#sometimes these cameos feel like a jumpscare to me

[moashdeservedbetter]

In today's episode of Brandon Sanderson moments with (probably) Mormon influence, I present: Yazad, from The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England.

Yazad is from Africa (probably near the middle east), and after John and co ask him what he's doing in Europe, he says, "I have come here to live permanently, perhaps for the rest of my life." Which sounds a lot like... "And the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.

 And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die" (Alma 17:22-23).

Perhaps this seems superficial, but then John and Co ask Yazad about the gods in his land and he says, "Not 'Gods.' A God." And say that is the reason why he has come up north. This is the exactly the same as Ammon. Also like Ammon, Yazad prefers to share his faith alongside mutual labor or service rather than "shouting from a street corner" style.

Yazad's God is Ahura Mazda from Zoroastrianism, but as Yazad talks about him I think we get a pretty clear picture of the God Brandon Sanderson believes in.

He describes a God who, unlike the real-but-petty Norse Gods, loves all people unconditionally (and has more power; the Norse Gods are more like spren than a divine caretaker). He describes his faith that he will be protected, and that God will lead him to where he needs to be. Yazad has a kind of impervious confidence, that if he is in any tight spot, God will use that for his goals. I didn't record all the things Yazad says more specifically, but I get the sense that Brandon Sanderson is using him as a kind of ambassador for a broadly applicable, multi-tradition-compatible view of his faith.

Personally I have mixed feelings about it, simply because it's such a direct paralel to a book of scripture that is so problematic, but on its own I thought it was a nice way for Brando Sando to express some of his beliefs.

[hollenka99]

Now That I’ve Played SoulScape...

This will be a spoiler review so please don't read this if you plan on playing the game yourself. Will naturally also contain spoilers for SeptiScape too so the same goes for that game as well.

General Comments

(This was originally all bulletpointed but I decided it was easier to read as paragraphs instead)

It's so good to see the -Scape (Scapeverse?) boys again. It's been over 2 years so their face design looks slightly different but that's expected when it comes to continual development as an artist. My favourite new looks are Chase, Marvin and Nega.

Also voice acting???? Hell yeah! Marvin’s expressions give me the kind of vibe that they were inspired by cat memes and his voice acting seems perfect for him. 

I was just wandering around the woods, exploring the area, when Angus makes a pun involving loss. It took me by surprise and I spent a full 10 seconds being super confused by this seemingly random comment before noticing the trees. Then I just wanted to flip my laptop. I can't remember if it was Dev Ritchy or Dev Blake who claimed responsibility but I want you to know I was glaring at my screen for a minute because of what you did. Have been lowkey wondering whether Lucky Luciano was there since this happened last night.

Straight up melted when Bing saw Angus in his true appearance and they started calling each other sunflower and angel etc. Their reunion during the good end and any/all interactions they have in this game send me every time.

I spent so long just wandering around Attitude City. Mostly because I was too dumb to realise the cliffs were to the side and you could get the bus to the skating rink. At least I got to explore the place thoroughly.

Loved seeing some characters from SPG making cameos. I saw Mack’s sprite and went “Surely not... oh my god it is!”. The dialogue with Billy where he makes references to chapter 1 of GITS were brilliant.

The only issue I had was in the church because for some reason it was super laggy and quite difficult to do anything in that room. But that it is just one small area that slightly dampened the experience. Everything else in the game ran smoothly.

Chad just showing up and being like "Well... how about I let someone of your exact description have all this weed of the dankest degree for free." was iconic.

Fuck Stacy. That's all I'm going to say. But it does go to show that men aren't the only ones who are capable of being abusers and thank you for showing that.

I had to take a moment when Jackie told his younger self that they were braver and stronger than they gave themselves credit for.

I am so glad Marvin has a friend like Beau who had his back while he was being taken advantage of. The world needs more Beaus.

I loved the art on Beau's cards. If it’s mentioned in the credits, sorry because I think I may have missed it but kudos to whoever designed those cards.

I could watch that empty room all day. I'm sure there might have been an easter egg if you chose to stay in the room multiple times but I didn't pursue it. Didn't even see Angus show up because I was anticipating a mild jumpscare from [OMITTED] so my hands were covering my face.

Not entirely sure what the cause of Emma's death is. When Henrik said he blamed himself, I originally thought he might have made the fatal mistake of letting a baby sleep in his bed. But I doubt Henrik would do something that dangerous, especially since he has a background in medicine. It's more likely to be an unfortunate case of cot death/SIDS, which just makes it sadder because sometimes that stuff can simply Happen and nobody is to blame, least of all the new father who simply left his daughter alone for a short while to get some sleep.

Bing's boss battle was so tough, I swear. He kept doing that attack where multiple people suffered a fair bit of damage. I lost to him once because I did not stock up properly. Classic case of not having enough BB when shops were available then not having access to shops when I did have enough BB to buy a bunch of white choc cookies and Jameson. 2nd time lucky though.

I found burn damage is your best friend with bosses. Now I will forever swear by this method whenever I replay this game.

I managed it on my first try but man, the fight between Anti and Angus was rough too. I couldn't get Angus' code manipulation trick to work with Anti so no burns to help me this time. Plus, the guy kept freezing time and healing himself like wow, who'd be mean enough to replenish their HP mid-fight. Anyway, it ended up being a case of them continually hitting each other with occasional misses and me feeding Angus cookies whenever his HP grew yellow.

When it came to the scene where Anti gets his souls back, I honestly thought Angus would give up his chance of feeling whole with nothing to fall back on because of the card Beau showed us where someone falls off a tower. I'm really glad Angus got to have a good ending too. Both he and Anti deserve to be whole and happy.

BAD END SEAN BAD END SEAN BAD END SEAN

No but seriously, I think it's really cool that both of the SeptiScape endings are canon. I have no clue who the shadow person could be but I am hyped to eventually find out.

I can't wait for EndScape to be released and we have literally only gotten SoulScape in the past 24 hours.

Angus and Anti

Thought these two deserved their own section since the game largely revolves around them and their conflict of wanting to exist but needing Posi and Nega to do so.

That first bit with Anti's horror world creeped me the hell out. It was after 10pm, maybe around 11 even. My room was completely dark except for my screen. I was so tense the whole time I walked around, incredibly wary throughout that section. I was living when Anti confronted Angus once you caught up to him. And when Angus went to find him in the woods near the campsite? My mind kept yelling 'ThisisbadThisisbadThisisbad' as we approached.

After that first bit, I looked forward to any Anti section because I love his character. He was completely justified in his motivations. I mean, Angus admits to stealing Nega as soon as he returns to his house with Sean after their fight in the first game. If anything, I'm surprised it takes him as long as it does for him to realise [OMITTED] is the true Anti.

I really liked the truth that it hadn't just been Anti that Angus affected when he grabbed Nega. There was also Henry and that universe's Bing, among others presumably. They all deserved a happy ending and it looks like they're getting it after all these years. I think it was very sweet that they threw Anti a birthday party as an epilogue.

Oh also, seeing the dynamic between Angus, Posi and Nega was really cool. They've obviously grown close to each other in the year that's passed since the events of SeptiScape. The souls admitting they felt returning to Anti was the right thing to do was the perfect kind of gut punch. You know deep down that they're right and Anti does indeed need them but at the same time you're going "Wait no, you can't leave Angus!"

All in all, I think the whole story arc concerning Anti and Angus was really well written. You want to dislike Anti because he's the antagonist to Angus' protagonist, an aggressive one at that. But you can't help siding with both of them.

Either way, I already said it this morning when I'd just finished the game about 15 minutes before but well done. You did yet another great job with this one. SeptiScape is one of my favourite games in general, I can tell I'll be replaying SoulScape several times like I have with the first game and I have no doubt I'll be here in 2-3 years gushing about EndScape just like I am right now.

Once again, thank you for creating these games. Now go grab a slice of cake, watch your favourite movie, put an album you love on blast... whatever it is that you do to treat yourself. You've all earned it.

[monstermonstre]

October Horror Movie Challenge 2018

1. Scream: some stuff aged poorly like the jumpscares and the costumes but overall it's still a fun classic and a good intro to a huge franchise.

2. Raw (og title: Grave): really disturbing but awesome, some of my fave themes in horror, strong recommend.

3. The Voices: another “what the fuck am i watching” but lighter tone than Raw, although the casual murder is still strong; lots of fun but what the hell; would recommend.

4. Teen Wolf (1985): very gay, much 80s; weirdly uplifting; c h i l l; recommend.

5. What We Do In The Shadows: still funny and clever, Taïka is the cutest.

6. It Follows: also known as "Halloween, but this time he can shapeshift!"; actually scary; that "shell phone" i have no words.

7. Don't Breathe: they tried to be original and clever and failed; I don't understand how this has such a high rating; it has entertaining moments but they were ruined for me by all the bad things there were.

8. The Love Witch: 70s aesthetic to the extreme; chill, even too chill sometimes (smoke a joint or be in the chillest most patient mood); fun; I want the witch to step on my face.

9. Dog Soldiers: bored out of my mind, I gave up after 50 or so minutes; I really wanted to like this but I guess I can't like everything.

10. Tragedy Girls: it was okay; to watch mainly for Alexandra Shipp really fun performance and Josh Hutcherson's cameo.

11. The Haunting of Hill House, season 1 episodes 1&2: so far so good; it's the type of horror (apparently it's called "terror" actually) that scares me; bonus points for lesbian.

12. Alien: Covenant: I'm a fan of the franchise so I'm very biased; this was a rewatch and it was still fun; not my favourite but being shown the "origin story" of the aliens is really cool.

13. Scream 2: didn't age too well but that's also kind of cool because 90s; meta x 1,000; still not sure what makes good sequels so the whole movie was actually useless.

14. Trick r' Treat: so much fun; the equivalent of a christmas movie: self-indulged, extremely season-themed, anthology.

15. Fright Night (2011): still fun; screenplay by Marti Noxon who worked on Buffy, that explains some of it; David Tennant's booty roll and Colin Farrell's perpetual squint 👏.

16. Constantine (2005): I couldn’t finish it, I used to love this movie and now I can’t finish it; it’s too long and average or less; it’s a shame because Constantine is such a good concept to adapt.

17. Under the Shadow: cool and scary; nice to see a horror movie that is not from the usual few countries; Farsi sounds like French Canadian.

18. Gerald's Game: it started engaging but quickly turned boring and annoying even at times; what's with stephen king and sexual abuse on women plotlines?

19. Hocus Pocus: the "I Put A Spell On You" musical moment + Sarah Jessica Parker's performance really elevate this already great movie.

20. The Haunting of Hill House, season 1 episodes 4&5: see above.

21. Scream 3: o.k.; bonus for Carrie Fisher.

22. Coraline: 👌.

23. The Haunting of Hill House, second half: i'm gonna be very 5+ years ago and say "too many feels"

24. I Know What You Did Last Summer: couldn't finish it because it was boring as hell; I liked this movie when I was a teenager though.

25. The Witches of Eastwick: this one is still good as a rewatch years later; torture for those attracted to women; very satisfying.

26. Split: very gross piece of shit, stay away, look at my monstre regarde split tag for details.

27. Gremlins 2: still fun; better than the first one because it goes all in; like an episode of community but less clever, with a shit message, and more racist.

28. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974): I see why it's a classic; very art et essai for this type of gore it's really cool; I worry about the vocal chords of the girl though.

29. Santa Clarita Diet: was way too tired so i watched one episode to have seen at least some horror for the challenge and then straight to bed.

30. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992): it's technically a bad movie but it's genuinely fun to watch and has good ideas; you see how it could have been a classic like Clueless if the shooting didn't encounter so many problems and the team actually got along.

31. Hannibal (TV show): doing a rewatch, god I missed this show; if you haven't watched it you're homophobic.

Finished! It was tougher than I imagined but "horror" is such a huge genre it wasn't hard to find something that would fit my mood every day. Discovered a lot of great movies and strengthened my love for the genre.

Split is the worst movie of all times with Batman vs Superman.

I chickened out of watching that gay zombie porn I've had on fucking DVD for at least three years.

Can't believe I forgot to rewatch the self-labelled "first gay slasher movie" Hellbent that I went to the cinema to watch when it came out. I just remember it was the fun kind of bad B-movie, that we were only us gays in the room, that seeing a gay couple make out before getting killed instead of a straight one was more revolutionary than I thought.

[luflowerstuffs]

SPOILERS OF Multiverse of madness

What i wish there was in multiverse of madness:

-A arc of doctor strange helping America with her powers until the climax scene of "you can"

-Wong fighting Wanda( at least trying to) more then just passing out over and over because he fell on something. Also the other people at the temple who survived should comeback and help wong to stop the scarlet witch while Stephen helps America

-A loki tva and sylvie cameo. Doctor strange, scarlet witch and the other main chracters didnt need to acknowledge them. Could just be loki, tva and sylvie looking scared in different points. Would be a wonderful way of Sylvie realising she f* up.In my mind would be quick, easy, would be a free ad for Loki and Loki season too yet at the same time would still make sense because the multiverse was open there. Would make more sense then bring the captain england

-Scarlet witch's " i want to be happy". Yes Wanda was doing it for her kids in her mind but at some point is repetitive because at one point all she says is "a mother would do that" and despide being her motivation i think after sometime become weak easy to the person watching want to argue with. So for me she should also say things like "i want to finally be happy" because it is true and a bit more easy to identify and mirror Doctor Strange "am i happy?" arc.

- "You broke the rules and become the hero" the best example for wanda to bring up was Captain America. He came back in time to live the he wanted. Would be a powerful argument even if the multiverse is different from comeback in time would make the question "why not" more rich

- more struggle in the final scene with the scarlet witch. It comes off as too easy to stop her for a moment so Doctor Strange can help america. Her minions from darkhold temple were kinda useless? More for the jumpscare when they appear?

-a actual fight between Scarlet witch and Xavier. It was too easy. Scarlet witch is powerful but it looks like they bring him just to say some important lines and kill him as if he was weak?

-something else other than Reed Richards( The most inteligent man on earth) saying "this man will kill you when he open his mouth" so wanda would know exactly what his power is for Wanda to win against black Bolt. Wanda is so powerful in the rest of the movie she should be able to discover with the other wanda memories or be capable of blocking it for a while when he attacked even with some struggle than making his mouth disapear

- the book of everything good shouldnt be brand that. If such a good power was alt there shouldnt be more people going after it before? It serms so deus ex machina even if end up not being used to solve the problem. Still doesnt help to make it believable instrad would be better branded as the book of counterspells to darkhold. Seems the same thing and it serves the same purpouse but the same change make it looks much more specific to that evil and we know marvel gad a ton of evil entities. Also we could put a line they were trying to find it and america describing when she seus it would make them realize when it could be

-the multiverse didnt look so limited? I dont know if it is because it is still expanding or what but i feel they simplified the multiverse in this movie? They let out a notion that very dream is a multiverse and that is it. Even if we met someone specialist in the multiverse the redheaded Christine and have a lot of very inteligent characters. Also in this movie we only met people that are the same in different multiverses. Yes we met different version of captain marvel and captain america but they arent Carol denvers and Steve Rogers. We already knows this happens because of no way home and loki. Seems weird it doesnt happen in the movie called multiverse of madness.

- show why lose Christine is so important to Stephen. Yes it was a sacrifice but how much he loves her is not really on the 1 movie and this movie acts as we already know but we dont. So at some point becomes wanda"im a mom" line that is repeat. But i think his motivation makes sense i love his reflection if he is happy but then i think we should get flashbacks in what he lost in his past life as a normal person specially the good moments with Christine and moments he f* up maybe even having the classic if im not married with X years we get married

-the other Wanda and wanda kids try to fight Wanda or at least they try to defend themselfs when america makes wanda go to their dimension or/and we know why the lack of powers. I read that the other wanda had her powers taken away from her but this wasnt on the movie and doesn't explain the kids lack of showing their powers. Doesnt mean they would succeded but would make the situation even worse to Wanda. Also specially in a world with real superheroes would makes sense kids of their age try to act like the superheros of this situation for their mom against her "evil twin"

-Wandas "Death" wasnt as big as i wish it. Ok she will be back but should be more impactful i mean at least we saw a person going crazy and having another bad day for her collection of traumas. The "death" being more impactful should help to say this arc ended to then cut to things back to status quo. Honestly the whole movie almost looks like a bigger movie than marvel wish it was? Like yes Scarlet witch the multiverse deaths doctor strange wants to be more selfish and america chavez is still lonely but lets put random cameos just because it and dont forget wanda is a mom and doctor strange is heart broken because his ex girlfriend(we dont know much about) married and america chavez out of nowhere controls her powers now and insert marvel jokes but it doesnt make much sense to me because we had civil war that was under the solo brand of captain america and still the feeling of this IS a bigger movie of marvel like avengers( in this case they seemed to try to make it smaller? Im really interested in what was going on in producers minds with this movie)

Things that i liked

*i loved the horror movie aspect

*doctor strange and scarlet scenes together. They had a really interesting dynamic. Wish we get more scenes of them in the future.

*Benedict Cumberbatch was amazing as always

*America Chavez was charismatic

* i liked the paint and the comics dimension was a amazing reference to marvel comics where this chracters were born

* i like the dark hold is destroyed specially by a sacrifice

*i like how doctor strange is trying to be happy instead of being so selfless. It is very human and interessing ending for a marvel movie. By consequence america also end up without her father figure because he was thinking about himself to realize she didnt want him to leave her. Again very human and a interessing status quo.

* i like that Strange bow down to Wong

*I think the best cameo was captain marvel because it was different interessing and she was a good opponent to wanda. Maybe the fight could be just a bit longer? But compared with the others she had the best fight with scarlet witch and it makes sense with her chracter.

I really liked the movie i love the 2 main characters but the script wasnt as refined as i think it should be specially for a movie so many fans wanted which is a pity( i think one or 2 rewrites with a good revisor would help a lot). Most marvel movies rely heavily in cgi( which is not bad because of the genre) but i think they are being kinda careless with it? They know the fans will eat it up so just do whatever with the time we have and saying this i dont wanna blame the cgi people because i know they are being pushed hard nowdays so i think disney should give them more time and maybe more people too. Hope disney is gonna put a extended cut in the streaming maybe it would help. This movie honestly deserved more time in my opinion