#they play a significant amount of the time warp during one scene

[theywontletmebeprincipal]

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Movie Review | Mulholland Drive (Lynch, 2001)

This review contains spoilers.

David Lynch's Mulholland Drive was released in recent years by the Criterion Collection, that great home video company that's probably the OG of boutique labels, known for putting out acclaimed, significant or otherwise interesting films in really nice packages. (For some reason I had been thinking they put this out only last year until I actually looked it up. I guess my sense of time has been a little warped as of late, and as much as I'd like to tie this review into pandemic-era life, the fact is other labels have captured my attention lately, as can be evidenced by my embarrassingly large and extremely shameful Vinegar Syndrome haul from their Halfway to Black Friday sale from a few months ago.) Now, nobody in 2021 is going into this movie truly blind, but if I happened to pick up the Criterion cover and perused the back, aside from the list of special features and disc specs, you'd see the below (which I grabbed off their website):

Blonde Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia (Laura Harring). Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman’s identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project. David Lynch’s seductive and scary vision of Los Angeles’s dream factory is one of the true masterpieces of the new millennium, a tale of love, jealousy, and revenge like no other.

Now, this is a tough movie to evoke with only a blurb, but I'd say that does a pretty respectable job. I however do not own this release. What I do own is the barebones Universal DVD that was released a few months after the movie, back when going into the movie blind would have been far more likely. This is the description on the back:

This sexy thriller has been acclaimed as one of the year's best films. Two beautiful women are caught up in a lethally twisted mystery - and ensnared in an equally dangerous web of erotic passion. "There's nothing like this baby anywhere! This sinful pleasure is a fresh triumph for Lynch, and one of the best films of the year. Visionary daring, swooning eroticism and colors that pop like a whore's lip gloss!" says Rolling Stone's Peter Travers. "See it… then see it again!" (Time Out New York)

Now, the previous description probably couldn't fully capture the movie's essence, but this one makes it sound like an erotic thriller. (Could you imagine somebody going into this thinking this was like a Gregory Dark joint? I say this having seen none of his thrillers and only his hardcore movies, although I must admit an MTV-influenced Mulholland Drive starring, say, Lois Ayres is something I find extremely intriguing.) But you know what? Good for them. Among other things, this movie, with its two all-timer sex scenes, feels like one of the last hurrahs from an era when mainstream American movies could be unabashedly horny, before we were sentenced to an endless barrage of immaculately muscular bodies in spandex (stupid sexy Flanders) somehow drained of all sex appeal (god forbid somebody pop a boner...or ladyboner, let's be egalitarian here). I apologize if I'm coming off as a little gross, but having been able to barely leave the house for practically a year and a half, watching sexy movies like this is one of the few remaining thrills at my disposal. Please, this is all I have.

Now I suppose I should say something about the movie itself, but it might be a challenge given how elusive it is in certain respects (Lynch is notoriously cagey about offering interpretations of his movies) and, as a result, how heavily it's been scrutinized over the years. No doubt any analysis I offer as to the movie's overarching meaning will come off extremely dumbassed. What I will note however, is that for whatever reason, the scene I remembered most vividly is where Justin Theroux walks in on his wife with Billy Ray Cyrus, particularly the candy pink paint he dumps on her jewellery as revenge. We've been following Theroux, a movie director, as he's been having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, having had control over casting his lead actress taken from him, which he proceeds to process by taking a golf club to a windshield of his producers' car and then reacting as above when he finds his wife with the singer of "Achy Breaky Heart".

With his Dune having been notoriously tampered with by producers, I suspect there's a bit of Lynch's own experience in the scene with the producers, which plays like an entirely arbitrary set of rituals deciding the fate of his movie with no regard for his opinion or even basic logic. While I don't know how particular Dino DeLaurentiis was about his espresso, I did laugh. Now, taking the reading that the first two acts of the movie are a fantasy of Naomi Watts' character, who is revealed to be miserable and ridden with jealousy in the third act, the amount of time we spend with Theroux is maybe hard to justify. Is this perhaps her "revenge" on him, his romantic and professional success having been flushed away while he flounders in search of greater meaning to his arc? Aside from possible autobiographical interest, these scenes do play like a riff on the idea that everyone is the main character in their own story, and if the Watts and Laura Harring characters can be thought of as having merged or swap identities, then perhaps Theroux's arc is the remainder of that quotient. (Now, it's worth noting that aside from being insecure and arrogant, Theroux in this movie is a less stylish than the real Lynch. If Watts conjures the best version of herself in her dream, Lynch maybe doesn't want his dream avatar outshining him.)

Now why did the Cyrus scene stick with me all these years when other details had slipped? Mostly because I'd found it amusing, partly because of the extra specific image Lynch produces, and somewhat because of the casting of Billy Ray Cyrus. Now, I don't have any special relationship to the Cyrus' body of work, but Lynch's casting of him, with his distinct mix of bozo, dudebro and hunk, results in a very specific comedic effect. This is something Lynch does elsewhere in the movie, like when he has Robert Forster show up as a detective for a single scene. The Forster role is likely in part a leftover from the movie's origins as a TV pilot, but the effect is similar (albeit less comedic). Melissa George appears as a woman who may or may not be a replacement for Watts in some realm of reality. Other directors obviously cast actors for their screen presence and the audience's relationship to their career, but the way Lynch does it feels particularly pointed, as if he's reshaping them entirely into iconography. The effect is particularly sinister with the presence of Michael J. Anderson, with whom he worked previously on Twin Peaks, and Monty Montgomery as a mysterious cowboy who dangles the secret of the movie over Theroux's character.

Cowboys in movies are frequently heroic presences (see any number of westerns) and are otherwise innocuously stylish (I confess I've come dangerously close to ordering a Stetson hat and a pair of cowboy boots), but the presence of one here feels like a ripple in the movie's reality. A dreamy, brightly lit mystery set in Los Angeles should have no place for a cowboy. It ain't right. (It's worth noting that Lynch at one point copped to admiring Ronald Reagan for reminding him of a cowboy. Is this his expression of a changed opinion? I have no idea, but Lynch has never struck me as all that politically minded.) Neither is the hobo that appears behind the diner. Certainly hobos have made their homes behind diners, but this one's presence and the way Lynch produces him feel again like a ripple in the the movie's narrative. Jump scares are frequently knocked for being lazy and cheap devices to generate shocks, but the one here gets under your skin.

Now about the movie's look. This starts off like a noir, and the mystery plot on paper would lead you to think that's how the whole movie plays, but the cinematography is a lot brighter, with almost confection-like colours, than that would lead you to believe, at least during the daytime scenes. This is another element that likely comes from its TV origins, but it does give the movie a distinctly dreamlike, fantastical quality that a more overtly cinematic look, like the one Lynch used in Lost Highway a few years earlier, might not capture. This is one of the reasons I think this movie works better than that one, and there's also the fact that the amateur sleuthing that drives the bulk of the plot here serves as a more pleasing audience vantage point than the male anxieties that fuel the other film. I also would much rather hang out with Naomi Watts and Laura Harring than a charisma void like Balthazar Getty.

The manufactured warmth of the daytime scenes also results, like in Blue Velvet, in the nighttime scenes feeling like they're in a completely different setting, one which perhaps offers the key to unlocking the mystery, or at least revealing the phoniness of the movie's surfaces. I think of the evocative Club Silencio sequence, which comes as close as anything in the movie to laying its illusions bare. ("No hay banda.") But at times Lynch will throw in disarmingly childlike, inexplicable imagery, like the dancing couples against a purple screen in the opening, something that would seem tacky and amateurish elsewhere but feels oddly cohesive here. There are a number of directors whose work I admire for being "dreamlike", and putting them side by side they all feel quite distinct (you would never mistake a Lucio Fulci film for a Lynch), but they have the unifying idea of imbuing the tactile qualities of film with the truly irrational to really burrow into your subconscious. Other directors have made movies with some of the same elements as Mulholland Drive, but none have put them together in quite the same way.

[make-it-mavis]

Homesick (Entry #38)

(cw: fire, car wreck, implied death) ----------

01/29/88   1:30 AM

Hey.

Today’s entry is a big one. Significant. 

There have been a lot of these letters, or entries, or whatever you want to call them, that I’d anticipate pages in advance. I’d dread writing them and reliving the unpleasant or even horrible moments, so I’d spend days putting it off or figuring out just what to say. I’ll be honest -- I have been dreading this entry since the very first page. And I needed a few days to mentally prepare, once I arrived at it. But now that I’ve finally come to write it, I feel... calm.

Doesn’t mean my heart isn’t aching.

I spent a good amount of this unpleasant bedtime story searching for something. That something took on a few different forms, but at the root, I think they all meant the same thing.

Answers.

I wanted to know if you were still alive. Where you went. What you were thinking. If there was anything I could have done. If it was somehow my fault. If I’d failed you.

Today, I’ll tell you how I found… some of the answers. Not all. But certainly some of the ones I had been wanting most dearly. I didn’t understand them all at once. Some just spawned even more questions. And I can’t say that the truth I found didn’t wound me in its own, new way.

I think you’ll see what I mean.

So… let me tell you what I saw play out so pristinely clear in my mind, after the last explosion went off and I fell away from present reality.

August 7th, 1987 played out before my eyes.

The day your story ended.

The day this story began.

It was the day after our weird fight in your trailer, with the cut on my cheek, and the promise, and the kiss... and I couldn’t get you off my mind. Although we had said… so many things the night before, so many good, bad, and… strange things, we did not speak at all that morning. You’d left me in bed without so much as a note, and no time to find you before the arcade opened. I tried to think nothing of it. I figured you were embarrassed about last night and needed some space to think. But I still spent most of the day anxious over what I’d say the next time I saw you. I just kept coming up empty. It was pretty distracting, even as someone punched in my Easter Egg code and I was sucked into gameplay. But during said gameplay, something else caught my attention. Out in the arcade proper, past the gamer at controls, were a couple of kids playing Roadblasters. They were talking. I thought I’d misheard one of them, but then he said it again without a doubt.

“That looks like Turbo.”

That was weird, but it didn’t concern me too much at first. I was curious, but didn’t feel any reason to worry. Maybe a character in Roadblasters just happened to bear a passing resemblance to you, in the gamers’ eyes. Some Dev-made coincidence. Something like that. But as I strained to look while the gamer bounced me around, I caught a glimpse of what they were talking about.

You were there. You were in Roadblasters. 

My stomach had never dropped so hard. I could only watch as the next few seconds unfolded.

You drove back and forth across the screen. You drove into the player character, and the screen erupted into shuddering, harsh glitches. Then one of the boys called Litwak over.

He was going to unplug it with you still inside.

It all hit me, one after another, like bricks thrown at my body. I felt my heart shrivel, threatening to detach and climb up my throat. “No,” I said out loud, possessed by dread, even with the gamer watching. “No, no, NO!!”

Program be damned, I tore myself out of gameplay before my ten seconds were even up. I didn’t care. I had to get you out of there. The fact that you were in immediate mortal danger was the only thing that existed to me in that moment. Everything else was a meaningless blur. I flew out of my game at breakneck speed, through the cord tunnel, out into Game Central Station, and made a beeline for Roadblasters, but I barely even made it to the game’s cord station before two cars shot out of it and the wind of their momentum whipped me out of the air. 

Just as my head hit the floor, I heard the first resounding crash and chorus of sprites screaming.

I couldn’t think. The impact knocked the thoughts out of my head and filled it with pulsing shocks of pain. Dizzy and nauseous, I pushed myself up to my elbows and looked over at the commotion. Once my spinning, double vision focused, I saw an odd mangle of machinery. It took a second for me to understand what I saw. A big, armed Roadblasters car was smashed into the Game Central Station wall, and wedged beneath it, as if it had carried said car the entire way out of the game in order to publicly execute it, was your car. And in your car, I saw the distinctive color and shape of your helmet.

And then… BANG.

There was a second, blinding, deafening, heart-shattering explosion that shook the very floor beneath me. I threw up my hand against the light and my head lurched with the ear-splitting volume, but the moment those senses returned to me, I saw and heard what still haunts my dreams to this day. Sprites were shrieking and crying in horror. Many of them were on fire -- some being pulled away from the scene, some rolling and patting themselves, and others did not move at all. And where the two cars were before stood only a blazing inferno, shooting up a billowing tower of inky, black, deathly smoke.

No. 

No.

My blood turned to ice. For a second, I couldn’t move at all. 

Then once I started moving, I couldn’t stop.

I sprang to my feet and ran full-tilt towards the blinding fire. It wasn’t too late. I could still save you. I was the only one who would. I dodged a couple sprites trying to stop me, and I do actually recall having to jump over a burning shape that may or may not have been alive. I don’t care if that was horrible of me. I didn’t care. You mattered more to me. Saving you mattered more than anything I had ever known in this world, and nothing would stop me. Not even hellfire.

So I painted myself a Shield buff, and I leapt right into the flames.

With invulnerability, fire feels like nothing at all. But it was still so damn bright. What I managed to see was that gravity had taken hold of the larger Roadblasters car, and yours was slowly being crushed beneath it as the metal softened and warped in the heat. You were trapped. Without a second thought, I crouched beneath the burning wreckage and wedged my arm into your driver’s seat, calling out your name. I called again and again, but you didn’t answer. I couldn’t even seem to identify you by touch -- your car had all the same code as you. 

I kept calling, to no answer. I tried lifting the top car even a little bit, but it wouldn’t budge. I jammed my arm into the wreckage of your car looking for something, anything at all that could show me you were alive. Then my hand fell on soft fabric, and I nearly shouted in some sort of desperate excitement. I grabbed as much of it into my hand as I could, and I pulled. It wouldn’t budge at first, but I pulled, and I pulled, until it finally came free…

It was just your scarf and goggles.

My heart, my code, my binary, my everything… went cold.

That’s when both cars took on a blue, ghostly sheen, and their pixels started to discolor and glitch away into the air like embers.

“No,” I pleaded with nobody who could hear, “no, no, no, no!”

 I reached out, trying in vain to keep your car’s pixels together, but I felt a sensation right then that I won’t soon forget again:

Your dying code drifting through my arms and out of reach into the smog.

And that very moment was when I had overstayed my welcome. My invulnerability buff wore off, and the heat of the wreck closed in on me like the jaws of a dragon. The metal of your car scorched my hands. I began choking immediately, and I could barely open my eyes against the heat. But I couldn’t just leave. I couldn’t give up.

I couldn’t just leave you there to die.

Just then, I saw a blue flash, and I felt Surge grab onto me and try to pull me out. But I thrashed against him. Even as my clothes caught fire and the heat seared my skin, I fought him. I screamed at him, pulling against him with all my might,  “NO, NO, HE’S IN THERE! HE’S IN THERE-- HE’S DYING, HE’S DYING! LET ME GO! HE’S GONNA DIE-- LET ME SAVE HIM! MY BEST FRIEND’S IN THERE! LET ME GO!”

There was a flash of blue and a jolt of staggering pain as Surge shocked me. 

Everything was sucked away into blackness as I fell unconscious.

And… that was it.

That was it.

As I regained consciousness in real time, the time in which I had blown up my cousin’s apartment, the first thing I noticed was horrendous pain. I opened my eyes, and from where I lay in the grass outside Niceland, I could see smoke billowing out of Fix-it’s window up above. A glance down my body revealed the sources of pain -- burns, a foot twisting in an unnatural direction, and, presumably, whatever other broken bones that might have come with falling out of a window. As much as it hurt, part of me was numb to it. I was in such shock from all I remembered. 

And I remembered it all.

There was an eerie chill blowing through my pixels, like the wind before a punch. I was trembling, and my breath was coming in shallow. I just stared up at the smoke curling into the sky, with the image of your car’s flaming wreckage burned into the back of my eyes. I could hear the Nicelanders anxiously clucking nearby, and the hard clicking of bricks shifting under Wreck-it’s feet, but it all seemed so far away. So inconsequential, like a radio playing from one room over.

Similarly flat in my mind were the audible boings of Fix-it bounding over from wherever the cuss he was. He fell to his knees next to me, breathing hard, a few dark smudges on his face and a couple singes on the brim of his hat. He seemed so full of questions, but so frantic, not knowing where to begin. I’d clearly thrown him for a loop, maybe worse than I ever had before. He looked me up and down, hands repeatedly switching from touching his face to hovering over my wounds, mumbling to himself anxiously.

“Oh, Mavy-- Oh, gosh-- It’s okay, don’t move, it’s okay, just-- just relax and try to breathe, okay? You’re safe, it’s fine-- I can-- I can fix it,” he pulled out his hammer that shone audibly, looking over my burns and ankle. He just kept muttering, “I can fix it, I can fix it, I can fix it…”

I couldn’t stand it. Not for another second. The numbness encasing me snapped, and all the horrifying emotions I’d amassed exploded out of me in the form of misdirected fury.

“NO, Felix!!”

I sharply snatched the hammer right out of his hand. Touching such a densely coded item burned like hot iron, but I quickly threw it away from us and out of reach. Everyone audibly gasped, and I’d never seen my cousin so stunned. Seeing his face at all made me so angry, I wanted to tear it right off his skull. My body screamed in pain as I sat up as straight as I could, just so I could shove him hard in the shoulder. He grunted in confusion and fell back on his heels, but he didn’t get up.

“You CAN’T fix it!” I snapped, and then I shoved him again. And again. “You can’t fix it! It’s over! He’s gone already! There’s nothing you can do! You’re-- You’re useless! I’m useless! You can’t fix it and I-- I DIDN’T MAKE IT! I didn’t make it in time! I didn’t save him! I couldn’t save him! I messed up and I-- I LOST HIM! I LOST HIM!”

Then, before I even realized I’d moved, I twisted and, for the first time in my life, willingly hugged Felix. 

Not just hugged -- violently, aggressively, desperately crushed him in my arms. It hurt. It hurt a lot. His code is so heavy compared to mine. But I didn’t care. It just blurred into the tidal wave of pain already crashing down on my body and mind. He was frozen solid as I clung to him, trying to shout through my thick, choking sobs.

“He’s gone-- Oh, he’s really gone-- and I couldn’t save him! I couldn’t save him! Why couldn’t I save him?!”

Felix must have finally accepted what was happening, because he cautiously put his arms around me, and then slowly squeezed tighter and tighter.

“I know,” he said, shaking with his own tears. “I know. You tried, Mavy. You tried so hard. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

[jellicleetcetera]

Cats 2019: A Spectacle of a Trainwreck

I saw cats 2019. And I had a lot of thoughts about it. So I thought I'd write an essay. Because that's what I do when I have a lot of feelings about something. I write about it.

So, I’m going to start this off by saying that I’m actually a huge fan of the original musical. I get the songs stuck in my head constantly. My personal favorite rendition is the 1998 direct-to-video adaptation. When I first saw the trailer, I was terrified. I saw that they were adding a speaking plot, and I immediately knew there were going to be a lot of changes. I was prepared, though, because the original musical would be very hard to sell to general audiences. Hell, Cats is hardly a musical for people that like musicals. Cats us a beast of its own kind. A lot of changes would have to be made if this were going to do well at all in the box office. So, I promised myself that I would go into it with an open mind.

My mom asked me a couple months later if I would go with her to see it. Now, as most of you die-hards would know, seeing Cats with your mother is a very dangerous gamble. Either she’ll understand what’s going on in That Scene, or she won’t. But either way, you’ll be uncomfortable the whole time. I didn’t know if they were going to include the scene or not. I was hoping so because I would love to see the reactions, but also praying that it would be cut because Jesus Christ I’m seeing it with my mother. I agreed, though, because I knew I was contractually obligated to see this damn thing and if my mom took me I wouldn’t have to spend my own money on the ticket. So, the release happens, a few days go by, and then my mom and I walk into an empty theater on the morning of Christmas Eve.

It was certainly a spectacle of a film. Everything was super vibrant and flashy. I absolutely adored the giant sets. I honestly think it’s incredible that they actually built giant sets so the actors would look effectively cat-sized. They looked a little too small, but then again, Jellicle cats are rather small. Also, my sense of cat size is warped because my own cat, Comet, is absolutely massive. But I digress.

Aside from the set design and the flashy palette, though, one thing really bothered me visually. And it will surprise no one. I really, really didn’t like the cats themselves. Design-wise, fine, they’re alright. Their faces are a little creepy but it’s not that bad. Add a little more cheek fluff and you’re good. However, there’s a specific reason I didn’t like that they did CGI fur rather than practical costumes. It cheapened the dancing.

The moment you slap something CGI onto something real, it makes the real thing look like it’s CGI. That’s just unavoidable. During the whole movie, I couldn’t really get over the fact that they looked CGI because it made the dancing look like it was computer-animated rather than real people actually dancing. Which sucks, because when you look past the gross look of their digital fur, the choreography and the dancers were incredible. (Although I do wish it was a bit more… feline. The original musical’s choreography wasn’t as complex or impressive, but it really got the message across that they’re cats, and not just human dancers with cat features.) It’s really a shame. If they had been in practical costumes, they would have looked like much better dancers. Creating practical costumes would have also added a bonus of getting to create interesting, modern reimaginings of the old 80’s fluffy wigs and legwarmers.

Now, on to the story and characters. Some changes I liked, some I was fine with, and some I didn’t like one bit. I think it would be easiest to share all of my thoughts by going down the list of musical numbers and sharing my thoughts on each one, with some digressions to talk about other related things. I don’t think I need to say this, but many spoilers lie ahead. I’m going to mostly assume that you, the reader, have at least a basic knowledge of the original plot and characters of Cats, but I’ll fill in crucial details here and there as needed. Here we go.

When the movie opens, we’re treated to a fresh new story for one of the main chorus cats, Victoria. In this film, she’s an abandoned cat dropped off at the dump in a canvas bag. I immediately knew she’d be our main character. I found the decision to make her a newcomer to be a pretty smart one. Victoria became the audience stand-in, since the movie is assuming you’re going into this having never seen Cats.

Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats was a banger. Can’t deny that. It was fun and upbeat, and the choreography was great. I loved the junkyard set, too. Plus, through the speaking plot, they gave The Naming of Cats a little more justification. Honestly, I think the entire speaking plot was just a huge justification for the songs for people that can’t connect the dots between them. But whatever. Anyways. Macavity also appears in this scene, but I’m going to get to him later.

I wish they kept Victoria’s solo dance… you know, a solo. The dance with Munkustrap was lovely, but I wish Victoria got to keep it. This is due to my own personal bias of that dance being my favorite, though.

Now, The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball brings me to a character that changed a lot. Mr. Mistoffelees. They say, in his song, that he is vague and aloof. There was nothing vague nor aloof about this Mistoffelees. They turned him into a hapless, bumbling fool. Personally, I thought he was kind of cute, but it seemed like an unneeded change. The plot would have been fine without it. I liked his pencil wand, though. I suppose they wanted to make the relationship between Victoria and Misto more sympathetic? Rather than making Misto this cool, distant character that any newcomer kitty cat would fall for, they gotta make him clumsy and dumb so Victoria doesn’t look shallow I guess? I dunno. It’s fine. I’m fine with it. Everything’s fine.

Also that song was fine.

Gumby Cat. Oh, Jennyanydots, what have they done to you? Okay, I’ll say it, I’ve never really found Rebel Wilson to be all that funny. I know, boo me, I’m the worst, I suck, moving on. She was fine in this role, and I’ll admit, some of the gags were pretty silly and fun, but watching Cat Rebel Wilson eat tiny roach people was just… not great. Also, the mice were creepy. *shudders*

Now, I’m going to go into this next song’s review with a disclaimer. The Rum Tum Tugger, in Cats 1998 specifically, is my favorite character. I love him. He’s an 80’s rockstar himbo delight with a smooth, sexy voice and he knows it. God help me. When I heard Jason Derulo would be playing the new Tugger, I found it to be a pretty obvious choice in making Tugger new and hip to the modern crowd. It’s fine, I get it. However, making him, like… Not as smooth? I don’t get why they did that. He’s supposed to be an unflinching badass personification (catification?) of swag and confidence. I didn’t like that change one bit. #NotMyTugger

Grizabella the Glamor Cat was pretty great. I loved Jennifer Hudson killed her role in this movie. 10/10 amazing job. However, this song brings me to another matter entirely. I couldn’t tell who was singing it! Pretty much none of the chorus cats were recognizable to me. I could pick out Jemima and that’s pretty much it! It took someone telling me that they changed Demeter to a russian blue for me to even have a chance of knowing which one she was. Demeter is one of my favorite cats, and we’ll be talking about her again later.

Although I wasn’t expecting it, I really liked Bustopher Jones. I thought that it was fun that they really went for it, making him shown literally digging through the garbage for all of the gourmet food he loves so much. It’s not made very clear in the original musical that this was what it was implying. I’m glad they did this, because otherwise it probably would have flown over everybody’s heads. I miss the “toodle-pip” though.

I loved Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. They chilled it down a lot, which I was fine with, though I did miss their loud cockney accents and eccentric choreography. I also miss the double cartwheel… The movie made up for it, though, with having really fun imagery. This one was definitely my favorite one from the movie. They made them more like sly, seasoned mischief-makers, rather than boisterous bastards. (I do love bastards, though…)

I loved Old Deuteronomy. Judi Dench is wonderful, and that song is always a lovely delight. Not much else to say about it.

Can we get an F in chat for The Pekes and the Pollicles? It shall be missed.

They cut down a significant amount of the ten-minute dance sequence that takes place in the middle of the show. DAMN them for shortening it. Cowards, the lot of you. However, this also means they cut out That Scene. I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. To those saying this movie is incredibly horny, I BEG you to go watch Cats 1998. THAT movie is horny. It has The Scene, and also a multitude of ass shots throughout the film.

Also I was fine with them changing Victoria’s dance with Plato. (I think they replaced him with Munkustrap? I don’t quite remember.)

I loved Memory. Jennifer Hudson. *chef’s kiss* Amazing.

Beautiful Ghosts was… fine. It was a lovely song, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t… sound like the rest of the musical. It sounds more modern than the rest of the soundtrack. And they modernized the soundtrack, too, so that’s saying something. It just felt a little out of place for me. Also, I don’t like its placement. Let me explain.

Grizzabella and Gus the Theater Cat are supposed to be comparisons of each other. They’re both old and nearing their final days, wishing for days long past. However, the thing that makes them different is their relationship to the other Jellicle cats. While Grizzabella is cast out and rejected, Gus is loved by the clan and he’s a very strong candidate for being the Jellicle choice. There’s already a song between their two songs, The Moments of Happiness, but that song acts as more of a bridge between the two songs, rather than an interruption like Beautiful Ghosts feels to be.

I liked Gus the Theater Cat. Ian McKellen seemed to like his role, which I liked. He’s amazing at everything he does, too, so his performance was no surprise.

Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat was fun and upbeat and everything I hoped it would be. 10/10 would tap dance again.

I didn’t like Macavity the Mystery Cat at all. They cut Demeter out of it entirely, removing her implied history with Macavity, and in the process removing her entire relationship with Bombalurina. Instead, they made Bombalurina Macavity’s bitch. She got the song all to herself. And I’ve gotta say it. I don’t like Taylor Swift. That song felt like nails on a chalkboard. I hated every moment of it. Also, I find it hilarious that they kept the lyric, “Macavity’s a ginger cat. He’s very tall and thin.” and he is very obviously none of those things in this movie.

I didn’t like a lot of things about Macavity, too. I liked Macavity he got more of a presence than in the stage musical, but some things were kind of… lame I guess. Some of the scenes on Growltiger’s boat (I thought they would do Growltiger’s last stand but I was wrong!) were slow and boring. Even their little “action” scene. They also removed the Macavity fight scene, where he tries to kidnap Demeter. Very cringe of them. ANOTHER thing that is very cringe fail terrible was what they did to Grizzabella. They stripped her of her original backstory and just made her Macavity’s ex. FORGET that. Horrible. Hate it. Stop making everything about Macavity.

Back to Mistoffelees and his own song. Although I didn’t like that they removed Tugger’s role in Mr. Mistoffelees, I understood why. They turned him into a main character, so of course he had to sing his own song. However, they kept the lyric, “His manner is vague and aloof,” (well, “My manner is vague and aloof.”) which I find very silly of them. Yet another lyric that directly contradicts what the movie is providing. Also, I didn’t like the lack of dancing in this scene! Mistoffelees is one of my favorite dancers in the original productions. Specifically the big, impressive toe touches. Cowards.

I wish they let Jemima keep her solo. I know why they gave her solo to Victoria, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Congrats, Webber, you got to cut your ex-wife’s part out of the musical. *claps*

I liked the reprise of Memory and the subsequent journey to the Heaviside layer. I loved the chandelier balloon, too. It was all very emotionally impactful. My mom literally cried next to me during Memory’s reprise. Amazing job.

I never really liked The Ad-dressing of Cats in the musical because it feels unnecessary after such an emotional, perfect ending note with the journey to the Heaviside layer, but this version was kind of fun, I guess. Old Deuts looking directly into the camera was a little off-putting, though.

Overall, I thought this movie was fine. Will I watch it again? I don’t know, maybe. If someone put it in front of me, I would probably watch it, but I’m probably not going to go seeking it out when Cats 1998 is right there. It was fun, and it was definitely a spectacle. But was it Cats? Mmmmmm… It sure does look like Cats, but it doesn’t really feel like Cats. Do I think it’s a good movie for someone that isn’t already a fan of the musical? I don’t know, maybe? I’m seeing that most people hate it, which is a shame. If anything, I hope this movie compels people to seek out other productions of this musical. It really is a fun romp of a musical that I think people might like if they give it a try. I mean, it was Broadway’s longest running show in its time for a reason.

Do I recommend this movie? Sure. Go see it if you want. I’m not about to give this movie a score out of ten, because I find those kinds of rating arbitrary. But sure, go see Cats. Maybe it’ll lead you toward the superior version. Cats 1998.

[elmidol]

Error: Program Not Found - Seven

Summary:  You are in charge of programming the droids that work most closely with both General Hux and Kylo Ren. Unbeknownst to you, each of these two men have it in their heads that your relationship extends beyond the workplace. This causes things to escalate quickly when your two apparently secret boyfriends compare notes on their respective partner who is far too similar for their liking.

Read on AO3

“There are many things we only see clearly in retrospect.” - Haruki Murakami

 Seven: Retrospection

Being a programmer, one thing that you were good at was focusing on the small details. This sometimes happened during retrospection when pertaining to conversations. There were nights that you would obsess over lines of programming that you had to edit, that bothered you in the final project. Other times, when it came to the aforementioned conversations, you would fall asleep while replaying the scenes over and over in your mind. This more often than not resulted in your dreams having a rather playful spin on what had happened in reality or else gave a warped perspective of what could happen in the future.

 At this point, you were not quite asleep though you felt yourself teetering on the edge of consciousness. You wiggled your toes to try to jerk yourself back into wakefulness so that you were able to finish replaying what had occurred earlier in your head. You were specifically focused on how General Hux had described the moment he and Kylo Ren learned that their “girlfriend” was the same person.

 General Hux had shot a glowering look in Kylo Ren’s direction before opening his mouth to reply to your request. “I was working on the damage report for the droids--the manufacturers will be reimbursing the cost, you can count on that--when Kylo Ren came to deliver the results of your test. Naturally I was unsurprised by your thoroughness. I stated as much, as I feel having a work-driven significant other holds many benefits. They understand the importance of their duty. Surprisingly, Ren agreed. He hadn’t believed we would see eye-to-eye on anything. I had not believed that he was intimate with anyone.” Kylo Ren started to curl his hands into fists as a means of controlling his temper. You caught the act out of the corner of your eye.

 “When he stated that he worked in close proximity with his...girlfriend…” General Hux wrinkled his nose in a display of distaste, as though he could hardly believe that anyone would be interested in Kylo Ren. “...I stated that mine also worked at my side whenever possible. That she was not using her position to further her career. It was something similar to his own relationship. His, according to Ren, did well under pressure. More than mine would. I doubted this given that you--that my significant other had been placed in his path before as well as had to deal with senators.

 “‘A coincidence,’ he had said. His worked with droids of multiple specialities. An odd coincidence, I thought, but said nothing. Instead I supplied that mine was the lead on many such projects. Discreet in showing her affection.” What? “Ren said that his girlfriend was less subtle, although she played it off by using her droid to help instigate things when in a more public venue.” No. That was just TeeArr being TeeArr.

 “The lady I was with enjoyed being pampered, receiving gifts. She would pretend to be shy when they were purchased. Use them when they arrived. Ren’s significant other did not like gifts. They would distract her from work.” Both of them were wrong in their own way. Not surprising given their delusions.

 You were jerked out of that particular memory as your mind wandered towards the slippers that General Hux had left for you in his quarters. They were still there as far as you knew, however you did not know if it would be rude to ask for them. He had believed you to be his girlfriend when he had bought them for you. You drew your legs up towards your stomach and reached down to feel your feet, which still had small blisters from the heeled shoes. Using the lotion now felt awkward despite the fact that General Hux had assured you that you could keep it. It was more that you could not help but wonder if he had ever expected to be the one to massage it into your feet. Such a thought gave you mixed feelings. On one hand, it was not an unappealing idea. On the other, you had never thought of him that way.

 You had not thought of either of them that way until this past stretch of cycles.

 Suddenly you felt more awake than tired. Your mind was starting to race over any action that you had performed while in their presence that would have led them to believe you were interested in them. You could admit to being more comfortable around them than others appeared to be. That stemmed from your job. It was part of your work to give proposals to the heads of organizations. You had done that before working for the First Order. The two men had hyper fixated on some of your character traits and ignored others. This had to be due to their limited socialization with others outside the workplace.

 It made you feel like a surrogate for their feelings; romanced by proximity. You pinched the bridge of your nose as a pulsing began behind your eye. It was quickly becoming a pounding, the first sign of an oncoming headache due to stress.

 “I pointed out that this could be indicative that the lady he was with did not want any physical tokens of affection that could be seen by others. It might well be detachment and their relationship was a matter of convenience.” Kylo Ren bristled at those words. You tried your best to not react, well aware that this had to have been the turning point in their conversation. Sure enough, things devolved rapidly into comparisons designed to shame the other.

 Maker above, you needed sleep. There were numerous projects for you to work on and going into a new day with little to no sleep would be idiotic. While you were not opposed to using sleeping aids, you would rather not due to the grogginess that persisted through the majority of the next cycle. In many ways that was just as bad as no sleep. You pressed three fingers on either side of your temple and started to slowly massage the areas. You then applied some pressure near the bridge of your nose then stroked outwards along the underneath of your eyes, hoping to ease any pressure that might be sinus related. Focusing on this instead of what had happened earlier was helping your mind to quiet.

 In time, it must have worked to help lull you to sleep being that the next thing you knew TeeArr was prodding you with one of his fingers rouse you from your slumber. You waved a hand in the air to dismiss the droid. TeeArr knew you too well, however, and so insisted that you sit up before he left the bedside. It was with a groan that you complied. The droid was too persistent for you to not. Glowering, you thought of how much of TeeArr’s obstinance could work well in the anti-procrastination droids. General Hux would not find such fault with your protocol droid after that!

 General Hux.

 The name elicited a groan as what had happened the previous day came rolling forward like a tidal wave. It was much too early to deal with that particular headache. You readied yourself for the day. It had been agreed that you would not work on the training droids. A second programmer was being brought it; this was standard procedure, although you were more sensitive to it after having been tested. Captain Phasma had you working with a different series of droids for her stormtroopers during reconnaissance missions. Human error could occur no matter how well trained they were. These droids had to be basic. Easy for a stormtrooper to destroy if the situation called for it, but tough enough that the enemy could not damage them so easily. What this meant was proper shields and cloaking. Limited intelligence as well. Much like a typical probe droid. Captain Phasma wanted this droid to be less conspicuous than those. Smaller, you thought. Compact, possibly something that could be hidden in a small pack that a stormtrooper could carry. Lightweight.

 Already you had managed to again distract yourself from matters pertaining to General Hux and Kylo Ren. TeeArr walked at your side in the direction of the mess hall. His current silence did not alarm you. He was often more at ease in the days following a cleaning. This was not an uncommon occurrence with droids and you had often reasoned that the same could be said for people of many species. What was striking you as odd in regards to TeeArr’s behavior was that normally while on the way to a project assigned by Captain Phasma, his metallic footfalls would be louder. TeeArr was making a visible effort to be less conspicuous, which you noticed each time you glanced his way.

 “Do you know something that I don’t?” you teased. The droid’s servos twitched, a rather humanoid gesture that stemmed more from its ability to observe and learn than any programming you had done. It struck you just why you felt so fondly for this droid; he was something like a child to you, your child. That Kylo Ren had chosen to strike off a limb instead of destroying it outright did have a greater meaning. He had managed to restrain himself in some capacity. A show of affection--a rather strange one that you did not know how to feel about. You sucked your lips into your mouth then allowed them to pop back into place. TeeArr had yet to answer your question. “TeeArr…” There was a warning growl that issued from you at the very end of the droid’s designation.

 TeeArr set his optics on your face. “You are my Maker.” Cue you narrowing your eyes in equal amounts suspicion and confusion. “Should someone woo you, what does that make them to me?” This droid was most definitely like your child. The muscles in your arms jumped, your limbs beginning to shift towards TeeArr before you caught yourself. Offering TeeArr a hug of comfort in this public setting would draw more attention than what was already falling upon you. One of the stormtrooper pairs that were patrolling this sector had walked past, their helmets trained on you longer than was necessary. It was easier to convince yourself that this was because of your current company instead of whatever gossip had managed to spread.

 “No one is wooing me, TeeArr. Don’t you worry about that.”

 “Suppose they did,” he countered without missing a beat. You, having turned to resume walking, felt yourself faltering in your steps. The problem that you had with this conversation was not only that it was taking place in a public venue. It was that you had not considered entering a relationship any time soon. The workload on your plate was immense. If you absolutely wanted to, sure, you could balance a relationship and a career. You hadn’t wanted to though. Didn’t, you thought with a scowl. You hated that realization was dawning that a part of you would not mind it.

 With a barked out order for TeeArr to follow after you, you began to march on. Your heavy footsteps startled some of the officers, who stiffened and either hurried to get out of your way or else looked then relaxed as they saw it was you instead of someone else. Instead of Kylo Ren. You felt a scream bubbling up in your throat. Others had compared your work ethics to General Hux. That had been something you viewed as praise. Now, should anyone say as much, you would hate that they had spoken to you at all. Just the same as you disliked the similarities you had with Kylo Ren. The impact each of these had was not dissimilar to a sucker punch to the gut. You did not want to think about them.

 It was with a great sense of relief that you sank down into the chair at the work desk that had been prepared for your arrival. The surface of the desk was littered with three separate datapads as well as two comm units, one holoprojector, and a thermos filled with hot tea. You knew that it was tarine tea by the smell of it. It was difficult to keep from staring at it. Your face was arranged in a visible battle of perplexity and wonderment. The tea might have been forgotten by another, that was not unheard of. Captain Phasma could have ordered it to be delivered as she was aware of what the assignment entailed--a full shift, for a start. It might be something from General Hux. that was the possibility that made your stomach roil. You felt then heard it churning and set a hand overtop it.

 TeeArr wrapped his metallic phalanges around the thermos and lifted it to inspect the container. “I do not believe it is poisoned.” That made you smile. You felt the tug at the corners of your lips. Tension eased from your shoulders, which sank a fraction from their previously rigid posture. TeeArr extended his arm towards you; it was the one that had been replaced after Kylo Ren had severed the old one. You stared at the shiny metal limb while using both of your hands to cup the sides of the thermos and bring it down onto the desk directly in front of you. “You should drink it.”

 The frustration that you had felt with the droid for reminding you of the situation you were in with Kylo Ren and General Hux dissipated. You felt it slowly melt away, flowing off of you and disappearing until you were left with the sense of peace that only solitude and your beloved droid could provide. You were grateful that it was the latter. With the anger gone, you recognized that you did not want to be alone. The fact that you had misread so much human behavior exhibited by General Hux and Kylo Ren had left you feeling less human. You could understand your droid better than you could them. Your droid. Your child that you had built. You extended one hand in offering. TeeArr studied your palm, lifted his servos, and poked the center of your hand with one of its digits.

 He had not taken your hand as you had intended, but somehow that was better. That he could misunderstand human behavior just as much as you did made you know that you were not some anomaly. It was inexperience.

 You withdrew your hand simultaneous to lifting up the thermos of tarine tea to your mouth and taking a sip. It was not too hot and did not burn your tongue. Its bitterness hit hard, which helped you to wake up more. TeeArr slid one of the datapads closer to you when you moved to reach for it. This particular device held many of the requisites that Captain Phasma had outlined since she had last spoken to you. She did not want the droid to have a self-destruct feature because that risked a malfunction or the droid erroneously calculating that self-destructing would be beneficial. Another sip of tea and you were scrolling through her other notes. They were brief, exact. Much like how she talked to others, which was not often from what you had observed.

 The door to the room slid open. You were tilting back the thermos and allowing more of the liquid to slide smoothly into your mouth. Jerking your hand away, you instead splashed the tarine tea onto the front of your shirt. “Sir!” You scowled when you looked down at the wetness.

 General Hux strode over to the desk. He picked up one of the comm units then held his hand out for the thermos. You felt yourself blushing as you relinquished your hold on his drink. His eyes were locked with yours. General Hux set the rim of the thermos at his mouth without blocking his lips. You watched his tongue skim the surface that your mouth had been on when you had drank. The heat in your face grew, as did the pounding of your heart. That tongue traced his lips next. And then it was gone, back in his mouth, which you could not stop staring at.

 “Good day,” he said before uttering your name and leaving. You did not even have the chance to respond. That likely saved you from stuttering and further embarrassment.

 After the door slid closed behind the redhead, TeeArr looked directly at you. “What he did with his tongue, I saw in one of the holovids that--”

 You held up a hand. “Stop!” Kriff, you had thought it would be impossible to feel so hot, to feel like you were on fire. The thought of what else that tongue could do had already existed. TeeArr’s words only made it worse. You pressed your thighs together. Bounced both of your feet then regretted it, the friction of your thighs rubbing together sending a jolt of pleasure through your body. Straight to your cunt, which clenched. “You are not allowed to hand me a thermos ever again.”

 “Is that an order?”

 “Yes!” The pleasant mood that you had been in was wrecked once more. Except that you were not angry. You were aroused. You were frustrated. You were thinking of both General Hux and Kylo Ren in ways that you should not have been, in ways that they had thought of you.

[two-are-the-trees]

31 Days of Poe Day 11: “The Tell-Tale Heart”

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is one of Poe’s most famous and renowned works, reaching levels of recognition alongside “The Raven” and “Annabelle Lee.” It has been referenced and parodied in numerous ways (including the all-important honor of a Spongebob episode) and still proves just as chilling to readers today as it did when it was first written. There is no sense of melancholy or tragedy in this tale, just pure primal anticipation and shocked horror at what the darkest parts of humanity are capable of. The building tension, gruesome violence, and terrifying instability of the narrator all combine in Poe’s most heart-pounding (pun intended) tale. 

The story is told from the perspective of a man attempting to assure the reader of his own sanity. He begins to tell the tale of his troubled relationship with an old man whom he looked after. He claims to have harbored no ill will for the old man, however, he grew increasingly more disturbed by one of the man’s eyes, which he describes as cold and vulture-like. This mania leads the narrator to the conclusion that he must dispose of the old man in order to rid himself of the eye. From here, the narrator gives a detailed and methodical account of how he did away with his master and the strange events that followed. 

The most innovative and fascinating aspect of “The Tell-Tale Heart” is the complicated perspective of the narrator. He is very clear and detailed when describing his tale, explaining his reasoning behind every decision in order to assure his audience that he is completely aware of his actions and remains in his right mind. The irony is, however, that everything the narrator does to cement his own sanity actually indicates that he is a deeply troubled person and possesses very unusual reasoning. The narrator’s fixation on the eye is the first signal of this. The is fully able to understand that his hatred of the eye and his feelings toward the old man are in no way related, yet he cannot explain why the eye upsets him so much, even to the point of violence. He is willing to kill the old man just in order to rid himself of the eye, with no thought to the consequences of his actions. From this point, the reader is forced to decide how reliable the narrator actually is, creating an underlying tension throughout the story that only builds as the narrator becomes more outwardly unhinged. 

Poe’s language is also chilling in this tale, to reflect the turbulent thoughts of a narrator who has just murdered in cold blood. Through the narrator, he describes every small emotion and detail involving the murder. Horrifying anticipation builds at an agonizingly slow pace as Poe describes the narrator slowly opening the bedroom door by inches and carefully opening the lantern by minute degrees. We feel both the fear of the narrator and the fear of the old man lying in the dark as the old man’s heartbeat provides the only frantic sound in the oppressive darkness. This moment where both the murderer and victim wait in the dark room is one of Poe’s most impressive scenes. The tension becomes almost unbearable and the narrator’s calculated analysis of the old man’s progress of fear comes off like a predator stalking its prey. It’s the fear of unknown sounds and potential dangers in the darkness that we can all relate to, driving the scene home with primal terror. 

Would I recommend “The Tell-Tale Heart”? Absolutely, if you haven’t read this story by now, drop what you are doing and read it. Whether you enjoy it for the twisted glimpse into a killer’s mind, the masterfully crafted suspense, or the shocking ending, you will find that this cold-blooded story sticks with you and grips you until the very end. This is also one of Poe’s most commonly adapted stories and you can find screen and stage renditions of it from various time periods. I personally recommend the version in the anthology that I have mentioned a few times before called Extraordinary Tales. As a reflection of the innovative way in which this story is told, the segment features impressively strange black and white animation and is one of the most unsettling short films I’ve seen. In every rendition of the tale, however, the tension and unnerving behavior of the narrator remain.

For more analysis (which contains spoilers!!!) please read below the cut!

As I mentioned above, the unreliability of the narrator, as he unsuccessfully attempts to convince the reader of his sanity, is a remarkable feature of the tale and adds an interesting layer to a story of muder, rather than the story being told by a third party perspective. We are able to get directly into the murderers mind and attempt to understand why he did what he did. 

The narrator claims that all of his bouts of irrational behavior are caused by an acute perception of senses, like his sensitivity to the sight of the old man’s eye, however, it is clear that his lack of sanity is what causes him to hear the old man’s heart beating underneath the floorboards even though he has been dead for some time. Further, his lack of sanity makes him unable to cope with these perceptions, causing him to lash out. 

This brings us to the climax of the story, in which the narrator is driven wild by the sound of the beating heart under the floorboards and dramatically confesses his crime to the inspectors. There are several plausible interpretations of this moment and I think each one provides a different perspective from which to view the rest of the story. Perhaps the most obvious reading, as I mentioned above, is that the narrator’s unstable mental state is ultimately his downfall. While he is able to maintain his composure during the beginning of his visit and is able to accurately describe the process of the murder and his motivations, he cannot silence the auditory hallicunation of the beating heart and must confess in order to make it stop. It is a similar situation to what the narrator experienced with the eye. What he calls a sensory sensitivity is actually a much more severe condition that causes him to take drastic actions. 

The second possible reading is that the beating heart is a representation of guilt. The narrator is able to commit the murder and dispose of the body without any hesitation, however, once the task is complete and he is left to sit and contemplate what has occurred, he is gradually overtaken by guilt. This guilt could be inflamed by the fact that the narrator presents himself with such confidence and bravado regarding the inspectors, showing them every inch of his home and having them sit and rest right above the spot where the old man’s body lies beneath the floorboards. By doing this, the narrator steeps himself in the crime and is ultimately unable to handle the pressure of containing this devastating secret. This is why he thinks that he hears the heartbeat and becomes increasingly suspicious that the inspectors know he committed the crime. His own guilt leads him to give himself up, providing a fascinating commentary on the human psyche and how it deals with guilt. Poe would seem to indicate that humans are not capable of containing such vast amounts of mental pressure and, sooner or later, it will emerge. 

I think, however, that there could be another possibility to how the scene plays out. One of the most dramatic aspects of the tale is how the narrator gives himself away, rather than inspectors finding evidence or uncovering the body themselves. But is it possible that the narrator could be right when he cries “They know!”? Do the inspectors actually suspect that he committed the crime before his confession? This is where the unreliable narrator comes into play. We know that that narrator is clearly not sane despite his claims and we know that his perception of reality is somewhat warped. Therefore, it’s possible that he was not acting as collected and convincing when inviting the inspectors in as he leads us to believe. He does a very poor job of convincing the reader that he is sane, perhaps the case is similar with the inspectors. It’s entirely possible that the officers actually WERE increasing the pressure of the situation, playing along with the narrator’s bravado, sitting in the room where he suspiciously directed them, and staying for a long time in order to get him to crack. This would explain why the narrator keeps remarking “Why won’t they go?” The animated version of this tale in Extraordinary Tales plays with this idea, making the inspectors incredibly intimidating and emotionless with dark, reflective sunglasses. It really appears as if they DO know that the narrator committed the crime and that all they have to do is wait until he crumbles. 

So, what do y’all think? Do you think the inspectors were on to something? How reliable IS the narrator? Is there a deeper significance to the “vulture eye?” To share your opinion, please comment on this post or send me an ask! You can also use the tag #31daysofpoe to create your own response post!

[todobakus]

We all know how weird Aoyama was in chapter 167, right? He looked like a giant red flag to be the traitor, but it turned out he wanted to befriend Midoriya. The traitor theory with the most obvious evidence is Hagakure; but I believe that she is as much of a red herring as Aoyama was. Hagakure is hiding the true traitor - Uraraka. This is going to be a long one, guys.

The first time she was conspicuously absent was when the class was voting for their president. There were four names missing from the list; Iida and Uraraka who voted for Midoriya, Todoroki, who voted for Yaoyorozu, and Hagakure. This chapter also conveniently happened to be the same one where UA got broken into, and the League of Villains got their hands on the class schedule. The same schedule that made them believe All Might would be present during their class in USJ. This point is where a few of the theories for teachers being the traitor die – they wouldn’t need the distraction that the reporters caused to get into the teacher’s lounge, for obvious reasons.

The next was during the USJ attack. It’s not known on the map where she got warped to; she claims she was with Todoroki, but he froze everything indiscriminately when he landed. There is no way she just got lucky and avoided his attack. 

Todoroki even notes this later, when they’re all out of USJ. But Hagakure is weird there, too. She speaks to Ojiro like she knows what he was doing, yet immediately after claims to have been somewhere else entirely. 

For the most part, the students that are warped to specific locations were standing together. Hagakure and Todoroki were nowhere near each other when Kurogiri moved them all, so she really shouldn’t have been in the landslide zone with him.

The third time she’s missing on a map is during the League of Villain’s attack at the training camp. We know that she and Jirou were unconscious from Mustard’s gas the entire time of the attack, but that leaves her suspiciously absent during the entirety of Bakugou’s rescue – she can’t leak information if she’s not conscious, right? The League didn’t know when the heroes would be coming for them, and they didn’t know that Midoriya and co. were coming to assist, when all the other students knew their plan.

The other main points are that on her info card, Horikoshi tells us that he hasn’t yet revealed her quirk – meaning the invisibility is a side effect of her quirk, like Tokoyami’s bird head, or Mina’s pink skin. To this day we still don’t know specifically what her quirk is; we saw in the hero license exam that she was able to seemingly reflect a huge amount of light, so it will be something to do with light. But we don’t know what it is specifically, when we know everyone else’s in the class – the only people who get delayed reveals are the villains. There’s also the fact she’s invisible. It would be very easy to get away with a lot of the things that have happened if she were to just strip off and sneak around.

All of this is convincing. It all lines up neatly. Except for a few things. A traitor reveal should be gut-wrenching, hurtful, and whilst not completely out of left field, it should be subtle. For this story, the traitor needs to be someone who would make a significant impact on our main character, and therefore us as the readers by extension. Hagakure barely hangs around Midoriya, and she’s barely had much characterization at all at this point. We know she’s a bubbly, friendly girl, and not a whole lot else. Midoriya would be hurt by one of his classmates being the traitor, but it wouldn’t have as much impact if it were her. Also, she’s invisible. That’s so obvious, and somewhat boring for the invisible girl to be the traitor. All the evidence is blatant, too. The characters in canon have commented on some of her absences. So, just like Aoyama was in chapter 167, I think Hagakure is a red herring too.

Now, I’ll start this half of the post by linking the fantastic Uraraka traitor theories here and here. I’m going to try to touch on different points that I’ve noticed, but this is what thoroughly convinced me initially, so I highly recommend checking them out.

Shadow over her face

According to tv tropes, a shadow over one half of the face is a good way to show a character’s sinister side. And there are a few odd times that this is done to dear, sweet Ochako. The first being when she’s trying to cheer everyone up after Tsuyu’s apology to the Bakugou rescue team, and the second when she was talking to Midoriya after they both got their hero licenses. These are both supposed to be happy moments – why would anyone doubt her? She’s motivating everyone to do better moving forward and to put the bad behind them, and in the other panel she’s just achieved her license. The thing she needs to achieve her dream of helping her family. These shadows are very purposeful, too. They’re split directly down the middle of her face. I’m not sure if it means anything, but her eyes are also closed in both panels. Perhaps she’s feeling guilty and can’t meet anyone in the eye?

Guilty – because of what?

When Kirishima and Todoroki are making their plan to rescue Bakugou, Uraraka is their most passionate dissuader. She tells them that “Bakugou would most likely see getting saved by everyone as a disgrace”. Not to delve too deeply into that, but Bakugou is smart. He would have to know that getting saved would be his hope of getting out safely – the villains he is with are no joke, and there are a lot of them. It would also help the pros in their fight if he was out of the way. Maybe she doesn’t know him well enough to know this, yet. But I’m not too sure on that, either. She understands his and Midoriya’s relationship spot on in this panel – something the two boys had currently failed to do.

Her face doesn’t just look apprehensive to me, either. It looks guilty. It could just be guilt over her actively choosing to not save a classmate, but I think it could be more. For the League to not know about both the heroes and students coming to rescue Bakugou means that the traitor didn’t tell. In this scene, she must actively decide not to tell the League about the rescue team’s plans, but she also can’t go with to save him either. It would make sense for her to try to talk them out of going if she knew what they would be facing, too.

Aoyama

This boy knows something. He has been somewhat an outsider to this class the entire year thus far. He’s had a lot of time to observe the class and find out what they may be hiding. He’s also (I believe) the first of Uraraka’s classmates to point out her crush on Midoriya – the first person was Gunhead during her call to Midoriya in the hospital! So, we know that he knows more than he’s letting on. But the only person he’s directly called out for something (other than Midoriya much later for his quirk not matching his body) is Uraraka. His face is also half shadowed here – much more dramatically than Uraraka’s, but we are meant to notice this. He’s hiding something, and we don’t know what it is. 

This face he makes when Midoriya thanks him for the surprise is not normal, and certainly not the face I would make after someone thanked me for an (albeit weird) gift. He looks somber, and it’s played off for a gag afterward, but that would be way too much emphasis for a simple gag. He’s trying to gain Midoriya’s trust to tell him something big. And what would be big enough that Midoriya wouldn’t believe him straight away? None other than the betrayal of his first friend at UA, of course.

Well. This was long. I hope that some of you made it to the end! And hopefully, a little more doubt has been cast on our darling Ochako.

[jmsebastian]

Dragon's Dogma, Open World Gaming, and a Fool’s Errand

Open world games just really aren’t for me. This is something I started to finally realize during my playthrough of Breath of the Wild. Tying the do-what-you-feel approach to a series I’ve enjoyed as much as Zelda seems like it would be the magic formula to allow me to finally understand the major appeal of these types of games. Sadly, that did not happen. It was an enjoyable enough experience thanks to its leanings on classic Zelda mechanics and some more modern action game tropes, but I just did not care very much about exploring the world at large. Unlike games such as Skyrim, which have huge worlds filled mostly with empty landscapes, at least Breath of the Wild had stuff in it. There were tons of people, lots of collecty things to pick up for obligatory crafting, horses that still can’t compare to Shadow of the Colossus’ Agro more than a decade later. I cared about none of it. Everything I did in that game was with the singular purpose of beating it so I could say I did. I should have learned my lesson.

Fast forward several months and I’d begun to itch for a new fantasy adventure. There are more types of these games than I could ever play, so there was some care taken to ensure that I chose wisely. Reviews, game play samples, wiki entries all helped lead me to choose that next game. That’s why Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen now takes up a substantial amount of space on my hard drive. On the surface, it was exactly what I was looking for. You can customize your character to a large degree. It has fantastic animations that feel responsive without being finicky or making the combat too easy. There’s still weight to your actions, so you can’t Bayonetta your way out of trouble or anything, but it is much faster than the From Software games of the world. So, perfect then. Fantasy hole filled.

Dragon’s Dogma is an open world done very poorly. The point of the game, at its most basic, is that you have to kill the dragon that stole your heart (which sounds suspiciously similar to the 1996 film Dragon Heart, but sorta kinda reversed). Having your heart stolen somehow makes you an Arisen rather than spelling your instant and everlasting death. Being Arisen means it is your destiny to kill the dragon to reclaim your heart. There’s no way around saying it, it’s a stupid premise. First, as an Arisen, life seems exactly the same save for everyone now calling you Arisen and the huge scar on your chest. With no practical difference in life pre Arisen and post, there’s simply no inherent reason to pursue getting your heart back. The game makes that your goal, so it’s your goal. Unfortunately, there are a lot of less clear cut goals in between.

For all its problems, at least the game’s framework is concrete. It’s easy to understand, and that’s a lot more important for games than is often acknowledged. Maybe some players don’t need the game to provide motivation through narrative, but if I’m going to spend a lot of time leveling up and fighting the same battles over and over again, it would be nice if it felt as though what I was working toward was going to pay off. Dragon’s Dogma made almost no effort in this regard.

At more than 30 hours in, I didn’t feel as if I’d learned anything that brought me more understanding of what was going on. In those 30 hours I fetched some herbs to heal local sick people, went to an outpost so that a Hydra could be triggered and I could lop one of its heads off, learned about the slave class called Pawns (whose lack of free will and incessant need to repeat themselves was profoundly disturbing to me), chased a boy around a village with no endgame, and murdered a fort full of goblins that were maybe somehow in cahoots with the dragon that stole my heart? At no point did I feel like I was doing anything of my own volition, but instead was just carrying out tasks handed to me by middle managers who didn’t want to bother putting in any effort for anything. If my character’s life was this unfulfilling, that makes the lives of the Pawns that served and died under me even more tragic.

The focal point of the numerous problems that arise comes from task management. Games like Dragon’s Dogma don’t know when you’re going to do any particular task, and it’s crammed with so many tasks and subtasks that there’s a need by the developer to bring how the game manages task out into the player’s face. That means I see little bubbles above the heads of people I need to talk to (as towns are filled with people who have no value to me as the player and simply exist to make the town feel like a town). It also means when I talk to them, a graphic appears and a sound effect plays alerting me that a task has begun. When I complete the task, my screen is splashed with experience points, money earned and more sound effects disrupt the natural ambiance of the scene to tell me I did a good thing. It’s a Pavlovian trick and robs me of any genuine sense of accomplishment.

This is not motivating, it’s demoralizing. The sheer number of things to do feels insurmountable. Since their relevance is impossible to know when undertaking a request, you sorta just go through them in order. They take you back and forth across miles of terrain, so even accomplishing something small takes a significant amount of time. Typically you’ll do something like seek out a witch in a forest. Part one of that quest is to find the witch. That means running around a shrouded wood until you uncover the witch’s house. The second part of that quest is telling the person who told you to do it that you did it. There’s a certain realism to this that, I can’t deny, has a certain charm. That charm quickly fades when you realize that you’re running back and forth along the same path, listening to the same information be mindlessly told to you, with the same enemies popping out to attack you “unexpectedly”.

This world is huge, yet the space between major points is bogged down with filler.

There is fast travel in the world of Dragon’s Dogma, thankfully. Unfortunately, you can’t really access it until you make it a good way into the game and can purchase the items that let you warp to certain places you’ve already been. It’s on you to investigate the items you can buy from vendors in order to discover that you can fast travel at all (there is an even worse fast traveling mechanism built into the original version of the game that’s not worth explaining for its lack of usefulness). Fast travel helps make things more bearable, but the fact that it needed to be included (and then improved for the PC release) highlights just how much of a wasteland the game takes place in.

The expansiveness of the world makes for another problem, which is that it’s very difficult to tell if you’re within a reasonable level to kill the enemies and beasts you stumble across. Even the weakest enemies are hard to kill alone. This is done to keep players from steamrolling their way through the game and to account for the possibility of three Pawns accompanying the player at any given time. For any enemy of reasonable strength, you’ll have to chip away at their health bar, focus on areas of weakness to gain an advantage, and manage the battlefield for extended periods of time. Isolated, this makes for interesting scenarios and is the most enjoyable part of the game, by far. It is taken to the extremes much of the time. The amount of damage you deal to enemies that are in your league and those way out of your league is difficult to determine even several minutes in sometimes. This means you can get yourself in unwinnable scenarios pretty quickly if you aren’t careful. God forbid you chip away at a Manticore for thirty minutes before realizing you’re not where you’re supposed to be.

Running into obstacles too difficult to tackle at the player’s current level can be a great way to guide them through the game’s intended route, but it’s at odds with a game that is supposed to allow you to do what you want when you want to do it. Most of the time, fights are really only difficult because you’re simply outnumbered or the mythical creature has a seemingly limitless supply of HP, and not because the enemies themselves are tricky to figure out or have complicated move sets. The flexibility of the combat allowed for through the Vocation system, the target points that exist for the larger enemies, and the adventuring party nature of combat all feel like elements meant for a game more like the original idea for Shadow of the Colossus than an Elder Scrolls style open world RPG and makes it feel as though progress is never really being made.

The dots represent the number of health bars this guy has.

There’s no easy cure for this sort of design. Dark Arisen has an additional component, Bitterblack Isle, that feels like the counterpoint to the main game. It offers a nice respite from the mind numbing openness by being more focused and self contained. You are taken there and you just have to dungeon crawl and kill everything. You are free to explore, but progression is more carefully planned and feels both genuine and rewarding. Sadly, Bitterblack Isle’s difficulty as a whole makes taking it on in the early game a pretty extreme exercise. I spent roughly half my time playing on Bitterblack and it was ruthlessly punishing for my characters. By level 30 I managed to find a bit more success, but getting to that level on Bitterblack alone would have meant cheesing the easiest of the island’s enemies hundreds of times. Given the choice of doing that or doing the main quest, I felt forced back into the main quest where I could get experience for far easier, if crushingly boring tasks. This pretty much killed any motivation I had to keep playing.

I probably had the most fun decking my character out in equipment more than anything else.

Maybe that’s my problem with open worlds. For all there is to do, games like Dragon’s Dogma seem to rely purely on the will of the player to push them forward, even when their designs seem to actively discourage moment to moment enjoyment. There’s something exploitative about the genre that just rubs me the wrong way. It’s not fair to make me be a messenger boy for an hour just so you can reveal some more details about a plot that barely holds together when it’s finally all presented. No reward in these games will make filler worth it. Games being big for the sake of being big live on the idea that value lies in the sheer amount of time that can be spent playing it, and take it to their most fallacious logical conclusions. I can only hope that in the future I’ll see the warning signs earlier.

[buttonholedlife]

10 Anthems From System, Hamburg's Notorious Early- '90s Techno Temple-- Telekom Electronic Pounds

When the initial Device club opened in Hamburg in 1989, it was actually embraced as a choice to various other places that worked on tighter time limits and also frequented much less main sites. Unlike Face, the pioneering nightclub that introduced property popular music to Germany-- and also probably multinational dancing floorings--, the 1st Unit at Talstrasse corrected at the center of some of among Europe's most significant amusement places, notorious red illumination area around Reeperbahn, and also as a result of this its own parties can last much longer.

At initially, the popular music at Unit was no different to what was actually participated in somewhere else around town-- a common post-acid residence boom mix. Soon however, the resident DJs like Gary D, Tobias Lampe and also Holly, and guide nationwide and also international guest DJs, switched towards techno and later hypnotic trance, as well as Unit became a leading lighting in developing and pressing these noises more along with various other nationwide pillars in Berlin and also Frankfurt.

The 1st System room needed to approach 1994 as a result of improved criminal activity in the area, yet it resumed the very same year as Unit II in a brief area likewise near to Reeperbahn, prior to System III resolved in an outdated manufacturing facility area in one more area. As the club increased much bigger in size and aspiration, the groups performed certainly not observe match, and Unit shut for really good in 1999. Our experts inquired DJ Tobias Lampe for a checklist of reports that made the very first System manifestation and also his and Henry's residency, phoned Pure Power, such an enduring mind.

A Homeboy, A Hippie & & A Funki Dredd, "Complete Complication (Heavenly Mix)" (Tam Tam Records 1990)

"This is one of the early anthems at the nightclub, which I think was actually additionally presently greatly played due to the initial Unit DJs Pari D and Dual UMF. The very early years were really quite open minded. They participated in a blend of property, hip hop, techno, even downtempo beats and a style contacted hip home. And it represents basically exactly how it was actually functioning in the UK also, this period when no person at the rave possessed tensions regarding having 808 State, Pop, Frankie Bones, Orbital and Guru Josh all on the very same stage."

Foremost Artists, "Extended Attraction Variation (Foresight Model)" (Nu Groove 1990)

"I guess I to begin with heard this magic piece when Boris Dlugosch played it at the Front club. Tough to clarify why, but it surely always made this enchanting, extreme ambience, both at Front and at Pure Electricity on Fridays, where Holly as well as me played this keep track of nearly each week. Few various other tracks may record the feeling of the time therefore strongly-- at that time it was led through residence and also techno songs coming from London, Nyc Metropolitan Area, Chicago and also Detroit. Front nightclub was hugely important, along with the Friday purchasing journey to the Container Records establishment, which imported all the songs directly. As Boris Dlugosch played much less and also much less techno at Face, our company tried to play and work with all factors of it at Pure Power, and also specifically techno from Detroit."

Psychological Trouble, "Joey's Riot" (Ambience Records 1990)

"Especially in The Big Apple Area, designates like Nu Gouge as well as others were actually launching music that appeared like each home as well as techno. Our experts commemorated specifically these hybrid appears and also in knowledge this might possess been what Hamburg was constantly approximately. Regularly open-minded as well as somehow in between. Our team were actually obviously trying all kinds of noises at that time. We participated in pretty tough thumping techno and also very early hypnotic trance, however at the primary of what we participated in was always what our company phoned tech-house. This prime goose bump example of the tech-house noise our company loved was actually produced by Joey Beltram, that for our team was actually one of the leading Nyc producers in this field."

Format, "Solid Treatment" (ESP Records 1991)

"This Orlando Voorn one was a what we called a Voll-Brett. Brett indicates plank, it's a term utilized for especially reliable flooring fillers-- we embraced this language from the Frankfurt setting. It's a certain shot that consistently contents skins in the nightclub. It was actually one of the noticeable anthems, at the very least for our nights."

The Hypnotherapist, "Pioneers Of The Warped Canal" (Increasing Higher 1991)

"We managed bus journeys from Hamburg to the first Mayday event and Love Parades. I still remember our experts invested 3 times preparing up the 1st Breather The Limitations Go Crazy at Kasematten/Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, and after our company were actually performed partying, we removed whatever and then moved towards Berlin for Mayday in a bus packed with Hamburg ravers.

Henry and also I were actually therefore run through that our experts must cancel our Pure Power gig there, as well as instead our company partied on as most effectively as our experts still could. And then, eventually, The Hypnotist jumped on phase, and they threw hundreds of green radiance sticks into the crowd. The lightings and also fog carried out the remainder.

The surroundings at Halle Weissensee was actually magical, and then the songs began. It simply blew me away how a lot of music effects they might combine. Trance was actually certainly not a musical condition for our company then, yet if you use it to a mood The Therapist probably was the act that toenailed it down best, particularly at that job. Obviously, our team could not help it, and really felt need to celebrate these keep tracks of at System, preferably from 4 a.m. onwards."

Ramirez, "Los Angeles Musika Tremenda (La Tormenta Mix)" (DFC 1991)

"Ramirez created a minimum of pair of masterpieces of very early tech-trance (which is what we eventually called this type), as well as this is one of them. I carry out not understand just how to define it exactly, yet the monitor had this subliminal dirty contact, as well as when I hear it, I am going to permanently consider sweat-drenched ravers, trembling blinking light, solid smog and the experience of strolling out into vast daytime after partying. This keep track of was always the one to activate the final reserves."

Golden Girls, "Dynamic (Frank De Wulf Remix)" (R&S Records 1992)

"In this listing, I am actually also making an effort to show how a considerable amount of different scenes and circles from various components of the planet produced this magical universe of sound our team enjoyed back then. This is actually a perfect example of the effect of the Belgian audio. I still think that Belgian as well as Dutch songs's influence has regularly been actually under rated. This was a significant and also surefire sausage at Unit."

Vainqueur, "Lyot (Maurizio Mix)" (Maurizio 1992)

"This keep track of is actually characteristic of the impacts of Berlin and also Detroit to our noise. The Berlin/Detroit axis remained in early progress during that time, and also our company took trips to Berlin to discover this noise at Hard Wax as well as Ecstasy. We partied to it at Tresor, Teknozid as well as Earth, however also at Hamburg's Front nightclub, before the first Unit opened up. For us, Basic Stations's discography offered the first major releases coming from Berlin, even in relations to techno. I think we additionally believed Maurizio was actually a person from Detroit. The minimalistic, dubbed out as well as darker parts of techno, tinted with some references to EBM, played a significant role at Device. Actually my very first night at System got on a Wednesday as well as it was actually called Tekkno Nightclub, with 2 k, of training program. It was actually even more devoted to EBM, Dark Surge as well as Acid, as well as then it opened to the impacts from over the garden pond, UK, Berlin as well as Frankfurt."

Vapourspace, "Gravitational Arch Of 10" (Plus 8 Records 1993)

"I may not remember where I initially heard this, however I keep in mind just how surprised I was. Ever since, I intended to share this feeling, as well as it was actually played at least twice an evening. I likewise remember we experimented with switching out the strike out and also blasting the haze machine prior to the kick drum was available in, and it regularly brought about incredible screams from the dance flooring. Not considerably eventually, Henry and also I marketed the Plus 8 night with Vapourspace stay together with DJ collections by Richie Hawtin as well as John Acquaviva. Our experts were pretty impressed through his analogue reside specified pageants."

Marmion, "Schöneberg" (Superstition 1993)

"Holly and I were actually doing the Pure Electricity night every Friday at System. Our experts threw probably all the pertinent names back then, from Derrick Might to Sven Väth. It was actually such a small act in a handful of German urban areas in those days that our team all felt a little like loved ones. Early buddies from our go crazy trips to Berlin, Frankfurt as well as Munich were actually, for instance, Mijk vehicle Dijk and also Marcos Lopez, that provided me this Berlin development as a demo a few times after a job at Unit. This EP and also track actually turned into one of the breakthroughs of Fear Recordings, the label I just had established three launches back. Specifically this fourth release gained the label as well as both manufacturers a significant international following. And the keep track of is what I phone a perfect mix of residence as well as techno components; it's a real techno house standard."

This content was originally published here.

[crpgaddictreposts]

Plot Continuity Across Sequels (ft. Crusaders of the Dark Savant)

Crusaders of the Dark Savant is the first game for which this import process has implications beyond character attributes and equipment.

                      If a developer allows meaningful choices in the game, how does he reflect the consequences of those choices in sequels? This question grows more and more pertinent as the years pass, and meaningful choices become a greater expectation among RPG players. Indeed, it is common on today's blogs and discussion forums for players to insist that meaningful choices--affecting the direction of the plot and the ending of the game--are an essential part of a role-playing game. Such a claim ignores most of the history of RPGs, in which the only choice most players had was whether to attack with a sword or an axe, but I'm willing to allow that true role-playing choices might become an essential characteristic of a twenty-first century RPG.

The issue becomes pertinent for essentially the first time in Crusaders of the Dark Savant (1992), a sequel to a game in which the player's choices could produce one of three different endings. This isn't quite the first time this happened, but previous "alternate endings" were either just creative deaths (i.e., ways of not winning the game), such as the "bad" endings of Dungeon Master (1987), Ultima V (1988), Pool of Radiance (1988), or The Magic Candle (1989), or alternate paths that funneled to the same basic ending, as in the Quest for Glory series (1988-1992), Dragon Wars (1989), Sword of Aragon (1989), or Disciples of Steel (1991). Prior to Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (1990), the only game I can think of that offered true alternate ways of winning the game was the roguelike Omega (1988), and it didn't have a sequel. Slightly earlier, however, Phantasie II (1986) and III (1987) chanced some introductory dialogue depending on whether the party was created or imported, reflecting the player's choice to have finished the previous games at all.

Phantasie III his Filmon say that Nikademus would "never suspect you" if you're a new party. If you're imported, he tells you that he chose you because you'd already defeated his minions before.

           I haven't played a lot of games post-1992, but my read is that alternate endings aren't necessarily common even through the modern era. The Elder Scrolls games, excepting Daggerfall, basically just have one. The Infinity Engine games may have offered a lot of roleplaying in between the beginnings and ends, but they all ended basically the same. There are some notable exceptions--Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, the Mass Effect series, and the Dragon Age series all come to mind--but I'd be surprised if more than half of modern RPGs, no matter how many branches they offer along the way, end in more than once place.

On the other hand, even games that don't offer multiple endings tend, these days, to include significant player-influenced changes in the world state between the beginning and the end. The main quest of Skyrim might end in the same place for everyone, but along the way either the Empire or the Stormcloaks won the war, the Dark Brotherhood is either destroyed or has just assassinated the Emperor, the Thieves' Guild either revived or hiding in some sewers, the world either plunged into eternal night or not. These are not factors that will be possible to ignore in any sequel just because every player "defeated Alduin."

So now that The Elder Scrolls VI is at least partly announced, what is Bethesda going to do? Based on previous games, there are several options:

1. Adopt one set of possibilities as canon. This option renders many players' choices meaningless, but it's easiest on the developers. It also tends to fit with what most players did by default anyway. So although you can end Baldur's Gate with any of about 20 NPCs in your party, the developers figure at least 50% of us are going to have played with Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira, Khalid, and Dynaheir, and Baldur's Gate II begins accordingly. In a less-obvious use of this option, most sequels assume that the players finished all the side quests and expansions in the course of winning the previous game, and thus have no problem introducing NPCs, enemies, and objects that some players may never have encountered (e.g., the player of Ultima VII Part Two starts with the Black Sword even if he never played the Forge of Virtue expansion to the first part). The developers basically have to choose this option if they want to include the game as part of a larger universe along with films and books.

             A line in Skyrim assumes the player finished the Shivering Isles expansion.

            2. Set the sequel so far away in time and space that it doesn't matter. Based on player choices, the world state at the end of Oblivion might look quite different from one Hero of Kvatch to the next, but 200 years later, during the events of Skyrim, no one cares who was head of the Fighter's Guild in a different province at the end of the Third Era. Similarly, Fallout IV makes no references to the choices made by the protagonist of Fallout: New Vegas because there's no communication between Nevada and Massachusetts, and both places have their own problems.

3. Account for all the possibilities. This one is pretty rare, and insane when it happens, but it's featured quite notably in Oblivion and Skyrim to explain the events in Daggerfall. Depending on player choices in that game--the only Elder Scrolls game so far to offer multiple endings--the giant golem Numidium is activated in support of one faction (or not) and political boundaries are reconfigured to the favor of one or more factions. To deal with all possibilities, future games feature a book called The Warp in the West that basically says at the end of Daggerfall, time "broke," Numidium was seen at multiple places, all possibilities occurred, and a trio of gods had to intervene to untangle the mess, resulting in a stable political state among four new kingdoms. 

In a less dramatic option, games after Morrowind don't take a stand on whether the Nerevarine killed the gods of the Tribunal. They're gone, sure, but maybe they disappeared on their own.

(As an aside, one of the things I love about the Elder Scrolls lore is how many distant past events can be interpreted as if they were the results of multiple player choices retconned into the same kind of a "warp" that the developers used to explain the end of Daggerfall. Take, for example, the many conflicting characterizations of Tiber Septim. Who was he originally? Where was he from? Was he the noble hero who united an empire or the lecherous villain who seduced Barenziah and then forced her to abort their love child? Did he become a god? What about the events at Red Mountain? Did Vivec kill Nerevar? What happened to the dwarves? The implication is that major characters of Tamriel's past, like Tiber Septim and Vivec, were player characters whose stories could have gone multiple ways. Their games just haven't been developed.)

4. Dynamically adapt the plot and world state of the sequel to reflect the player's choices. This is the rarest and most admirable option, and I can't think of any series that does it better than Dragon Age. The games certainly have their flaws, but attention to player choice isn't one of them. Inquisition is particularly well done. Choices both major and minor in the two previous games determined everything from the leaders of nations to the specific NPCs the player encounters, and where. (If you didn't play the previous games, you just got defaults.) The effects on the world state, the available NPCs in the game, and the direction of the plot are significant enough that players who made different choices in Origins and Dragon Age II face very different games when they get to Inquisition. (I should also note that this dedication to adapting the world state extends to the minor expansions as well as the major titles; both Awakening and Witch Hunt for Origins start very differently depending on choices made during the main campaign.) I understand that the Mass Effect series offers the same attention to this kind of detail.

               The "Dragon Age Keep" web site lets you set the world state from the first two games, greatly enhancing continuity as you begin Dragon Age: Inquisition.

                      While I characterize Option 4 as the most "admirable," it's also somewhat understandable when developers don't take it. It greatly expands the amount of content that they have to create, much of which will never be seen by most players. It's probably unsustainable across more than three games; certainly, it's hard to imagine Bioware accounting for all choices in Inquisition plus the two previous games if they make a fourth one. On the other hand, it's horribly disappointing for the player to start a sequel and find that his choices in the previous game are ignored. Some games adopt a compromise between Option 1 and Option 4, using player choices in previous games to tweak a few variables (which might affect dialogue options) but otherwise offer the same gameplay experience. I seem to remember Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II going this route, changing a few scenes based on the result of some (clumsy) dialogue options at the beginning, but otherwise making some assumptions about how the first game progressed.

It's easy to think of Option 4 as the most advanced option, and thus the one we expect to see later in the development of RPGs. In fact, if it was going to be commonplace, its best chance was in the 1990s, just as meaningful choices became more common, but before reacting to those choices meant significant chances to graphics and voiced dialogue. A developer can afford to be generous with simple text adaptations.

And thus we begin Crusaders of the Dark Savant with three separate sets of opening scenes, each with different text, but sharing many of the same graphics.

              All opening narratives show this scene, but they all use different text depending on whom the party is with.

         If the party ended Bane of the Cosmic Forge having rejected the queen, overseeing the suicide of the vampire king, and heading off into space with a friendly dragon named Bela, they soon find that Bela has made friends (over the radio) with the Umpani, a race of intelligent pachyderms. He relates the story of Guardia and the Astral Dominae and warns the party of the other factions seeking to possess it, including the Dark Savant and his T'Rang allies. They arrive at Guardia at the same time as the Dark Savant. Bela drops the party off in the forest to start looking for the Astral Dominae while he himself chases after the Dark Savant to find out what he's up to.

            Bela talks about his new friends.

           If the party ended Bane by trying to take the Cosmic Forge only to be intercepted by the android Aletheides, Savant begins by having Aletheides explain that he's been sent to retrieve the pen by the Lords of the Cosmic Circle. He relates the threat to the universe now that Guardia has been discovered, and he enlists the party to accompany him so they can find the Astral Dominae before the Dark Savant. Since he has to return to the Lords with the Forge, he drops off the party in the woods on Guardia and then takes off.

           Aletheides lays out his plan.

          If the party ended Forge by killing everyone and boarding Bela's ship on their own, they're soon swallowed up by the Dark Savant's frigate. The Savant clearly states his intention to challenge the Lords of the Cosmic Circle and "end their stranglehold on the Destiny of the Stars." He demands that the party assist in his search for the Astral Dominae and has them fly to Guardia on a T'Rang ship, where again they land in the woods to begin their adventure.

             The Dark Savant offers no chance to object.

            Finally, if the player didn't complete Bane at all--or didn't play it--the game assumes that they're treasure-seekers who found the Cosmic Forge in a temple on a random world. Just as in the second option, Aletheides reaches them just before they take the pen and enlists them in his mission. As with everyone else, the party begins in the woods.

Although all parties start in a forest, they're different forests, on different maps, and thus begin the game with quite different experiences. And because my understanding is that Savant is quite nonlinear, they probably continue with different experiences as well. What I don't yet know is whether choices made in Bane affect anything in Savant other than the backstory and starting location. Do the various factions begin predisposed to like or dislike you? Does Bela show up again if you didn't kill him? Those types of adaptations would be admirable, but perhaps a little too much to expect this early in the era.

I was able to download other players' saved games to experience the different beginnings above, but in 1992, I would have been out of luck. Knowing that there were different beginnings to Savant would have made me eager to re-play Bane, independently of what I thought of its replayability as a stand-alone game, the same way that Inquisition has made me want to replay the previous games in the Dragon Age series. Thus, we see that good attention to continuity can increase the replayability of not only the current game but previous ones in the series.

Continuity of character is, of course, a separate consideration from continuity of plot. It is also far more common. We saw it as early as 1979, with the ability to move the same character among multiple Dunjonquest modules, and most classic game series--Wizardry, Ultima, Phantasie, The Bard's Tale, the Gold Box games--have allowed you to continue the same character or party across at least one sequel. There was even a period in the mid-1980s when you could move the same characters between franchises. As a kid, this was far more important to me than it is now. Today, I find that such games either reduce imported characters to the point that they're hardly better than new characters or they're so overpowered that they ruin the game. A few franchises--the Gold Box and Baldur's Gate come to mind--have done a good job achieving balance, but on the whole I like that the modern inclination is to retain the universe but start each game with a new hero.

In that spirit, for my "real" Savant party, I'll be starting over from scratch with a new set of characters, partly because I enjoy the early levels the most, and partly because the game assumed I did that anyway (I must have screwed up something with my saved game in Bane). We'll pick up with the adventures of the new party in New City after a detour to investigate the German Die Dunkle Dimension.

In the meantime, which continuity options do you prefer? What games best exemplify them? What other methods have you seen for reflecting player choices across the game's universe?

        source http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/2018/08/plot-continuity-across-sequels-ft.html

[tweefunk]

Top 11 Records of 2016

Yeah, top 11. Fite me irl bruh.

I have opinions. Validate me.  

* = “I wrote about this before, go scroll down and read what I wrote before you lazy sod.”

11. NOFX-First Ditch Effort (Skate-Punk/Rock) Recorded while Fat Mike was still using drugs, NOFX’s most serious effort to date tackles his impending visit to rehab, and public embrace of cross-dressing. It’s good to see the perpetually juvenile outfit take on adulthood and more introspective topics while simultaneously pushing themselves as composers. 

While no one was expecting NOFX to write the next Pet Sounds, they secure their legacy by refusing to burp out the same old shit 30 years into their career. They also temper what could be maudlin or self-righteous with just the perfect dose of their screwball humor.

Unfortunately, they cross the line into the ham-fisted on the overwrought, hyper-apocalyptic and preachy album-closer “Generation Z,” which features an extended slam-poetry/spoken word outro that doesn’t scan as being all that far removed from Jonathan Larson’s brilliant piss-take of the genre in Rent. Sadly, NOFX is definitely not joking here.

10. Bayside-Vacancy (Pop-punk/Emo/Alternative)* A mall-punk tour de force. Anthony Raneri channels his inner broadway star to craft not just Bayside’s best-ever record, but one of the few worthwhile records from Warped alumni in the last few years. 

9. American Football-LP2 (Emo/Post-rock/Experimental)

If the only conception you’ve ever had of emo is the swoopy-haired fad of the Hot Topic years, this the perfect record to change that perception.

After a nearly 20-year hiatus AF is back with a much more focused sound. Unlike their debut which was plagued by endless instrumental sections that diluted the song’s impact, LP2 devotes its energy to fairly conventional song structures that are boosted by layers of intricate guitar interplay.

Their debut, while influential, has been massively overrated due to their sudden disappearance and the legion of copycat artists that took their Television-on-downers guitar stylings and crafted an Emo Revival in the first part of the decade.

It’s rare that a reunion album delivers on its promise, but this is a rare exception. Definitely the prettiest record of the year.

8. Car Seat Headrest-Teens of Denial (Indie/Alternative/Rock)

Nauseatingly self-aware, clever-clever, ironic bullshit for hipster millennials who’ve never heard of my fact checking cuz. Dude probably laughs at his own jokes on the regs.

It’s also jaw-droppingly self-assured in scope and vision, not just for an indie garage-rock album, but any post-Radiohead album. Will Toledo is on some next-level shit here and he’s just getting warmed up.

The most powerful moments shine through when Toledo takes on collegiate know-it-all hippies on “Destroyed by Hippie Powers” and his own existential dread and immaturity on “The Ballad of Costa Concordia.” Another great, and all too honest, pop-hook delves into the unfortunate precautions necessary to deal with your idiot friends on “(Joe Gets Kicked out of School for Using) Drugs With Friends (But Says This Isn’t a Problem).” Spoiler: It’s Drugs.

Unfortunately, these moments of clarity are many times obscured by unnecessarily drawn-out arrangements, intentional vocal obfuscation (mumble-core anyone?), and single songs that jam two or three complete and disparate compositional ideas together rather than separating them into their own tracks.

7. Deerhoof-The Magic (Experimental/Noise/Punk)*

The first track is called “The Devil and his Anarchic Surrealistic Retinue.” That’s all I really need to tell you.

Take drugs, drink coffee, crank volume, party.

6. Joyce Manor-Cody (Emo/Alternative/Pop-punk)

On their list of the most disappointing things of 2016, Pitchfork accused Joyce Manor of sounding like Everclear on this album. I have no idea where that came from as the only similarity between the two acts are a preponderance for power chords and introspective lyrics, hardly unique characteristics in rock music.

However, Cody succeeds because it never tries to force its listener to feel anything. There’s an incredible sense of sadness and longing in this album, but it feels like someone sitting in their living room telling you stories about their life, and having all the disparate pieces fall into place.

The record gets its underdog charm from the simple but tight instrumentation. This sounds like something your friends in High School could have made, but with that extra bit of oomph that lets you know they’re going places.

I wish I had a record like this when I was 16.

5. Touche Amoré-Stage Four (Melodic Hardcore/Emo/Post-Punk)*

If you don’t cry, you: a.) Aren’t a human being, or b.) Have never lost anything or anyone close to you, so check your privilege.

4. A Tribe Called Quest-We Got it From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service (Hip-Hop/Jazz Rap)

On their first record in nearly 20 years, ATCQ give a master class in how to envelop modern sounds without devolving into tone-deaf pandering. Thus, their vintage brand of East-Coast Boom-Bap still sounds fresh, and the modern flourishes sound like an organic evolution.

For the most part, the record strikes a perfect balance between political state-of-the-nation tracks and homages to recently deceased member Phife Dawg. ATCQ make excellent use of guest artists to fill in the gaps and provide one of the most satisfyingly traditional rap records in recent memory. The only mis-step comes with the overly maudlin and un-subtle Phife Dawg tribute “The Donald.”

3. Chance The Rapper-Coloring Book (Hip-Hop/Rap/Pop)

If Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 opus To Pimp a Butterfly was the dark, tortured soul of the continuing struggle for racial equality in America, then Coloring Book is the movement’s pep talk.

Even on the somber moments of reflection, Chance never descends into pessimism. Furthermore, the party jams and love songs never feel contrived or overly sentimental. They feel like an urgent escape from a malicious world where the very act of daring to love yourself, warts and all, is a radical act.

The album also places itself in TPAB’s lineage by basing its composition heavily on gospel music, at times just outright dropping worship songs into the proceedings and littering the lyrics with religious imagery.  

During many of the songs, there are ongoing backup vocals that almost play like crowd noise, giving the feeling that Chance is really just taking technicolored parade of joy through a wasteland of despair. Hell, “No Problem” almost feels like an unintentional homage to that scene in Ferris Beuller’s Day Off where he hijacks a float and leads all of Chicago in a sing-along. You just can't stop fucking smiling.

This is isn’t just a guy singing and rapping at you, he’s inviting you on a journey with him where salvation might not be dogmatic faith, but the ability to accept the blessing of life in whatever form it takes.

2. Kanye West-The Life of Pablo 

If Blonde is the sound of a self-assured genius tinkering until he has the perfect, cohesive message, then TLOP is the sound of an equally talented genius slowly going insane.

Far and away his best production work, Yeezy seems content with ceding a significant amount of the spotlight to others--this conceit was explored further in his set design for the Saint Pablo tour where he usually performed in silhouette and primarily lit the audience--and this results in a slightly more disjointed product than he likely intended. Despite that, he conjures gorgeous soundscapes out of perfectly curated samples and creates an album that would be compelling even as a beat CD. Sadly, as thrilling as the backdrops are, his rapping doesn’t quite reach its potential here

Especially after his hospitalization, Yeezy seems to be in the same place he was in before dropping 2010′s masterpiece My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. With the tide of public opinion against him, Kanye digs deep and tries to create something so brilliant that no one can doubt him. 

in doing so, knowingly or not, Kanye creates one of the most honest assessments of toxic masculinity since the Violent Femmes’ debut. Not once does he attempt to sugarcoat his narcissistic behavior. In a way he’s almost a tragic figure.  

It’s an eternal quest for redemption that Will Toledo (even though I backhand-complimented his band back there) explains a lot better than me. IDK.

1. Frank Ocean-Blonde (Alt-R&B/Pop/Hip-Hop)*

Art.