#very story based and very unsettling! epic

[soap-is-an-artist]

a silly sketch! her name is Erica i think

[too-antigonish]

The Great S7 Rewrite

An attempt at summarizing the rocky ground on which we some of us stand following this rather epic post yesterday: Prophetic words from Morse in Oracle?

People had so many interesting things to say that I though it would be nice to keep this discussion public for now.

On the most basic level, Season 7 has two overarching storylines: 

Opera Storyline: The one with Morse, Violetta, Ludo,  and the mysterious accidental deaths

Towpath Murders: The one with Morse and Thursday fighting mainly over whether or not Carl Sturgis did it.

Then you have the episodic murders for each episode: 

Oracle: The math TV program, Dept. of Latent Potential, women’s lib conference, and  misogynist professors in Oracle

Raga: The Indian restaurant, restaurant critic, gay wrestlers, racist poker game organizing politicians in Raga

Zenana: The coming together of the opera storyline and the towpath murder storyline in Zenana.

If, theoretically, you wanted a do-over for S7, what would you need to consider? Below are some of the issues raised in discussion yesterday:

Bone of Contention #1: Opera Rules

S7 may or may not have been asking us to view its world according to “opera rules.” If it wasn’t, then the storylines were just outrageous. If it was, then they didn’t do an adequate job of either:

Signaling that we needed to see this world through that filter

Making the story robust enough that you didn’t *need* to see the opera references to “get” the storylines. (As Durian pointed out: Ride works even if you don’t realize that it’s Gatsby, but S7 doesn’t work if you don’t realize it’s opera. It doesn’t stand on its own.)

I think actual S7 tried to signal that we were in Opera World (#1) by: 

Using theatrical techniques (voiceovers, mise en scene/ tableaux, etc.) to signal that we were in opera world (i.e. heightened reality)

Using opera tropes

Using role reversal with the characters. I think that’s a big reason why the season feels so unsettling overall. Normally Morse is the one doggedly pursuing a hunch based on an obscure clue. This time it’s Thursday. Normally it is Thursday finding out that Morse didn’t check someone’s alibi. This time it’s Morse. Normally Morse and Thursday are calling the shots at the crime scene. This time DeBryn and Strange are having to put them in their place like squabbling children. Etc., etc.

Things in the show are “out of place” as well. (e.g. Thursday is at the early morning crime scene in Oracle instead of Morse. Morse is in Venice instead of Oxford.)

So the questions about Opera Rules are:

Do you keep the idea of Opera Rules for S7?

If you keep Opera Rules, how do you do a better job of signaling them?

If you keep Opera Rules, how do you make the story strong enough that people who don’t understand opera rules will know what’s happening? 

Do you just out-and-out tell people about Opera Rules?

Bone of Contention #2: Ludo and Violetta?

I have yet to hear from anyone who really likes Ludo and Violetta. If someone reading this does, I’d be fascinated to hear why. To say that I find them off-putting is being kind. Why is Morse attracted to two such unpleasant people? And not only attracted, but taken in by both of them? Normally Morse is attracted to girl-next-door types (Monica, Joan). Normally Morse has no time for snobs who name-drop and talk about themselves non-stop (Oxford Don stereotype). 

For me the disconnect lies not in the fact that he could be taken in. I think Astrid and Fanfic are very right about both Morse’s lack of wisdom when it comes to friendship and love, and well as his “secret” desire to have friends who perhaps share more of his interests. The leap I can’t make is that it would happen with these two specific people. Even taking into account that Morse is behaving “the opposite” of his usual way, I can’t see him being attracted to either of these two personalities. 

In the end, like Astrid, I like the *idea* of the Ludo and Violetta storyline but found the way it was played out too incongruous. So what to do? It seems like you can either retool Ludo and Violetta or replace them entirely. Which you choose I think depends on how you want to remake the story and how loyal you are to canon.

My first instinct is to replace them. I find both of them so repugnant, but I do find myself returning repeatedly to an idea that I had when I first watched Oracle, which was that Violetta might actually be more directly based on the Violetta from La Traviata.

She would be a woman from the “other side of the tracks” so-to-speak, but genuinely in love with Morse. You could also use Traviata’s bit where Violetta’s “betrayal” of Alfredo is actually self-sacrifice, etc. I’m not sure about Ludo, but it would definitely need to be someone that Morse would *actually* want to befriend and not someone as obvious as Ludo.

So the questions about Ludo and Violetta are:

Do you keep Ludo and Violetta?

If you keep them, how do you retool them? 

If you throw them out, what do you replace them with? 

Either way (new or retooled), how do you make Morse’s attraction to them believable?

Either way (new or retooled), do you use existing opera tropes/storylines as a basis for their story?

Bone of Contention #3: Towpath Storyline

It seems that there is pretty much universal agreement on keeping the Towpath Murders as a storyline. Also, there is pretty much unanimous approval for the idea of an earlier and more prominent role for Dorothea in the case. Durian points out that this could also have the side effect of reducing some of the tension between Morse and Thursday. 

Disagreement arises over two main elements:

Too many things going on in the storyline

How the conflict between Thursday and Morse is handled.

I’m in agreement on both of these things. In terms of the number of things going on in the storyline you have the whole is it or isn’t it a serial killer, the ESP angle, the flasher thing, the copycat killer, all of the animal imagery and later wolf imagery, the blood drinking, and much, much more. It could work if it all tied together coherently, but it doesn’t—at least for me. It feels like I can sort of see what they were going for, but that they definitely didn’t get there. There needs to be a unifying theme.

With the conflict between Thursday and Morse, my problem is not so much that they have the conflict, but that it comes seemingly out of nowhere. We jump from the reconciliation of Degüello to the petty arguments of Oracle with nothing in-between to explain the change. It’s not that I didn’t find the conflict between these two characters interesting or believable. It’s simply that there was nothing to explain it. Yes, you can say that Morse was becoming more of his own man, but that doesn’t seem adequate to me.

So the questions about the Towpath Storyline are: 

What elements would you throw out and what would you keep?

What would make a good unifying theme for the Towpath case?

What is the source of the conflict between Morse and Thursday? What sets it off?

How do we have Ms. Frazil on the case sooner rather than later?

How does Dorothea diminish tension between Thursday and Morse. 

Of the arguments between Morse and Thursday, what would you keep and what would you throw out?

Bone of Contention #3: The Episodic Storylines

I find it pretty telling that except for one brief mention, no one has strong feelings about the episodic mystery in Oracle. It definitely had less substance that the one in Raga, in part because it had to leave room for the establishment of the two big overarching stories. Personally, I found the sexism angle (the Women’s Lib Conference and Prof. Blish beating out the others for the spot on the tv show) more compelling than the ESP studies angle.

Durian mentioned that Raga, like the Towpath Murders, has way too much going on (Indian restaurant, Oberon Prince and his ex-wife, the gay wrestlers, the racist poker game, the return of the evil beautician, two stabbed teenagers, etc.) Fanfic raised the interesting idea of making the conflict in Raga more of a family conflict, using the political situation with East and West Pakistan (Bangladesh) as a focus.

So the questions about the Episodic Storylines are: 

What elements would you throw out of Oracle and what would you keep?

What elements of Oracle would you change entirely?

What elements would you throw out of Raga and what would you keep?

What elements of Raga would you change entirely? (e.g. changing to internal family conflict)

OK. I'd love to hear thoughts on all of this!

[fairy-verse]

Do you have any facts about fairy Cross??? Please and thank you :)

He’s afraid of snowmen. He doesn’t understand why the Big Folk makes those figures out of the snow, but they unsettle him; deeply.

He shared his first kiss with Epic and thought it felt oddly… tickly. The same happened when he finally kissed Dream and he’s come to enjoy the sensation. It makes his chest feel all warm and fuzzy.

He once got so badly tangled in some of the hanging roots within Error’s grand mountain hall, that he was thoroughly stuck until someone came and helped him get loose. He was relentlessly bullied for it for months; all in good humour, though.

He’s got a very good voice for humming lullabies.

His hands are quite rough from working on the forge, but he’s got meticulously good attention to detailed work and as such can work steadily and carefully. Aka, his hands, and fingers are perfect for trailing and petting someone’s face whenever he feels lovely dovely.

Despite his tough upbringing he wants faerlings of his own.

He’s skilled at foraging and preparing food for a tough winter, plus he’s learned the craft of making his own woollen and cotton clothes, so he doesn’t have to trade that much.

Dude is strong.

There are specks of purple in his wings that only shimmer in the sun and moonlight. They’re barely visible unless you have some kind of light shining on them.

He’s the most comfortable in his own body when it goes from autumn to winter, and spring to summer. Besides those two small windows, he’s either a little too warm, or a little too cold. It’s extremely frustrating, but he’s learned to live with it.

He doesn’t talk to his father anymore, but sometimes he’ll find himself slightly more tucked in on particularly cold nights when the winds have snuck inside Error’s Mountain halls. He’s not sure who does it since their scent doesn’t seem to linger within his lantern…

He has an abysmal hatred for trolls.

He’s easily bashful when it comes to receiving intimacy but has an easy time being the one to give it away, almost to an oblivious level. Don’t make him aware of it, though. He might explode from embarrassment unless he’s reassured that it’s greatly appreciated.

The base of his wings is extremely ticklish, more so than for regular fairies, so he prefers to wash that area himself instead of having help from others.

His love language is to give physical touch and do acts of service. He’d love to receive words of affirmation.

He befriended an elderly human woman after she helped him escape from a fairy trap that wounded him badly. She nursed him back to health and didn’t hesitate to let him leave once he felt better. He regularly visits her during the winter to make sure she’s healthy and safe from the cold, and sometimes he’ll stay to listen to some of her stories. He’s very fond of her.

[hungergamesbookclub]

Poll for THG Book Club's First Read!

What book should we read for our first Suzanne Read? Summaries of each book and how it relates to THG under the "read more" after the poll if you need more info to choose.

Summary: In Thomas Hardy's first major literary success, independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, the soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy, and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. One of his first works set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

How it relates to THG: "Katniss Everdeen owes her last name to Bathsheba Everdene, the lead character in Far From the Madding Crowd. The two are very different, but both struggle with knowing their hearts." Suzanne Collins, 2010

Summary: Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus.

Coriolanus by William Shakespeare

How it relates to THG: The namesake of Coriolanus Snow (ft. Volumnia)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

Summary: Mary Shelley's timeless gothic novel presents the epic battle between man and monster at its greatest literary pitch. In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor to the very brink of madness. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love, friendship, scientific hubris, and horror.

How it relates to THG: Quoted in the epigraph of TBOSAS

Spartacus by Howard Fast

Summary: The story of a slave uprising in the ancient Roman Empire.

How it relates to THG: "There’s a basis for the war, historically, in the Hunger Games, which would be the third servile war, which was Spartacus’ war, where you have a man who is a slave who is then turned into a gladiator who broke out of the gladiator school and led a rebellion and then became the face of the war. So there is a historical precedent for that arc for a character.  But I think I needed the freedom to create elements that I wasn’t going to neatly find in history." Suzanne Collins, 2013

Summary: A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day, they discover fantastic wildlife and dazzling beaches, learning to survive; at night, they are haunted by nightmares of a primitive beast. Orphaned by society, it isn't long before their innocent childhood games devolve into a savage, murderous hunt …

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

How it relates to THG: "One of my favorite books - I read it every couple of years." Suzanne Collins

[treason-and-plot]

REPLIES TO CONNOR FIGURING THINGS OUT AND SOME UNRELATED WAFFLE!

First off, I'd like to express my heartfelt appreciation to @mysimsloveaffair @dandylion240 @hurricanesims @bool-prop @simbico @windermeresimblr @oasislandingresident @pixelcurious @simlicious @simsdada @nectar-cellar @percosim @wannabecatwriter @ninjaofthepurplethings @muses-circle @zosa95 @simsdada @parystrange and @anamoon63 for your sweet well wishes on my flu post. I don't think I have ever had the legit flu before, although of course I have had my fair share of colds and viruses, and it really hit me hard. Worst thing was the fever and the loss of interest in everything. I still feel a bit weak and shaky but I'm 99% better. Thank you again for helping me get through it! I love youse all!🤗 Now, on to the replies to my last story post:

@justanothersimsblog

Why lie about it? Just be the supposedly proud you are of being the side piece

Because it matters to her what Connor thinks of her despite her denials. That's also why she didn't have a cigarette on the way over, in case he smelled it on her ;=)

@wannabecatwriter

Truth hurts, especially when someone smart confronts you with it.

This particular situation must be very unsettling for Saffron, who's used to being the smartest person in the room!

@echoweaver

Well, being that she's a high school student, the other explanation would be that he knows his peers would be creeped out regardless of his marital status -- as they should be.

I don't know if that would be a deterrent to be honest- at least not amongst Aussie men. In my experience they would be high-fiving him and offering their congratulations, as vile and depressing as that sounds!

@queeniecook

Hahaha, I love this!

@oasislandingresident

I am waiting for Saffron to either burst into tears or bust out of there tbh

Saffron bursting into tears would be epic. I can't remember an occasion that she has ever burst into tears! You're probably in a better position than me to remember if it's ever happened, lol!

@simsaralove

There’s no fooling Connor!

Try and fool Perceptive Sims at your peril!

@ktarsims

LMAO - Deny it all you want because you don't want him to know, Saffron, but Connor's very perceptive. You might fool him into thinking you don't know the guy's married, but he's certain of his facts. (He's right, too.)

Also I get the feeling that once Connor has made up his mind about something it's virtually impossible to get him to budge!

@sweetnovember77

First of all, it’s none of Connor's business. Saffy, you do not owe Connor an explanation. Most, if not all, of your mistakes can be excellent learning opportunities. If Connor wants to be with you, make him earn your love. —Not badger you for it. He needs to back off.

Except they are playing Truth or Dare so she kind of agreed to be badgered when she signed up. I think one of the underlying rules of Truth or Dare is that you don't participate in anything that makes you uncomfortable and hopefully Saffy would understand that. And I totally agree that mistakes can be excellent learning opportunities, except Saffron hasn't yet realised that she has made a mistake...which is going to be potentially disastrous.

@kscriba

In a vacuum, if I didn't know Saffy, just based on her answers I would assume it's a sugar baby situation LOL

This made me guffaw! I really can't imagine Saffy being in that kind of situation though because she is so strong-willed and independent. I could actually imagine her being a sugar mama though once she becomes a wealthy and successful lawyer!!

@muses-circle

I can't decide if Connor is honestly interested in Saffron and going about it the wrong way, or if he's doing this to be a smut jerk. He's totally right (and the truth hurts), but at the same time, Saffron's there to hang out...right? IDK, something about this feels off.

I think the first line is true! It may not be immediately obvious because of his good looks and privileged aura, but he is definitely lacking in key social skills. But he does genuinely want to get to know Saffron better.

@batsheba

Busted! Me thinks Saffy do protest too much. Maybe she's a tiny bit embarrassed of the relationship or that Connor so easily figured it out?!

I also think she knows she is protesting too much but feels temporarily powerless to stop herself! Connor has really gotten her flustered. And she feels torn between wanting to stay and being scared she will expose herself further.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WAFFLE:

So I've been reading some of the comments posted in response to that aesthetics poll, and people have had some very interesting and diverse opinions. Here are a few of my thoughts.

As a storyteller my primary focus is on my writing, and editing my screenshots comes a very distant second. I have to confess though I once did try to download Reshade, around the time Sims 4 was released because as a Sims 3 blog I was hemorrhaging followers and I thought I had to up the ante as far as my screenshots were concerned to stem the flow. Anyway it froze not only my game but my entire PC, and I was so scarred by the experience I never tried again. I have never owned Photoshop either. I use Picasa and Pixlr to edit my pics and I'm generally happy with the results although I am envious of certain Simblrs who manage to combine lush photo editing skills with engrossing storytelling! But if anyone ever came into my ask box and criticized my screenshots I would reply that virtually all my creativity is expended on my writing, sorry, and if you're not following me for my Sims story you may want to reconsider that decision!

I'm probably not typical of most of the community either because I don't *get* a lot of the aesthetics that garner hundreds of notes. For content to resonate with me it has to touch something emotional, and a picture of a Sim with no context just isn't going to do that for me no matter how amazing and beautiful the edit. I'm here for Sims stories, and legacies and gameplay that communicate the lives and loves and all the idiosyncrasies and quirks of our Sims, no matter what iteration of the franchise you're into!

[thedawner]

Currently listening to Too Human’s dev diary and this spurred me into another long-winded ramble. BE YE READY. (Pictured: Various concept art)

The first (and last haha /cries) game ended on a massive cliff hanger! I want to know what happens next, no matter how awful the fate of the characters will be! This world is good enough that it deserves some closure! I live off the hope that there're bits and pieces of the script somewhere stashed in the storage of one of the former devs and that one day… it will resurface… maybe with even more old concept art too, if I dare dream that far.

Seriously, I would love to see a lot more unearthed artwork for this more than from any other game. In the first dev diary, they showcased a wall filled with prints showing off so much stuff. Some of it I’ve seen floating on the internet, others are concepts of characters that were not featured much such as Frey or Hermod.

What an underwhelming fate this game has! Stuck in a limbo where I can’t even say that it has a cult following, such as Black & White (another game very dear to me that is in a similar situation). Most of the perception of this IP is fairly insular from what I observed, and it saddens me.

There’s nothing similar to Too Human out there! While I can find general ideas and aesthetics in other works, this specific combo of world design, character designs and story is unique to it, at least in my eyes.

There are out there iterations similar to the game’s Loki, Heimdall and Thor. They represent a model that I really like. However, this model being placed within Too Human’s universe satisfies some monster in my brain that craves this exact idea.

The artists who worked on Too Human did a wonderful job at concretizing the bleak yet cautiously hopeful atmosphere that haunts this universe. Among that, they also blended some body horror aspects into it as well and I want to talk a bit about that.

The Aesir are a good example with their cybernetic augments where, even the subtlest prosthetics, still have their own unsettling feeling. That might also come with interesting psychological aspects, too.

Heimdall’s holo glasses come to mind where you can see the thin, golden frames attach to his temples and branch out underneath his skin into what looks like purple veins.

A design that was crafted to be elegant still comes across as off-putting. I imagine he would be used to normal people stealthily gawking at him in meeting settings. One of the least rude behaviours that he could receive so he doesn’t complain much about it. Other, less nice, examples would be people treating him like a computer and chalking up any personal achievement to a simple ‘wave’ of his augments. Maybe ODIN himself would over-load him with duties because his cybernetics, that are rapid-information-processing-based, allow him to bear that. His Aesir colleagues might also often forget that he is his own person and not just an extension of their leader, ODIN.

Even Baldur, canonically described as the least augmented of his colleagues, still looks odd to the fellow human soldiers that he commands. Picture being a rookie wolf trooper just starting out to work under this Aesir. You hear your superiors praise him that at he, out of all the other gods, looks like a normal human person.

Then Baldur goes past you, a towering frame of expensive armor with glowing blue scars criss-crossing his face and weird blue eyes. The rune sword mounted on his back growls at you as its owner went on his business. Yes. That is totally a normal person. You feel so represented.

This disparity of perceptions circles back to the trans-humanist theme prevalent in this game (huhu Too Human title pun huhu). It’s obvious that the writers wanted to do so much more with what they already had in the game, but had to omit a lot. I mostly blame the Epic lawsuit that later on killed both the company and any hopes of a trilogy.

This disparity of perceptions circles back to the trans-humanist theme prevalent in this game (huhu Too Human title pun huhu). It’s obvious that the writers wanted to do so much more with what they already had in the game, but had to omit a lot. I mostly blame the Epic lawsuit that later on killed both the company and any hopes of a trilogy.

God(s), I’m repeating myself like a broken record, but this is why I’m so in love with this game. I could make up headcanons all day based on the little information that there is out there and it still would fit with the official bit of the story. This could have had a chance for a huge collaborative project that could’ve gone on and on.

AND YET.

He's dead, Jim.

He's gone and died.

He's croaked off.

I'm (not) sure why.

So far I have a dream that one day Denis Dyack, the original creator of the story, will give this a re-bound… one day.

[mareenavee]

The Inherent Opposite of Life

This story was written as the first official fanfiction of my very dear friend Indoril Jinumon's work. It is directly inspired by cut content from another project we've been part of for a while now.

Jinumon—Thank you so, so much for your support on this piece, and on my writing in general—and for indulging my inability to have any chill at all, hehe. You're a light in these chaotic times. I hope this fic brings as much joy to you as Veru always has for me. (:

Some Notes: Veru Bavani, for all intents and purposes, is his character, brought to life by his work writing her original dialogue, some of which appears in this tale. Ulpar Enakul was also a joint effort of ours, where I wrote the majority of his original concept, and he edited it and created a secret third style to solidify the voicing.

Thank you so much to @archangelsunited for the amazingly helpful beta read!

Special shoutout to Strager for the Ald Chimeris, and to @changelingsandothernonsense for helping with the initial structure of Ulpar's voicing—which is based on Sumerian and Akkadian poetry. (:

Without further ado:

The Inherent Opposite of Life

Part One: Betrayal

No fear, Veru.

Easier said than done. Veru Bavani was no stranger to this kind of chaos. That was part of the pride of being a Buoyant Armiger: to dive into danger and come out mostly unscathed—or so the theory went. The inherent opposite of life was death, and that was nothing to be afraid of. Sometimes it took a quick reminder.

Gravel crunched under her boots as she crept along the passages of the cave system that could, in theory, become another route into Endusal. The air was cloying—it smelled of dirt after a heavy rain, of mold and of sulfur, but not of death. That was something. She pushed back a stray strand of dark hair as she looked around the caverns, the motion making the flickering, dim light of her torch twist her shadow on the wall. All she could hear—besides the sound of her own breathing—was the incessant drip of water working its way down from somewhere far above on the surface.

That there was a silence this deep was unsettling, to be fair. With all the reports the Redoran had given her of unsavory activity—bloated Blight creatures shambling, ash zombies stalking, and the like—she should have been hearing something. There was a deep wrongness with the silence in this place beyond what the Blight had done to the area. These caverns felt more ancient, more dangerous—but all the resistance she’d been met with thus far were stalagmites and uneven footing. She couldn’t shake the gut feeling that things still lurked in the dark, waiting and watching. Normally, she’d be able to shove that knot of anxiety aside, but today it was proving more difficult. No matter her misgivings, the siege effort needed this passage, and so she’d have to keep going. Who else was going to do this?

There had been scouts sent out before her. None had returned. She’d known the rumors of what would haunt these caves adjacent to ancient Dwemer strongholds. There hadn’t been a reason to confirm previously. But now? There’d been far too much loss, and whatever was going on up ahead would have to be dealt with. If she didn’t figure out what the problem was, the whole plan would fall to shambles. Then, what of the lives lost in the process? Would that have been for nothing? The point of this was to fight well against that which threatened not only the Mountain, but the world. Life. Love. All of that. While it would make for a decent epic, some of them would have to live in order for it to be written. So the task of finding out why the mission repeatedly failed fell to her. She kept her free hand on the hilt of her sword, and it grounded her enough to keep moving.

Nobody knew the Mountain as well as she did, anyway.

The Redoran foot soldiers might have claimed boldness, but boldness only got a person so far. What this mission really took was perseverance, and a fairly decent memory for the convoluted ways the caves that dotted Red Mountain tended to distort and become hazardous. Veru had been mostly fine the last time she ventured into these specific caverns, though this was further than anyone had gone in, what? Centuries? Likely. She swallowed hard, set her teeth and walked past the last of the Vehk runes etched on the walls by her predecessors. The Redoran scouts had been instructed to follow them and continue marking the way between each, though she’d not spotted anything new in some time. That was rather ominous.

There had been, in other parts of this cave system, broken bits of Dwemer metal scattered around, and pipes which still hissed steam as machinery far below still worked, powered by secrets lost to time. She knew she had to tread carefully, as those ancient metal monstrosities could ambush her at any moment. It wouldn’t be the first time. However, here, there hadn’t been a single gleam of the brass alloy anywhere. It was as if this passage had been forgotten somehow. Or, she thought with a sharp intake of breath, sealed off during the War. Which would make all of this much more difficult.

Nothing, however, was impossible. She’d learned that lesson a few times over by now. It wasn’t that she’d been trying to listen into the reports General Nerothan went over—Triune knew there were better things to do—but there had been mention of Dwemer weapons somewhere in these passages being reactivated by the Sixth House. Just because there weren't any signs of them here didn’t mean she wouldn’t stumble into something worse than a Centurion or Sphere. It would be best to keep focused. -> Read the rest on AO3!

[byneddiedingo]

Preben Lerdorff Rye in Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1955)

Cast: Henrik Malberg, Emil Hass Christensen, Birgitte Federspiel, Preben Lerdorff Rye, Cay Kristiansen, Ejner Federspiel, Gerda Nielsen, Sylvia Eckhausen, Ove Rud, Henry Skjaer. Screenplay: Carl Theodor Dreyer, based on a play by Kaj Munk Cinematography: Henning Bendtsen. Production design: Erik Aaes. Film editing: Edit Schlüssel. Music: Poul Schierbeck. 

As a non-believer, I find the story told by Ordet objectively preposterous, but it raises all the right questions about the nature of religious belief. Ordet, the kind of film you find yourself thinking about long after it's over, is about the varieties of religious faith, from the lack of it, embodied by Mikkel Borgen (Emil Hass Christensen), to the mad belief of Mikkel's brother Johannes (Preben Lerdorff Rye) that he is in fact Jesus Christ. Although Mikkel is a non-believer, his pregnant wife, Inger (Birgitte Federspiel), maintains a simple belief in the goodness of God and humankind. The head of the Borgen family, Morten (Henrik Malberg), regularly attends church, but it's a relatively liberal modern congregation, headed by a pastor (Ove Rud) who denies the possibility of miracles in a world in which God has established physical laws, although he doesn't have a ready answer when he's asked about the miracles in the Bible. When Morten's youngest son, Anders (Cay Kristiansen), falls in love with a young woman (Gerda Nielsen), her father, Peter (Ejner Federspiel), who belongs to a very conservative sect, forbids her to marry Anders. Then everyone's faith or lack of it is put to test when Inger goes into labor. The doctor (Henry Skjaer) thinks he has saved her life by aborting the fetus, but Inger dies. As she is lying in her coffin, Peter arrives to tell Morten that her death has made him realize his lack of charity and that Anders can marry his daughter. Then Inger is restored to life with the help of Johannes and the simple faith of her young daughter. Embracing Inger, Mikkel now proclaims that he is a believer. The conundrum of faith and evidence runs through the film.  For example, if the only thing that can restore one's faith is a miracle, can we really call that faith? What makes Ordet work -- in fact, what makes it a great film -- is that it poses such questions without attempting answers. It subverts all our expectations about what a serious-minded film about religion -- not the phony piety of Hollywood biblical epics -- should be. Dreyer and cinematographer Henning Bendtsen keep everything deceptively simple: Although the film takes place in only a few sparely decorated settings, the reliance on very long single takes and a slowly traveling camera has a documentary-like effect that engages a kind of conviction on the part of the audience that makes the shock of Inger's resurrection more unsettling. We don't usually expect to find our expectations about the way things are -- or the way movies should treat them -- so rudely and so provocatively exploded.

[kingdomoftyto]

Howdy! I got a a gift card for the nintendo switch for christmas but don't know what to use it on. Would you recommend any games? I know you play a variety.

Oh! Sure thing! I'm flattered to even be considered for something like that lol

Considering I finished playing it only minutes ago, the first thing that comes to mind is the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, which probably needs no introduction, but just in case: they're part visual novel, part puzzle/logic games where you play as a defense lawyer solving elaborate murder mysteries. Very funny, feels like watching a goofy anime except you get to solve the mysteries yourself.

Next, here's some great indie titles I personally have downloaded on my Switch:

Undertale (& Deltarune chapters 1+2): undeniable masterpieces. If you haven't already played them you really should. They're short, heartfelt RPGs with memorable characters, challenging but fun bullet hell-style combat, and stories so good they've basically had an effect on the entire video game medium. I love them from the bottom of my heart.

Hades: another masterpiece you've surely already heard of, but worth recommending anyway. It's a punishingly hard roguelike where you repeatedly try to battle your way out of the underworld, but the story and characters--all drawn from Greek mythology--are exquisitely crafted and incredibly rewarding to uncover. (I haven't technically played this one myself but I've watched my partner put hundreds of hours into it--plus there's a sequel on the horizon!)

Ori and the Blind Forest (and sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps): incredibly fun, fast-paced, and beautifully animated Metroidvania where you play as an agile little light spirit trying to save your forest home. Story's very dialogue-light but epic and emotional; you may cry.

Crypt of the Necrodancer: unbelievably fun rhythm-based dungeon crawler where you fight your way through monsters and undead by moving and attacking to the beat. The story is charming, too, but the gameplay and music alone make this one a must-try. (Note: if you prefer, there's a Zelda spinoff called Cadance of Hyrule that's a crossover with this game. Same type of gameplay, but a little more forgiving, and also Zelda flavored. :3)

CrossCode: wildly underrated action RPG about a girl who wakes up mute and amnesiac inside an MMO world and has to uncover its secrets with the power of friendship and punching things with chakrams. I love these characters so hecking much and the combat in this game is really difficult but also incredibly satisfying to master. Also features some great puzzles and tricky platforming.

Petal Crash: a charming little arcade puzzler where you move colorful blocks to make chains and earn points/clear the board. There's a story mode where you can play through as different characters, and they're all super cute and funny. (iirc, the dialogue is all written by the creator of the webcomic Paranatural, and it shows!)

Some other random indie titles that come to mind:

LIMBO: a short, atmospheric horror platformer with some memorably dark, unsettling moments and pretty satisfying puzzles for such a short game. I first played this back in high school and for some reason it still sticks with me after all these years. It's also like $2 in the eShop right now, so. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (I believe the game Inside is from the same studio, and I remember enjoying watching a playthrough of it years ago, but I haven't played that one myself.)

Stardew Valley: I've never played this one on console, but I currently have 225 hours logged for it on Steam lol. It's a farm sim, but it also has a pretty robust cast of townsfolk who are really fun to get to know, and plenty of other things to occupy your time as well. Mining, dungeon delving, artifact collecting, and a nice little story about sticking it to the evil corporate overlords and bringing your community together.

Terraria: ditto to Stardew Valley, also with about 200 hours in my Steam account. This one is a 2D adventure platformer with procedurally generated worlds that you explore for resources that you can build or craft into whatever you like: combat gear, homes for your NPC neighbors, forbidden magicks to summon alien horrors--you name it! Can be played kind of sandboxy like a 2D Minecraft, or there is a long series of challenging and interesting bosses to encounter if you feel like uncovering secrets!

Untitled Goose Game: short puzzle game where you play as a goose gently terrorizing a suburban neighborhood. You've seen the memes. It was popular for a reason though--very charming and fun!

Castle Crashers: a classic beat-em-up with humor as cartoony as its visual style. Play as colorful knights on a quest to retrieve four princesses from an evil necromancer. Leans a tad much on toilet humor and the combat can be a little repetitive, but overall very silly and slapstick and super fun to play with friends.

Wingspan: this one's a little out of left field but I just remembered this is on Switch! I have the physical board game this is based on, and I highly recommend that, so I imagine the digital version is worth a look, too. It's a card-based strategy game where you collect bird species to compete for the best sanctuary. Once you get the hang of it, you can play a whole game in 30-45 minutes. Also, the art's gorgeous and the developers are based in my home state!

Aaaand some other misc classics worth mentioning:

Katamari Damacy: roll a sticky ball around and pick up objects. Then pick up bigger objects. Bigger! BIGGER!

Portal & Portal 2: solve puzzles with portable wormholes and survive the attentions of a mad AI. Excellent puzzles and legendary characters and humor.

most old Final Fantasy titles are available for relatively cheap, including 7, 8, and 9! I'm a fan of all of them. :}

Okami: adding this one last minute because I didn't realize it had a Switch port!! INCREDIBLE action rpg where you play as a sun goddess in the form of a wolf, fighting epic monster battles and restoring peace to ancient Japan. Gorgeous, fun, iconic.

...

Uh, and that's all I can think of for now! I tried to include some lesser-known stuff as well as some classic gems, so hopefully something catches your eye! I'm a little surprised the list is so short, but when it comes down to it I'm actually pretty Basic when it comes to my taste in video games lol--largely Pokemon and Zelda outside of this list tbh.

Merry Christmas and have fun gaming, anon!!

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this week (Year 4, week 2)

Napoleon, Ridley Scott's new sweeping epic. It's assumed that when a megalomaniac filmmaker (Abel Gance, Kubrick) becomes obsessed with the myth of "The Great Leader Napoleon", it's because they themselves are inflicted with delusions of grandeur of some kind. So it's not very interesting or relevant to us mortal people.

This is a beautifully-shot, rich with gorgeous tableaux showing the senselessness and chaos of war. The best thing it did was making me read about the history of French history in the first half of the 19th century. 4/10.

🍿  

2 tight French thrillers by Yann Gozlan:

🍿 I feel bored at the moment, and was looking for an intelligent thriller to break out my film lethargy. Somebody on r/truefilm suggested Black box, a French conspiracy thriller, similar to 'Three Days of the Condor' and 'The Parallax View'. I started watching it at 4AM, and gulped it all in one fell whoop. A sharp analyst at the French NTSB discovers small inconsistencies while investigating a plane crash. Terrific! 9/10.

🍿 Burn out was a more traditional crime action story about a semi-professional bike racer who gets involved with a gypsy cartel of drug-dealing goons. 5/10.

🍿

Another thriller, Black Mirror's longest (feature-length), and my most favorite and re-watched episode, Hated in the nation; "The attack of the killer ADI Bees". I knew that it was based on a personal experience that Charlie Brooker himself lived through. "Today I learnt" it was after a 2004 article he wrote, calling for the assassination of George W Bush. A perfect film! 10/10 for the 10th time.

🍿

George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead, my first AI-generated movie! (or rather a stand up). As a long time big fan of St. George, I was very skeptical, and it did take some getting used to. The uncanny valley incongruity of a not exactly right voice, not exactly sharp words as the dearly-departed political genius (Jesus Christ, had it been 15 years already!)

But as weird as it is, you could eventually ease into the rant, and imagine that this - more or less - is how he would respond in 2024 to today's wretched times. F. ex., his descriptions of the Shitting Trump (at 12:00) is right up there with the best of the Real Carlin. If this up-to-date artificial facsimile of his voice, attitude and opinions is all we can get today, I for one am grateful. (AI-generated Photo Above).

Actually, this experience was so unsettling, I had to watch it twice. And to even it out, I also listened again to his Complaints and Grievances from 2001, as well as some 2.5 hours 'tribute mix' of Carlin 'Top Hits', just to make sure...

🍿  

I need more Jean Renoir in my life! A Day in the Country is a perfect start. A light tale, based on a Guy de Maupassant story, which feels like a black & white painting by his father, Auguste Renoir. An innocent seductions one afternoon on the banks of the river Seine. So delightful, so nostalgic. 8/10.

🍿  

Jacques Demy X 2:

🍿  "We are a pair of twins / Born in the sign of Gemini..."

Another delightful re-watch: Demy's dreamy musical The Young Girls of Rochefort. Colorful tunes by Michel Legrand, and pastel dance numbers performed at the quintessentially romantic square of this fantasy town. The inspiration to La La Land. 9/10.

🍿 Demy's only American film, Model shop, a testimony to his love for Los Angeles, opens in Huntington Beach and follows aimless, young Gary Lockwood, so broke that he drives around looking to bum 100 bucks from somebody, to avoid his old MG convertible from being repossessed. It's considered a minor masterpiece, about two lost souls looking for love, but I found it dull and empty, and devoid of all magic. 2/10.

🍿  

“You’re a good man, sister…”

Re-watch, just for fun: John Huston Tough Man fantasy The Maltese Falcon, the original Film Noir. With Gutman "The fat man" as an early study for Noah Cross, and beautiful Femme fatale Mary Astor. The only strange role is Elisha Cook Jr. who didn't look like the Heavy, "Your boy here", under any circumstances.

There were two earlier adaptations of the story, which I haven't seen yet, but I will.

🍿  

Re-watch: Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave, a happy Oscar-winner Aardman studio classic, which first introduced Shaun the Sheep. I've forgotten that Gromit, Like Teller's, never speaks. 100% score on 'Rotten Tomatoes'.

🍿  

Coogan’s Bluff, the only (?) film where laconic outsider Clint Eastwood plays a fish-out-of-water in NYC, and the inspiration to Dennis Weaver's McCloud. Half-sheriff, half-cowboy from Arizona, he's sent to bring back an extradited convict. Not as misogynistic and reactionary as Dirty Harry, he's still a sexist He-man, always horny and creepily pushes himself on any skirt around, whether they like it or not. This being Don Siegel, they love it. 2/10.

🍿  

2 music documentaries:

🍿 "..You probably wandering why I'm here / And so am I, so am I..."

I was a big Zappa fan since the outrageousness of 'Freak out!' in the late 60's. I even started a Zappa side-blog in 2003 on 'Grow-a-brain' [where most of the links are dead today]. So Alex Winter's moving Zappa documentary was right up my alley. Groundbreaking avant-garde experimentalist, a committed modern composer, who was so beloved in the Czech Republic. 8/10.

🍿 On the other hand, Greenwich Village - Music that defined a generation was bland and uninspired. The story about the part of 60s music that wasn't Laurel Canyon. Based on the memoirs of Bob Dylan's girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, and including snippets of performers, from Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Richard and Mimi Fariña, Kris Kristofferson, to Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, and dozen others. 2/10.

*Woman Director

🍿

"This is nuclear war!"

The 1967 documentary Oscar winner, the BBC-produced The War Game was more of a Mondo mockumentary. Like 'Threads' which came 2 decades later, it brutally describes the horrifying effects of a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain. Its bleak hopelessness caused so much "mayhem" in the British government, that it was promptly withdrawn from broadcasting screening. Unvarnished horror, total devastation, destruction & misery, undiluted.

🍿  

Always interested in good stories about the 'End of the world', I thought I’ll also try the new HBO series The last of us, knowing full well that I'm not big on zombies, and also never having played 'any' computer games. I soldiered through the first feature-length episode, but found it so uninspiring and mechanical, so devoid of any real emotions, I had to bail out before continuing. An adaptation of a video game, with all the depth of a stupid comic book? Or simply not for me? 1/10.

🍿  

4 shorts:

🍿 Krzysztof Kieslowski's Talking Heads, in which he asks a baby: 'What year were you born? Who are you? What do you most wish for?' The baby doesn't answer, so he keeps asking other people, each older by a year or two, until he ends with the answer of a 100-year-old woman. Simple and profound. 9/10.

🍿 The hand, a classic 1965 Czechoslovak stop motion puppet animation film, an anti-totalitarian parable.

🍿  Never Weaken, Harold Lloyd’s last 3-reeler before he moved on to feature length production, and another of his comedies where he dangles from high buildings.

🍿 The babbling book, my first (?) formulaic short with George Burns and Gracie Allen. I guess they were all structured like this, the two meet in a certain locale, (this time in a bookstore), exchange jokes for 10 minutes, she talks fast and delivers all the zingers, and he plays the straight man. M'eh.

🍿

David Ehrlich's annual The 25 Best Films of 2023: A Video Countdown. So far I've seen 12 of them, and was planning to see 6 more.

🍿  

3 movies I couldn’t finish:

🍿 Vox published a relevant article this week about Leon Uris's bestseller 'Exodus' (and the 1960 Paul Newman adaptation of it). How influential it was in shaping the views of Americans in regards to Israel and the middle east. I have vivid memories from when I was 8 staying at my grandmother's tiny apartment in Haifa. She listened to the Adolf Eichmann's trial on the radio, and she used to read to me excerpts from 'Exodus', which she received as serials in thin pamphlets printed on cheap newsprint paper - in Yiddish.

So that prompted me to try and watch this 3+ hours long piece of Zionist Agitprop Cheese about the founding of the state of Israel. But even after 3 attempts I could only get 26 minutes in, before having to give it up.

🍿 From the few roles I've seen him, I developed a physical dislike to actor Jake Johnson, but I love Anna Kendrick, so I gave his new Self Reliance a shot. The trailer opened with an amusing scene where Andy Samberg invites the loser Johnson to join him for a limo ride. But that was the only cute or interesting scene in the whole first half of that unfunny 'comedy'. Pass!

🍿 The Diary of a Teenage Girl, an explicit story about 15-year-old girl who becomes sexually active by starting a relationship with her mother's boyfriend, Alexander Skarsgård, made by all-female team. But I went back to it 3 times, and could not watch more than 20 minutes.

*Woman Director

🍿  

Throw-back to the "Art project”:  

Zombies Adora.

🍿  

(My complete movie list is here)

[just-a-gamer-daydeamer-girl]

I have an entire rant locked and loaded on why sparks of hope was so disappointing in many ways. As someone who loves storytelling, video games and Rayman, I have a burning anger towards the game. But it ultimately boils down to: sparks of hope had pretty much no charm or heart in it.

‘The Rabbids are actually characters now that they can talk’

They WERE characters before they could talk! You don’t need words to have personality!

There were SO many things they could’ve done, but they for some reason, (game dev is a troubling prossess, it may have not been the creators fault) we got a very watered down game.

It’s not just the Rabbids! There is no other species besides Rabbids in the game despite it being inspidered by Mario galaxy where are the giant bees? most of the planets are generic, based on the sessions except the barren one that was destroyed by Rabbids making a recovery, and somehow that is still boring.

The cutscene despite being cute aren’t really that special besides a few moments, the enemys don’t even get introduction cutscenes or splash screens!

Edge, was kinda robbed of actual character deleopment. She was just and edgy (pun intended if you want it to be) girl.

There went really any stakes, presented to the heroes.

The gameplay had a lot of arg removed or made critical hits less satisfying. It was just dull, the gameplay in kingdom battle wasn’t just fun it was funny. Sparks of hope didn’t make me want to replay it once it was over, I mostly tried to avoid fights.

It was like the creators wanted to make a epic funny adventure, but for some reason they were denied of putting anything interesting or funny in the game. They didn’t want anyone to be mad so they made the most inoffensive, generic story out there.

Don’t even get me started on the bosses and dlc!

I’ll just make a list starting with the bosses in the main game:

First boss just a giant version of an enemy you will counter allot later on, basically a hp sponge.

Midnight is a pretty cool boss, but she mostly just changes the stage.

Bedrock is kinda basic. Just lure here onto the obvious spots without dying.

A classic Mario enemy wiggler overtaken by darkmess, is actually kinda cool! But I feel like they could’ve run with more.

Daphne is basically midnight 2.0

Just browser with a bigger health bar

Just edge with a bigger health bar

Cursa… too many characters to control at once, I know what they were going for, but going through the entirety of the game controlling 3 sometimes 4 characters, 9 is too much.

Tower of doom:

Kinda the same thing of the main game.

Didn’t really give me a good reason to reply after a beat it once

Spawny was only in this as a reason to go to the tower. Literally nothing else. Sure he was motivation in the last game but we actually saw him interact with browser jr. here he just gets captured and waves goodbye once rescued. We don’t even hear him talk.

The last spark hunter

Feels more like cut content from the main game that they patched worked in later.

The gardens are cool. But they are kinda unsettling. I wouldn’t mind it if it wasn’t still quite when you beat kanya. It’s still kinda creepy.

Kanya is kinda a cool boss fight but I kinda wanted her to fight without her mech as a last ditch effort to beat you.

The boat part is annoying

Rayman in the phantom show

The big return of one of my favorite characters, the new model is amazing, but I kinda expected, and wanted more.

Look at the timestap from DK’s dlc cutscenes, now look at this dlc cutscenes. See the problem?

Rayman was kinda too quick to trust and befriend Rabbid Mario and Rabbid peach, don’t get me wrong I want them to be friends but I kinda wanted the friendship to be Earned not ‘wow I guess you guys really are heroes! We’re friends now!’ Come on, people started loving Rayman cuz of his character and expressions. Give us more interactions! Let Rayman be weary of the Rabbids. Honestly people who aren’t heroes calling themselves ‘heroes’ as a way to prove their trustworthiness without doing anything heroic yet is something that gets on my nerves.

Sets were fun, but nobody in game commented on anything, that was kinda something really charming in both this game and sparks of hope.

There are more but I’ll save them for another time.

This game had so much potential, I had so much hope for it. Only to play it blind and slowly but surely find it a drag to play, my story telling self getting irked at the terrible dialog, my artist self getting suprised (in a bad way) when I saw the patter of season planets, the fun moments few in far between.

Sure there is a more open world, but I think that’s one of the reasons the game kinda lacked, it’s a lot more difficult to make a wide space in a game interesting then a strait line.

And yea we got more dlc in this then In kingdom battle, but quantity doesn’t equal quality in fact because they had to make more dlc their resources were spread thin instead of focusing it all on one thing.

As someone who is researching video game design, I know it’s not easy to make a game, even in a triple A company. Ubisoft is a really questionable at best alot of the time. But those are reasons, not excuses for this mess.

I’ll just keep those remaining sparks of hope I have for the possible next game.

And the Rewrite fan comic I have in my head for now. (Might work on it in the future)

Thank you for reading my rant!

The cult's opinion on modern rabbids

[tolkienlockian]

Permanently Stained

A/N: This small one-shot was inspired by this fanart made by the wonderful and talented @esli-thoughts, thank you so much for allowing me to write a fanfic based on your art. Given the epic chaos that’s the final season of Attack on Titan, I wanted to write something about one of the most pivotal moments in the story for me, which is the moment our characters realize that the fight is against humans too. Contains small Jeansasha content because I can and because I love my babies.

Warning: contains mentions of blood, murder, and MAJOR angst because these poor babies can’t catch a break

_____________________________________________________________

It all comes back in the night.

The guilt.

The realization of what she did.

The consequences of her actions.

The sickening feeling of blood on her hands despite the fact that they didn’t literally get stained with blood in the first place.

Everything that was temporarily forgotten in the fire of the battle against Rod Reiss’ Titan and the joy of Historia’s following coronation.

But even though she tried to push all this in the back of her mind and focus on the situation at hand, they surely didn’t forget her. They kept circling in her head like malevolent ghosts, waiting for one moment of vulnerability to attack with all their might.

To make the memory of her taking another woman’s life for the first time, back in the underground Reiss cavern, a permanent thought in her mind that’s already being haunted by everything she has seen ever since she witnessed the very first Titan attack.

She rubs her hands together as if attempting to dry invisible stains of blood from her skin while the crisp night air cools the sweat that’s being formed on her forehead, though it does nothing to chase away the impression that she wants to throw up as she remembers the moment the Interior Police woman fell dead by her hand.’

She tries to tell herself that she did what she had to do. That she saved Connie that way. That it was a kill-or-be-killed situation, just like Captain Levi had warned them. That she was raised as a huntress and has taken lives before. That she may hate herself right now for this, but during that showdown in the cave, she did what was necessary in order to ensure her friends’ survival as well as her own.

And all these arguments may hold some truth, but there is something so gruesome in taking a human life; the knowledge that she deliberately killed someone’s daughter, mother or wife.

It feels like a loss of innocence, like a point of no return. A rite of passage that has nothing to do with the rite of passage she went through as a child, when she killed an animal for the first time and was so shocked afterwards that she cried in her mother’s hug for hours.

That’s what terrifies her the most.

She doesn’t know how this will change and shape her in the long run, and this scares her so much that thick tears run down her cheeks, and she squeezes her hands even tighter, hoping for oblivion to settle in so she can forget once more, so she stops feeling the blood on her that’s being combined with the realization that she grew up suddenly.

“Let it all out, Sasha.”

Jean’s voice joining her, gentle and understanding, startles her, makes her flinch and leave a sound that’s between a surprised gasp and a desperate sob; but she doesn’t look up when she feels Jean kneeling in front of her and even taking her hands in his in a comforting grip. Quite the contrary, the fact that he is grabbing her hands—the very same hands which, in her mind, are covered in another person’s blood—and the fact that he doesn’t snap at her to get a freaking grip is even more unsettling, since she didn’t expect his compassion in a situation like this. She hides her head between her knees as her shoulders shake harder due to her crying, unable to meet his gaze and face whatever emotions he has towards her after what she did.

“Hey, now…” He insists, and he releases his one hand from hers to slowly lift her head and make her look at him.

And Sasha immediately realizes that her fear of him hating her for having killed someone isn’t responding to reality, for she sees in his eyes the same haunted look she knows her own eyes have. She mentally scolds herself for thinking that way because of course Jean know exactly how she’s feeling and isn’t judging her.

After all, he killed someone for the first time in this cursed cavern as well.

And knowing Jean, Sasha is certain that this eats him up way more than he will ever admit. This, together with the painful, unspoken conclusion that this will happen again sooner or later; that they will end up in circumstances that will make them kill again.

“They’re permanently stained with blood…aren’t they?” She whispers and Jean sighs and offers her a sad smile as he absentmindedly caresses her knuckles, knowing only too well that she doesn’t mean it literally.

“Yes.” He nods, his voice having a matter-of-factly yet sorrowful tone, and Sasha appreciates how he doesn’t sugarcoat his answer for her with fake words. “And so are mine.” He adds with a bitter chuckle, as if he has too given some thought to how this will change him.

Yet right now, as Sasha weakly leans on him and rests her head on her shoulder like she needs a constant to hold on to, and as Jean lightly rests his own hand at the back of her head and lightly caresses her hair, all she can think of that she is not alone in this; that her friends experienced the exact same rite of passage and that they too face the same anguish.

She will face how this will turn out for her in the future, when the change comes.

In the end, she has no choice but to move forward.

Tagging @esli-thoughts on whose fanart this fanfic was based

[eliz-elai-rigel-star]

Own rating and opinion on the Sky: COTL realms (Ratings based on personal preference)

Isle: -/10 (CANNOT BE RATED) Has absolutely nothing besides a lot of wonders for a little moth. It has some good lore stuff but its literally just S A N D

Prairie: 5/10 Has a wide area with a lot of wax, has a good vibe to it, very beautiful landscape. Its a social hub for many players and feels like the widest realm. But the BRIGHTNESS…..IT . BURNS . MY . EYES.

Forest: 6/10 Good atmosphere and relaxing melancholic music, gives you a sense of being lost (which is wonderful to me). The whole place is chill and depressing, and we got forest mama. Collecting wax isn't boring due to many trees, and there are accessible shortcuts. Rain is annoying but fitting, I JUST HATE THE DOORS THAT WONT OPEN. SERIOUSLY FOREST MAMA, WHY CAN'T YOU FIX YOUR DOORS, YOU HONKING MADE THEM.

Valley: 3/10 Yeah, yeah, its epic and glorious and very into fine arts. We got the most beautiful seasons here and it has THE BEST architectures in Sky. Collecting wax is Krill-Dung, the races are supposed to be fun, but I don't find them efficient wax methods. AND I HATE THE SNOW, JUST 50 SECONDS STEPPING ON THAT REALM AND MY FACE IS BURIED IN THICK SNOW BECAUSE I SLIPPED ON ICE.

Wasteland: 1/10 Has the most interesting stories, has a spooky and chilling feel to it. Very apocalyptic and lore based, has the most unsettling music (which I love). BUT MY GOOD ELDERS- I TRY TO COME FOR WAX AND I COME BACK WITH BATTLE SCARS FROM KRILLS. THE CRABS ARE HONKING KRILL-DUNG.

Vault: 999/10 Has the most chilling and epic music that brings tears to my eyes. Has a lot of candle cakes for fast candle runs, and is very small. Very very….uhhh- SUPERB! Very good transition form Wasteland-Vault-Eden. Most chilling moments in here, its like a mini summary of your adventures across the realms. Has my favorite color palette and scholarly vibe, and has my favorite area which is Starlight dessert. I LOVE IT…..well except the 5 player doors.

Eden: -666/10 ……………I hate it

[Bonus Entry]

Orbit: HALLELUJAH/10 I cry tears of joy when I get here, the MUSIC AAAAAAAHHHHH. (I don't rebirth often so its very memorable to me)

[katieskarlette]

My WoW Villains Tier List

Kakio made a WoW villains Tier List, and I filled out my version here.  This is based completely on my own preferences and interests, not on their power level or even necessarily their impact on lore.  My personal biases toward the black dragonflight are very much in evidence.  ;)

S-Tier:  

Arthas --  Doesn’t really need an explanation.  He’s iconic.  His theme music, the epic cinematics, his personal connections to so many other characters, the wide impact the Scourge had on Azeroth, the Shakespearean fall of a shining hero into a despicable villain...he is THE villain.

Illidan --  Villain, anti-hero, whatever he is, I love the smarmy, snarky bastard.  He has ridiculous schemes and fails a lot, but he never gives up, and he never asks his underlings to do things he wouldn’t do himself.

Nefarian --  His high ranking is definitely due to my extensive headcanons and fanfics, but really, how can you not enjoy a mad scientist dragon?

Denathrius  --  I’ve said it many times, he should have been the headlining villain of Shadowlands.  He may be a new character, but he’s got deep ties to past lore through the dreadlords in a way that feels way more organic than “the Jailer was scheming behind the scenes all the time.”  His aesthetic is badass, and I’m a sucker for suave, haughty villains.

Deathwing --  I’d rank him higher than low S-Tier if only more of the scheming, clever character from the books appeared in-game. I still love the big fiery galoot, though.

A-Tier:  

Kael’thas  -- I almost put him in S-Tier, but settled for high A.  He’s a complex character with a rich history, understandable motivations, and a gorgeous aesthetic. 

Azshara  --  She deserved her own expansion, not just a tier of BfA.  Ancient, brilliant, immensely powerful, confident, cunning, beautiful, elegant, ruthless...she’s got it all.

Onyxia --  I wanted to rank her higher due to the aforementioned black dragonflight bias, but she got edged out by her big brother simply because I like his personality more.  She certainly deserves A-Tier, though.

Kil’jaeden --  He had a long, significant history in the lore, and his personal past with Velen and Archimonde made him compelling.

Garrosh -- His story got so much development from TBC through WoD that,  although his swerve into villainy wasn’t as smoothly depicted as it could have been, he earned his time in the spotlight instead of just appearing out of nowhere.

Gul’dan --  Truly the most evil guy in the cosmos.  A lot of other villains I both love and love to hate.  Gul’dan is only the latter, but he’s so good at being unapologetically horrible that he earns my respect.  (R.I.P. Varian, though.)

B-Tier:  

Sylvanas:  She’d be A-Tier if it wasn’t for the endless fandom drama about her, and the way Blizzard dangled her mysterious master plan in front of us for years only to have to it amount to...well, Shadowlands.

N’Zoth -- Hugely significant in lore and tied to my beloved black dragonflight, but given a disappointing finale (for now) in game.

Yogg-Saron --  Was felt all over Northrend and added a different kind of unsettling creepiness to WotLK over and above what the army of the undead provided.

Kel’Thuzzad --  Interesting backstory, long history in lore, lots of personality, and he loves his kitty cat.  LOL

C-Tier: 

Sargeras --  Powerful, yes.  Iconic, yes.  Fleshed out individually?  Not so much.

Ragnaros -- Too much nostalgia to rank any lower than C-Tier, but “Bwahahaha burn burn burn” as a personality/motivation only gets you so far.

Archimonde --  Not as charismatic or interesting as Kil’Jaeden, but still a big deal.

C’thun -- Not as much individual personality as Yogg-Saron and N’Zoth, but AQ is epic and the vanilla nostalgia is strong.  Plus those whispers are still legitimately creepy.

Lei Shen -- Unique kind of villain, cool lightning aesthetic, but didn’t have any influence outside of his own expansion.

D-Tier:  

Grom Hellscream -- DrAeNor iZ FrEe!!!!1  Sigh.  So much wasted potential and such an undeserved “redemption,” if you can even call it that

Millhouse Manastorm --  He’s amusing in small doses, and he gets points for not being a hyper-masculine hulk like so many villains, but the memes are getting old at this point.

Argus --  He was there.  We fought him.  There were mild feels about how he’s been tortured and twisted for millenia.  He died.  Okay.  On to the next thing.

F-Tier:  

Zovaal --  Surprise, surprise.  He had potential and I really wanted to like him, but holy cow did he fall flat.  I could rant at length, but I won’t.

[deathwishy]

×MARTIAN AU×

It was April 1st and, according to plan, every hero from the Young Justice was present. Perfect.

It was hard, but Marinette and Tim managed to bring everyone together for the biggest prank in Young Justice history. Of course, their team mates didn't know that. Except Miss Martian. She found out by accident and they had to take her in, but it turned out to be the best decision ever.

It all began with a ghost story two months prior. They were already planning and Miss Martian was just brought in. They decided that it was the perfect moment to plant the seed of fear and doubt in their hearts.

It started out as an innocent game night. Most of their team was present except for Kaldur, Artemis, Wally and Bart. With conspiratorial looks, M'gann suggested watching a horror movie, saying that she didn't see one yet. The team agreed, suggesting a modern one with good graphics, as a good introduction to the genre. After the movie came to an end, M'gann snorted loudly, instantly attracting the attention of the team, without looking like it was her intention.

"What's the matter?" Asked Dick, grabbing the remote and stopping the movie at the credits. M'gann blushed.

"It's nothing, it's just... We had nursery rhymes scarier than this."

"Oh?" Demanded Superboy. "Do tell."

Tim and Marinette locked gazes when no one was looking and grinned maniacally.

"Well, there is a legend, which my brother told me, that kept me awake for months. The story itself is not that scary but the concept and the fact that it turned out to be real did a number on me."

And so the story began. It was a genuine Martian story but it was not real, as M'gann was claiming. It was about a being called a Raggan'aaz. A shadow being that walked Mars long before the Martians and dwelled in the caverns deep below the surface. They lived for long and wouldn't die of natural causes, only if killed. When the White and Green Martians came around, they were hunt down, but a few still remained. After that,hey craved Martian blood but they were also very careful and patient. After all, they wouldn't die because of old age. As years passed, they became a myth but still very alive in Martian culture. They even had a rhyme to remind the children to stay out of their supposed caverns, where people would still disappear. 'Stay, my child, away from dark/ Or The Martian will claim his mark/ Stay away from places long forbidden/ And beware the red eyes in darkness hidden.'

"Wait, you called him The Martian?" Asked Superboy, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, they were supposed to be the first Martians. And so the title of The Martians came to the beasts. This is a translation from my language, Raggan'aaz is the original term. Now let me finish."

Raggan'aaz were predators. It was said that they would stalk their prey for weeks, months, some said even years, before engaging. The prey would even go insane by the time they were killed, drove into madness by the beasts whispers and taunts. They wanted to imbue the flesh of their victim with the taste of fear. Of terror. Once they had a target in mind, they would not let go until it was dead.

"It's not that scary." Dick said, grinning and crossing his arms.

"Maybe not for you, but our people tend to beware when they see red in the darkness, shadows with the corners of their eyes or hear whispers without anybody nearby."

"Maybe people were just going insane."

"Maybe." M'gann shrugged and stood up. "I'll go to sleep now, good night."

The team felt just a tad bit uneasy but they blamed that on the movie. They didn't know that it was Miss Martian, suggesting a little fear on the psychic link. Nothing serious. The three weren't planning on permanently scaring their team.

Since then, Marinette told Trixx, who was extatic, to create illusions around the base. They kept them out of missions, they didn't want to create real problems. The tamer were nothing much, a shadow, a pair of glowing red eyes that were visible just for a second here and there, the more unsettling ones were a few babbling but ominous sounding whispers in the halls at night. M'gann made sure to get each member alone when Trixx made the illusions, guiding the kwami while invisible. When Kaldur, Artemis, Bart and Wally mentioned these things, the tension in the team only grew tighter. By the time April 1st came around, the Young Justice believed that they were hunt down by a Raggan'aaz.

                               ...

"I think it's bullshit. Everything began after M'gann told you that goddamn story." Started Bart a month later, looking around.

"Look, it's nothing, maybe the story was a bit more unsettling than we thought it was. Now we are just seeing things that are not there." Dick countered, waving around a cookie.

"Maybe she's pranking us." Pointed Artemis, plopping on the sofa. Wally followed her, snuggling next to her.

"Yeah, no, she's cool and all but she's not a prankster." Said Wally dismissively.

Tim and Marinette were watching from the side, trying not to laugh. It was a stupid prank but that's why it would work. But they would need a fourth player. Someone that would be trusted about Martian information and that was usually serious enough to be believed about serious stuff. They needed J'onn J'onzz.

The three cornered him when he visited the base a few days later, away from the rest.

"We need your help." M'gann began, flashing a smile. After a few seconds J'onn frowned slightly. M'gann only smiled wider.

"It's one of the most ridiculous plans I've ever heard. How did three of the smartest heroes in here come up with it? And why?" Now M'gann was listening too. She got on board but didn't know why they wanted this.

"We need to get back at them from what they did six months ago."

"When they threw us in a panic room and didn't let us out until we confessed our feelings for each other." Tim smiled at Marinette, taking her in a side hug and kissing her on the head. She blushed a little and just snugged closer.

"It worked out for us, in the end, but we can't let that slide. This is war."

"And yes, it is a stupid plan and a very stupid prank but that's why it will work."

"They will expect something elaborate from us, so this is the way to go. They will not know what hit them."

J'onn considered for a few seconds. That may work. He wouldn't usually partake in such a childish endeavor but he was curious about the outcome. The Raggan'aaz were mere folklore but they were terrifying, especially for Martian children. Human children may be just the same.

"Very well. I am curious about the outcome. What do you need me to do?"

The fearsome trio smirked. This would be epic.

After they briefed J'onn and set the date, a week from then, and dispersed. Tim couldn't believe that they convinced J'onn to do it, Marinette was thrilled about it and M'gann was giggling like an idiot.

A week later, J'onn J'onzz stumbled from the zeta tube, disheveled and clearly unsettled but otherwise not obviously harmed. He was clutching his side and he was limping but that was it.

"What the hell happened?" Dick was the first one to get to J'onn, helping him on a chair.

"I... Am not quite sure myself." He turned his eyes to M'gann, who was checking him for injures, playing her role flawlessly. "If I didn't know better I would have said it was a Raggan'aaz."

Bart dropped his phone, Kaldur and Artemis flinched, Superboy whipped his head around, until then being in a conversation with Dick, who looked queasy. The rest of the team had varying reactions.

"Bullshit." Blurted Artemis.

"It's real?!" Screamed Marinette, looking at M'gann, who was now becoming more pale by the second. With a little help from her powers.

"I told you it was real!"

"We thought it was just a crazy legend! What the hell?" Screamed Wally pulling at his hair.

The team was now full in full hysterics.

"I think you summoned it." Said Garfield in a matter of factly tone.

"What is that?" Asked J'onn with a neutral tone, but with a hint of concern. He was good.

"The Martian, Raggan'aaz, he's been prowling around this place for weeks. I didn't actually think it was one of the beasts, I told the team the story just because I saw some things that reminded me of them and thought it would be funny. It didn't pass my mind that an actual Raggan'aaz would be on earth. I think he was looking for you. How did you even escape him?" Asked M'gann, now breathing hard.

That was something that they came up with a few days ago, when they were brainstorming ideas to make the story more believable. J'onn approved when they talked after, seemingly stoic as ever, but M'gann told them that he will be definitely laughing after the call ended.

"I don't think I was his actual prey, otherwise I wouldn't have had a chance. I think is someone else, but I wouldn't be surprised if he tried a second time."

"We have to tell the Justice League, this is bad." Now Nightwing looked alarmed.

"Calm down. We are not 100% sure this is a Raggan'aaz. Maybe M'gann's story is getting to your heads. My encounter may have been a misunderstanding, it would not be the first time another Martian impersonated a Raggan'aaz. I will investigate the situation but I advise you to be vigilant."

That seemed to calm the team down, if only for a bit. Tim was hugging Marinette, his face hidden in her hair to hide his smile. He could feel her smile too in his chest. M'gann was keeping it together very well, talking with J'onn in hushed tones as she led him to the zeta tubes. Tim was now looking at Superboy, who looked uneasy. He was listening. Good. Let him fan the flames. The asshole was the one to throw them in the panic room.

April 1st, The Young Justice Base of Operation

The team was tense and paranoid but not very much above the normal level. All the heroes were tense and paranoid most of the time.

There have been no sightings of the Raggan'aaz since J'onn has been 'attacked' but no one feels out of the hook yet. They have been questioning M'gann relentlessly but she quite enjoyed sharing bits of her culture, all real facts that could be woven easily into the lie but would stand on their own when the prank was done. She liked her small victories.

As they planned, the team was afraid but not so afraid that it would start affecting them or that they would feel the need to further consult with the League about it. Martian Manhunter knew so the others must know too, or so the youngsters assumed.

In the morning something could be felt in the air, besides the smell of pancakes. It was a bit of Trixx's and Plagg's magic, a bit of mischief sprinkled in the air.

Tim, M'gann and Marinette were in the kitchen that morning, nothing unusual. Marinette and M'gann were making pancakes and Tim was drinking his much needed coffee. He had to be wide awake. They already bugged the whole base but nothing can beat the real thing.

As the team was lured into the kitchen, the Raggan'aaz made his appearance.

"I'm smelling Dupain-Cheng pancakes. This is the best 'Welcome back after 6 months in space' gift I could have hoped for." Adrien was practically skipping in the kitchen, stealing one of the plates. He then drowned them in syrup and whipping cream.

"Jesus Christ Adrien, stop, you'll get sick."

"Worth it."

"You came back a week ago. I've made pancakes then."

"Did you hear what I said? 6 months. I'm planning on making up for the lost time."

"I'm heading for the gym. Feel free to join me." Tim said, kissing Marinette. She giggled and winked.

The others either cooed or made gagging sounds. Adrien was grinning. He was the main Timari shipper. A few seconds after Tim left, there was screaming in the hall. Perfect timing.

When they saw the scene in the hall, the team freezed. There, before Tim, was something resembling a White Martian, but only in form. His skin was a dark red riddled with black veins, long white claws, a mouth full of gleaming yellow teeth and red eyes that looked like they could set you on fire. The beast almost reached 10 feet, but hen it went on all fours. Trixx had really outdone herself. Tim had his Bo staff out but kept his distance. After all, the illusion would fall as soon as they touched him so they had to make the most of it.

"What the hell is that?!" Screamed Adrien calling for his transformation. Nobody saw Plagg's grin.

"Raggan'aaz." Said Nightwing, pulling out his escrima sticks. They cracked with electricity. He looked ready to puke.

Artemis was swearing along with Wally, Kaldur looked like he might run, Garfield turned into a rhyno, looking terrified but ready to punce.

The beast groweled something that made M'gann gasp.

"He said that his mark is on all of us. We are his prey."

It was all they needed to attack. The speedsters tried to get to him first but the thing was just as fast, if not faster. After all, it didn't obey any laws of physics, it was just an illusion. Marinette was already transformed but she, M'gann and Tim were sitting on the sides looking like they were waiting for an opening. When it almost got cornered the Raggan'aaz jumped on the ceiling and then out of the room. With a battle cry, the team followed it. The three stayed behind, not trusting themselves to not laugh. There were a lot of screams and thuds but after a few minutes it went quiet.

When the young heroes strolled in, with the most betrayed faces they have ever seen, the three burst out laughing. They couldn't even speak for a few minutes.

"Was any of it true?" Asked Nightwing with his 'dissapointed big brother' face™.

"Only the story." Said M'gann gasping for air.

"How did you get J'onn on it?"

"Pretty easy actually, he didn't have that much to do so he agreed. It helps to be among his favorites." Replied Tim grinning. He was still clinging to a giggling Marinette.

"Why?" Asked Adrien with a pained look on his face.

" Panic room." The couple said at the same time.

"But that worked out!" Adrien shouted indignated.

"It did, but this was war. We needed to retaliate."

The Justice League heard about the war from J'onn after it was done and they thoroughly enjoyed the clips Tim sent them. They unanimously decided to not cross Tim and Marinette. The two could conquer the world if they weren't so sleep deprived.

Ok, so this was written at 3 AM and there might be some inconsistencies but please enjoy my best shot at this prompt.

This is set after season 2 of Young Justice and before season 3 but Wally is still alive because he never died in my heart.

This came later than I would've liked but civilian lives are a pain.

@timari-month-event

[the-mechanisms]

The Mechanisms - Other Projects

The Mechanisms are dead, long live The Mechanisms! Curious about our solo projects?

Jonny “D’Ville” Sims writes the unsettling and award winning horror fiction anthology podcast “The Magnus Archives”, and also plays the narrator “Jonathan Sims” (sounds familiar…) You can find it here if you need more of more of his terrifying imagination and storytelling. Follow him on twitter @jonnywaistcoat for all his exploits.

The Toy Soldier as Jessica Law has an impressive discography which can be found here on bandcamp and all your favourite streaming services. Follow her on twitter, facebook, or sign up to her mailing list to keep up to date with her latest madcap schemes. Her newest project is musical storytelling concept album based on the bizarre Italian epic poem Orlando Furioso - get a taste here. 

Kofi Young still has stories to tell, beginning with a final farewell to Marius. Keep an eye out for Kofi’s upcoming album, working title “The Death of Byron von Raum.” It’s a potentially dangerous blend of Folk rock and Mecha anime. Until then, check out his song “Shrove Tuesday” on Bandcamp

“Gunpowder” Tim Ledsam makes music with the most musical software company Softwire along with our very own Drumbot - find them on Spotify or Bandcamp. The duo also have an album in the pipeline tentatively titled “Wizards, Wizards, Wizards”, and have an as-yet unnamed band in the works with some non-crew members.

The ever prolific Drumbot Ben Below has written a song a week without without missing a beat since 2016. Listen to them on Bandcamp and you might hear some other Mechanisms pop up too. And not limiting himself to just one timespan, he also wrote an album in a month as part of a similar, but entirely different, songwriting challenge - which can be found on streaming services. And if you were ever curious about the Drumbot’s infamous morality switch then more will be revealed in his upcoming album, working title “The Wanderings of Drumbot Brian”

Raphaella La Cognizi and the Drumbot have teamed up to release an album in the genre of “sad robot” which can be found on their bandcamp. R L Cognizi/Hughes also has more sci-fi concept music to share with her album “Lolina: Origins” with all your favourite Mechanisms collaborators. If you follow her facebook some news is rumoured to arrive shortly of a new album that is shockingly not set in space. And if you’re interested in her day job supporting the next generation of LGBTIQA+ young musicians in Oxford, the birthplace of The Mechanisms, find out more here: https://www.facebook.com/mynormaloxford/ and throw some money to the noble cause if you like here: http://www.ark-t.org/welcome-to-the-ark-t-centre/support-us/supporting-the-ark-t/