#the way it was a random addendum to the end of the video with a totally different vibe too

[dandp]

This is the most "hyperactive theatre kid" clip I've ever seen in my life

[shythalia]

{I'm posting this early draft I made of an SCP idea I've had for a few years here. I'll say more at the end.}

Camera Trap - an SCP-inspired concept

This anomaly is a multitude of cameras of any model that can 'capture' any living being (excluding plants & fungi). The captured being(s) disappear(s) from reality then reappear(s) in the photos & footage taken by the camera. When the photos or footage are viewed for the first time by a person, they will see when the victim(s) was/were first captured. When viewed again, the background stays but instead the victim(s) will change positions.

In the photos, the victim(s) will be seen in different still positions, like what you expect to see in photographs. In the videos, the victim(s) will be seen moving independently & normally. It has been noticed that victims cannot leave the area they were captured in, and time does not seem to pass for them. For example: If a victim was captured in daytime, it will always be daytime for them; and if they were captured at night, then it will always be nighttime for them.

Human victims are aware of their situation, as they are mostly seen facing at where the camera was placed during their capture. However, animal victims are not aware of their predicament. All they know is that they are somehow trapped.

As for when another person views the photos & footage after someone else has viewed them already, basically, seeing them for the first time will show you the day the victims were captured and then seeing them again will show you what they are doing currently at the time you are viewing them regardless if another first-time viewer is seeing the day the victims were captured even when that's not what you are seeing because you have already seen it. These rules also apply to when two or more people view them.

As of today, there are no known ways to rescue the victims nor even ways to communicate with them.

There can be any number of cameras in one place and they are found all over the world. No one knows whether someone or something has been placing these cameras there or if they just showed up there out of nowhere.

{Incredibly early draft of an article:}

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Taken instances of SCP-XXXX are to be kept at Storage Room XXX at Site-XX. The instances' hard drives separated from them on another table. Level 3 access only.

Description: SCP-XXXX is the designation for multiple types of anomalous security cameras & trailcams that are found at random locations across the world. The instances themselves are non-anomalous and have no distinguishable differences from regular security cameras & trailcams. Because of this, people normally pay no attention to them.

SCP-XXXX's anomalous properties manifest when an instance is on. When a living being appears in its field of view, the being stays in the camera's view and can never leave. The victims are then reported missing. There are no traces of the victims when visiting the areas where this had occur. Reviewing the contained SCP's footages reveal this. [See (insert Addendum something something here)]

It is still currently unknown who or what is putting these SCPs all over the world, or if they merely appear out of nowhere.

[Hypothesis: This SCP might be responsible for the creation of (the basketball game recording SCP).] -> this is just me wanting to connect my scp w another scp so pay no mind to this

{I definitely need to learn how to write a proper SCP article. They have all these different sites & rooms & stuff. I can't just make up my own, not especially now that there is so much lore in it. I don't know what proper shit to use for the Special Containment Procedures.

Idk if this would be Euclid or Keter. Probably Keter with how they just pop up anywhere in the world?

I also need to come up with the addenda stuff.

Man, I thought writing a technical paper would be easy. lmao I guess I'm more fit for creative writing, but I'm not writing a tale because that's too intimidating. haha And what if someone already wrote an SCP like this?

I'll figure this out eventually (maybe) some time in the future. I'll look up tutorials or how-to guides on this. If you have experience writing an SCP or two, maybe you can give me some tips?}

[measuringbliss]

Like is it really worth it to keep rewatching the show when I don't particularly enjoy it, for a video that might last 1-2 hours and won't bring me anything substancial?

There IS a lot of stuff to say about IASIP. The way it handled its one and only trans character over 6 seasons, the way it handled Mac's sexuality over 15 seasons, the barely-disguised "the network told us to be more PC" plot in the S15 premiere, the creation of the podcast as a dumbfoundingly successful attempt at cashing on the show's equally dumbfounding popularity, and I think you could also write a whole section on the game.

The game looks cute and it IS lovely to see all the references... except that it's all the game offers, references, the scenarii are just dumbed down versions of episodes which is understandable but also ultimately isn't very interesting. (I'm curious, did they add stories from S15 yet?).

You could also make a whole section about The Nightman, about the two main attempts at dramatic season finales. You could definitely mention the show's reluctance of getting into politics betraying its creators' views.

I think the most interesting part though would just be to do some sort of compendium of the fandom. Tendencies among fanfic writers according to current season, popularity of the show itself, the very different facets of the fandom on Reddit and Tumblr (the show was never popular on LJ)...

Overall there's a lot to say, I just can't be bothered to record myself speaking, do video editing and caption the whole thing.

Addendum 1: I think it'd also be interesting to do a small section on [I don't know what the heck this was about so let's just say I wrote something insightful, alright?]

Addendum 2: IASIP is (was?) a show that hardly takes sides in arguments, which is handy to not alienate your viewer base but it also means your show has nothing to say. Which is fine when it doesn't try to say anything like here (outside of vanilla "you can't say anything these days" the dudebro creators love to imply), not so much when your narrative implies it does have something to say but your message is muddled by bad, incoherent and cowardly writing and is this a way for me to rant on D*ng*nr*np* V3–of course it is. The fanbase more or less split in two sides after the game was released, with both sides interpreting the ending in opposite ways and being absolutely convinced they're right. God this game annoys me. Anyway! Reddit and Tumblr see the show under different lights and it's an interesting phenomenon but also, dear RCG and other occasional writers, guns are not something you can be neutral on. Or you don't care. Which is kind of an inconsiderate move? And not in the fun way? But honestly, we're talking about mostly white straightambiguouslybi (hello Glenn) American guys who're convinced NFTs are a cool thing and/or don't mind scamming their fans with them (Rob might be the only one to have displayed his interest in them, but don't think for one second that nobody else was aware of it). I don't expect any actual understanding of leftist ideas from them. Which is why Carmen's treatment is... surprising.

Anyway. I do have thoughts. I'm just not in a state where I can be bothered to do anything about them aside from random ramblings on Tumblr.

[some-creep]

Song of the Ancients SERIOUS REVIEW(s)

I was told to review every version of Song of the Ancients, so I did. I tried to stick to things that were released officially but I’m sure I’m missing some. I know there’s going to be a new version on the Orchestral Addendum that’s supposed to come out this month. Also I don’t know a fucking thing about music so this is literally 3 pages of straight rambling. Also they’re not really in any kind of order other than Nier Gestalt, Nier Automata, and Other.

Song of the Ancients: Devola - https://youtu.be/qCKEXPXtrEU

This is it, the first version of Song of the Ancient’s you’ll ever hear, and also the last. At least in Nier Gestalt. It’s a classic, and Devola has no idea what the words to it mean. And neither do we. But it perfectly sets the tone. It’s nostalgic, it’s sad, it’s mysterious, it’s sad but written a second time. I love Devola and would die for her. It isn’t my absolute favorite rendition of the song, but I can’t deny its importance. This is the one that gave us the rest. 9/10

Song of the Ancients: Popola - https://youtu.be/IZdnJLdmRlI

This song makes a showstopping appearance in Automata where it and the library meant nothing to me or anyone else because no one actually played Gestalt before Automata, let’s face it. The more subdued of the two character versions of the song, which, y’know, makes sense. Maybe a bit disorienting and trance like if you turn it up far enough and close your eyes. Sometimes I like this version a lot more than the Devola version, sometimes I don’t. It also gets a 9/10 for being a classic.

Song of the Ancients: Hollow Dreams - https://youtu.be/fxmP4eCFR4U

I fucking love this one. The Devola and Popola duet we all wanted with none of the… extreme angst. I also read a really good fan fiction once where [REDACTED] and it started with this performance so it ranks really high for me. It has a great sort of tavern energy to it (which, no shit, right?) and I don’t know. I don’t know I really love this one. The harmonization, the piano, the percussion, it all just works. 10/10

Song of the Ancients: Fate - https://youtu.be/ady--PNMsfI

My most unpopular opinion on this song is I don’t really like this version all that much. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I knew what happened already so it has no impact on me. It’s got a lot of drum. Maybe too much drum? I don’t know I’ve never totally vibed with this one. There’s an attempt but parts of it I just really don’t care for. That’s why it ranks so low.  It’s not the worst, and I recognize that it’s like. Super iconic. But eh. 5/10.

Song of the Ancients: Lost Androids - https://youtu.be/CfCEueBER5g

I just. Super. Do not fucking like this song at all. There’s so much happening in it and none of it’s very good. Devola and Popola’s sick techno dance party dot mp3. Easily the worst of the official releases of this song. It doesn’t help that the Nier Gestalt DLC just isn’t good either. Why did I beat the entire thing? The world may never know. 3/10

Song of the Ancients: Piano version from 15 Nightmares & Arrange Tracks

- https://youtu.be/orEoq7KFdrM

I’m biased and love all piano remixes and this one is good. I don’t know why there are two official piano remixes that aren’t the same, but there are. This one feels really emotional, sorta soft, and a lotta sad, but the remix-y part in the middle kinda falls off for me. Most of it is really good, but it doesn’t reach goosebump status for me which is a shame because most of the pieces are there. Overall, it’s pretty good. 7/10

Song of the Ancients: from the actual Nier Piano collection mix which is a different version than the one above - https://youtu.be/K_4HGh7Hh7w

It’s weird to think that two officially released piano versions of the same exact song could be so different but they honestly kinda are. This one feels stronger than the other, but it still isn’t quite there for me either. I think overall I might like it more, but the emotional impact of it is somehow less? Once again, it’s overall pretty good, but the vibes don’t totally match with me. 7/10

The Legend of Nier 8-bit Heroes from 15 Nightmares & Arrange Trakcs - https://youtu.be/LgvF_xRPoxs

This is kind of a bonus mention because it isn’t strictly Song of the Ancients, it’s a mix of a few songs from Nier Gestalt, but it just happens to start with Song of the Ancients. It hits pretty much all the notes from it so I’m including it here. I like it more than the hacking track from Automata, but only a little bit. It’s sad but also chiptune. However because it is quite literally only 1/8th of the entire song and for the sake of this list I refuse to acknowledge the other 7 minutes of music, I give it 1/8 / 10.

Song of the Ancients: Atonement - https://youtu.be/wNWShKuopic

You know it, you love it, and you’re crying thinking about it, it’s the Atonement version from Automata. It’s everything Fate wanted to be, but now much, much better. All of the music in this game is just, so intense and full of meaning and it just feels. Important. It’s what movie music would be if it didn’t suck. I think this one works really well in capturing the emotions around the twins trying to make up for crimes they straight up just didn’t commit. Devola and Popola make me cry. I love this song. Crying Creep emoji/10

Sonc of the Ancients: Atonement: Hacking Track remix - https://youtu.be/QD1F-staPms

So there’s like, not really a chance you’d ever hear this entire thing played out in game because of the way the hacking mechanic works. I think it’s a pretty good chiptune rendition though. I don’t care to listen to most of the hacking tracks on their own though, but there’s nothing offensive about this one. It’s Atonement, and Atonement is still a really good song on it’s own, so it just gets more points by cheating. 7/10

Song of the Ancients: from Arranged & Unreleased Tracks - https://youtu.be/lDYc9Ov4Mr8

Kinda love this one. It’s played on an accordion. Everyone I send this one to thinks it’s weird because of that, but I love it. It sounds like a romantic date in Italy. This might be one of the only versions that doesn’t make me want to start crying which is weird because it’s a remix of the Atonement version specifically again. I have really weird taste in music though. 10/10 gay dates in Italy

Song the Ancients: Atonement: from the Nier Music Concert: The Memories of Puppets - https://youtu.be/4z3wr0xATJY

Once again, Atonement fucking slaps. I’m always impressed by these things being performed live because the words aren’t real and they sound like they’d be hard to say. This is basically just a clearer version of the one from the game. I don’t like it more, though. It has a part where it slows down completely which is sexy, on it’s own. My heart tells me to give this a 9/10 though for reasons I don’t know. Perhaps because I haven’t used that ranking yet. In a hard to explain way I don’t like this version as much as the one in the game. So, 9/10.

Song of the Ancients DoD3 remix - https://youtu.be/SAJi9Q-RRmQ

This one starts out kinda slow, but when it picks up I think it sounds way more like Atonement than Fate. And when it sounds like Atonement I really like it. However I have this DLC for DoD3 and it’s the only song I ever had playing and I’m still not completely sick of it so that has to count for something. It’s not horrible but it’s not great either. It sounds like it belongs in DoD3 and none of the music in that game is great. 6/10

Song of the Ancients the… Music Video? - https://youtu.be/_iXT9eWgaMw

This one isn’t bad, but it’s really, really weird that it exists. I’ve never been able to really remember what this one sounds like so it can’t rank very high for me. It gets bonus points simply because it exists… at all. I think wikipedia told me this was like, official, or supported, I don’t know. Maybe it doesn’t count, maybe it does, but I wanted to mention it anyway even though it isn’t on one of the CDs. She does a good job at performing and it’s a unique remix that takes the aesthetic qualities of Fate and dials them back into something smooth and emotional. I definitely don’t hate it, but it’s not on my phone. 7/10

Song of the Ancients: Orchestral Arrangement - https://youtu.be/Ixk5zFXldCk

This was instantly and immediately my favorite rendition of the song and not much has changed since it first released. While it is without a doubt the most different of all the renditions, it has an almost magical quality to it. Tonally, it seems to follow the story of Devola and Popola as we know them in Nier Gestalt.  Maybe I’m just projecting random shit onto this song, who knows, I’m not a music major. People have said it has kind of a Disney movie feel at the beginning, which is true, but as it goes on it loses that sort of innocent, lofty feeling, and becomes more intense, and I don’t know. I just really fucking love the way this song goes. Compare how it starts to how it ends and it’s just. Ugh. This one is so good. What the fuck. If you listen to nothing else on this list, please listen to this one. 11/10.

[clairen45]

Clairen45 Meta Masterpost Updated April 2019

Most recent update on my contributions to our glorious Reylo fandom… And thank you to all my fellow Tumblr bloggers who added to these posts and brought up great comments!

Recent additions in bold…

STAR WARS PARALLELS and THEMES

Holding Out the Hand: what the Hand scenes tell us about relationships in Star Wars

The Trilogies as a Metaphor for Growing Up

Visions of Paradise: deal with it!!!

I’ll come back for you… From Revenge of the Sith to The Force Awakens

Visions of Hell

Dysfunctional indeed: How boys become Men in Star Wars

Bird is the Word: Avian Metaphor and Mating in Star Wars

The Maiden and the Sword: the Evolution of the Legacy Saber

Kylo Ren and Masculinity: the King, the Warrior, the Magician, and the Lover.

It’s Kylo to My Ears:  that one is super special because it is a shared meta with   @enjoyallneednothing-blog. It’s a musical meta. I fully relied on her   music cred and expertise and superb skills as a meta writer to validate a  musical find I digged from ROTJ…

Another Interesting Parallel Comparing Anakin’s speech about kiss and scar with our currently scarred lover boy…

Blood and Sand on Crait: the Bull and the Matador… and a story of Blood in the SW movies

An ask: The Rule of Two (and Three) in Star Wars

Star Wars Adventures Comic: the Museum of the Thousand Faces

Laying it Super Thick with an Extra Layer of More Reylo Evidence… Parallels between Darth Maul’s comic and Reylo

Concept about a couple in bed in Art of TFA and THAT Anidala bed scene in ROTS

Who Let the Dogs out? A story of wolves and dogs in Star Wars

An ask about the “binary” theme in SW and the importance of Leia’s ring in TLJ

The Bridge Trope in Star Wars and what it may mean for episode IX

Addendum on my  SW Bridge Trope meta.

From the new Comic on Grievous, Age of the Republic

ST SPECIFIC: characters or scenes

Crait and Symbolism: blood, wounds, salt, foxes, the mother and the nest

Facing the Dragon: the Other Throne Room Scene

Walk like an Egyptian: Rey and the Gift of the Mother

The Pen and the Sword: why Kylo does not fit in the First Order

Kylo Ren and Masculinity: the King, the Warrior, the Magician, and the Lover.

Cracking the Mirror

Reverse Anidala: reincarnation and an inversion of gender theory

Digging Into Rey and Kylo’s Spotify Playlists: part 1, part 2, and part 3.

What’s in a Name? Naming Rey and Ren in Star Wars, part 1, part 2 and part 3

The Millenium Falcon: That’s my Ship!

More on Porgs…

An ask about the parallels between Finn and Kylo

An ask about Rey’s hairstyle in TLJ (and more Porgs)

A Reylo ask: when did it all begin?

An ask: did Kylo know he was going to kill Han all along?

Going through Stages of Grief Star Wars style: the moods of Kylo at the end of TLJ

Shut up and Dance With Me? When a song has a lot to say…

Three is Company: A Love Triangle Between Rey, Kylo, and Poe. Recently edited with a follow up including elements from the recent Poe Dameron Comics (issues 27 and 28)

Rey and Ren as Lobsters: maybe there was always a Force bond…That  one is also early work using Phoebe’s (yes that Phoebe from Friends)   lobster analogy about Ross and Rachel to our precious Reylo. It is a   wacky one but it works, guys!

More on Those Spotify Playlists: a  treasure found in Lando’s playlist, “Unbreak my Heart”, Kylo’s   unofficial anthem for the end of TLJ sounds way more official all at   once!

An ask about my speculations for episode ix

An ask about speculating on Rey and Kylo in a Relationship

An ask about Kylo kneeling at the end of TLJ, and parallels with Anakin in the PT

Blood and Sand on Crait: the Bull and the Matador… and a story of Blood in the SW movies

Star Wars galaxy of heroes as a concept  

The Throne Room Scene as a Sex Scene

An ask about porgs and their meaning

An ask about one of Vic Mahoney’s tweets on “Get lost and get found”: woods in the ST

CINEMATIC PARALLELS

The Dark Crystal connection

The Other Beauty and the Beast: part 1, and part 2

Comparing TFA with Ridley Scott’s Legend: part 1, and part 2.

Great discussion with @lightaroundthecorner (formerly an anon) about constellations, and comparing the ST themes with the catchphrases in Coco, Beauty and the Beast, and Strange Magic.

Another great ask from @lightaroundthecorner, involving a comparison between the ST and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast live version.

Red Re-Read: The Company of Wolves and the ST

Wouldn’t it be lovely? A Canto Bight Cinematic Parallel… (with My Fair Lady)

Abduction as Romance, prompted by the video by PopCultureDetective, and the parallels with the abduction scene in TLJ

Parallels between the ST and the Lion King  

Hey Disney SW Rebels, your Aladdin is showing!

REVIEWS

Thoughts after Reading Claudia Gray’s Leia, Princess of Aldreaan

What I am taking away from the TLJ novelization…Random notes…

So I watched Solo today…

Star Wars galaxy of heroes as a concept

[eisforeidolon]

Episode: Don’t Go Into the Woods

Can all supernatural things potentially make the lights flicker?  I know demons and ghosts do, but has this been a thing for more straight up physical monster-monsters before?  I honestly can't remember.

I hate to be complaining about the Winchesters actually working a case just by themselves?  Especially with as rare of a thing as that’s become?  But let's be honest, I wouldn’t trust Jack with a mission as perilous as shopping.  He might kill somebody or destroy the world. Dabb & Co. have pointedly made him incapable of learning or understanding anything, so he's less a realistic character and more a dangerously idiotic plot bomb perpetually set to go off at random intervals. 

Who the Winchesters are now going to leave entirely unsupervised while Cas also just happens to be elsewhere.  Well, isn't that suspiciously convenient?  

Right now when he's just got his canon-breaking powers back and may not have a soul?  NOW is the time to leave him alone?  

O-kay, crippling brain damage for everybody is again necessary for this episode's events to happen, I see.

The only thing more frustrating than Jack being a perpetual shifting blob of whatever the plot calls for?  Is further manifestation of Dabb's desperation to write for a teen audience via the dumbass teenybopper trio returning.  Knew it was coming, still did not brace me for hating having to sit through it this much.  

I'm a little puzzled about they guy one being able to watch Ghostfacer videos.  I kind of doubt any teenager would notice the videos if they weren't being currently produced, and the Ghostfacers broke up last we saw them.  Did they somehow get back together after that episode with the lulzy anvilicious supposed parallels?  If they didn't and this kid is just trawling the Internet for videos that are at least five years old at this point, wouldn't whichever Ghostfacer it was who had gone off to run a business or whatever have had this shit scrubbed off the internet to avoid being made fun of by his colleagues?  Seriously, I am way way more interested in this probable continuity fail potential mystery than in anything about the teens themselves.

I don't have a lot to say about the case Sam and Dean were working. Again, it was fine.  New monster, okay.  I mean, it does seem like maybe a questionable choice to go for something that's similar to a monster the show has already highlighted (wendigo)?  But really, a lot of folklore monsters are variations across slightly different legends, so it's probably stranger we haven't had more similar monsters over the years.  It did at least look quite different and I thought it was cool how it melted. 

Local townie sheriff in denial and really obtusely insistent about coyotes snatching people out of bathrooms? Eh, I can go with that, I guess.  Though, what, was he planning on spending the next who knows how long of his life futilely trying to keep people out of the local woods for reasons he was going to just refuse to specify to anyone?  And he even kept going on about coyotes while his son was so blatantly campaigning to win the Most Likely to Wander Into the Woods for Revenge Award?  Kind of dumb, but I don't think it was too far over the threshold of unbelievably dumb. Yeah, it was all more than a little on the nose obvious about the sheriff knowing something such that the Winchesters were going to ultimately need his help.  Still, there was at least some Winchesters working together and Dean got a cool moment disarming the sheriff in the woods.  Though I'm not any less sick of yet again the rando of the week killing the monster while the Winchesters get knocked about, I'm kind of resigned to it at this point.  Dabb clearly finds believably competent characters actually getting to be competent unspeakably boring. 

So yeah, that part of the episode was mostly just there for me.  I was inordinately bugged by how during one of those conversations between sheriff guy and his son the show chose to toss in an egregious flashback to the dead girlfriend.  Like, do they think we as the audience have so little attention span we can't remember the kid is upset his girlfriend just died a few minutes ago in this same episode?  Or do they trust their actors so little to convey emotion they felt it was necessary to go DEAD GIRL IN YOUR FACE AGAIN, BOOM! at the audience?  There was that and the sheriff lecturing Sam & Dean about how they should just tell people monsters or real or put it on youtube – because that doesn't sound crazy and people can't make fake videos?  I feel like that was less a genuine moment and more like the something the writers stuck in because it's one of the complaints that's been circling the fandom for years.  Maybe I'm just cynical or the scene didn't come off too well, but I was less sympathizing with something that's actually a pretty reasonable response for someone blindsided by monsters being real and more rolling my eyes at his whining.  

Here's a poll, which is more stupid?  The cringe-y cluelessness of shoehorning in a dead horse of a fanfic cliché like, “We have movie nights on Tuesdays!”  Or that the writers continue to think annoying teenybopper canon fodder calling Dean old is cool/funny.  I can't decide!

Also, what are the writers wanting us to think about whether or not Jack has a soul?  Because I am having some trouble here believing that he doesn't have any soul left when this episode turns into him angsting about accidentally almost killing Whatsherface #2 and getting rejected by the teen trio even after “fixing” his “mistake”. I mean, if the writers are intending us to know but not for Cas and the Winchesters to, that's fine, but if this is meant to be a mystery I feel like it's a fail in terms of how they're writing potential soullessness because while I don't care all that much, I don't feel any doubt that he does.  Even if I am annoyed at the groundhog day feeling of this incident after we already sang this song over the security guard incident. 

I'm also not terribly impressed about the Winchesters arguing in the car over Dean's lying to Jack about needing someone to stay in the bunker.  If Sam really felt that strongly about it, why did he just agree?  Even if it was some bullshit don’t argue in front of the “kid” thing, he could have tacked on an addendum about being worried about Jack’s powers without contradicting what Dean said.  Oh, right, for the dramaz.  In the same way that the show careens wildly back and forth between treating Jack as a competent adult and a toddler with some kind of memory retention disorder, the way the Winchesters handle him makes just as much sense.  Speaking of lying, is it really that much better to tell a white lie about being worried about Jack being “comfortable” with his powers instead of finding a polite but honest way to say they suspect he'll accidentally kill people because he has no brains consistent control and an issue with overconfidence? 

I think there were some Dean fans that thought the thrust of that end conversation was to blame Jack almost killing some fools on Dean - but whether or not there were any intentional shades of that, it's too stupid for words.  Jack being badly written is Jack's problem, not any other character's prevarications.  If Jack didn’t learn back with the security guard, the idea any talkity-talking over reckless use of his powers at the beginning of this episode would have prevented what happened is ludicrous.  That’s only confirmed by spoilers I know about the rest of this season making it clear that even accidentally almost killing somebody outright here doesn’t teach him anything.  Because again, he’s written as largely incapable of learning.  Which, I guess there’s a weird pacifier-toting squad of infantilization-loving fans who are into that shit, but for my part?  Ew, no thanks.  I prefer characters with more personality than “helpless ball of woobified stupidity”.  I liked Jack well enough to begin with, but the more central they make him to the story, the more obviously deficient he is as a consistent and three dimensional character.

[infinitybr8k]

Infinity Br8k recruitment.

Hello! About a year and a half ago, I began writing up an outline for how I imagined the ending of Homestuck would go, granted, the snapchat credits had not come out at this point. My main goal with this was to tie up all the loose ends left in the comic by Act 7 as well as satisfyingly resolve all the character arcs that people had become invested in over the tenure of the comic.

I would like to believe that with the outline I have, the goal has been reached, at least to an 89% success rate; there are definitely parts I still feel could be tweaked and fine-tuned as the project comes along which is why I am now opening this up to the fanbase.

If I want this story to come out in any sort of timely manner, I’m going to need assistance in the form of script writers (and reviewers), artists (both storyboard and panels) and editors (for video/flash work). I consider myself a jack of all trades in this sense, I can pull a lot of the handywork if needs must (I am juggling a job at the same time) but I feel that things would go a lot smoother with a spread out workload; that is to say that the people taken on will absolutely be invited to help flesh this whole project out more and produce something nice. I’m inclined to give a very very myopic preview of what is to come just to potentially entice some people, but I won’t add too much (and these panels are not entirely true or necessarily in sequence of how they will appear.)

So without further ado, if you’re interested in joining this team here’s how you apply, information on where to send your application will be provided at the bottom of the post:

For Script Writers:

- Examples of written character dialogue. New or Old is fine; even RP chatlogs will do. It’s preferable if you have a grasp of multiple characters.

- Dialogue which features 2 characters interacting that haven’t ever before. (e.g. Calliope and Vriska or Karkat and Jake.)

For Artists:

- If you are applying for storyboards, please include 2-3 panels of any random storyboard in the Homestuck artstyle. New or Old is fine. An example:

- If you’re applying for panel work, please include 2-3 panels of anything you have drawn in the Homestuck artstyle. New or Old is fine. Examples can be found at homestuck.com

It is fair to note here that some people may have a stronger suit for drawing backgrounds in this artstyle, so for scenery art you may also apply! Same rules follow though.

For Editors:

- This category is open to people who are good at making flash animations or videos (but I will also loosely include overlap on more advanced GIF work.)

- The slots for this position will remain open far longer as I understand this takes a lot more time and work, but any 5-10 second clip of an example of your skill is absolutely welcomed.

Any and all applications should be sent to infinitybreak413@gmail.com. Any questions can also be fielded through there or via the ask box here on this tumblr. I hope for a good turn out and I eagerly await you all. I do ask that applicants be respectful in a group environment and are able to field discussions in a civil way.

Any accepted applicants will be directed to the discord group which will be the main form of communication.

An addendum I feel I should make. Anyone who applies will not be beholden to some form of deadline or long term commitment. I simply ask that work gets done at an enjoyable pace. Nothing will be getting posted until there’s a decent backlog to work through so that people do not feel pressured to cram a fun side thing among their daily routine.

Just because I’m a maniac who pumps out 20 things at once does not mean everyone else should.

[abgallery]

This is the official post for the Celebration of Dedication Contest. Life will be easier for all when the new website is completed, so I’ll keep a status of that above the fold. The rest of this post is long and detailed, but important, so make sure you read everything!

New Aqua Bunny website status: STILL Under Construction ¯\_(-_-)_/¯

Contest Rules Below.

First of all, ALL SUBMISSIONS MUST FEATURE A MEMBER OF THE NIDORAN FAMILY. This is not a general Pokemon contest. Crossovers of other franchises and use of any personal OCs you may have is okay.

All entries must be received by January 21, 2018, by 11:59 Central Standard Time. This provides you with more than a month (along with possible holiday vacations) to get something in to win!

Contest Categories

There are 3 categories for the contest, and each person can enter each category one time (which gives you 3 chances to win):

General - Two winners from this category:

This is the easiest category if you like to freestyle (or the second hardest if you need direction). It’s as easy as submitting a your personal work of a Nido, provided the effort is there. Works are limited to illustrations, very short comics (for your benefit, try not to go over four panels, any more than that is too much work), or gifs with less than ten unique frames. Other forms of media must be submitted to the Brought to Life category.

Winter/Holiday - Two winners from this category:

Looking for a theme? This category’s got it! Winter holds a lot of holidays, and the days leading up to them. Use this category to submit winter related, as well as holidays like Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day! Anything you’re capable of doing, you can submit here; because of the theme, there’s no limitations.

Brought to Life - One winner from this category:

Perhaps the most difficult category, but likely the one with the best odds due to the skill gate. This category is the same as General in that the work just needs to be about Nidos. Qualifying entries include just about anything that makes your work come to life, including small games, apps, and (for your sake, short) animations. Animations, however, must have a minimum of ten unique frames to qualify (so, for example, if a tail wagging gif had ten frames but just reused frames 2 - 5 played backwards to make 7 - 10, it does not count). Animations with less than 10 unique frames must be submitted to General.

General Rules and Qualifications

Submission must be suitable for all audiences

Submission must be new and not previous work

Submission must be your work and not someone else’s

Important! The submission must show effort based on YOUR skill level. Entries are not compared to each other (as art is subjective), only to your own works. This is to discourage submissions of minute doodles or other minimum efforts, which is unfair to the other participants.

Extremely Important!! In order for your submission to be considered valid, I must personally receive said submission. See below for valid submission methods. If I do not get your submission, it does not count. Think of it this way: you wouldn’t expect the PR guy of a corporate contest to come knocking at your door. I will not seek out contest entries.

If submissions meet all of the above qualifications, they will move on to the second phase. The week of January 22, the names of the participants will be chosen at random, with two winners each for the General and Winter/Holiday categories, and one from Brought to Life. During the same week, I will announce the winners with a video and a post! Prizes will be distributed shortly afterward, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

A Bit of Q&A...

Q: Will submissions be available for everyone to see?

A: Yes! Ideally, submissions will be queued or posted right away depending on the amount received, but you won’t have to wait until the contest is over to see them, provided they meet the above qualifications. They’ll be available to see on a dedicated page of the new website too, once it goes live.

Q: Will I be notified if my submission qualifies for the second phase?

A: If I can, that’s the plan. Better for you to get closure on that.

Q: Will I be notified if my submission does not qualify, and can I try again?

A: Unless you’re extremely lazy, chances are you will not be disqualified. In the event that it does look like you’re trying to sneak one by, yes, you will be notified. However, it’s not the end of the world! You can submit a new entry until one finally qualifies.

Q: How many times can I enter?

A: Once per category unless an entry was rejected. At that point, you can try again and submit something else.

Q: What if I made a video, or some other very large work?

A: In the case of a video, an exception is partially made (please don’t try to cram video files into an email!). You can either use the Tumblr submission page, or If you have a Youtube or other social video account, upload it there, and then send me a message with a link (or embed the url via the Tumblr submission page). If it’s not a video, be sure to get in touch with me.

Submission

Please make sure to note in the comments or body of email/post which category you are submitting to. You are free to give your work a title and some commentary, too. It’ll liven things up!

If you are submitting via website or email, make sure you give me a name or user name that I can add to the random drawing for the second phase.

Valid submission methods include:

Tumblr submission page ( abgallery[.]tumblr[.]com/submit)

Website submission page (careful, it’s a bit out of date! aquabunny[.]creativeworlds[.]net/submit.html )

Plain ol’ email. Send in your submissions at patkdeb[@]gmail[.]com, and don’t forget to remove the brackets!

I recommend the Tumblr submission page and email for works of a high resolution. As of now, the website submission page works but it’s still wonky. Once the new site is complete, it will become a more dependable option.

I would not recommend using Twitter, as I’m terrible at checking it/remembering it’s there.

Did I leave anything out?

If I did, I’ll be sure to tack on an addendum. Otherwise, best of luck to you all, and most importantly of all, have fun!

Edit: I forgot about the whole Tumblr links tomfoolery, so I broke outside links to make sure this post appears in searches. I know it’s annoying, but remove brackets in the urls. Thanks, and send your angry letters to Tumblr! ;P

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When you set up a 1Password ancestors plan, you put your passwords and added advice in your aggregate basement instead of your claimed basement to accord anybody away on your plan access. “Family organizers,” including the 1Password annual that created your family’s annual additional anyone they baptize as a “family organizer,” can balance the accounts of added ancestors associates if they balloon their adept countersign or abstruse key, which is advantageous for kids or beneath technically absorbed folks.

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“Family organizers” can balance the accounts of added ancestors associates if they balloon their adept countersign or abstruse key, which is advantageous for kids or beneath technically absorbed folks.

If you adopt to use a bounded basement and you appetite to abstain 1Password’s cable fees, standalone licenses are accessible for macOS and Windows. You can get them by downloading and aperture the 1Password app, beat Purchase 1Password in the menu, and beat the tiny Charge a license? hyperlink in the window that ancestor up. But best bodies shouldn’t bother with this—a standalone 1Password authorization for Windows or Mac costs $50, and you can’t use a Windows authorization to run the Mac adaptation of 1Password or carnality versa. You can’t use the added able 1Password X addendum in Firefox or Chrome, and if (or when) the abutting above adaptation of 1Password is released, you’d accept to buy a new authorization all over afresh (whereas subscribers can advancement automatically).

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[daleisgreat]

Last Action Hero

Today’s entry will result in one of the quickest turnaround times of an older movie in my backlog box yet. A couple weeks ago I noticed Uproxx posted an article on how 1993’s Last Action Hero (trailer) was way ahead of its time (click or press here for the Uproxx piece). Once I noticed this story I tracked down a BluRay copy of it off Amazon and promptly watched it within 24 hours of its delivery. I did not read the Uproxx entry yet, but I will after I finish proofing this entry to prevent it from altering my current thoughts I am about to deliver and will post a little addendum at the end of this look back at Last Action Hero for some extra insight on how my take compares with Uproxx’s. I cannot remember how many times I watched Last Action Hero as a kid, but my gut tells me it may be near the double digits. Our family had the HBO and Starz movie channels as part of our cable package back then, and the way those channels primarily were programmed back then was a specific amount of newer and older movies were highlighted each month, and they would play each movie once every day or two to the best of my recollection. I remember being stoked for Last Action Hero. The turnaround time on movies from the theater back then in the early 90s was it would take about five to six months after the cinema release for a film to hit Pay-Per-View and home video. Several months later, or roughly a year after release it would hit the premium cable movie channels like HBO, Starz and Cinemax in their original form. Another year or two after that it would be available for local and basic cable channels, but usually in an edited and censored/FCC friendly format. Our family could only afford trips to the theater and video rentals so many times a year, so if we missed a movie in either of those formats and it wound up on HBO/Starz it was kind of a guilty pleasure in my childhood boredom days to pick an anticipated movie like Last Action Hero and watch it as many times as possible the first month it was available.

I have not seen it since then however when I was 11 and have not thought much about it since LAH is not as highly regarded as other Arnold Schwarzenegger classics even though it hit at the tail end of Arnold’s prime (which I consider to be from 1984’s original Terminator through 1994’s True Lies). When it hit theaters in 1993 I remember a ton of hype for it getting ubiquitous advertising and the requisite hot-summer-movie-licensed videogame and pinball table. The pinball table is part of the many licensed tables included in Pinball Arcade on PS4 which I also played a few rounds of before diving into the movie. In 1993 Arnold was the big name action star fresh off his Terminator 2 success. He also dabbled in the occasional comedy like Kindergarten Cop and Jingle All the Way. LAH marked Arnold’s first action comedy however. Schwarzenegger portrays big name action movie star ‘Jack Slater.’ Danny (Austin O’Brien) is Slater’s #1 fan on top of being a middle school film guru where he routinely cuts class to catch flicks at the local cinema where he is best friends with the old-timer projectionist there, Nick (Robert Prosky). Daniel is promised by Nick an after-hours exclusive showing of the wildly anticipated Jack Slater IV. To celebrate the special showing, Nick gives Danny a special ‘magical’ movie ticket that Nick states he got from legendary magician Houdini himself as a kid, but was too afraid to use it. Through cinema magic, the ticket activates and Danny is warped into the movie world of Jack Slater IV as his new reality when he winds up magically transported into the backseat of Slater’s ride in the middle of a cliché action movie car chase.

Danny is thrilled being immersed in an action movie world filled with the clichés and tropes of the genre that he gleefully points out and references past film lore to help Jack track down his latest bad guy. Slater has none of it and takes in Danny in for questioning. Slater’s over-the-top-gruffy captain, Dekker (Frank McRae) is impressed with Danny’s knowledge and makes him Slater’s new partner. Slater begrudgingly works together with Danny to track down Slater’s current most wanted baddie, Benedict (Charles Dance). The film unravels from there in a world jam-packed with the aforementioned clichés that Danny constantly breaks the fourth wall by showing off his action movie fandom by pointing out how all the women in this universe are hyper-sexualized, indulging Slater’s gratuitous one-liners, how Slater instantly pops up from battles unscathed and how the bad guy stereotypically monologues too long to give Slater a chance to make the heroic comeback. 11 year-old-Dale was the perfect target age for LAH when I first saw it in 1994. I experienced the filmed vicariously through Danny and I was right there with Danny for how wicked it would be to magically transport alongside your movie hero in his latest summer blockbuster and helping him bust bad guys and be in the middle of an extravagant chase scenes overstuffed with special effects. I think a big part of me held off forever re-watching this again because I dismissed LAH as a satire film over the years that I loved as a kid, but thought I thought I would outgrow over the years. After my recent re-watch however, I emerged surprised how wrong I was. Seeing it with a grown-up’s set of eyes significantly helped with a new understanding of filmmaking references and other off-color jokes that went right over my childhood head. I also got a whole new appreciation of the scene where Danny takes Slater to a video store in his universe to show him how awesome he is in Terminator 2 only to instead see in that world Sylvester Stallone landed the role.

Speaking of guest stars, the cameos are through the roof in LAH. There are some blink and you miss it surprise cameos, and then there are exponentially more in the final act where Danny takes Slater back into the ‘real’ world in time for the red carpet movie premiere of Jack Slater IV. The premiere sees the likes of Little Richard, MC Hammer, Jean Claude Van Damme and a few other recognizable celebrities of that era. Back in 1994 I was probably only lucky enough to recognize Van Damme from his role as Guile in the underappreciated Street Fighter, but reliving it again with a new set of eyes made that scene pop in a whole new way. Needless to say, Last Action Hero was a surprise delight to experience in 2020. If I had any nitpicks it is that it was not as brisk a watch as I recalled as it clocks in a little over two hours and I came out of it feeling they could have trimmed at least a good 10 minutes or so off. For as big a deal LAH was when it hit in 1993 it was a bit of a buzzkill to see the no-frills BluRay have a complete lack of extras. I would have loved all-star action movie director John McTiernan (Predator, the good Die Hard films) do a commentary track with Arnold and a few other bonus extras, but it regrettably was not meant to be. At least I have this Uproxx take I can now peruse that will have to suffice for a bonus of some degree…..

Alrighty, I just finished the Uproxx 27 years later take on LAH and we share a lot of similarities. Uproxx’s Mike Ryan thesis is that LAH was too meta and ahead of its time in 1993, but perfect for a 2020 viewing experience. I could not agree with him more, and he grinds out the little references and meta-details more eloquently than I can here, so I highly urge you all to give his editorial a perusal. One key takeaway from Ryan’s article on why Last Action Hero came and went back then was because it made the big time mistake of releasing one week after Jurassic Park. No wonder it is not brought up with other classic Arnold films over the years. I am right there with Ryan on how LAH is an absolute marvel of a film, and if it has slipped by you all these years later then now is the perfect time to watch it in these pandemic times with zero movies hitting theaters nowadays. 1993’s Last Action Hero is the ideal 2020 summer blockbuster! BONUS EXTRAS TO COMPENSATE FOR BLURAY’S ABSENCE OF ANY Click or press here to check out this awesomely through ‘Did You Know’ style breakdown of facts and backstage filming secrects from Mental Floss Here is an incredibly thorough two part oral history of LAH complete with interview excerpts from the cast and crew And I will leave you with Cinemassacre’s ‘Rental Review’ roundtable of Last Action Hero….

Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed I & II Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Grunt: The Wrestling Movie Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hell Comes to Frogtown Hercules: Reborn Hitman I Like to Hurt People Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Major League Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Not for Resale Pulp Fiction The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VIII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

[gameridernews]

Ex-Aid review: Month 11 (Episodes 42-45)

Here we are... the final month of Ex-Aid. With only 4 episodes left, how does the show wrap up?

Well, for starters, let me say this: I'm only going to be covering these episodes the way I would any month of episodes, then will do a separate post where I talk about the show overall - give me time to write that one. Also at the end, I return to my final predictions to see what I got right or wrong.

Oh, a small addendum to the last review since I'm pretty sure I talked about the summer movie: We know now that it's a 1-year-later story, so anything I said about it as an alternate ending to the show... is completely invalid. Oops. 

So with that being said... let's tackle the final level.

With Gamedeus unleashed, turns out Masamune wanted to give one last middle finger to the world by reprogramming Gamedeus to let off one hell of a pandemic - everyone in the area has been infected, and it's as bad as when Nico was infected with Gamedeus' virus.

Now I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't sure how to feel about that idea - yeah, it does work as a big finale thing. But it's also what the summer movie was doing, so in that regard it feels redundant. But I warmed up to it since it shows everyone caring for patients in a way that really fits the motif of the show - we're seeing not Riders, but humans, care for the people they want to protect on a personal level. Also Taiga and Nico are wonderful human beings, you guys.

While that's happening, Kiriya and Kuroto are using a clever plan as an excuse to beat the hell out of each other. I was into it once they revealed what they were doing - by continuously infecting themselves with the Gamedeus virus, they build up a resistance, and the end result is a new Doctor Mighty XX Gashat which can eliminate the virus - a shame it doesn't get used to transform, but hey, we know there's at least two different places that could be used now that the show is over...

The Gamedeus Bugster, VERY ironically, is a bit of a small talking point here. Apart from causing a pandemic (which is arguably Masamune's work), and having all the powers of the past Bugsters, the only notable thing about him is the buildup and his quick death once Doctor Mighty XX is delivered to Ex-Aid.

This is something I can understand being a downer, but... we don't have nearly enough time to justify bumping down Masamune in favor of some villain that's just appeared - I didn't expect him to actually stick around because it'd be a waste of time. But I also see it as a miraculous victory - against all odds, they somehow managed to find a way to stop him at the least second.

What they didn't count on was the lingering sanity of Masamune Dan! With no further options, Cronus appears before Ex-Aid and crew can finish off Gamedeus, only to do the job himself and absorb the hell out of Gamedeus' data to become Gamedeus Cronus!

How is Gamedeus Cronus? Well... I know how Rider shows work. We are at that stage where the design process becomes "What can we make with as few new parts as possible?" - which I don't think is unreasonable considering the show's just about over and they're focusing on the next one. That being said, it does what it needs to do well enough - it's Gamedeus but as a Rider. The fusion works within story context.

In a surprising twist, turns out the Ride-Player that's closest to Gamedeus is... Nico! So Masamune, now being perhaps more powerful than the unstoppable Gamedeus, knows EXACTLY what he's doing when he insists on having her challenge him.

He's just screwing with them all now, aiming for the one character who has no Rider belt. Even though Nico is more or less like a Level 10 Ride-Player (d-don't add that to the wiki, that's a joke), she's not unstoppable.

So it's time for big brother Taiga to step in, because it's as he's been saying from the start... only he needs to be the one who fights. 

This was a big moment for Taiga, because his motivations are clearer than ever. And he uses both Nico's and... some random Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat, both at the same time, to transform into Cronus. If you were wondering, TV Asahi just refers to do this "Kamen Rider Cronus (Taiga Hanaya Version)". I'm not sure what the second Gashat is adding aside from it representing Nico, but I do like how this form seems to have access to ALL weapons. Imagine the catharsis of gaining access to this in a proper Chronicle game. 

After Taiga gets tossed around a bit, Hiro and Emu show up to remind him that doctors have to work together, and they give him a white coat! That... later we learn that it's okay for him to be a doctor again but that still made me go "Wait, is that legal?" - the three use their strongest forms, reminding us Taiga is in need of something stronger than Level 50...

... then Gamedeus Cronus brings in one last video game trope by revealing that a proper final boss has a second form. Kickass! It's at this point, a true pandemic begins. People become Bugster Viruses, which I thought looked pretty goofy. Masamune is certainly bringing hell on Earth, just like a proper final boss. Turns out he knows exactly what video games are all about.

As an aside, did you know I was considering doing monthly reviews for the next show in the form of video? I'm still undecided, but I am still thinking of how I can keep that simple enough that it won't be hell to edit. I only bring this up because hey, we get our cameo for the next Rider here, Build!

This was a dumb cameo, but a fun kind of dumb. I liked how it involved Genm being mistaken for Ex-Aid, because not only is that going back to misunderstandings from Genm's cameo in Ghost, it's also a resemblance that has not come up in a long time. Made me go "Oh right, it IS weird that they look so alike!"

You gotta take cameos with a grain of salt, but they do admittedly try to capture the basic idea of what that character is like. If Build is anything like this, he seems kinda fun. This whole bit of him wanting a sample from Ex-Aid is actually followed up in the summer movie, which I guess is okay to say now since it's gonna have to be talked about when the upcoming winter movie happens.

Now then, let's talk about heartbreak.

In order to make the people happy, Poppy basically sacrifices her own existence to spread the vaccine to Gamedeus' virus and cure everyone, effectively stopping the pandemic. 

This was especially touching when you realize that the most exposure she's had to the general public is being depicted as a deadly Bugster that has even infected others. She's making quite the sacrifice for people who might not even want her alive. You’re breaking my heart, girl. 

Then we get what I was most interested in during the episode preview... the baby war! 

Ex-Aid brings us back to the Level 1 forms in a clever way, reminding us of its function: Separate the virus from the patient. As everyone switches to the forms we first came to know them for, they beat the Game out of Deus and even perform a chibi Rider Kick together!

But then...

More heartbreak.

With Parad forming a proper bond with Emu, he's found that he lacks something: The chance to redeem himself. He's let a lot of people suffer, and it seems like one fight alongside Emu isn't enough to rid him of his sins - that’s pretty mature of him. 

So after Poppy sacrificed herself by using Doctor Mighty XX to turn into a vaccine, Parad does the same to latch onto Gamedeus and finally put an end to it all, so that humans can live in peace.

The day is saved.

Or, you know, fuck you. 

Masamune knows what's up. If Parad is gone, that means Ex-Aid - the only one with the power to face him - can't transform. The Riders are effectively powerless to stop him and his time powers. Try as they might, they can't punch something that punches them harder in less than an instant.

The day is ruined. And it looks like this finale is the BAD ending! You beat us, Cronus!

Or, you know, fuck you.

Yes, in a miraculous come-from-behind revival that we get explanations for later, Emu is back in action! And with everyone standing together in the dark setting (Cronus powers are weird), we recreate episode 1's opening scene... with Genm offscreen because of a delayed Continue apparently.

This fight was quick, but fantastic. Everyone gets a piece of Cronus, even Lazer in bike form. Which I now realize is odd for him to revert to, but I guess he figured he'd have one last ride with Emu. No way that phrase can be taken out of context.

Masamune is defeated, and... I'm a little mixed on Masamune, I'll be honest.

The reset from last month was something that came into play because Masamune's Bugster infection intervened, giving them the glowy eyes Emu gets when he does M stuff. While they use that effect again during his last Gamedeus Cronus fight, it... kinda never came into play again. It was just some random thing that served no purpose other than to artificially extend the drama. So... that was pointless.

As for what happened here, with Masamune's final act being to stab himself with his own Gashat, I can only assume he was trying for one more final fight since Graphite used Gashats this way, but it kinda just... kills him. So I'm not sure what to make of it. It doesn't help that they never give it any lip service. He's just gone.

Masamune has been a great villain up to this point, but I feel that he's been all over the place within these final two months and hasn’t been at his best. Still, now that he's gone, peace can properly return. No fakeouts, just status quo.

The rest of the final episode is essentially an epilogue for our beautiful cast. 

For starters, I guess the Bugster Virus still lingers, it's just not nearly on the level of Gamedeus. I guess that works, since otherwise we'd have to say goodbye to Kuroto and Kiriya. Speaking of, Kiriya will be taking part in developing medicine that fights against the virus, with the help of the new CEO of Genm Corp: Tsukuru! Burger-san is in chaaaarge! That puts a big smile on my face.

Taiga gets a pretty sweet deal. His efforts have given him the right to be a doctor again, and his previously abandoned hospital has been cleaned up and is now in service as a Bugster Virus hospital. Not only that, Nico has graduated and wants to work for him! Adorable.

Hiro is passing down his expertise to future generations, and even though it's not directly stated, we know that he now has much more respect for the patients now that he's spent plenty of time with Emu.

As for Emu, he relays all that happened to the ministry of health, and is offered the chance to stay in CR. Which I guess is fair since his introduction to it was happenstance. 

Lastly is a speech where Emu admits a grim truth: Those infected with the Bugster Virus have been cured... but they have not yet been able to restore the lives lost. As it currently stands, they still exist as data, and when questioned on whether that could be considered "living", Emu says something very mature. When Kuroto first revealed that the victims would be reborn as Bugsters, Emu was strongly against them being data because that can hardly be called living. Has he changed his stance now?

Well... no. He instead believes that medicine has come a long way, and that one day, they WILL find a way to bring these people back properly. The way it was handled was, again, very mature of Emu. I really can't say enough that he's grown up since the beginning.

Kuroto, not so much. But at least he has godly talents.

Since Kuroto got just a bit of Poppy's virus when she sacrificed herself, he was able to restore her! And with the okay of the ministry of health, she will continue her service to CR just like always! I must say, considering this character was too much for me to handle at the beginning, I'm happy to see her stay!

Not only that... when Emu got close to Parad as he sacrificed himself, it seems that he reabsorbed just a bit of Parad's virus, which is how Emu was able to transform during their last fight with Cronus - tightly wrapping it all up, aren't they? Because of that, Parad gets to live. 

I'll be honest, I always feel like I need to be more critical when a character is immediately brought back after death... but the tears in my eyes during that moment tell a different story. I guess I’m okay with this. 

With our final scene that seems to be a later moment, we randomly get... product placement! Yes, it seems Kuroto was "inspired" to make a new Gashat based on his mysterious encounter, which I'm sure has a form attached to it but it currently just causes the trailer to play. Oddly specific power. 

But wait! There were predictions I made. Let's see what they were and how they panned out. There's a lot of em.

First off, I'm gonna just summarize two here: Previews led us to believe Parad might be killed off, as well as Taiga. Aside from me guessing Cronus was the one who killed Parad, I guess I was right in saying they wouldn't kill off either character at this point in the story. I feel the need to address those quickly since they were no-brainers. I even thought they were excessive to say at the time. But... 

I think since the heroes now have the Proto Gashats [which contain Saki's data], they’ll be able to convince Hiro well enough to return. That being said… Masamune giving him a new form with no strings attached? Suspicious. Maybe there’ll be some kind of mind control in place in the event Hiro turned on him. This man thinks ahead. It’s gonna take a heavy duty “What it means to be a doctor” speech to shake Hiro from this one.

Okay, I guess Taddle Legacy was a form with no strings attached. It made sense in my head.

Graphite and Parad [might be] successful in infecting Masamune’s belt with the virus of Gamedeus... which results in him becoming a Gamedeus with the unstoppable power of Cronus! That’s, like, twice unstoppable. Perfect for an endgame villain.

I knew it would be a perfect endgame villain! But it turns out this was all Masamune's doing.

I also made a prediction about the ending and talked about how the summer movie was setting itself up as an alternate ending... but again, that turned out to not be the case. But I did say what I thought would be the ending for the show:

I think that the show will have your standard happy ending. Bugsters are gone, CR is disbanded, everyone goes back to their regular lives as doctors/non-doctors. All that needs to be kept in place is the ability to transform, or at the very least modify the gear so it isn’t required anymore. Basically, the show’s ending is more welcome to continuation and crossovers.

And it sure is! But they were surprisingly cool about not undoing much. The Bugster Virus still exists, CR is still needed, and they work in a way for Emu to still have the ability to transform. Which is about as crossover-friendly as you can get.

So that was a show. I'm actually gonna end this review here, because I think it's only fair to have a SEPARATE review to talk about the overall show. The characters, the plot, the style... it's something that would make this post twice as long. So give me some time to write it.

As for the next series, Kamen Rider Build? I am cautiously optimistic! Some believe there is a noticeable coincidental format to Rider shows in which a really good show is followed up by an okay show then followed up by a crappy show. I just take them each as their own thing. There's elements of this new one I find interesting and I look forward to seeing how it presents itself.

With that being said, see you next game, when I analyze Ex-Aid as a whole.

[fyrapartnersearch]

email--fandoms and originals

Hi, my name is Coll! I’m a 29 year old lady with a full time standard 9-5 job. That said, I have some free time on my hands. I’d really love some new RPs.  =D I’m very friendly and willing to plot. I mostly roleplay video games and original plots. A few things about me: - I am looking for people who play in the 

third person and post multiple paragraphs in their responses.

 (Please give me at least 3 paragraphs and I’ll be happy with that. Anything less and I get put out and most likely will not respond back to you out of disappointment ^^; Sorry.) I will also match my partner’s response length.

Also, please have a decent grasp of grammar and spelling. I won’t respond if you message me in all chatspeak. When you message me, also, please have an idea of what you want to do. “Hi, wanna RP?” is kind of unacceptable. Of course I want to roleplay–that’s why I put the add up.

- My hard limits are rape, vore, mpreg (good god no mpreg never ever mpreg), pedophilia, and a few others in between, but those are the big ones. If you ask for any of these four things, I will delete your post immediately. I don’t mind rape being mentioned in a backstory, but I won’t play it out. I’m not too keen on large age gaps unless we’re playing a supernatural creature with a human. They need to look about the same age. -

 I don’t really care for unhealthy ships

. I don’t like cheating or abuse in relationships–that sort of stuff. I’m not about that life. - I

 am a slash (both mxm and fxf) roleplayer. I will not tolerate seme/uke paradigms. You will play a switch or there will be no smut. There are only certain canon ships I’ll do mxf for. (like Lightning/adult!Hope or Tidus/Yuna for example.) I won’t do mxf for originals.

- I will only accept roleplayers who are

 21+

. If I find out you’re under my age limit, I’m going to delete you immediately. - All kinks are based off of character preference, not my own. I’m also not really a kinky person. Sorry about that. - I like canonxoc for certain canons. If I play a canon for you, I expect you to play one for me. Compromise! Some ships I will not do canonxoc for. - I know this sounds like me being a hard ass, but I really like becoming friends with my partners and exchanging headcanons and songs!

- I roleplay through email only. No exceptions.

- I try to post every day. I really do. Sometimes, I’m just too tired to do so. ^^;;; Be patient with me. Weekends get hectic because I’m in a couple DnD campaigns. - Once the roleplay gets off the ground, I have skype. You can ask for it–but only after intros are exchanged. Every time I’ve given someone my skype before we started, the roleplay never got off the ground. - If for some reason I stop responding, I legitimately forgot. Just poke me. There are times when I’m at work and look at an email and forget to respond to it later because i thought I did. Well, if I haven’t scared you off, you can check out the rest! Contact:

xdeathtarot@gmail.com

Current cravings: Peronsa 5, Final Fantasy XV, Fire Emblem Fates, and the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That doesn’t mean I won’t do others!

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

. I can play Kyoko, Homura, and Mami. I can also do originals in the PMMM setting, gender bends, or Puer Magi. (Magical Boys.) Seriously, my kingdom for a PMMM roleplay. I’m also not opposed to mixing canons and originals!

Original

. Hit me up. 

I am open to most things. If you want a something with a lot of smut, just let me know up front

.

I especially am big on gothic/fantasy/horror settings with magic, darkness, twisted fairy tales as inspiration, Alice in Wonderland kind of settings, surreal or Silent Hill/Fatal Frame esque thing. Definitely willing to look into maybe some mystery/eldritch horror thing

. I’m pretty flexible. Other stuff I’m into includes: steampunk, horror, creepypasta, victorian era, medieval/fantasy, modern/fantasy. I’ll give anything a shot and I’m sure I have a character for it or at the very least, can make one. It must have fantasy, by the way. I’m also a big fan of supernatural beingxhuman, or two different races mingling with each others. The only thing I’ll outright say no to is slice of life unless it’s monsters/supernatural creatures trying to live among humans. I’ll only accept mxm and fxf for original lines. Please note, I DO NOT play vampires or werewolves. I don’t mind roleplaying with them, but I personally do not like playing them. If you want to do a plot that is vampire or werewolf based, you have to play those species.

I’ll also take random intros for original! Just tell me the genre you’re sending me in the title or if you want platonic, mxm, or fxf! Please, if you send me a random intro, keep it to the genres listed or similar interests to this ad. I can’t guarantee I’ll be into the roleplay if you pick something I don’t advertise.

Fire Emblem Awakening.

 I’ll die of happiness if you’d like to do m!tacticianxChrom. I’m looking for a Chrom. I can also play m!Morgan, Lucina, and a couple others. Let’s chat about it. I have a couple AU ideas, considering, well, you know how Fire Emblem is. There’s a war, let’s go fight the war!

Fire Emblem Fates. This, here, is what I’m craving the most.

 I’ve played all three paths, but prefer Conquest and Revelation. I want to play Corrin. (Male.) and am open to ships. (As long as they’re mxm and fxf.) I’m mostly looking for a Xander (!!! Boy, I want Xander the most. Xander/Corrin happens to be my otp.), Leo (!!), Takumi (!), or Silas. I also ship Selena and Camilla. (I play Selena.) I like AUs and doubling, so I’m sure we can figure something out. I am also leokumi trash and can play either… though I’d rather do Corrin/Leo and Corrin/Takumi. I also like Sakura/Elise! (Slight preference toward Sakura.) I much prefer AUs and am willing to hash something out with you. No OCs for this. Sorry.

Persona

. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to do a Persona or Persona based roleplay!. My favorite pairing for Persona is Yu/Souji/ProtagonistxYosuke. I play Yosuke. I am seriously craving another Yu/Yosuke roleplay like woah. We can discuss this. I also REALLY like the idea of the P3 Female Protagonist/MinakoxMitsuru. I’d be playing the female protagonist. We can also do a whole new Persona group, too.

Addendum

: Just finished Persona 5, am interested in playing Akira–or maybe we could do our own team of Phantom Thieves? Really dig the concept. I do like Akira/Yusuke and Ann/Makoto–will play Akira and Makoto. I am also interested in an Akechi redemption line, but I won’t pair him with Akira. Others I can play are Futaba and Haru. I’d also like to do something with

 Black Butler

. I’d like to play a male oc against Ciel If you play Ciel for me, I’ll play Elizabeth for you in a fxf line or I will also consider playing Sebastian for your oc, but I’m VERY picky on this because Sebastian is a vainglorious bastard who needs entertainment. So! Try me, just don’t say I didn’t warn you if I tell you no. I also have a demon, if you want to play a contractor in an all original variation. (Note: my demon will not be your character’s butler. He laughs at the very idea. He can change his gender, so he can be a she.) 

*Please note, that sebciel is a GIANT NOTP of mine, so don’t even ask for it.

Tales of.

 The first thing I’m looking for is a Sorey to my Mikleo. My kingdom for these two babies who are too pure for this world. The second thing I’m looking for a Richard to my Asbel and kinda have some vague ideas for this! I also roleplay Tales of cross overs and have a vague idea for that, too. I would also love a Gaius for my Wingul. Can discuss other Tales pairings, will be fine with ocs if you’ll afford me the same. I’ve played all of the Tales of games released in the US EXCEPT for Eternia and Vesperia. That doesn’t mean you can’t play these characters! I’m totally down for Asch/OC and will try and accommodate you as well. I also recently bought Tales of Berseria. I’m only about 40ish hours into it, so no spoilers!

The World Ends With You

. I play Josh. Mostly looking for a Neku or whomever you want to throw at me. I’d prefer AUs (kind of have a basic idea for one) or post-game. Please, for the love of all things holy, do not play Neku as a weak willed little thing who won’t tell Josh to go eff himself if he doesn’t like what Josh is doing. We can also do a whole new Game with all ocs.

The Legend of Zelda. 

I’m looking for a Link and am looking to do a brand new Zelda roleplay where we split the cast and have fun times~! I have a male oc. There doesn’t need to be romance, but I would like there to be. I can play Ravio, Zelda, humanized Sidon, Revali (maybe), or Midna for one of your ocs, if you’d like. With Breath of the Wild out, I’d be happy to do something similar to that, too.

Devil Survivor 2

. I want to play the main character (Hibiki/Hiro/MC) against a Yamato LIKE BURNING Also, Shin Megami Tensei IV, I’d love a Flynn/Walter chaos route roleplay where I play Flynn.

Kingdom Hearts

. I kind of want to do an all-original setting with new Keyblade wielders, new villains and everything. We’d each play a keyblade wielder or something and fill out the cast. If you’re not up for that, I do love SoraxRiku–I’ll be playing Sora. (I love this ship with my whole heart.)

Final Fantasy

. I’m cool with most things here. Some characters I play are Lightning (my favorite), Cecil Harvey, Yuna, Cloud Strife, Kadaj, Vanille, Terra Branford, Garnet til Alexandros/Dagger, Bartz, Faris, Noel Kreiss, Ramza (Tactics), and some others here and there. Some of the ships I play are Lightning/adult!Hope (I play Lightning and have some au ideas for this), Zack/Cloud (I play Cloud), Tidus/Yuna (I play Yuna), Fang/Vanille (I play Vanille. I’ll also play Fang/Lightning), Zidane/Garnet, Cecil/Kain (Cecil) etc. There are others. I’ve played almost every Final Fantasy except the online ones, so just ask. There are a few canons I play that I’ll pair with ocs, like Noel Kreiss for example. This is probably the only place you’ll catch me for mxf. I would really love a Ramza for one of my ocs as well? Like I said, I’ll play certain canons for you, too! … or maybe just something with Final Fantasy Tactics in general.

Addendum

: I just finished 

FFXV

 and would love to try out being Noctis–looking for Gladio, Ignis, or Prompto–or a mix of all four. We can discuss but my favorite ship is

IgNoct. Will be happy to do Promptis or GladNoct, too.

Bravely Default/Bravely Second.

 Ringabel/Edea, otp for life. I’d like to play Edea. Also willing to consider Tiz/Agnes (Tiz.) or Yew/Magnolia. (Magnolia.) Prefer an AU for this. I won’t do this genre without Ringabel/Edea, though, keep that in mind.

Parasite Eve.

Does anyone even know what this is? We can discuss–ocs, canons, I’m sure we can figure something out.

Pokemon

. I have a male Elite Four trainer I’d like to use against any character. I have a couple other trainers here and there. Why not, bring it on. If you want romance, it has to be m/m for this. I don’t mind gijinkas or whatever they’re called. I also beat Sun/Moon! So we can do some Alola stuff! Maybe a plot with the Ultra Beasts? Neaaaat.

Ace Attorney.

Okay, okay. I only do canon/oc for this one, fam. I’ve also only played the first three games and Ace Attorney Investigations. I’m looking for a Miles Edgeworth to my male oc and for you, I can play Franziska von Karma for fxf. Might be talked into playing Phoenix Wright for you, depending on your oc. 

ATLA

. I have a male earth bending oc (with a spirit pal who follows him) that I’ll do mxm with. I’m really up for anything here, except LoK verse since he doesn’t seem to fit in there so well. Canons? OCs? Sure, whatever. I’ll leave it open. You wanna test a new OC or practice a canon against him? Cool. There are also a few fandoms that I play, but only with an oc cast such as:

 Dead Space, Gravity Rush, Fatal Frame, Etrian Odyssey, and Silent Hill. Note: for Silent Hill, I will NOT be playing romance.

As for

Silent Hill

… I’m up for putting canons in a Silent Hill verse as well as using originals. The same goes for

The Last of Us

. Canons in a TLOU universe could be fun. Same with ocs. I’m a little out of touch with this, though. It’s been a while. Maybe something based on 

Transistor

? Or 

YoKai Watch

? 

Yomawari Night Alone

? Hey, maybe some creepy Japanese horror with a haunted town in the vein of Yomawari? Suggest! If it’s along the lines of what’s mentioned above, then by all means. Other fandoms are: 

Okami 

(Human form!Amaterasu), a 999/Zero Escape based roleplay, 

Demon Gaze, Dragon’s Crown, Animal Crossing

 (humanized villagers), and more. Seriously, just ask. Ask away. I know some older animes but video games? I most likely know it, especially if it’s an RPG. I’m also a fan of AUs. Again, if any of this interests you, mail me at

xdeathtarot@gmail.com

.

[deadgiants]

Making patches

I see a lot of people asking others how to make patches, and I see that most of the replies are usually to just use some acrylics and paint your own. This is a totally awesome method, and one that I have used myself, but I rarely see anyone talking about screenprinting as an option. I imagine that part of this is partly due to the material requirements making it seem cost prohibitive, and that it seems like a whole new art form to learn with a bunch of weird chemicals and processes. Because of this I’d just like to take a moment to let folk why screenprinting is both rad as fuck, super easy (if time consuming), and maybe a better fit for what you want.

I started making tshirts and patches in high school by drawing on rags with sharpie, but never really liked how that looked in the end, I was still broke as fuck though and wanted a cheaper alternative than buying from a shop. I also had moral issues with buying band merch not directly from the band, but that’s a different rant/conversation. Anyway, onward after the break!

First off, some reasons Screenprinting is great and why you should learn to do it.

It’s easy! No, really, if you’re just starting there are some great entry level methods to make great looking prints. 

It’s versatile! there are a lot of different ways to use a screen press and all of them turn out great products, stencils are the easiest (and cheapest), but block out fluid can also be used to “paint” your designs right onto the screen with limited material requirement. After that you get into emulsion printing which does require a bit more practice but can still be done in your garage (as proven by myself and innumerable others). From that point there’s also sorts of crazy inks, dyes, methods, and materials to play with, yay!

You don’t have to be able to draw! This one might sound cynical but I prefer to think of it as a bonus because it does make screenprinting more inclusive to everyone who jokes that they can only draw stick figures. If you can trace a line you can cut a stencil. All you need to do is make or find a stencil and you can make a patch, super simple!

It’s cheap, damnit! This is probably the biggest reason not a lot of people look to screenprinting as a viable option, but for the same cost (or just a bitt more) of a few brushes and tubes of acrylic that will flake and crack if they’re ever washed or placed in the wrong spot you can get a starter kit from a few different places that comes with; a screen the perfect size for patches, a few colors of ink ( usually red, yellow, blue, black and white), and a squeegee blade. Some even come with blocker and drawing fluid or a tiny bottle of emulsion! 

Almost an addendum to No.4, but while the process does take longer than just painting the design on and calling it good, once you have your stencil/screen you can make damn near infinite copies. When I started I used to make shirts and patches and just give em all out to my friends.

With all that said...

Some reasons screenprinting might not be for you.

If you really only intend to make one or two designs and don’t think you’ll be doing even that often, then it certainly might not be worth it to go through everything it takes to learn a whole new discipline.

Time. Like I said above, once you have the screen or stencil ready, making patches is incredibly fast, I can make upwards of 40 prints an hour, if I’m making patches, each print can mean between 4 and 10 individual patches, shit’s crazy, but getting to that last step can take forever, with stencils it’s because that shit takes time, but you can fix a stencil if your hand slips. With some other methods it’s hours of setup and if you fuck up at all it means starting all over, sometimes with little idea of what specifically went wrong.

Mess. This comes down to a person by person thing, and it’s totally possible to do printing with little to no mess, but it takes some trial and error to figure it out.

Personal preference. Different people like different aesthetics, crazy right? I prefer screenprinting because I’m hyper critical and would hate to wear something I knew I goofed up on, even if I know no one else can tell. Other people don’t mind the little mistakes, other people look at them as a feature of the method, making each unique.

These are all completely valid reasons to prefer other methods of DIY patch making. I went the way I did just because I wanted things to look as good as possible while controlling the design of each, as often as I printed a bunch of an image, I smade an equal number of designs that I only printed once, just because I wanted it and wanted it to look good to me. So whatever your choice, preference, or skill level, please, everyone continue to create whatever it is you love.

ADDENDUM NUMBER THE FIRST

Some random resources and links!

Stencil Punks was a super rad site full of super rad stencils for a long time, but the site is down now and this tumblr is all I can find of it. It looks like there’s a good chunk of the original library missing, but still a good place to find stencils.

Ryonet is the main place to get supplies beyond the basics, but more importantly the make videos explaining how to use everything they sell.

Catspit Productions is another great tutorial page.

This is an ok beginner setup, it’s close to what I had to start.

This seems like another ok starter kit, but it comes with a pre-burned screen, which is...weird. But usually Screenprint.com/Ryonet stuff is better general quality than Speedbal like the first kit linked.

Also worth noting, you might be able to find screens cheap or free if you just ask/scavenge if you’re near a university/print lab. People buy really nice screens all the time for classes or as part of an artist residency program and then just leave that shit behind. Which means it’s free game if you can get to it, fuck em.

[gayroleplayads]

fandoms and originals

Hi, my name is Coll! I’m a 29 year old lady with a full time standard 9-5 job. That said, I have some free time on my hands. I’d really love some new RPs.  =D I’m very friendly and willing to plot. I mostly roleplay video games and original plots.

A few things about me:

- I am looking for people who play in the third person and post multiple paragraphs in their responses. (Please give me at least 3 paragraphs and I’ll be happy with that. Anything less and I get put out and most likely will not respond back to you out of disappointment ^^; Sorry.) I will also match my partner’s response length. Also, please have a decent grasp of grammar and spelling. I won’t respond if you message me in all chatspeak. When you message me, also, please have an idea of what you want to do. “Hi, wanna RP?” is kind of unacceptable. Of course I want to roleplay–that’s why I put the add up.

- My hard limits are rape, vore, mpreg (good god no mpreg never ever mpreg), pedophilia, and a few others in between, but those are the big ones. If you ask for any of these four things, I will delete your post immediately. I don’t mind rape being mentioned in a backstory, but I won’t play it out. I’m not too keen on large age gaps unless we’re playing a supernatural creature with a human. They need to look about the same age.

- I don’t really care for unhealthy ships. I don’t like cheating or abuse in relationships–that sort of stuff. I’m not about that life. - I am a slash (both mxm and fxf) roleplayer. I will not tolerate seme/uke paradigms. You will play a switch or there will be no smut. There are only certain canon ships I’ll do mxf for. (like Lightning/adult!Hope or Tidus/Yuna for example.) I won’t do mxf for originals.

- I will only accept roleplayers who are 21+. If I find out you’re under my age limit, I’m going to delete you immediately.

- All kinks are based off of character preference, not my own. I’m also not really a kinky person. Sorry about that.

- I like canonxoc for certain canons. If I play a canon for you, I expect you to play one for me. Compromise! Some ships I will not do canonxoc for.

- I know this sounds like me being a hard ass, but I really like becoming friends with my partners and exchanging headcanons and songs!

- I roleplay through email only. No exceptions.

- I try to post every day. I really do. Sometimes, I’m just too tired to do so. ^^;;; Be patient with me. Weekends get hectic because I’m in a couple DnD campaigns.

- Once the roleplay gets off the ground, I have skype. You can ask for it–but only after intros are exchanged. Every time I’ve given someone my skype before we started, the roleplay never got off the ground.

- If for some reason I stop responding, I legitimately forgot. Just poke me. There are times when I’m at work and look at an email and forget to respond to it later because i thought I did.

Well, if I haven’t scared you off, you can check out the rest!

Contact: xdeathtarot@gmail.com

Current cravings: Peronsa 5, Final Fantasy XV, Fire Emblem Fates, and the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That doesn’t mean I won’t do others!

Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I can play Kyoko, Homura, and Mami. I can also do originals in the PMMM setting, gender bends, or Puer Magi. (Magical Boys.) Seriously, my kingdom for a PMMM roleplay. I’m also not opposed to mixing canons and originals!

Original. Hit me up. I am open to most things. If you want a something with a lot of smut, just let me know up front. I especially am big on gothic/fantasy/horror settings with magic, darkness, twisted fairy tales as inspiration, Alice in Wonderland kind of settings, surreal or Silent Hill/Fatal Frame esque thing. Definitely willing to look into maybe some mystery/eldritch horror thing. I’m pretty flexible. Other stuff I’m into includes: steampunk, horror, creepypasta, victorian era, medieval/fantasy, modern/fantasy. I’ll give anything a shot and I’m sure I have a character for it or at the very least, can make one. It must have fantasy, by the way. I’m also a big fan of supernatural beingxhuman, or two different races mingling with each others. The only thing I’ll outright say no to is slice of life unless it’s monsters/supernatural creatures trying to live among humans. I’ll only accept mxm and fxf for original lines. Please note, I DO NOT play vampires or werewolves. I don’t mind roleplaying with them, but I personally do not like playing them. If you want to do a plot that is vampire or werewolf based, you have to play those species. I’ll also take random intros for original! Just tell me the genre you’re sending me in the title or if you want platonic, mxm, or fxf! Please, if you send me a random intro, keep it to the genres listed or similar interests to this ad. I can’t guarantee I’ll be into the roleplay if you pick something I don’t advertise.

Fire Emblem Awakening. I’ll die of happiness if you’d like to do m!tacticianxChrom. I’m looking for a Chrom. I can also play m!Morgan, Lucina, and a couple others. Let’s chat about it. I have a couple AU ideas, considering, well, you know how Fire Emblem is. There’s a war, let’s go fight the war!

Fire Emblem Fates. This, here, is what I’m craving the most. I’ve played all three paths, but prefer Conquest and Revelation. I want to play Corrin. (Male.) and am open to ships. (As long as they’re mxm and fxf.) I’m mostly looking for a Xander (!!! Boy, I want Xander the most. Xander/Corrin happens to be my otp.), Leo (!!), Takumi (!), or Silas. I also ship Selena and Camilla. (I play Selena.) I like AUs and doubling, so I’m sure we can figure something out. I am also leokumi trash and can play either… though I’d rather do Corrin/Leo and Corrin/Takumi. I also like Sakura/Elise! (Slight preference toward Sakura.) I much prefer AUs and am willing to hash something out with you. No OCs for this. Sorry.

Persona. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to do a Persona or Persona based roleplay!. My favorite pairing for Persona is Yu/Souji/ProtagonistxYosuke. I play Yosuke. I am seriously craving another Yu/Yosuke roleplay like woah. We can discuss this. I also REALLY like the idea of the P3 Female Protagonist/MinakoxMitsuru. I’d be playing the female protagonist. We can also do a whole new Persona group, too.

Addendum: Just finished Persona 5, am interested in playing Akira–or maybe we could do our own team of Phantom Thieves? Really dig the concept. I do like Akira/Yusuke and Ann/Makoto–will play Akira and Makoto. I am also interested in an Akechi redemption line, but I won’t pair him with Akira. Others I can play are Futaba and Haru.

I’d also like to do something with Black Butler. I’d like to play a male oc against Ciel If you play Ciel for me, I’ll play Elizabeth for you in a fxf line or I will also consider playing Sebastian for your oc, but I’m VERY picky on this because Sebastian is a vainglorious bastard who needs entertainment. So! Try me, just don’t say I didn’t warn you if I tell you no. I also have a demon, if you want to play a contractor in an all original variation. (Note: my demon will not be your character’s butler. He laughs at the very idea. He can change his gender, so he can be a she.) *Please note, that sebciel is a GIANT NOTP of mine, so don’t even ask for it.

Tales of. The first thing I’m looking for is a Sorey to my Mikleo. My kingdom for these two babies who are too pure for this world. The second thing I’m looking for a Richard to my Asbel and kinda have some vague ideas for this! I also roleplay Tales of cross overs and have a vague idea for that, too. I would also love a Gaius for my Wingul. Can discuss other Tales pairings, will be fine with ocs if you’ll afford me the same. I’ve played all of the Tales of games released in the US EXCEPT for Eternia and Vesperia. That doesn’t mean you can’t play these characters! I’m totally down for Asch/OC and will try and accommodate you as well. I also recently bought Tales of Berseria. I’m only about 40ish hours into it, so no spoilers!

The World Ends With You. I play Josh. Mostly looking for a Neku or whomever you want to throw at me. I’d prefer AUs (kind of have a basic idea for one) or post-game. Please, for the love of all things holy, do not play Neku as a weak willed little thing who won’t tell Josh to go eff himself if he doesn’t like what Josh is doing. We can also do a whole new Game with all ocs.

The Legend of Zelda. I’m looking for a Link and am looking to do a brand new Zelda roleplay where we split the cast and have fun times~! I have a male oc. There doesn’t need to be romance, but I would like there to be. I can play Ravio, Zelda, humanized Sidon, Revali (maybe), or Midna for one of your ocs, if you’d like. With Breath of the Wild out, I’d be happy to do something similar to that, too.

Devil Survivor 2. I want to play the main character (Hibiki/Hiro/MC) against a Yamato LIKE BURNING Also, Shin Megami Tensei IV, I’d love a Flynn/Walter chaos route roleplay where I play Flynn.

Kingdom Hearts. I kind of want to do an all-original setting with new Keyblade wielders, new villains and everything. We’d each play a keyblade wielder or something and fill out the cast. If you’re not up for that, I do love SoraxRiku–I’ll be playing Sora. (I love this ship with my whole heart.)

Final Fantasy. I’m cool with most things here. Some characters I play are Lightning (my favorite), Cecil Harvey, Yuna, Cloud Strife, Kadaj, Vanille, Terra Branford, Garnet til Alexandros/Dagger, Bartz, Faris, Noel Kreiss, Ramza (Tactics), and some others here and there. Some of the ships I play are Lightning/adult!Hope (I play Lightning and have some au ideas for this), Zack/Cloud (I play Cloud), Tidus/Yuna (I play Yuna), Fang/Vanille (I play Vanille. I’ll also play Fang/Lightning), Zidane/Garnet, Cecil/Kain (Cecil) etc. There are others. I’ve played almost every Final Fantasy except the online ones, so just ask. There are a few canons I play that I’ll pair with ocs, like Noel Kreiss for example. This is probably the only place you’ll catch me for mxf. I would really love a Ramza for one of my ocs as well? Like I said, I’ll play certain canons for you, too! … or maybe just something with Final Fantasy Tactics in general.

Addendum: I just finished FFXV and would love to try out being Noctis–looking for Gladio, Ignis, or Prompto–or a mix of all four. We can discuss but my favorite ship is IgNoct. Will be happy to do Promptis or GladNoct, too.

Bravely Default/Bravely Second. Ringabel/Edea, otp for life. I’d like to play Edea. Also willing to consider Tiz/Agnes (Tiz.) or Yew/Magnolia. (Magnolia.) Prefer an AU for this. I won’t do this genre without Ringabel/Edea, though, keep that in mind.

Parasite Eve. Does anyone even know what this is? We can discuss–ocs, canons, I’m sure we can figure something out.

  Pokemon. I have a male Elite Four trainer I’d like to use against any character. I have a couple other trainers here and there. Why not, bring it on. If you want romance, it has to be m/m for this. I don’t mind gijinkas or whatever they’re called. I also beat Sun/Moon! So we can do some Alola stuff! Maybe a plot with the Ultra Beasts? Neaaaat.

Ace Attorney. Okay, okay. I only do canon/oc for this one, fam. I’ve also only played the first three games and Ace Attorney Investigations. I’m looking for a Miles Edgeworth to my male oc and for you, I can play Franziska von Karma for fxf. Might be talked into playing Phoenix Wright for you, depending on your oc. 

ATLA. I have a male earth bending oc (with a spirit pal who follows him) that I’ll do mxm with. I’m really up for anything here, except LoK verse since he doesn’t seem to fit in there so well. Canons? OCs? Sure, whatever. I’ll leave it open. You wanna test a new OC or practice a canon against him? Cool.

There are also a few fandoms that I play, but only with an oc cast such as: Dead Space, Gravity Rush, Fatal Frame, Etrian Odyssey, and Silent Hill. Note: for Silent Hill, I will NOT be playing romance.

As for Silent Hill… I’m up for putting canons in a Silent Hill verse as well as using originals.

The same goes for The Last of Us. Canons in a TLOU universe could be fun. Same with ocs. I’m a little out of touch with this, though. It’s been a while.

Maybe something based on Transistor? Or YoKai Watch? Yomawari Night Alone? Hey, maybe some creepy Japanese horror with a haunted town in the vein of Yomawari?

Suggest! If it’s along the lines of what’s mentioned above, then by all means. Other fandoms are: Okami (Human form!Amaterasu), a 999/Zero Escape based roleplay, Demon Gaze, Dragon’s Crown, Animal Crossing (humanized villagers), and more. Seriously, just ask. Ask away. I know some older animes but video games? I most likely know it, especially if it’s an RPG. I’m also a fan of AUs.

Again, if any of this interests you, mail me at xdeathtarot@gmail.com.

[carasueachterberg]

All four dogs like to lounge in my office after their early morning romp in the play yard. Having four that get along so nicely is refreshing. Between that fact and the three quiet, sweet, not-quite-so-messy puppies, fostering has never been so easy.

Flannery finished her week shut-down and emerged a different dog. When she arrived she was snappy and tense, having proven to all that she will not do well in a home with young children. That wasn’t something I expected when she was adopted a few months ago by a family with five children.

Flannery is such a busy, fun, happy pup, so I was surprised to learn that she was being returned. She’d done well here, but there are no preschoolers hanging around amping up the energy level, and not knowing Flannery’s history who’s to say she hasn’t had a few bad run-ins with the toddler set prior to arriving at our house?

One of the many good reasons to adopt from a foster home is that we can generally tell you what the dog is really like in a home setting. Most dogs in shelters are under tremendous stress and it isn’t always easy to assess their true personality or temperament.

We’ve successfully fostered about 130 dogs now and they are all still with the families who took them home from my house. I don’t think that says as much about us as fosters, as it does about the process of fostering. It just makes sense and gives dog and family the best possible chance of a good match. (Which is why we need MORE FOSTERS – how about YOU? Click here to learn more!)

It was inevitable that we’d finally get a true return. We have had one dog and one puppy returned during the one-week trial period, one dog returned but placed before she could come back here, and Gala who moved from here to a new foster home, was adopted, and then returned six months later (and is still looking for her family). But Flannery, is our first straight-ahead returned dog who was returned because it was truly a bad match.

A busy home with five small children apparently stressed her out. Because of that stress, she began nipping and then outright snapping. The family probably waited it out longer than most but made the right decision in returning her. Even with training, I’m pretty sure things wouldn’t have worked out. I know how impossible it was to predict/control/manage my three kids behavior when they were young (and cannot even imagine five), so it’s inevitable that training-the-dog would land low on the priority list. My dog Gracie, raised here while our kids were young is evidence of what happens when you carry on despite the overwhelming odds against you.

In just a week, Flannery has returned to her former happy state. Back to making us laugh with her hilarious expressions and her busy need to be in the middle of things. She reminds me of a toddler herself, invading my personal space for a snuggle and following me around with questions – “Wanna play? Wanna play? I’m bored. Can we go out for another walk? How about a game of fetch? Here’s the ball/toy/stick! Where’s Frankie? Where’s Nick? Do they want to play?”

The click-click-click of her toes on the hardwood follow me around the kitchen and it’s rare to see her close her eyes; even when she’s relaxing on the couch, she’s got one eye on me. Any lonely people out there looking for a best, best, best friend? I’ve got one for you, right here in training.

Flannery is super smart, so I decided to use the steps I learned in training Frankie at obedience class on her. The first thing I remember we did was to get the dog to focus on you. We played a game with a treat in hand. You hold your hand out to the side. When the dog looks at the hand, you give her the treat. Flannery figured that out in a second.

Next you move to where whenever the dog looks you in the eye you reward it. She got that in the next second. And then after that, treat or not, she began looking to me at every turn. Sit was easy for her, but down is a little tricky because she can only hold it for a second before leaping up as if to say, “Okay, got it! What’s next?!”

She knows how to nudge open a door, worm her way over/under/through obstacles to climb on your lap, and understood the dog door with no need for a demonstration. I can only imagine what this little sprite could do in more capable training hands than mine.

Because she has a ‘bite addendum’ she may be here for a while. It will take an understanding and knowledgeable adopter to take a chance on her. But we’re just fine with that since Flannery is zero extra work for us as she gets along with all the dogs, all the visitors, will leap in her crate at the first request, is housebroken, can’t reach the counters, and provides endless entertainment.

So what is a ‘bite addendum’ and why does Flannery, our sweet pup, have one? Whenever an adoptable dog has a ‘bite history’ OPH will explain that to any potential adopter and then require that they sign the addendum acknowledging that they’re aware of this history.

In Flannery’s case, she nipped at the small children, and actually bit one of the adults at her adopted house. It wasn’t just a nip, it was a bite that broke the skin, but having heard the story and knowing Flannery, I’m pretty sure the bite was a result of Flannery’s frustration/rebellion/fear – not an outright random attack.

This was hard for me to imagine until she arrived back here at our house. She was tense and even nipped at me the first time I reached for her. A firm ‘no!’ stopped her in her tracks and we’ve had no further issues. We gave her a week of quiet shut-down. She spent the larger part of that time resting in a crate in a quiet room and wasn’t introduced to other dogs/people. I took her for long walks during which she was manic and pulling and couldn’t focus on me for even a second. Each day, she got better, and after a week, she was more or less the old Flannery we had loved back in September and October.

Now she enjoys snuggling with Ian while he watches football, wrestling with Frankie and Hula (and occasionally persuades Gracie to play which is a mammoth feat in itself!), taking long, long walks with me, snoozing in my office while I work, and eating anything at any time – Flannery has a huge appetite for food and life.

Bottom line: Flannery is an awesome dog, but young children stress her out. She needs a structured environment, plenty of attention in the form of playtime and snuggle time. Decidedly, she is one of those small dogs who have a bit of a Napoleon complex, but she backs down immediately when challenged by a confident and loving handler. It’s easy to see how a dog as smart as Flannery, could quickly decide she is in charge if it’s not clear who is, but she respects a fair and knowledgeable human and simply wants to be loved.

The best part of Flannery? Her funny personality, her huge enthusiasm, and her overflowing adoration. Indeed, her happy energy is a sight to behold, and it is clear that she loves people and wants to please.

And what about Hula Hoop and the Playground Pups?

  Hula is almost finished weaning, which means we can hopefully get some weight on her. She is enjoying the other grown-up dogs, loves to run and play, and is quickly embracing the single life. In another month, she’ll be spayed and then available for adoption. She is a gentle, agile soul who loves people, and is really a puppy herself – chewing and playing and stealing hearts. She will make an excellent family dog.

The Playground Pups are growing fast and when I compared their weights to previous litters, they are right on par with Edith Wharton’s pups who all grew to be 60 pounds or more, so Dad must have been a bigger dog than mom (who is currently 41 pounds but should probably be closer to 50). They’ll be here until the end of the month, so if you’re local and in need of a puppy fix, you better get over here soon – here’s what you’re missing:

Thanks for reading!

If you’d like to know more about my blogs and books, visit CaraWrites.com or subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter (which is rarely monthly, but I’m working at it…everybody needs a goal).

If you’d like to know more about the book, Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs, check AnotherGoodDog.org, where you can find more pictures of the dogs from the book (and some of their happily-ever-after stories), information on fostering, the schedule of signings, and what you can do right now to help shelter animals! You can also purchase a signed copy or several other items whose profits benefit shelter dogs!

If you’d like to know how you can volunteer, foster, adopt or donate with OPH, click here. And if you’d like more pictures and videos of my foster dogs past and present, be sure to join the Another Good Dog Facebook group.

I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to comment here on the blog, email carasueachterberg@gmail.com or connect with me on Facebook, twitter, or Instagram.

Best,

 Cara

Released August 2018 from Pegasus Books and available now

  What happens when you return an adopted dog? #dogrescue #perfectmatch #someoneforeveryone All four dogs like to lounge in my office after their early morning romp in the play yard.

[tetragon4-blog]

The Final Curtain: Why Sherlock Failed Me

A couple of hours ago, I watched my first Sherlock AMV since I quit the fandom last year. And I realized something: I was more interested in the music than in the actual video footage. I still care about Sherlock and John as characters, but it felt like meeting a friend that I fell out of contact with. I was mildly interested in knowing how they were doing, but I couldn’t bother to be annoyed about their fate anymore. Nowadays, I feel much closer to other fandoms. At the same moment when I realized this, I also noticed that my head was much clearer than when I wrote my last meta on the show. I was rather unfair to Sherlock back then, and although it’s a distant memory, I would like to pay tribute to the joy the show once has given me.

  I came for the quirkiness:

Sherlock was not meant to be such a large production: It was a three-part special, dedicated to the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and as such, the budget did not allow for bombastic special effects like the big explosions and gun fights in the Downey Jr. movies. The closest the show came to “special effects” were some random words floating around mid-air, and this is typical of British adaptations. Around 2010-2012, there was another pseudo detective show of similar down-to-earth character: Dirk Gently. Both shows prove that you do not need giant fireballs hurled at the protagonist to make the audience care for them: It’s the characterization, not the story, that drives these shows forward.

Sherlock aired at a time when detective shows turned extremely dull, because they were competing in gruel depictions rather than in complex protagonists. It is enjoyable to watch two characters have a seemingly pointless conversation over dinner, because this is something that would get cut in more commercially oriented shows. Sherlock defied the formula of “corpse, investigation, solution” by offering multiple cases or telling us the identity of the culprit, but not the reason. Since it was three episodes, they got away with it: People would either watch all or none. There was no need to make it easier for casual viewers to enjoy the show. It is a piece of self-reference and experimentation. Honestly, I doubt this show would have attracted that much attention if it were not for Cumberbatch and Freeman. Dirk Gently also breaks with a lot of traditions, but its leads are not as aesthetically pleasing to the masses, I guess.

Sherlock was quirky. It was essentially British; it was stubbornly refusing to let itself be categorised as a drama or a detective show or a comedy.

  I stayed for the drama:

The second season had big shoes to fill, especially since there was no true storyline yet. The first season was just as much an iteration of disconnected events as most of the short stories. However, Sherlock seemed to be there to stay, and that is why the writers had the guts to go one step further. In the second season, they would build up towards a full dramatic arc: Moriarty would truly be involved, not just some hinted shadowy figure. This way, the cases would be personal. The focus shifted towards the interpersonal relationships between the characters, and this also explains why Mycroft was suddenly pulled to the front. Any progress, any obstacle during the investigations had to be connected to the human network surrounding the protagonists. There was no room for chance, for some outside force. The second season is built on drama, not on cases. Instead, the characters are pitted against each other.

  I fell out of love when the show reoriented itself:

During the great hiatus, I consumed a lot of fanwork, and, admittedly, this raised my expectations of the third season. There had been a lot of predictive meta, a lot of great fan continuations. In truth, Sherlock had no chance to live up to the hype. There was no way they could cram Sherlock’s return, fiendishly difficult cases, a homosexual relationship, a sob-story past for Sherlock, a credible theory for Moriarty’s survival and a drama arc concerning John’s alcoholic sister into three episodes. The average post-s2 story covering these topics is about 150 k words!

No, season three was fated to disappoint, because it could not possibly satisfy all the subgroups of the fandom. Due to the previous multi-facetious approach, there were shippers, there were genuine Holmes fans, there were those that were in for the human drama, and those that simply liked detective shows. Additionally, the show had crossed a lot of borders: The writers were no longer writing for the BBC, but for the world, which means that cultural quirks only work to a certain degree before they become incomprehensible or unacceptable.

And that’s when the writers lost me, somebody who joined the fandom for the original pilot, not the drama of the second season (although it was an added benefit): They decided to reorient the show, to make it more mainstream, more accessible. At the same time, they felt obliged to satisfy the “original” crowd by offering us meaningless references to the past. They attempted to do a little of everything. They would hint at Johnlock, they built up a mastermind villain who fell short at the decisive moment. They gave us a great return drama, but glossed over the emotional upheaval because… time. The off-switch on the bomb, that’s essentially the off-switch to the drama. They had to move on to the next fan wish. Sherlock was hurt badly, which satisfied the whumpers. They tried their best to address all the needs, at the cost of being indecisive, yes, baiting, even. It became virtually impossible to pick a main theme running through the season, because they poured all the ingredients into one giant bowl and mixed them until it the distinctive flavour of the original products is lost.

Season three is not a good example of a homoromantic forerunner of its time, because the Mary arc destroys the message.

It is not a good example of a continuation, because it fails to address the questions left unanswered by its predecessor.

It is not a good example of detective show, because the cases are not presented as the main attraction. It is difficult to guess alongside Sherlock without being given the necessary clues.

It is not a good example of a drama, because the dramatic turns are not addressed in terms of their consequences. Sherlock’s fake death remains without lasting consequences as does Mary’s attempt at murder, and let’s not mention Magnussen’s death.

Season three has so much to offer, but essentially, it fails to find its own theme. The characters and plots are yanked all over the place to fit the new audience’s demographics.

As soon as I sobered up, I quit:

I cannot say much about the fourth season, only having watched the first trailer. However, the interviews and spoilers showed me that the cast were extremely pleased with their previous achievements. I doubt they reflected how much their show had changed, and especially their comment on how they were able to create the show they had wanted to create helped me sober up. By this date, Sherlock had become a highly commercialized, close to mainstream work drama. If this was truly what the writers wanted to create, then season four had nothing to offer to me.

I no longer suffered from the illusion that Sherlock would address the flaws of the third season or return to being about crime solving. At this point, I had turned into a serious Johnlocker. To me, it seemed the only way to save the show from becoming forgettable. If it could not become a legend from an in-story perspective, then it could write history for the depiction of a homoromantic relationship on a large scale. Sherlock attracted a huge audience in countries where such topics are highly problematic. It seemed like such a good idea to use this falling star as a missionary for social awareness. Since Brokeback Mountain, the depiction of gay people in the media has increased, but it is still about stereotypical behavior, and usually, these people don’t experience a lot of happiness. It would have been nice to watch a show that would address the issue in a subversive way. That would have been modestly refreshing.

However, I realized that there would be no grand scheme to put forward a message to the society. No, just another three episodes of mainstream explosions, gun fire, pointless squabbling to create drama, and some backstory that would please the whumpers. Of course, Mary also had to die after giving birth, which satisfies the haters and invites the fluff fans to praise the resolution of the arc.

Sherlock had, essentially, become predictable. And predictable is boring, because it’s exceeding the expectations that makes a show great.

  And now?

Am I disappointed in Sherlock? Actually, no, I am not. I suppose I had been disappointed last year, but since then, I moved on. I’ve accepted that I am a picky viewer, and that this was just another failure in a long list of forgettable shows that did not live up to my high expectations.

  Addendum:

By the way, there’s a Japanese show that recently had the guts to portray a gay couple without a tragic end or defining the characters by their sexuality: Yuri on Ice. The protagonists are professional figure skaters and the show is mostly concerned with their work experiences. It is a well-written and highly popular sports series, in my opinion.

I am somewhat surprised that the very conservative Japanese managed to beat us when it comes to this.