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virginmiri99 · 2 years ago

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Generation Loss - The Experience So Far

Generation Loss (or “Genloss” as it’s been come to be called) is a live horror passion project created by RanbooLive, the personification of what normal people think of when they hear “tumblr.” To explain what Genloss is in a nutshell I would describe it as Jerma Dollhouse but created by a Lemon Demon fan who loves online horror. This isn’t a diss! This is simply a fact! The “live horror” experience with real time audience voting which impacted the story was impressive and I think the cast was able to succeed with their vision of half improv half scripted story!

My personal experience with Genloss is polarizing, though. I wish I could be fully impressed by the story; I went in with an open mind and simply left shrugging my shoulders and saying “yeah, that was alright.” To fully understand the Genloss experience let’s jump into my full review.

The overall story of “Genloss” follows main character Ranboo discovering his perceived reality might not be what it seems as he goes through a series of trials attempting to escape “Showfall Media,” an evil corporation turning the lives of “contestants” into a television show.

EPISODE ONE

The first episode opens with a character selection screen and chat choose shark head pickle body. Then, Ranboo waking up in an unfamiliar cabin with an electronic mask on his face. Unable to leave the cabin, he’s forced into a goofy cooking show parody with Charlie Slimecicle. It's set up in this episode that the mask has the ability to wipe Ranboo's memory.

This first episode opened with controversy and polarizing reviews from Ranboo’s audience, some loving it and others disliking the premise and criticized the lack of horror. In context of the full story, the lack of horror makes sense if the characters are being put through an experiment in the form of a parody of a television show, yet the execution from the production was lackluster and left many people confused (me included). If episode one was meant to create a false sense of security which would be shattered later on I wish we were given more overt hints that there was something lurking beneath the surface. The episode starts with a question— “where are we?” as Ranboo looks around the cabin and realizes he cannot escape. Though, a pin is put in this question as the cooking show portion starts, leaving the audience waiting for the story to return to the question it opened with. The criticism I see often for the first two episode is the lack of pacing, which I agree with. The story full on stops for what feels like an attempt to drag out time. If the cooking show was detrimental to setting up the story, I wish there was more to it than Charlie and Ranboo goofing around for an hour and Sneegsnag found trapped in the basement.

EPISODE 2

Episode 2 starts out much stronger, in fact I wish this was the first episode. It starts with Ranboo waking up chained (badly) to a chair and the Puzzler (played by Jerma) telling him if he doesn’t find the correct key he will be shocked with 65 million volts of electricity. Objectively a hilarious situation. Ranboo escapes and finds Charlie on an operating table and is told to find the key within him to escape. As Ranboo rips Charlie open he finds he is full of slime and toys, and for a brief moment we get a glimpse to the real world as the mask malfunctions and Ranboo sees the true reality of Charlie bleeding and screaming in pain. As the episode goes on Ranboo goes through many other trials at the hands of the Puzzler and he slowly begins to realize the true nature of his reality.

Episode two’s standout had to be Jerma who gave it his all as the Puzzler, completed with full makeup and a commitment to the role. If anything, this episode made me laugh the most with great quips from Austin Show, Vsauce, and Jerma. Sidenote: I liked how Valkyrae was giving her all as Rat 1 meanwhile Sykkuno clearly did not want to be there as Rat 2. Episode two also improved on the idea that Showfall is putting people through trials for entertainment, but that doesn’t make watching them play a board game for a good 40 minutes interesting. It was worse than when I’m forced to play Candy Land with kids. I didn’t find the scenes particularly engaging, or necessary to the plot as I was just simply bored. I clapped in glee when Jerma shot Niki because it finally meant something was happening beyond my most boring day at work. I also cried with laughter over Vinnie getting an anvil dropped on him. Top tier comedy right there. Overall, all the “trials” didn’t seem particularly worthwhile and dragged out. The story beats this episode include Ranboo beginning to discover his decisions are not his own and his reality is warped, finding out Showfall isn’t as goofy as it may seem and it’s all a show—a set, and he walks off the set wondering where he is. Though, all of this happens in the last 10 minutes. I love the concept Ranboo is going for but I was left frustrated with how long this episode dragged on for the conclusion, I wish one of the trials was cut or they all lasted about 5-10 minutes with relevant plot information tied to them.

EPISODE THREE

Episode three is the standout of the trilogy, with high production levels and awesome visuals, and jam packed with story in just a 45 minute period. It opens with a cinematic shot of the Showfall Cooperation, setting up the scene for our finale. We see Ranboo talking directly to the camera, breaking the 4th wall to question what’s going on and where he is. Ranboo meets a man named Hesch who tells Ranboo that he’s taken control of the facility and that Ranboo’s experience has been broadcasted. Hesch (HOW DO YOU SPELL THIS NAME???) tells Ranboo he will help him, and guides him through the facility. As Ranboo progresses he learns how Showfall erases and replaces people's memories and “resets them” for their experiments, and Ranboo grapples with the torture and pain he caused unknown for him. After a bit of digging Ranboo finds the control room and is instructed on how to shut it down. Failing, Hesch abandons him and Ranboo is left to escape on his own. As Ranboo looks to escape he finds multiple streamers all in perfectly crafted sets talking to their cameras like drones, unable to notice him. He runs into Charlie who is also streaming almost as if he was programmed to and snaps him out of it. The two look to escape and get attacked by security. They find Hesch who is dying and Hesch tells the cameraman to fuck off. The shots turn cinematic as Hesch tells Ranboo he’s not himself anymore, and asks who he thinks he is, and who we was "before all this". The question perturbs Ranboo and Charlie as they cannot answer and Hesch tells them they have to destroy Showfall and get their lives back. With purpose, Ranboo Terminator style stabs an employee and sees wires come out of them. As he tries to destroy Showfall Charlie is attacked and killed by security and Ranboo is captured by… HESCH?!?! 😱 Ranboo wakes up in a torture chamber and Hesch tells him he completed “the experiment” and says the point is to find who is worthy of “joining the cast and moving on to the future shows.” Ranboo says he doesn’t want to join and he is given two options: Live or Die. Chat votes die and Ranboo is killed by an iron maiden closing in on his head.

This episode was the standout BY FAR. The episode feels like a video game level, which is a cool visual as Ranboo searches for the “heart” of the facility. Ranboo gave it his all in the final scene which added to the experience and felt very immersive. The visuals and costume design were impressive. I was genuinely super into it and was desperately voting DIE during the final scene. I commemorate the cast and crew for being able to pull off the experience live so well. I have no bone to pick with episode three as it was perfectly rounded (even with a few scenes feeling just a little too long) and think it concluded the story well.

OVERALL

My full perception of the story is overall neutral-positive. The theme of being a content creator presented in a horror setting where you feel controlled and under constant scrutiny by the public eye is a wonderful idea to explore and have people reflect on. Being a Twitch creator is a unique experience and to see now these creators express these emotions of what they’ve been through is fascinating and intriguing. The final episode of Genloss was a standout with the theme of control and how your reality can be tangled, and I enjoyed the conclusion Ranboo presented. Horror is a subjective genre and what some people find scary, isn't scary to others. I personally didn't find Genloss unnerving beyond it's surface themes, which is completely fine! I cannot critique how someone creates and engages with horror because we are two different people with different experiences. Ranboo's genre of horror falls under the "internest horror" genre much like projects like Marble Hornets or the Backrooms, which isn't inherently a bad thing. It just simply was not my thing, but I appreciate the atmosphere he created with his genre of choice.

That being said, I still have a few criticisms for the experience as a whole. Unsure on how to present my points I've decided to create some type of numbered list... for the internet!

1) One of the main points of criticism I've seen from people is the issues with pacing and the filler that made up most of episodes one and two. The show's premise is how Showfall is brainwashing people for entertainment and putting them through trials to see who moves on, but the issue is the trials aren't particularly interesting and drag on and on. That damn Mouse Trap board game will forever haunt me as the most wasteful 40 minutes I've ever experienced. If this theme of trials continues in the future I suggest shortening or cutting down the time on them--there's no shame in a shorter episode! I found the carousel trial and laser beam trial most engaging because they were short and funny (Austin was a standout!). I think the filler hindered the project and didn't let the story brethe, leading to the overall story being unpolished and underdeveloped.

2) Other than the issues with pacing and filler, what irks me most about Genloss is it's a conglomerate of different scenes and ideas from Ranboo's favorite movies which left me wondering if it was a homage or just plagiarism. References to other works in your own isn't necessarily a bad thing, but my issue comes from how Ranboo presents these ideas less as a homage and more as a "hey, you see that? I was doing 'Saw' you guys get it? 😏" It irks me to see people referencing the Truman Show in regards to Ranboo's clear reference to it in episode 3 in their theories as if everyone in the world has seen and understood this movie. The Saw references felt just as out of place, almost as if they needed a plot to fill up time and just defaulted on Jigsaw. Ranboo even admits it in his postmortem— “I got to make a Saw movie but with Twitch streamers!” Is this experience his own live horror show about what it feels like to be a content creator, or is it a Saw movie with Twitch streamers and movie references? The message begins to feel polarizing and lost as it feels more like Ranboo wanted to create something referencing all his favorite medias, and not a stand alone concept. Even as someone who greatly appreciates the Truman Show and Saw I don't think there should be required watching to understand the themes of someone else's project, this isn't school. It just feels tacky, cobbled together, and out of place.

3) My finale critique is menial, but also a big portion of the project: the cast. Now, I know what you're thinking, but this is not me advocating for a different cast or professional actors--shocker! I know. The story is meant to critique and give an original perspective to the content creator lifestyle so it makes sense to cast recognizable Twitch personalities to achieve this goal. It's just... many of these creators don't have years of writing or acting experience you would expect from a big production as such, leaving the project feeling lackluster even when it's honestly pretty impressive for what it is. I won't criticize these streamers for a lack of experience in acting--they're entertainers, not actors--but some of the acting really did take me out of the experience. The best way I can describe the acting is imagine the most annoying guy in your class. Now imagine he's doing a Morty from Rick and Morty impression. These streamers aren't trained to emote the way many actors are, which is why their sadness, fear, and confusion are indistinguishable from each other with the same whiney voice that annoys me and takes me out of the performance. I think they bit off more than they could chew with how large the cast became, meaning wires would get crossed and people weren't on the same page. Sykkuno was there for a paycheck, and Jerma was giving it his all. I think this project could've been more well rounded with a smaller, closer knit cast.

In summary, I think Genloss is about three episodes too long; I think the story could’ve been much more compact rather than split into three episodes that felt largely of filler. Ranboo mentions this is a precursor for a larger series, so I don’t see the harm in having one (or two) big stream(s) to set up the story of Showfall Media which dives into the unique feelings of a content creator. Maybe it wouldn’t have created the hype needed for future stories, but also think the long, boring episodes also have the potential to kill the momentum of the story. In the future projects I hope to see a more tightly written story with the same production and direction levels of episode three, with an equally as enthusiastic cast. I especially want to highlight how Ranboo mentioned in his postmortem that his broken mask in episode 3 didn't indicate a face reveal, but his own complicated emotions he has attached to the mask and how he feels like taking it off would "end the show." I think that's a particularly interesting outlook and I like to see him express it.

I enjoyed Genloss by the end. The first two episodes debuted with a rocky perception, but it came together at the end which is cool. I don’t think it was a mind blowing project, because at its heart it’s a passion project by a 19 yo and not Martin Scorsese (even if my dad says Ranboo will dance on his grave). It was impressive for what it aimed to be and had some good themes going for it. It may suffer from surface level flaws as a project created by someone with no experience in the film industry, but at the end of the day it was a pretty good project. He had a vision and he executed it. I hope future instalments build on the presented story to create a more cohesive theme, but for now it's nice to see it released! Though, I don't think I would recommend it to anyone. Not even my dad. And we never even got to see shark head pickle body...

#long post

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streamer224 · 3 years ago

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I am asking about your OUAT AU

AAAAHHH I'M SO SO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO ANSWER THIS I MOVED INTO A NEW APARTMENT AND THEN I STARTED SCHOOL AND AUGH ANYWAY THANK U SO MUCH… I WILL ALWAYS TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO YELL ABOUT OUAT AU SO LET'S GET INTO THAT

... under a cut because oh dear this got a bit wordy

so for anyone reading this that is unfamiliar with the abc series once upon a time the premise goes a little bit like this: all the fairytales we know and love like snow white, pinocchio and red riding hood are all real, and they live in a magical world that exists parallel to ours. after the evil queen is defeated by snow white and prince charming, she swears revenge and casts a curse that will send all the inhabitants of the enchanted forest to a place where there are no happy endings… aka our world. all of the fairytale characters have their memories wiped and are given new identities, and they live frozen in time essentially living the same day over and over again, unaware of what was taken from them. there’s this whole thing with snow and charming’s daughter that is like… super relevant to the plot but WE DON’T NEED TO GET INTO ALL THAT

ouat au loosely takes inspiration from the first season of the show, taking place shortly after dream breaks out of prison. mostly because at the time that i came up with this (december 2021) dream had just broken out of prison. so. at this point we knew that there was a second magical book in addition to the revive book, but it wasn’t confirmed exactly what it was. we did mostly assume it was a death note because that just makes sense, but i decided to go wild and say that it was actually a book of spells containing (among other things) the dark curse that could put the fate of the entire smp into dream’s hands

so it goes about how you’d expect. dream casts the curse and creates a small town where everything is exactly how he’s always wanted it: a big happy family. those that dared to slight him are unknowingly forced into situations of subtle eternal misery. a few old friends get yanked out of limbo, just for the fun of it. and tommy, dream’s worst enemy, his best friend (whichever you prefer) is finally under his control. not just that, tommy adores him— after all, why wouldn’t he idolize the man he knows as his older brother?

everything is absolutely perfect, for dream and tommy anyway. but tommy’s been having some strange nightmares lately about a man in a mask…

featuring, but of course not limited to:

discduo brothers (real)

cheating scandals

a crazy homeless man (or maybe he’s onto something?)

techno’s chat

gas station convenience store employee connoreatspants

steve the polar bear as a great pyrenees

spooky abandoned mineshafts

c!beeduo rivalry (and eventual makeup, i promise)

charlie slimecicle the librarian

excessive use of cinnamon rolls as a plot device

and so much more!

to anyone who made it this far i can and will (if prompted) expand on anything mentioned here and i am so desperate to talk about this au to anyone who will listen. i also have so so many character bios i can share because i tried to create a curse backstory for everyone that i could even if they’re not a major character in the story! so yeah that’s ouat au in a nutshell :P

#thank you so much for asking!!#lntimancy #dream smp #dsmp #dream smp au #dream smp fanfiction #(eventually!)

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