givepie

[givepie]

I tried for Oblvion too. Nowhere near as good as Smiler but. I tried. Also exams so I may try this again after Everything Is Over.tm

Remember those Alton Towers Wallpapers i promised like a year ago? I finally got a grasp of Polar Coordinates so i could give Smiler a go so here yall are. If you want any variations using this graph feel free to ask and ill do it. Or just ask for the graph.

Feel free to use, no credit recquired.

[givepie]

So Toxicator opened. So im bringing this back

BUT HERES PART II.

[Also Hyperia had some updates I'll talk about that too]

Actually lets start with Hyperia, theres less to cover there.

They decided to add shrubbery & grass. How cute.

How the fuck is that supposed to enrich the fucking theming when the island is shown to be volcanic.

I am a firm believer most rides can be fixed up by adding a lil greenery. Nemesis reborn looked so much better with it, and part of that is that the world Nemesis lives in IS constantly progressing. It being slightly overgrown and natural after the initial excavation makes sense, because its been awhile since 1994.

Hyperia.... is set on a rocky island. So WHY. Of ALL things. Did they decide to put down turf instead of ROCKS. its an island so why is there now NO mention of water whatsoever while the splashdown is being investigated? MERLIN.

ANYWAY.

Toxicator.

So youd think, considering all my praise for Reborn just now, and all the praise in general, this would be positive. Ha. Hahahaha.

I am in this for the love of unconventional storytelling. Theme park lands are vefy much just worldbuilding, which is why rides like Hyperia - where an active story is involved - struggles because the story has to be all around you or it might aswell not be happening at all. I can best describe it as the setting of a DnD campaign before the campaign starts proper. The players arent going to give a shit about the other group of mercs in the area unless you make them directly interact, make each others businesses intertwined. Otherwise theyre just NPCs the PCs never get to meet.

There is no Hyperia fandom like there is for FV and Xsector. For a reason. Noone gives a shit about Hyperia. Her story is nothing to do with your own.

Where does this come into Toxicator? Well, it certainly looks appropriate. But where the fuck does it come into the lore. We literally just established that the Phalanx has minimal control over the monster, so how the hell are they getting close enough to her to extract whatever her teeth are producing. Which - by the by- is also an unexplained topic.

The closest thing i can think of that links is the Nectar, which actually came from the digested pieces of people she consumed. Like John Dalton. Who is apparenlty still alive, thanks to the fireworks. Again, this has not been explained or even acknowledged as anything weird.

He just showed up and talked about attacking intergalactic aliens, which does not exist in the Nemesis lore until THIS POINT. NEMESIS IS EXTRADIMENSIONAL. SHE CAME HERE THROUGH A WORMHOLE. THE WORMHOLE GALACTICA ARE USING.

I AM NOT KIDDING. GALACTICA IS BETTER LINKED TO NEMESIS STORYLINEWISE THAN TOXICATOR. ITS JUST THAT SOME PEOPLE CANNOT HANDLE A PLOTLINE THATS NOT "UAGGHH SUFFERING, GUNS!"

Then there's also the fact that making FV into a Phalanx heavy area rides-wise makes the area without actors feel like X-sector 2.0. I am not the one to first have this thought, but it has resonated with me. Part of what made FV so lively was having so many groups. You could see where threads crossed, how people interacted. But, due to Merlin not being Disney and having a much tighter budget, the Ent team can't be there all the time. How to enforce this spirit then? DIVERSITY IN RIDE THEMING.

Even if they just stick to the 3 groups in 2024 and got rid of the Galactica company, Toxicator could have more ripsaw-esque features and be themed to the STT troupe.

Galactica could come under new management with MCT and feed into the "cooperate entity not caring for tragedy, only profits" theme.

Instead we get a new ride where the theme is a brief idea that doesn't expand on the plot of the land. I am loathe to think about what they plan for Galactica.

Hm! I feel a rant coming on! Everyone duck!

MY THOUGHTS ON THE HYPERIA STORY AND ITS THEMING. ALSO A GENERAL RANT ON COASTER THEMING.

Let start with a general question: what counts as theming?

To me, theming is the set pieces, pre-show, and anything laid out in a rides area to help develop a story. Most of the time this helps world-building more than anything. To me, even music can be a piece of theming because it helps to set a tone. For example, when riding Smiler, the laughter sounds almost manic and it makes you realise straight away that something is off, before you even step foot into X-sector.

Anything that DOESN'T fall into this classification such as website and app pages, falls into "storytelling". In a theme park, it is almost impossible to tell the entire story from one repeated instance inside of said story. To tell a complicated story like that of the Smiler, it would take so much exposition, which is very much not the point and would take away from the experience as a whole.

So storytelling isn't a bad thing, it's how they handle it.

To me, there are three behemoths of theme park theming and storytelling worldwide. That I know of.

Baron 1898, X-Sector post-Smiler, And Forbidden Valley post-Reborn.

Baron 1898 is pretty easy to grasp while you're there, even as a non-speaker of the language. You're going on a mine tour and 3 ghost ladies are PISSED that you're going down there. The actual theming is downright impressive ans I would love to see it in real life. You can then look up the story to find out who the ghosts are, who the Baron is, and how the mine came to be. Really good treat for people who decide to look.

Forbidden Valley has a story that has remained relatively consistent throughout the years. It has wondering actors that establish the world in a realistic yet entertaining way rather quickly. There are an official operation; there are people opposing the operation so there is something sneaky going on; there is a tour group taking advantage of the centrepiece so the Alien is a tourist attraction in this universe, too. Just little things that help put together a bigger picture.

Of course this starts coming apart a little bit when the audio starts explicitly telling you what is happening, but it still holds. You see someone's office, a crashed helicopter, weapons for warding off the alien. All things to help build up this universe you are now ankle-deep in. And then there's the 3 pages on the Internet that break down the story for you, which can also be seen in the shop.

Finally, of course, there's X-sector. It doesn't usually have roaming actors, and the theme suits better that way. Without the roaming actors, you see that the Ministry are secretive. Trying to stay out of the limelight, except for the skeleton crew they send out to keep the coaster safe and operational. It shows a tone.

However, people casually wondering what this is about can never get an easy answer. Cause the answer is spread out across what remains of a decade-old marketing campaign. Fun for people who want a deep dive, not so fun for people who are just lightly curious. The website barely tells you anything either.

But, on a positive light, the story is so complex it keeps a fandom. Not many coasters have that. It's an insane accomplishment.

And I have a theory as to why. Now, stay with me here I think I'm about to upset some people:

It has aspects of social and political commentary. "Not everything is political" ALL GOOD ART IS A COMMENTARY ON THE TIMES AND CIRCUMSTANCES YOU WERE RAISED IN SIT YOUR ARSE BACK DOWN.

RIGHT, so, Smiler is a story about the government dedicating an organisation to keeping people artificially content to keep people compliant. What are Brits notorious for doing, in comparison to the French?

Doing fuck all. This wasn't always the case. We would riot, we would strike. Now we strike but while the other half of the country complains and just tells the strikers to sit back down and take the mistreatment. We are miserable, we complain, and we go about our day. And that's the joke. Its funny. So why bother changing it?

And if we can't be bothered changing something cause it's funny, what happens if they make everything purposefully funny? They'd never have to deal with the strikes in the first place.

The government functions off of our social compliance, which can come from making jokes at our own expense. We even see it now with our drowned-rat-faced PM as he continues to make a fool out of himself so he's funny. If he's funny, we want to see him more. That's a valid strategy nowadays.

Smiler. Is about how Keep Calm And Carry On is a stand against progress.

Smiler. Is a political and social commentary on the people of Britain. You're welcome.

Anyway!

HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO THE NEW WORLD-STAGE COASTER IN STAINES?

The problem is: it doesn't. Instead of taking inspiration from its sister park, Alton, Thorpe decided to take inspiration from Icon and its shoebox station.

Where is Fearless Valley taking place? When is Fearless Valley taking place? What point in the story are we looking at here? The issue [only issue, really] with Hyperia, is it entirely relies on storytelling and a few bits and bobs in the queue.

Remember the shortcoming in Nemesis? Where you can get a good grasp of the story without it being blasted in your ear? Yeah here they straight up tell you the story, too. The theming has BECOME the storytelling.

Next question: what is Hyperia, the coaster, supposed to be? Yes, we know the story is that a goddess called hyperia overcame her fear of the sea by building wings and escaping the island she was trapped on [for some unspecified reason. Is hyperia evil?], but what IS the coaster supposed to be?

Smiler is the Marmaliser, the machine that transforms you into a smiling advocate. Nemesis is the tentacles of the monster overtaking the metal that pins it down. Baron is the track the drill takes to get into the mine.

What is Hyperia? Are we following Her as she soars, were we stuck with Her; the Icarus to her Daedalus? Are we following in her footsteps as part of a ceremony Her followers reenact for her blessing? Are we supposed to be Her? It's never really specified.

The station is chocked full of a last-ditch attempt of theming, which in comparison with the whole lotta nothing you get from the queueline? It feels cramped. It feels cheap. It barely feels like it belongs on a stage alongside Taron, Velocicoaster and Voltron Nevera. If they didn't have the budget to do the storytelling and the theme, they should've gone for theme.

Any story with no theme feels cheap and artificial. Any theme with no story still stands out and has breathtaking scenes. If they focused more on the white-gold colour palate and maybe had a few statues around and about they could pass it as some sort of pantheon, like climbing Olympus.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm disappointed in all aspects of the Hyperia theming. It feels lazy, tacky and underwhelming when you consider Swarm is a 5 minute walk away. I'm hoping it improves at some point.

I geniunely think the stone head of Collosus is much better than anything in Fearless Valley and its inconsistencies. The Black and gold buildings feel very sleek and out of place for a story ultimately about a goddess who forged. She forged her own wings. She forged her own bravery. Shouldnt the building look a little home made? Where are the bolts? The soldering? I want to see her anvil and hammer pride-of-place, not shoved in the corner of the station.

Cmon thorpe. Get your arse in gear.

[givepie]

Remember those Alton Towers Wallpapers i promised like a year ago? I finally got a grasp of Polar Coordinates so i could give Smiler a go so here yall are. If you want any variations using this graph feel free to ask and ill do it. Or just ask for the graph.

Feel free to use, no credit recquired.

[givepie]

You can spam boop me!

reblog if you let people spam boop you

[givepie]

All u fuckers lied about Oblivion being intense. Wickerman was more intense than that shaky saunter downwards. I already didn't like it as it feels cheap but it somehow managed to disappoint me? Like I thought it'd shit me up, i went on terrified. I managed to tune out for the entirety of my first ride. Hit the final brake run and just had a though of. "Huh.".

I got better and more intense rides from both Nemesis and Wickerman the same day. They were also much less painful. Anyway take your gd photographs

[givepie]

what r ur guyses obscutify ratings im curious

[givepie]

happy national roller coaster day. Now Go Show your silly little theme park OCs some love

[givepie]

Save me I/Me/Myself 2018 studio demo

I/Me/Myself 2018 studio demo save me

Save me I/Me/Myself 2018 studio demo

[givepie]

THE "IVE BEEN WISHINH I WAS 5 FOOT 5" VERSION IS FINALLY FUCKING OUT PROPERLY ON SPOTIFY?????? AM I DREAMING??????

[givepie]

btw guys of youre in the alton towers fandom and have alton ocs, message me and I'll give you a free toyhouse entry code

actually amazes me how few of you seem to have toyhouse, id have thought itd be way more than you LMAO

Super useful for storing all of 1 character's images in one place

[givepie]

Sometimes, when giving warnings for my Smiler OC rambles, I give a warning that it can be interpreted as poorly repped DID or other similiar disorders. Here's why:

My Smiler OC [It/they] has several complex problems that overlap. In my interpretation, the MOJ [because it's old] did not adapt for neurodivergencies, and Smiler has autism. Undiagnosed. So they got treated like anyone else, but struggled somewhat with their vague instructions to test and strengthen the obedience part of marmalisation.

When it inevitably "failed" they would get punished, making them feel so negative and confused to the point where - with the help with the extra hormone in its body helping to fight off any life-altering mind states - they would kind of break out of it.

So they'd go through this cycle of being pliable yet excitable, to being confused and disassociative, to being downright violent and scared. And that was while they were still going through treatment.

In their last moments, they have been subject to days-long exposure to drugs and illusions, which would normally push them into their marmalised state, but their own body recognises that these drugs are having damaging effects on the body and try to fight off the state that could get them killed.

So when they change from Syl to Smiler, they are in a very odd place. This becomes essentially their default mindspace, extremely paranoid and twitchy and confused but still uncontrollably happy.

With Bliv's help, they manage to have a calmer state where they are still happy, but able to hold a line of thought. It does still go to its paranoid state at times, but it becomes lesser and lesser.

During times that they deem unsafe, they also can enter this kind of dissociative-violent state.

Just before the Phalanx gets their hands on it, it rediscovers boredom and frustration, where they usually get rather snarky and visually uncomfortable .

After the Phalanx get curious and try electroshock therapy on the Clearly Mentally Unstable Person, a new state is discovered which is essentially where all their guilt just. Catches up with them. They loose most of the control surrounding their appearance and may also fall into self destructive behaviours.

Now, during this entire time, Smiler remains a singlet. It is not multiple people, though when recovering from the Phalanx's treatment of itself, they do kind of articulate it in that way. Just because they fucking suck at emotions.

So yeah no its not DID its extreme mood swings and the lingering effects of altered states of mind

[givepie]

[givepie]

So. Im from the north west of england, i dont keep that a secret. And its fucking scary. After the riots last night it looks like things have changed. Like it seems the EDL + other far right fuckers think its right to settle down and voice their opinions in a place that used to be rather well known as being kind.

One thing about atheism, is it makes it fuxking difficult to feel useful. Even when I was Christian, I never felt like I was doing anything by praying. But there's nothing else to do in a situation like this I think.

Even if you live in the area. The kind people of Southport worked to clean up the street the day after. It's important to remember that; reports say most of the rioters had left 20 minutes before the last train. The true locals went to clean it up.

And the rioters, they pretend to care. While hauling abuse at an actual local who was grieving a communal loss who was preaching peace.

It's also important to note, they pretend they care. They protest Islam and Immigrants, while the killer had no attachments to Islam and one of the children that they "want to save" was a first gen immigrant.

The initial attack may not have been terrorism, but this wave of violence spewed by people trying to force the government to hurt tens of thousands of people surely fucking counts. The terrorists are not coming from whatever fucking Islam-Generator they think exists, it's Steve next door who won't shut the fuck up about the "woke mob".

Anyway idfk How to end this I just hate seeing our country is brought to this. I'm tired, my mum is tired. My family is tired.

Watch We Are Lady Parts is a sitcom created by a Muslim brit with Pakistani heritage where 4 Muslim women start a punk band and are looking for a guitarist just to find Amina, someone who pukes up her own guts whenever she performs in front of people. Each character is bloody brilliant and I'm personally enamored. It has such hits as Voldemort Under My Headscarf, Bashir With The Good Beard, and Villain Era. Good bloody songs.

[givepie]

In the same news:

Why had it never occurred to me that non-scouse people wouldn't call the bombed our church the bombed out church. Why. Had i never thought theyd just call it by its name.

Guys. Guys. I was just looking at the Scouse Dictionary for Funzies and THE FUCK YOU MEAN GOBSHITE IS SCOUSE .

If yall have never heard of it:

Gobshite is a very english insult used for someone who mouths off. Please use it more often i dont hear it nearly enough

[givepie]

In the same news:

Why had it never occurred to me that non-scouse people wouldn't call the bombed our church the bombed out church. Why. Had i never thought theyd just call it by its name.

Guys. Guys. I was just looking at the Scouse Dictionary for Funzies and THE FUCK YOU MEAN GOBSHITE IS SCOUSE .

If yall have never heard of it:

Gobshite is a very english insult used for someone who mouths off. Please use it more often i dont hear it nearly enough

[givepie]

Guys. Guys. I was just looking at the Scouse Dictionary for Funzies and THE FUCK YOU MEAN GOBSHITE IS SCOUSE .

If yall have never heard of it:

Gobshite is a very english insult used for someone who mouths off. Please use it more often i dont hear it nearly enough

[givepie]

Never in my life have I been more eager for an artist to drop new music than I have been with the amazing devil

Like I know it’s in the works and I understand that this kind of thing takes time but pleASE