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thrilloffirstlove · 3 years ago

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C.o.p.s writing be apon ye

The good thing about overstepping when you walk is that you can hear more of conversations that you want to join.

This was of course, a made up sentence thought up by Mel, who had not yet been noticed by the Computer Obsolescence Prevention Society. This was a plus, since the various noise was nice distraction.

Although, as soon as that was established Mel wondered if the noise was normal. As far as it could tell- Curt and Chippy might be overheating. Which was bad for well, everything sentient ever.

"Hi hi hi hi guys. Are you ok? What were you all talking about?"

"SPACE."

Mel's head tilted in a exaggerated manner. "Hm? Like- Like just the concept of space in general? Or any specific part??"

"We Are Brainstorming Our Next Project."

"Your player character is transported to a distant realm of alien technology, where the Zolarian race(descendants of what one could call house cats) need your help to ensure their survival."

"DESTROY COUNT DOGULUS!"

Chippy also chimed in, not that Mel was able to decipher what he was saying. Though this all sounded very melodramatic.

"That Is As Far As We Have Gotten. Any Feedback Is Welcome."

"Well. That does sound like a lot." Mel stared towards Bluster Blaster, who was the only one here who was taller than it. "But, I'm not sure why we need to fight them. Maybe that's just like, like me being a softie but I can't think of reasons for these guys to be dicks to each other."

"It's quite literally a cats vs dogs situation!"

"But that's just in the movies! I've known more cats and dogs coexisting peacefully than not."

"So You Are Suggesting You Save The Zolarians With What?"

"Love from the heart, of course." Mel made sure to say it in a weird tone, because saying it like that would be funny. "No but seriously, maybe it can be a talking game?"

"THE LASERS WOULD LOOK LIKE WORDS!"

"Maybe that would be cool. Even if it was just gibberish stuff!"

There was a rather sudden whirring sound after Mel said that.

"Processing- Huh. T-That Will Suffice For Gameplay."

Mel was tempted to ask Curt what that was about, how he had managed to stutter and if he was feeling ok and to please for the love of whatever's holy tell it if it was asking something they couldn't do. But then Bob started talking, suddenly and a little fast.

"Quick survey: What is a nice, plain, TEMPORARY name to attach to our intrepid protagonist- aka the average player-?"

Mel made noises in order to signal that it was thinking, and to please wait a moment.

"Well- If it helps my legal name is Melvin- if you wanna put that in."

Chippy made a noise of absolute disgust upon hearing those words come out of Mel's mouth.

"What's good about that is there are a ton of variations you can use. Mervin, Malvin, Marvin, Martin... Not Mertin though. That would be too weird for people I think."

"That'll be just fine!" The rushed tone was mostly gone by that point. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Your input is greatly appreciated."

---

"You Are Looking At 2 Pages And 500 Words That Detail The Backstory For Our New Project."

As per what usually happens, Sam and Max were in the wrong place at the right time. Now having exclusive access to the first draft of whatever this project was. The c.o.p.s were very excited to share what they guessed was top notch writing. The others....

"So? What do you think?"

"I'm starting to think that Mel's constant presence is... affecting your guys output."

"Seriously, what were you ON?" Max grabbed a page at random. " 'The hive of machines CB-843 was powered by began to overheat as Melvin began to individually pick each one of them up.' Erm, how do you say- YUCK!"

"Did they actually write that?" Sam had a death grip on the papers now. He was reading from the beginning, which was actually an ok, if gaudy sci-fi. Then one of the feline aliens introduced 'Melvin' to the AI it was supposed to handle. Now there was all this strange talk of games devolving into the protagonist just complimenting the machine.

"It Is Only A Draft."

"We spent a long time trying to make this as best as we possibly can!"

"How long would that ?"

"Two Weeks, Twenty Two Days And Thirty Three Hours."

Sam let go of the papers. They flopped down onto the table.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Max was shaking his head back and forth slowly.

"I don't know what to think anymore."

"Me neither."

"WE GOT IT'S PERMISSION!"

"Like we care about that!" Max was harsh- he was like that all the time, not that any of them were less upset that they're getting criticized like this.

"Not that it's badly written- It's just..."

"Go on, Sam."

"Wouldn't you want it to be romancing the Zolarians?"

"Where Did You Get That Idea From?" It was like the c.o.p.s were insisting that this was perfectly fine and that there were no implications with them writing about Mel and a computer falling in love. Probably because they were.

"Sam, am I having a anyuerism?"

"Maybe. You sure nothing was meant by having Mel call the delapidated machine 'neat' and 'cool' and say that “You're doing your best, CB”?"

"Just tell us what you thought about the writing, please!"

"It was ok. You guys seem a lot more dense now."

"Burn this."

"OK WE GET IT, STOP TAUNTING US!"

Sam and Max did leave, but without returning the draft. Which the c.o.p.s needed, because it was the only printed copy.

"First Draft Has A 36% Approval Rate So Far."

"THOSE GUYS ARE JUST LOSERS."

"Not to be a downer but maybe the average consumer finds it hard to relate to CB- I meant Melvin. As unbelievable as that may seem."

"Oh Please. It'll Only Be A Few Edits To Ensure Clarity. Though..."

Curt tried not to think too hard about Mel, how it was oh so very nice to him and his friends and how warm it's body was and how it would sometimes carry & swing him around- Less he start to overheat and break something in him(putting the last time to shame). He really did try his best.

"Perhaps Multiple Versions Aren't A Bad Idea."

#apologies for it turning into sam and max bullying people in the second half #im just amazed i saw this through at all #ok to rb #ppacman fever @//﹏//@ (c.o.p.s. snm)#self ship #for the low low price of 0 dollars i will try and write the thing the c.o.p.s wrote

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radramblog · 4 years ago

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Halo through its guns: ODST

A complaint many people had from Halo 2 is the lack of a huge battle for Earth that people were anticipating based on the marketing. The game spends one level in orbit over the planet and two more in New Mombasa before jetting off to the Arbiter’s side and to Delta Halo. While 3 spends a fair chunk of its campaign earthbound, there was still a contingent of people who wanted more from the facet of the franchise- to defend something familiar, to catch a glimpse of what the Halo universe was for civilians. I’m sure many of these folks were satisfied with the release of Halo’s first non-numerical (kinda) FPS installment, ODST.

Despite running in the same engine as 3, ODST plays quite differently, and all of that is a deliberate element of the game’s design. A set of more personal, lower-key stories through the perspective of a much different person to the Chief, and a closer-range look at humanity and the characters that make up the UNSC. And what could be closer range than a submachine gun?

Well, a shotgun. Also this one actually is pretty okay at medium range, considering.

…this is Halo 3: ODST through the Suppressed SMG.

Every previous Halo campaign has put you in the place of Master Chief or the Arbiter. Both of these individuals are incredibly powerful presences, both in rank and in combat prowess, and the games reflect that- much of those campaigns are kind of built to make you feel as kickass as possible. Arby and the Chief are constantly doing incredibly cool shit, and they utterly dominate swathes of enemies in their path, no matter what form the foe takes. They are loud, they are in charge, and they are there to win the fight.

ODST has a very different tone in mind. Much of the game takes place in a quiet, evacuated city during the night, with nobody but the protagonist and the occasional detachment of Covenant troops. Fast and Loud isn’t really the tone of the streets of Mombasa, save for during the squadmate levels. The world is dark and rainy, the music is solemn and pensive, and the player is made to feel utterly solitary as they hunt to figure out what happened to the rest of their squad.

To supplement this, the game has you playing not as a Spartan, but as one of the titular Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. In effect, while they’re still extremely effective soldiers, they are not superhuman, and much of the game mechanics reflect this. Gone are energy shields, with a slower-to-recharge and much more painful-sounding Stamina mechanic in place as well as the returning health bar. Every ODST you play as is much more vocal about being in pain when taking fire or on low health, which makes sense, seeing as they’re still, you know, dudes. The player is also weakened in other ways- the jump height is significantly reduced, fall damage is actually implemented, and melee damage is now about what a punch from a relatively solid person would be to a hulking alien instead of Chief’s apparent rocket-propelled-fists.

An…interesting decision to supplement this was to drastically lower the damage human weapons deal to energy shields, making Brutes significantly tougher to take down and the new Engineers priority targets (that the game also discourages you from killing). Nowhere is this more apparent than with the Suppressed SMG, whose shield-stripping prowess is thoroughly neutered to the point of feeling nigh-useless on higher difficulties. It also has a lot of recoil, especially noticeable when you’re zoomed in, making it harder to consistently land bursts of fire.

What I’m saying is that I picked the Suppressed SMG to represent ODST because it kinda sucks. Not that the game sucks, it’s fucking stellar, but part of the point of it is that compared to the Chief, you suck. This does get a little thrown out in certain levels, particularly some of the explosive holdout areas, but those feel all the more sweeter when you recognize how much more of a struggle the fight is for the characters.

Speaking of characters, ODST has a few of them! And while you never play as Dare, the Rookie, Buck, Dutch, Mickey, and Romeo all get distinct characterisation through their chatter, cutscenes, and generally constantly sniping at each other. Their personalities are, interestingly, reflected in their weapons of choice- Buck, being the leaderly all-rounder, carries the series traditional Assault Rifle, Mickey spawns with a Rocket Launcher but only two rockets because he’s an asshole and a cocktease, and Dutch has a Spartan Laser to represent his massive dick energy. But more importantly, Rookie gets both of the game’s silenced weapons- the Suppressed SMG and the Automag.

Rookie doesn’t get much of a personality, but there’s a bit there (and more in background material). He’s quiet, obviously reflected in his weapons of choice, and canonically the dude has very practical choices in his outfitting and his lifestyle, reflected by the versatile nature of his weapons. The suppressed SMG and automag do feel very “scout”-y, as relatively close-medium range guns that have 2x scopes in case you need them in a longer engagement (or just to get a better look at things). Their darker colouration helps blend them into the world, tiny lights visible only to the holder so they themselves don’t lose it to the night.

There’s a couple other major things the Suppressed SMG represents, and they’re tied into each other. The first, the removal of dual-wielding from the game in its totality. Not only is this further representative of the relative weakness of the ODST compared to the Spartan (canonically, the Spiker is fucking heavy), but it’s also a frankly necessary change to the game’s formula- at this point, the experiment that dual wielding was had run its course, and the limits that had to placed on it to make it balanced just ended up not being worth it. And despite many of these guns now being quite weak, you do end up being forced to use them a lot of the time- limited ammunition means that the S-SMG/Automag will only get you so far before you have to grab something off an unlucky Covenant patrol. Despite their weakness, the weapons in ODST shine brighter than you’d expect.

The other is a slight tightening of the weapon sandbox. The iconic Battle Rifle is gone, as is the as-iconic Energy Sword, as Elites are not present at all in the game save as a handful of bodies. The is Sentinel Beam is also absent (for obvious reasons) as are the standard SMG and Magnum variants. The level design, however, does give more time to the less-used weapons of 3- the Firebomb and Mauler appear more frequently due to the increased numbers of stealthy, jet-pack-y Brutes, and the finale of NMPD HQ lets you absolutely go to town with the Missile Pod, stuff like that. In an odd contradiction to the game’s overall philosophy, the heavy weapons/breakable turrets are actually buffed, as for whatever reason the Rookie and his squadmates can sprint at their normal pace carrying the things whilst the Chief has to slow down to make them work. This makes the second-to-last level, Data Hive, an absolute breeze, provided you know where the Flamethrower is hiding.

Speaking of Data Hive, it is kind of the only level where the Suppressed SMG is really allowed to wreak havoc, since it’s kind of the best gun in the game for dealing with Drones. A combination of tearing through unshielded targets, being one of only two hitscan automatics available, and being a bullet hose is great against hard-to-nail, flying opponents, not to mention the enclosed space the level takes place in. I’m not sure I’d expected it to drop the ones with shields, but it does at least get a place for it to be actually good.

You may notice I’m not talking about multiplayer, basically at all. Two reasons for that. Number one is that it mostly doesn’t exist- ODST was prepackaged with an extra disk that was just Halo 3’s Multiplayer mode (but with some extra maps). The second is that what does exist within ODST, Firefight, is still PvE, and as such the all the above pretty much still applies to it. Firefight is excellent, but for the purposes of this piece, it doesn’t have much unique to add.

In effective summation, Halo 3: ODST is a game whose mechanics and weapons are deliberately tweaked to evoke a distinctly different feeling from the game it’s based on. The characters are both more individualised and more specialised, and the gameplay reflects that. No other game in the series manages to get anything remotely resembling the atmosphere of ODST, and while a lot of that is a result of its aesthetic, story, and impeccable soundtrack, these would not hold up if the gameplay wasn’t changed to match.

ODST is the first of two Halo FPSs that deviated from the series’s tried-and-true formula, and greatly succeeded as a result. The other, Reach, will come up next week, as we finally reach the end of the Bungie era. Beyond that? God help us.

#ramble #halo #halo 3 odst #video games

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shy-magpie · 4 years ago

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RQG 156

live blog under the cut

Heads up about half way through I realized I go a bit further into analysis on where Zolf & the Kobolds are mentally than some people might be comfortable with. Just as they trust us to back off if the episode gets to real, I am trusting you to close the tab if my little live blog is hitting you wrong. If it makes a difference I have years between me and the reason I relate to this stuff.

"In Memorium" they are trying to kill us Ah they lampshaded the speed intros Yes Alex it is rather Paris Right to Azu & Zolf. Oh he's jumping right in. And there's my first pause of the episode. No “better” isn't a magic finish line you pass then never find yourself in that place again. No, knowing that doesn't mean you don't wonder if your back at square one every time you realize You Are In A Bad Place and Not Handling it Well. Gosh Azu is good at this. Yeah learning to walk away is hard. Learning to ignore the part of yourself that says "and never come back for their sake" is harder. Symbolic much Alex (Zolf is too small for the room, Azu is too large) Yeah it would be easier to not blame Zolf for last episode if I related to him a bit less. Okay they are talking about Hamid and their concerns for him directly. Yeah Hamid's relationship with power & privilege is an arc; and without the Doylist level of trusting Bryn & Alex, I can see where even if you trust/like him you'd be worried about it. With the best of intentions people misuse power. Azu quoted Grizzop at Zolf. Didn't name him, wonder if Zolf is ever going ask directly about his replacement in canon or if its best left to fic. Its easy to dismiss one's own successes. Okay fair and OW, Zolf isn't up to talking about Sasha; which is the part of this I was most prepared for. Hell yeah! He is coming down but not going to be attempting to lead so as to relieve pressure on himself. Maybe if he can let Hamid step up without making a Kew Garden thing he'll see how much he's grown. Hopefully without that setting off a "Hamid does better without me" thing. Yeah intellectual knowledge and it feeling real on an emotional level are very different things. Alex, why does it matter what order they are in? ALEX? The necklace? The Heart of Aphrodite shaped necklace? Azu got a Sign from Aphrodite approving of her reaching out to Zolf as an act of love. Yes! Blue Black no take backs! Yeah those two (players) know exactly what they are doing: breaking my heart in the best ways and not skipping over the actual work those two (characters) need to put into their relationship with OOC "its all fine now"s. Ok that settles the timeline, Azu went up same night, the device isn't made yet. Yeah Zolf wouldn't, probably best to back off while things are tender while being present enough to assure he isn't planning on leaving. Seriously bless Azu, this has to be at least as hard on her as Helen but she is letting the boys have room to work it out for themselves instead of "trying to help". The last thing either of them need right now is pressure especially on this point. Aw the Kobolds teach Cel draconic. Oh smart kid, not only is it just logical for the Kobolds to work with Cel directly, it might help them get over the "looking to see if the boss approves of how you breathe" stage. Especially if he is clear about not being threatened by them having advantage over him in this area. Heck of a relief this isn't hitting my rank issues. Ooh all the Kobolds are amazing engineers, wonder if its a Kobold thing or if Skraak recruited people with similar interests. Nice rework of the "Kobolds build traps" thing from pathfinder. I genuinely love how instead of pitching the original description of Kobolds out the window, Alex has backwards engineered it. Reputation for traps isn't a dishonorable approach to fighting, its a sign of their skill. They aren't minions, their trauma is interacting with a cultural attitude about rank in weird ways. Oh Cel! Cel is amazing. Under Shoin's orders they: made Magic Steroids, did maintenance (more towards the end as Shoin wasn't taking care of things), built the place initially, sourced ingredients, other Kobolds built the Mechkraken. Damn Shoin, they can't even be proud of all they were able to do in adverse circumstances because he tainted it. If they weren't forced to do it and have it used for ill ends, building the kraken would be impressive. A lot of that sounds like difficult work. Hamid stuff: yeah it is from a place of fear; and they would be hypersensitive and need to try to "defend him" so he doesn't react. Terrified of his anger? Handle anything that even annoys him to cut it off at the pass. And being a good person who doesn't like scaring them, Hamid is going to over do the very "Mary Sunshine" routine that makes Zolf think he doesn't appreciate the gravity of the situation. You'd think Mr "do a grief later" would get that Hamid doesn't have to walk the halls wailing to be aware of the end of the world. Not that the kid can win, if he cried and threw up it would be proof he hasn't grown from season one. Hopefully by taking a back seat Zolf will have a chance to see Hamid's actions and realize being chipper & wholesome doesn't mean stupid. Oh Alex has thought this through, one of these days I'll quit being surprised he actually gets this stuff. Not being able to read the person whose emotions feel like life & death is a Bad Thing. Thank Alex for Skraak. Weird seeing this stuff from this side, of course learning to focus on my end instead of being preoccupied with what was going on in the heads of people who were on Hamid's end of it was rather the point. Perfect balance, Hamid gives them enough space to realize he isn’t going to explode, Skraak "translates" into something clear enough not to stress them out. Like when Zolf snapped at Skraak when he pledged to Hamid; might not be pretty but not knowing what The Powers That Be want? Very bad place. Rank and clear orders are very important when appeasing those who outrank you is everything. Cel has dealt with a lot of young and unsure apprentices!?! Yeah well Cel isn't in their chain of command and gears don't get offended if you have an opinion on the right way to configure them. Cel is great Azu & Hamid talking about Zolf! Helen is wonderful! I thought this was going to be drawn out and indirect, instead they are actually facing things head on and dealing with them. Aw these two are so good for each other. Azu would set aside her own emotions. Hot damn Azu, getting right to it! Hamid can be amazingly open about his self awareness and it surprises me every time. It fits him and is a very good thing, but going from answering "how are you?" with "the Kobolds are doing well" to "I never knew how to help him" without it being jarring made me do quite the double take. Guess I was expecting more deflection. Yeah well you two are redefining your boundaries, entire relationship, and rank in specific, while being the perhaps the only people with enough of the picture to figure out how to save the world. Working out the balance between conflicting views on that, when neither of you knows what the end will look like was never going to be smooth. Oh yes and none of you have directly addressed that half of Zolf's rank & dick measuring stuff is because he doesn't know if he even has a role if he isn't The Boss or The Healer.* Oh the grin in Alex's voice as he tells them there is something else before the brorb interview. Whisky tumblers for each? Quite a sigh there Ben News? Big news? While they were in the institute? They ought to sit down. Wilde get to it. Ah Azu & Hamid are holding hands. Poor kid with his prop. Letter? Ancient Rome? Sasha? Are all the fics coming true? Their founder "Askingus"!?! Oh Sasha, oh Zolf! Lydia! Oh the kids! She named the kids after the party. She even found her faith. A break? How the hell are we only half way through the episode. Also hell yeah Lydia deserves all the awards, that was an amazing letter. XD Ben! Oh Hamid, we reacted that way to the epilogue that way too. It really is okay, it was a good end. Yeah he could use a drink. Poor Zolf. Hamid gives Wilde a hug. "technically I think that makes Sasha my boss". XP be cryptic Alex, The RSB will have it figured out by Friday. Ok Zolf got to read the letter on his own. Azu lit 3 candles, because Helen wants me to cry. Hamid is at Zolf's door with a bottle and two glasses. Lydia this is a compliment to your skill. More direct than I expected from Hamid. Oh these two! Okay he is drunk enough to go there (angry at Zolf for leaving but he gets it). About time someone told Zolf directly he's grown. Aw Zolf puts him to bed. Thank you Alex! Ben! (okay fair, if any of Hamid was left he'd cuddle). Sorry Cel! Lydia wanted to break/heal our hearts more than she wanted the plot to move forward ;) Good plan: take the orb to the anti magic field, only those who have already talked to it can talk directly. Info control. Hive mind/telepathy directly addressed. Finally what Shoin eats is addressed. Ok Cel has some teeth on them. Hasn't fed it, is using the vibration to threaten to explode his brain, (no English doesn't have enough pronouns we are working on it)... Oh good point better feed it. Aw Zolf is possessive of the kitchen. Shoin is still Shoin. Cel is not happy about not being recognized. Nice to hear the boys working together. The Infection might block him from being directly aware of being infected. Bullsh$% he backed himself up. Good point Zolf even if he does, they are separate lives, this instance can still fear death. Oh all the party have teeth, nice they don't have the "good guys have to be sweet & gentle with the baddies" thing Yeah Cel isn't stupid, the brorbs arm isn't a threat. Oh auto painting that will make the people theorizing on the bio side of how the Brorb works happy. A circulatory diagram, and am ocean of faces. Paints like a printer. A creepy charcoal sketch of London staring at the artist. *I swear on Rusty Tower if they let him hurt himself any worse because he thinks his new role is "a brick wall on wheels" I am joining the line to fight Ben in a Whetherspoons parking lot. Yes it would be in character but so would healing. There are other hills. Although seriously its been great having a character that shows so many of the aspects of depression that usually get left out. That Zolf is also a three dimensional character with a full personality beyond just "the one with mental health issues" while not making it look like those issues are tacked on or easy to handle? Stunning work.

#Rusty Quill Gaming #RQG Spoilers #alcohol #live blog thingy #RQG 156

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snowtimeisbesttime · 5 years ago

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Thoughts and questions (remix) on Friendsim Volume 16.

Fozzer:

-We’re getting close to the other side of Thrashthrust, huh? IIRC, Outglut (where Xefros and Dammek live) is close to the outer edges of the city… // Sadly we did not even get to KonMari the heck out of Dammek's hive...

-Fozzer gives me kinda Disney vibes?? I think it’s his eyes.

-He’s also a lot less gloomy than I expected. Considering his route, has he always been like that? And will he? // oh fozzy what awaits you beyond what you've already gone through?

-Wouldn’t Fozzer know that ghosts are indeed A Thing because of burgundies’ ghost communing abilities?? Literally the only ones we know that have them are the Megidos, Xefros (and he hasn’t used it on screen yet) and assorted arena stickball players, but anyway you’d think he’d know that… On a related topic, none of the Troll Call burgundies seem to have telekinesis.

-How does Alternian cheese even look?? hopefully not very maggot-y…

-Let’s get to the meat of the route: the scratch-y (as in the universe reset) bois out there in Fozzer’s backyard. Like what are those. Fozzer says he’s been seeing them the last few nights, so either they appeared recently or he started digging the Happy Absence Pit Park recently.

-Trolls do bury their dead, if only to not have random corpses lying around. As HAPP is still under construction, we can’t tell how exactly is it meant to be more respectful to the dead yet. // how does this gel with aradia's corpse parties?? does the party start before, during or after the burial??

-Fozzer’s opinion on Alternia basically flipped after we peeked into the weird spacetime gaps and got a faceful of scratch energy- what did it do to the MC? And perhaps most importantly, has it happened before? (what else did it change?)

-(at least one version of fozzer is not there anymore. heart is identities, so…) // alas, poor fozzer. Who might you have been and what could you have achieved in a fateful timeline, that it had to be obliterated? Also, if scratch Really is trying to murder boldir because she's a threat to him, and considering her abilities... what was Fozzer capable of?

-Is the world of Friendsim somehow… falling apart? Is its non canon nature going to be resolved by it just ceasing to exist? // it... kinda didn't? This did happen in pesterquest and was resolved by MSPAR acquiring the power of extreme fix-it fics, but we don't know if they were able to reach the guys from Friendsim in their Locked Timeline...

-Davepeta: *establishes a relationship between Time and Heart with the whole Ultimate Self talk* Boldir & Fozzer: hold our beers (Tirona did have like 3 bad endings as well iirc???)

Marvus:

-The Good Cloun Streak continues. Thank fuck. (then again we were told he was a liar back when his Troll Call came out…) // His route gave him very good vibes, but what we've seen of him in Hiveswap proper looks pretty ominous... though ironically his new Troll Call bulletpoints tone down the ominousness he already had by removing “midsummer nightmare”. One of the new ones is just Friendsim Characterization Stuffs, but the other one (Mirthful idolatry)... might match the “faker” vibes he gets from the meaning of his last name, or might mean some other thing...

-Clowns confirmed not to be as dumb as they look, re: the blacklisting.

-featuring the most efficient vehicle in the entire multiverse: Hover Segway Thingy

-Marvus feels like a Blood, Light or Void player. I’m leaning towards Blood (the capricen vs lelo spiral thingy, also he’s pretty ride and die) or Light (literally attracts everybody’s attention (and other things) once they see him, like a lot), but there’s also an interesting quote: “He leaves a bloody void in his wake.”

-He could also be Heartbound or Timebound, considering Fucking Shit Up Timewise seems to also be a Heart Thing now. // it was Time, all along.

-Was the Caprist sign on his hat actually not a bamboozle? Does he instead bear Capries, the Dick Sign Extraordinaire? // he does not, as he isn't a dick (so far...)

-Re: Blood stuff: either he didn’t see the MC’s crimson blood, or he doesn’t have the same compulsion to murder anyone with that blood color.

-Play of the Game (Lifesaver): Rapsta Slamzy for changing topics away from the concert diapers. Thank you so much, one-scene-wonder clown. // never forget (rapsta's feat. apply copious amounts of brain bleach to the other thing.)

-What’s Marvus’ reason for saving us, besides the fact that we were with Zebruh? The fact that he tried so hard to save the MC from the literal doom of a timeline and what he said about the Ultimate Timeline makes me think he Knows Shit. // this extreme amount of ride-or-die leads me to believe he might not be an antagonist in Act 2, or perhaps not the biggest one...

-The clown church is impervious to the natural means of correction of a doomed timeline, except for its literal ending. Perks of having a Lord of Time as one of your Messiahs, I guess.

-Will we have a clown uprising against the seadwellers in Act 2?

#hiveswap #friendsim #fozzer velyes #marvus xoloto #long post #thoughts and questions #t&q remix

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theonlinemuse · 6 years ago

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So @lesbianmaxevans and I have been discussing how there’s very little backstory for Dani Powell on the show and we decided to contribute to the tags by coming up with our own headcanons for her:

Dani is a nickname obviously, but instead of Danielle or Danika, it’s short for Danys, a unisex Haitian Creole name. She only gets called Danys if she’s in trouble

Malcolm giggles whenever that happens and Dani threatens to put her cold hands on him if he tries calling her that

Malcolm learned her middle name the same day he met her middle sister, New York County Court Judge Naomie Powell, who barged into the precinct after an incident where Dani got hurt and went, “Danys Eliana Powell, if you’re going to give our family a heart attack, at least pick up your phone!”

Her dad is Haitian (I still say that episode 5 should’ve delved into this with Dani and her backstory) and her mom is Jewish. Dani and her sisters were all raised Jewish

Dani doesn’t regularly go the synagogue, but it’s tradition for the Powells to go to services during major holidays

Dani and JT explaining Jewish holidays to everyone

Powell wasn’t her dad’s original last name. Her dad and grandma came to New York from Port au Prince in the late 70s and their original last name was Poirot. Grandma Eliana kept the name, but her dad changed it to Powell when he started university

She’s the youngest of three girls in the family. Her oldest sister Mona is played by Meta Golding while middle sister Naomie is played by Sydney Tamiia Poitier

Naomie was the sister who suffered from night terrors after getting into a bad car accident as a teenager and Mona and Dani would often take turns looking after her. This is how Dani knew how to deal with Malcolm

Dani is bisexual. She and Edrisa went on a date before deciding to be friends and Edrisa likes to joke about them being exes much to Malcolm’s confusion

“When did you even break up?” “We didn’t, technically. We just went go karting and had lunch at Zabar’s before we realized Dani was wayyyy too much like an aloof little sister to me.”

And this is totally a crack headcanon, but after seeing Jurnee Smollett-Bell playing Black Canary in Birds of Prey, Dani and Dinah Lance are now cousins. Their moms, Zipporah and Dinah Senior were sisters

Dani and Dinah may be Jewish, but they don’t keep kosher all the time. They don’t eat pork, but they’re absolutely weak against shellfish, much to their moms’ dismay

Chaotic bi Dinah and distinguished bi Dani

Imagine Dani going undercover in Dinah’s band and them singing the Birds of Prey song from Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Dani can rock the punk rock aesthetic. Dinah makes her wear fishnet stockings, red lipstick, a corset over a dark lace shirt, and gold metallic temp tattoos. Malcolm has a heart attack

And then Dani starts singing and he’s a goner because he’s only ever hear her sing old songs from the 30s to 50s and there’s something powerful and sensual about her singing punk rock music. He’s not ready for it

JT teases the hell out of him, but he soon shuts up when Dani and Dinah bring Tally into the mix. Edrisa records the whole thing, as well as Malcolm and JT’s expressions. Gil ends up using it to keep Malcolm and JT from doing anything too outrageous

Grandma Eliana would sing old jazz and méringue songs to Dani and her sisters when they were little so Dani ended up with the habit of singing them absently whenever she’s focused on a task, usually when she’s doing her hair

Dani grew up listening to songs from the 30s, 40s, and 50s due to grandma Eliana always playing her extensive vinyl collection. She didn’t really get to listen to modern music until she was in middle school

In addition to jazz and swing, Dani’s surprisingly good at disco. It didn’t help that her dad often played Boney M and Earth Wind and Fire during her childhood

She used to joke that the Powell family is decades behind in their taste in music. Dani doesn’t listen to many modern songs, but she likes singing along to Yonce as well as Janelle Monae songs like Electric Lady and Sally Ride

Make Me Feel becomes Dani and Dinah’s bi anthem

Malcolm once caught her singing and he keeps trying to catch her again. He’s lucky to listen for five seconds before she kicks him out of the bathroom

Dani’s a bit of a tea expert thanks to grandma Eliana, who taught her many different ways of making tea. Other than Earl Grey, Dani’s favourites include grandma Eliana’s ginger tea and pomegranate tea

And I’m not just saying that last one because I saw tags about a Brightwell Hades and Persephone AU

She loves tea flavoured desserts as well. She often gets a glazed Earl Grey donut for breakfast on Monday mornings when she needs a little pick me up

She changes up the glaze depending on her mood. Lavender for when she’s stressed, balsamic and pomegranate for when she’s in a good mood, blueberry for when she’s irritated or stuck on a case, brown butter for when she’s tired, and caramel with blood orange zest for when she’s ready punch a dick

In the summer, she loves Thai iced tea popsicles and matcha green tea popsicles dipped in chocolate

Dani isn’t as big of a coffee drinker as she is a tea drinker, but if she has to have coffee, it’s always a cinnamon mocha with a shot of espresso

She can cook, but because of her schedule, she mostly sticks with quick to make dishes like grilled cheese and spaghetti. She likes spicing things up though, thanks to growing up with her dad and grandma’s cooking

Every Hanukkah, Dani always gets roped into preparing the desserts with Zipporah since her dad, grandma, and oldest sister are in charge of cooking. Dani’s the first to admit that she’s not a cook, but she’s gotten good at making sweets, even if she doesn’t always have the patience for it. Eight nights a year is her limit

Malcolm as a foodie bemoans this and his trying to broaden her food choices slowly becomes a thing

The look of horror on his face when he sees her chow down on a double beef bacon mushroom burger, poutine, chocolate pecan pie and a strawberry milkshake in one sitting is priceless

And Dani loves seafood, especially shellfish which Malcolm can’t have because it gives him hives

Dani was a bit of a trouble maker in elementary school, but for good reason. She stuck gum in a classmate’s hair because she stole her favourite scratch and sniff stickers and lied about it. And she once kicked a football player where the sun don’t shine because he was being a dick to her

She dressed like Kimberly Hart from the Power Rangers movie in high school, though she did have a goth phase for about two weeks in freshman year. She was trying to channel Wednesday Addams. She was definitely a bit of a rebel style wise. Malcolm was most definitely a nerd

Ironically, Dani’s the one with poor eyesight. She only wears glasses if there’s no more contacts and they’re a chunky pair that’s similar to Edrisa’s glasses

Dani does have some secret nerdy traits, she knows how to code thanks to her sister Naomie going to coding camp for five consecutive summers

And like Kay, Dani has some artistic tendencies too. She grew up with outdoor art programs that encouraged her to paint

She’s fluent in French. She, her sisters, and their paternal cousins went to a bilingual language school thanks to grandma Eliana’s influence

Dani also did competitive figure skating as a kid. She actually made it to the Junior Grand Prix finals. She got silver

There’s recordings of her competition routines on YouTube somewhere and she actually goes undercover as a figure skater for a case. Gil acts as her coach because he actually used to skate as well

She also did some cross training in ballet as well since her godmother is a well known ballerina turned dance teacher. There are a lot of pics of Dani in her early teens of her in a leotard and tights with curls escaping her ballet bun

She has an old injury that often acts up when the weather is cold. She broke her leg pretty badly in high school due to an accident in gym class. She got knocked off the balance beam when they were doing gymnastics and had to be rushed to the hospital for surgery

She prefers horror and thrillers to action movies, but she likes period pieces too. Belle is a recent favourite of hers

Dani likes Star Trek because her dad is the biggest sci-fi nerd and it was a big part of her childhood. She also grew up as a fan of Eartha Kitt because of him after he made her watch 1960s Batman reruns with him

As a result, she wanted to name her first kid after Eartha. She eventually nicknames her first daughter Kit because of this

Dani actually introduced Tally to JT. They were roommates in college (Dani majored in social work while Tally studied chemistry) and they went to the same synagogue

Tally designated Dani as godmother after she and JT had twin girls. She was the sandeket at Noa and Miri’s simchat bat

She practices Krav Maga, she and Dinah both learned it in high school, though Dani always says that Dinah had more of a natural talent for it

Dinah also did kickboxing and gymnastics and Dani ended up tagging along her lessons. She doubled as a coach and sparring partner

She and her sisters dressed up as magical girls for Halloween when they were little and the new Charm reboot is like reliving their childhood

She wraps her hair for sleep with funny and colourful scarves that Naomie always gives as gag gifts, a tradition that started when they were preteens

She’s dyslexic, but she wasn’t diagnosed until middle school. She had difficulty memorizing things so she got into a habit of carrying a recorder with her. She also has her phone and computer set to dyslexia friendly fonts and listens to a lot of audio books

It’s also the reason she sometimes makes mistakes when she’s dancing. She sometimes mixes up left and right

She also had trouble learning French at first because of this

Dani can hold her liquor, but after four drinks, she becomes a giggly drunk who randomly speaks French and sings 90s rock songs

She also suddenly gains a sweet tooth when sober Dani doesn’t usually go for sweets. Luckily Malcolm has a few lollipops stashed away for when this happens

Dani did a brief modelling stint back in college to help out her cousin, who was in fashion school at the time. She mostly modelled for women’s wear and book covers. She even posed for a couple of historical romance covers

Malcolm may have accidentally come across it thanks to his mom. Jessica might have been a little smug when she told him to fetch the book from where she left it. The look on his face was priceless

Dani ends up recreating a cover for a case. Edrisa makes Malcolm pose with her. She takes so many pictures

Given that Malcolm has Sunshine, it’s ironic that Dani owns a cat. It’s a mischievous black cat named Shuri and she loves climbing things, especially Malcolm

#Prodigal Son #Dani Powell

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abundantchewtoys · 6 years ago

Text

HS Epi: Meat p12 reaction

Back to Earth C presumably.

I gotta say, I'm curious to find out the final page count of Meat. The way we liveblog, the experience is stretched out, so with theories surfacing and such, we might be caught off guard when things are really over. There's only so far that things will be taken, though I guess we're still in for those "original Male/Female characters", I guess. :P That shouldn't refer to the new Reload timeline John created, I think, with copies of all the people mentioned in the rest of the character list. So, uh, yeah, guess the reason Arquiusprite wasn't mentioned in there was because he remained unseen, voided out if you will. And I guess we shouldn't expect an alternate Equius to have a talking role, either?

---

==>

Well! Talk about jumping straight into the action, this page opens with a dialoguelog! Back to Dave, Karkat and if my eyes didn't deceive me, we'll get some lines for Jade, too! Supportive Jade will be supportive.

"hit jane right in her neoliberal austerity measures" ... Hah. Well, I didn't think that would get referenced again at all, but it seems after all these years since John's 18th birthday Dave still has issues with the ol' N.A.M. So, Jane's a neoliberal AND a fascist now, Dave? Is that... even feasible?

"DAVE: now shes gonna spin some shit about supply side economics but we cant let her control the narrative on that one cause the first thing thats gonna happen once she begins deregulating the baking industry is that some sweet dumb crocodile down in consort land is gonna start putting sparkle glue in the cupcake mix which isnt even the real issue thats just surface issues KARKAT: RIGHT. JADE: definitely" ... Like, Dave I admire you're getting so into this, but you realize they aren't following, right? Also, why would Jane want to deregulate the baking industry if she's the leader of the foremost power in said industry, as well as running for president? Plus, Jane can't control the narrative because Caliborn is already controlling it! :mspa:

"DAVE: i mean earth c has just been play acting capitalism the last five thousand years while we timeskipped ahead to live rad lives as gods without bothering with any of the boring shit that goes into making a civilization DAVE: which is fine i mean you cant really expect a bunch of teens who didnt finish middle school to set up a sustainable form of social democracy that isnt just blatantly ripped off whatever we incorrectly thought obama god rest his soul was doing back in the day" ... Gee, Dave's given this a real lot of thought. Props to him, but I hope that aside from becoming 'an activist' he's also got some legitimite action points to improve Earth C's situation.

Guess Sburb really does a number on players, huh? "Congrats, you won, you're all gods now, and also, here's this whole civilization on the brink of collapse, have fun with that. Don't mess this up, I need those people to start the apocalypse in say, 2000 years, k thx bye." (The fact that this civilization, being outside of the Green Sun's influence, may never implement Sburb, is a bit besides the point since I think the trolls would have had the same issue tossed onto them had they actually gone through the victory door.)

Right, but the trolls had their home planet already effectively run by children, I wonder if that will come again? Even though they had carpenter droids at their disposal to run some things for them, they might actually be a bit more self-reliant than the humans!

"DAVE: but janes got this old school mentality you just know she wants to restrict grist alchemy for the sake of “growth” and when that goes down itll take three seconds flat for some nobody in new dersetown to drop the earth c communist manifesto" ... New Dersetown, I like the ring of that. Would call it New Dersey for short, though. :P Again, valid points there, Dave! If any revolt started, it doesn't have to be in the troll community, it could just as much be an angry carapace uprising! They're only docile if there's no one to rally behind.

Blaperile has this idea that the new society in a universe is not supposed to be seeded with the remains of the session nor the universe that came before it. That's actually a valid point; the only reason this society got kickstarted was through the cloning apparatus that was on the meteor! The consorts and carapaces seem like they would be able to reproduce biologically though, so I'm not sure how Sburb normally ensures the planet is a clean slate for a new species to emerge. ... Okay, so the planet itself doesn't really need to be the place where a new Sburb-playing species rises, true. There's a whole new universe out there.

Maybe through "importing" old Sburb technology, the "alpha" planet designation went to Earth C automatically, though.

Or maybe First Guardians are expected to 'cleanse' the planet from outside influence normally, but since this society's outside of the Green Sun's influence, that ain't happening. And Jade won't be going Thanos on Earth C.

"KARKAT: OH YEAH. JADE: of course DAVE: are you two even listening or are you just making noises with your mouths" Dave realizing he's monologuing? What character development is this. :O

"KARKAT: I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M BEING ACCUSED BY DAVE STRIDER, REIGNING EMPEROR OF SPEWING ENDLESS VERBAL DIARRHEA DIRECTLY INTO MY INNOCENT HEAR DUCTS EVERY DAY OF MY FUCKING LIFE, OF MAKING THOUGHTLESS MOUTH NOISES. KARKAT: JADE, ARE YOU HEARING THIS? JADE: im scandalized JADE: especially when JADE: there are much better things we could all be doing with our mouths....." ... Jade, your animes are showing again. ... I think that maybe Jade doesn't want this relation to be going where Dave and Karkat want it to go.

"It’s been a really nice day they’ve been having, and then Jade had to go say something like that. The air in the hive changes in a way that is palpable, in a way that she can’t seem to accurately gauge despite having both superhuman and superdog senses." ... Ah. So I guess maybe Jade just can't get a lid on some of her more... canine inclinations, at time. Welp!

"Elements of her outfit resemble her god tier jammies: peasant skirt, sparkly flats, and a bold choice in striped tights." Nice! That's only the third person who created an outfit based on her god tier outfit that we know, aside from Meenah and Rose.

"the couch where she crashed last night, and the night before that, and the better part of the seven years before that." It would seem Jade has the wanderlust then, she's more like the vagrant dog that comes visiting from time to time? More GCAT in demeanor than Becquerel, in practice. Heheh. Good for her, after being isolated on an island and then a battleship for so long, she's finally going out & seeing things!

"There are other personal effects of hers in the living room too: plants on the windowstill, her bass guitar sitting in a corner" Cool, so when she comes over, she typically lounges here then. Guess the flute never made it over, though. :p

"a horrific-looking periodic table that Dave made her for her seventeenth birthday pinned above the stairwell. He typed it in Comic Sans, and then deep-fried it to oblivion with JPEG artifacts." ... Next up, on For Fans By Fans...

"And Dave, with his preternaturally perfect timing, sweeps a hand over his tablet to bring up a new PowerPoint slide on the TV. He returns to his Comic Sans-written political presentation, gruesome artifacts and all" Dave, Dave that isn't professional at all!

", with the grace and proficiency of a man who has diffused an awkward situation in his own household many times per day, every day, for many years." Well, okay, that is really mature. But when Dave is the adult in a situation, the situation is very awkward per definition.

"DAVE: alternia: brutal eugenics based space dictatorship KARKAT: NOT UNTRUE." Succinct, brutal, but not dishonest.

"DAVE: troll homeworld: lord of the flies nightmare scenario where kids murder each other just to get the chance to get to grow up and murder other aliens instead KARKAT: IT WASN’T THAT BAD." Karkat. Karkat that isn't a valid rebuke.

"KARKAT: YOU MADE THAT LAST ONE UP. KARKAT: ALSO, IT WAS DISGUSTING?? KARKAT: GROW THE FUCK UP, YOU UTTERLY CONTEMPTIBLE, POTTY MOUTHED *CUNT*." ... The irony is stark.

"JADE: also you know trolls dont actually have two dicks dave thats an offensive stereotype" Are we really doing troll anatomy? Well, I guess it's good to know that the fan theory about Sollux at least isn't applicable to the entire species.

"DAVE: trolls: literally ate babies KARKAT: ONLY THE DEFECTIVE ONES. DAVE: like you my dude KARKAT: ...YEAH. DAVE: so thats why our campaign can work" Yeah, Karkat ate grubs, though they weren't troll babies. Also, yeah, Karkat was a mutant, but I wonder if that would really help his case here.

"DAVE: btw im gonna be giving a long form exam at the end of this to make sure youre retaining info because this is only like the most important thing weve ever done collectively" Well he ain't wrong.

"KARKAT: ARE YOU ASKING ME WHETHER I’VE HEARD THIS EXACT SPEECH ALMOST WORD FOR WORD, INCLUDING REHEARSED VERSIONS OF BOTH THE COLORFUL METAPHORS AND “JOKES,” TEN OR TWENTY TIMES ALREADY? KARKAT: BECAUSE THE ANSWER WOULD BE KARKAT: YES, OF COURSE I FUCKING HAVE." Poor, poor Karkat.

"Karkat elbows Dave in the thigh, a move that is obviously meant to be an action of pure, brotherly jest. But instead it comes off as affectionate and overly intimate. Jade’s clever eyes don’t miss this. Her pupils follow the motion of Karkat’s arm, and then they follow the movement of Dave’s mouth as he smiles in what he probably thinks is a totally neutral expression that reveals exactly 0% of his true feelings toward Karkat Vantas. In reality, his veneer is as thin and transparent as cellophane. He is the only person who can’t see through it.

Jade does some calculations in her head. Two kinds of calculations, in fact: mathematical ones and personal ones." So, is Jade reading too much into their relationship, or are the dudes just... Both too shy?

"JADE: soooooo JADE: do you want a projection of her first years hit on the economy down to the decimal with a 0.3% margin of error JADE: because thats a thing i can do if itll make you stop talking about this stupid election for ten minutes" I didn't know that were First Guardian powers! :p I suppose it might be her natural intellect though, but we've only known her as the hands-on science type until now.

"She proceeds to dazzle the two boys with explications on complex math utilizing taxation rates, GDP figures, and some damned thing called the “Laffer curve,”" Dang, Jade is as much committed to this as Dave! (Or maybe she learned all this because it means so much to him, that could be it too!)

"The thing about Jade Harley is that she’s not as good at personal things as she is at other things. Like science, or mastering fraymotifs, or kissing, the last of which she has definitely put a lot of levels into over the past few years because, well, what else are you supposed to do with immortal godhood once you hit the age where the dog hormones start kicking into overdrive?" Guess for dogs, kissing isn't that personal. :p And well, I guess Jade's only now learning the real consequences of turning into a real-life furry. At least she won't have had lack of candidates to practice kissing with. She might even have become the Witch of Spacing Out Young Adults.

"Her high-prescription lenses make her eyes look anime-huge. They might literally be glittering, she’s so completely serious about the issue she is trying to stress." And the fan artists rejoiced for all the new descriptions they have to work with!

" JADE: im about to lay out some cold hard evidence so pay attention! KARKAT: OH, HANG ON, LET ME GET A PEN." You can't live together with Dave for years without learning when it's time to start taking notes and grab a fucking pen.

"JADE: evidence about..... JADE: our relationship! KARKAT: FUCK" Pfff, okay, never mind. I think Jade might have hit a wall several times over before, trying to either define their relationship or take it to the next level. These dudes are really sensitive about their feelings, after all.

But it would be interesting, learning Jade wants to know where they stand just as much as the outside world does.

"JADE: you let me live in your hive when im in town KARKAT: I CAN’T BELIEVE... JADE: im preeeetty intimately entwined in both your lives KARKAT: THAT YOU’RE JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS? JADE: AND you dont disengage from about 86.234% of my flirtations KARKAT: WAIT, WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU KEEP TRACK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT? JADE: so....... are we doing this or not?" So, just like with taking on Lord English and acknowledging the lit fuse that is Earth C society, I guess the coming around of April 13th 2019 is when Jade had enough of all this silly business and wants to know what's what. (Also, I suppose the level of intimacy they shared on beforehand will be left to speculation.)

"KARKAT: DOING WHAT?! JADE: dating dummy!!!!!!!! KARKAT: OH. KARKAT: THAT IS KARKAT: THAT IS... A COMPLICATED TOPIC IN MY CULTURE THAT I’M NOT SURE HUMANS ARE EQUIPPED TO TALK ABOUT." Smooth, Karkat, real smooth. Maybe Karkat fears commitment will lead to some of their relationships shifting into other quadrants. And he wouldn't like to be moirails or auspistices with either of them.

"DAVE: also totally unrelated to the economy" ... Nice try Dave, but I think this can't be steered back into that track.

"DAVE: which not gonna lie is the only thing i want to talk about for uh DAVE: for however long it takes for this other conversation to stop happening JADE: so say no!!! DAVE: well KARKAT: UHHHHH JADE: im not just forcing this conversation for my sake! its for you two as well JADE: i mean after all this time have you two even kissed yet?????? DAVE: wha" I think Dave and Karkat might actually have been both content to stay uncommitted and fearful to put a label on it. Also Jade's question will presumably remain unanswered, it's already surprising it's confirmed she hasn't seen them kissing. And that is ignoring the matter of whether either Dave or Karkat kissed Jade before. I guess it's only fortunate for this situation that this instance of Jade never dated Davesprite, it would only complicate things further.

"DAVE: wha KARKAT: WH-WHY WOULD DAVE: uhh KARKAT: WHY WOULD WE KISS?? DAVE: thats KARKAT: THAT’S... YOU... I MEAN, HE’S... HE’S DAVE. DAVE: we KARKAT: AND I’M KARKAT." PFffffffff, hilarious! I can just see them blushing like tomatoes right now. Can't keep staying in denial bros!

"JADE: yes hes dave and youre karkat and everyone we know always calls you that JADE: “dave and karkat”" Hah! Yeah, but they also think you're part of the item, Jade. Care to shed some thoughts on the subject?

"JADE: i cant remember the last time i heard anyone mention one of you without the other JADE: the two of you have basically been together since your days on the meteor its SO obvious" Jade has turned this from a personal matter into a fandom matter. "Everyone and their dog knows you're dating, guys! Stop pretending otherwise!" It's interesting to note the different ways Dave has been seen handling relationships. When he dated Terezi in the GO timeline, it went south due her troubles in the black quadrant. When Davesprite dated Jade, it went south due to unresolved Dave issues, presumably having to do with his bros. With Karkat, Dave's been in a stable-ish thing for the longest time, though.

" KARKAT: VERY CLOSE FRIENDS WHO UNDERSTAND AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER ON A DEEP AND EMPATHETIC LEVEL THAT GOES BEYOND HATE OR PITY. YOU COULD EVEN SAY THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP... KARKAT: ...TRANSCENDS QUADRANTS." ... PFfffffff, so this could have been what it was like for the Sufferer and the Disciple, then! They were just never ready to commit? That would actually be funnier than it being this deep and fulfilling relationship. It would also make Doc Scratch' misgivings on the relationship even more hilarious.

"JADE: yeaaaaaah not gonna lie karkat but that sounds totally kinda gay KARKAT: UGH YOU HUMANS AND YOUR UNFATHOMABLE GENDER BASED QUADRANTS." ... Heh. Actually. Too trolls, the whole gender-based romance thing we have going must indeed be as unfathomable as leprechaun romance.

"Jade faceplams." Well that's a new verb. ;) What part of the body is the 'plam', exactly?

" KARKAT: ANYWAY WEREN’T YOU... DATING THAT CARAPACIAN COUPLE? LAST TIME WE CHECKED?" Lolwut. Jade. Jade are you... are you being a Ms. Casanova, a paramour or two in every city you frequent? If WV and PM turn out to be alive for the sole purpose of dating Jade, I'll choke on my drink.

" DAVE: wait you saying we arent fun JADE: whens the last time either of you left the house??????" I know Jade means it as in, she'd like to date them for keeps. But I also fulheartedly believe Dave and Karkat can sustain themselves on delivery pizza and chinese chow.

"In her other hand, she tries to grab Dave’s wrist, but he flash-steps to the other side of the couch." Well that's a new use of the power, guess Dave must really have felt alarmed. :p

"JADE: i wanna try dating for real KARKAT: HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED KARKAT: SORRY IF WHAT I’M ABOUT TO SAY TOTALLY BLOWS YOUR MIND KARKAT: DATING A SINGLE PERSON, FOR MORE THAN HALF A SWEEP, FOR REASONS OTHER THAN INITIATING THE CONCUPISCENT EXCHANGE OF FLUIDS?" Karkat is trying to throw the issue back into Jade's face by saying she should try dating for a longer period of time. But that's exactly what she's trying to do here! She knows who she wants that with! That poor little troll, he's not getting out from under this.

"JADE: third of all karkat arent you from a culture where people are expected to engage in romantic relationships with up to like five people at a time?? KARKAT: THAT’S NOT KARKAT: THAT’S NOT THE SAME THING AT ALL." If he's trying to avoid getting dragged into quadrants with people, he should stop upholding the validity of the quadrants to hold people off. :p

"DAVE: ok jade i think theres a flaw in your approach here cause you seem to think winning an argument on super clever logical grounds is gonna get a couple dudes to break down and fling themselves at you in like, a sexual way JADE: wellll it usually does ;B DAVE: oh my fucking god" So she swoons people by way of her big brain. Jade's got CLASS.

"This earns Dave a look. A long, sad one that has Jade messing with her glasses again so that she can peer right at him and apply some more of that faulty personal math to his facial expression." Just confirmation here that Jade isn't necessarily correct in all her assessments due to not being objective.

"JADE: dave are you in love with obama? DAVE: jade jesus where do you get this shit from JADE: is it about jesus then??????" Aaaaaand this has been derailed again.

"DAVE: no! DAVE: jesus wasnt even real JADE: i know he wasnt real! JADE: wait... JADE: are you saying JADE: obama was real? DAVE: ... DAVE: yes" Wut. Wai- I- Jade. Honey. Please. Guess for all her involvement in politics since, those isolated years on the island sheltered her WAY too much.

"DAVE: obama was real DAVE: he was the president KARKAT: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA JADE: all this time i thought obama was like JADE: an aspirational fictional character that you modeled your life after KARKAT: AHAHAHAHA I CAN’T AHAHA BREATHE... JADE: like snoop dog or nicolas cage" ... Jade. Jade no. You're just making this worse on yourself. For Jade, there would have been almost nothing in Homestuck she'd have seen as a reference to 'real life', would there?

"senary numeral systems that allow me to do complex equations in my head" ... Why is Base 6 good for complex equations? I'm probably not good enough at math to know.

"KARKAT: WHY IS IT LIKE SOME SORT OF *TRAGEDY* HOW SHE WAS RAISED? KARKAT: BECAUSE SHE WAS RAISED ALONE BY AN ANIMAL?? KARKAT: *I* WAS RAISED ALONE BY AN ANIMAL!" There! It's getting acknowledged again, how Jade's upbringing more resembles a troll than a human's! Becquerel the lusus.

"There’s a ripple in the room that makes it clear their god tier powers have just clashed against each other. He shifts his arm through time and Jade warps the space around them so that she’s the one holding the tablet. This is not the first time that they have rearranged the fabric of reality for a petty reason like this. Karkat has permanently sworn off playing board games with them." ... Lol. First real use of the god tier powers in Earth C, and it goes like this! Wait, couldn't Jade have snapped... Right, no, she actually wouldn't have First Guardian powers anymore now, I forgot. Still, what did Dave try to do, move the tablet to another point in the timeline?

"The moment Jade brings the paint program up on the television, Karkat stops laughing. KARKAT: NO!" Oh boy. Time for the Penis Quadrant scene, this time with three people. ... This would actually fall under both definitions of a "sketch", actually.

"He tries to grab the tablet from her, but she’s hovering well above the ground and he simply is not tall enough to reach. With a shit-eating grin and deliberate care, Jade begins to draw a grid." He's going to jump up to grab her leg, to disturb the drawing, isn't he?

"She gives Karkat a pair of fuzzy, angry eyebrows" Now I'm starting to think of the Karkat expressions in that one Paradox Space.

"all he accomplishes is turning the redrom trajectory between her and Dave into a redrom loop-de-loop." This is all I could want from a reprise of this scene.

"JADE: see me and karkat have great black chemistry! KARKAT: IT IS NOT BLACK CHEMISTRY YOU HORRID NON-CHITINOUS WINDBAG!" A+ denial there, Karkat, props on the response.

"JADE: and now that daves all chill hed make a great auspistice" Jade just wants all Karkat's quadrants filled by the three of them, somehow.

"JADE: because you and karkat are kind of like moirails DAVE: no JADE: and you and i JADE: well yknow its always been pretty flirty DAVE: jade JADE: EXCEPT!

Jade finishes drawing a shaky heart directly into the paint program. It’s so big and bright on the TV that it fills the entire room with red light." She's putting all these names and symbols to the relationship, it might just be too much for these poor boys to handle. :p

"JADE: i call this political arrangement: JADE: fully automated luxury polyamorous space-time communism!!!!!!!" That is not the shipping name I would've chosen, but it's the shipping name we deserve. And hey, communism! Get it? Cause Karkat had a sickle.

I wonder what Karkat's take on polyamory outside of the ashen quadrant is, actually.

"Jade rolls her eyes and tosses both the tablet and pen over her shoulder. Dave flashes across the living room to catch his very expensive computing device in both arms. The pen bounces off his forehead." This. Entire. Scene.

"JADE: i have to go talk to roxy and callie about the election anyway" Well, she's going to let them stew on this for a while. But I'm eager to find out who Roxy & Calliope would back. You might think Jane's a given, but if she's been busy maybe they have grown closer to Jade & Dave!

"Jade clicks her heels together to propel herself back into the air and actually winks at them before absconding through an open window." Think happy thoughts! Also, I just realized becoming a god sadly never gave Karkat the powers of flight.

"Dave and Karkat both stare after her, silently caught in their own private rationalization spirals.

Karkat needs to verbalize part of his out loud." Ah, but can they stay in that spiral or will they have no choice but to break out of it?

"KARKAT: WANNA PLAY SOME TROLL TONY HAWK? DAVE: hell DAVE: yeah" Yyyyyeaah, they are not going to have changed when Jade comes back, will they?

So even Karkat calls it "Troll Tony Hawk", not whatever absurdly wrong name it'd have on Alternia, and not whatever Tony Hawk's duodecimal name in Alternian would be. :P

#homestuck #homestuck epilogues #upd8 #reaction #spoiler alert #jade harley #karkat vantas #dave strider #homestuck liveblog

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iplayhubme-blog · 6 years ago

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GTA Online Guide: How to Play, Easy Money Tips, Build Rep Fast

Need to attempt GTA Online, however aren't exactly certain what you ought to do? Here's an abundance of data and tips on the best way to begin, how to win great cash - and how to abstain from getting slaughtered by imbeciles! Presently refreshed for PS4 and Xbox One!

While GTA Online is an enormously multiplayer web based game, you in reality just play with 29 other individuals at some random time (on current-gen reassures, less on PS3 and Xbox 360). It includes essentially a similar open world as the single-player form, and you're allowed to wander any place you need. Notwithstanding, explicit missions and exercises are instanced – ie, you get put into a region where just you and whichever different players you've assembled up with legitimately can see one another.

For additional on GTA Online, head on over to our GTA 5 and GTA Online Guides Hub. Over yonder you'll discover information on GTA Online Heists and GTA Online Gunrunning.

What is GTA Online?

While you're meandering around the open world, you're reasonable game for different players, so remain on your toes. On the off chance that you need to play Online solo, load the story mode, and essentially select GTA Online from the menu as "welcome as it were." Playing solo limits your character's advancement to some degree; the most ideal approach to play is to connect with different players at the earliest opportunity and generate whatever instanced action you're keen on. That way you can keep off the beaten path of griefers, and essentially focus on finishing missions and having some good times.

There are measures set up to debilitate players from continually executing different players, however actually, in the gta v online cheats event that somebody needs to be an ass, they will. So when you're in free meander, look out for stuff like getting killed the minute you leave an emergency clinic in the wake of being killed. Autos can likewise be booby-caught, so treat enticing looking vehicles with alert and take a gander at how they're left. In the event that it doesn't feel right, proceed onward.

To capitalize on GTA 5, you need companions to work with. Step up to the plate and welcome individuals to go along with you. More often than not, individuals are more joyful to cooperate than waste cash and time battling one another.

What to do when you land in GTA Online

Watch for white spots

They're different players you're imparting your server to. In the event that you see one moving toward you at speed, prepare. They may very well escape for cops, or just going through on their way to a vocation. Yet, they may likewise be a griefer determined to bust some skulls, so discover spread, haul out your firearm and remain chilly until you realize what's up. One thing to recollect: most stores and organizations are sans pvp zones, where players can do little else than affront you. So look for shelter on the off chance that you have to, and sit it out until the individual proceeds onward.

Discover a few companions. Or on the other hand toxic acquaintances. Either will do

The most ideal approach to play GTA Online is to welcome individuals to go along with you as a gathering – or basically trust that somebody will start a gathering welcome. On the off chance that the general population you're playing with are a bit poop, you should gta v money cheat need to go off and do a portion of the performance exercises laid out underneath. However, in the event that it turns out they're very helpful, you can continue playing with them by utilizing the post-work casting a ballot menu to replay the earlier activity (profoundly prescribed if it's simple or potentially worthwhile), or begin another one.

Gathering exercises produce 20% more rep than solo runs. Additionally, it's constantly worth playing a mission again to get an ideal score, as it's constantly simpler the second time around, and on the off chance that you do get everything right, the Rep reward is sweet.

Keep in mind that on the off chance that you are a forceful player and slaughter a great deal of different players, you'll become an abundance target and will probably be chased down for cash. Likewise, in case you're a dick and holler at individuals, you'll all around likely get adversely positioned. In spite of the fact that it's initial days, it appears that Bad Sports are tossed into servers with similar players – which may be fun on the off chance that you like that kind of thing, however ought to be dodged on the off chance that you would prefer not to battle for yourself against 15 other individuals who simply love being jerks.

Try not to get the primary vehicle you see (except if it's a decent one). Discover one that you can live with, as the main vehicle you stall out with until you purchase another.

First goal: Steal a great car

When you touch base in Los Santos out of the blue, don't take the primary vehicle you see. Glance around for one that you like - on the grounds that the principal vehicle you take is the one you need to use until you can purchase another one. Not at all like the single-player game, you won't almost certainly discover premium vehicles at first, so search for something that is better than average enough to live with, and won't irritate you as time goes on.

When you gain more money, you can take a vehicle you need to keep to a Los Santos Customs shop, go to Loss/Theft Prevention and purchase a Tracker for it. It's $2,000, yet it makes the vehicle yours - and lets you effectively recoup it should it go "missing". Get protection as well. It's costly, but at the same time it's justified, despite all the trouble over the long haul for reasons that will turn out to be clear. Like some joke taking your ride and stopping it at the base of a store.

The Pokemon Sword and Shield Interview: "We Knew at Some Point We Weren't Going to have the option to Keep Indefinitely Supporting All of the Pokemon"

We converse with Game Freak about the fight capability of Dynamax, the choice to limit the quantity of accessible Pokemon, and…

The Online variant of Los Santos is a pitiful hive of filth and villainy, and isn't the kind of spot you need to stroll about outfitted with only a self-loader gun. So except if you're Martin Riggs (find it, kids), your quick goal ought to get your hands on a not too bad firearm with the goal that you can at any rate secure yourself, or take part in some hostile battle should the open door emerge.

Accepting you have enough cash, the "best" firearm to purchase is the one you're most agreeable and compelling with. So that should settle on it a basic decision: purchase whatever firearm you utilize the most in the single-player game.

Third target: Buy a carport

While expensive, this is the following thing you have to get. It's the place you can store your vehicles, and you truly do need to do that.

Remember to agree to accept Rockstar's Social Club. On the off chance that you do, when you get a carport, visit the Legendary Motorsports site on your telephone and purchase a free Elegy RH8. This thing is a great base vehicle for Street Racing.

You can develop your notoriety an assortment of ways. On the off chance that you're a certain driver, you can irritate the cops and after that avoid them to gradually and relentlessly develop notoriety. Simply ensure you don't hit multiple stars except if you're extremely certain, as you'll finish up squandering a great deal of time attempting to beat the warmth.

Doing tasks and for the most part helping individual players makes you a "Decent Sport" and will definitely gain you Rep and reward money. Along these lines, amusing however it might sound considering you're playing a standout amongst the most vicious amusements around, oppose the compulsion to go around like a numbskull, shooting everybody you see. Also, be lovely to individuals, regardless of whether they're definitely not. A few players rush to geek rage, and on the off chance that they do, simply quit out of the gathering and abstain from getting sucked into their babble.

Okay cash: Stealing vehicles

In the event that you simply need to do things solo, the most secure introductory approach to make cash is to take vehicles. Voyage the avenues searching for basic ordinary vehicles, which are worth great cash. When you've jacked your ride, head to the closest Los Santos Customs shop. Try not to drive like a blockhead: the more minty crisp the vehicle is the point at which you arrive, the more it's value. Autos sell for between $3-$8k, which on a long haul normal works out about $4.5k per conveyance. A decent, enduring pay, especially on the off chance that you appreciate driving and don't think of it as a granulate.

Enormous tip: don't go taking top of the line sports vehicles, as those aren't sought after. SUVs and Coupes are typically excellent cash. Cars and econoboxes are commonly worth less.

Likewise recall that you can just offer one vehicle for every in-game day, so implies one at regular intervals or something like that. Watch out for the clock, and you can keep the green coming in, especially in the event that you join it with another okay action.

Another method for creating money for vehicles is through Simeon. Check your telephone normally for his instant messages wherein he'll request explicit vehicles. Convey that vehicle to him, and you'll win a pleasant wad of cash. Also, once more, be cautious when taking the vehicle to the drop-off point. Speed of conveyance isn't as significant as ensuring your stolen ride touches base in flawless condition.

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sortyourlifeoutmate · 6 years ago

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Anthem wank

In which a man talks at length about stuff he doesn’t know a whole lot about.

The lore of Anthem is good, but is under-utilised and not especially well developed, I feel. Though do bear in mind I’m an idiot.

Also bear in mind that I’m largely basing my information on a combination of the in-game codex thingy, the wiki and just basic common sense (which is to say, my baseless opinion being used to fill in the blanks).

The wiki and the codex also not always lining up, either. For example, where on the wiki it states that the Javelin that the Sentinels routinely use - a Ranger MK1, apparently - cannot fly. This is baffling because it would seem to suggest that the Sentinels you encounter in the overworld walked there? Or took a Strider, I guess.

But at anyrate the Goddamn codex in-game states that waterfalls are useful for Freelancers and Sentinels alike for cooling off their Javelins - and why would that be useful for Sentinels if they weren’t flying? I REST MY CASE.

For real though Sentinels can fly around seriously what would be the fucking point otherwise.

Anyway, let’s baseless speculate and pontificate on stuff I liked. Ahem.

The relationship between Freelancers, the Sentinels and the Dominion

It’s not really touched on to any great length in the game proper, but the idea that the these three factions all split off from the Legion of Dawn is actually pretty interesting.

Of course, it’s pretty ham-fisted that they explicitly list three virtues of the Legion and then they break neatly along these three lines into these three guys, but whatever, let’s gloss over that.

Again, I’m mostly filling in for myself here but I do rather like how they’ve all taken the same basic concept of “Keep the people safe” and run it in three direction:

Sentinels: Keep people safe by maintaining order Dominion: Keep people safe by imposing order Freelancers: Keep people safe by doing what you think is good. And killing monsters.

You can kind of see why Freelancers might be looked down on a little by the others in this context.

Also, I still think ‘Freelancers’ is a dumb name. But whatever, it works. They called a faction ‘The Cabal’ in Destiny and that’s dumb too but it works so whatever.

Point is, this contrast and common origin is interesting fodder to chew through. Everyone wants to do the right thing, after all, they just can’t agree on what the right thing is.

The Anthem itself, Shapers, etcetera

Predictably there’s basically nothing on this, because it’s mysterious. Likely more will be revealed later when (if) further content is added to expand on it.

But I got my own ideas.

First, I like to think that the Anthem is a universal thing. Like, it’s not confined to this planet that the game is set on. It’s everywhere. It is a universal background thing. Like the energy grid in the culture. It’s some kind of background energy source...thing...that the Shapers made stuff run off.

The Shapers themselves I just like to imagine as some sufficiently advanced species. They were shaping up (heh) to sculpt this planet, got a little way done then got HELLA DISTRACTED and had to leave in a hurry. All their shit got left behind, obviously, and all in various states of operation and disrepair.

My idea, in my head, is that all their stuff they left is all still there to make the planet the way it was originally intended to be. But it’s not all working together anymore, which is bad, and most of it isn’t working at all.

You following this?

So, like, you’re a Shaper. You’re some ludicrously advanced alien that cruises around the cosmos. You’ve discovered this unlimited, borderline-magical force and learnt how to harness it with technology. You pick out some planet to turn into another lush paradise because, hey, that’s what you do.

You land all your fancy-pants Anthem-manipulation technology, set it up, start it running and everything is ticking over nicely. You’ve got this - you’ve done it a thousand times already!

Then suddenly - oh shit! - space ants! Space ghosts! Or civil war! Or whatever. Point is you got to go. Right now! No time to safely shut down. Just shut down whatever you can, if you can, and scarper! Some of your shit is left running, some isn’t, some of it is just broken but who cares, you had to go.

Thousands of years later humans show up for some reason.

That’s my idea anyway. I believe the kids call it a ‘headcanon’.

The effects of the Anthem

Kind of a shame that in game how the Anthem actually manifests is kind of...muddled and...underwhelming.

Cyphers talk about hearing it, which is a reasonable concept.

A lot of the time is just makes...lightning...and monsters...which isn’t that exciting.

Did split a guy into three different people that one time though. See? That was interesting. Confusing, but interesting.

The idea that the Shaper relics exist to imprint a very specific model of reality using the Anthem is basically what I had in mind, and everything else that follows that you see in the game is a result of misusing these relics.

Like, the Shapers had a design and their machines are meant to forward this, but most of that shit is broken now, and humans also got their hands on them and turned them around.

Seals, right? Kind of mentioned. The idea of just tapping into this eternal, omnipresent force and using it to make lightning where there was no lightning before - by forcing reality to MAKE LIGHTNING - is a good idea.

Having a dude turn huge and attack you in stages relating to elemental damage? Not a good idea. Kind of a bummer.

Man, can you imagine if, like, the final fight against the Monitor had had a phase where he’s remade reality so that the Dominion is totally in charge? Like, troops come flooding in, Faye and Haluk are just GONE? Then you shoot him a bunch and he loses control, and it snaps back?

That’d be awesome. Ah well.

The Urgoth

I keep getting these guys confused with the Orgoth, another evil species that enslaved humanity in the past and was only driven out by the aid of something badass and mechanical that got invented later.

Point is, it’s still a fantastic idea. I love that. And the idea they might come back? Oh! Scintilating! I’m a huge fan of anything involving an enemy thought defeated so long ago that everyone basically thinks they’re a myth, if anyone even knows about them at all.

That they’re supposedly pressing in on Dominion borders, thus forcing the Dominion’s hand and inadvertantly kicking off the events of that led to the Heart of Rage? Also great.

We call this going full circle.

Scars

Initially I didn’t think much of Scars but on reflection I’m actually rather fond of them. I just think they need to have their nature really emphasised.

Like, they’re humanoid now, but that’s just because they’re emulating humanity. And they’re actually just stacks of bugs taking a man-shape. Which is hilarious.

They’re basically an insect-driven cargo cult. That’s a cool fucking idea! Like them making towns and buildings and shit for no reason other than they see us doing it so they copy us.

Just need to kind of nail down how the Escari work. Like, do the Scars have a hive mind? If so, is an Escari like a budding off? Does it still obey the hive mind? Does it think for itself? Is it a new hive mind that can force its will on the other Scar?

Maybe this stuff will all be explained later.

Also the implication that they’re from off-planet is neat.

Skorpions and Outlaws

Skorpions you can’t do a whole lot with. Monsters, yo. Shoot ‘em.

Outlaws probably need some development. Kind of feels weird gunning down wave on wave of human being. Also feels a bit unfair if I’m in a Javelin and some poor sod with a shotgun is running at me achieving precisely dick before I break him in half.

I mean, how many fucking criminals are we throwing out into the jungle?! And how did they go so many Storms?!

Other humans

I’m not sure how to remedy this, but we know we’re just on a small part of a bigger world but one still just feels so...isolated...

Like, there’s royalty and a capital and a sea and we feel so hemmed in.

I think that Fort Tarsis is the only proper place we can walk around (it being, well, the only place around you can really walk around in...) doesn’t help. Like there’s this huge disconnet. This Is People Place In First Person. Then you go outside and 99% of the game is being in armour.

And, like, what’s with Haluk’s tattoos? Is that just a him thing?

You just get the impression all humanity is one bloc. And that’s weird. The world is a fractured place, you’d think you’d get people from all over and they’d be quite different. Like, what’s a stereotypical Freemark citizen like? What jokes were made about those guys?

Gameplay

Let’s not get into this too much.

Would this game have been better as a proper, single-player BioWare RPG with proper dialogue and a proper story and not this horrible MMO shooter setup? Obviously. Everyone knows that.

But no use crying over spilt milk.

Conclusion

BioWare. Call me.

#Anthem

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