#06. - setting the stage. out of character.

[h-worksrambles]

Sonic X Shadow Generations fascinates me. Because it feels like something I shouldn’t be excited for. And yet I absolutely am.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Sonic Generations. It’s my third favourite game in the series and my favourite 3D Sonic game (with Sonic Adventure 2 in a close second). I’m very happy to see it getting a re release to expose it to new audiences, and playing it in 4K60fps on my PS5 is a very enticing. Likewise, I really like Shadow as a character and I’m excited to play as him again.

And yet, his new bonus campaign promises to basically be a bunch of nostalgic pandering for Shadow the Hedgehog, a game which I consider to be, simply put, crap. It was boring, dull, colourless and embarrassing trend chasing. And pretty much everything I hated about it is on display in this trailer.

We’ve got gritty, grey cityscapes, we’ve got the rather blah alien villain, Black Doom returning, we’ve got the looming return of the series’…bafflingly executed lore. In a word, Shadow was a pretty much everything I didn’t want Sonic to be shoved into a blender. I’ve given my thoughts on revisiting past excesses and failures for the sake of nostalgia. I wrote a whole thing about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and my fears that it would go overboard pandering to the 2000s spin offs (which I dislike a for lot of the same reasons as a lot of Sonic stuff from the mid 2000s). A faux attempt at maturity that sacrifices Sonic’s camp and colour, and lacks the writing competency to make its tone shift work is pretty much my worst case scenario for the series. And now we’re invoking that for nostalgia? Again, I should hate this.

So if I dislike Shadow the Hedgehog so much. If it really is so emblematic of Sonic’s worst excesses that I want it to leave behind in the 2000s…then why am I so damn hyped for this? Why am I not feeling the same dread as whenever VII Remake implicitly threatens to bring back Genesis?

I think it’s because of the specific relationship Sonic has had with its past for the last decade. So much of the stuff from that time period is material that Sega has seemed actively scared to touch again. Sometimes with good reason. But I think that’s why some material from that time has gained such a strong nostalgic cult following, and why they’re held up as such bastions of missed potential. There’s never been anything quite like Shadow or 06 since they came out with how safe Sega has subsequently played things. And in many respects, that’s a good thing. But I can see how it build a sense of mystique around them. It was kind of sad to see 2010s Sonic so…scared of itself. Terrified to invoke its own history but not really committed to a new direction either. And this is pretty much the exact opposite of that hesitancy.

Basically, the reason I react to seeing Westopolis or Black Doom with ‘holy shit let’s go!!!’ rather than ‘why, god, why?’ is because I genuinely never thought I would see them again after this long. It’s just exciting to see Sonic Team throw caution to the wind and embrace all the parts of their franchise. Even the parts I personally dislike. Plus, Sonic Generations is kind of the perfect game in which to reimagine that stuff and make it..actually good this time. This was the game that made Crisis City of all things into a banger level. The game that took Silver, one of the most notorious boss fights in the series, and gave him a kickass encounter.

If they can fix that, they can do anything.

Plus, the fact that the trailers already show all these trippy stage effects and anime af boss fights and set pieces tells me we’re not just gonna be running through the same drab washed out burning cities that made Shadow 2005 so boring. Again, there’s evidently an effort being made to rehabilitate and reimagine this stuff, not just repeat all the same mistakes. And that’s exciting.

So yeah, Sonic X Shadow Generations has somehow managed to get me genuinely excited for all the parts of the series I typically balk at. And that’s pretty impressive.

That said, if I see Mephiles again, I’m leaving.

[thewertsearch]

Ask Comp 11/06

@ben-guy asked: […] Imagine the Greek god level drama that would have unfolded with those 12 drama machines if they all went God tier. Even if they all entered the human universe without the two teams fighting over who gets to rule it, there would be no ending the divides that would form for any and all reasons, from quadrants to rulership over Kanaya's new trolls. Kinda curious about your takes on all this, even if it will take a while for you to see this :]

That's exactly it. Vriska's assuming that having a more powerful team would be strictly beneficial - which is hilarious, coming from her.

Like - Vriska. What have you done with your God Tier powers, lately?

Did it benefit the team?

Anonymous asked: its really interesting how the first time vriska kills not out of necessity or due to any extenuating circumstances, she almost immediately regrets it

Yup.

I think it's beginning to dawn on Vriska that she has nothing to hide behind this time. She's stopped being forced to kill, and has graduated to choosing it. It's little wonder she's falling apart.

Anonymous asked: for what it's worth, i've always taken vriska's interpretation of sburb at face value. it's a setting, or a stage, moreso than a character or an organism

Sburb certainly feels like a narrative, which is closely tied to its coming-of-age themes. John isn't John in the game, he's a character called the Heir of Breath from Consort mythology, and it's predestined that he'll fulfil this narrative role - or else.

Sburb is a play. And if you mess up your lines, the stage will collapse underneath you.

@manorinthewoods asked: You know, during your original analysis of the Creation Myth reveal, you made a lot of notes about how the Denizen grist caches must have been comically large, or multiplicative, to allow the alchemisation of universes. Clearly there is no need for that, given the Genesis Frog, so… what is it for, do you think? ~LOSS (7/6/24)

This grist is confirmed to be for the Ultimate Alchemy, which I've been assuming is synonymous with the creation of the Genesis Frog. I guess Jade's currently creating the Frog without any Denizen Grist to speak of, but I assume it'll come into play later on.

My best guess? The frog has to literally eat the Denizen Hoards to grow into a full-sized universe.

Anonymous asked: I wanted to stop by and say your liveblogs are super interesting!! Back when I first read homestuck I didn’t really bother with analysis, just kinda screamed inchoherentoy at my friends, so actually seeing the narrative and char arcs broken down like this into understandable chunks of why might it be written this way, what is the char thinking, why are they thinking that, how does that play into what might happen - it’s super cool thank you for all this !! Anonymous asked: finally catched up with your liveblog, i have been a homestuck for like a semester and i am rlly happy to see someone go this in depth on a liveblog about it! Anyways! Whats the character you relate the most to, so far? - bralsra

Thank you very much!

It's funny. I've talked before about how I was never great at writing analytical essays in English class - but I'm essentially doing the same thing here, and I'm having a great time. I guess it's just more fun when it's a science fantasy webcomic and not, like, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Who do I relate to the most, I wonder? To be honest, it's probably Kanaya, which probably isn't too surprising if you're a regular reader.

I've said things that are 90% similar to the shit she comes out with. She's so great.

@manorinthewoods asked: I'd like to hear your thoughts on each individual blood caste[…]. ~LOSS (7/6/24)

It's hard to generalize the blood castes, since we've only seen one example of each blood color thus far. Broadly speaking, we're aware that:

Lower bloods have more psychic power.

Higher bloods have more psychic resistance.

Highbloods appear to be physically stronger.

Kanaya's blood color is extremely rare, which implies that, contrary to my expectations, higher blood isn't always rarer than lower blood.

Beyond that, I can't say much more. Based on Karkat's position in the Trollian friend list, he was probably 'supposed' to have green blood, but I don't know if mutating out of the spectrum has actually changed his biology in any way.

He's not psychic, so we can at least assume he doesn't 'count' as being on the bottom of the hemospectrum.

@john-egbert-rose-lalonde asked: the searcherrrrrrrr

"why so discarded" - the drawer

Anonymous asked: Hey, since you like to experiment with stuff, what dl you think would happen if a Tier 2 Sprite prototyped itself into a Tier 1 Sprite?

Great question. I went in-depth into it during a previous ask - although I can imagine it's quite a rare occurrence. How often are two unprototyped Sprites on the same Land?

Anonymous asked: While I think a discord server is a good idea, I think it might be best for everyone if it's one where only you and those helping you with the blog can post anything. That might ruin the community aspect a little, but I feel like it'd be worth it to not get spoiled if you do ever make one. Feel free to completely ignore this- not exactly riveting things I'm sending here.

Right! Quick update on the Discord situation.

Initially, I was going to have Cat help me set it up, but she's been incredibly busy with her thesis lately. Plus, she hasn't really used the platform either, so we had no idea what we were doing. Might need to shelve the Discord server idea until later, or until it becomes necessary.

@krixwell asked: John Egbert when he's told the Earth is done for: John Egbert when his friend is his sister and his dad is his half-brother: John Egbert when he dies ignoble deaths at the hands of manipulators: John Egbert when Fruit Gushers are a Betty Crocker product: MENTAL BREAKDOWN

Dude's got his priorities straight.

@mhafanlol2000 asked: I’m taking an IT course next year, and I want a head start during this summer. Would you know any free beginner’s courses to any languages that would help in that department?

I'll always champion W3Schools as a great first port of call for tech self-learning. All the resources I've found there are well-put together, and let you test your code out in-browser.

As I mentioned to a previous asker, I'd recommend starting with the C language if you're genuinely interested in programming. It's a little harder to use than other, more high-level languages, but it'll teach you more about programming than they will. I'd liken it to learning to drive in manual, rather than automatic. You lose nothing, and acquire skills you wouldn't otherwise know about.

@caliquill submitted:

i'd like to briefly point out this tidbit of the first conversation eridan has with kanaya @krixwell asked: Gamzee to Equius, page 2221: "iF i CoUlD mAkE yOu SmIlE iT'd Be ThE bEsT fUcKiN mIrAcLe I eVeR dId PaRt Of." @dopplesgryndthloggle asked: I'm just gonna put this here: pg 2221 TC: WhAt CaN i Do To MaKe A bRoThEr FuCkIn ShApE hIs ShIt Up? TC: iF i CoUlD mAkE yOu SmIlE iT'd Be ThE bEsT fUcKiN mIrAcLe I eVeR dId PaRt Of. TC: hOnK hOnK hOnK! :o)

...this comic is going to go absolutely wild on a reread, isn't it?

Anonymous asked: oh god no, the clown got you :(

Thanks for the migraine, Gamzee!!

@5am-nztime asked: Insert the one millionth "The Heir of Void, Devoid of Air" joke you've probably gotten. I love dramatic irony

You're actually the only person who sent this one in - and I'm glad you did. It's kind of killing me.

Anonymous asked: a common interpretation is that equius smiles because he knows nepeta might find his body and he doesn't want her to think he died in pain :((

Shit, that's kind of devastating. That said, he had no reason to think Gamzee would leave his body where it was - but that said, he clearly wasn't thinking straight at the time.

Anonymous asked: fun little detail: the ==> leading to equius taking an arrow to the knee is replaced with an arrow, -->

He used to be a Sgrub Player like us :(

Anonymous asked: The idea that he somehow has the freakin' WARHAMMER OF ZILLYHOO in his jokerkind specibus but he STILL only brings out a low-tier pair of juggling clubs is somehow even more intimidating

Where did he even get the thing? When did he get it? Is this from before or after the Pen-Pal got their hands on it?

...if Gamzee is the Pen-Pal, I'm quitting the comic.

@morganwick asked: Well, as long as you don't know for sure whether Nepeta died, you could say… she's both alive and dead until she's observed? @ipunchvampires asked: By cutting away from Nepeta's fate, it's technically ambiguous right now whether she's alive or dead, since we cannot observe her. So you could say that she… heh heh, that she's Sch… she's Schröding…

....oh, god damn it.

Anonymous asked: I feel like there should be an intermission style counter. 4/12 Alien Children Murdered.

If you include Aradia and Vriska, the tally's up to seven. Murderstuck started a long time ago, it seems.

Anonymous asked: i would like to think equius says b100 like how boris johnson says blue in that one interview where he mentions the us brand new BLUE passports or whatever

I also think his voice suits Equius's character fairly well...

Anonymous asked: To be fair on the “overwhelmingly violent purplebloods” angle, Gamzee was stoned out of his mind basically 24/7 until they got to the meteor, so they probably would’ve thought it was a nonissue. […]

I suppose. But if everyone knows purplebloods are habitual murderers, I don't know why you'd ever let one into your friend group. There's always a possibility that one day, his slime delivery will be late, and he'll snap your neck for fun.

@wickedsick asked: You know, this would be the perfect spot for a paradox space intermission. You can read the fluffy comics to wash the taste of blood out of your mouth!

I thought about it - but in the end, I decided to liveblog the Paradox Space comics at the point in the comic where they were released.

Otherwise, Cat'd have to spoiler-check each comic with a fine-toothed comb, and I'd have to delay many of them anyway. Better to get them all out at once.

Anonymous asked: considering that eridan was on feeding duty for gl'bgolyb and had to kill lusii year round under apocaliptic threat im not surprised his response under pressure is to kill something

It really says a lot about the difference between him and Vriska, doesn't it? Vriska's reaction to killing Tavros was a full on existential crisis, but Eridan's first reaction to killing Feferi was to immediately kill again.

@witchoflight asked: hey sally i just wanna remind you of the conversation that dave and gamzee have, specifically about the line: "TC: My mInD'S NoT ThAt sHaRp nOw tHoUgH, iT'S BeEn aGeS SiNcE I HaD A GoOd pIe" gamzee hasn't had access to sopor for WEEKS, not since they entered the game. […]

Was he sober, though? He's still acting stoned, and using his original quirk, so if he did sober up, he must have immediately decided to pretend he didn't, and then arbitrarily reveal himself as sober later on.

To me, it feels like it just took a while for the slime's effects to fully fade. It might genuinely have taken a month for it all to leave his system.

@mimescantscream asked: Now that Gamzee has swiftly become the most important character, any thoughts on his transformation?

It's weirdly drastic, isn't it?

Like, if he was hiding this personality under sedatives this entire time, surely we should have seen some hint of it, in all the time we've known him. We've even been in his head, and he seemed like exactly who he appeared to be.

Was Gamzee unaware of this latent personality? Do we have a Jekyll and Hyde situation on our hands? He does say he's 'both' of his messiahs...

@elkian asked: You've now reached the point where I can (probably) say that the common fandom Exile match for Kanaya is Problem Sleuth, as he has the Vampire schema mode. (Plus a jade-green ultimate attack.)

Oh, I love that for her. We better be seeing Team Sleuth in some form before the end, even if it's just a cameo.

@krixwell asked: I think you're blaming the wrong chat program. Trollian is an advanced alien chat program powered by futuristic sci-fan shenanigans, with features specifically designed to allow the user to choose the timeframe at which they try to contact someone. Pesterchum, not so much. Pesterchum if anything is retro, with only the most barebones of 1-on-1 chat features, a status setting that barely changes anything unless you're rancorous, and a block feature that seemingly fails to recognize incoming Trollian connections from the same user at different times (possibly Trollian's fault). Even setting aside the frogskin barrier, it's a wonder the two programs can communicate at all. So when someone uses Pesterchum to contact a Trollian user whose timeline is entirely separate from their own, with no interface to pick a timeframe on, how exactly is either program supposed to know when to contact them?

I guess most of our nonlinear conversations have been Trollian-to-Pesterchum.

Karkat has tied himself into knots over memos, but that is admittedly a slightly different use case.

And can I just say, I love the concept of a 'frogskin barrier'. These two parties have been beaming messages from frog-to-frog this entire time, and the walls between their dimensions are literally made of skin.

@captorations asked: consider: this means that the sbahj joke that following kanaya's death was actually foreshadowing given the comic it's from

I can't fucking believe this.

Anonymous asked: tbh i'll never get over how the presumable FIRST THING kanaya did upon coming back to life was just. to wade through the horn pile to drink blood from a corpse.

Vriska's getting a little competition for Troll Of All Time!

@morganwick asked: I mean, technically Jade was already in the Fruity Rumpus Asshole Factory, it was just with two Karkats and Dave only made a brief appearance.

16-player fruity rumpus argument or we riot

Anonymous asked: do you think you'll liveblog tsg if you read it?

I wasn't planning on it, but if there's a lot of demand, I'll definitely think about it. If I was to liveblog any fanfic, it'd probably be that one, since it's a proper 'event fanfiction' from the author of TLT.

Anonymous asked: re: the ultimate riddle: karkat actually already explained it on page 1903. basically its just some more timeloop/alpha timeline predestination stuff

The sense I got was that there was a section of the conversation that we missed.

On Skaia, John begins a conversation with an early version of Karkat about the Ultimate Riddle, but the camera moves away before they really get into it. Then, on the Veil, an early Karkat shows up to continue a point he was making about the Riddle, implying that there's a section of this conversation that was deliberately obfuscated.

I initially thought that the Riddle was the mystery of Sburb itself - ie, what the point of the game is. I still think that's probably pretty close, but I do wish we got this full conversation, just in case.

Anonymous asked: “Scratch positioned [Vriska] as someone who will perpetuate a monumental, large-scale mistake, and I don't think there's anything she could do on the Veil that fits the bill.” When John was about to prototype jades sprite with a broken doll, Vriska made him fall asleep, and Becquerel jumped in the sprite instead, leading to Jack Noir becoming an unbeatable boss and destroying the trolls session. I think that could be the perpetuation of a large scale mistake.

Possibly. But as violent as Jack is, I don't think he's a huge threat to the rest of the multiverse.

He takes hours to rampage through a session, but there are presumably trillions of sessions out there in the multiverse. From a top-level perspective, he's not doing meaningful damage, and it's certainly within Vriska's comprehension.

I actually think Vriska's going to do something much worse than make Jack. If she contributes to the creation of Lord English, for example, she might be breaking something that can't be repaired.

Anonymous asked: Honestly its a little sad though right? That the troll kids are snapping and dying? Like yeah they were raised on a violent murder planet but also, they're all still 13 years old and have been without their means of Sleeping Naturally for a while (the sopor slime is how trolls usually get sleep) not being an apologist or anything but the murders could've been prevented with healthy moraillegences and good nights sleep.

Oh, it's horrific, that should go without saying. If the trolls had got some decent shuteye, it'd have kept them stable for at least slightly longer.

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss, Rachel Zegler and Broadway's Best Strike a Pose for PEOPLE Backstage at Elsie Fest 2024 (Exclusive)

Darren Criss kicks of Elsie Fest 2024 at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City. Photo:Jenny Anderson/Laurel Hinton/Elsie Fest

Elsie Fest, the theatre-themed music festival created by Emmy-winner Darren Criss, returned to New York City for its seventh installment on Sunday, Sept. 8 with a star-studded panel of performers belting the best of Broadway and beyond to a crowd of eager fans gathered at The Rooftop at Pier 17.

The fun kicked off as the sun set on the city and continued as the lights of Manhattan and Brooklyn lit up the late summer sky.

"It's important for me to keep this distinctly New York, but also distinctly about showcasing the breath of talent and strength of this industry," Criss, 37, tells PEOPLE of the festival, which he first launched in 2015 (it returned this year after a two year absence). "It is a personal investment; not a financial one, but a spiritual and emotional investment in this community that has given me so much."

Criss, who is a veteran of Broadway and will tread the boards again this fall in the upcoming new musical Maybe Happy Ending, shares that he's in "the service industry."

"For me, this is a service to our community of people who love this world, this material, these people, this music, this tradition," Criss says. "So anything I can do to try and give more back to those that I've also been a part of my whole life is also of great importance to me."

Among the performers taking the stage were Rachel Zegler, Jordan Fisher, Joy Woods, John Gallagher Jr., Will Butler, Lizzy McAlpine and RuPaul's Drag Race alum Alaska.

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03 Jordan Fisher The Hamilton vet also duetted with Criss on "Dear Theodosia," the ballad from the Lin-Manuel Miranda hit.

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06 Darren Criss

[HQ] Darren Criss. PHOTO: Jenny Anderson/Laurel Hinton/Elsie Fest

Criss offered Glee fans plenty to cheer about with five nods to the show that made him a household name, beginning with "Teenage Dream" — the Katy Perry hit he famously covered when his character, Blaine Anderson, was first introduced on the series. He also sang "Cough Syrup" and "Arthur's Theme," two others tunes he covered on the Fox hit.

Later, Criss reunited with "Warblers" Telly Leung and Curt Mega, as well as Max Adler (who played Dave Karofsky on Glee) for a performance of "Sincere" from The Music Man.

The special guests kept coming when former costar Chord Overstreet came out to end Criss' set, reprising another song they duetted on while on Glee: Billy Joel's "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)."

07 JC Chasez Elsewhere in his set, Criss brought out Chasez — who is penning the musical to the upcoming Frankenstein musical, Playing with Fire — for a performance of two *NSYNC hits: "It's Gonna Be Me" and "Bye Bye Bye."

"I’ve known JC Chasez for a long time from my time in Los Angeles," Criss tells PEOPLE. "I met him and we got on really well. We were writing music together and he’s just been such a bench in my life. I’ll ask him to show up for shows that I’ll play, if I’m doing ‘90s songs, he’ll come up and say yes, which is beyond my wildest dreams."

"I have to play it cool as if I think I belong singing his songs with him on stage," Criss adds." I was — I think people say this to be nice in interviews, like, ‘I was such a fan.’ But I was a f---ing fan! I am a f---ing fan of *NSYNC. I know that whole album like the back of my hand, No Strings Attached. And he was always one of my favorite singers so getting to be with him is pretty amazing."

08 Jordan Fisher, Dez Duron, Helen J Shen Other guests in Criss' set included an appearance from his Maybe Happy Ending costars Dez Duron (center) and Helen J Shen (right)

Criss and Shen performed the title track, while Duron sang the ballad, "A Sentimental Person."

09 Dez Duron, Andrew Barth Feldman and Joe Serafini Shen later joined Criss and boyfriend Andrew Barth Feldman (center) for a performance of "Granger Danger" from A Very Potter Musical.

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16 Darren Criss and Rachel Zegler

[HQ] Darren Criss and Rachel Zegler. PHOTO: Jenny Anderson/Laurel Hinton/Elsie Fest

Of course, no musical could be complete with a finale. And for Elsie Fest 2024, Criss brought out the full-lineup of performers and guests for a group singalong of "Defying Gravity" from Wicked.

[frostyblustar]

My PJO fic masterlist (New-Old)

Will be updated when possible

Godly Stage - 6,029 - Incomplete - 2024/09/16

Percico/Rachabeth/Pipabeth/Unrequited Percabeth, characters are forced to go head to head in a singing competition where if you lose, you die. Alien Stage AU.

The Flightless Avian - 2,133 - Complete - 2024/09/06

My first try at properly writing polyamory through Percy/Nico/Jason. An Avian AU with Nico angst and cuddles.

Making A Killing - 12,562 - Incomplete - 2024/09/23

A Percico fic where Nico and Percy are assassins. Nico is less experienced than Percy. Makes use of angst, drama, and humor while dealing with murder.

The Tides That Bind Us - 4,733 - Complete - 2024/08/26

A Percico Oneshot that exercises the use of a soulmate AU, a college AU, and a childhood friends AU with a twist.

Nannacus Ain't Here to Pray This Away - 3,224 - Complete - 2024/08/11

A Percico Oneshot where Percy accidently hurts Nico and through his guilt ends up flooding the camp. Set after PJO/HOO/TOA.

Stray, the wolf will eat your head - 5,182 - Complete - 2024/08/04

A Percico Oneshot where it's a twist on Little Red Riding Hood/The Path and homophobia/love is shown through symbolism. Nico-centric.

The Waves You Wish To - 4,603 - Incomplete - 2024/07/17

A Percico fic Nico makes a wish by throwing a bottle into the sea, and Percy comes out of the water. Can be read as is if you don't mind an open ending.

The Dark Side - 7,008 - Complete - 2024/06/01

Solangelo Oneshot where Will is a hero and Nico is a villain, angst and comfort near the end.

[digi-lov]

Digimon & Tamagotchi

Bandai V-Pet Crossovers Part 1 (Part 2)

In 1996 Bandai and WiZ inc. released the original Tamagotchi. To their surprise, the toy proved to be popular among boys as well, despite it being mostly marketed for girls. And in 1997, as a more targeted approach to this demographic, Digital Monsters was born!

A huge virtual pet boom followed and not only did Bandai and Wiz release new versions of Tamagotchi and Digital Monsters, and try multiple v-pets with a variety of styles within the next couple of years, but other companies also tried to bandwagon on the success of these virtual pets!

(Such as Nintendo in 1998 with the Pocket Pikachu-)

While the Tamagotchi was shaped like an egg (jap. tamago) with a crack in its shell where the screen is, the Digital Monster was shaped like a brick cage with bust-open bars! It also featured the ability to connect and battle! Otherwise they both use the same three button layout and similar menu icons. On the Tamagotchi, the toilet icon is portrayed by a duck themed potty, which is also used as the look for the Portable Potty items in many Digimon games.

Now with how closely these two franchises were developed, there's bound to be more that connects the two, right?

One such thing is Tamagotchimoji and Digimoji/DigiCode!

You can see that the two scripts are basically identical, just stylized differently. While Tamagotchimoji got used sparsely until they stopped using it in 2004 (But had a surprising comeback in one social media post on April 10, 2023?!), Digimoji has been used, and still is being used everywhere in the Digimon franchise! There is also a separate set of characters for the Latin Alphabet.

[Tamagotchimoji on the left, Digimoji on the right, respective Hiragana above the character]

Just like we know it from the Digimon Franchise, the Tamagotchi also grow through evolutionary stages along a branching path, depending on how well you take care of them! The original line of Tamagotchi as well as Digimon owe their designs to Kenji Watanabe! Generally all Tamagotchi's names end in "-tchi" or "-chi", similar to how Digimon names end in "-mon".

In these evolution charts, the Tamagotchi and Digimon are arranged by how well they've been taken care of / how good they are, with the top line being the best, and the bottom being the worst.

But that Tamagotchi chart is actually just the international version, which had "Bill" (aka Gaijintchi/Ketotchi) as secret character past the adult stage. Instead the Japanese version featured "Oyajitchi" (jap. oyaji means "old man").

But wait, doesn't that face look familiar...?

According to the Digimon Reference Book, Nanimon's true identity is unknown and it in fact came from another dimension, where it was known under the title OYAJI. In order to survive in the new environment of the Digital World, Nanimon had to go through a lot of training and battling.

Nanimon's name is also a play on its bizarre nature. In Japanese, "nanimon" is a casual abbreviation of "nanimono" which means "what (thing)". So, with intonation indicating a question, "nanimonda" can mean both "What are you?" or "I am Nanimon".

This joke is even included directly in Digimon World when the player encounters Nanimon.

「ん？なにもんだ？！」 "N? Nanimon da?!" “Huh? What are you?!” 「ナニモンだァ！」 "Nanimon da!" “I’m Nanimon!”

Nanimon's nature as an alien to this World is also reflected in his trait in the Card Game being "Invader".

Nanimon BT6-058 by Kenji Watanabe from BT-06 Booster Double Diamond

So yeah, Nanimon is supposed to be Oyajitchi who came from the Tamagotchi World to the Digital World.

Stay tuned for next friday when we talk about another World connected to the Digital World!

Special thanks to: tamagotchi wiki, gotchi-garden and tamatalk for being great resources!

If you're interested in more Tamagotchi stuff, go check out @tamapalace !

[tomodchis]

07 27 ‘23 ( ✴︎ )  ‎ ،  ‎ after lucky hour is the debut mini album of south korean co-ed group dachi. title track bim bam bum is a refreshing love letter to fans of the all-too-known cute concept, while also bringing something new to the table. 

the album   ‎ ‎ ‎ ıllı ‎ ‎[ 🌈 ]    ‎♪ ҉     

bim bam bum would be released a whopping nine months after lucky hour ended, marking confusion from viewers. the show didn’t do terribly — seoyi got first place with 200 000 points and 130 000 votes, in fact — so what’s with the holdup? radio silence continued until mystic story announced their debut date on june 30th. fans complained to the company about wait time, but no statement has been made up to this point.

teaser rollout began almost immediately afterwards. it was all mainly group photos, save for short teaser videos that obscured the member’s faces like it wasn’t public information, but the reactions were mostly positive. despite the obvious connection in motifs and music score throughout the teasers — same background tune, similar dark hallways, replicated props — the videos seemed different in every single way. it would set the scene for the intro to dachi’s universe, (tomo)rrow.

the music video for bim bam bum, for lack of a better word, popped off the screen. every scene was a vibrant clash of textures and colours. locations from the individual teaser videos were all used: a flower garden, a corner store, a shopping mall, an abandoned outdoor pool, a candy diner. multiple forms of media were used as well, including water colour artwork, stop motion animation, and little cartoon avatars cutefully named the neighbourhood friends. 

bim bam bum became an inspiration for graphic designers, artists, and editors, with multiple trends coming out of the music video alone. this includes: editing your favourite character to the final chorus in a mograph-type style, creating templates based off of each mv location, and drawing the neighbourhood friends beside a character with a completely different aesthetic, like vincent valentine from ffvii.

despite the overwhelming positivity from the general public, dachi was met with intense hatred from kpop fans and obsessed akgaes. a burst in popularity came stalking, bitter comments about eun ‘breathing too hard into the mic’ despite performing live during every single performance, called a ‘quick cash grab by mystic story’, penchants for commenting on their looks for no reason, etc. they were compared to a multitude of other groups including itzy, weki meki, and nct dream, supposedly for having overlapping concepts. mystic story barely moved to protect dachi, only dishing out a statement after the promotional period passed.

speaking of the promotional period, dachi managed to bag one win during three weeks of music show stages. the now-beloved bside passionfruit was also promoted alongside bim bam bum, but didn’t earn a win. being up against big names definitely hindered awards they could have gotten, but one is better than none. 

overall, the album itself was a massive success. they solidified their role in the industry right at the beginning of their careers in dachi. whether you love them or hate them, bim bam bum will find its way to your playlist.

tracklist   ‎ ‎ ‎ ıllı ‎ ‎[ 💿 ]    ‎♪ ҉  

→ 01. . . bim bam bum

daring, colourful, cute. pushed against the boundary of trends and created something new. reminiscent of 3rd gen girl groups. 

02. . . blue orangeade

funky, cool, bright. best played during a long drive. highlighted the foolish nature of dachi.

03. . . like i do

sophisticated, fancy, bouncy. explored the synth aspect of dachi’s discography. certified deep-cut with exactly 8 fans.

04. . . passionfruit

chill, groovy, addictive. sounds like how it feels to drink iced tea. suits any type of weather.

05. . . skateboard

happy, breezy, calming. some real heavenly vocal moments from jeyeol. brought back real kpop excellency.

06. . . bahama

beachy, sweet, easy-listening. a song you can let play and always enjoy. perfect outro track.

styling   ‎ ‎ ‎ ıllı ‎ ‎[ 👒 ]    ‎♪ ҉  

the styling for this era was divided into two parts: the flowery costumes (top row) and the candy costumes (bottom row). 

the flowery costumes strayed the furthest from the original concept, diving straight into floral and natural aesthetics. the members were caked in makeup at all times, trying to balance the weight of heavy accessories and keeping a smile on their faces. chorong mentioned during an interview that the process of putting everything on was 3 hours for one music show, which she never wants to go through ever again. while the outfits were gorgeous paired with the stunning stage sets, it was a behind-the-scenes disaster.

the candy costumes are a fan favourite for many obvious reasons. not only do the outfits fit the album, but were much more comfortable. the 2000s influence directly mirrors the nostalgic feel of bim bam bum. they all wore tank-tops, graphic tees, baggy jeans, thick belts, and combat boots. some of the girls wore long dresses, thigh-highs, and skirts. each makeup look wasn’t even makeup, just charms stuck to their faces in a pattern. seoyi went viral for her butterfly charm look, and suddenly half the industry followed in her steps.

fashion team director choi narim explained why there was such a large duality, “dachi has been a sensation even before this satisfying debut. i knew they would be stars when i looked at the four of them. i thought to myself they must stand out from the rest, and i’ve succeeded, seeing all this media attention. big risks can mean even bigger victory in the world of entertainment.”

era notes   ‎ ‎ ‎ ıllı ‎ ‎[ 🗒️ ]    ‎♪ ҉  

the era was almost-ruined by weirdos, yet pockets had an absolute blast. posts going viral left and right, unique lineup gaining traction, lucky hour fans coming back after their fav was eliminated, it was fun!!! too bad they had a part time job in blocking accounts

the birth of the first official solo stans… who else cried. ot4 pockets desperately tried defending the members from Everybody. multiple ppl were wrongfully accused of being akgaes, the largest account dedicated to lucky hour was exposed for being an eun anti…

the members were sooooo stressed out. especially seoyi, whose sudden leap into fame caused anxiety

their teaser videos were kind of a Hot Mess but made sense when the chaotic mv for bim bam bum came out

u already know a japanese artist drew gojo with the neighbourhood friends, spiking interest from anime fans. it’s hard to say if they actually tuned in, but promo is promo

dachi’s labelmates billlie also made an appearance. everyone filmed a tiktok dancing to passionfruit on billlie’s account, and pockets and belllie’ves thought the interaction between moon sua and eun was so adorable. eun was barely in frame, but moon sua guided her in, which caused eun to smile and bury her face in her hands

the music video for bim bam bum racked up 9.5 million views within the first week, shocking the fandom

seoyi was the very obvious star of the show. a different article about her would come out every day, talking about something so mundane like sleeping habits that she forgot she even said it. every camera pointed to her as she walked. she truly became the face of kpop for a good three weeks

impossible for all four of them to Not serve cunt. it’s almost contagious

jeyeol and chorong wrote bahama + eun and seoyi helped produce some parts of like i do!!! truly a talented group

after lucky hour is recognized as one of the most cohesive eps from 2023, with a pitchfork review of 8.2

[pippin-katz]

I realized that I really don't care about any comments made on the boys' (especially Taylor’s) acting; I am not going to let them get to me at all anymore. You know why?

It occurred to me that the character that Alex has the most screen time with, excluding Henry for obvious reasons, is his mother. And you know who plays Alex's mother right? Uma fucking Thurman.

If Uma had a problem with Taylor's acting, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have agreed to the film, or been much harsher with criticism to make him improve. Taylor has only ever said how amazing she was to work with and let me list the things he has said about working her for this:

that she was lovely and giving

that she also wanted to forge a personal connection with him

that despite having a very short amount of time to build their relationship for the screen they developed that connection through hugs, touches, little conversations

that they went to lunch together

that she was a professional who made him feel safe

that she didn't treat him like "that younger actor"

that she would improv at him and they tried different things throughout the filming

that she's a very skilled and competent actor

Here's the link to the video interview I pulled this from. Taylor talks about Uma from 3:06 to 4:28 if you don't feel like searching for it, or watching the whole thing. I'm sure he's also talked about her in written interviews, but I'm not going hunting for it because this post is already longer than I meant for it to be, and I'm writing it on an Wacom art tablet at my school's lab while taking what was supposed to only be a few minute-long break from my digital sculptures that I've been struggling and behind on for over a week. 🥲

Everything about the way Taylor talks about her and working with her gives me the impression that she would not hold back criticism. She's been in the industry for a long time, and knows the ins and outs of it. She sounds like a person who would not be afraid to say something if they saw an area that needed improvement, and that she would be respectful and nice about it while doing so.

It occurred to me that if Uma fucking Thurman did not see him as a bad actor, then the opinions of random strangers, most of whom have never set foot on a stage/set, don't matter at all.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Suits Team Confirm they NEVER Considered TW for Reboot by u/Cocokay1234567

Suits Team Confirm they NEVER Considered TW for Reboot As we all knew, Suits was NEVER considering TW for reboot. In fact, it's been the plan all along to not use any of the original stars in reboot. From the Mirror story yesterday:'Meghan Markle has not been asked back for the upcoming Suits revival, it has been confirmed.Show creator Aaron Korsh does not plan to include Markle’s character in the new spin0off set in Los Angeles, The Mirror has learned exclusively. Korsh is working on a pilot and series treatment for NBC of Suits: L.A - a spinoff that will follow a new cast of characters at a firm on the West Coast. However, The Duchess Of Sussex is not in the frame at all at this stage for any kind of offers, despite reports suggesting an acting comeback is on the cards.'So it was a big fat lie (no surprise) and PR stunt that TW/WME *allegedly* have been churning out PR for weeks now that she was being considered or that a role was written 'just for her', which was not plausible since the showrunner from the beginning was NEVER considering ANY of the original stars;'The showrunner reportedly wants his new version to succeed on its own without bringing in the former stars of the first run, which has broken Netflix streaming records. Korsh’s close friend and ex Suits actress Rachael Harris broke the news at the 11th Make-up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild (MUAHS) Awards in Beverly Hills on camera.'Archive: https://archive.is/R0SLs​​ post link: https://ift.tt/udiPLV0 author: Cocokay1234567 submitted: February 20, 2024 at 06:32PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

[genshin-impact-updates]

Version 3.4 Event Notices Compilation (1)

"The Exquisite Night Chimes" Event: Invite a 4-Star Character From Liyue of Your Choice

〓Event Gameplay Duration〓

2023/01/19 10:00:00 – 2023/02/06 03:59:59

〓Event Rewards〓

〓Eligibility〓

Adventure Rank 28 or above

Complete Archon Quest "A New Star Approaches"

※ Complete Archon Quest "The Crane Returns on the Wind" and Yelan's Story Quest "Umbrabilis Orchis Chapter: Act I" first to get the best experience from this event.

※ If you have not completed Archon Quest "The Crane Returns on the Wind" and Yelan's Story Quest "Umbrabilis Orchis Chapter: Act I" during the event, you can enter the event through "Quick Start" in the event page.

〓Event Phase Details〓

〓Event Details〓

● During the event, four types of gameplay will unlock in sequence: Radiant Sparks, Paper Theater, Vigilance at Sea, and Behind the Scenes.

● In the "Radiant Sparks" gameplay, Travelers will have to complete this special time trial challenge. When the moon is suspended high, race with blossoming flames as your companions.

● In the "Paper Theater" gameplay, Travelers will have to dive into the Paper Theatre and learn the true narratives behind the scenes at play while assisting the artisans in the completion of the performance.

● In the "Vigilance at Sea" gameplay, Travelers will have to captain the Waverider and complete time trial challenges designed by a navigator of the Alcor to help her find the most optimal sea routes and train the sailors of Liyue Harbor.

● In the "Behind the Scenes" gameplay, Travelers will have to assist the Ministry of Civil Affairs in an operation to clear enemies out from the wilderness to ensure the safety of the Liyue Harbor region.

● Complete these phases to gain Festive Fever and reach a certain amount of Festive Fever to invite a 4-star character from Liyue of your choice.

"Second Blooming" Event: Take Part to Obtain Lisa's Outfit, A Sobriquet Under Shade

〓Event Gameplay Duration〓

2023/01/31 10:00:00 – 2023/02/13 03:59:59

〓Event Rewards〓

〓Eligibility〓

Adventure Rank 20 or above

Complete the Archon Quest "Song of the Dragon and Freedom"

And complete Lisa's Story Quest "Tempus Fugit Chapter: Act I"

〓Event Phase Details〓

〓Event Details〓

● From the first day of the event, a new challenge will unlock every day. A total of five challenges will be unlocked.

● During each challenge, you can use characters provided by the event or your own to complete 3 consecutive combat rounds. Characters who are set as "Linked" can appear during multiple rounds for their party.

● You must defeat all opponents within the time limit during the challenge. Complete the challenge with more time left on the counter to earn bonus points and receive medals based on your final score.

● Complete all challenge stages and achieve an accumulative score of 10,000 points to obtain Lisa's outfit "A Sobriquet Under Shade."

※ Lisa's outfit "A Sobriquet Under Shade" will be available for purchase in the Character Outfit Shop after the end of Version 3.4, which will be priced at 1,680 Genesis Crystals.

"Warrior's Spirit" Event: Sword Duel Challenge

〓Event Duration〓

2023/02/09 10:00:00 – 2023/02/20 03:59:59

〓Event Rewards〓

〓Eligibility〓

Adventure Rank 30 or above

And complete the Archon Quest "Ritou Escape Plan"

※ Complete Raiden Shogun's Story Quest: "Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter: Act II" first to get the best experience from this event.

※ If you have not completed Raiden Shogun's Story Quest: "Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter: Act II" during the event, you can enter the event through "Quick Start" in the event page.

〓Event Details〓

● From the first day of the event, a new duel will unlock every day. A total of six duels will be unlocked.

● There are 3 levels of difficulty in each duel: Normal, Hard, and Pro. Pro mode can only be unlocked after successfully challenging Hard mode.

● You will be unable to use Elemental Skills or Bursts during these duels, but you will obtain new abilities: a Parry and Honed Techniques.

"Almighty Arataki Extraordinary and Exhilarating Extreme Beetle Brawl" Event: Complete the Beetle Battle Challenge and Win Primogems

〓Event Duration〓

2023/02/16 10:00:00 – 2023/02/27 03:59:59

〓Event Rewards〓

〓Eligibility〓

Adventure Rank 30 or above

And complete the Archon Quest "Ritou Escape Plan"

※ Complete Archon Quest "Perilous Trail" first to get the best experience from this event.

※ If you have not completed the Archon Quest "Perilous Trail" during the event, you can enter the event through "Quick Start" in the event page.

〓Event Details〓

● From the first day of the event, a new beetle battle challenge will unlock every day. A total of five challenges will be unlocked.

● There are 3 levels of difficulty in each beetle battle challenge: Friendly Spar, Honed Will, and Fanatic Passion. After the challenge begins, Friendly Spar and Honed Will difficulties will be unlocked. Fanatic Passion can only be unlocked after successfully challenging Honed Will.

● Take on your opponents and achieve corresponding criteria to claim rewards in the event page. By completing challenges on a higher difficulty setting, you can directly claim rewards at lower difficulties as well.

[brucenorris007]

"Sonic 06: gameplay is shit, story is shit."

Okay, I somewhat disagree but don't see the need to expend energy toward-

*comparison between 06 and Forces is drawn*

My brain: heyguesswhatyou'rehyperfocusednow

I was going to do things today. . . but here we are.

Okay, up top and up front: 06 and Forces are both flawed, yes.

But they are flawed in fundamentally different ways, and Forces flaws are, quite frankly, far more glaring and demeritorious for a franchise like Sonic than 06. Anyone who, years from now, goes on to claim that "Uh, actually, Forces was peak." the way that some people are saying about 06 now will be just as, if not more, wrong. And I'll attribute such claims to declining media literacy.

BEFORE the youngsters in the fandom start throwing things at me, note that I said just as wrong. 06 wasn't ever as good as some of the mainline games prior or even spinoff titles after.

The difference is, most of 06's issues stem from the fact that it reads as pitiably unfinished.

The problems with Forces begin and end with the fact that it reads like self-insert fan fiction that had either zero beta readers or too many beta readers that were all given editing privileges. There's definitely a place in the world for that sort of creativity, but said place is not within a licensed game that people have to pay for; one that drastically affects the canon of the franchise and how the fans old and new perceive it and the characters within.

All right? Okay, let's get into details.

Let's address gameplay first, since I have less to say about that.

On this count, if nothing else, Forces barely edges out by being functional; granted, that's the end of it. I wouldn't go back to play it again, and the 'highlights' I can recall mostly felt like reskins of stages in the style of Colors but shortened, with boss fights reminiscent of daytime Unleashed. I imagine the primary draw for people is watching their customized 'sona jump and fly around whilst listening to dialogue from the main cast.

And this isn't really a substantive point, but the fact that receiving stuff like outfits like loot crates at the end of virtually every stage feels kind of manipulative and annoys me. If there's unlockable features, put some actual challenge between the player and the prize, like how you perform within the stage. Otherwise it's just another example of "shiny, novelty, tickle brain often, get player to play longer."

Setting that brief tangent aside since that's just a trend in games in general and not Sonic specific, moving on to 06's gameplay. And uh, yeah. The USP was, like the adventure games, supposed to be that you got three interconnected stories and three main characters each with unique play styles.

I suppose 06 showed us before anything else that Shadow really isn't as fast as Sonic, and as an idea, Silver's psychokinesis was cool. If the tracking in the Speed Up stages and the hit boxes in a handful of other areas had been ironed out, there's foundation for a fairly solid experience. Project 06 is basically proof that the base of the game had potential that wasn't realized, whether due to time constraints or other reasons.

As far as environs, the concept for Kingdom Valley showed off the most soul, I'd say, with Silver's future coming in close second. Character design for the Iblis fragments (not sure if that's the official name but I'm doing stream-of-consciousness here) and Mephiles I actually like a lot. I don't think there's anything objectively wrong with them and however you rate them will come down to preference.

Also, the model for Sonic is like. . . ridiculously good. He just looks like an older teenager; it fits with the widely accepted idea that he was 15 as of Adventure 2. Polish it a bit and that's just how he appears in my head when I write about him.

That said, there are only about six different environs that serve as stages, discounting the hub areas, and compared to Heroes' twelve stages, it just adds to that incomplete/rushed feeling.

That's about all I can say on the gameplay aspect. Functional yet non-stimulating technically wins out over some creativity yet patchy. They are games, after all.

Now then, the "story is shit" business.

Look, if you're going to criticize Sonic's story—which, yeah, his should be subjected to more scrutiny, being the titular character—then much of what you can say against it also applies to the first Adventure. Eggman wants to collect a thing (emeralds/Princess), Sonic wants him to not collect the thing (emeralds/Princess) because he's obviously planning to do evil stuff with the thing, Sonic manages to get the thing only for Eggman to snatch it out of his hands.

Multiple times.

Meaning Sonic spends most of the games on fetch quests that Eggman keeps one-upping him on until the penultimate fight.

And those are the beats. Of both stories. (For Sonic.)

And then at the end of both games, a monster you've fought in various forms (Chaos/Iblis) reappears to threaten the world on a scale that requires the seven chaos emeralds to combat.

Super Sonic. Rad soundtrack. Credits.

Granted, much like how Gamma's story was the strongest in Adventure, the quality of the three main story lines in 06 also vary in strength, with Shadow's taking first place.

My point is, in a franchise that is about characters, you don't grade every aspect of the story on the same scale. You weigh the grade of various aspects differently; and the point that gets graded most heavily is:

Character moments; which can encapsulate literal moments, arcs, development etc.

And for all its flaws, 06 has character moments, almost immediately, even. Sonic's first spoken line is "My, that's a pretty snazzy performance there!"

Which, after the tension of Eggman interrupting the festival and threatening Elise, cuts through the moment right away and, paired with the next several seconds, shows who Sonic is. He sees Eggman's robots aiming and waits until the last second to jump before going to town bashing up bots. Even as he carts Elise off amidst homing missiles and explosions, he's grinning the whole time.

Sonic does what he does because it's fun.

And his third spoken line, answering Elise's question of why he's helping, is: "No special reason."

Again, that's Sonic. Doesn't matter who it is, he helps people because he Does what's Cool. And as well as being fun, fighting off Eggman and his bots is Cool.

06, as Silver's introduction to the series, also does a decent job establishing his character of Temporal Bulldozer. He can be aimed, but his solution to problems first and foremost is usually smashing, and it's really tricky to change his mind once he's focused. He suffers from myopia arguably as bad or worse than Metal Sonic. Amy's the only one who momentarily gets him to pause and wonder if really does want to kill Sonic.

Which is a character moment for her. As in Adventure 2, Amy will happily break laws and go against who and whatever to help her friends; and as she did with Shadow, she's rather skilled at getting very hurt people to listen.

She's not unlike Silver in her willingness to do whatever it takes, really; since Temporal Bulldozer can and does traverse time on several occasions to make things right. And up until the last moment, it never occurs to him that anyone but he should bear the burden of saving the world. Blaze has to physically shove him aside so she can absorb Iblis herself.

Silver sees himself as a Hero with a responsibility toward the future just as much Sonic sees himself as just Some Guy.

Finally, Shadow. And man, there's a reason a lot of people say 06 was the last time a game featured Shadow written correctly.

It's me. I'm one of a lot of people.

Team Dark in general gets a fair bit of spotlight in 06. Rouge, an anti-heroine with perhaps the greatest self-interest after Eggman, promises Shadow that she'd stand with him even if the very world turned against him. Omega, who loathes taking orders and prioritizes his own freedom nearly as much as Sonic, takes on Rouge's assignment for him without question or complaint to wait out 200 years to help rescue Shadow.

And Shadow, in an in-game line during his first fight with Mephiles, reaffirms all the progress he made in his titular game that was wholly about discovering his identity: "Don't bother trying to deceive me. I know who I am!"

And, in contrast to the Shadow the franchise first introduced us to, the Shadow of Adventure 2 who was thoroughly convinced that his only remaining worth was his ability to keep his promise to Maria, the Shadow who was so resigned that he chose to plummet through the planet's atmosphere to his presumed death. . .

That Shadow is faced squarely with his fate of persecution, asked why he would bother fighting to protect. That Shadow declares that it the world turns on him, "I will fight as I always have."

He's grown such that he's now willing to fight against fate.

And that's pretty fucking cool.

On the other side, applying the same grading method to Forces, we find what I call (as of just now) character fauxments.

Remember how I talked about 06's introduction for Sonic? How he cuts through tensions, finds joy and fun in fighting bullies and bad guys?

The thing about that, which Forces doesn't seem to understand, is that if you lean too hard on the wisecracks and nonchalance, you end up with a character who reads as either obnoxious or totally tone-deaf. Sonic knows when to take things seriously, yet in Forces he's purportedly been tortured as well as locked up for half a year, Infinite's destroyed countless homes and killed who knows how many people, and yet when Sonic interrupts his fight with Silver. . .

I mean, if Sonic was written correct, you'd cut out a bunch of faff and change his line delivery. Show that he's frustrated by his time confined and absolutely raring to throw hands and get to business; because Sonic does understand when things have gotten real, and while rare, he does get angry. Something like:

"Since you like talking so much, mind sharing the source of your power? I can ask the easy way or the hard way. I've been cooped up a long time, so I'm hoping you pick the hard way."

It doesn't need to be the most original lines in the world, but Sonic's banter in the middle of a war shouldn't be long-winded, no matter how pretentious his opponent is (and damn, is Infinite pretentious. Like to the point that it's the most memorable part of the game.) If there's banter, it should be punchy and succinct; quick, like he is.

Instead, Forces Sonic's attitude is just kind of. . . incongruous with the stakes the game claims to have established. But then, since we don't get a truly convincing scene showing the rest of the cast being sad that he reportedly died, that's not too surprising.

Speaking of setting up stakes, here's an idea. Rather than cutting from Sonic laying battered in the middle of the city for a lazy six-month time skip established by text on the screen, make it clear that "Oh shit, things are different" via gameplay.

After Sonic falls, immediately transition into a level. Where you run from right to left to escape Eggman's fleet. Turns everything on its head, you can witness and navigate the destruction as it's happening and if you string together enough environs, you can even have the city burning in the distance or the skyline as you near the end of the stage and escape to relative safety.

Anyway.

And of course, the notorious character fauxment: Tails cowering in front of an offline Omega.

There's nothing I can say about this fauxment that hasn't been said already. It's not the first time in the series that Tails was portrayed as having regressed to a scared child, but it is the most egregious.

And. . . actually, that's about it, at least off the top of my head. Which might speak to how short the game is and how little screen time and action the main cast get aside from Sonic and the player character.

But it's enough to determine that Forces' story, or what stands in for it, is weaker than what 06 offered.

Again, I'm not here to rally a feral defense of 06 as a masterpiece, but its flaws are not on the level of Forces. The reason they're lumped together is the amount of disdain both games got on their release; though in the case of 06, the 2000's were just a weird time when hating things was somehow cooler than liking them, and since 06 wasn't up to par with Adventure 2 or Heroes, people picked an aspect of the game-most often how much the almost final fantasy style model for Elise didn't match up with the Mobian models (and yes, the final cutscene, but there's nothing new I can say about that either, and talking about it here is just an open invitation for someone to blow it out of proportion again) and dogpiled the hate on the game.

Sonic 06 feels unfinished owing to a lot of little and larger details. Knuckles' portrayal and having little to do in the story, poor optimization leading to nearly twenty second loading times, BLAZE BEING A GLOWING NEON MISSED OPPORTUNITY! (SEGA, I know I was literally twelve when the game was released, but my Phoenix headcanon works so well and makes her appearance in both Rush and 06 work! A retroactive fix would be so easy and we could get more adventures in her dimension!)

Even acknowledging all that, though, there were still attempts at creativity that just, for one reason or another, didn't pan out. There's significant potential here.

Forces is just. . . a mess. In every sense. And I understand how a mess can be attractive to a fandom, because a mess means you can take whatever you want from it and organize things however you choose.

But a mess that's sold as a finished game is not the same as a rushed title with visible untapped potential.

[antirepurp]

writhing in agony like a worm on hot asphalt because we might never get a game like shadow the hedgehog again, a game that's dedicated to the exploration of a character let alone a character who isn't sonic. sa1 certainly gave character arcs to everyone involved and fleshed out the cast we already knew, and while i could settle for something similar whether that's done through story or dedicated gameplay/campaigns it doesn't exactly match up to the kind of depth a game that focuses on putting a blorbo in situations can have. shth isn't perfect but it reveals a surprising amount of shadow if you look deeper into the stories and their events and how he acts and behaves through them. it's less about the things happening around shadow, those simply set the stage and the playground for the player to get into the nitty gritty with shadow and put themselves into the same situations and give them the opportunity to ask themselves "how would shadow react to this kind of situation" and act accordingly. or they can choose to go against that initial instinct and learn something new, because the other choices are equally as valid as the obvious ones. even that said i don't think a morality system is a requirement for a game like this by a long shot, while it enables a more in-depth look into a character there are other less time-consuming ways to achieve that, and i know there are characters in sonic who would benefit from being given the spotlight in that fashion at least once. shth is almost 20 years old, frontiers might be taking steps away from the post-06 era where we could only play as sonic as well as the 2010s writing that abandoned depth for simplicity, and they're re-releasing gens with extra stages for shadow, but even then would i dare to hope for a game that fulfills not much more than a niche that has the risk of not being received well? i writhe and i squirm and the asphalt burns

[catofadifferentcolor]

Random Old Guard Thoughts (1/?): Movie Timeline

As I've often stated, loudly and repeatedly, I tend to hyperfixate on details very few other people would consider important. Case in point: What is the timeline of The Old Guard (2020)?

I don't mean the pre-canon timeline - what these characters were doing at any given point in the last thousand years, though that too is something I've given far too much thought to - but the actual timeline of the events of the movie.

Now, we can pretty safely say the events take place in early 2019, as:

In the scene outside the mine in Val d'Argent, Nile's phone gives the date as Sunday, April 21.

The Frank Ocean song "Godspeed" Nile listens to at Camp Leatherneck was released in 2016.

The years in which April 21 falls on Sunday after this song was released are: 2019, 2024, 2030, and 2047.

Presuming that the movie is set during the War in Afghanistan, which ended August 20, 2021, this leaves 2019 as the only possible year the movie could take place. (Or, since the war went on for nearly two decades and the Doha Accords were not signed until February 29, 2020, it could have been intended to be set in a possible near-future at filming, but that seems against the general historicity of the movie/comics.) This is also the year the movie was shot during, so it seems most likely.

Sunday, April 21, 2019 is coincidentally Easter, which seems like a good date to set events involving resurrection and immortality, as well as to sneak your unwilling human test subjects into your usually bustling pharmaceutical company headquarters. (Though why you'd carry out your morally dubious research in your HQ is another matter.)

Seems simple enough. However, the incident in South Sudan takes place during a full moon - there's a nice lingering shot of it early in the movie, so it's not just some stage light shining through a window - and the last full moon before Easter 2019 is Friday, April 19. (Good Friday, coincidentally.)

We do have a bit of wiggle room. The moon rising at 6:19 pm in Juba on the night of Thursday, April 18 probably looked close enough to full to count. The one rising at 5:25 pm on Wednesday, April 17 might've too. But the question remains: even if we push the rescue operation back to the night of April 17-18, is it even possible for someone moving covertly to get from a contested war zone in Central Africa to another in Central Asia in time to make it to Northern France the next night?

Because the way I see it:

Sunday, April 21 is the hard date. Andy, Nile, and Booker leave Val d'Argent around sunrise on this day (6:31 am) and drive to Copely's house in Surrey. Google tells me this is a 774 km drive, which should take 8:45 hours. There must have been some sort of border check regardless of whatever passports were used as the UK never was part of the Schengen Area - and possibly a stop for weapons after. (Even if we shave off a few hours speeding on empty holiday roads, London sunset was 8:06 pm that day and there's nothing to imply Nile and Copley waited overnight to stage their rescue. Andy and Booker can't have been in the labs longer than four hours.)

Andy, Booker, and Nile leave Goussainville at night. If they took the most direct route to Val d'Argent (and I don't see why they would), that is a 465 km drive, which should take 5 hours. They arrive at the cave in daylight - between 7 am and 9 pm that time of year - and Andy leaves again for the town at dark. This tells me their arrival in Val d'Argent is sometime Saturday, April 20.

It is night when the guard are attacked in Goussainville. This is likely the morning of Saturday, April 20, but can be any time between sunset (8:50 pm) the day before and sunrise (6:54 am) that morning.

Andy and Nile are shown arriving at Goussainville in daylight. This could, theoretically, be any number of days before the attack, but given the clothes it's probably Friday, April 19. Also, unless we dream each other isn't an every night thing, Nile would probably have gotten Quỳnh's story earlier if it wasn't.

It is daylight on a train in Central Africa when Andy, Booker, Joe, and Nicky first dream of Nile. This could, theoretically, be any number of days after the mission in South Sudan, but I get the feeling it's meant to be the morning after - which, accounting for the moon, would be Thursday, April 18.

Is it physically possible to travel from South Sudan to Afghanistan to France in, at maximum, 39 hours? Probably. If you managed direct flights it would be something like 15 hours total plus a couple hours driving. But can it actually be done? Can you jump off a train in the middle of nowhere, find a single woman on a military base in another country with nothing but a picture and half a name, and get yourself and your companion to another continent in what's realistically more like 30 hours? All while keeping out of sight of an ex-CIA operative and, presumably, the US military?

I don't know. It sounds like the start of a Top Gear special - and initially I was going to argue that it couldn't be done. I was going to argue that the South Sudan mission had to occur during the March 20 full moon for the timing to work... but maybe not. Maybe it can be done. I'd love to know.

Which, I suppose, is a long way to travel to determine the date of Nile's first death: some time between sunrise in Central Africa and sunset in Central Asia on Thursday, April 18, 2019.

[ao3feed-newsies]

If Only for Today I am Unafraid

by, IndeliblyBoxedIn by IndeliblyBoxedIn "Spot opened one eye lazily before turning his full attention from the ambient setting to one boy in particular, the grin pulling at his lips sneaking across his face at the sight of the Manhattan second, now partially clothed, pants low on his hips, rifling through the hay in the loft the pair had claimed as theirs, strands of straw still caught in those wild curls as he tossed through the messy feed impatiently, letting out a small sound in triumph as he unearthed his shirt, quickly shaking off the clinging grass, sending the particles into a golden hurricane that surrounded him like a halo backed by post-midday sun. He was a disaster. He was beautiful."   A sweet sprace fic from the waves of a golden afternoon. Words: 2352, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken, Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies: The Broadway Musical! (2017) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Spot Conlon, Racetrack Higgins Relationships: Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins Additional Tags: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Short & Sweet, sprace, Trans Male Character, Trans Racetrack Higgins, mood piece, Gay, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Post-Canon, Canon Universe, Canon Era, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Idiots in Love, Italian Racetrack Higgins, Romance, Established Relationship, Self-Esteem Issues, Mild Language, No Sex, Making Out, Cute, spot is just really into his fella, no beta we die like mush and blink in the stage show, JUSTICE FOR OUR GAY BOYS, Partial Nudity, Nothing explicit, Oneshot, Slice of Life read : https://ift.tt/prjTEQd - May 07, 2024 at 06:34PM

[vinxwatches]

the bad batch season 3

well the fallout show was shit. hopefully the bad batch is better. getting back to Omega who i 100% head cannoned as trans will be nice. last season ended with the death of Tech, but i still call bullshit on that.

episode 01 confined

of course Omega is her usual optimistic self. but did Crosshair lose his sharpshooting ability? that's can't be good for his psyche.

aggressive paragoning. i love it. she's growing into the roll of leader.

she really is the goodest girl.

damn, an entire episode of setting shit up. and showing the the work method of both Omega and the people she's up against, and demonstrating who will win.

also damn i missed that music.

episode 02 paths unknown

this is something you can only do with a big multiseries world like starwars. crossing the pikes means something. you can just say it, tell don't show, but it works because of all the setup for it.

insane number of last seconds, i love it. WAIT?! the carlack pit?!

setting up a clone savehaven. nice ultimate goal for the series.

ep 03 shadow of tantiss

kind of odd general grievous is in the opening considering how he's dead and irrelevant.

damn, are we going to find out what's wrong or right with Omega? i'm still thinking jedi, even if the series has shown no sign of it, it's the only thing that makes sense.

"we were in need of a shuttle, thanks so much for bringing one to us"

is it just that she's a perfect clone? didn't we already know that?

ep 04 a different approach

wait... m count transfer? m for midiglorian? so i was right?!

a confrontation that happened multiple times, finally on the same side again (sort of)

ep 05 the return

i love the Omega Crosshair banter.

time to relive some Crosshair trauma.

ep 06 infiltration

energy crossbow is cool, but i miss the energy bow.

i'm beginning to think Tech may actually be dead. since no one talks about him anymore. they moved on, and that stage of grief is rare if he's alive. but why kill him? too powerful? group too big? i don't understand. especially since he seemed to be in the middle of a romance arc.

well shit. the resistance v0 is about to die a quick death. NO YOU CAN'T END AN EPISODE THERE AT 0.07 FOR ME!!!

ep 07 extraction

you know when clones are around people are going to die.

i love some convincing the enemy to not act simply because it's the right thing.

OH SO HE GETS TO SURVIVE A FALL FROM HIGH!

ep 08 bad territory

they keep mentioning Tech. now in part this makes sense: he was one of the central cast that had a huge impact on every other main character. but on the otherside it gives the vibe that they don't want us to forget the character for one reason or another.

oh love the personal mission Omega gets.

"you don't like anything" "true" such great lines

betrayal? or asking someone to deliver info in person? probably the former.

ep 09 the harbinger

ventras? IT IS! i like her redesign. and i like that she didn't disappear from the universe, as we now see she found a new life.

like how she started not lit, but now is half lit, i wonder if that'll continue.

guys, seriously? stop it.

she and crosshair would be a fun pairing.

but surprisingly few answers for an episode that seems so set up to give answers. it seems to suggest that yes, she is force sensitive, but is lying to her about it. but not quite?

ep 10 identity crisis

is this Omega being in crisis between being a clone and a jedi? also if this is about Omega add it to the pile of Omega is trans.

oh this suddenly feels a lot more star wars rebels, the episode of protecting a kid from the empire going after those force sensitive.

we have seen her softer side, so her getting a higher position is quite positive. wait... that was behind the big ol vault door? also what's "project necromancer" about this?

do, it's not that Omega is force sensitive, but she can replicate it. in the creepiest way she'd the perfect host... the perfect artificial jedi mother.

oh no, not him.

got to love that they made the stormtroopers bulkier to make the clones we've grown to see as friends evil again.

oh. it's just an entirely grim episode. also not about Omega, but about the other female clone, so my trans reading persists (even if it was about hunter it would still persist)

ep 11 point of no return

that title does not instil confidence.

haven't seen Omega's girlfriend in way too long, and that was way too short.

well... fuck. they really just blew up the ship. their home.

oh this is weird. these aren't the new ships. this is the old, the stuff the good guys used to have.

i remember seeing a clone trooper with that big gun and thing "fuck yea big gun" and now it's terrifying. it's so cool how everything transitioned.

well... fuck. everything is awful now. they don't even have a ship to hunt for Omega anymore.

ep 12 juggernaut

they won't have Omega be stuck for 3 episode until the end of the finally... right?

"they'll detect our electronics if we got close" "not if we turn of all electronics" "but... we're flying in the direction of a planet?"

they used to be 5, often 6. now they are 3, and it feels so small for them to be able to do things.

the terrifying thing now is that wrecker can totally be killed. like Omega is save, hunter is the leader which makes him really hard to kill, and crosshair has an arc to complete. but wrecker? he's in the same position as Tech, and well.

also i was fully right on my last hypothesis on Omega

ep 13 into the breach

ok, i Love this Omega. like how her blood can grow with the midiglorians of others she has grown with the power of the team. she's now a leader like hunter, exploring smarts reminiscent of tech, and is likely going to hack into the droid controls like echo can innately. but where will we see wrecker in her?

don't make me hold my breath like that, i only have so much.

ep 14 flash strike

god i love the absolute trust in echo.

half way through, and it's now i learn that this isn't the finally, that's the next one, which doesn't appear to be out yet... fuck

ends in an evil laugh from me.

ep 15 the cavalry has arrived

final episode hype. please let it end on a positive note for once.

50 min episode? that bodes really well. that means they have time for a more complicated story, or a larger victory.

and setting up wrecker for death... please no? longer episode can also mean more complete defeat.

fuck, multiple escape plans at the same time resulting in some failing.

ouch the self condemdantion. and more setting up death with plan 99. "echo's handy work? or Omega?" in unison: "Omega". such good lines. same with Echo's line "because that's exactly what i would have done."

i don't like how calm he is. what is your plan that hasn't been countered? a clone? what could make these clones that good?

oh no. they have their own clone force 99, i guess clone force 100.

god damnit i came to this show to get away from living amputation. i get it, it's star wars. it's tradition at this stage. but still WHY!!!!! (echo may have a spare hand for you to use.)

Echo doesn't argue with Omega not leaving yet.

oh no i know what you're going to do with one of those. and why are you still with the empire. you could have joined the injured and left.

fuck yea Omega will stab a bitch.

the end of this project will mean the start of the death star. but it means clones will probably be left alone. those that are left that is.

the message of the show is that it's good to be able to be whatever you want. with that as message/theme of the show it only makes thematic sense for Omega to be trans and/or lesbian. to go against conventions, to go against what the while old men want you to be.

FUCK YEA ADULT OMEGA!!!

[chilly-out-here]

an attempt

let's see if this works! hopefully by not tagging this it doesn't get recommended to anyone since. I feel like it reads as fucking insane without context (honestly even with context). but just in case if you're not reading the fic and somehow still ended up here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52369693/chapters/132478987

and before I say anything I’d like to first shout out this tumblr post for letting me link this in the chapter notes in the first place bc I Would Not Have figured it out myself:  https://www.tumblr.com/gentrychild/653404474056081408/ao3-how-to-insert-imageslinks-into-the-notes-of# 

so!! Milgram The Musical!! there’s a couple key parts to how I imagine the tech for this thing to work. I don’t know all the details for the format of the show (frankly it doesn’t matter a ton lol), but I’m imagining it to be like. for each prisoner, there’s interrogation (basically like their VDs, except on stage), then blackout for quick scene transition, and then they sing their song. then blackout and they move on to the next prisoner and rinse and repeat. except for 010 who Causes Problems, which would be the climax of the musical and leads into the theoretical resolution.

so yea! I figure there’s probably 12 songs? one for each prisoner, plus two group numbers at the beginning and end (Undercover ft. the prisoners singing their parts, plus an unspecified ending song lol). there’s only one trial bc that would be PLENTY enough content for a musical already, so the songs are probably some fusion of the t1 and t2 (and t3 when that comes out?) songs. idk the specifics of that don’t really matter. also just, note, none of the prisoners have names in the show bc even I have my limits lmao. so if I’m talking about the characters in the musical I refer to them by their number, if I’m talking about the characters in the fic they get their names.

but anyway the important thing is! I think the main tech objective for the show is to make sure the visuals and sound of every prisoner’s song feels distinct, both from the other songs and from the interrogation scenes. the secondary objective is that the songs should feel kinda surreal; they take place in the prisoner’s minds, so they should be very separate from “reality” (in quotes bc what even is Milgram). so most of my planning was done with that in mind :)

DECK:

okay. so! most of the show’s tech is probably lighting/projection-based to accomplish all the different tones and aesthetic shifts, but there are some fun little things with the deck too, not least of which being the y’know!! rotating disc!! à la Les Mis or Hamilton. I think it’d at least be super cool for Undercover and 010’s song (which has some Deep Cover stuff fs), and definitely in other places too because the songs are all kinda wild lol. I found this tutorial and, in my humble opinion, Kazui and Hinako are indeed insane enough as directors to want this, and Kotoko and Kazui are indeed insane enough to build this: http://theaterdad.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-to-make-revolving-stage.html?m=1 

in terms of physical set pieces, there’s of course the interrogation table and chairs, which comes on for every interrogation and comes off after every “sing your sins.” there’s also the Warden’s chair (whatever the fuck Es is sitting on at the beginning of Undercover), and maybe some bonus pieces for the prisoners’ songs? like possibly school desks for 004, hospital bed for 005, round table for 010, that sort of stuff.

SOUND:

I don’t know a whole ton about sound, but I imagine Yuno’s trying to set it up so that the interrogation scenes feel like you’re watching two characters from the outside, and the songs feel like you’re immersed inside the character’s head (since yknow,,, that’s kinda the central conceit of the show lol). I’m envisioning that she’s gonna have the interrogation dialogue sound like it’s mostly coming from the stage (so like, the closer to the stage a speaker is, the louder it is), and the music sound like it’s kinda coming from everywhere at once (so all the speakers are similar volume). so that’s why she’s doing a ton of repatching to get the individual speaker control she wants to create that illusion. overall I think she’s just trying to have fun with the whole thing which. as she should!!

PROJECTION:

so!! like I said earlier a big goal for the tech of this show is to make everything feel distinct, and the projection would be a GIANT part of that. I’ve only worked one show with projection in it but there’s so many frickin possibilities you can do with it so,, here we go!

first of all—the INTERROGATIONS. most theaters have stage monitors (basically just security cameras pointed at the stage from the house, which can be viewed in dressing rooms so actors know where they are in the show and can keep track of their  entrances). and I think it’d be really cool to also project that in the background in real-time as the interrogation scenes are happening (probably in black and white). partly to just make those scenes a bit more visually interesting, and partly bc I think it would severely fit the aesthetic?? plus that way, except during the blackouts, the projection won’t disappear and reappear as much, which I think would look cleaner and more cohesive.

BUT still very distinct!! bc in contrast to the camera vibes in the interrogations, the songs have their own cool colorful background art and visuals and fuckinnn stock footage projected!! whatever fits the vibe lmao. I think Haruka basically Goes Off—like the designer roles were decided for the show before they went on break, so he’s been working on this for months. each song’s visuals have their own style and color palette (yknow,, like how Milgram MVs work lol).

I’m gonna go on a whole separate rant about lighting but projection-wise:

001’s visuals mostly resemble the Weakness MV—so very colorful and very much drawn with nice smooth water/bubble animations, but also plus some of the edgy writing and glitchy stuff in All Knowing and All Agony. I think Haruka does project (haha,, pun) a little bit onto 001 (wow I can’t imagine why), so the art for that song hITS. 

002’s aesthetic is probably closest to Umbilical with like. pink void, balloons, the DNA staircases (possibly Haruka’s first venture into 3D modeling? which he uses later for Undercover and stuff), and the photographs (provided by the actress), but I really like the water ripples from Tear Drop so there’s some of that in there too. 

003 is most like Bring It On with all the video game aesthetic glitchy stuff going on, except add in a bit of spray paint imagery bc I think that’s really cool. 

004 is probably mostly It’s Not My Fault? I mean BUGS,, and honey and stuff. some classroom things like in After Pain (specifically the chalkboard has some stuff on it?) and a few real-life shots, but a lot of weird bug things yknow. 

005 is mainly Throw Down for all the flower symbolism (this is where flower stock footage comes in lmao), plus elements from Triage like the hospital bed, heart monitor, and of course the many many surgery receipts. 

006 is based mostly on This Is How To Be In Love With You (magazine vibes, again photos provided by the actress), but with a bit of the angsty stuff in I Love You (the fucked up carousel is good shit). 

007. is. interesting. since half and Cat are so different it’s a little hard to picture how the combined version would work (current idea is it starts slow and ballad-y for like. a couple lines, and then launches into jazzy vibes—perhaps something a bit like Theater by natori (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3rDLizb4sI)). but I’m imagining that 007 is a PERFORMER during his song. by that I mean when it gets jazzy he straight up walks down from the stage into the audience and has a whole Moment prancing around in the house with spotlights (aren’t we glad Fuuta set up the movers??). so my idea for the projection is that it’s mostly abstract and collage-y kinda like the instrumental break in Cat, and it does reflect the instruments (like the dancing saxophone lol), but it’s also got things like the apple, the glass, cigarettes, all the magic trick stuff, and the ring, and occasional cut-ins of irl stock photos of things like the bar. just little hints up there that are easy to miss if you’re focusing on all the Extremely Distracting actor in the audience and crazy dancing collage happening. also, color palette is probably warmer/red-er just to lean into the whole theater thing a bit more.

008!! I love the feltboard look at the end of Magic and I think that’s the main aesthetic the visuals would have, but with occasional cuts to irl photos of disturbing stuff like the taser. kinda like how Purge March does it? I almost feel like it’d be a bit like one of those analog horror things based on kids’ content, where the scary parts are 1) mostly just implied and 2) don’t last long but the juxtaposition is really jarring.

009 my beloved,, I really like the filming/camera vibes from MeMe, so the visuals probably involve a lot of that, and also the trains and glitch effects like in Double. ALSO. the MANNEQUINS. I have a mental image of Haruka sitting there debating what to do for 009, and then he looks up from his desk and sees his little pose reference mannequin and he’s like. Oh Yeah. so he takes pictures of it and photoshops it over/into some stuff, basically just turning it into like a whole mixed media art project thing (like this sort of vibe—Tatsuya Kitani MVs are frickin insane /pos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymtNhd_3CB8). and THEN. TAROT CARDS. after their pokémon battle Yuno lets Haruka borrow them, so he takes photos and uses them too (and uses the mannequins with them). the complicated disjointed mildly unsettling mixed media video collage aesthetic is *chef’s kiss* and I think it’d fit well with 009 and the film look.

010!! home stretch!! I don’t have much to say other than I think it mainly follows the Deep Cover vibes (bc seriously that MV is GORGEOUS), so plenty of chess piece imagery to go around. but also,,, wolves,,, more stock footage lmao. 

and fINALLY!! UNDERCOVER!! very geometric and following the general Milgram aesthetic. definitely the projection design closest to the MV it’s based on. not to spoil anything but there might be a bit more detail on it next chapter? didn’t hear that from me tho ;)

and now!! hilariously short thing to finish this section off. after each prisoner’s song, there’s a blackout for them to exit and for the deck crew to set the interrogation table up for the next scene. during that transition I think it’d be fun if there was a pre-recorded video of them answering some of their interrogation questions as a little sendoff yknow? plus that helps not completely kill the momentum after each song.

LIGHTS:

oh my god. hi. me. HI. this is my SHIT. okay. so. LIGHTS. starting with a fun little aside about LEDs and incandescents—imo incandescent stage lights are the prettiest and most natural looking, buut they’re also less versatile than LEDs (for example, you need physical gels to change the color of incandescents, but a lot of LED light fixtures can have colors changed from the lightboard). there’s pros and cons to both and there’s pros and cons to having a mixed lights grid (currently working in a place with both—I actually like it personally but it is hard to match the colors/tones a lot of the time). most of the theater world is moving towards LEDs in general (partly for convenience, partly as regulations are shifting away from incandescents) but Kazui is a stubborn mf who’s held onto an incandescent grid for THIS long and he’s gonna keep it as long he possibly can lmao. Fuuta convinced him to let him overhaul the whole thing and mix in some LEDs over the summer (mostly a bunch of moving lights), so he’s got a bit of both to work with.

for the Milgram aesthetic, unnatural white LEDs is lowkey the vibe?? I think just a couple white spotlights on the interrogation table would kinda be all they need. Fuuta is definitely getting a shit ton of use out of his movers for that since they can be pointed in good angles as needed. and for UNDERCOVER,,, oh boy he has some FUN with that one. if you program them right white movers make really good searchlight lookin things let me tell you!! I did them for a show recently and they looked AWESOME but I didn’t get to keep them in the final version (“it’s not a light show” which. fair but ok) so I’m vicariously living my mover searchlight dreams through Fuuta <3 and also, the Undercover MV has a ton of cool white spotlight type things going on?? like spotlights pointed through bars which casts cool dramatic shadows. definitely he gets to play around a lot with that :D

and then on the flip side~!! for the prisoner songs!! I think the general lighting for those is mostly done with differently-gelled incandescents, since they just look much prettier and smoother in general. I think the more natural look would also help to make the songs more immersive, especially in comparison to the interrogations—Fuuta’s definitely the type of guy to take something like a hybrid grid and really use it to his advantage to emphasize that contrast in overall feel.

each prisoner song definitely has its own lighting scheme too, which are all set up to look cohesive in conjunction with the projections in each song, so now all those are getting balanced for color and intensity so it looks like it all flows together with the visuals.

001’s general wash color is like a bluish white? so like R#051 (Surprise Pink (it looks mostly white in practice)) plus a bit of blue. not a ton of color bc the projections here are so colorful.

002’s lights are actually probably cooler tones for the most part to contrast with the pink projection. largely based on Tear Drop since the lighting there is super blue and it’s so PRETTY.

003…R#003 Dark Bastard Amber my beloved <3 (nah but fr DBA looks so good on red hair, it’s also kinda golden-ish which I think would look good with the saturated video game color tones on the projection).

for 004 like. literally all of After Pain is so Surprise Pink it’s ridiculous (plus a bit of Dark Bastard Amber for like,, yknow the murder at sunset). I like Surprise Pink for the color contrast with the green honey, might also want to test some purple?

005! I’m thinking of this one gel color that’s a really nice soft light blue, I believe it’s R#60 No Color Blue? again not too much color for the lights here since the projection will have a lot of flowers.

006 is very much a pink wash. probably Surprise Pink mixed and contrasted with a darker purple? I haven’t worked with a ton of purple but it’s a pretty versatile color and I think it could be good for the angsty I Love You type projections.

007 would start in a special light, and then when he goes into the audience that’s all a person with a followspot lol. at that point there’d only be enough light on stage to keep the projection looking natural (very low DBA wash perhaps).

008 is another Surprise Pink-based lights wash without too much color since the visuals would be pretty vibrant on their own, but much darker and bluer for the grimmer projections. I feel like purple would be nice as an undertone for her for some reason?

009 is. interesting. I could see Fuuta having to rack his brain a little for this one (since I’m racking my brain over here lol), but. if I remember correctly No Color Blue plus a tiny tiny bit of Surprise Pink can kinda make a semi-convincing white white? I think that, plus some bright RGB Color Moments in the visuals, could hopefully do the job okay.

010 HI OKAY LET ME LIGHT THIS SONG PLEASE. fuckin BACKLIGHTS DUDE the SATURATED COLORS the PINK?!? THAT is R#039 SKELTON EXOTIC SANGRIA if I’ve EVER fuckin seen it (bro just trust me, the color itself looks hella dark but when there’s light shining through it it’s so VIVID and PRETTY okay I just. yes). that mixed with some kind of really saturated indigo (part of me is even wondering about black lights??) would be so good.

COSTUMES:

okay costumes!! so!! as we have seen Mikoto’s been very busy lol. he’s not the main costume designer but he’s like. assistant costume designer and the guy in charge of Making Stuff (lead craftsperson I think it’s technically called?), which in this case are the prisoner harnesses and the Warden costumes.

costume breakdown! each prisoner has their actual clothes, plus “jumpsuit” (whichever white jacket thing they have), and a harness. everything except the harnesses seems like it could probably just be bought/sourced from somewhere (which is still, I can say from experience, A Lot Of Work lmao,, so the rest of the costume team has been similarly busy). I’ve gone back and forth about whether they should change costumes for their songs, but I think everything’s smoother if they just keep the jumpsuit. 

the exception is 010, who gets to do a quick change in the blackout before her song bc the Deep Cover drip is too good?? her harness and jumpsuit are probably attached somehow to be easy to remove at once. I’m imagining the way it works is that right at the blackout, the actress takes off the jumpsuit/harness setup, Mikoto goes on with deck crew for the scene transition with the coat, hat, and gloves (not enough time for a pants change so let’s just say she’s already wearing black pants and combat boots). he helps her get those on (let me tell you gloves are hARD in quick changes) and then he walks off with the jumpsuit/harness.

and finally the Warden! so Mikoto’s in charge of making the cape and the hat, and everything else can probably be sourced and modified as needed. someone’s probably having a lot of fun making the key necklace/props though!

well that was fun!! aren’t we glad I didn’t try to put all this in the notes?? I sure am lmao. the inherent slapdash-ness of the whole thing was kinda freeing actually and I had a blast just Saying Stuff, bc tech for Milgram The Musical has been living in my head rent-free for MONTHS and I’m glad I got to just put it all in words!! maybe I’ll do another one of these in the future if I need it lol. but anyway if you actually read to the end of this then 1) kudos <3 and 2) I hope it was at least moderately interesting, or at least enjoyable!

I don’t really know how to end this so. hope you have a nice day :D

[ask-de-writer]

WIND MEETS THE ROM : Part 16 of 27 :

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WIND MEETS THE ROM

Part 16 of 27

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

Cover art by @wind-the-mama-cat

54212 words

© 2023 by Glen Ten-Eyck

Writing begun 06/01/18

All rights reserved. This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

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Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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New to the story? Read from Part 1, here!

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The pony narrowed his eyes a tiny bit and asked, “Why would she do it for free? Rose is a Rom and they don't do much for free at a fair.”

Wind chuckled as she replied, “Oh, I expect that Charley will spend his coin with us! I am just hoping that Rose will let him know that both his good and impulsive sides are actually good. My Mama Dragon raised me that way too.”

Music struck up from the Sky Dancer stage and the others saw the difference at once as Wind went to high alert, scanning the crowd. Charley unobtrusively moved out of her path if she should need to spring into action.

Charley and Sarie's dad asked quietly, “Mama Dragon? You were raised by a dragon? I heard that you lost your foreleg and sword to a dragon. How did that happen?”

Never taking her eyes from the crowd, Wind replied, “Yes, I was raised by Mama Dragon on my home world after I was orphaned by a dark beast. Dragons from other worlds, like this one for instance, are mostly not as nice as she is.”

He mulled that over for a bit and offered, “Sorry. Been rude. Name's Plowin, Plowin Furrows. Happens to also be my talent. Thanks for takin' care of my foals.”

The act over, Wind shifted her attention back to Mister Furrows. “No problem, Sir. Such good foals deserve the best.”

Sarie asked quietly, “Miss Wind, don't you miss having your foreleg and sword?”

Rose's voice filled in, “Not all wounds show, Sarie. Wind is healing but not ready for weapons yet.”

She held out the bonnet, now perfect. “I did have an iron that would do the job but had to take over to Myest for heating in his forge fire. Now you two go and enjoy the fair.”

Mister Furrows spoke up, “Thank you, Mrs Rose. I was headed this way anyhow. Ma is poorly today and couldn't make the Fair. Wanted to get her something to perk up her spirits. Got anything with compartments for rings and such jewelry?”

Wind, seeing that Rose was back to business, retreated back to Hanar's booth.

The day devolved to measuring and cutting Hanar's many sorts of fabrics, trims and other sewing supplies.

By the day's closing bell, Wind was both totally familiar with Hanar's stock and tired in a different way than from a hard day in harness. As she and Hanar headed over to Marchhare's encampment for dinner, Wind noticed that her friend was happily humming to herself and actually doing a skippy little dance, including some of Wind's new slides and sway steps!

Hanar noticed Wind watching her and explained, “Being in a booth all day confines you and makes you feel tired, but that is really just because your body is sluggish from lack of stretching. Some music and dancing or other exercises will perk you right up! We Rom have a lot of experience in this sort of thing.”

Wind nodded understanding and began to do some stretches. They did help. However there was a serious issue preventing any further action. Specifically, the serving line for dinner! Wind happily took her place behind the table and began to pour ladles of hot Rom black tea and serve out sweet buns. Hanar joined her in a few moments. She just said, “Had to put away the cash box first.”

After all were served, Wind and Hanar found a quiet place to sit and eat. Old Marchhare quietly joined them. He looked Wind in the eye and inquired, “What you did for that town colt and filly is pretty much all over the camp. Stopping him so his sister could get her bonnet back we all understand. Why did you have Rose fix her bonnet for free?”

Wind considered her answer and replied, “I thought that it was the right thing to do, like when Hoof Dancer and Black Lotus fixed Candy Cane's leg. It was just a playtime accident caused by not thinking. When Charley realized that he had damaged Sarie's bonnet, he took full responsibility for it and offered all that he had to help her replace it.

“I wanted him to know two things from the incident. First, that he was responsible for the damage and second, that the Rom are more than greedy horses after every bit to be had.

“Later, I saw him buying Sarie a goodie from Midnight's Munchies, so we still got his coins. I saw it as win all around.”

Marchhare sipped his tea and offered, “As it happens, you were right all around. I knew about the events themselves but I wanted to know what your thoughts were that guided them. You are a true credit to both your Mama Dragon and to my Rom. Thank you.”

Shortly, the evening music and dancing began! Rom that had been booth bound all day started cutting loose! Wind was bemused to see that Rom from two other bands that were also at the fair saw the new sways and slides that even Tia and Midnight were using and quickly began to follow suite. Their musicians were picking up Wind's Wings, too.

Some of the younger ones from all three bands were working together on setting words to the new tune. Wind shook her head at that. They were creating both Gyptian and Equestrian words for the developing song.

Hanar cheerfully dragged Wind into the maelstrom of dancing horses! She chortled, “Let's show them what real slides and sways are, Wind!”

Her magic that guided without ruling helped Wind to learn how to use her Rom sashes to spectacular effect in the dance! Wind noticed that others, including ones from the other two band present, were watching closely and copying the moves and flourishes.

In very little time, the newcomers were no longer copying the new dance steps. They were eagerly creating their own variations and alterations of the slides and sways!

Hanar was cheerfully keeping Wind at the center of the vortex of dancing horses. Wind, having no trouble in keeping up, asked, “Isn't it getting late? We have to tend booths tomorrow.”

Rose looked up from her dancing with Myest to reply, “Nonsense! We have new dance steps to play with! A whole new tune for them, too! This is IMPORTANT.”

Hanar got close enough to actually nuzzle Wind and whispered, “I thought that I had warned you about Rom and dancing.”

“You did, Hanar. It is just a bit awe inspiring to see the reality of it.”

It was late before the dancing Rom finally broke and returned to their camps. Hanar quietly invited, “You are healed now, Wind. Would you like to sleep outside with me?”

Wind gave her friend a troubled look. “Hanar, I will only be here less than a month now. From what I have been hearing, that was a sort of marriage proposal. I could not do that.”

Hanar smiled sort of sadly, “I would not mind marrying you, Wind, but I know how you feel about Penny and that your Mama Dragon will be taking you back in a month. What I want is whatever good that we can share until you need to leave.”

Shaking her head, she added, “After you have gone, I will find some good stallion or mare to mate with. Any time that you return, you will be welcome in my camp and a part of my family. I suspect that you will always have place in Marchhare's band, too. I know that his family likes you too.”

Wind nuzzled Hanar behind the ear and whispered, “As long as we understand that, Hanar, I would love to try sleeping beside you. I have slept alone nearly all my life, so I am not sure how it will go, but for you, I will try.”

Hanar gave Wind a sideways look and asked softly, “Try? Why? Would it not be safe?”

Wind considered her answer carefully. “I am afraid that I might have bad dreams and strike out. I don't want to hurt you, my friend.”

After a long pause, Wind added, “That is one of the reasons that I have held back from asking Penny to share my life. She is quite a bit bigger than I am and really strong.” She shook her head sadly, “But not as strong as I am. I really don't want to risk hurting her.”

Hanar nodded her agreement while her horn's magic combed the soft grass beside her. “This will make a perfect test of the matter, dear Wind. If you do start to strike or flail about, my magic can have you held safely away.”

Wind nodded and curled up in the soft grass, feeling the warmth and soft fur of her friend next to her.

The next morning, Hanar awoke to an empty place beside her. Looking about, she saw Wind over on the dancing green. Dance was not what Wind was doing! She was working through an array of what appeared to be swift combat exercises.

The Royal Guard were looking on. So were both Midnight and Tia. Shortly the local constables joined the watchers. Hanar decided that she would too.

She was close enough that she used her magic to stir up the smoored fire and started getting breakfast on. Black Lotus' magic joined hers and, with grins, seeing what they were up to, so did Midnight's and Tia's. Besides watching Wind's workout, breakfast was on the way in a uniquely Rom way!

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