#you can choose whether to play the black or the white storyline

[antirepurp]

i forgot the pokemon direct happened and i haven't watched it but i know people wanted and didn't get unova remakes to which i say how do you think those would even work. gen5 is the one generation where you can't ignore the definitive editions without causing a ruckus because they're sequels. do you think gamefreak is going to make 4 slightly different games and release them all at once? no they'll do the first games and pretend bw2 isn't real. certainly they could bundle the first ones with their sequels but egads that would mean you have two games in one and we can't have that that's like having two savefiles in one game! like sorry fellas but i don't think they can touch gen5 they got too much right in that generation

[misssimreno]

Fine Line Legacy Challenge

Sims 4 x Harry Styles 💓 Welcome to a legacy challenge inspired by various Harry Styles songs! This challenge was created by myself and my friend Amy because who doesn’t want to see this kind of crossover? This is a 10 generation legacy challenge with a threaded storyline inspired by songs off of Harry’s self-titled album “Harry Styles (2017)” and “Fine Line (2019)”.

Basic Rules:

You can select who will be the heir for the next generation. There are no restrictions on how many children each heir can have!

Unless exclusively outlined in a generation’s rules, you can marry or divorce whomever and do so as often as you’d like.

No money cheats can be used except for when you move in your very first heir in Generation One (freerealestate on).

You MUST complete all aspects for each generation before moving to the next one.

It is up to you whether or not you want aging on or what lifespan you wish to play on (playing on the normal lifespan could be an added challenge!).

There is an optional aspiration to complete for each generation.

If you choose to play this legacy challenge, post using the hashtag #finelinelegacy for us to see! 💓

Gen 1. "Carolina"

You left your small hometown for the big city of San Myshuno. Having grown up under your grandmother's roof with few simoleons to go around, you are pining for excitement, adventure, and a chance to make it big and become a star. As a Young Adult, you packed your bags and rented a "needs TLC" apartment in the Arts District.

Traits: Ambitious, Bookworm, Creative Aspiration: World Famous Celebrity Career: Musical Genius

Rules:

Reach Level 10 of the Entertainer Career (Musician Branch)

Complete the World Famous Celebrity

Reach Level 10 of the Guitar and Piano skills

Reach Level 5 of the Singing skill

Must start in a needs TLC apartment in San MyShuno

OPTIONAL: Complete the City Native Aspiration

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Gen 2. "Kiwi"

You grew up around fame and fortune, but it has left you feeling a bit empty and unfulfilled. Determined to make a name for yourself and step out from your parent's shadow, you've decided to pursue a different craft - acting. You really love cacti and the color black.

Traits: Non-Committal, Hot-Headed, Self-Absorbed Aspiration: Master Actress/Actor Career: Actor

Rules:

Reach Level 10 of the Actor Career

Complete the Master Actress/Actor Aspiration

Reach Level 10 of the Charisma and Acting skills

Reach Level 5 of the Baking skill

Have at least ONE (1) child out of wedlock

OPTIONAL: Complete the Party Animal Aspiration

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Gen 3. "Sweet Creature"

After having been in the public eye your whole life, surrounded by scandal, you seek simplicity, tranquility, and a way to plant new roots for your family. Speaking of family, you feel quite distant from your parents and hope to foster a strong bond with your own children. You always put family first, though your marriage may suffer some strain.

Traits: Family-Oriented, Loner, Cheerful Aspiration: Big Happy Family Career: Education (Professor Branch)

Rules:

Reach Level 10 of the Education Career (Professor Branch)

Complete the Big Happy Family Aspiration

Reach Level 10 of the Research & Debate and Charisma skills

Reach Level 5 of the Logic and Gardening skills

Sustain a garden of at least five (5) unique plants of Great quality

OPTIONAL: Complete the Soulmate Aspiration

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Gen 4. "Golden"

You always knew you were destined for greatness. Your intellect has opened many doors for you, but led you to a very strange place...Strangerville. Material things mean very little to you and you love the idea of being a bit more "off the grid," and self-sufficient.

Traits: Genius, Clumsy, Maker Aspiration: Outdoor Enthusiast Career: Detective

Rules

Reach Level 10 of the Detective Career

Complete the Outdoor Enthusiast Aspiration

Complete the Strangerville Mystery story-line

Reach Level 10 of the Fitness and Fishing skills

Reach Level 5 of the Herbalism skill

OPTIONAL: Complete the Angling Ace Aspiration

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Gen 5. "Sign of the Times"

After your parents' encounter in Strangerville, you became fascinated by aliens, space, and everything science-y. You know there is more to find out there. but first you need to learn everything you can about the unknown. A bit of an oxymoron, isn't it? When you're not fixated on the stars, you love to dance, tinker, and spend time with your many friends.

Traits: Geek, Dance Machine, Perfectionist Aspiration: Friend of the World Career: Engineer (Mechanical Engineer Branch)

Rules

Reach Level 10 of the Engineer Career (Mechanical Engineer Branch)

Complete the Friend of the World Aspiration.

Reach Level 10 of the Rocket Science, Programming, and Robotics skills

Reach Level 8 of the Handiness skill

Travel to Sixam at least one (1) time using a rocket you constructed

OPTIONAL: Complete the Renaissance Sim Aspiration

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Gen 6. "Two Ghosts"

Ever since you were a child, you knew you were different. You had numerous paranormal experiences, which has led you to dedicate your life to the paranormal altogether. You purchased a haunted house to try and get closer to the "other side," however this has left you feeling a bit emotionally burdened and isolated from those around you. You're reasonably covered in tattoos and are known to always wear a simple, white shirt. You hope to one day form a "Seance" club.

Traits: Adventurous, Gloomy, Good Aspiration: Bestselling Author Career: Freelancer (Paranormal Investigator Branch)

Rules

Complete 10 "Expert Paranormal Investigation" events in the Freelancer Career (Paranormal Investigator Branch)

Complete the Bestselling Author Aspiration

Reach Level 10 of the Writing and Medium skills.

Befriend both Guidry and Temperance

OPTIONAL: Complete the Leader of the Pack Aspiration

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Gen 7. "Watermelon Sugar"

You are a very health-conscious sim. Due to your love of animals, you have embraced a vegetarian lifestyle. Protecting the earth and nature is your number one goal in life, aside from ensuring justice is upheld in the courtroom and you are a top tier parent. You favorite fruit is watermelon and you farm your very own watermelons!

Traits: Vegetarian, Green Fiend, Dog Lover Aspiration: Friend of the Animals Career: Law (Judge Branch)

Rules

Reach Level 10 of the Law Career (Judge Branch)

Complete the Friend of the Animals Aspiration

Reach Level 10 of the Pet Training and Juice Fizzing skills

Reach Level 5 of the Parenting skill

Make your neighborhood's Eco Footprint Green for an entire sim year (4 seasons)

OPTIONAL: Complete the Super Parent Aspiration

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Gen 8. "Sunflower, Vol. 6"

Zen. That is what you embody. Where do you feel most zen? At the beach. This is why you live off the grid in Sulani. You practice yoga daily and find a great deal of joy in cooking homemade meals. In your spare time, you dabble in photography and painting. You love sunflowers and have them growing all around your home.

Traits: Foodie, Child of the Ocean, Art Lover Aspiration: Eco Innovator Career: Civil Designer (Green Technician Branch)

Rules

Reach Level 10 of the Civil Designer Career (Green Technician Branch)

Complete the Eco Innovator Aspiration

Reach Level 10 of the Gourmet Cooking and Wellness Skills

Reach Level 5 of the Photography and Fabrication skills

Marry a mermaid!

OPTIONAL: Complete the Painter Extraordinaire Aspiration

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Gen 9. "Canyon Moon"

Having grown up in Sulani, you're not sure how you ended up in quintessential suburbia outside a large city with a corporate job. Life is comfortable, but it lacks the excitement it once had. You want to travel, see the world, and learn about difficult cultures! You love to document your travels and share them online. Sometimes, you can be a bit neglectful of your responsibilities.

Traits: Kleptomaniac, Childish, Self-Assured Aspiration: Archaeology Scholar Career: Business (Investor Branch)

Rules

Reach Level 10 of the Business Career (Investor Branch)

Complete the Archaeology Scholar Aspiration

Reach Level 10 of the Selvadoradian Culture and Mixology skills

Reach Level 5 of the Media Production skill

Vacation at least once in each world!

OPTIONAL: Complete the Jungle Explorer Aspiration OR Mt. Komorebi Sightseer Aspiration

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Gen 10. "Fine Line"

You were definitely the class clown whilst in school. It was a way to cope with your insecurities, which you haven't been able to shake into adulthood. Nevertheless, your charm and strategic-timing have served you well in your "work," whatever that may be. You know there is always a fine line between life and death, you really live life on the edge.

Traits: Jealous, Goofball, Paranoid Aspiration: Public Enemy Career: Criminal Career (Boss Branch)

Rules

Reach Level 10 of the Criminal Career (Boss Branch)

Complete the Public Enemy Aspiration

Reach Level 10 of the Programming and Comedy skills

Reach Level 5 of the Rock Climbing skill

Graft a Death Flower to cheat death!

OPTIONAL: Complete the Fabulously Wealthy Aspiration

[upside-down-uni]

Hey! Idk if this is too much t9 ask, but could you rec me 2, 19, 20, 45, 55, 63, 69, 71, 72, 75, 86, 104, 111, 116, 131? sorry if it’s a lot but thanks in advance if u can rec me some! :)

Hi, you're in luck! I have an essay to procrastinate on and this ask is just the right thing to distract me! Here you go, I hope you'll find something that you like:

2. a book with a blue cover

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman. When i read it for the first time I was just on the brink of going to uni, still figuring out what I even wanted to study and this book just wrapped me in a warm blanket and said "it's going to be okay". I love the main characters Frances and Aled, their arcs and especially the really nice and quiet queer rep in this book.

19. a book that put you in a reading slump

The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. When I start a book I generally have the feeling that I can't put it away until I have finished it. With The Knife Of Never Letting Go my problem was that I did want to read it but it didn't fit my mood, so I couldn't bring myself to read it but also beat myself up about not reading it until I put it back onto my shelf. So, I basically pushed myself into a reading slump over this book.

21. a book with a red cover

Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers. I enjoyed this book so much but probably not for the reasons most people would think I enjoyed it? The wlw romance was definitely nice and I really liked them being dramatic but also kind of mundane? What really got me though was the strong theme of found family of young adults and queer friendships, that really yanked the yearning hours wide fucking open for me. (I also liked that in the end the book wasn't as much about romance as it was about finding yourself after surrendering yourself to academia for ages and working through your issues.)

45. a book featuring the friends to lovers trope

The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. I adore this book. It's so long and there's so much incredible world building and history in it that it made reading an untter delight! Coming in it was a bit hard to acclimate to the slow paste but after a while I just settled in and enjoyed the ride. It's a breathtaking story in a breathtaking universe and afaik there's a second part coming!

55. a book with a satisfying ending

Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi. Yolk doesn't really have an ending in the sense of a "happily ever after" but I really loved where the author chose to leave the characters and how she did it. The book is quite different from what I usually read, tonewise, but especially that ending made me leave the book with a warm feeling. (also the cover is yellow and really really gorgeous)

63. a book that actually made you laugh out loud

I would've reccd Red White and Royal Blue but judging by your url you've read that already...sooooo, it's Snapdragon by Kat Leyh! Super cute graphic novel, with a weird and adorable storyline and such lovable characters!

69. your favorite mythological retelling

I haven't read a mythological retelling in ages, so basic Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan will have to do.

71. your favorite LGBTQ+ fiction

now that's just rude how am I supposed to choose?? I'll say it's Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire and Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir and Loveless by Alice Oseman. I feel very strongly and very distinctly about all of them, if you can get your hands on them my only comment is READ. (and maybe make sure you're okay with gothic sci-fi horror for Gideon The Ninth)

72. a book with a gorgeous cover

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth. It's her adult gothic horror debut after The Miseducation of Cameron Post and not only is the hardcover just stunning in black and red, it also got illustrations inside!! (And all teh women are queer and it's deliciously fucked up!)

75 a book featuring the I'm not like other girls trope

I think the closest I can come to that is The Lady's Guide To Piracy and Petticoats by Mackenzi Lee. The main character has to unlearn a bunch of stuff really fast if she wants to get along with the only other people that will help her. We have road trips in the 16th century, kidnapping and asshole husbands to be, piracy of course and friendship!

86. a book with an insane plot twist

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand. Sawkill Girls was my first touch with horror and I have to say I have no idea whether there was heavy foreshadowing. I think I remember thinking that there was something else to come but when the shit hit the fan I just sat there with big questionmarks over my head because I had read the book in a frenzy in one evening and truly did NOT anticipate it. As someone who did not read horror or thriller before this I have to say I was already insanely confused and disgusted by a bunch of stuff that went down. But then...uh. the thing happened and I was just lost. (In a good way though.)

104. a fluffy sweet read

Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann. It's been a while ever since I read it but it's essentially a cute summer story about Alice who's a disaster bisexual when she sees people she finds cute. Which is a little inconvenient because the new guy at her job is really, really, really extremely cute and she ceases to function around him. There's best friend drama, eating pizza iirc and figuring shit out!

111. a book writing a book

I assume it's either "a book about writing a book" or I am literally supposed to rec a book that is writing a book...I'm going to rec a book that is about books! (because I can.) It's The Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury and it follows a young woman called Juliette wo gets sucked into an old bookseller's world of life saving, life changing books. A really quiet, really cute book.

116. a book with multiple povs

the Reckless books by Cornelia Funke! Simply divine stroytelling, a vibrant world and amazing characters! I have to say that I only know the German original so I don't know what the English translation might be like.

131. recommend any book you like

um. so knife gang members and people who follow my main, you'll once again be subjected to me being a mess because of lesbian necromancers in space! I've mentioned it before, it lives in my head rent free, it is the one, the only Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir! It's an insane sci-fi horror fantasy blend where Gideon has to play cavalier to Reverend Daughter Harrowhark I-love-being- an-absolute-pain-in-the-ass-to-Gideon Nonagesimus to help her become an uber-necromancer (like Harrow needs motivation to become even more of a nerd and shockingly good at necromancy) for the Necrolord Prime/Undying Emperor. There's BEAUTIFUL WRITING sprinkled with MEMES when you least expect it. There is incredible toxic codependency and repression. There's MURDER. There's fancy necromancy theorems and DUELS. There's enemies to begrudging allies to ??? Staple your socks to your feet or this book will blow them clean off!

[missnight0wl]

Disclaimer: This is probably really stupid Hi, I'm the "hogwarts and mahoutokoro conflict" anon! I still think that it's weird that the history of mahoutokoro is in the restricted section?! Even Liv comments on this in chapter 22 year 7... Listen, I get that maybe Dumbledore doesn't like the Mahoutokoro headmaster(which is fair tbh, if protego diabolica is indeed his favourite spell, then he is a MASSIVE hypocrite)... but don't do that! One more thing, the cover of the mahoutokoro history book has a flame on it. Maybe it means that the Mahoutokoro school is linked with fire, so that's why the headmaster's favourite spell is protego diabolica!(yes i do know that it has a flame on it in canon so that Liv can have an excuse to pick it up but c'mon) Perhaps fire played a deeper role in this school's history and this dark charm may have a more complex history and this is why it's the headmaster's favourite spell. Not to mention that this dark charm can be similar to the robe system(i'm talking about how if you practice dark magic your robes turn white) if you look at it in a certain way. Both are related to punishment of disloyalty. "When cast, Protego Diabolica created a protective ring of black fire around the caster. It was possible to walk through the flames unharmed, as demonstrated by Vinda Rosier, Credence Barebone, Queenie Goldstein and Abernathy amongst others, only if they were loyal to the caster and meant them no harm." - Quote from the Protego Diabolica wiki "Any student who betrayed the Japanese wizard's code or practised Dark Arts would result in their uniform turning white" - Quote from the Mahoutokoro wiki Am I reading into this too much? Absolutely. But does it have more potential than the canon storyline? Anything is better than canon sooooo

And yea yea I know that Jam City could've never came up with THIS but it's a fun thought even though it may be a little weird

This is not stupid at all. In fact, I like your observation about the parallel between Protego Diabolica and the uniforms system. Still, I’m gonna start with a couple of things I can’t agree with.

See, the thing is that my mind simply refuses that accept that there even is the Headmaster whose favourite spell is Protego Diabolica. First of all, the only canon example of this charm is Grindelwald in The Crimes of Grindelwald. In fact, the use of this spell in the movie is so specific that I personally got the impression that Grindelwald himself might’ve invented it for this very situation. He had just given his big speech, and he knew that people will be choosing whether or not they wanted to join him. Moreover, if I recall correctly, he actually suspected that some of his people are not truly devoted to him. So yeah, of course he’d want to test their loyalty. Therefore, it seems reasonable that he’d come up with Protego Diabolica because of that. And if that’s the case… how the Mahoutokoro Headmaster would learn it? It’s not impossible – but it’s kind of unlikely, if you ask me.

Of course, it’s also possible that Grindelwald didn’t invent the charm, and there was another way for the Headmaster to learn it. Still, as I said, the use of Protego Diabolica is VERY specific – so, don’t you think that it’s a rather odd choice of a favourite spell? Like… how many times did he even have a chance to use it? It’s not really a spell you’d use during a duel or something. The Headmaster might like it – but to call it a favourite? You know what I mean?

I don’t know, it just feels very strange to me, and I simply believe that Jam City didn’t think it through, and they were lazy about making a connection between Protego Diabolica – Mahoutokoro – Dai Ryusaki. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s also why the book about Mahoutokoro is in the Restricted Section. Because I agree with you that it doesn’t really make sense. It makes sense that information about Dai Ryusaki is in the Restricted Section, but not about the school in general. And honestly, there’s a pretty easy fix for it, as usual. Just put the information about Ryusaki in the book The most dangerous Dark Wizards of Asia (or something like that), and then, make Dumbledore confirm that connection by saying that according to the legend, Ryusaki liked to use Protego Diabolica. I mean, doesn’t it make a little more sense?

That being said, I do like the use of Protego Diabolica in the story in general. Moreover, I think it could be used for a very cool plot twist. Because while Dumbledore said it’s a Dark charm… I wouldn’t really call it that. Imagine that it was used by Harry Potter, for example. Since the spell recognises loyalty to the caster, it wouldn’t harm people like Ron or Hermione, but it would hurt Death Eaters. So… does it really sound like “a Dark charm”? I’d argue that it’s simply a very powerful protective charm. It’s quite violent, sure, so I suppose this part could count as Dark magic, but still. It could be used against “bad guys”, in my opinion.

With that in mind, we could have a plot twist where Dai Ryusaki is not a Dark wizard after all. He was a very powerful wizard, yes, but he was connected to the school which is strongly against Dark Arts (to the point where they came up with the system marking those who dishonoured their values), and so he took this value system as his own. I think it’s also interesting that honour is important in Japanese culture in general, so I’d say it’s totally believable that once Ryusaki recognised that his potion might be used for evil, he felt responsible for protecting it from people with bad intentions. Therefore, he used Protego Diabolica – the difference is that the charm would let in only a person loyal to Ryusaki’s real belief, and that belief was that the Dark Scroll can’t be used for evil. That would be a pretty perfect explanation for why R is so obsessed with MC: because they’re simply a good person. MC’s writing is pretty shitty since Y6, but I still believe that the original idea was to present MC as someone of a pure heart. And if that’s the case, they’d be able to safely retrieve the Dark Scroll.

So yeah. I’m not sure if Protego Diabolica and the uniforms system are just "similar" as you’re proposing. I think it’s possible they both come basically from the exact same starting point.

[annqbthchse]

Agathas casting + Sofia Wylie

hi I just chugged 2 redbulls, ranted to my friend for like an hour about this because the amount of absolute disrespect and just plain racism i've seen about the casting infuriates me. so here are some of the comments i've seen and my opinion/reaction to them (this is literally just a passionate brain explosion done quite late at night -10pm-  and vv quickly so I apologise if some points are missing/worded weirdly!!)

“she isn’t how she looks in the books” || “i’m all for diversity but [🙄] why did they make the pale one a POC” || “it doesn’t make sense for agatha to be played by a black actress”

for those saying it doesn't make sense for agatha to be plated by a black women,,,  what are you talking about!!! IT ACTUALLY DOES THO???? if anything it makes more sense and adds more weight to her storyline and character arc! her entire arc is realising she has been beautiful ALL ALONG. its just her low self esteem and the impossibly and very eurocentric high beauty standards that's she's up against at the school for good & in Gavaldon keeping her down. having agatha being played by a WOC is perfect because that is something we unfortunatly have to face on a daily basis. it makes for a wider range of people to see agatha and her experiences and be able to relate to someone whose place in society mirrors their own. and isn’t that great??? SHOULDN’T WE WANT THAT????yes. we should.

as a WOC myself, when i found out the news I literally called my friend at like 8am to be like “HOLY SHIT :DDDD” its exciting!! i know that a lot of people loved agatha because they could relate to her and that's great! but you still have that!! book agatha isn’t going anywhere. she's still there! like i've said before, Sofia as agatha allows MORE people to be able to relate to her character. This is an amazing decision and these kind of changes in the adaptation should be welcomed and encouraged. i

and also you can’t just pick and choose what characters can/cannot be black. that literally makes 0 sense and isn’t how it works. having agatha - one of the films lead-  as a WOC is a big deal and suggesting that instead have the side characters have diverse actors infuriates me. why does it have to be a side character??? it makes as much sense for agatha to be black as it does any other side character and sofia is perfect!

ALso Soman (who first published SGE in 2013) probably just used whatever beauty standards at the time and ran with it. but hey, it's literally 2020 and if this year has taught us anything it's that times are changing! casting a diverse lead for a book that has a predominantly white cast reflects that change! its great! tbh before the casting news, i was very apprehensive about the movie because of some of the problematic themes and events that occur but this casting is the step in the right direction! it shows that at least on some level the people making the movie are all aware of its wrongdoings and adapting the movie to better fit and reflect a wider audience in 2020.which is what we all (or at least should) want!!

“She doesnt have straight black hair so she can’t possibly play agatha”

first of all her hair is gorgeous!!! and does it really matter that she wont have straight hair??? will you die if one fictional character doesn't have straight hair?? no. you won't. and she shouldn’t have to straighten, use relaxers or wear a wig to play the role. hollywood has a long standing history of making diverse (predominantly Black!!) actresses having to fit Eurocentric beauty standards LIKE having straight hair. and using relaxes can also be a really traumatising and degrading experience for black women and its unfair for people demand that she can only play agatha if she “fixes” her hair. and yea again it has some very racist undertones. but dudes this is HAIR we’re talking about people. it's such a stupid finicky detail to hyperfocus on that won’t even affect the plot or the movie in any big way. I for one would love to see Sofia play Agatha with her beautiful, gorgeous, natural hair!

we all have our different interpretations and visions of agatha and that's ok! but with that and the movie you have to be realistic. there is no way they could’ve casted the ‘perfect’ agatha. even if they did stick to her book descriptions. you can't please everyone and people will always have opinions and something to say about it

“I can’t see her as agatha because of her previous disney roles”

bruh it's called acting. and you know another famous actress known for the classic disney roles and is now an emmy award winning actress?? ZenDAYA. yea. stfu. we haven’t even seen them in their full costumes or anything, hell this is really the first big information that we’ve had! give it some time,,, lets see the rest of the cast, the costumes, the sets and THEN decide if “she's not my agatha” c’mon guys!! she's insanely talented (a triple threat at 16!!!) and criticising her casting of agatha based on one photo - which literally says nothing about her performance- does have some severe racist undertones no matter how many times you try to defend yourself using the classic “i’m not racist but-” excuse.  

The people who casted her are literal professionals. they do this for a LIVING and have been for ages. SO ofc they would’ve casted the perfect person for the role. these are the same people who casted Harry Potter. pls just have faith in the process. they don’t want the movie to be a flop any more than we do. they picked her for a reason and i'm sure that in time we will see the exact same reasons they do

“I wanted asian agatha so i’m very disappointed in this casting”

I get it, I do but honestly,, c’mon dude A WIN FOR ONE OF US IS A WIN FOR ALL!! all minorities are all severely underrepresented in hollywood rn and idk about y’all but i’m taking this as a massive win for all us POC regardless of whether she's black, brown or asian.

“Sofias too beautiful” || “Agatha's supposed to be ugly >:(”

Agatha has literally been “beautiful all along”. the problem isn’t that she's ugly, its just that she's had impossibly low self esteem and doesn't see herself that way because of the impossibly high (mostly eurocentric) beauty standards she's held against. and with the ugly casting??? you really want them to put out a casting call specifically calling for someone ugly?? what would that even entail?? dudes The Lord of the Rings TV show tried that shit here in NZ a lil bit ago and it did NOT go down well lmao. you can’t just cast an ‘ugly’ person. also ‘hollywood’ ugly is still hot (e.g She's all That ) so idk what you guys were expecting????

pls remember Sofia is literally 16 (!!!!), she's so young and must’ve been SO excited to have gotten this role!! and if we can see all these comments, she definitely can so just be kind. ok

anyways,,,

Sofia is absolutely gorgeous and the perfect agatha and i’m very excited to see more of her ❤️

[thatgamefromthatad]

Mobile Game Review - Helix Waltz (Recommended by @raimi)

🎻 What is this app? Helix Waltz is a dress up game with an elaborate storyline that heavily involves character interactions. On the App Store it’s described as a “thrilling ballroom drama set in Baroque style dress,” which I think accurately reflects the sort of vintage European court-style setting the game takes place in. The setting also has fantasy elements, including characters of different “races” such as elves and people with animal ears and tails called Orens.

The game follows a main storyline as well as various side storylines and has a large cast of characters with their own personalities and preferences, all of whom you can build up your relationship with, which will affect their interactions with you depending on the level of favor you have with them. Rather than playing out in a linear set of stages or chapters, the story progresses as you accept and complete missions and attend balls where you have the chance to encounter other characters attending the same ball. There’s a bit of freedom in that sense where you can attend any of the available balls you want and encounter any of the characters that are there without necessarily following the main storyline, building up favor and getting to know anyone you want.

The dress up part is structured somewhat similarly to other dress up games I’ve played - there are various items in different categories (hairstyles, headwear, dresses, shoes, different types of accessories, etc.) with different attributes and rarities that will affect your “chic” level at any ball or other outing you attend, as well as how other characters perceive you depending on their preferences. You can have “beauty contests” with other characters you encounter at balls that compares your outfit’s chic level to theirs and there are other parts of the game where your outfits can compete with others players’. You can gain new dress up items through completing quests and through a gacha-type mechanic where you draw from different sets of potential items.

📝 Review Summary: The sheer number of different characters you can interact with in this game is very impressive, and it’s definitely entertaining getting to know them all and try to build relationships with them. I definitely found myself getting invested in certain characters and wanting to progress through the storyline so I could learn more. The art in this game is also very beautiful, which includes both the character designs and clothing items.

The follower who recommended this game noted that there is queer representation, including a trans character, which is a positive aspect, but I noticed there was not a lot of BIPOC representation, specifically a lack of characters with dark skin and limited options to have dark for your own character. The default character you play is white with very pale skin, and from my understanding from doing a little research, skin color changes are included as makeup items which definitely seems wrong, not only because you have to get your hands on the right item to have darker skin but because skin color as makeup seems to imply blackface, even if that’s completely unintentional (the makeup items in this game aren’t technically just makeup - they also change the shape of facial features). I definitely think this game should add different base skin tones, as well as characters who aren’t all super pale.

Full review below:

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👍What’s good about this app? The enormous cast of characters in this game and the multi-faceted system involved in gaining favor with them and getting to know them are definitely this game’s biggest assets, in my opinion. Each character has their own unique personality, backstory, style, relationships and role within the in-game society, but what’s really enticing is the fact that the story tends to build up a bit of mystery and intrigue about different characters and families/factions, which motivates you even more to get close with certain NPCs and learn the different secrets they hold. The game is pretty immersive that way in the sense that your goal of building up enough trust and prestige to gain access to the most interesting intel/gossip aligns with the main character’s goal of integrating and positioning herself strategically amidst higher society.

That sense of immersion also comes through in the way the game is structured to allow you to interact pretty freely with the characters rather than following a linear path from one encounter to another. You encounter other characters similarly to how you would if you really were a young noble in this sort of society - by wandering around ballrooms or other settings and seeing who you run into or seeking out those that you already have some level of relationship with. You can even get letters from them! You can choose to follow closely to the main plot, or pick your favorite characters and go out of your way to interact with them, or a mixture of both. This game really focuses around character interactions in a way I’ve never personally seen before, and it’s very impressive - and fun!

Another great aspect of this game is the art, which of course is an important aspect for any dress up game. I’m not very well-versed in fashion in general, but I can say from an average Joe perspective that the clothing items and outfit sets are overall just very pleasing to look at and give me that sort of mouthwatery fashion-p*rn feeling whenever I see some extravagant “look” whether it be from real life, a game or any other sort of media. You could say I’m easily pleased though since I can say that about just about any other dress up game I’ve played or been widely exposed to (Love Nikki, Time Princess etc.). One thing I think is especially cool in this game is the perfume category which I can best describe as creating a kind of animated aura around your character that differs in appearance depending on the perfume. This works well with the fantasy-type setting of the game and gives a little extra magical oomph to the outfits. Other outfit pieces can also be animated, like jewelry that sparkles for example, which is also a nice touch.

The last positive thing I’d like to mention is the theme song of this game that plays in the main menu (and pretty much everywhere else except outings), it’s so beautiful and I love it so much I added it to my Spotify playlist I listen to every day lol. The song is Sans Toi by Sarah Natasha Warne if you’re curious.

In the video below you can see a perfume item in action creating a galaxy-like aura around the character, and hear a short clip of the song as well.

[Video Description: A screen recording showing a fully dressed-up character wearing a luxurious red white and gold robe over an ornate black and white collared top with a red vest and loose-fitting brown pants that have two golden stripes at the end of each pant leg. They are holding a sword, have long blond hair tied in a high-set ponytail that drapes over their left shoulder and have a large, circular golden ornament position behind their head resembling a sun or halo. They are wearing dark stockings and black high heels, and there is a sparkling, swirling aura around them with streams of light changing color from blue to purple flowing toward them. The rest of the character and clothing is still except for jewelry and accessories that sparkle and glow and some golden parts of the clothing that shimmer.]

👎 What’s wrong with this app? There are a few minor flaws with this app such as a glitch(?) I experienced a few times where I was talking with one character and another character suddenly appeared and then disappeared, which I’m pretty sure was a glitch because after it happened for some reason I wasn’t able to complete any of my goals at the ball. Also if you don’t have a great internet connection it can be very frustrating because the game will freeze often, although I can’t criticize this that much since my internet connection just sucks and I’ve experienced this with other games before that are just highly reliant on having a constant internet connection.

Probably my main problem with this game is the lack of diversity in skin tones, both in the cast of characters and in your options for your own character. Like I said there are dozens of characters in this game but from what I’ve seen so far they almost all have pale/light skin. I don’t really think the setting of this game is an excuse considering it’s a fantasy setting and there are definitely characters from different regions or backgrounds but they all just happen to have very light skin. Another reason I think there should definitely be more diversity is that there are definitely themes of racial discrimination in the story - some characters will spout stereotypes and hateful comments about other races, in reference to fantasy races or other social groups in the game, and I’m definitely not saying the targets of those comments should be dark-skinned, I just feel like if you’re going to touch on those subjects but have little to no representation of the people who experience that kind of discrimination in real-life, it seems a bit hypocritical. As a disclaimer I am mixed-race (East Asian and white) and semi-white passing with pale skin so I’m not an authority on the skin tone issue specifically but my opinion as someone reviewing this game is that there’s no reason to not have more diversity in the game, even regardless of whether it involves the themes that I mentioned.

Below is just a handful of the NPCs but as I scrolled through the list pretty much everyone had pale/light skin, Gedanh is the NPC with the darkest skin tone as far as I know:

As far as a lack of diversity in selecting a skin tone for your own character, that didn’t specifically stand out to me at first considering the main character is a pre-established character and not as much of a self-insert as in other games like Time Princess, but the fact that you can change your facial features using “makeup items” and skin tone is also locked to certain makeup items doesn’t seem fair, since it makes whiteness the default and limits darker skin tones to these specific items and corresponding makeup looks. I’m not sure what adding diverse base skin tones would look like from a programming perspective for this game but with everything else this game has going on that is so complex and impressive I feel like there’s not an excuse in this day and age to exclude something as basic as different skin colors.

While the lack of diversity is definitely my biggest criticism of the game, I’ll just add that another flaw is that many aspects of the game can be confusing and despite a pretty lengthy series of tutorial quests that teach you about different parts of the game, I still have some confusion after playing for a while. For example I’m still not even completely sure if winning a beauty contest against a character strengthens your relationship with them, and I had to look at the Helix Waltz wiki to learn how to investigate NPCs’ preferences and exactly how remaking clothes works etc. The wiki and other players are a great resource, but having more guidance in-game, even if it’s in the Help/FAQ section (which I checked and still didn’t have all the info I needed), would be an improvement.

🪞Full list of features (there are a lot but I’ll try to cover them to the best of my ability):

Storyline (main plot, side plots that unlock when you strengthen your relationships with characters and event plots)

Quests (there are quests that go along with the plot or events as well as daily quests. The daily quests are more simple such as “talk to X amount of NPCs” or “attend X amount of balls” while the other quests involve having interactions with specific characters, wearing specific dress up items to certain events, etc.)

Dress up (you dress up for every ball or other outing you attend. Each ball will have a different clothing attribute, such as a certain color or style, that increases your chic points if you wear items with the corresponding tag. Different characters also have style preferences but you need to investigate to find out each character’s preference. In addition to dress up before events, the mirror section of the main interface allows you to make whatever outfit you want with the items you have, which will be the outfit your character wears during scenes outside of outings. There are different categories of items corresponding to different parts of the outfit and for some categories you can wear more than one item from the same category, such as wearing a different bracelet on each wrist)

Balls (this is one of the two main ways you will interact with characters and complete quests. There are a few balls you can choose to attend at any given time, hosted by a specific family or faction, with specific characters attending that you can check before you enter the ball. Once you enter the ball and dress up, you can choose to approach a certain character if that option is available - I think you can only approach characters directly if you’ve already talked to them at the ball or if you are wearing an outfit they like but I’m not sure about that part - or you can choose “wander around” and have the chance to encounter different characters who are attending)

Other outings (in addition to balls there are other places in the game where you can encounter other characters, such as the slum and the tavern, and these outings work similarly to balls in terms of character interactions)

Conversation (for basic conversation you pick from a selection of topics and you can gain favor with a certain character by correctly picking the topic they prefer. There is dialog to read for every conversation although these are stock conversations that repeat so you’ll usually want to just speed through them. When you increase your relationship with a character you can unlock special conversations with them that are more unique and tied to the plot)

Q&A (sometimes a character will ask you a question and depending on if they like your answer it can boost your favor with them)

Beauty contests (while conversing with a character sometimes you can have a beauty contest against them comparing your outfit to theirs, and if you win you get points that I believe go toward earning in-game currency - another thing I’m not 100% sure about. I think you can only have a beauty contest with female characters but there is at least one male character I’ve been able to have a beauty contest with. Sometimes a character will immediately force you into a beauty contest when you encounter them)

Dancing (sometimes when interacting with a character at a ball you’ll have the option to dance with them which opens up a short memory-based minigame. I think completing the minigame correctly yields similar rewards to winning a beauty contest. I think you can only dance with male characters as I’ve never had the option come up with female characters so far)

Gathering intel (intel is a resource in the game that is used to learn more about characters and that can be exchanged with characters for rewards. While wandering around a ball you may have the chance to eavesdrop on characters and gain intel)

Gift Box/gacha mechanic (The Gift Box section of the game is where you can draw from different gacha-type pools for items and resources. Different pools take different currencies and have different sets of items)

Remaking, dyeing and enchanting clothes (you can change the style or color of some clothing items if you collect the right resources, which changes both the item’s outward appearance and attributes that go toward chic points/gaining favor with different characters. You can also enchant clothing items, which changes their appearance and increases their chic points)

Events (there are limited-time events such as events that offer limited-time items/gacha pools and limited-time quests)

Illusion Contests (one way you can compete with other players in the game rather than NPCs. You are given preset clothes items to choose from in order to put together an outfit, and can give the outfit a name. Your outfit is scored based on a voting system where two outfits are shown and players can vote for one or the other. You get rewards based on how many votes you get and you also get rewarded for voting on other outfits)

Championship (another way to compete with others players using your owned items rather than preset items. I have not participated in the championship myself yet but from my understanding you make one outfit to defend against other players challenging you and then make outfits to challenge other players’ defending outfits. The players you have the option to challenge will be the same rank as you so the competition is balanced and I believe this competition is based on the attributes of your items and a theme set for the current championship cycle, a bit more like a NPC beauty contest than the voting-based Illusion Contests.)

⭐️ Overall Rating: 4/5 (this would definitely be a 5/5 game if they fixed the racial diversity issue but it’s unfortunate that a game that’s otherwise so complex and engaging - and has LGBTQ+ representation - drops the ball in this area. I definitely hope they at least add the ability to have different base skin tones in the future.)

I really enjoyed this game so thank you to @raimi for suggesting it! If anyone else has any game review suggestions feel free to send them 🥳

[lizzybeth1986]

Is it just me, or is QB having some racist and sexist undertones? I honestly don't understand what this book is supposed to be. Also, why do people want Poppy to be an LI? Am I missing something important here? Is it secretly a masterpiece exposing American nepotism and hierarchy?

(Note: I believe this ask may or may not have been a continuation to this one, since I got both at the same time)

TW: talk about racism

So sorry for the delay in responding to this one, Anon! I'd been working on my essay project so this one took a little time.

I honestly think the point of Queen B as a story was really nothing more than a "Mean Girls" type look into High School. That's literally supposed to be the appeal, IMO. There's a rank newcomer, who comes to a posh school, and has to beat the most popular girls to get to the top. And honestly I've been told the story seemed to be written more for the #BadGirl MC than the #GoodGirl one.

Which is why the storyline they wrote for Zoey, and the way they approached it too, was very much out of line. It wasn't just that Zoey was subject to an attack after the reveal that she'd be subjected to racial profiling, or that a character that both the writers and a lot of the fandom loved was actively encouraging this racist attack on her. It was that if Zoey's story had any value to her writers...they wouldn't just push that forward with a paltry line from Zoey's mouth about how Belvoire was more classist than racist. They would BUILD UP to that. They would have us explore what she has to go through in her public life in multiple ways, make a distinction between what she faces as a result of not being from old money and what she faces as a black girl, and actually work in focusing the section following Bacchanalia, on her, not on the MC's desire to treat her as her walking talking closet.

(ETA: @thefirstcourtesan also tells me that Zoey and Poppy were pitted against each other financially as well - eg. A diamond option where you could only choose between the two. So romanticizing Poppy would also lead to Zoey being hit financially. I can't even put into words how fucking shady and insidious that is)

One thing that I did like though was that Zoey stood her ground after that event, and the MC had to really work to get her back even as a friend. Zoey knew her worth. She knew she deserved better than the paltry apologies and excuses the MC was putting on the table. Not many MCs have had to put in that level of effort esp when they act shitty themselves (TRR MC, hello?). Plus I thought that scene with the Professor where they can advise the MC to be honest about the hurt she caused rather than making excuses or explaining was very well done (even though at the time I felt the pivot to their relationship was too soon for my liking, but that's maybe just me).

Again...this is advice from someone who is no longer playing, so there may be not much value to it - but I'd suggest we keep observing how Zoey gets treated and whether they allow Poppy more space than her. Just because a female LI seems to have a few good scenes in one book doesn't mean the team has 100% changed their views or how they choose to write the character. Very often in the greater scheme of things, the stuff we loved so much are really crumbs tossed before the team goes back to the status quo. I've seen my fair share of LIs who'd been treated nicely for a diamond scene or two/a chapter or two, before their teams gave them worse treatment than usual. And unfortunately I'm sure they might do the same to Zoey, especially in the light of that Q&A from the team where two of them have mentioned Poppy as a favourite character, and no one seemed to find much worth talking about with Zoey besides her clothes. It never bodes well when the writers' interviews themselves sideline their prominent black female character to highlight their fave white/nonblack WOC one.

This is a thing I keep coming back to when I talk about Creator's Pets in PB's books - the "favourite" character who gets the lion's share of attention, writing and plot, tends to overwhelmingly be white, or exoticizable brown. And the writing itself is deliberately skewed in their favour, which results in other characters - who are maybe even more valuable to the story and more interesting to boot - losing out even before they get developed.

What may happen to Zoey in the future narratively, has also happened to other WOC (notably black but there is at least one dark-skinned Asian woman in this list) who are official LIs. It's one of the major reasons I hate "Make _____ an LI" campaigns because there are occasions (and this was one) where to do that the fandom would have to actively ignore the female LI that was THERE. Sure, some may come up with the excuse that they were frustrated by the lack of attention on Zoey, but I've seen people go gaga over white women who were even more poorly written lmao. You want fair treatment for female LIs? Then maybe learn not to ignore the ones they're presenting first.

[r3volutionary-queen]

Trivia Tuesday

Creators: give a “behind the scenes” look at one of your works. This could be things that got removed or changed, the origins of ideas/details, whatever you like!

(Thanks @ao3commentoftheday for the header!)

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I haven’t done one of these in a while. After having a pretty deep Ignition chat with @unlimitedhappylife last night, I thought it might be fun to share some insight.

One thing, if you read with a magnifying glass, you’ll notice in Ignition is that it has layers. Layers on layers on layers.  I also love playing with parallels. One of my favorite examples is the dynamic between Steve and Darcy. Prepare for a long post below of an author’s ramblings.

A big theme in this story is sacrifice. In the start of Ignition we see it play out where Steve is willing to put Darcy at risk by taking her on a secret mission in order to bring back the TeleThor. When they get back to the safe house, successful but with a close call, Thor and Steve have a big argument over it because to Thor, the idea that Steve was so willing to put Darcy, who is infinitely precious to him, in danger is enraging. In their argument, we see Steve state that it was Darcy’s ultimate choice to take the risk and that she has that right.

And Thor struggles with that reality because he loves Darcy like a little sister—she is all he has left.

Later, after Thanos threw down the ultimatum to the Avengers demanding they turn themselves in or he starts killing 50 random citizens a day, we see Steve getting ready to turn himself in to Thanos. He’s ready to sacrifice himself so that 50 citizens can go free because one life for 50 is worth it to him. And we see Darcy have a major issue with that (basically having a similar stance as Thor in the first argument over the idea of sacrifice).

“And if I willingly choose to sit back and let fifty people—fifty lives—be snuffed out, what will my life be worth then?” Steve’s voice was hard and unyielding. “It’s a selfish thing to want to trade fifty innocents for our lives.”

“Says the man who wouldn’t be left behind to drown in the grief,” she snapped, slamming down her mug.

And a little later in their argument...

“Steve, you’re asking me to do the very thing you are unwilling to do: knowingly stand back and let a sacrifice happen. If we’re—you said we’re friends, right?”

He gave her a careful nod, like he was waiting for the trap, and Darcy pressed on.

“Then stop asking me to be okay with losing you.”

And then, later on when the Soul Stone comes into play, I flip the script. Steve gets to experience firsthand what Darcy felt in that kitchen—what it’s like for someone he cares about to decide to put their life at risk.

And suddenly, Steve is no longer okay with the idea. It makes you wonder if the Steve we see later in Ignition would have been as open to the idea of sneaking Darcy out on a secret mission as the earlier Steve was.

Also, everyone loves to get pissed at Clint and I get it, he’s a bit of a dick. But I wanted to write Endgame Clint (minus the Murder spree) and have him be an alternative view on things. And, whether we like him or not, he speaks some pretty hard truth. He calls Steve out on his shit (in an asshole kind of way lol).

“Darcy.”

Clint slid a dangerous look at Steve who was leaning forward trying to get her attention, his hand closed in a tight fist. The archer lifted one cool brow, his voice turning mean. “Yeah, you’re going to get over that coddling shit real fast, Cap. We’ve all got tough decisions to make and a part to play. We’ve known since the moment Loki brought back the stone that there would be a sacrifice and—”

“—and it’s not you being ripped open by an infinity stone every time you touch it.” Steve bit out with real venom, his eyes flashing.

“Maybe if you weren’t just interested in getting your dick wet—”

Darcy flinched, shame washing over her, turning her face a bright red.

And a few paragraphs later...

Steve’s jaw ticked. “I don’t want us to fight, we’ve got a big enough enemy already. We don’t need to add more amongst ourselves. That being said, you do seem awful eager to spill blood that isn’t your own, Barton. That’s where I have my problem,” Steve tried, his tone less defensive.

Clint snorted humorlessly, still clearly riled up. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse, barely more than a rasp, like he had screamed it all out.

“That’s easy for you to say. Didn’t you sneak her off for a fucking mission back at the safehouse? What, now suddenly things are different—you care?”

Bottom line: I love gray areas. I love decisions that aren’t black and white, things that make you think.

Darcy is their only hope at that time of bringing back half the universe. One life for half the universe, is it worth it? Clint doesn’t know Darcy like Steve or Thor do, to him, she is the key to bringing back those he loves and so in his mind, it’s worth it.

Steve had this same conversation with Vision in Infinity War and remember, Vision was okay with sacrifice but Wanda was not (again, it’s different when the sacrifice is not yourself but someone you love).

Anyway, congrats if you read all of that. Welcome to how fucking complicated the storylines and characterizations are in my head. It’s a hot mess most of the time, but I also love this kind of shit.

If this is something folks like, I’d be happy to share any other sort of behind the scenes insights to the story or characters.

Annnnd I’m done 😂

[elizabethrobertajones]

Saw you've been sucked into the MMO life in the form of FFXIV and I was wondering if you had any input into the debate I've been having about what class archetypes tfw would play. I think Sam would be most likely to tank because it requires a reasonable amount of leadership and is also more of a quiet, backbone type role compared to dps. Dean seems more the type to be singularly focused on the big damage hits tbh. He also tends to take more of the charging in and fighting role in their normal life with Sam being the one reading up on everything more carefully and being his backup. Which leaves Cas as healer which may just be me projecting because I play healer/support at every opportunity but literal angel healing aside I think that sorta fits too, he cares a lot for them and tries to keep them safe and shield them as best he can in their adventures? Idk half formed thoughts please completely contradict me if you want I'm genuinely curious about other people's opinions here

Heyooo :D It is less sucked into and more like I’ve returned to the warm cushiony nest of MMOs lol

If you’d asked me back when I was a WoW player I’d have fully agreed because you could only have one class per character and these are definitely the snap decisions that the fam would make when on the character screen. Dean would grab the sexiest DPS, Sam the stoutest tank especially as he’s the one who has read into the classes and strats beforehand, and Cas would ask what to do and be given the healer role because the other two in this scenario would know better about the game and sort of lump it onto him like, oh, we need a healer and you can do this.

(In my own gaming journey, this is what my friends and brother did to me, as they needed a healer to round out their party... I took druid because it was spoopy, and discovered in WoW that while you can’t change classes you can pay gold to respec your character’s role within that class... Promptly re-specced to a melee dps/tank feral druid instead of the healer one, and had a lot more fun :D)  

In FFXIV you can take all the classes on your character (which I have done, natch) and it’s a much more interesting levelling approach, especially seeing how my friends playing the game have gone when it comes to taking classes as they level and why they claim to have tried and then rejected others. It’s an enormous personality test, even for peeps like me and my brother who have all the classes up at max level, which ones we prioritised and which ones we sort of struggled with or found a bit meh. 

Hm so in the scenario that Charlie comes bursting into the Bunker demanding that she needs some friends for dungeons and raids and they’re all sitting on their asses scrolling the internet between a case, they can bloody well play final fantasy with her for a bit, let’s go for some headcanons :D Long because FFXIV has become my current obsession and I have the same in-depth feels about it as I do about SPN but I just never get to write about them with anyone... 

First off, Sam of course has deep nerdery about it and will ask Charlie a ton of questions about what the right class to play is and do the same thing as we’ve already discussed and go for Paladin (which starts as gladiator), and also take all the crafting and gathering side classes because he’s a nerd and you learn nonsense lore while doing it. He’s also in the same starting zone as Thaumaturge which transitions to Black Mage and I BET he’d be tempted to have a little safe witch!Sam emotional release on the most un-Sam class. It’s the big unwieldy spell caster whose literal class quests and stuff make fun of how you’re small and squishy and will be standing in a very bad spot debating whether to finish a long-cast spell and get hit or stop DPS and run for safety. I think he could do with the perspective and learning to be selfish either way to blow off steam from tanking and also learn to prioritise himself IRL :’D Also the paladin quest is WEIRDLY pro-cop from 30 onwards for some reason until the writers saw sense and just. stopped. doing paladin stuff and went back to the Gladiator storyline for the class quests, so idk if he’d enjoy that or start to question other things. Whatever it is he’s getting challenged XD

At 60 he grabs Gunbreaker because it sounds more cool and is thankfully way less emotionally stressful tanking as it’s entirely about being a badass bodyguard and sick flips. This is far more aspirational for Sam, especially as he could just tie a knife to a sawn off shotgun and do these moves for real in his day job. He won’t, but like with black mage, the thought that he COULD is very emotionally satisfying to him.

He might also have decided to check out scholar to see how healing is but idk if he would be able to handle Dean teasing him for having a fairy follow him around so he’d only dabble with the nerd class on the side :P  

Now, Dean can’t take ninja until level 10 or machinist (gun shooty DPS class) until 50, so his start point as DPS would either be pugilist (eeeey brass knuckle class!) or the other DPS classes to start with are Thaumaturge/Black Mage, Arcanist/Summoner, Archer or Lancer. Now. He’d probably think the first two are sissy because magic is for girls/arcanists literally only have a book as a weapon. Archer becomes bard and I think is ultimately a place he’d be very happy as it is a very supportive class to the whole party and basically the mom friend class. But I would love if he went lancer/dragoon because the level 50 class weapon is (folklore inspired name) “Gae Bolg” and every time I equip it I can’t help giggling at the name even though I know it’s a real thing and I shouldn’t. But. Like. It’s the class about waving enormous lances around. It’s got Implications, and Dean is drawn to those. 

He’d probably, however, take rogue/ninja as soon as he could because stabbing things with knives, and the class trainer is the kinda guy who’d have wild gay tension with him while they both try to boast about women to each other, were they to meet irl. Ironically, the rogue trainer (a womanising charmer) and the ninja trainer (an intense, honourable guy bad at social cues even among his own people who ends up falling from grace and choosing to stay in the vicinity of said rogue trainer) are an interesting pair of NPCs to teach Dean about where to stick knives. :) 

He’d go back and power-level dragoon once he starts Heavensward though, because Aymeric is also super intense with messy dark hair and big blue eyes that see right through you. :D He’s getting that gae bolg for him, you know? 

If they’re going to bully Cas to be their healer, he’d probably get really dedicated to the discipline especially as he can stay up all night to play and doesn’t need to take breaks to pee so he’d probably level conjurer/white mage (nature healing) and scholar (ancient book lore with a class quest which mixes ancient curses on a whole people, family drama and a bit of interspeciesish love) and then also pick up astrologian, which is good because it’s spooky star and making your own fate magic. The storyline for that is garbage in the sense that it’s really weakly written, but my favourite character randomly picks up AST in the latest expansion, and has an absolutely fucking wild subtextual romance with another character, including SPN level adopting of a random child who matches Jack in many respects, with said character. And in many respects emotionally they’re Cas and Dean but without any of the personal baggage between them specifically so they really are just chill and married, whatever else they’re stressed about (I say, dreading the next patch is going to finally bring up some questions about what is going on with them as it’s getting weirdly conspicuous while still utterly unsaid). So I would hope if Cas started projecting onto an astrologian character it would be him :P 

Cas also would get into summoner as the other branch of scholar because honestly those two classes are about as close to the random sigil drawing and reading things from books etc analogy to his own occult magic, except you can summon cool dragons and elementals to fight for you. 

they’d buy Jack a boost to 60 and he’d pick up dark knight and white mage probably just to subtly fuck with Dean 

(I am still not over Dean trying to test him to see if he was evil or not by whether he chose devil or angel cake) 

[twdmusicboxmystery]

TTD for 10x21: Splintered

First of all, they talked about Leah A LOT in TTD. One of the Property Brothers, Drew, was on as a guest, and even he kept mentioning her. Which tells me he was coached because other than one question Chris asked, why else would he? They didn’t confirm she was a hallucination or anything, but they did confirm it was Leah’s knife and that Daryl giving it to Carol was meant to be him letting go of Leah.

So even if we turn out to be wrong about the hallucination (doubtful) people don’t have to worry about a continuing romance between them. From a hallucination standpoint, you could say he’s letting go of the hallucination, and in this episode, I truly do think we see sequences that foreshadow him find Beth, so…

Okay, so they didn’t say how long it would be, but apparently ep 22 is “extended” so it will be a longer than usual episode. I noticed a black and white chess set behind Cooper. And of course, he’s at his home, but I couldn’t help but wonder if that was intentional. They also said that of the 6 bonus episodes, they filmed this one first. I’m not sure why or if we should be reading into that, but it’s kind of interesting.

About the pirate book? They say in the Behind the Dead stuff that it’s important because when Daryl and Carol first talked about leaving in 10x01, she wanted him to come on the boat with him and they could be pirates. So talk about leaving on the bike, which we know they’ll do in the spinoff, and pirates, are all synonymous. Not that I needed it, but that’s just proof to me that this foreshadows those future storylines, especially for how/when they’ll find Beth.

So, the things they talked about and emphasized are all things I’m reading into as TD clues.

They talked a lot about why Dog went with Carol rather than Daryl. At first, I think Chris asked Melissa this. I didn’t take away tons from what MMB said. She talked about how, in 10x18, Carol was spoiling Dog and giving him food, so that may have been why. But also that maybe Carol just needed the company, and Daryl needed some alone time. And dogs are very intuitive about that sort of thing. Then Drew (Property Brother—I had to go look up is name so I wasn’t objectifying him ;D) said he felt like it was the last straw of betrayal for Daryl. Like, everyone in your life had either abandoned or betrayed you, and to add insult to injury, even your dog leaves you.

Now, that’s a weird thing to say about THIS episode. Because here, they make light of it. Daryl says “nice” and then at the end, he goes back and Dog is happy to see him, and everything is okay. So it’s weird for sometime to suggest that based on this episode, Daryl felt like Dog betrayed him, except in a salty, roll-his-eyes sort of way. So that tells me this foreshadows a time when Daryl truly will feel betrayed by everyone and totally alone.

But then, later in the episode, Cooper randomly chimed in about this again. He just went, “oh, you know that thing we were talking about earlier? I have some thoughts.” So it wasn’t something he was asked, but rather something he really wanted people to know.

He basically said that, as far as why Dog went with Carol, we could also ask why Dog went with Daryl when Daryl first met him as a pup. Why did he go with Daryl over Leah so often? And the answer (which is clearly symbolic/thematic) is that Daryl needed him Dog at the time. Here, Carol needs him.

Then Cooper even goes so far as to say the same thing is true of the knife. Daryl kept the knife and had the knife for a long time, because, emotionally, he needed to hang onto it. He doesn’t anymore. But Carol is in a dark place now and she needs it.

It made me think also of Beth and Daryl’s interactions in S4. You could argue that, not from a literal, plot standpoint, but from an emotional/thematic standpoint, Daryl needed her. So the writers put her with Daryl. Of course that’s not the only reason, but Daryl was in such an emotionally distraught place, that he needed Beth to pull him out of it.

So, how do we interpret that? Here’s what I’m thinking. I’ve said before that once Daryl and Carol split up (in the future when they leave together on the bike) Carol will get a reunion with Beth first, right? So I’m wondering if we’ll hit a point where Beth will want to go find Daryl, but she’ll choose to stay with Carol for a short time, because she can see Carol is in such a dark place and needs her. More on this later and some minor things in my timeline that I’m rethinking. Because I think symbolism in the episode supports it.

When they did the “in memoriam,” Chris all of sudden said, “but not the rat! He made it out of there!” *coughs Beth*

They randomly started talking about demolition because of Drew Property Brother. He joked that he wanted to put Carol on his demolition crew because of what she did to the wall. But then (again very random mention) he says that she really ought to go to Leah’s cabin and do work there, because it clearly needed more work than the kitchen did. So, I’m taking that to be their way of showing that both the wall and Leah’s cabin represent the same thing. And we’ve called both of them tombs.

About the stone soup story? Cooper said it represents all the little things Carol has done to keep people alive, when she thought she was doing the right thing. So the person getting all the ingredients eventually results in soup, which is food, which people need to live. And they’ve been talking about not having enough food right now in the show. But then Jerry says, “it doesn’t sound very tasty.” And that’s because all the little things she’s done—like blowing up the cave, letting Negan out, etc—were necessary to defeat the Whisperers and keep everyone alive, but of course it seemed really destructive at the time. So, that’s why Jerry says it doesn’t taste good. Whether the soup tastes good or not, it’s necessary to keep everyone alive.

They also talk about how Daryl isn’t seeing it this way yet. He’s not seeing that some of these things may have been necessary in the long run, even if they sucked at the time.

This is kind of minor, but several of them brought up the idea of Carol using the rat to make soup. I didn’t think of that, but given that she’s wanting for ingredients, it only make sense that she would try to use the rat, but they didn’t do that at all. And the director didn’t really say anything about it. He just kind of laughed and went, “haha, um, no, she didn’t.” And I had to chuckle at that because it really would have been the logical thing for her to. If they didn’t do that, it’s purely for the symbolism of it. We can’t have Carol putting Beth in a pot of soup, now can we? ;D

Back to Leah. When they confirmed it wasn’t her knife, they said it was significant how it passed along the chain (from Leah to Daryl to Carol) and that at the end, Daryl is willing to give it up and let Leah have it. They didn’t say how or why it was significant, just that it was. So yeah. Side-eying that.

Again, the director said Carol probably took the knife as Daryl giving her a peace offering after their fight, but symbolically it represents him letting go of Leah. Melissa also said Daryl and Carol are mirroring each other a lot here.

Another interesting thing they talked about is that Daryl realizes he needs the thing he gave Carol. While obviously this symbolically represents Beth, I’m very curious to see what it is in a more literal sense in the plot when this plays out later. But the point is, he gave Carol the knife, and then he needed it and didn’t have it. And that’s kind of what drove him to the cars and the traintracks and to find the military walkers (CRM). So it’s very interesting from a symbolic/foreshadowing standpoint.

One thing we haven’t discussed is that Daryl falls into a dry riverbed. There’s even a small bridge and a round, water tunnel (like we used to see in the opening credits) behind him. And the director said one thing about it that I thought was weird. Chris was asking him if he ever gets squeamish after being on TWD so long and if walker kills ever bother him. And he said he thought Daryl killing the walker in the ditch was one of the most brutal kills they’d ever done on the show.

Umm? I have to say I disagree. I guess I need to rewatch it. I think he stabs it in the head, but other than the obvious, it didn’t seem particularly gnarly to me. I could name 10 other kills off the top of my head that were way grosser. (Terminus, anyone? Daryl with pipe?) But I wonder if he’s hinting at something symbolic here.

Here’s an interesting thing we’ll probably analyze for a while. They said Carol taking the red bucket out to get ingredients for the soup (and bringing ingredients back in it) is a callback to season 1 when Amy brought fish back to the camp in the same red bucket. Yikes, we could go down a rabbit hole with that!

Both represent bringing food back/feeding everyone/keeping them alive. And as we already discussed, Carol does things to keep the group alive, even if they don’t “taste good.” But I wonder if we could apply that to every instance of the red we’ve seen. I mean, I know we’ve discussed the idea that what happened with Beth in Coda “had to happen” in some way. (It went the way it had to, etc.) I don’t know. But that’s definitely an interesting callback they gave us. Plus the fish symbolism, etc.

Okay, then Drew talked about the army walkers again. He said there were two of them and they were all decked out in their fatigues and Daryl actually finds a lot of supplies on them, but we didn’t see any army vehicles. So Drew said he wondered fi there was some place in the vicinity that we don’t know about yet.

And when he said that, the director, David Boyd, gave him a thumbs up. So they’re definitely confirming and hinting at future storylines here. They also confirmed (inside the dead) that Leah has a military past. So, to be fair, we don’t know if this “unknown place in the vicinity” is still standing. These guys could have come from the same place Leah did, and based on her story and the fact that they’re walkers, it might not be a thing anymore. But then again, it might.

They did talk about the Daryl under the car scene, but they didn’t say much about it. It was like they wanted to draw our attention to it, but couldn’t actually say much. They mostly talked about how the car was on pulleys and it was very safe, with no real chance of Norman getting hurt. But that was pretty much it. I mean, Glenn crawled under the dumpster to live, so maybe Beth crawled under the car? I don’t know. I’m sure that scene is super important, but I haven’t decided what I think about it yet.

They had a SUPER random callback to Lizzie, of all things, and I have no idea why, other than that this was a Carol-heavy episode. They asked Cooper what a Jerry, Nabila, and Kids spinoff would look like. Cooper said it would be a “3-wall comedy” and then started talking about how the kids would want to keep the walkers as pets. And then everyone started going, “don’t name them! Whatever you do, don’t name them!” So, they didn’t actually mention Lizzie by name, but clearly…

Um, and then we got the sneak peek of Here’s Negan. We see him digging in a field outside the walls and he finds Lucille. Then the flashback to 12 years ago starts, and he’s clearly run afoul of some kind of biker gang, but that’s all we get in the peek.

Notice the viper/snake reference on his jacket.

 That’s it for TTD.

Thoughts?

[mtgbracket]

Tiebreaker - Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest vs Polukranos, Unchained

Hi folks!  Yesterday, these two cards both got 177 votes in Batch 2.3, leading to a tie.  I don’t vote in the polls so that I can be the tiebreaking vote when it’s needed.  So here I am doing that.

I am going to be using the same format as I did for the ties in the original Magic Bracket - see this old post for an example.  Essentially I will provide a written analysis on each card over five categories, and then finish with scores.  If the scores also tie then my personal favourite gets the nod.  The categories are:

 - Quality of design, scored out of 10  - Power level, scored out of 5 (overpowered cards will score lower)  - Flavour, scored out of 5  - Art, scored out of 5 (combined across multiple arts if there are any)  - Place in Magic history, scored out of 5

Let’s get stuck in.

Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

Design

Fittingly for a death priest, Mazirek cares about death - specifically, he’s one of the relatively few cards that care about sacrificing.  While we’re more used to seeing this on black-red cards in recent years, Mazirek was printed in Commander 2015 and the sacrifice-matters element is perfectly at home in black.  While it doesn’t feel green, the reward you get - +1/+1 counters on all your creatures - certainly does, and Mazirek has a solidly black-green feel as a result.  And by both caring about death and growth/life, he also feels specifically Golgari - which matters as the Kraul are a Golgari insect group.  Sacrifice-matters probably does play better in black-red (where red’s ability to sacrifice its own stuff lines up nicely), but it’s not massively out of place here.

Having flying (which makes sense for an Insect) but a measly 2/2 body for 5 also guides the player to imagining growing him into a massive threat through adding lots of sacrifice effects.  The design is also kept light by not having Mazirek provide any inherent way of sacrificing things or making sacrifices happen - the player has to provide their own.  This is pretty common for these kinds of designs, but is good because it means the rewards can be a bit juicier, as the player has to provide a sacrifice payoff, an enabler, and likely some fodder - although making your opponent sacrifice things also works!

One ding against the sacrifice trigger is that it does require players to handle a small bit of rules knowledge - specifically, identifying the “sacrifice” keyword action and understand which things are and aren’t sacrifices.  And effects that make temporary tokens are annoyingly inconsistent about whether the tokens are exiled or sacrificed, which sets up a bit of a reading debt.

Power level

Fittingly for a card from a Commander precon, Mazirek is pretty potent.  He can grow your team quite substantially with a few triggers, even if he doesn’t provide you an in-built way of getting them, and promises unbounded payoff.  Combined with a sacrifice outlet and something with Persist can even make infinite combos, which is pretty compelling as a power option.  Mazirek is technically legal in Eternal formats, but isn’t up to grade there - but that’s not a mark down on him as few cards are.

Mazirek ranks #278 on EDHREC, as the Commander of 424 decks, and as a card appears in 4% of decks on the platform.  This indicates a potent and popular Commander card.

Flavour

Mazirek, as mentioned above, is the leader of the Kraul, the Golgari insect race.  His card name certainly conjures up a lot of what’s going on with him - “Death Priest” is quite a title, and gets across both the death-focused aspect of the Golgari as well as the Kraul’s society - Mazirek was the leader of the Kraul race until his death in the War of the Spark storyline.  His name is also fun to say - and feels quite insectile.  It’s a shame that the “priest” title, which feels more like a Cleric, is not matched with his typeline, where he is a Shaman.  There are plenty of green and even black-green Clerics, so this does feel like a minor ding.

Mazirek’s flavour text reinforces the “insect” thing nicely, with talks of clicks and buzz, and the very Metal “incarnation of decay”.  Overall the picture of a rotten, death-feeding entity is well sold.  Being empowered by death is a flavourful concept, but “sacrificing” specifically is hard to convey as a flavourful concept - it’s a bit too mechanical.

Art

Mathias Kollros’s piece revels in the black-green colour palette we’d expect from a Golgari legend, and shows the central figure suggestively in dark greens and yellow highlights, but with the details hidden by strong green-white backlighting.  The posing emphasises the many additional limbs that Mazirek has over a humanoid figure, with his wings and extra legs, as well as his elevated position.  Some drippy, slimy looking moss decorates his podium and the darker edges of the piece give us the sense that we’re in the Kraul’s tunnels.  After adjusting to the main image we also see the eggs at the edges of the image, adding to the insect / creepy vibe for an overall very effective piece.

Note that the colour palette appears to have been significantly darkened from the original printing for the later Double Masters version for no clear reason.  I think the original printing is the superior.

Place in Magic history

Other than a supporting role in the Ravnica / War of the Spark storyline, Mazirek doesn’t have much to write home about here - no particularly unique or interesting things about him.

Polukranos, Unchained

Design

From this year’s Theros: Beyond Death, we have the zombified version of Polukranos.  Originally gaining infamy as Polukranos, World Eater, this hydra is now presented in a black-tinged version - our second black-green card.  He starts out with square stats as a very undercosted-seeming 4-mana 6/6, before later promising to escape as a 6-mana 12/12.  The “permanent damage” drawback here is something originally seen on Judgment’s Phantom creatures, which only ever lost one counter per instance of damage; the counters-per-damage version was premiered on M11′s Protean Hydra as a “heads” metaphor, and was also seen on Ugin’s Conjurant.  Conjurant and Polukranos share an important improvement - they only apply the replacement effect while they actually have a +1/+1 counter, which stops them becoming invincible if you raise their toughness some other way.

As well as being a big reservoir of power and toughness, this newer version of Polukranos connects mechanically to the original by including a fight ability - and a very rare repeatable one at that.  This opens up some interesting options whereby if Polukranos has shrunk too much, you can fight him off in order to have him die and then be able to escape and reset him with his final Escape ability.  Polukranos has the highest card-cost for any Escape card, needing six other cards to come back - justified by his massive size upgrade when you do so.

The design overall hits some of the right notes for the established Polukranos power set - beefy and activated-ability-fighting - while adding some interesting play patterns with the Escape mechanic.  It doesn’t do a great job of feeling green-black to me instead of just green however - monogreen has Escape cards and that’s all that black is really bringing to this package other than a generic multicolour power injection and the Zombie creature type.  And the design is very busy, with a lot of text and moving parts that is a bit confusing to play.

Power level

While being a Limited powerhouse, Polukranos hasn’t managed to get anywhere in general constructed thanks to competing for resources with the far superior Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath, which is commonly played with black.

In Commander, EDHREC shows Polukranos, Unchained at rank #494 as a Commander of 170 decks, and appearing in 3% of decks.  The combo with Vigor is particularly nice - you can choose to apply Vigor’s replacement effect instead of Polukranos’s own one and have him grow every time he fights instead of shrinking!

Flavour

The name is straightforward enough - and connects with the art - but not inspired.  The lengthy rules text doesn’t even leave room for Escape reminder text, let alone flavour text.  The character of Polukranos is of a dangerous monster that Elspeth had to defeat in the original Theros storyline as the champion of Heliod, but the new version is just “that same guy from before, only he escaped from the Underworld”.

Art

Chris Rahn is one of Magic’s most notable current artists, with a great ability to render detailed fantasy images with beautiful details.  The purple-and-grayish hues of the underworld are used here to show the location, and nicely we see the upper purple head of Polukranos blending with the beautiful night sky.

And those purple heads are shown coming from the same root - I believe they are actually regrowing at the time of the art!  There are a lot of nice visual indicators of this - a pinkish glow showing where the stump was, the purplish colour of the two new heads, and the fact that those are a little smaller than the other four.  The new heads both have collars on so I imagine these are magical collars designed for a hydra - but the art also shows that the chains weren’t strong enough, as the name tells us.  A close look shows a loose chain breaking a statue in the foreground - and the other foreground figures help sell the size of the monstrous creature in front of us.  The overall mood is “Oh s***, the monster has got loose!”.

Place in Magic history

We have a minor storyline character here and the card has no particular resonance or important part to play, so not looking at a whole lot here.

Final verdict

Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

Design - 7/10 Power level - 4/5 Flavour - 3/5 Art - 5/5 Place in Magic history - 2/5 TOTAL - 21/30

Polukranos, Unchained

Design - 6/10 Power level - 3/5 Flavour - 2/5 Art - 4/5 Place in Magic history - 2/5 TOTAL - 17/30

Good luck to Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest in Round 3!

[outer-bnks]

Two Burning Hearts Are Dared to Break (JJ x OC) Ch. 3

Chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10

After their police interrogations, the Pogues are invited to a funeral for John B and Sarah, but instead of finding closure, they find anger.

Warning: brief funeral scene

A/N: Everyone's kind of a hot mess right now, They’re all slowly trying to process their grief in their own time and because they’re such different characters, I want to really give them the time to do it in a way that feels natural? This chapter isn’t the best and was a bit of a filler to ensure that the storyline makes sense - the Pogues don’t know that Rafe killed the Sheriff, hence Elle’s empathy to him. 

Word count: 2,237

“Alright, thanks for your statement, we’re gonna need a few days to assess whether charges will be made and we’ll let you know. But if I were you, I’d be expecting to be back here fairly shortly” Shoupe hinted, leading Elle down the hallway to the front of the station. 

Elle turned to him, a sarcastic smile filling her face “Can’t wait”. Shoupe began to walk away, before she caught his attention again, “Hey Shoupe, just make sure Ward gets what’s coming to him. Sarah would be ashamed if she knew he got away with it” she stated, a coldness to her tone, before slamming the door shut.

She’d left her lawyer inside to fill out the rest of the legal papers that made no sense to her, grateful to finally be alone after spending three hours being pressed for answers she didn’t have. Her Dad really didn’t let her down this time, hiring one of the best lawyers in the North Carolina distract, a lady maybe mid-30s who was promised a big payout by Elle’s father if she was able to make some kind of settlement that would get the Pogues off the hook.

Crossing the road, Elle got into her car, wasting no time before heading to the Chateau to meet the others.

-----

“How’d it go?!” Pope yelled from the porch as he watched Elle make her way out of the car. He’d been on the edge of his seat ever since he got back from his time at the station. Kiara had to calm him down by subtly bringing up something about autopsy school which launched him into an animated discussion about a new discovery he’d read about. Kie figured that he’d increased his trips to the library in hopes of keeping his mind occupied, and to probably find out what happens to one’s body when they drown.

“It was fine. Shoupe was super suspicious about Kie and I being able to pull off stunts like that without your or JJ’s help but I pulled the sexism card and he quickly shut up. Plus I think our Pogue reputation may have helped a little”, Elle disclosed as she made her way past Kie and Pope to the fridge to grab a beer. Cracking it open she took a large swig, feeling the cool liquid run down her throat. 

Sighing, she looked around at the shack, searching for any signs of JJ. As if on cue he entered the kitchen, leaning against the doorway. She ignored the fastening of her heartbeat at the sight of him. Cocking his head to the side he asked “So are they gonna arrest Ward?”. Elle noticed the harsh tone of his voice, something she was getting far too used to.

Looking at her converse to get a break from his intense gaze, she muttered “Not yet, they.. uh.. need to assess whether to charge Kie and I first, and then they’re going to look into it.”

He scoffed, “Yeah, sure they are”, before turning around and heading back onto the porch.

Pope, Kie and Elle remained in the kitchen, absentmindedly chatting about shifts at the Wreck and Heyward’s, and returning to school, in hopes of gaining some concept of normalcy. 

JJ’s voice snapped them out of their pleasantries, the sounds of rustling and groaning coming from outside. Hurrying out they saw JJ, on top of Rafe in the driveway, both hands clenching his shirt in his hands, both of their faces red with anger. “What made you  think you could come around here?” JJ spat, shoving the back of Rafe’s head into the gravel.

“Dude...ugh get off, fucking relax” Rafe huffed, trying to maneouver his body to find a way to push JJ off of him.

Darting down to the driveway, Pope and Kie managed to pull JJ off him, Elle standing between the two as they got back up on their feet. She watched Rafe with cautious eyes, watching him brush off the gravel from his clothes and running his hand through his hair, meeting his gaze “What are you doing here Rafe?”.

“Look, I know I’m probably the last guy you wanna see right now, but I uh, came down to let you know that we’re going to hold a ceremony for her. For Sarah, and uh, kinda John B, I guess. For the accident.” he spoke, an unexpected softness in his tone. 

Pope and Kie exchanged looks, JJ stilling in Pope’s hold. Kie shook her head with disbelief, trying to wrap her mind around what Rafe was telling them,“A funeral? They haven’t even been dead 2 days yet, and you wanna throw a funeral? Are you serious?” she exclaimed. 

Elle kept her gaze on Rafe, attempting to decipher how he was coping with all this. Hesitantly he added, “It was Dad’s idea. He wanted to make sure she got the send off she deserves.”

“The send off she deserves?! She shouldn’t be having a funeral at all! It was your Dad that pushed them into that storm!” Pope spoke, his frustration coming out in the coarseness of his voice.

Rafe averted his gaze down to his feet, kicking at the gravel. Elle pretended not to notice the tears that formed in his eyes and the shaky breath he let out. Jumping in before he had the chance to respond, “Where will it be?”. 

Rafe looked up, noticing the softness in her voice. “It’ll be at the white church in Figure Eight on Tuesday at midday, and then a wake at our house”.

Elle nodded, turning around to face the others. They all looked between each other, a silent conversation taking place. Pope, Kie and Elle picked up the resistance from JJ, sending him pleading looks. They needed this, Sarah had become just as much a member of their pack as each of them. 

Pope, stepping away from beside JJ, came to stand next to Elle. His attitude muted after the emotional turmoil that had washed over the group, “Is this really for John B too?”

Rafe nodded solemnly, “Yeah, it’s for the both of them.”

“Alright, we’ll be there”, Pope responded, “you can leave now”, his firmness coming back into his tone.

Rafe gave a slight nod of his head, walking past the group up the driveway to his Jeep.

“Jesus Christ…” JJ breathed out.

The group returned to the silence that had become all too common for them, retreating back into the Chateau.

-----

Tuesday rolled around, the group deciding to get ready individually and drive in together. As Elle finished off the touches to her light makeup, she tied her hair into a low pony, checking over her appearance. The mid-length navy blue dress she wore was far too flowy for a funeral, but she’d never had to have a funeral dress before. 

Kie beeped from out the front. Grabbing her phone and purse, which mainly held tissues, she headed down. “Hey” she offered softly, hopping into the car. Pope, next to Kie in the front turned, giving her a slight smile, “Hey, you alright?”

“I think I will be. You guys?” 

“I just want to get this done with” Kie sighed sadly, backing out of the Sterling residence. 

JJ remained quiet next to Elle, fumbling with his lighter in his lap. She gazed over his outfit, opting for his navy shorts, a black button down, and no hat. Elle couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him this dressed up, well, dressed up in JJ terms.

The ride was silent except for Bob Marley playing quietly through the car's speakers. Arriving at the church, Elle exited the car, staring up at it she was struck with a strong sense of realisation. Their lives the past few weeks had led to this. And it was their fault.

Elle didn’t know that the rest of the Pogues' minds had also arrived at the same conclusion.They had done this. They could’ve prevented this if they’d just gone to the cops and told them everything they knew about Ward and the gold. But it was too late.

Kie reached for Elle’s hand, giving her a slight tug to make their way in, JJ and Pope trudging along behind them, taking in the scene occurring around them.

The inside of the church was beautiful. Although there were only about 10 rows of seats, the ceilings were high, the walls covered in colourful glass windows, everything in pristine condition. It was crawling with people, extended family, Kooks and people from the Academy that Elle could recognise from her brief time there. At the front sat a table holding two photo frames, one holding a beautiful image of Sarah smiling directly at the camera that must’ve been from some fancy Kook event last year, due to the light pink gown she wore. And next to her, in a noticeably smaller frame, a photo of John B that Kie had taken one day after a surfing session, holding his surfboard, his hair still wet and droplets covering his skin. Where’d they even get that photo? And then piles and piles of colourful flowers, all different bouquets, resting in front of the frames. Elle swallowed down the bile that raised in her throat, averting her eyes from the gut-wrenching reality that this was their funeral. 

Choosing one of the smaller, back rows, they sat and watched as everyone around them fussed over Sarah, not once hearing the tiniest mutter of John B’s name. Elle could feel the anxiety radiating off of JJ from her right, his leg bouncing rapidly against hers. As everyone began to be seated and the celebrant took to the stage, she placed her hand on his thigh in an attempt to calm his nerves. Flinching slightly from the contact, but then allowing her act of affection to settle him. As the woman launched into a symbolic story of love and loss, Elle pretended she didn’t notice Pope’s arm slip around Kie’s waist, her body melting into his subtly.

Scanning the crowd, Elle caught eyes with Topper clearly not engaged in the conversation that Rafe and Kelce were having beside him. Elle couldn’t help but feel a small ball of sympathy gather in her stomach at the sadness that swum in his eyes. Looking away, she squeezed JJ’s thigh slightly, whether it was a reminder that she was still there for him, or a reminder of who she should actually feel sympathy for, she wasn’t sure.

Elle couldn’t help but notice how little the ceremony was about John B, and how many times Sarah’s name slipped out of the woman's mouth, her insides burning at the idea of his memory being forgotten. She tried her hardest throughout it to hold back her tears, biting her tongue to suppress the urge to sob at the stories that were being shared of Sarah, and the lack of ones about John B. She wasn’t good at holding in her emotions in such circumstances, but something about this situation told her that this was not the place to express them.

Sweet relief was granted when the ceremony finished, the Pogues quickly filing out of the church and back into Kie’s car.

As Kie began driving out, she scoffed. “That was a joke. Are they kidding me? A ceremony for Sarah and John B my ass!” 

Pope reached out his hand, hesitantly placing it on her thigh as she continued. “They were clearly using John B to make themselves look better. Oh look at us, look how caring we are, it’s bullshit! And now we have to go to this stupid wake, to hear them talk about the stupid storm, and probably how stupid John B is for dragging Sarah along with him. Why, huh? Why should we?”

The group becoming accustomed to her outbursts, remained quiet. 

“Alright then, let’s ditch. Where should we go?”JJ spoke. Elle noted how subdued his usually boisterous voice was. 

And that’s how they ended up at The Wreck, amongst a few Touron’s enjoying the last moments of their Summer holiday. For this time of the afternoon, it was oddly quiet. The Pogues sat at the table, absentmindedly picking at the food Kie’s Dad had offered them when he saw their defeated faces walk through the door. 

A soft melody filled the room, before changing to a more upbeat song. Elle recognised the tune, trying to place her finger on where she’d heard it before. Turning to Kie she’d realised. It was from the night that they’d filed into The Wreck after stealing the drones, absolutely starving. And John B and Kie had danced. She watched as a tear ran down Kie’s cheek, pulling her into her shoulder as she began to sob. Elle had been waiting for this, for her breakdown to happen. Knowing Kie as well as she did, she knew she could only keep a front up for so long before cracking. And it had, the wall had cracked, and what had begun as a small stream of water that flowed through, turned quickly into a flood.

Pope watched on, his heart aching to comfort the girl he loves. Unlike Pope, JJ couldn’t bear to watch it, afraid of it triggering his own reaction, moving his chair out from under the table and swiftly making his way out of the restaurant without bidding goodbye to any of them.

----

I didn’t expect to write Kie as so vocal and angry after losing JB + Sarah but it feels right so she’s kinda losing her shit.

Excuse JJ, lil baby doesn’t know how to process his emotions :(

Angst coming in the next chapter finally!

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let me know if you want to be on the taglist :)

taglist: @mybillyhardgrove  @cyrrusmreadings @downbytheouterbanks @belledutchess @imagines-and-preferences1216

[dreamsofthescreen]

The Abstract Point Of A Clockwork Orange - Review

Released for streaming on Netflix two years ago, is this a so called ‘masterwork’ of a film, or just cinematic satire?

Malcolm McDowell in 'A Clockwork Orange'

Based on the book by Anthony Burgess, Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 adaptation of ‘A Clockwork Orange’, proved greatly controversial, yet influential. The dreamy, edgy swinging 60s sets up the scene for ultra violent home invasions and tortuously explicit murders performed by ‘The Droogs’. Released for streaming on Netflix two years ago, is this a so called ‘masterwork’ of a film, or just cinematic satire? Surrounding the idea of free will, this can be tossed around endlessly and reviewed in philosophy as something problematic. But is this film’s talk of freedom and suppression all really necessary? It’s upfront commentary on humanity that can be deemed as abstract, yet is this label of abstract just an excuse to glamorise the utter violence? Or does ‘A Clockwork Orange’ stand strongly with a point in hand? We can say both. The retro aesthetics, in terms of costume & production design that Kubrick can be recognised for, do play into the significance and absurdity of this work.

Set in a dystopian England where the governed rules are anything but at liberty for citizens, morals aren’t only tested, but are completely rejected. In this world, the government find order in good behaviour, something that the main character, Alex, (Malcolm McDowell) completely detests. Alex has no moral limits and gains pleasure from violence with no concern for the consequences. Within the first half an hour of the film, we see him and his gang of ‘droogs’ beat up a homeless man and mercilessly invade an old mans home, robbing it as well as raping and murdering his wife. Though labelled as a lesson in testing how far freedom of choice can go, A Clockwork Orange’s meaning can seem scattered.

Seen to represent someone so outwardly alive in his lack of concern for society, Alex’s mad challenging of human morals tests the meaning of freedom. But given themes, are they just barren and only strive to portray substance? It can just be seen as senseless violence for many. The intensely rebellious attitude is a reflection of the oppression faced in this film’s universe, and ultimately is an exaggerated comment on society today. Yet, you could say this about a film like Dirty Harry or Pulp Fiction, given their brutality. This theme, focusing on order vs chaos in society, is no doubt relevant, but however meaningful is it? The meaning left in it could be that, through it’s distressing realism, it so rawly opens ones eyes to today’s illicit society. Commenting on the confusion surrounding the film’s meaning, Kubrick stated that, “It is a story of the dubious redemption of a teenage delinquent by condition-reflex therapy. It is, at the same time, a running lecture on free-will.” Furthermore, author Anthony Burgess writes in ‘A Clockwork Orange Resucked’, that the meaning is in the title, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ referring to one who “has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice, but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or the Almighty State”. In saying this, Burgess does confirm that from his perspective, this is a comment on human nature being sucked away by a totalitarian government. Yet, even given the comment from the author, our perspective as an audience is truly subjective.

In the author’s word, commenting that ‘A Clockwork Orange’ reflects someone who “has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour…but is only a clockwork toy to be wound up by the Almighty State”, refers to our potential for evil, and the importance of it in human nature. This is certainly a thought provoking theme, as most of the film is. The extreme capabilities of human beings can be an incredibly positive light or looming darkness, given which we choose to act on. Yet when this potential is squashed by a higher state, we can question whether one has free will, if it is still controlled. In a scene where Alex’s rebellion in lessened by Ludovico’s Technique, a process in which he is brutally forced to watch films of atrociously violent acts, with treatment in order to make him physically sick at even the thought of committing any crime. In hope to make him less of a threat to present society, he is less of himself. Again, we can think about the fact that is is of course necessary to change such wicked behaviour, but we can also think about how it could be, had we not chosen to create any governed rules.

After seeing state officials confirm that Alex has been cured of his homicidal behaviours, a prison chaplain states, “Choice! The boy has not a real choice, has he? Self-interest, the fear of physical pain drove him to that grotesque act of self-abasement. The insincerity was clear to be seen. He ceases to be a wrongdoer. He ceases also to be a creature capable of moral choice.” In total, Alex’s behaviour is ceased to be wrong, but he is also ‘ceased to be capable of choosing for himself, since he had been rewired to believe what the state had wanted him to believe - that acts of violence simply are wrong. To the normal mind, this isn’t a hard concept to grasp, as we are surrounded by basic morals that tie in with our empathy. Yet to someone with more sociopathic or psychopathic tendencies, this concern isn’t there. So, again, Kubrick leaves us questioning whether or not people in this state of mind should have the choice there in the first place, as they are unable to distinguish that morals are important in humanity.

Furthermore, in 1973, Kubrick decided to ban A Clockwork Orange in the United Kingdom, due to continuous upheaval. Renowned film critic Roger Ebert gave it two out of four stars, stating that it was an “ideological mess”. Comments on it’s explicit sexuality, dehumanisation and violence were made, with some thinking that the point of the film in itself was missed. As some claimed it’s content was to create a raw piece of art, others claimed it an offensive excuse to pointlessly portray horrific scenes. And horrific the scenes are, though with fashionable features, the torturously disturbing scenes of ‘The Droogs’ murders’ are certainly crude, and have no backstory whatsoever. These brutal scenes can be seen as damaging to on audiences, or even dangerous. What kind of insight are audiences given when shown such destructiveness?

If we talk about the stylistic features of Kubrick’s adaptation, they have certainly played into it’s iconic status, having audiences sometimes classify it as a performance art piece, rather than a film. The renowned costumes of ‘the droogs’ have been used repetitively as Halloween costumes, as well as the storyline being referenced in The Simpsons. The production design is, without a doubt, gorgeous, kooky and as abstract as the film’s meaning. The interiors stun with colour blocking wallpapers, framed pictures of 1960s models and record players spinning in one room. The sense of 1960s jazz certainly is there, with a slanted, modern design, that Kubrick is known for in other works like ‘The Shining’. Whilst Alex and his gang members commit crime, they dance along to Gene Kelly’s ‘Singin’ In The Rain’, and as Alex is tested through Ludovico’s Technique, a recognisable symphony by Beethoven is played. The 1960s wardrobe bursts with colour, an exaggerated view of the Britain in the swinging sixties. Audiences are attracted to these joyful features like music and fashion, the stylistic features making it such a cult classic. A cult classic needs to be fashionable, but is this fashion in the film pretentious? Especially when surrounded by such violence, as though to say that it’s chaos can be softened by pretty interiors or a recognisable score. Or does it make it all the more disturbing through adding joyful song or colourful designs, as they so oppose the distressing acts that Alex and his droogs perform. Had it not had Kubrick’s touch, would we view it the same way? Though Academy Award winner Milena Canonero’s costumes and John Barry’s production design remaining outstanding, does their glamorisation gloss over the underlying trauma of the plot? This type of questioning is something we can participate in throughout watching Kubrick’s production, as both it’s ideas and meaning are not black and white. 

Kubrick’s adaptation of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ is clever in that it has us wondering whether or not it has a point, yet regardless, audiences are still left thinking about the impact of immoral behaviour and how our society responds to it. However consequential it attempts to be, it really can also be seen as blank, leaving audiences to decide on which to focus on. The pop-art aesthetics of the film can overrun the meaning or either try to stir us away from the barren landscape that it can be seen as. However strongly critiqued and analysed it may be, it’s meaning is all the more subjective, both creating interest and successfully winding up audiences.

Stars Out Of Five: 3.5/5

[starkmaiden]

did you know that hawks and wolves mate for life?

Ladyhawke is one of my favorite movies.  It’s got everything I need.  Sword fights, star crossed lovers, Baby Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Brodrick occasionally trying a British accent, and a ridiculously amazingly bad-good soundtrack.  Best of all for me personally, it has Rutgar Hauer, who is one of my favorite actors ever and I love him so much and I miss him every day.

Now Ladyhawke is the story of baby faced Matthew Broderick as the young thief who helps star-crossed cursed lover, Navarre and Isabeau, break their curse whether he wants to or not.  There’s also the evil bishop who cursed them, an evil captain of the guard foil, and a drunk monk.  Also Alfred Molina, who despite having seen this movie more times than I’ll admit I keep forgetting is in this movie.  It is one of the more quintessential 80’s fantasy movies I’ve ever seen, and if you haven’t seen it, I hope I managed to convince you with my terrible summary that doesn’t explain the movie at all.

You’re probably wondering why I’m talking about it, and how this means anything regarding Jonsa at all.  Now if you’re in the Jonsa Book Club then you’ve probably skipped down to the main part because you know where I’m going with this.  Ladyhawke is one of my favorite movies, but it’s also one of the favorites of George RR Martin.  In his words it is “Not only one of the greatest fantasy films ever made (ignore that bloody soundtrack please), but one of the great romances as well.”

And yeah, it’s got Jonsa to it.  Or well Jonsa has Ladyhawke in it.

There’s the aforementioned star-crossed lovers, Navarre and Isabeau.  Navarre cursed to be a human during the day, and a wolf at night; and Isabeau, cursed to be only a human at night and a hawk during the day.  Heck, I named this entire thing after one of my favorite Navarre lines.  Because originally this was called “Jonsa but every time it’s Ladyhawke George giggles like a schoolgirl”.  Let’s break it down.  Go easy on me I’ve never done this before.

Wolf Imagery in Navarre and Jon

Now I’m focusing on the male leads for this section.  Navarre is Rutger Hauer’s character, so even if I was using the show in any way for this Kit Harington could never match up.  Because like I mentioned above, Rutger Hauer is one of my favorite actors.  I actually started the notes for this meta-thing in August, only to stop it because watching Ladyhawke in the wake of his death made me sad for awhile.  But I’m tangenting.

In Ladyhawke, Navarre is a disgraced former captain of the guard now on the run and looking for his revenge against the evil Bishop.  In ASOIAF, Jon is a quickly advancing member of the Night’s Watch.  Both characters are both inversions of the Black Knight trope, and that trope played straight through.  They look like the standard black knight from the outside; good fighter, infrequent smiles, on the edge of society, and of course dressed in all black all the time.  But ultimately they’re both subversions of this trope.  Navarre is the hero of the story, and the most noble character in it.  Jon, despite his own increasing moral ambiguity, as of the last time we see him is one of the more noble characters of the series.  They also both keep bird companions.  Navarre travelling with Ladyhawke, and Jon’s possession of the Lord Commander’s raven in later books.  Which doesn’t fit wholy into the black knight trope but is an aesthetic similarity.

There’s also their swords to look at.  Navarre has his family’s ancestral sword and it holds a lot of value to him.  It’s been in his family for generations, and holds a lot of value to him.  It also looks dope as hell.  What does that sound like but Longclaw.  The Mormont’s family sword, that Jon now holds and something that he takes a lot of pride in.  And also it is dope as hell.  They’re even a little visually similar, stuck somewhere between one handed and two handed, with large ornamental pommel.

A more mild example being how others see them.  Navarre’s former men, even when they fight him, still hold a certain level of respect for him.  Similar to Jon, and the people he interacts with.  They’re also both defenders of the more innocent against their friends or former friends.  As shown with their defense of Mouse and Sam.

The most obvious connection was saved for last.  Seeing as both Jon and Navarre are literal wolves.  Jon by warging into his wolf, Ghost, mostly in those dreams that go on while he closes his eyes.  Navarre by transforming into a wolf, from dusk to dawn.  They also both tend to lose themselves when they’re in their wolves, forgetting they’re humans while in them and such.

Bird Imagery in Isabeau and Sansa

The Ladyhawke and the Little Bird.  They match.  Done.

Okay, serious.  Minor point, Sansa is reported to have flown away from the danger in King’s Landing and Isabeau literally flies away from danger in the movie.  Foreshadowing?  Probably not.  But I digress.

Another fun fact, Isabeau and Sansa have similar family stories.  They lost their fathers (and presumably Isabeau’s mother even though she is not mentioned) and through events end up in the custody of a family member.  Isabeau’s cousin, and Sansa’s aunt Lysa.  Actually, on my first watch I had to go back and rewatch the scene because I did mishear it and thought Imperius said that Isabeau fell in love with her cousin  Anyway.  It’s through this that they come into contact with both the hero of the story and the villain.

Let’s continue with the obvious, Sansa and Isabeau.  Isabeau is played the very lovely Michelle Pfieffer, while Sansa is portrayed by the beautiful Sophie Turner in the adaptation.  Both are known in story for their beauty.  It is the first thing people say about them.  They also both have these like piercing blue eyes like the sea after a storm.  It’s this beauty that brings them to the attention to their main villain, Littlefinger and the Bishop.  Which will be covered in the next part...spoilers.

Sansa and Isabeau are also associated with wolves.  Sansa has Lady for as short a time as she did.  And if you believe theories may or may not find another with a close connection to Jon *cough, cough*.  Isabeau is followed and protected by Navarre’s wolf form.

The two also have a similar sad air about them.  Isabeau gets the amazing exchange, MOUSE: “Are you flesh or are you a spirit?” ISABEAU: “I am sorrow.”  Now Sansa, Sansa has plenty of sad quotes, but the one I decided on for this is: “It was as if she has become a ghost, dead before her time.”  They have tragic ways of expressing their sadness.

The biggest would be the most obvious thing.  Isabeau is the titular Ladyhawke.  The hawks specifically used were red-tailed hawks.  Easy to train which is why they’re used in a lot of  movies, but they’re also common for falcony a hobby Sansa has shown interest  in the books proper.  More than Sansa’s connection as a little bird, which I’m going to gloss over right now with only the fact their abusers want to keep them as helpless caged birds.  Sansa is also associated in later books with the falcon of House Arryn.  Which like the hawk, is a prey of prey known for being fierce but graceful.

Final note, Sansa and Isabeau also bought trust someone with their most secret secrets.  Imperious and Dontos both being drunks who tell (albeit accidentally in Imperious’ case) their superiors about the ladies’ plans.  This ends up being bad for them, and it is what causes trouble for them.  Isabeau, ending up cursed, and Sansa, ended up a fugitive living under Littlefinger.

Littlefinger and the Bishop

The Bishop of Aquila is the primary villain of Ladyhawke.  The one who cursed Navarre and Isabeau when the latter doesn’t return his obsession.  Littlefinger is Littlefinger, probably the closest thing to a human overarching villain until Dany fully takes that position.  He had an obsession with Catelyn Stark, that transferred to Sansa when Catelyn became confirmed untouchable by way of being dead.  You can see where I’m going here.  They’re the ones who provide the hero girl with all to a lot of her bird imagery.  Since they really made her that way.

They’re also a visual difference between that our villains have from our heroes.  As I rambled above, Navarre and Jon are the guys dressed all in black trope, very pale, tragic.  The Bishop on the other hand is a pure example of the “light is not good” trope.  He’s only ever seen wearing those white bishop robe things.  Which also puts him at contrast with Littlefinger, who unlike in the adaption where he only wears those dark medieval trench coat things that cover all the skin, chooses to wear literally every color he can get his hands on which is nearly every one.

Like Littlefinger, the Bishop in Ladyhawke is an evil man in a corrupt position.  Using his underlings like the captain of the guard to do his dirty work for him while he remains clean on the outside, similar to Littlefinger’s relationships with Lothor Brune and them Kettleblacks.  

They’re also both the instigators of the entire plots of their stories.  The Bishop is the one who curses the couple, the one who arrests Mouse, sells his soul to hell, all that culminate in his death.  Littlefinger throws the entire continent into chaos in hopes that the shuffle of power will put him on top and get him the object of desire.  Ladyhawke’s plot wouldn’t exist without the bishop, and the entire story of ASOIAF would be different without Littlefinger.

Random Conclusions I’m About To Jump On

Phillipe the Mouse is the POV character of Ladyhawke I mentioned a few times over the course of this thing.  There is also Ser Shadrich, the Mad Mouse, currently being all ambiguous in Sansa’s TWOW Alayne chapter.  What do they have in common?  Well it depends on if you believe what I believe which is 1) Sansa is the Girl in Grey (obviously), and 2) that Ser Shadrich’s appearance in Sansa’s storyline is going to spell trouble for her in the books to come.  The tentative connection being that the Mouse’s involvement in the story is what brings our lovers (Navarre and Isabeau) and our could be lovers (Jon and Sansa) back together again.

Actual Conclusion

Endings are hard, so I’m not writing one.  I should do this again with another one of my favorite movies, but they don’t really have George connections.

In the reverse, Navarre and Sansa both have the wolf connection to match with.  And Isabeau is the Ladyhawke to Jon’s Crow.

Also, if Jon and Sansa’s reunion includes any variation of the phrase, “You’ve cut your hair” I will spontaneously combust.

[suspiriu-m]

Examining Youth Culture

Youth Culture in television in cinema is a theme we’ve all seen before. In some way or another, we’ve all probably related or even seen ourselves in something we’ve watched. A lot of experiences we see in these coming of age style pieces most of the time have something to do with at least one of three recurring themes. Sex, drugs and alcohol. Character archetypes are also an important part of these stories too. To sum it up, we’re generally confronted with Jocks, Nerds, Goths, Popular Kids, Pot Heads etc.

A major point to take into account when looking at this type of media is the perspective the story is told from, and where it’s taking place. For example, Barry Jenkins’ 2016 film Moonlight, is completely different from 2018’s Love Simon, directed by Greg Berlanti. Moonlight tells the story of a young Black man named Chiron. Through three different time periods in his life, we see him come to terms with his identity and sexuality, all while living with his drug addicted mother in an impoverished neighborhood in Miami. Throughout the film Chiron not only faces the struggles of his sexuality within himself, but how his unaccepting peers react, his mess of a mother, and maneuvering masculinity without the guidance of his missing father. In a review written for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw says that Moonlight

“is a film about masculinity, the wounds and crises of which are the same for all sexualities, but conditioned by the background weather of race and class” ((Bradshaw Moonlight review – a visually ravishing portrait of masculinity).

Love Simon however, is a completely different ballgame. The juxtaposition between the two films is extremely noticeable, even from just from looking at their promotional images. While Moonlight is more of a serious, realistic and emotionally charged movie, Love Simon has more of a young adult, coming of age, happily ever after tone to it. In the film, the main character has to find his way through growing up, high school, coming out to his friends and family, but most importantly figuring out how Blue is. Blue is the person that Simon has formed a connection with through emailing each other. The only problem? He has absolutely no idea who Blue even is. One of the more important aspects of this film when looking to compare it to others is the fact that the main character and most of the cast are all white. Not only that, but it takes place in a much more suburban setting compared to that of Moonlight. Simon’s relationship with his parents is very strong, his friends are all super close to him and the impression is given that they would obviously support him once he comes out. Surprise, they do.

In terms of which character I related to from the selection of films and shows assigned, I don’t really feel like I can truthfully say that I felt some sort of connection with them. Being gay myself, there wasn’t a crazy amount of representation in terms of queer youth in the films. Yes in Mean Girls you had Damian but he was kind of underutilized and exaggerated. In Euphoria you have Jules who is a trans woman but that also isn’t something that I’ve experienced and won’t pretend to. Could I relate to a few aspects of her character? Of course, i’m sure anybody can. But am I able to say I identify with her? Definitely not. That’s not a bad thing though, trans stories need to be represented in the media. More importantly they don’t always have to be represented in some tragic story or situation. Even though we’ve seen more queer representation today than ever before. We still have a long way to go. Rachel Bays wrote an article for The Advance-Titan stating

“Out of 109 major studio releases in 2017 researched by GLAAD, roughly 13% had LGBTQ characters. Of these films, about 64% featured gay men, 36% featured lesbians, 14% featured bisexuals and 0% featured trans-inclusive content”(Bays The complicated history of queer representation in film: The Advance).

It’s imperative that we see more queer representation mashed with Youth Culture in our media because not every single person experiences the same thing, especially queer kids. In terms of Kids, Saved By The Bell and Mid 90’s, I don’t specifically remember any particular moments in which I personally felt any sort of strong connection.

Now, if we’re gonna speak about common themes in a lot of these stories, then here is where I can say I definitely connected with some situations more than specific characters. Sex, drugs and alcohol are topics we see come up in a lot of coming of age or youth centered stories. In Kids, the main cast is basically parading around the city smoking, drinking and fornicating multiple times throughout the entire day. In Euphoria, one of the main characters Rue suffers from drug addiction. Kat comes to terms with her sexual awakening and a lot of her storyline is focused on her coming in touch with that side of her, whether or not it was the best way to portray it. And most of the other characters are all seen smoking, drinking out having sex at some point in the series.

Growing up, especially in our teen years, we’ve all had the opportunity to partake in at least one of those activities previously mentioned. I know for a fact that I have definitely been to parties, drank alcohol, smoked weed. I’ve encountered hookups and the whole nine yards. Something that really stood out to me in Euphoria was the episode in which Jules ends up meeting with an older man in a hotel room late at night. We shall not name the character for sake of spoilers but those of you who watched know exactly who i’m talking about. That entire scene was just gut wrenching for me to watch and I know it was for many other young queer people as well. Everything about that scene was purposefully uncomfortable to watch from the cinematography, music, acting and the location.

Speaking of music, the soundtrack to a film or TV show is super important and a lot of the time helps the creators in getting their point across. Euphoria specifically used a lot of modern music but also threw in some classics as well. The singer-songwriter Labrinth played a big role in adding music to the show’s soundtrack. He even collaborated with Zendaya in making All For Us, the show’s theme and closing track. It was premiered in the last episode of the series and incorporated into the storyline with a performance by Zendaya herself. This song specifically is so important aside from the rest of the show’s music because it aids in showing Rue’s downfall at the end of the season. She goes through so much in her recovery and relapsing and her relationship with Jules that when Jules finally decides to hop on that train and leave even though Rue tells her it’s not the best idea, it absolutely crushed her. In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine, Labrinth stated “When you look back to your teenage days... it feels semi-magical but semi-crazy and semi-psychotic. I wanted to make sure the music felt like those things”(Marks How Labrinth Created the Perfect Soundtrack for HBO's 'Euphoria').

To help convey how certain songs can help in telling a story, I created a short playlist with songs that I felt matched certain plot points in the show. Without going into too much detail in an attempt to avoid spoilers, I want to give you guys a short explanation of each song about how I feel it can fit into the show. In no exact order, the first song I chose was Regulars by Allie X. The song is about trying to fit in with society and the people around you when you feel out of place all the time. Personally, I feel like this is a good representation of Rue when she comes home from rehab and has to try and blend back into society knowing that everybody knows where she was. Halsey’s Beautiful Stranger is about meeting somebody after being hurt so many times, or just being in a bad headspace and finally feeling like this person could be the one. This is a good explanation for how Rue feels about Jules when she first meets her. She’s hesitant but slowly starts to fall in love with her before Jules starts acting out. Contaminated by Banks is a piece about loving somebody but having their history or the other person's actions make you feel not so good about the relationship you have with them. This is how Rue feels after her first little fallout with Jules. They kind of have an on and off relationship throughout the season and Rue subconsciously has doubts. Simmer by Hayley Williams is a song about suppression. Suppressing your emotions, especially the bad ones like anger, fear, sadness, rage. Nate in the series suffers with a lot of mental suppression. He suppresses his feelings about his relationship with his father, his questioning sexuality, his feelings for a specific character. Although he does lose his cool multiple times throughout the show, it’s not until the end of the season that he really bursts and lets everything out. Another song from Hayley Williams with her band Paramore called Fake Happy is also on the playlist. Fake Happy, to put it simply, is exactly what the title suggests. Pretending to be okay when you’re really not. In the show Rue relapses a few times whether that be big or small, and she has to hide it from her friends and family.

Maddy and Cassie are both the pretty popular girls of this show, leading me to choose Rina Sawayama’s XS as a representation of them. The title XS, otherwise interpreted as “excess” is literally about money, appearance and materialistic items. All of which Cassie and Maddy display throughout the show. The popular cheerleaders with the nice clothes and toned bodies, the pretty makeup and done up hair. It’s a perfect representation of their characters in my opinion. Even though they do have storylines going deeper into their minds, this is what they portray on the surface level.

Hallucinogenics by Matt Masson is a song about going somewhere else most likely due to drugs, and feeling like a different person. Although the song is a bit lighthearted in terms of sound, I think it fits with the scene with Jules and Rue taking drugs together and tripping in her room together. Rue was wary about doing it especially after the fact that she just got clean, and she already has this war in her mind going on but she does it anyways because she likes Jules. Attack of Panic by Aly & Aj heavily focuses on anxiety, which is something Rue deals with multiple times throughout the show. Especially the episode when she’s in school and pretty much has a mental breakdown and runs to the bathroom and hides. Even though the character Kat isn’t the primary focus of the show, her storyline has a bit of line shined upon it multiple times. For her storyline i chose Doja Cat’s Cyber Sex. Kat becomes a cam girl at one point in her sexual awakening and kind of goes full throttle into it. The song talks about having sexual relations with somebody over the internet and that’s exactly what Kat does, except she sees it more as a way to make an income.

Last but not least, I of course had to choose Labrinth and Zendaya’s song made for the show All for Us. The song represents Rue’s feelings of not wanting to let her family down, knowing the struggles and pain they have gone through and not wanting to upset or disappoint them again. Everything she’s done to get clean and sober up has been because of them. She loves her family so dearly but in the end she just broke down again, all because of Jules and the mess that she got herself involved with pertaining to many of the other characters she meets throughout the show. I hope you guys enjoy the playlist and take a good listen to the lyrics and themes in each song! They might not be perfect, but to me they have a lot of commonalities with themes and specific moments and themes from the show!

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/playlist-for-euphoria/pl.u-AGAaiylr2l

[ranger-report]

Review: THE WITCHER (2007)

With the recent popularity of The Witcher across mass media thanks to the Netflix series starring Henry Cavill and his arms, I finally began what I consider an epic quest to play through all three of the Witcher games and their DLC. This is, by no means, a small task, but you know I might as well sacrifice myself in the name of entertainment. So I began to play The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, a PC game released in 2007 based on the books of the same name written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. Now that I’ve beaten it I have quite a few things to say about it. But, first thing’s first, and that is easily the most obvious aspect of this game:

It has not aged well. Not at all.

To begin with, the graphics of the game are very 2007. A product of seventh generation graphical technology to be sure, it doesn’t help that it’s running on BioWare’s Aurora engine, which was notoriously difficult to use outside BioWare’s own house. There’s all kinds of graphical glitches, people pass through objects, character models and textures are fuzzy and sometimes plasticine, facial animations are sometimes downright frightening. There’s also the fact that the game reuses the same character model for multiple characters, both important and unimportant, leading me to confusion sometimes as I swore I just saw that goddamn priest I just killed wandering around the city. Except now there’s two of him. And all the merchants look the same, too! This being the enhanced edition there’s a number of upgrades and clarity that’s been added in to the experience, but it’s still dated for better or worse. What has aged well is the use of impressionistic paintings for the purpose of certain cutscenes, adding an extra dose of epic quality to some of the goings-ons. This also includes more “intimate endeavors” Geralt can engage in. Long story short, there’s a lot of women in this game who are willing to throw themselves at Geralt, and if you play the cards right you can get down to business pretty quickly. Sometimes too quickly; one time I brought a woman a loaf of bread and she had sex with Geralt. It was confusing and out of left field. But each encounter comes with a brief piece of tasteful nude artwork of the lady in question as blurred models bump and grind in the background. And, to be completely honest, the artwork is really well done. Although it is very jarring to play a game where sex workers are clearly labeled “whores” and “hookers,” most of the women have a good amount of agency in the proceedings, particularly the two primary romance options, Triss and Shani. Geralt can actually romance these two women to the point of committed relationship, which is refreshing to see that sex is not just a reward for “romancing” a character in a game, but something the characters enjoy, while the romance comes from genuinely caring about someone.

Despite the graphical despondency, main characters fare slightly better, as anyone who needs to be easily recognizable is, and are crafted with much more detail and fine tuning than regular NPCs. While this is fine, sometimes finding these characters is a chore and a half. The Witcher has a day/night cycle, and characters follow this, but when my map is telling me I need to be in one place to meet up with someone, I can’t count that they will actually be there depending on the time of day. And I can’t artificially move the time of day forward unless I have a campfire to meditate at. Meditation is an interesting mechanic, btw, as it basically acts as Geralt “sleeping” and also functions as your chance to level up and distribute talents. On paper, I’m okay with that. In reality, campfires and places to sleep are few and far between, unless you’re close to an inn or someone who doesn’t mind you crashing at their place. And oftentimes you’re running back and forth in linear paths across deceptively open areas, back and forth and back and forth in what can only best be described as tedium when you’ll approach the quest marker on your map, only to find no one there, and need to hoof it back to a fireplace to change the time again. This can also lead to extra consternation if the game crashes, which it did a handful of times during my fifty hours of gametime. Save often.

And, finally, there’s the combat. For better or worse, it’s an exercise in clicking on people to attack them, then clicking again at the right time when your icon changes in order to string together combos. That’s fine. Combat is also divided into three styles between two swords: strong, fast, and group style, with steel blade and silver blade. Strong and fast styles speak for themselves; group style is for when you’re surrounded and need to attack everyone around you. Steel blade is for humans, silver blade for monsters. Sounds simple right? It is -- too simple. Clicking on people is as easy as that, with little interaction otherwise. Sure, you have to figure out which style to use on which enemies, and you can couple in Signs (magic spells) to make your life easier, but repeatedly clicking on people to whack away is bland at best, frustrating at worst. Later on when you can level up your sword styles to include more powerful/deadly moves it becomes more challenging, but even then it remains a strange exercise in an odd hybrid of real time/tactical combat.  Finding oneself surrounded can lead to death quickly, so if you’re not paying attention, you can go from overpowered madman to witcher meat in seconds. Literally seconds: enemies I would have no problem with one-on-one, or even two-on-one, suddenly escalate to an unstoppable force the moment that three or more come in for an attack. The game has a way of forcing Geralt into combat situations without warning as well, making it easy to be thoroughly unprepared for a deadly gangbang around a corner and a cutscene. The game also doesn’t have much of an autosave system, meaning that if you haven’t been hitting that quicksave button very often, there’s a deep chance you could get your ass handed to you and reload a ways back from where you were. Easily the biggest frustration for me in terms of playing the game. Enemies will stack status effects to clobber you; Geralt will attack and get hit; sometimes you can stagger enemies and one-hit kill them, but enemies can still attack while Geralt goes through the slow kill animation. I don’t know how many times I cursed the game in anguish as I was forced to reload yet again after a fourth monster swept in out of nowhere, or the one monster I was fighting decided to get in a Stun attack, then proceed to own my ass. Pausing the game at any time using the space bar can help to get bearings, but you can’t execute commands while paused. Saving in combat isn’t allowed either, so if a big fight starts and you realize you haven’t saved in a while, you’re screwed. Couple this frustration with the intensely boring act of clicking on monsters over and over again to fight them, and here we have the biggest weakness of the whole product.

That being said -- is the game worth playing in 2020? Despite being 13 years of age and regarded as the least accessible game in the franchise, what it brings to the table is a surprisingly effective storyline that involves subject matter which is shockingly relevant. Racial tension. Class war. Plague. Quarantine. Riots. Gray morals. Strange creatures. Frustration. Difficulty spikes. Blurred lines between human and monster. If that sounds hauntingly familiar, it’s probably because that sums up the first half of the year 2020. To say that I was expecting a 13-year-old game to reflect the state of current events would be a massive lie; in fact, at the outset of the game, I was struggling to maintain interest at all. However, as time goes, the story and the choices made are what end up being the game’s biggest strength, and ultimately its salvation.

The story opens up simply enough: Geralt of Rivia, our titular witcher, has been found in a near-death state and nursed back to health by his fellow witchers and former lover, the sorceress Triss Merigold. Coming back from the dead has cost him his memories, however, and the amnesiac Geralt is quickly plunged into conflict as a group of mercenaries called Salamandra attack the witchers’s base to steal the secrets of their mutations. Swords clash, magic flies back and forth, and Geralt is tasked with giving chase in order to retrieve the mutagenic formulae so they can’t be used for harm.

A great conceit in this is that Geralt having no memory of his past allows anyone unfamiliar with the world to gently ease in and learn about the world as he does. The game is set after the events of the books, so this gives an added bonus to readers already knowledgable of events. And as the player learns more about Geralt and his world, a variety of choices come into play. Most RPGs have this option to allow player freedom in telling a story, but unforseen consequences follow every decision; whether they come into play immediately or further down the road remains to be seen, but there’s a ripple effect that goes above and beyond the usual Choose Your Own Adventure details which essentially craft your character into a good guy or a bad guy. What’s brilliant about this is that the game never hints at this; it isn’t until the game breaks away into a cutscene with monologue does Geralt realize how his choices crafted this specific moment. For example, in the Salamandra attack, Geralt can choose to fight off a horrific monster or help Triss defend the witcher laboratory. Depending on that choice, some characters may live or die, and the game will let you know that when it wants to....usually to hammer home a point.

What works to this being the strength of the game even further is the deep narrative, which is often times complex to the point of frustration. But the story develops at a natural pace, and never presents any choice as being right or wrong, black or white, good or bad. The main gist is that the human city of Vizima is under quarantine, fighting off a vicious plague, but also defending itself from the rise of nonhuman freedom fighters comprised of elves and dwarves. The city is divided on this, particularly in class division, with any nonhuman residents living in the slum quarter, while the affluent humans live exclusively in the market quarter. There are humans in the slums too, make no mistake, but it’s very apparent who is allowed to live where. However, the game makes no stance on this whatsoever; Geralt is presented with a series of choices based on the information at hand, and as the game goes on, comes closer and closer to choosing a side between the freedom fighters or the humans as tensions comes to a head with violence. Every action has a consequence, positive or negative, but also depending on who the consequences affect. Questions of moral arise; what truly defines a monster? Is it appearance, or is it action? It’s difficult to really spell it out further without diving into spoilers, as the story should be experienced first hand without any warning. That being said, it’s refreshing to play through a game in which the character is clearly defined as being the hero, but then forces the player to ask if their actions are truly heroic or actually damaging in the quest to destroy the greater evil.

In closing, The Witcher is a mixed bag. Narratively, it’s a stellar effort that swings for the fences and sticks the landing. From a gameplay perspective, it’s a dated game that’s sometimes a chore to play through, even to the point of dire frustration. But it’s one that I can cautiously recommend. While it certainly took me six or so hours to finally believe that I had the hang of it -- I didn’t -- struggling through the first quarter of the game can yield beautiful results, especially once it rolls into the final, jaw-dropping conclusion. What I will say is that it really beats you over the head with your choices, even the ones you didn’t know you were making, and holds up a mirror to ask if your decisions were really for the greater good or not. Outstanding work in that regard. I’m looking forward to playing The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings now that I’ve beaten this, and someday I’ll even come back to see the paths I could have taken. Just with tempered expectations this time around.

Final score: 7/10