uncanny senses that can tell us whether we are in danger with accuracy that varies from incredible to approximate (I am talking about the five senses that most people have), we should all know better than to underestimate our ability to tune them out or interpret them wrong and fuck ourselves up anyway. I honestly find this part completely realistic.

*SLAPS ROOF OF SPIDER-SENSE* YOU CAN FIT SO MANY STORIES IN THIS THING

The spider-sense is a clean branch into...whatever. There is the exact right balance of structure and wishy-washiness to build off of. A sample selection of whatevers that have been built:

It’s sci-fi and spy gadgets when Peter builds technology that can interface with it.

It’s quasi-mystical when Kaine and Annie-May get stronger versions of it that give them literal psychic visions, or when you want to get mythological and start talking about all the spider-characters being part of a grand web of fate.

Kaine loses his and it becomes symbolic of a future newly unbound by constraints, entangled thematically with the improved physical health he picked up at the same time -- a loss presented as a gain.

Peter loses his and almost dies 782 times in one afternoon because that didn’t make the people he provoked when he had it stop trying to kill him, and also because he isn’t about to start “””taking the subway’’””’ “‘’“”to work”””’’” like some kind of loser who doesn’t get a heads up when he’s about to hit a pigeon at 50mph.

Peter’s starts tuning into his wife’s anxiety and it’s a tool in a relationship study.

It starts pinging whenever Peter’s near his boss who’s secretly been replaced by a shapeshifter and he IGNORES IT because his boss is enough of an asshole that that doesn’t strike him as weird; now it’s a comedy/irony tool.

Into the Spider-Verse made it this beautiful poetic thing connecting all the spider-heroes in the multiverse and stacked up a story on it about instant connection, loss, and incredibly unlikely strangers becoming a found family. It was also aesthetic as FUCK. Remember the scene where Miles just hears barely intelligible whispering that’s all lines people say later in the film and then his own voice very clearly says “look out” and then the room explodes?? Fuck!!!!

Venom becomes immune to it after hitchhiking to Earth in Peter’s bone juice and it makes him a unique threat while telling a more-homoerotic-than-I-assume-was-originally-intended story about violation and how close relationships can be dangerous when they go sour.

It doesn’t work on people you trust for maximum soap opera energy. Love the innate tragedy of this feature coming up.

IN CONCLUSION I don’t have much patience for writers who don’t take advantage of it, never mind feel they need to write around it.

#spiderman #peter parker #spiderverse #spidey #marvel #danny phantom #one day you'll see what i'm doing with it in the project i'm collabing on w/ my brother and then you'll all be sorry and hopefully impresse #mirrorfalls #asks answered #essays

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hgwellsmykabering · 3 years

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@purlturtle tagged me in a little W13/Bering&Wells questionaire for her website - Thanks for thinking of me, and feel free to post my answers on there with my lilolilyrae ao3 URL, and/or this tumblr here!

How did you get into Warehouse 13/Bering and Wells? What do you love about the show/ship, what woke your interest, what kept it going?

I first watched Warehouse 13 with my family when I was about 13 - I think season 3 had just been released, and there were re-runs of the earlier seasons on TV, I liked it and got the DVDs for my birthday.

I shipped Helena and Myka from the start - and it might be the one and only popular ship that I got into without prior influence from fandom! While I already had a tumblr, I wasn't active in many fandom circles there, and I had never even heard of ao3 yet... But when I discussed the W13 characters and possible relationships with my parents, and my mom was like 'we may not like it, but Pete and Myka as the main characters will end up together, it's always like that' (curse you, season 5, for proving her right), while my dad suggested Pete/Helena and didn't believe me that Helena and Myka were the most shippable... well, I went online, found my first fanfiction, and felt Very vindicated at not being the only one to realize their potential! So really, Bering&Wells got me into fandom.

When did you start writing for them? Do you still write for them, or have you moved to other fandoms/ships? (no worries either way, it's absolutely fair to move on!)

I started writing for them back in 2016 with a College AU that I never quite finished (and don't have the heart to mark 'abandoned' but am honestly not sure whether I'll ever come back to), then only sporadically stayed in the fandom until I found some new Bering&Wells online friends some time last year, and I started writing for the ship again a few months ago.

What do you/did you like about writing for Bering and Wells? What motivates/motivated you to write for them?

Apparently, I have a ship-type of 'Women with a tragic backstory where one had to leave the other for a while', and, well... they just fit that perfectly.

Also, all the lost potential of canon! I do so enjoy fixing that.

What kinds of stories do you or did you write for Bering and Wells? Happy endings or sad endings? Hurt/comfort, plot fics, AUs, kid fics, fix-its, smut, …?

So far it's been short fics, mostly smut, but given that since I started writing for them again this year, I only wrote 3 new fics for the ship so far, I don't think that's much of a pattern yet xD we'll see! I definitely plan to write more.

Have you created or are you still creating other forms of fan art for Bering and Wells/Warehouse 13, like GIFs, videos, paintings? Do you wanna show it off (share a link)?

Photo posts on tumblr! I think I only made the one moodboard for Bering&Wells so far, but I am taking prompts for photo stories, moodboards and manips to all of my ships :)

Do you have a favorite story, or a story you’re proudest of, and would you tell us which it is?

...I'll link the one that isn't smut xD and I did get positive reviews on this!

The Grey of Memories, 1.5k, T, emotional hurt/comfort, no warnings. Tumblr | ao3

From the smut fics, my fav is And You Don't Need To Stay Silent on ao3, 5k, E, emotional loud sex in a newly established relationship

What do you/did you find easy to write for them; what is/was hard or challenging? Do you feel you have a good grip on the two main characters; is one of them more elusive than the other?

Well you see... It's honestly been so long since I last watched much actual W13 canon... So now when I think of the characters, it's all a mash-up of ideas from other people's fics, plus my own specific headcanons - and I honestly don't care to change that. (Insert that text post 'does fic really have to be in character? Is it not enough that I don't need to learn any new names?')

As for writing them to still be recognizable to people with different headcanons, I've found that Helena's old-timey British-ness and tendency to use the pet name 'darling' helps a lot, while I don't have any such tricks for Myka, so I suppose writing HG would be easier there.

What's your writing style? Planner, Pantser, Plantser? Do you work with a beta? Have you ever co-written a story with someone else, and how did that experience go?

I can write one-shots in one go, but for anything longer than about 5k, or if I just don't have the time to finish even a shorter story when I have an idea for it, I note down the outline and go through it later. I don't usually work with betas unless it is a fic written for a gift exchange.

What are your favorite kind of stories/story tropes for Bering and Wells, either to write or to read? What are stories or tropes that you don't like (or can't stand) to write or read for them?

While I'm not usually a fan of kid fics, with Bering&Wells I really enjoy stories that include Christina, especially in a fix-it way, but also in AUs.

For canon compliant fics, I like some good emotional hurt/comfort dealing with trauma - as they are going through a lot in the series, and canon isn't always perfect about dealing with the aftermath.

What are your favorite Bering and Wells stories from other authors/writers? What do you like about these stories?

One of the, if not the first fanfic I ever read is Time After Time by muppetmanda on livejournal, and it is still my favorite! A long timetravel fix-it for (almost) everything, NC-17, getting together.