#How to validate the version of installation

[nataliescatorccioapologist]

I just want to acknowledge the impact of the long hiatus and the rise of binge-watching culture on how the Yellowjackets fandom is receiving Season 3 so far. The break between Seasons 2 and 3 was a staggering 20 months—that’s actually longer than the time the Yellowjackets themselves were stranded in the wilderness. If 19 months was enough for them to descend into madness, start worshipping the dirt, and hunt each other for sport, then it's certainly long enough for us to spiral into our own version of fandom delirium—obsessing over theories and raising our expectations and standards for the new season to impossible heights.

During that long wait, many of us built up a clear picture of what we thought Season 3 would be—certain theories we were sure would come true, the roles particular characters would play, the ships that would become canon. And now that the season is finally arriving, any deviation from those expectations, no matter how small, can feel extremely jarring.

I know from polls I’ve put out in the past that a majority of us became fans either while Season 2 was airing or during the long break that followed, meaning that for most of the fandom, this is the first time we’ve had to wait almost two years for new Yellowjackets content—and the first time we’re experiencing the show week by week instead of all at once. That’s a huge shift in how we engage with the story. Instead of consuming it in a single sitting and getting immediate resolution, we’re now living with each episode, analyzing every frame, and filling the gaps between installments with speculation and debate. It’s a very different kind of viewing experience that can result in premature criticism.

This is not to discount some very valid criticisms of Season 3 so far! This season has certainly had its issues and discussing these issues is important and reasonable! Trust me, I’ve been yapping about them at length myself. But at the same time, it’s worth acknowledging that some of our frustrations might be fueled, at least in part, by the sheer weight of the wait—the expectations we built up over 20 months and the shift from binge-watching to a slow, weekly rollout. The latest episode seems to have been a wake-up call for many of us, reminding us just how much our perception of the season has been shaped by this long, drawn-out anticipation. So let’s take a breath, stay patient, and give the story some room to unfold.

[autolenaphilia]

The main reason to use Firefox and Linux and other free and open source software is that otherwise the big tech monopolies will fuck you as the customer over in search of profits. They will seek to control how you use their products and sell your data. When a company dominates the market, things can only get worse for ordinary people.

Like take Google Chrome for example, which together with its chromium reskins dominate the web browser market. Google makes a lot of money from ads, and consequently the company hates adblockers. They already are planning to move to manifest V3, which will nerf adblockers significantly. The manifest V3 compatible chrome version of Ublock Orgin is a "Lite" version for a reason. Ublock's Github page has an entire page explaining why the addon works best in Firefox.

And Google as we speak are trying to block adblockers from working on Youtube, If you want to continue blocking Youtube ads, and since Youtube ads make the site unuseable you ought to want that, it makes the most sense to not use a browser controlled by Google.

And there is no reason to think things won't get worse. There is for example nothing stopping Google from kicking adblockers off their add-on stores completely. They do regard it as basically piracy if the youtube pop-ups tell us anything, so updating the Chrome extensions terms of service to ban adblocking is a natural step. And so many people seem to think Chrome is the only browser that exists, so they are not going to switch to alternatives, or if they do, they will switch to another chrominum-based browser.

And again, they are fucking chromium itself for adblockers with Manifest V3, so only Firefox remains as a viable alternative. It's the only alternative to letting Google control the internet.

And Microsoft is the same thing. I posted before about their plans to move Windows increasingly into the cloud. This already exists for corporate customers, as Windows 365. And a version for ordinary users is probably not far off. It might not be the only version of Windows for awhile, the lack of solid internet access for a good part of the Earth's population will prevent it. But you'll probably see cheap very low-spec chromebookesque laptops running Windows for sale soon, that gets around Windows 11's obscene system requirements by their Windows being a cloud-based version.

And more and more of Windows will require Internet access or validation for DRM reasons if nothing else. Subscription fees instead of a one-time license are also likely. It will just be Windows moving in the direction Microsoft Office has already gone.

There is nothing preventing this, because again on the desktop/laptop market Windows is effectively a monopoly, or a duopoly with Apple. So there is no competition preventing Microsoft from exercising control over Windows users in the vein of Apple.

For example, Microsoft making Windows a walled garden by only permitting programs to be installed from the Microsoft Store probably isn't far off. This already exists for Win10 and 11, it's called S-mode. There seem to be more and more laptops being sold with Windows S-mode as the default.

Now it's not the only option, and you can turn it off with some tinkering, but there is really nothing stopping Microsoft from making it the only way of using Windows. And customers will probably accept it, because again the main competition is Apple where the walled garden has been the default for decades.

Customers have already accepted all sorts of bad things from Microsoft, because again Windows is a near-monopoly, and Apple and Google are even worse. That’s why there has been no major negative reaction to how Windows has increasingly spies on its users.

Another thing is how the system requirements for Windows seem to grow almost exponentially with each edition, making still perfectly useable computers unable to run the new edition. And Windows 11 is the worst yet. Like it's hard to get the numbers of how many computers running Win10 can't upgrade to Win11, but it's probably the majority of them, at least 55% or maybe even 75%. This has the effect of Windows users abandoning still perfectly useable hardware and buying new computers, creating more e-waste.

For Windows users, the alternative Windows gives them is to buy a new computer or get another operating system, and inertia pushes them towards buying another computer to keep using Windows. This is good for Windows and the hardware manufacturers selling computers with Windows 11 pre-installed, they get to profit off people buying Windows 11 keys and new computers, while the end-users have to pay, as does the environment. It’s planned obsolescence.

And it doesn’t have to be like that. Linux distros prove that you can have a modern operating system that has far lower hardware requirements. Even the most resource taxing Linux distros, like for example Ubuntu running the Gnome desktop, have far more modest system requirements than modern Windows. And you can always install lightweight Linux Distros that often have very low system requirements. One I have used is Antix. The ballooning Windows system requirements comes across as pure bloat on Microsoft’s part.

Now neither Linux or Firefox are perfect. Free and open source software don’t have a lot of the polish that comes with the proprietary products of major corporations. And being in competition with technology monopolies does have its drawbacks. The lacking website compatibility with Firefox and game compatibility with Linux are two obvious examples.

Yet Firefox and Linux have the capacity to grow, to become better. Being open source helps. Even if Firefox falls, developers can create a fork of it. If a Linux distro is not to your taste, there is usually another one. Whereas Windows and Chrome will only get worse as they will continue to abuse their monopolistic powers over the tech market.

[haithhegimp]

RHATO has terrible writing (a collection)

most of us know that red hood and the outlaws has horrible writing, but i don't think people who haven't read it realise how bad it is. because even without mischaracterization, even without garbage plot, even without nonsensical story beats-- the very quality of the writing is terrible. here is a collection of things that wouldve been corrected by the most ameteaur proofreader out there and somehow made it into a real official canon DC book. (up till issue 4 of the 2011 version, i will almost definitely be making more installments of this)

(1)

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #2]

i... think that was supposed to be a pun on smooth but it makes absolutely no fucking sense and jason's reply makes even less sense. if roy is calling jason smooth, what the fuck does move have to do with it? is it implying that jason put a move/flirted with the woman who gave him her number???? because jason didn't, and roy knows that. so then what is the move supposed to mean here? and i assume that the joke in jason's reply is supposed to be that there is nothing sounding like a "you" in traction, but like what the fuck does he mean by "traction"???? these are the definitions of traction according to oxford dictionary

and absolutely none of them make a lick of sense in this context.

(2)

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #2]

con air is a 1997 american film about millitary whatever-the-fuck. either this is a reference to something in the film, or this is for some reason using filipino slang for an air conditioner. to my understanding, con air is not a classic american film that americans reference often or would know about casually, and even if it was the joke would be excluding an extremely large audience of dc that is outside of the US. my point being, why the fuck are you putting semi-obscure movie references into a comic that is very mainstream and almost definitely for international audiences, scott? i could read the plot of the film or watch the film to see if its even a valid reference but fuck that im proving my own point here as an international reader who doesn't understand what the hell this is supposed to mean even after fucking LOOKING IT UP. IF YOURE WRITING A MAINSTREAM COMIC WITH WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE VERY COMPREHENDABLE LANGUAGE, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE SHOULD BE LOOKING SHIT UP TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #2]

there are so many horrible things about this dialogue exchange that i feel like im having aneurysm. we'll start with suzie. these are the definitions of a homestead

absolutely none of them correspond or make sense to be used for the fancy high-rise hotel-like building that jason owns and they are currently in, nor does it make sense as being slang for a home because they are in HONG KONG and the word comes from oceania, north america, and south africa. not to mention "gone and come back" is just bad fucking wording. its clunky and confusing, is she saying that he's left and returned? or is she using "gone and" to express annoyance at jason returning to hong kong? it doesn't really matter in terms of overall understanding but its little things like that which fuck up the flow of reading.

moving on, a fainting couch is couch with a back raised on one end, it is popularly speculated that the fainting couch got its name due to victorian women feeling faint due to tight corsets-- although the name wasn't seen in usage until the 20th century. i genuinely have no fucking clue what suzie is talking about whatsoever when she refers to having one. it makes less than zero sense to me.

and finally for suzie, the progression of the sentence makes no fucking sense. "as i live and breathe! jason has gone and come back to the homestead, and me without my fainting couch!" what the fuck is that???? she starts with an exclamation of surprise, follows it with someone doing something in noun verb noun format, and then continues with someone lacking something in noun adjective noun format??? thats just not how sentences work? at least not good sentences. like regardless of the fact that what she's saying makes no sense, at least the correct way of saying it would be something like "as i live and breath! jason has gone and come back to the homstead, and i'm without my fainting couch!" or something like "jason, back in the homestead, and me without my fainting couch!" having two different structures in the same sentence is awkward and weird.

and MOVING ON to jason's line. here are the definitions of undercarriage

first of all, what the fuck is the scent of undercarriage??????? i genuinely have no fucking clue what in the hell that's supposed to be. and second of all, what is undercarriage supposed to be in this context???????? im so fucking confused i dont understand this line whatsoever.

(3)

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #2]

"fry my bucket" is not a real phrase, scott.

(4)

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #3]

sublingual doesn't mean what you think it means, scott.

(5)

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #4]

im so fucking confused. what the hell does "a xenophobe. not many of them around." even mean?? its one of those things that almost makes sense if you give it a quick glanceover but is absolutely bonkers if you look at it for more than one second. is kori saying that xenophobes are rare???????? what?? no they are not????????

(6)

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #4]

the race of people living on tamaran are called tamaraneans. scott knows this. he has used "tamaranean" in other places, i don't know how or why the person that has supposedly been stalking and researching aliens for the past five years of his life would say "tamaran" instead of "tamaranean". this is the equivalent of an alien in fiction saying "earth" instead of "earthling" or "human". im not rereading this shit but im also 80% sure that the guy has said "tamaranean" before, so i dont know what happened here.

(7)

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #4]

here is the definition of clandestine.

either these University Scientists were conducting illegal experiments and that is just never brought up or mentioned or expanded on again (which is shitty writing in a different way), or that word doesn't mean whatever you think it means, scott.

(8)

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #4]

here is the definiton of transubstantiation.

a transsubstantiator (which, why are there two "s" between trans and sub when the base word only has one?) is fictional and fake, so i suppose that its technically fine to use the word for whatever he wants but i still think its fucking stupid, and this is MY list/collection. (btw the machine was supposed to take away kori's powers. and im not christian or an expert on christianity but i dont think thats what the base word is supposed to be about.)

(9)

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #4]

jason's response here is one of things that almost makes sense, but doesn't if you look at it for more than one second. what the fuck does he mean by "unless there's anyplace hotter."?? like is he saying that he wants to go to a hot place after he dies? that heat is bad and so if there was a more hot place he'd be going there? i really don't know, and i don't understand.

(10)

[Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011) #4]

the fact that his monologue is split between boxes tricks the reader into thinking it makes sense so i'm going to write it out for yall to understand that it does Not.

"I prepared for this night years ago. A year of training under the All-Caste. A night none of us believed would ever happen. Why am I so happy? Because I know I'm ready. Who knows? Maybe I was born ready."

that just... is nonsensical. first he goes on about training and being prepared and then he immediately contradicts himself by saying "maybe i was born ready". the "why am i so happy" comes out of nowhere, it's extremely vague whether he's talking to the reader as if they are questioning him or if he's wondering that about himself. the "because i know im ready" doesn't even answer the question that came out of nowhere, readiness has nothing to do with being happy??? this entire speech is so bullshitted together, all that without even my personal opinion that "maybe i was born ready" is just a bad line.

------------

that is all i have for now, i am 100% making more parts to this because rhato is a hate-comfort comic that i like to read and scream at whenever i feel like it. also just a side note because i am aware that a lot of us do this, it makes me uncomfortable to threaten actual injury or death towards real people, even as a joke, so i would appreciate it if none of you reblogged or replied with that kinda stuff towards any of the rhato creators on this post (or any of my posts). hope you enjoyed if you read the whole way through, have a nice day!

[karuvapatta]

buckle up, I'm gonna bitch about Arcane season 2 for a while.

disclaimer: the animation and art direction is absolutely stellar, writing and voice acting is mostly solid, music ranges from good to amazing, sound design is great, and it's a great show overall.

HOWEVER:

There were so many interesting subplots and ideas, but not one of them had enough room to breathe or time to develop organically.

(spoilers under cut)

Caitlyn - I love the subplot about her becoming a fascist dictator and Ambessa's pupil, I really do. But then it sort of fizzled? She faced no repercussions for installing a police state and using chemical weaponry against civilians? The last one got to me especially - her mother built this system claiming that "the people of Undercity deserve to breathe" and Caitlyn then turned it against them. Okay, Vi and Jinx both called her out and it left to her rift with Vi, but... she's still in charge at the end, having seemingly learned no lessons?

Vi - uh, she was there. Sort of. Most of the time. Again, she joined the Enforcers, and it led to SOME conflict, but... is she going back to being an Enforcer? how does she feel about that? Who knows - Vi was mostly there for Cait and Jinx's subplots than her own.

Jinx - her subplot with Sevika and Isha was my second favourite thing about this season. The idea of her becoming a symbol and uniting Zaun is great. That little moment in the prison was awesome. But, ultimately - it didn't amount to much. Her sacrificing her life for Vi (or not, I don't know if she actually dies) didn't hit as much because we already knew she was actively suicidal.

Isha - had the potential to be super annoying, but like I said, I ended up really liking her character. Her death rubbed me the wrong way, however - it was very emotional, but the framing was very strange. Were we supposed to find it inspirational? Tragic but beautiful? Proof that Jinx isn't irredeemable?

Sevika - again: loved her, loved her interactions with Jinx and Isha.

Silco - I found it weird how this season consistently framed him as a good guy. Jinx and Sevika remember him fondly, he was the only thing holding Zaun together, there are cute flashbacks / AU versions of him and Vander being happy... he's a complex character and we love him for it, but let's not forget his many, many crimes.

Singed - kinda weird that he got what he wanted with no repercussions.

Mel - all right, her subplot bothered me perhaps most of all. Mel is a joy every time she's on screen, true, but last season she had been established as a savvy politician and businesswoman, motivated by her mommy issues, and a corrupting presence on Jayce. She pushed for progress at all costs to fulfil her own ambitions and prove something to her mother. That's a great setup! But what we got in s2 is... random superpowers out of nowhere. Mel always had power - she was the richest woman in Pilltover and basically ran its Council - but now instead of confronting her with the potential side-effects of Hextech, the consequences of her ambitions, and the futility of proving herself to her abusive warmongering mother, she just gets... more power. Out of nowhere. And validation from Ambessa. It was just weird.

Jayce and Viktor - easily the most compelling part of this season, and my favourite subplot. And STILL - it felt rushed and incoherent. I thought at first that Viktor would become jealous and resentful because Jayce is everything that he isn't, and I am honestly so glad they didn't take that route. But instead, Viktor gets... brainwashed by the Hexcore I guess? Ascends to a higher plane of existence? His Jesus Days and his cults were fascinating, but I didn't get the philosophy behind them at all. I can see why Viktor would want to shed his physical body for a machine that has none of its weakness, and how he might convince others to follow that path, but instead he chose to brainwash his followers and then assimilate the entire human race? What? There were so, so many potential sources of conflict between himself and Jayce - the Hextech weaponry Jayce built, Pilltover's fascist takeover of the Undercity, Jayce reviving him against his will and not destroying the Hexcore, accidentally poisoning Ekko's tree through their irresponsible use of Hextech... but the conflict we got didn't built on any of that. And I don't understand why.

(But I get you, Jayce/Viktor shippers. You won this round.)

[synergysilhouette]

Rewriting "Fire Emblem: Engage"

This has been on my "draft" page FOREVER. It's my oldest post, and by the time I post this, I'll probably have forgotten some details that I KNOW I'm gonna get hounded (no pun intended) for.

Less emphasis on Emblems--I know, I know. "'Engage' celebrates the anniversary of the franchise, so why wouldn't previous games come into play?" I get it, but it feels suffocating; putting emphasis on the protagonists from past games takes away from the current game (which already feels like it borrows a lot from their last installments). However, in lieu of emblems inside the magical rings, something much more sad is there: 12 of Alear's dead siblings whose spirits are inside them (or their bodies were sealed in there; less sad and still works).

2. Zephia is Alear and Veyle's mom (plus Sombron being their father isn't a plot twist)--As per usual for previous recent FE protagonists (notably Robin and Byleth), Alear's mom is an unseen character who doesn't do much for the plot. Seeing how Zephia wants a child and Sombron promises to give her one, I'd prefer it to be retconned so this happens earlier, and she ends up giving birth to Alear and Veyle (and possibly other siblings). She yearns to be reunited with her children a thousand years later, and manipulates the Hounds into acting as her family (I feel like making Mauvier younger works here since she was supposed to see them as her children, but she physically looks his age or younger), something they all latch onto. However, when they stand against her and Sombron, she turns vengeful and vows to destroy them. Plus she takes the place of the evil Lumera boss (because that was too much like the Revelation route in "Fates" with Mikoto).

3. Flashback/Nightmare makes more sense--A really confusing thing is evil Alear at the beginning. I don't recall if it's ever made clear if this is simply a nightmare or a flashback. Neither one makes sense; we SEE Alear in the past, and they're much more timid and submissive, not as sadistic or wicked (at least their vibe) as shown in the flashback. A nightmare also doesn't make sense, since it's never validated; Alear never joins Sombron, nor do they ever struggle with their evil. Instead, I like the idea that at first, they're legitimately evil. Thanks to Lumera and Sombron's toxic love and living in fear of their death, they are cruel and broken at first. Only when they're injured during battle and rescued a thousand years later by Lumera (for once, I'm keeping the amnesia arc) do they change their perspective on things, vowing to defeat their father. It's also worth noting that they KEEP their hair color; it doesn't turn blue because of Lumera willing it to. Instead, I'd prefer they have a natural red and black hair color (looks better, imo).

4. More of Alear's backstory--We do an unnecessary time travel event for ONE chapter, and I'd prefer if we did more back and forth. Perhaps we simply nix the arc where the team travels back in time (I'll still be using time travel, albeit in a different way here), and subsequent flashbacks we get are from Alear slowly regaining their memories. I'd probably also utilize Nil and Nel, who, in the OG game, are twin children of an alternate version of Sombron. I'd also kinda of change their designs since the black and white is mainly used to show affiliation (still keep Nel in pink and Nil in blue, though), and I'd probably give Nil a more buff design to contrast with Alear, similar to how Nel's mature design contrast's with Veyle's innocent one. In my version, they're children born to Sombron (not via Zephia) who are treated as inferior to Veyle and Alear, and are abused for that, so they strive to prove their worth so their father won't kill them.

5. S-supports for other characters--It was a weird choice for only Alear to be able to marry/reach S-supports with other characters. I know this is a minor detail, but I'd like this, since it adds a bit more depth to character bonds.

6. More romantic options--Everyone is fair game except characers who appear to be underage, ie Framme and Clanne. FE was really great with making much more same-sex options for "Engage," though it did seem confusing why some characters were platonic (yet still required a ring). I'd prefer it if S-supports were romantic, personally.

7. Child units via ring chamber--I got into FE via "Awakening" and "Fates," and I always loved being able to have kids. I made a post about fanmade kids a while ago, and I would do an "Awakening"-style time-travel story. Only this time, it's not a threatening future or a grim mission; you simply unlock them in the ring chamber when achieving S-supports, and they're summoned to your world via the rings within thanks to Alear's siblings.

8. Sombron's backstory is less hypocritical--I...I'm at a loss. He talks about his kids trying to kill him when he's killed several of them. Then he says how alone he feels, and when Alear reaches out to him, he brushes it off. It doesn't feel like writing that makes sense, especially if Sombron himself had feelings. In my rewrite, I'd say that Sombron is from Elyos (IDK why they made him from another world) thousands of years ago, growing up in an abusive and toxic family who eventually tried to kill him before his powers were unleashed and he killed them. Mentally broken, he vowed to have a "right" family of his own, though his first child ended up being as twisted as his family and tried to kill him, only for Sombron to beat them to the punch. Now suspicious and weary of all succeeding children, he lives a loveless, unhappy life.

9. Less rushed villain origins/more pronounced Hounds--Every FE game I've played has issues with writing villains, at least supporting ones. I guess that's the downfall of a game that relies on pair-ups/boosting affinity with other characters. In any case, it does feel like the Four Hounds weren't really characters, but just obstacles. They didn't feel fleshed-out beyond certain traits, and their motivation/backstories were pretty quickly rushed through. I'd probably include them in the story a bit more to give them more screentime and availability to be expanded upon for more nuance.

I feel like there are things that I'm missing, but I've had this post for so long, I wanted to finally release it, so I'll add any additional thoughts later.

[allaboutkeyingo]

How to Downgrade Windows 11 Pro to Windows 11 Home directly

This article will show you how to downgrade from Windows 11 Pro, Pro Education, Education, or Enterprise to Windows 11 Home without a clean installation.  The trick is to change the Edition ID in the registry and then do a repair installation using the ISO or Media Creation Tool.

However, as we all know, A direct downgrade is not supported, and it would normally require a clean install of Windows 11 Home, but it will result in losing all your programs, and settings and all files and data in C drive !

Step 1: Change the Edition ID in registry 

Method 1:

Search”Regedit”, then click it, then go to the following branches one by one, And change the values for the two branches.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion

2. Double-click “CompositionEditionID” and set its data to “Core“. 3. Double-click “EditionID” and set its data to “Core“. 4. Double-click “ProductName” and set its data to “Windows 10 Home.”

#Important# Please set the “ProductName” value to “Windows 10 Home” even it is Windows 11 

5, After modifying the value data in the above two branches, exit the Registry Editor.

Method 2:

1. First , please make sure you’ve signed in Windows 11 Pro as an administrator.

2. Create a txt document then change the extension .txt to .reg file, then input these codes and save it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion] “CompositionEditionID”=”Core” “EditionID”=”Core” “ProductName”=”Windows 11 Home” [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion] “CompositionEditionID”=”Core” “EditionID”=”Core” “ProductName”=”Windows 11 Home”

3. Double click on the .reg file to start to merge the registry.

4. Please select “Yes”, “Yes”, “Ok” to approve and complete the merge.

5. There is no use for the .reg file any more， you can delete it.

Step 2: Downgrade Windows 11 Home with ISO file or Media Creation Tool.

1, Download Windows 11 ISO file, then open the ISO file with win-rar or 7-zip, then double click “Setup”.

Because we changed the EditionID and Product Name, so we will be able to install the Windows 11 Home.

2, Follow the steps: “ready to install”, Select “Install;  “Change what to keep”, please select “keep personal file and apps”; then click “Next” and then click “Install”.

When the repair install has finished, you will now be downgraded to the Windows 11 Home edition without losing anything.

If your Windows 11 Home is not activated by a digital license before, then you will need to Change product key to a valid Windows 11 Home key to activate.

[prince-liest]

Thoughts on the headcanon that Alastor is afraid of dogs?

As far as the info I've gathered goes, a popular hd is that Alastor died in the woods after either being shot by a hunter with dogs that though he was a deer, or, the most violent version, that the hunter had his dogs go after the "deer" and they chased after him and murder him, eating the meat of his bones even, on some occasions (although I don't see the practicality of that. Why train your hunting dogs to eat all the pray you're supposed to be hunting for yourself?)

In any case, bc he died due to a hunter thinking he was a deer, Alastor became a deer demon in hell, and because were present/a big factor/the cause of his death has developed a deep rooted phobia of dogs

Oh, I fucking love that headcanon! I just wrote it in as part of how Alastor died in my most recent chapter of Once Bitten, Back For More, and it's actually also going to come up in the last installment of 666 as well, haha. I just think that Alastor deserves some dog-related PTSD, as a treat. (For me.)

Most hunting dogs really aren't used for "chase down and maul" type purposes (my maternal grandfather's hunting dog was a cocker spaniel named Astra and she just retrieved the birds he shot, for example) but I get the impression that someone who shot a man dead-center in the forehead in the middle of the woods under the guise of "hunting" probably maybe had some non-standard reasons for shooting at someone in the woods. I don't think he encountered another serial killer or anything, but for canon purposes, I imagine that it's not out of the realm of imagination that a white Southern hunting man from the 1920s that happens to have some dogs with him might get some (fucking horrible) ideas if he found Alastor alone in the woods, with a low bar for justifying suspicion. Especially if he initially mistook Alastor for a deer and already shot at him, and now needs a reason to validate himself.

It's a horrible and hateful way to die for sure. I really don't think that Alastor went peacefully, all-considered.

[naty-js-adopts]

(CLOSED) KNY ADOPTABLE 69 - WINTER24 ~

LINK> https://www.deviantart.com/naty-js-adopts/art/OPEN-KNY-ADOPTABLE-69-WINTER24-1130306170

==========================================

Accepting point payments and mix payment (points+paypal/ko-fi)! ♦  I do Paypal Payment Plan!  ♦  Don't claim/bid if your account is less than 3 months and/or has been inactive for a long time ♦ $1=100pts

🔰 This characters will be up for auction for 24 hours waiting for SB or normal bid, if no bids are received during this time the character will go to set price. 🔰

🧊💠 Winter 2024 💠🧊

Characters in winter clothes, and maybe with ice, snow, and Christmas themes!

======================

Adoptable 1 - Winter fox (CLOSED)

Owner: https://toyhou.se/Deidarakitty

<paid!> SP1 = $160 or 16000pts (Personal use only)(pp invoice)

What you’ll get: Personal use >> 1032 x 1657 px  .png without background

(picked! - silver buttons) For FREE = As soon you claim the character you can tell me the color changes you want! You will receive 2 versions of the drawing: the original and with the color changes! (validity only 1 time; only after payment; I'll need color hex codes!)

======================

🌿 RULES 🌿

➽   Accepting point payments and mixed payments (points+paypal/ko-fi)!

➽   Before claim / bid / offer for a character, make sure you have the money needed to pay in 24 hours. If not, please do not claim / bid / offer for the character.

➽  No refund.

➽   Don't use the character and drawings for commercial purposes. Except if you buy the commercial license!

➽   On the first drawing of the adoptable, please credit me for design.

➽ I don't accept bids or purchase orders of accounts with less than 3 months old and/or accounts that have been inactive for a long period of time.

➽ You can change the character and use in any fandom you like, even if you buy an adoptable from a specific fandom you can change it.

➽ You can trade, give, and resell the character for the same value you bought except if have an extra art. Character that you received for free by some event can only be sold if they have extra art!

📌LINKS  ALL MY ADOPTABLES SHOPS/ACCOUNTS  === COMPLETE INFO ABOUT ADOPTABLES/YCH/CUSTOM === Official RESALE/TRADE CENTER === HOW WORKS AN AUCTION ?

==========================

🍋 COMMERCIAL LICENSE x PERSONAL USE 🍋

With the personal use license, you cannot do things with the character/ych/custom that give you a monetary return! Like webcomics on Webtoon/Tapas, Vtuber, monetized videos on TikTok, Instagram, youtube, things to sell, etc.

📌COMMERCIAL LICENSE price for adoptables/ychs/custom of:

$1 --> $70 the price is  ("personal value"+ $70)  

$71 --> infinite     the price is x2 of the original value   

Adoptables that you bought from a resell or trade, or get for free by some event made by me can also get a commercial license! Just send me a message and will give you the price!

After purchasing the commercial license, it's not necessary to renew the license and you can use the character commercially the way you want and anywhere!

============================ 🌵 PAYPAL INVOICE PAYMENT 🌵

I'll need your PayPal email to you be able to receive the PayPal invoice and make the payment! The invoice is made by the Paypal platform and sent by the Paypal platform.

 Your email will not be saved, except if you do the Register of Clients to jump the process of giving me the email at all times that you claim an adoptables/ych/custom. In any case, I'll not use your email for anything.

📌PAYPAL PAYMENT PLAN Option available for adoptables/ych/custom over $100 ! 

The installment value only increases in divisions of 3 or more installments! Example:  Final price is $200  = 2 installments of $100 each, or 4 installments of $52 each

============================

🌵 KO-FI PAYMENT 🌵

You do not need to have a Ko-fi account to pay. >>You can pay through Ko-fi using Stripe or Paypal

On the quantity you put the value and on the message you need to copy and paste the message that I'll be sending to you! 

📌 My Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/natyjs  Please do not send payment before I have contacted you so your payment will not be trusted like a donation!

============================

🌵 POINTS PAYMENTS 🌵

$1 = 100pts.

Points are paid through the commission widget!!  I don't accept points to payment of adoptables/ych/custom by donation pool! Please do not send payment before I have contacted you so your payment will not be trusted like a donation!

——————–  

Art Only  @naty-js   | |   Deviantart Shop   | | How buy an adoptable  | | My adoptables info page | | Register of Clients  | | JJK CUSTOM  | |  BNHA CUSTOM | |   KNY CUSTOM   | |   ONE PIECE CUSTOM | | CUSTOM ANY FANDOM OFF-BASE | | PERSONA 5 CUSTOM  | | CUSTOM IN-BASE ANY FANDOM 

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/729708592592306176/how-about-a-different-discourse-death-of-the

What this ask is missing, a bit, is that Death of the Author *does* mean that the author’s take on things is no more or less valid than anyone else’s. It’s about decentering authorial intent in analyses of media. Barthes is pretty clear and quite pointed about it in the original essay.

What bothers me about misuses of it and what I think this anon means to say is when people start decentering the actual *text*. The idea behind Death of the Author is also that the text stands alone. You don’t need to look at any extra shit to understand it. As you said, it was a response to a mode of analysis that obsessed over plumbing through author biographies.

The issue with what people do in fandom is they ignore the text. “I don’t like this element of canon, so it doesn’t exist.” (Which is different from arguing that it’s there but it sucks because of XYZ reasons, so I’m going to consciously ignore it in my fan works. This is when people just act like it isn’t there in the text in the first place.) “You have to take my bizarro world out-of-nowhere headcanon that is based on nothing except that I want it to be true, that I love this character and I wish they were XYZ therefore they are” and take it just as seriously as headcanons that actually engage with what’s in the show/video game/book/movie/whatever and use that as their basis (like building off something that is subtextual in the original work).

Granted we all do this to some degree, we all come to a text with our own biases and you can’t *always* easily separate those out, and that can affect, for instance, your interpretation of what the subtext is, but I think the irritating fandom behavior is when this kind of ignoring-the-text-to-substitute-your-own-reality is this very deliberate sort of laziness. The annoying thing in my current fandom is people who are fans of this one ship that they insist is the most progressive and other people just don’t see the scintillating “subtext” of because we are bigots or whatever, between two characters who don’t interact that much for two MCs and when they do it’s not at all shippy (but these characters both have very shippy subtext with different characters), but where these people think the ship *should* exist because of their identities. And their “evidence” for the ship is always gifsets taken way out of context and not including the dialogue that makes the non-shippy context for that scene very clear (including that it might actually be shippy for conflicting pairings). It’s like this bizarre version of “close reading” that strips out the largely context *deliberately* in order to make a particular conclusion seem more compelling than it actually is.

Anyway, all that ignoring-the-text stuff is STILL bad analysis per DOTA. Since the point of DOTA is to go based on the text, if you’re obscuring the text you’re kind of just installing yourself as a new author.

This is why DOTA doesn’t mean “anything goes.” It just means “authorial intent is just one interpretation that doesn’t have to matter.” It doesn’t mean other stuff we use in analysis doesn’t matter, and if anything the point is to make it even more text-centric than the older author-centric analyses were. People can still disagree about what the text says, of course, but they should both be going back to it in how they construct those arguments, and not, like those shippers, deliberately ignoring chunks of the text that weaken their arguments.

--

I don't think all of them are consciously throwing out actual canon, but they are often throwing out all context that would help evaluate subtext.

Like... if you're analyzing a Marvel movie, you might ignore what the director said in an interview, but you probably shouldn't entirely ignore the fact that it is a Marvel movie and apply assumptions that make sense for some arthouse film.

And, yes, if you're arguing for shippy subtext, even unintentional on the part of creators, "I like this ship because..." needs very little, but "This ship has more support than this other ship" requires going back to the actual text and looking at it in its totality.

There's a lot of faux-intellectualism around garbage like TJLC where people try to make themselves feel smart by using the language of close reading while having the media literacy of a bucket of rotting fish.

[biscdraws]

Sorry for the sudden dark picture but last night was the final instalment of gudaobe_drwr one hour challenge, and the theme I chose was ‘end’.

Actually all month I had been stuck on what I would draw for this, but the information in the recently released FGO Material XIII gave me some ammo. To be honest I did cheat a little with this by preparing CSP reference models ahead of the start time and going over time a few minutes, but it was still mostly an hour.

In the new material, there is some commentary on Oberon V’s valentines line where he says to call for him if you have nobody left to rely on - it didn’t mean he would actually help, but he’d stay with Ritsuka in their final moments. (This was actually how I interpreted it the first time round so I felt validated lol…but having a confirmation gave me a lot of feelings)

I made myself too sad drawing this so here is an alternate version:

(Ritsuka was so upset his cool new big boy outfit got ruined he went and sat sadly under a tree after this.)

[orcboxer]

Been following your journey around the trolley problem and I agree with your position: the trolley problem should not solely be framed in a way where a mythical third and better solution exists. Engaging with hard questions/hypothetical situations where all the outcomes suck is a valuable exercise for developing your own stance and morality, and it recognises that in real life, sometimes things just Do Suck.

I would add though, that as far as my understanding goes, both sides of this argument (aka "Leave the problem untouched" and "Add a secret variable") are valid philosophical perspectives to engage with through the trolley problem. Philosophy at its core is speculating about how people come to certain conclusions and examining what other conclusions there might be (and why those exist).

The trolley problem in this instance becomes a vehicle to discuss different problems and solutions. It is as valuable to discuss a situation where all outcomes are shit in different ways and how this might be solved and why, as it is valuable to consider adding a new variable to the situation. The trolley problem can be expanded to make different arguments and explore different belief sets, and I believe it should be. But equally, its basic premise shouldn't be disregarded.

It's an illustrative device through which you can frame your argument. Through which you explain it. And because of its inherent simplicity, it's capable of portraying a great amount of different problems through slight variations to the premise. And saying things like "What if there was a secret third solution" is as much a thought experiment that can be imposed on it as "What if there wasn't". Both serve different functions and neither is less valuable or correct than the other. Framings that deride either as worse are only simplifying a complex discussion (the complex nature of human morality) into having a one sided "correct take", and aren't what philosophy is about.

I think I would agree with that, yeah, in that the TP can be altered to present a new type of scenario, provided it's acknowledged that the new version is a completely different subject and not like, the secret trolley hack that solves it once and for all lmao. And there's certainly something to be said for scenarios that do have better options.

Like from a big picture perspective, capitalism fans tend to set up scenarios as TPs completely unnecessarily, like "aw well it's too bad we have to sacrifice disabled people for the economy but if we don't everything will collapse" like no, you .. you don't have to do that actually. We should be talking about how to feed everyone rather than who deserves to starve, for instance.

But then on more specific situations, it's like, do I vote in favor of a city policy that would cap rent prices, even tho it's just a temporary fix, or do I refuse to vote for it due to the ballot not including a "abolish rent" option? I would certainly choose to abolish rent if that were an option, but in this moment, is abolishing rent an actual outcome that's on the table? Or will inaction simply result in rent continuing to go up?

Big picture: we should have installed a failsafe on this trolley. Small picture: you can't fix that right now, you can only mitigate the damage the trolley does. You have to make a tough choice in this moment, there's no making it easier, but afterward, you should get together with people and try to build up something strong enough to stop runaway trolleys so that your options aren't so dire next time.

[mythicalartistx]

How the English Translation makes Kairi characterization worse...

Why I'm going to say is about her character and it doesn't have to do with liking her with Sora or not, it's fine if people like the ship, it's completely valid but it's not about that.

The English translation had sadly change lines that gave her strength or character to lines that kills her character or even romanticizes it with Sora instead.

I'm not here saying there's anything wrong with the ship, there's not it's fine. I'm here saying how they ruin good character moments for romance or other reasons as well.

They give other people all the credit or just make it lackluster.

For example in MOM she blamed Xehanort for Sora's disappearance in the ENG version, but in truth she blamed herself. Now this changes it so she's blaming someone else, but her blaming herself gives her character like it's her fault than just her blaming someone else.

And I think that is a neat take that she blames herself because Sora wanted to bring her back so he could go home with all of his friends. I find her character to be more interesting if she blames herself and feels guilty over what happened.

Here she's taking action and feeling guilty rather than being like oh it's definitely this guy's fault. And just blaming the obvious choice — the villain is kind of like really...

I mean it sort of makes sense because Xehanort caused Kairi's heart to shatter which then Sora went to find her... But still... It just sounds better if she blamed herself, not sure why they changed it to blaming Xehanort?

Another is a dialogue that Sora says, "I'm strong with you, Kairi." And like it's fine whatever, but the original dialogue is something like "You're strong, Kairi." Now this one kind of bothers me because it uncharacterized her.

It is showing that she's strong here. Sora believes she is strong and that's nice considering how her character is always left behind. However they take that all away in the English, when he says "I'm strong with you Kairi"

It could be saying oh Sora just is strong with her because his friends make him stronger or something. But it removes that fact that Kairi is strong by herself as stated in the JPN version. And it slightly romanticizes it when there wasn't any before and because it wanted to romanticize it, it took away development for Kairi.

It also could be her along with Riku helping him get back and it seems Sora believes it was only Kairi who helped him after restoring everyone (he probably forgot what Riku did and how he sacrificed for him) so saying you're strong could also be like Oh you're strong and helped me.

And it just shows to her character she's strong and can do things, she's not the weak person who is always being left behind or needing to be saved but that's it

And taking that away just kills her character more.

I really have hopes for Kairi in future installments, if you seen any previous post I made I have stated it would be really interesting for her character to make new friends since she is Always being left behind and there could be potentially some interesting interactions and development between other characters such as the sea salt gang or Wayfinder Trio.

I also had stated that if we get to see her finding out about her past with Aqua or even Lea it would be interesting.

So far her best interaction is with Lea in kh3 and I liked how they became friends, but I really hope for more

[comfort-character-central]

Hihihi hello there!! I sincerely hope you don’t mind me sending in this ask, I wasn’t sure where else I could ask this and I’m just hoping somebody out there has some advice!!

See, my f/o is the sidekick to the protagonist in the most recent instalment of a game franchise, and he dies at the end of the game. The problem is, the company this franchise is from NEVER brings back older characters/sidekick characters, and my f/o is in only one game and the next game in the series is about to be announced any day now, so I guess my question is;

Do you or anyone else have any advice for coming to terms/“grieving” your f/o never coming back to the source material?? He doubles as my special interest too, so I guess I’m just scared of people and the series as a whole moving and forgetting about him entirely?? (It doesn’t help that he’s not an especially popular character either). I’m not sure if it’s just the classic case of autism and fear of change or what, but It’s been giving me a good deal of anxiety but it’s such a niche problem I’m not sure who to ask for advice on it

Again, I’m terribly sorry if this isn’t an appropriate ask to send/if I should take this kind of question elsewhere!!! Your blog brings me a great deal of comfort and helps alleviate said anxiety an INSANE amount- thank you for all the work you do, and thank you for answering in advance <<33

Hello, anon! Firstly, thank you so much for being vulnerable enough to send this in, it can be difficult to open up. I can do my best to provide some advice or comfort for this!! No need to apologize (also, characters are one of my two special interests, so I am definitely not judging!!)

I'd say that finding things that make you feel connected with your f/o may help. Maybe you have a playlist you like or a collage of their vibe, aesthetic, the bond y'all have, etc. Whatever it may be, finding something to remind you of that happiness or positivity without associating it with canon. What happened doesn't necessarily need to be significant!

Filter/block tags if needed, I feel like this may be an "out of sight, out of mind" sort of deal, where if you're not reminded, maybe replacing or removing specific things that remind you of it (with better things about your f/o, or just even limiting how much you see it) will help you think about how great your f/o is rather than what happened.

Validating your own experiences can also help, your feelings matter, and others have felt this way, too! A lot of the time, things like this in canon aren't always acknowledged, and that's okay! You can validate yourself and act as if it wasn't something that occurred! But regardless, your f/o will always exist as they were created, even if there are no "updated versions of them", there's still the fact that they were created in the first place! Thank you so much for the compliments as well, anon, I hope my words can help, I apologize if my articulation wasn't the best. You are valid, and I hope you have a good one!!! <3

[strangledwires]

@idle-sims asked: Hi, I just discovered your Tumblr today, and it really caught my attention. I decided to ask you: How did you transport the Urbz models to Blender? 

Hi! I was gonna make a tutorial vid on how to extract files from the games, AND how to import models. Extracting models can take a while, but somebody else has also uploaded all the extracted models (and animations / textures, everything you need!) on Simfileshare.

Link to models downloads (Everything from the first Sims, Bustin' Out, Urbz, 2, Pets, and Castaway)

Regardless of the models being up for download, when I EVENTUALLY do my tutorial, I'll still teach how to extract these files anyway. X) Especially since these don't include any models from any S2 Console prototype builds, and it also doesn't include ALL the files from the games -- only ones important for models / blender.

I'm not sure who uploaded these to Simfileshare, but the user is credited as "Mix".

But of course, you're gonna need MORE than the model files. You're gonna need Blender and an Addon for Blender to IMPORT these models! You can download that addon here.

I use like one of the most recent versions of Blender. But basically to add the addon, just dropdown to "edit" from the top of the program then "preferences" and there should be another drop down on the very left of a new popup that'll say "install from Disk" -- click that -- then click the ZIP FOLDER of the Addon you downloaded (don't extract it!) and then there, you should be able to import whatever models you want.

It's VERY important to note that there are ONLY NPC characters in the model files. Aside from some more unique looking character faces (like Jimmy Two-Shoes or Kidd Khaos) none of the Premade Urbz exist in the model file. (I'm talking Scary Mary, Mazuiko Jackson, Skid Mark, etc...!) This is likely because the premades were created in the game's Create an Urb. (Meanwhile characters like Darius, J.J. and the villains all either have unique shapes, or behave like objects instead of "Valid Urbz")

Which ppl may question... how do I make renders of Crispin if his model doesn't exist? Weeeell.... that's where I kinda "Frankenstein" him together. As of course, all of his assets still exist in the game's files (hair, outfit) And as for his face? I just pick the "mouth narrow" head in the files 'cos Crispin has a narrow mouth lol.

If you have a keen eye like I do, you can tell this ISN'T an exact replica of Crispin.

He's not as skinny (Crisp is VERY, VERY skinny in game lol) and his chest isn't as big. Buuut... he also looks enough like Crispin that it also doesn't matter much lols. (I mean, if the official renders and CGI models can have inconsistencies to their in-game models...)

As of now, I don't know HOW or if it's even POSSIBLE to extract uniquely made Urbz from the game (that means any of the premades or you, the player's Urb) I just know this Frankenstein Method.

There's also another important thing to note and that's if you're trying to "Frankenstein" a specific character, you should know the names of the specific hair and clothes they use. It's easier to learn what are the names of what you're looking for if you look through the textures -- since the textures share the same name as the objects.

You should also select EVERYTHING you want (the face/hair/shirt/pants/shoes/whatever accessories) all at once while importing (select them by pressing CTRL every time you click a file) because that will make sure all assets are assigned to the one rig/skeleton. If you don't do this, you might run into problems (such as the hair not moving with the rest of the body etc) But I also think as long as you select the rig (Male/Female Adult it'll be called, usually attached to the head) you can just import an item on to it and that'll work too (I hope that doesn't sound confusing lol?? If you know Blender, you'll probz know what I mean!)

Also, most "heads" you select will have a broken skin texture on them. That's when you wanna replace the image with a proper Skin texture in the Texture files. (Plus if you want a character with a different complexion too) This is easy as long as you know how to replace images in Blender -- no adjustments even needed, just find the image you want and open it with the "replace image" option.

Some clothing textures will also be gray. The reason for this is so that the game can "recolor" these items better when playing. I use photoshop to recolor them and save a copy elsewhere of said recolor, then like I do with skin -- I just replace the image with my new recolor. Also no matter what it is -- if its skin or clothes texture, NEVER use any with the keyword "game" in it (you might see a texture called "af_skin_asian_game.png" instead of "af_skin_asian.png") the "game" textures are always smaller and have lower resolution, they will look blurry on your model.

Anyway, this was longer than I thought it would be. There are probz more stuff to know, especially if somebody doesn't have much knowledge of Blender. (Which I've just NOW been learning since using these Sim models with it lol) Sadly, I'm still very clueless when it comes to many Sims 2 Console Models -- due to their unique fashion system -- they have even MORE models of their fashion system, and therefore they have even MORE models ... plus I've ran into problems trying to import said models (hair alpha texture not showing up correctly for example, not able to find the specific clothing I need because one top have multiple variants, etc) so if anyone wants help with those... sadly, all I can do is Urbz rn rly! (And probz Bustin' Out. Haven't messed with them much, but I'm sure they're just as easy as Urbz)

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me. :)

[weirdstuffinthewoods]

Bride of Chucky

A Review

Ronny Yu made the correct choice working with the one and only father of Chucky, Don Mancini. I feel like Don's seamless continuing control over the Chucky franchise paired with Ronny Yu's absolute lack of knowledge of the Chucky franchise (and his love of the monster) made for a one-of-a-kind franchise installment.

Writing- 5/5

This entire script takes the snark we know Chucky for and dials it up by giving him a dominating sparring partner in Tiffany Valentine. There are some jokes that kinda feel needless (repeating the "what a crock" joke only got an "eeh" out of me), but Voodoo for Dummies?

And lines like:

"For God's sake Chucky, drag yourself into the 90s"

"Martha Stewart can kiss my shiny plastic butt!"

When Chucky tells Tiffany to "act natural" and this is her response

The entire weird sex scene conversation that 100% does happen in a film about two sentient dolls? It was only a matter of time before we got here, let's be honest.

The addition of Tiffany Valentine allows for a totally valid reason to shake things up- creative kills, high-speed freeway chases with two DOLLS holding two whole adult humans hostage, and the film's only gay character (spoiler but RIP David) getting absolutely blasted by an 18-wheeler for no reason other than Don probably just realized the cast needed to shrink real quick.

Special mention-

The honeymoon suite kill scene. Yeah, it looks a little cheesy, but you best believe before I was old enough to watch horror movies, my older cousin was telling me about this scene in vivid, terrifying detail (much scarier than reality, but what can you do?)

Soundtrack- 4.5/5

Living Dead Girl starts this movie off with a bang and a moment I haven't forgotten for one second of my spooky sapphic life. These are the moments in which horror icons are made.

The soundtrack is mostly upbeat drums and chugging guitar riffs which I loved (it especially added to the freeway chase) I just didn't go full 5 stars because I didn't notice it as much as I'd want to in a party movie like this (because yes, if I ever do host a halloween party I will be popping in this exact VHS to play on repeat).

Also shout out to my boy, Graeme Revell. Been a legend since The Crow in my eyes (but also for so much iconic 80s and 90s horror....and Sharkboy and Lavagirl) and I'll always get excited when I see that name in the credits!

Effects- 4.75/5

First let me say Chucky looks fantastic. Can he emote as well as Tiffany with those pencil-thin eyebrows? Maybe not but this is the opus version of Chucky, so.

The animatronics are still my favorite thing to watch in a Chucky film because you forget that these aren't sentient dolls almost constantly (except when Chucky's body double is crawling on all fours- that's some nightmare fuel). Their faces are so expressive (for rubber doll faces) and there's even a shot of Tiffany walking across the floor of a Winnebago (maybe?) without a wire in sight! Oh, how far we've come.

The effects in some scenes are a little cheesy (the honeymoon suite kill, the gross, fleshy title card, etc) but it's easily overlooked because Chucky and Tiffany are by far the main event of the sfx team.

Extra ratings?

Queerness-3/5

Written by an out gay man, HELLO!

Alexis Arquette!! Easily the second-hottest person in this movie, I loved seeing her camp it up (in a masc role, but goths love to play with androgyny so I'll take it) as the try-hard Damien.

This also unexpectedly features the gbff trope usually reserved for rom-coms in David, a guy whose queerness isn't painfully exaggerated like some portrayals were at the time, and who's probably the most level-headed of the bunch.

RIP, -2 because David got blasted by a big rig and not in the fun way.

Bride of Frankenstein retelling 5/5

It's pretty obvious on rewatch, but this is a whole Bride of Frankenstein retelling. It even follows the title convention (I tell my younger self who completely missed the comparison). I haven't read the dissections of the original that explain why the bride is a metaphor, but in a more literal sense, this Bride has the power unlike her predecessor. Even though she falls in with a toxic ex, she has autonomy and pushes back, eventually sort of kind of helping the two teens (who are not interesting enough to put in this review) stop Chucky. And she gives birth to a weird demon baby while mostly charred through a non-stretch plastic vagina so. That's pretty metal.

Tiffany Valentine 11/5

TIFFANY VALENTINE THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE

THE COSTUMING

THE TRAILER SET DRESSING

But most of all the performance!!!

I may be looking through heart eyes, but I'm not wrong!

Overall, Bride of Chucky will never not be one of my favorites. The addition of Jennifer Tilly allowed the Child's Play series (and all future iterations), to have fun, but to also play with the tone of its installments. Seed of Chucky and the Chucky series tend to focus on Chucky (and friends)'s humanity and personalities, whereas Curse and Cult of Chucky take the franchise back to an exciting, sometimes scary, and eventually openly queer and complicatedly sapphic place. Ignoring the reboot (which he was thankfully not responsible for), Don Mancini's got quite a legacy going, and Ronny Yu had a key part in that.

[prince-liest]

*vibrating in eager but non-pressuring excitement* bad end AU you say 👀 ngl the thought of everybody sticking their noses in in different circumstances is both funny and touching considering those circumstances are alastor being pressured into something he's not actually enjoying! would there be some parallels to his arc in your fic with mimsy? what makes the difference with vox? is it that mimsy has no interest whatsoever having sex with somebody who's not into it, but vox has no such hangups?

(Ask is re: the fact that my original and now deleted outline for the rut fic installment of 666 was a bad end option where Vox's pressure and Alastor's self-gaslighting led them down a path I probably would have had to tag as 'non-con' of some flavor.)

The difference isn't just between Vox and Mimzy, it's also in how I was choosing to write Vox for the rest of 666, too, haha. Which is: As someone who gives more of a shit!

The bad end option would have been an interpretation of his character as more leaning toward "genuinely wanting to get one over Alastor", rather than "wanting to get one over Alastor because he felt rejected, and thus suddenly being un-rejected prompting him to roll back some of the aggro." I think both are valid, but I knew what I preferred.

And there definitely would have been parallels on Alastor's end! It was take that was leaning into an angle of considering Alastor as someone who takes into consideration how he thinks things should be, both in terms of some of his more traditional perspectives, but also as his primary point of reference for relationships. So: Yes, he's uncomfortable. No, he doesn't say 'no' at any point, because he thinks this is appropriate. Yes, it gets much farther along than it would have with Mimzy, because the version of Vox that let this shit happen in the first place is either too busy exalting in what he's getting to do, or outright doesn't much care about (or perhaps simply doesn't understand, in comparison to their previous two encounters) Alastor's genuine discomfort, or both, and is fine being a wheedling asshole about it; and Alastor himself is less inclined to argue his discomfort with someone like Vox than he is with Mimzy.

The main reasons I ended up not going with this was because 1) it was honestly a depressing outline, HAH, and also 2) I had an inkling that I was going to want to continue writing these fics, and it would have been a harder sell to develop both Vox and the relationship the way I wanted to, not to mention justify why the fuck Alastor would want to continue (unless I went with "to prove something to himself," which, uh, wasn't the dead dove angle I wanted to take).

In the end, though, thinking through this route helped a lot with characterizing how I did end up writing the rut fic, which was with a similar function but opposite purpose: Alastor was still uncomfortable and it still propelled him into understanding more about his own discomfort (things that are not a coincidence: that he hasn't gotten his dick involved in any of their shenanigans since then). However, with Vox bending over backwards to try to please Alastor and lure him in with honey instead of vinegar, they ended up with Alastor realizing that Vox is capable of coming through for him, and Vox realizing that Alastor is, like, an actual person, and not just The Object Of His Obsession And Hate And Adoration.