#Video Review: Shadow Of A Doubt

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Audio: Dublin's SPRINTS Share Cathartic and Deeply Personal "Shadow Of A Doubt"

New Audio: Dublin's SPRINTS Share Cathartic and Deeply Personal "Shadow Of A Doubt" @sprintsmusic @CitySlang @riotactmedia @Ellius_Grace

Formed back in 2019, Dublin-based punks SPRINTS — Karla Chubb (vocals, guitar), Colm O’Reilly (guitar), Jack Callan (drums) and Sam McCann (bass) — have developed and crafted an abrasive brand of punk rock, influenced by early Pixies, Bauhaus, Siousxie Sioux, King Gizzard, Savages, and LCD Soundsystem.  Their first two EP’s, 2021’s Manifesto and last year’s A Modern Job were released to…

[6qubed]

so I bought Shadows of Doubt for full retail price because Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame could find very little bad to say about it besides “it’s in early access so there are bugs” and had quite a lot good to say about it

so far I’ve yet to solve the tutorial case or even get my head around the stealth, but I did have a fun little moment of catching the “smelly” status from traipsing around in a apartment building’s flooded basement looking for stuff to steal- I’m guessing that was a sewer main that broke- and in the process of using the vents to try to break back into the tutorial apartment where the dead tutorial body is, I took a Wrong Turn At Albuquerque and ended up in an entirely unrelated (and presently unoccupied) apartment, where I used the shower to change “smelly” to “wet”, and then used the towel to fix that, and then somehow managed to dodge the security camera and make it out of the apartment without getting caught

this is a procedurally-generated cybernoir detective stealth game and thus far my greatest achievement has been successfully taking a shower

[cindersnake]

Probably my game of the year.

[beevean]

Do I watched this YouTuber Lythero play Sonic 06, and I never realized how actually scuffed this game is, to the point it feels like it’s kept together by duct tape. Everything about it is so off. Even issues I never realized, like how OOC it is for shadow to be a gun agent. While 06 has some merit, I can finally understand why 06 has tarnished this franchises legacy in the eyes of fans and the internet.

If you want to experience the fandom's original wrath at '06, look no further than Clement's review:

Nowadays a 3.5 hour review of something is nothing special, but in 2012, spending so much time picking something apart because a playthrough wouldn't do it "justice" was unheard of. Definitely dated at some point, but it's a great time capsule to understand just how angry the fandom was, and it's not just because of the game being held together by spit and prayers (Clement makes the example of the billiard puzzle in Silver's Dusty Desert to prove that the issues go beyond the stability of the game).

I still struggle to believe '06 is going through the "but it wasn't so bad" process. Did people beat the dead horse into a paste? Absolutely. Are we now used to even less stable games so '06 hardly looks like the worst game of all time? Without doubt. But I reject using '06 as a positive example of "ambition" to shit on Forces, hell even Frontiers, because the way those games were rushed is somehow less forgivable - like what you like, even if it's "bad", but I don't think '06 is a hidden gem that would have been the perfect Sonic Adventure 3 were it not for mean SEGA rushing it. And if you do think that, afford the same courtesy to other rushed games.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Friday, July 12th

WILLOW: I can't believe I almost— BUFFY: I can't believe I almost— ANYA: It was a spell. You were helpless. We're not responsible for anything we did morally or, you know, legally... XANDER: True. You fell for a mystical, ancient curse. Who hasn't made that mistake seven, eight times? BUFFY: (goes to sit by Dawn on the couch) You hear that? Not your fault. DAWN: (sighs) I'm just so... the way I acted, the way I talked to you. I feel so stupid. All over a spell. BUFFY: Get ready to feel even stupider when it's not. WILLOW: Hey, Anya, you never told us what you can't believe you almost. ANYA: (playing dumb) Almost who, now? WILLOW: No, you can't be the only not embarrassed one. What did you do? ANYA: (stutters) I, uh, wrote a poem. An epic poem... comparing him to a daisy and a tower and a lake. RADIO ANNOUNCER (O.S.) And now the latest on Sunnydale's late-night bandit who is still at large. A masked thief held up a number of large businesses— ANYA: (turns off radio) OK, great, ice cream. My treat.

~~Him~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

I save the world, Dean by Tasha_Stark (Buffy/Dean, Supernatural crossover, G)

No Fear, No Doubt, 'Till They Pulled Me Out by Scar_Eve (Buffy & Scoobies, T)

Ruffy Gets Rough by GTD (Buffy/Riley, E)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion, Chapter 433 by madimpossibledreamer (Ensemble, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure crossover, T)

Harry's Next Great Adventure in Sunnydale, Chapter 14 by Khatix (willow/Harry Potter, Buffy/Dawn, Harry Potter crossover, M)

Gemini, Chapter 9 by BuildMeUpButtercup_x (Buffy/Angel, M)

hit rewind, Chapter 65 by untiljanuary (Buffy/Spike, M)

Never Let Me Down Again, Chapter 10 by BuildMeUpButtercup_x (Buffy/Angel, M)

In Case You Haven't Noticed... Chapter 25 by Sdhuskerfan (Buffy/Giles, E)

In the Company of Witches and Slayers: Chapters 96-97 by VladimirHarkonnen (TheLightdancer) (Willow/Tara, E)

Entropy, Chapter 5 by Enigmatist (Buffy/Spike, Giles/Ethan, Angel/Wesley, G)

A Slayer's Greatest Weapon- Book one- BTVS, Chapter 6 by KHandE11 (OC, Ensemble, T)

Recompense, Chapter 7 by Moonkid10 (Buffy/Faith, M)

Autobot Meets Vampire, Chapter 4 by Philister (Faith, Transformers crossover, M)

First War part 1: Five by Five, Chapter 32 by Nonkosherian (Buffy/Faith, Buffy/Angel, T)

First War part 1: Five by Five, Chapter 37 by Nonkosherian (Buffy/Faith, T)

Darkness and Desire - Book - 01 - Hex Born, Chapters 1-2 by zxandris (Buffy, Willow, Tara, Harry Potter crossover, E)

Faith: Five Dollars, Same As In Town, Chapters 1-3 by Michaelt (Faith, T)

Segue, Chapter 9 by Francis_Eugene (Xander/Cordelia, Ensemble, T)

So It Goes... Chapter 10 (complete!) by scratchmeout (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Waiting for You, Chapter 12 by honeygirl51885 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Family - Lost and Found, Chapter 6 (complete!) by Joan963z (Buffy/Spike, R)

The Degradation of Duality [Series Part 2], Chapter 25 by Ragini (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Voulez Vous? Chapter 2 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Helped, Chapter 2 by Roboticghost (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Night Carnival, Chapter 2 by tbd (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Better Than Revenge, Chapter 2 by BewitchedXx (Buffy/Spike, R)

Anything But Ordinary, Chapter 11 by Harlow Turner (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Cartoon: Joyce and Giles by Paul Gadzikowski's The Hero of Three Faces (worksafe)

Wallpaper: I didn't even notice [What's My Line part 1] by revello-drive-1630 (Buffy/Angel, worksafe)

Artwork: Spike by liamexists (worksafe)

Artwork: Spike by zazrichor (worksafe)

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer 4x16 voiceover | Faith/Buffy "I'm Buffy" by A Pixie's Whisper

Fanvid: BUFFY&SPIKE (ALL EYES ON US) TRIBUTE by Gamster's World

[Reviews & Recaps]

Finished season 2 by CandyCats

Video: Buffy 2.8 The Dark Age by Jen Katz and Ryan Something

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Four, Episode Twenty-One: Primeval by Slayed! The Buffyverse Revisited Podcast

Video: Buffy Review - 5x21 The Weight of the World by Reverse Angle

Video: Angel S3 Ep1: Heartthrob by Slayerfest 98

Podcast: Episode 34 - Mr. Pointy, Drusilla Whale Songs, and Acidophilus (Becoming Parts 1 and 2) by The Sunnydale Diaries - A Buffy Podcast

Podcast: 71. Sort of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy, Angel, Spike, Giles, Xander, Willow and Gang by Sortof Brilliant

Podcast: Buffy 2.9 What's My Line Part 1 by Once More: A Rewatch Podcast

[Fandom Discussions]

Why didn't Willow tell anyone that Tara's body was upstairs/inside? by Sasusc

How often do you guys think Buffy has had dreams about Faith that Buffy assumes are slayer vision type dreams but are actually just normal dreams? by hersterical

I refuse to accept Kennedy as Willow's end game pairing / one true love continued by DeepBlueJoy

Were the slayers a good idea? continued by DeepBlueJoy

What If: There was no Cruciamentum continued by DeepBlueJoy

Rewatch thoughts and questions continued by multiple posters

As Dawn was still a minor when Buffy died, who became her official legal guardian? continued by multiple posters

Skip and Slave Demon tied for Gremlins! But who gives off Mmm… society energy? by Gothamstreetcat

Buffy episode As you were (S6e15) by bangeldreamer

Just saw Giles singing Behind Blue Eyes on S4E18 for the first time and I am SCREEEEEAMINGGGG by EmergencyLemon4818

Title match [Glory versus Illyria] by Lopsided_Low_6968

Is AtS funnier than BtVS? by classified12345

Oh, Tara by wickedflowers

Plot point that would’ve made S6 better by rebelee_69

What are some of the silliest arguments, disagreements, or discussions a Buffyverse couple/love interest has had? by PristineSituation498

If Angel had a romantic partner by FoxIndependent4310

Where is the rest of it? [Angel] by TenguArts

Anyone else feel/felt the same way I do? [hates Angel for killing Jenny] by alexsolren

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[allseeinganalyst]

Frozen II Novels - Review

It's been a while since I reviewed or analyzed anything here. This blog was made for that exact purpose, but I've posted one half-hearted review-ish thing about Mob Psycho and the Nanoha look-back is taking a while.

Part of that is due to being that I find myself in weird mental spaces more often than I'd like. The internet is a hell-hole, but it's also one that's borderline impossible (and certainly very impractical) to actually just sever ties to. I've ditched Twitter and I don't use TikTok (except to look at videos my partner sends me), but I still get, somehow, hit with a lot of LOUD, SHOUTY voices that seem to make it impossible to enjoy anything.

After about three-to-four midlife crises about things (i'm 30 this November), and a chat to my partner, I've managed to get the mental TARDIS that is my mind up and running again, ready to tour the fictional universe and enjoy what is has to offer, getting back into the things I love, without getting bogged down in the screeching of fandoms and social media.

Gods, that was a very long way of trying to say "I read a cool Frozen book."

Frozen 2 - Forest of Shadows and Frozen: Polar Nights - Cast into Darkness are two original novels set in the world of Frozen (Duh.) Forest of Shadows was released in 2019 and I actually read it back then, while Polar Nights was released in 2022, and I picked it up from Target and read it in march of 2023.

To get this out of the way, while it does sometimes throw people off, I am actually a big fan of Frozen. I've loved it since the first movie. It's not my favourite Disney film (that would be Tangled, and whoo-BOY, will we get to Tangled related media at some point on this blog!), it's probably a close second. I love the animation, I love the songs, I love the characters and I love the world. I was even sad when the hype for Frozen died down, and no, I don't think Enchanto is better - That's another LOUD SCREECHY OPINION that I'm not sad to hear less of.

These are obviously not the only Frozen novels out there. I do own "A Frozen Heart", which I've really got to get around to, because apparently it contains some Hans backstory, and Hans is a character I'm really interested in learning more about, and obviously there is a slew of additional Frozen media. Frozen-Mania gripped the world in a chokehold not seen since the god-damn Shrek movies, and it had an effect on our media and culture so great that no doubt, someday there will be an essay on youtube by Super Eyepatch Wolf explaining and analyzing the overwhelming impact of a Disney movie from 2013 and the INSANE fandom that sprung out of it - which I was a part of from very early on, and quite honestly you can use it as a self-contained example of how fandom has changed since then... BUT I'M DIGRESSING.

The point I was trying to make here is that, most of the media released post the original Frozen movie is fairly generic. Baring one or two things, and of course, the animated shorts, a lot of it is standard kids stuff - Storybooks, Quick Reads, Junior novels, picture books, etc. Some of it is really fun, and the art was almost always either a wonderful, bright cartoonish 2D style, or a painterly, soft style that's really pretty to look out - But not a lot of is espeically unique. It's got a "Frozen Flavour" to it, but it's all very standard. If you changed one or two things, you could swap out Elsa and Anna for Rapunzel, or Ariel, or any other number of Disney Princess characters and the stories would be more-or-less the same. Stuff that mum and dad can give to their kids to let them have their Frozen fix without having to endure "Let it Go" one more time. (Side note: If you do happen to be one of those people who're bitching about how over saturated that song is - Fuck you, I'm going to play it again on purpose.)

The point I'm getting around to is that these books, cheep target paperbacks they may be, are not that. There's a distinct world and continuity here, and it's even possible to place a timeline.

These books (I believe there may be a third between them for a reason I'll get too shortly) have recurring characters, direct continuity and callbacks. All of them expand on the world of Frozen, moving away from the generic Disney-Princess storytelling of kingdom mishaps and "oh-no! character X is lost/upset/lost a precious item/wants to do something special/has a special occasion/etc" and into a deliberately constructed world, with a soft but distinct influence from Nordic and Sandenavian folklore.

They are not perfect, but they are worth talking about. Spoilers abound below, for those of you who are interested!

I'm not going to summarize the plots. I want to talk what I find interesting, annoying, curious, fun or frustrating about these books. These reviews are intended as a form of looking after my own mental health anyway. If you're interested, I've given names and pictures of the covers. Go look them up. Or better yet, read the books yourselves and tell me what you think!

The coolest (pun 400% intended) part about these books is they are clearly on a timeline. They're designed to slot very nicely into Frozen canon, and do so very tightly I might add. The timeline that we can establish is:

Frozen > 3 YEARS > Forest of Shadows > Frozen 2 > Polar Nights.

Forest of Shadows leads directly into the events of Frozen 2, even referencing the scene where Elsa wakes up the spirits at the end, while Polar Nights is explicitly stated to be a matter of 2-3 months since Anna took the throne.

During that 3 YEARS period there, you can obviously slot in Frozen Fever, Olaf's christmas special and probably one or two of the storybook stuff released post Frozen. If the (hilarious) "Olaf Reenacts Disney Movies" shorts are in ANY way canon (and... They MIGHT be to some degree, I'll get to this later...) they almost definitely slot in between Frozen 2 and Polar Nights. Again, I'll get to why later.

I believe I am missing a novel or story somewhere that fits into the same timeline as Polar Nights references an event that's a bit too specific to not have been depicted in some form of media, but I can only work with what I find locally. Although I am in no uncertain terms a fan, I only have so many resources and time to put toward things, and Frozen isn't at the top of that list. If a novel appears on a store shelf, I'll buy it. If it doesn't, I go without.

While my thoughts are mostly focused on Polar Nights, because I read Forest of Shadows over 3 years ago. I'm talking about both novels for the most part.

They are decent in size. Small enough for kids to read with no trouble, but more than a short story. Both tell full length, original stories.

These books paint a slightly wider view of Arendelle and it's surroundings than what we see from the movies. Neighboring kingdoms are mentioned by name (including Corona - Rapunzel's kingdom from Tangled. - Again, I'm going to get back to this later), and there are several named, recurring characters like Tuva and Ada, lesbian blacksmith wives (explicitly mentioned as being married) or Sorensson, the Astronomer who lives far outside of Arendelle and is introduced in Forest of Shadows, then plays a small but significant role in Polar Nights. There's recurring references to Aren of Arendelle, the founder of Elsa and Anna's kingdom, and a secret room or passage discovered in one book is referenced and used again in the next. It's really consistent and it makes it feel rewarding to read these novels. I very much doubt that any future Frozen visual media will reference their events, but if the stories themselves can keep a continuity across writers, then that's good enough for me to feel like I'm really in a bona-fide expanded universe.

There's some stuff in these books that I have personally wanted to see since the first movie. Things like finding out how Anna never recovered the original memories the trolls took from her, or finding out what Elsa spends a lot of her time doing in Ahtohallan...

(conjuring ice memories, apparently. Yeah, seems like while she's not going to "drowning depth" again, she is using her magical ice powers to pull up home-movies of her parents... Gotta wonder if she didn't accidentally pull up one of their date nights and then shattered the whole thing into ice shards in a panic once her dad put on the Barry White music.)

The books ALSO give me something that I have held in my head since the very first movie - Anna cracking jokes about her past and her mistakes.

I've always loved the idea that Anna doesn't seem the type to get all "Shell-Shocked PTSD Veteran" over her traumatic memories. That's Elsa's job, so I've always imagined she makes a lot of jokes and lighthearted fun out of it. Like, she seems the type to go: "OH HEY! That's a great statue of me! And I'd know! I've been a statue! Made of ice! Wanna see me do the pose?"

And while we don't get that exactly, we do get her ribbing Elsa about having Marshmallow throw her out of her ice castle, grumbling about how "Hans isn't actually THAT good looking", and generally having a sense of "oh no, I remember what happened LAST TIME..." about her. It's not as explicit as I'd like, but it's there and it helps with that feeling of the world being alive and moving. These characters do remember what happened yesterday. They are actively learning their lessons and trying to avoid the mistakes of their past.

The stories are compelling enough. While not groundbreaking, edge-of-your seat page turners, they both offer an adventure that's very much on brand for Frozen, effectively utilizing the characters and the world. This isn't a story where you could change a few names and slap Aurora or Belle or Ariel in instead. These stories feel tailored to Elsa and Anna. Unfortunately, there's a bit of an issue that I assume arises from being an author hired to write your own original entry into a carefully curated, multi-million dollar franchise, owned by the real world's full on Mega-Corp.

See, while I love the connected, constructed world these novels build around the movies - They do in-fact, happen to be being built around the Frozen media franchise, and Disney have been notoriously strict with this before.

If you were a part of the early Frozen fandom (again, I was), you might remember the sheer excitement around when it was announced that Elsa and Anna, as well as Arendelle and a number of other movie characters would be coming to Once Upon a Time, flinging the universe of Frozen into unexpected live action.

I'm not going to get into my thoughts around OUAT, because... YEAH I'm trying to be focused and that is worth a WHOLE other blog post - which I don't have any REAL desire to write out unless someone BEGGED me to do it, but long story short, given that the show explicitly is alternate continuity for ALL Disney's franchises, it had a lot of leeway in what it could do with it's regular cast... But not the Frozen characters. Although the writers did get to play around creating new backstory and lore, and chopping and changing a bit, there was a strictness to what they could and couldn't do with the characters. They couldn't give Elsa a love interest. They couldn't dramatically change anything from the movie. Characters had firmly fixed personalities that were absolutely not allowed the usual "flex" of OUAT - No extra edginess snuck in, nothing out of character.

(They did have incredible costumes though. Way better than any other live action projects that I've seen).

My point in all of this is, that was explicitly in an alternate universe. OUAT had NEVER had any bearing on any of the franchises it pulled it's roster from, and was marketed to a whole different audience.

These books are NOT. They are marketed toward the same audience as the movies, and are intended to fit alongside it. And it is painfully obvious that Disney holds a tight leash when it comes to ways for writers to interpret their billion-dollar characters. Obviously this is pure speculation, but I would imagine the writers for these novels were given dedicated character bios of characters like Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Olaf and not allowed to deviate or even go into much depth beyond what was listed in those bios.

I say this for a couple of reasons - The most notable of which is the dialogue, and to a lesser extent the character actions. Characters have an unfortunate tendency to sprout stiff, unnatural dialogue, based on certain things that were mentioned in the moves.

Nowhere is this more egregious than with Anna and chocolate. The movies mention her having it as her favorite treat, and she has like two memorable moments involving it in the first movie, but the books treat it like it is NEVER off her mind. If the books mention Anna wanting to do ANYTHING, most of the time, it involves chocolate in some way. She brings it with her on expeditions. She can't wait to get back to the castle and eat some. She has a "choco-versary" with Kristoff, the anniversary of the first time they ate chocolate together. It comes off as a weird obsession, instead of the favorite food it was in the movies. Similarly, she's mentioned as having "Sandwiches" as her favorite meal a few times. Not only is this FRUSTRATINGLY non-specific, it also seems PURELY based on her one line in "Love is an Open Door" and it's callback during her conversation with Kristoff in the first movie... Although to be fair, this did also get a call back in Frozen Fever where we see her be enthusiastic about one, so... whatever.

It gets stiff with dialogue between characters too. Almost every conversation with Elsa and Anna seems to drift towards "we were seperated, but now we are together again, and I love you and am so proud of you!". They'll discuss the plot, and they do have some genuinely great moments (like Elsa talking about the trolls and Anna pointing out, somewhat sadly, that "no, sis, I can't remember, they took my memories as a child...") but a lot of it is re-hashing their end-of-movie "sisterly bond" stuff. It's a real shame especially in Polar Nights, because that is set AFTER Frozen 2. We could have had scenes of Anna asking Elsa for help ruling as Queen, or Elsa observing how Anna does things differently from her, but we learn nothing more about how these two interact than what we already knew.

The other problem that I assume crops up from Disney's strict oversight is that it's obvious the writers are not allowed to affect the world too much. They can play with the figures in it, but can't change the landscape dramatically. This is understandable, as it's unlikely the Mega-Mouse wants some kids novel throwing out a detail that might force them to change how they write the next movie. They're not going to kill off Kristoff, or suddenly give us a Hans redemption arc - As interesting as that would be, the writers need the all clear from Disney, and Disney won't want some hired novelist to make a major change to their giant money making machine which is no doubt shaped like Elsa's head.

This means that, although the stakes do feel real for the books themselves, there's a sense that nothing that happens within really affects the world that much. Characters don't learn a vital lesson or change in any significant way, and those that do are new characters, constructed for the book, who can easily be ignored by the wider narrative - Polar Nights has a whole segment with a pair of sisters, obviously designed to parallel Elsa and Anna, who's past and backstory, and the mysteries and mistruths thereof, form more-or-less the basis for the entire plot, but our ACTUAL sisters can't have a chat more complex that "boy I'm glad we're not separated anymore, also we're proud of each other!"

The result is - and this is kind of what I've been driving toward this entire time - these books give me a VERY distinct feeling, and it took me a while to identify what it was. I didn't catch it when I read "Forest of Shadows", but it WAS there, and Polar Nights has it there in full force.

These novels feel like FILLER.

Traditional, ACTUAL, filler.

SIGH - Quick sidetrack.

The term "Filler" is thrown around a lot these days, often by people that I don't think realized the term originally had a more specific meaning - At least from what my experience is.

"Filler" was primarily a term used by the anime community, referring to episodes of a show that were not adapted from the original manga. This practice was done as most anime, especially Shounen anime like those pictured above, ran almost continuously, and when your airing an episode a week which is sometimes able to adapt multiple chapters from the manga, you're going to close the gap pretty quickly.

This meant that things would be done in the episodes to stretch them out. Anything from lengthening fight scenes, to additional dialogue, all the way up to - perhaps most famously - whole new arcs created purely for the anime. These arcs had to tell their own stories that were entertaining, but obviously couldn't massively shake up the status quo, as they had no idea what would be coming next for these characters and this story. They relied on events distanced, often entirely unrelated to the plot at large (in-fact, rather infamously, Bleach once went to a year long filler arc in MID-SWORD-FIGHT BETWEEN CHARACTERS). Often they would invent new characters, new powers, and often draw on events of the past, or spotlight background characters to create an unobtrusive narrative.

These arcs can, and have, been good. There's nothing inherently wrong with filler, but as TV Tropes says: "These arcs can, and have, been good. There's nothing inherently wrong with filler, but as TV Tropes says: "At their most extreme, absolutely nothing that happens in a filler episode will affect things going forward, even if it seems like a character developed or grew in some manner."

Filler's definition has expanded a lot, and was never really as fixed as I tended to take it, though I still see it used incorrectly. If an episode of a show had the characters sitting around talking, with the plot not advancing at all, but we still learn things about the characters that matter, and have an impact or call back later, or their relationships change in SOME way, then it's NOT filler. In the words of my Media Teacher: "Just because it didn't feature a car chase and a shoot out, doesn't mean it doesn't matter." - Filler doesn't matter. Slow paced slice of life episodes can matter a LOT.

As a side note, to this side note, Filler in it's most traditional sense is dying out, and has been largely, though not entirely, gone from anime by the mid 2010's. Anime have switched over to the "cour" style of episode production, with a season consisting of usually around 12-or-24 episodes (a little leeway in either direction is common, like having 26 or 10 episodes), which focus on tightly adapting one arc or novel or portion of the story. They then take a break, and return with the next season whenever, picking up where they left off. This is why you don't really see stuff running for 200+ episodes in a row anymore, and why something like, say, Attack on Titan has five seasons. This has allowed for MUCH reduction of filler, and virtually eliminated the need for the filler arc. They do still pop up, but notice how today's "big shots" like My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer have multiple seasons instead of just running for a billion episodes like shows such as One Piece, or Naruto.

Though speaking of that, apparently some new shows are determined to carry on the traditions laid by their parents... *side-eyes Boruto*

AHEM. I really need to drop this topic and get back on track. QUICK, what's an appropriate Frozen-related GIF to use to move on?

I fuckin' told you I was gonna play it again.

ANYWAY, so my point is that - despite feeling like we've really entered a living, breathing world, with its own history and people, it feels like we're never allowed to see that world DO anything.

This wasn't too bad in Forest of Shadows, because even though it couldn't do anything massive, it could create the illusion of movement, by transitioning characters from their Frozen selves to their Frozen 2 selves, laying down hints of what would be fully realized in that move, but it is REALLY on display in Polar Nights - The set up involves exploring Anna's first major kingdom event as Queen, and yet, we really don't get any meaningful detail about that. We don't get a sense of how it feels for her to suddenly wield all this power and responsibility when, not just a few months ago, she was more or less the spare princess that could spend her days having picnics with snowmen. I mean sure, there's mention that she's nervous, but it really doesn't go into much detail. She's just "Queen Anna", the same way we saw her at the end of Frozen 2.

(Elsa's also still referred to as Queen - sometimes she gets directly called "The Snow Queen" - but this is a detail I like. It's not like the people forgot or disavowed her as their monarch. The two are called "The Queens of Arendelle" at one point. It's an interesting touch.)

The events of Polar Nights involve a lot of things happening (including major characters losing their memories of each other), but it all amounts to a problem that's easily resolved with Sisterly Love, and by the end of the book, everything's normal. I know these books are not going to affect the movies, but one of the cool things, as I mentioned, was that they did have continuity between each other. Sorensson was introduced as a man of science in Forest of Shadows, and then in Polar Nights, Anna and Elsa go to him for help with something they want a scientific explanation for. While some of these characters might pop up again to be mentioned in the next novel, it's hard to believe it'll focus on Anna dealing with the fact that... Say Dragurs are real, and exist out there, and that things like grudges and nasty legends and rumors can bring unwelcome power.

Some of the dialogue and phrasing is just plain awkward too. A lot of the time, when Anna spoke to Kristoff, it felt very bland, and forced-romantic, rather than their natural, more banter and warm interactions in the movies. We don't even get a call-back to "I prefer you in leather ;)" - Although that may have been pushing the biscuit. If they went any further with how Anna feels about that, the LOUD SCREACHERS might lose the ability to pretend she was being 100% wholesome and child-friendly with that line...

There's another line where Elsa's narration indicates she wants Anna and Kristoff to have kids so she can be "the cool aunt, literally" - A line that exists purely for that one lazy joke, since no other mention of them having children exists that I can remember.

(Though I am borderline certain that Frozen 3 will focus on their child, but again, that's getting distracted)

Polar Nights also avoids any direct appearances of Northuldra. No Honeymaron or Rider or anything - The only other significant characters that appear from Frozen 2 are Mattias (who fills a bit of a generic "general/captain of the guard" role, but that's his job so it's fine), as well as Gale and Burnie and the Water Nokk, who do have roles to play, but relatively minor ones. They are mentioned, but even when we see the Enchanted Forest, it's purely featuring the cast from Frozen, plus the wind and the new plush mascot lizard. Again, it's a shame because beyond: "Elsa loves the fact that she is living free" and "Elsa spends time pulling up home movies made of snow", we get nothing about how the former Queen is living as a spirit. Okay, I don't expect the book to explain about how Elsa hates needing to pee in a bush now or something absurd like that, but when you go from living in a castle to living in tents and caves, you've got to feel more than just "free" right? We don't even see how she interacts with the Northuldra. How do these people, who revered the spirits, interact with one who can speak to them in their language? Who can sit and chill out with them? Who can pop round for dinner? We get none of that, and it's sad, because it would have been nice.

Polar Nights features a mystery story between two sisters, one of whom is said to have outright murdered the other, several fights between Elsa and a Nordic zombie wraith that mimics her powers at one point, a Pirate Queen and her fleet sitting menacingly at Arendelle's borders, at one point escalating to firing on royal ships during a massive storm in an eternal night, Anna and Elsa traveling to a whole different neighboring kingdom, and Anna's fiance explicitly losing his memory of her, and anything they ever did together...

... and somehow it comes off as less compelling and impactful than Frozen 2, where - and I don't want to downplay or insult Frozen 2 because I think it's amazing and obviously it's themes run far deeper BUT - the main antagonist force boils down to "Dam that a bastard-man built one time".

(On that, Polar Nights is intent on reminding everyone that King Runeard was a Bad Man™ and every single character essentially goes "BOO! HISS!" whenever his name comes up. And yeah, the dude was an absolute bastard, and he only gets revealed to be worse in Polar Nights but you would think Anna and Elsa would have more complex feelings than "hate that guy" to their granddad who they believed was a bit of a legend up until the events of the second movie. Still, maybe they genuinely don't and at any rate, unpacking those feelings might be a bit more complicated than a novel intended mostly for kids is willing to get into.)

There's more that could be said, but I worry I've been sticking to the negative for too long. Yes, these novels do feel like anime filler. Lots of stuff happens, but it doesn't really impact anyone. There's new characters introduced and side characters discussed and all sorts of things that really don't mean that much to the world in the long run, and no doubt will be forgotten by the time Frozen 3 rolls around BUT...

BUT

The books are an enjoyable read. They let me return to the world of Frozen and explore a bit more of the land these characters live in. Yes, I wish the book featured a conversation between Anna and Elsa that didn't just feature them rehashing what they've learned in the movies, but it is STILL good to see them together again. It's heartwarming to know that Elsa still stays in the castle, that Anna let her keep their parents bedroom, that the people of her former kingdom still call her "Queen".

It's great to see side characters mentioned, and not just appear once. It's great that these books are allowed to look outside of the generic fairy-tale fare and bring up things like Dragurs and Huldrefólk and, while I do think the Sisterly Love being the solution to Polar Night's problem isn't the best ending, it does FIT with the themes for the franchise and it isn't a re-hash of Anna and Elsa, instead holding up a mirror to them and showing them what they could have been had their lives been but a tiny bit different.

They're good books, and I would rate them:

A solid B

Was originally a B-, but upon writing this out, I re-evaluated and I wanted to stress that I actually really do like them, and I hope they make more. I really want Frozen to be that thing that winds up having 20 different novel series, six comic books, two original TV series and a line of successful movies. It'd make me happy.

That is just about all I have to say on this topic except for:

OKAY SO YOU KNOW HOW I HAVE BROUGHT UP TANGLED A COUPLE OF TIMES AND I'VE BEEN SAYING I'LL GET BACK TO HOW I THINK IT INTERACTS:

Well - We all know Frozen featured Rapunzel and Eugene visting Arendelle and, ignoring some of the crazy and common fan theories (they're cousins I swear it still works if you squint), that suggests that there is a shared universe and I believe these books CONFIRM that when taken in conjunction with other evidence...

Consider that, Corona is directly mentioned in Forest of Shadows, and that would seem to confirm it, but I've still seen that, and the Tangled character's cameos waved off as cheeky Easter Eggs, BUT... REMEMBER THOSE FUCKIN' OLAF SHORTS? The ones where he re-enacts disney movies?

YEAH WELL, in the Tangled one, he has a bit of extra dialogue where he goes something like "this one is for one of my favorite people in the world, Rapunzel" or SOMETHING LIKE THAT THAT SUGGESTS HE'S MET RAPUNZEL PERSONALLY, and...

AAAAAND...

Polar Nights reveals that he and the others HAVE stayed in the Enchanted Forrest before, which gives him a timeframe where he could plausibly tell these stories in universe, AND AND AND AAAAANNNNND:

He also has a short where he re-enacts "The Little Mermaid" which IS CHEEKILY IMPLIED TO BE A BOOK THAT ANNA LOVES in Polar Nights, so Olaf has a REASON to know that story, AS A STORY--

AND BASICALLY THIS CONFIRMS THAT FROZEN AND TANGLED ARE SET IN THE SAME UNIVERSE AND THE FRANCHISE IS GOING TO CONCLUDE WITH AN ULTIMATE CROSSOVER THAT puts Avengers to shame and I SWEAR THAT IT'LL BE SO AWESOME AND--

The Analyst has been dragged off into the night by sensible people. Please ignore his ramblings.

[televisefur]

Hey, I haven't been active a lot simply because I'm busy learning art and doing other things. But I watched Mario recently! Right after I watched it, I decided to make a review, and it ended up being pretty long. I never really posted movie reviews on my Tumblr, so, this one will be the first one that I post on this site.

tl;dr - the Mario movie is the best video game adaptation of all time. It gets you excited, it gets you terrified, it gets you motivated. Fast-paced, but doesn't rush it too much. It hooks you in, and it is incredibly rewatchable. There are also two post credit scenes that are worth checking out.

I can tell you this now - there's never been a better movie adaptation of a video game than the new Super Mario Bros. animated movie. It is one of the most fun animated movies I've watched in a long time, filled with humor, charm and character.

While it wasn't necessarily close to any particular Mario game, it made good use of its elements. In my opinion, this kind of conversion from game to movie is the best one they could've done for Mario.

While the story is relatively simple, the interactions between the characters and the immersiveness of the movie compliment it well.

This movie is one of those rare cases where a kids movie would hook you in and kept you waiting for the next scene, the next event , the next chapter. It wasn't as predictable as I feared.

The Toads were as whimsical as the world they lived in, and Peach felt like a leader with lots of experience.

I felt a feeling of terror as Bowser was reciting his evil plans in front of his audience made entirely of familiar faces. I was extremely excited every time Mario bumped a Yellow Block to get himself a new power-up, and seeing the titular hero in a familiar power-up costume on the big screen filled me with delight.

Every character in the movie was given a personality of its own. I have no shadow of a doubt that every line of dialogue has been treated to tons of changes before the final cut - it seems Miyamoto and the team paid attention to everything.

I also feel like one of Miyamoto's goals with this movie was to make the movie explain previously unexplained phenomena in the Mario franchise - things that at first glance may not need an explanation, but as you grow up you realize how much these explanations would add to the lore and to the content of Mario's universe.

Some more things I like about it was its pacing, animation, dialogie, and tone. The inspirational message that this movie tells it's audience further adds to its charm.

This is a movie I'd be willing to rewatch - and that isn't something I'd say about a lot of kids movies, especially those based around video games.

All in all, I went into the theater with cautious optimism, and walked out with a large smile on my face, and a ton of thoughts about what I just watched that would take me hours to process. In a good way, of course.

I'm giving this an 8/10. I'm so glad that this collaboration was possible in the first place, and I am pleasantly surprised at the fact that it went as well as it did.

One last thing to note: if you're watching this in cinemas, stay until the very end, because what happens at the very end after all the credits are gone is going to be an exciting surprise for those who wanted more from this movie, but didn't get it.

I've been excited for the Mario Movie ever since it was announced for the very first time. And I definitely didn't expect my review of it to be this long! I'll be happy to read your thoughts on thisu. Thank you all for reading!

[will-falling-fell]

I posted 6,561 times in 2022

That's 2,626 more posts than 2021!

33 posts created (1%)

6,528 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ro2a1yn

@of-chaos-and-flame

@ivycrowned

@pewycert

@k-phoenix

I tagged 939 of my posts in 2022

#video - 25 posts

#listings - 24 posts

#music - 7 posts

#favorites - 7 posts

#<- prev tag - 4 posts

#what - 4 posts

#incredible - 4 posts

#oh - 4 posts

#favorite video - 3 posts

#ah. so that's it - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#people will not read the multiple '[stock] has moved [place]' signs at eye level and instead find the nearest employee to grumpily ask wher

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I hate this mouth

This beast is fascinating

18 notes - Posted September 19, 2022

#4

Not to be religiously raised on main but. Theory of evoloution. So many christians and catholic-based faiths believe that it directly contradicts their faith, that man was made from dust in a single act of will from god and not "evolved from monkeys" but. Hang on right there.

The universe, according to their faith, was made in 7 days. But what is 7 days to a god who is infinite and immortal. What is one day. What is one hour.

Anyway to keep this short. Who are you, christians and catholics and even mormons who vehemently insist the theory of evoloution is blasphemous, to decide what is a moment in a god's timeline. Who are you to decide what "to raise man from dust" means. I might be remembering incorrectly, but wasn't Genesis written from the dreams of a prophet? Or whatever the term was? Who are you to say that dreams, known to be vague and disjointed at best, are facts to be taken at face value. That the words in a book translated hundreds of times by hundreds of minds can be without a shadow of a doubt the original meaning. How can you be so, so sure that God creating a man from dust took him a mere few human minutes?

Anyway, that's all. I'm sleep deprived and feel sick.

26 notes - Posted December 2, 2022

#3

New fic!

@mojo-chojo 's Mafia AU took my brain between its hands and shook out 600 words in about an hour well past midnight but!

In which Impulse definitely doesn't have a crush, he's just crushed by failing his responsibilities and intrigued by the very loud bartender trying to make them a pair of rivals.

48 notes - Posted March 5, 2022

#2

Hey yall! I'll clip this in a reblog but if you're active on instagram, tango doesnt use it!

He has an account with the handle "tangoteklp" and any other account with his name acting like they are him is an impersonator

49 notes - Posted August 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

He's gone feral

233 notes - Posted February 17, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[andyetnobananas]

I posted 946 times in 2022

That's 908 more posts than 2021!

64 posts created (7%)

882 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@eternal-savvy-blog

@sevenpilotfish

@redbuddi

@chongoblog

@jelloapocalypse

I tagged 76 of my posts in 2022

#bananas art - 34 posts

#bananas talks - 14 posts

#friend art - 10 posts

#youtube - 9 posts

#bananas vids - 8 posts

#epithet erased - 7 posts

#jelloapocalypse - 6 posts

#parasomnia oct - 5 posts

#original character tournament - 3 posts

#dnd oc - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 86 characters

#feel like reblogging my animatics from this year. with new people coming in i'd really

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

NEW VIDEO: Flour Bag MURDERS - JelloApocalypse Animatic

@jelloapocalypse @bigmovingtarget @eternal-savvy-blog

151 notes - Posted September 17, 2022

#4

Ok, so you know that whole "HBO Max killing off cartoons" thing that happened recently? So after some digging (and by that I mean watching this video from Shark3ozero) the situation is so much worse than that. Like... Monstrously worse.

In case you don't know, it's not just cartoons and their creators that have been f__ked over recently, but a WHOLE SWATH OF PoC CREATORS HAVE BEEN LAID OFF. Like, almost no non-whites left in executive positions.

Apparently, before the merger, Discovery has a more white, old, heteronormative demographic than HBO, and instead of trying to consolidate the 2 demographics, Discovery's CEO, David Zaslav, has been made into the CEO of both sides of the company, and is trying to turn one into the other. To this end, he has slashed the divisions overseeing kids, family and international content, and intends to create more content for "Middle America." So yes, they cut Infinity Train and Batgirl and others BECAUSE. THEY. ARE. DIVERSE. CONTENT. They are deliberately removing different cultures from their services because catering exclusively to white audiences is more profitable... According to them. I have serious doubts this is casting the net wider instead of narrower. (Also, another part of the shift is that they want to pivot back to cable content and away from streaming, which... Lol, good luck man. Warn-scover-CNBO might already be on a collision course, and fingers crossed that it is.)

OH, BUT IT GETS WORSE. APOCALYPTICLY WORSE.

HBO also owns CNN, and they have a new chairman in the shadow of the merger, Chris Licht. It's already canned one news show, 'Reliable Programming' a show frequently critiqued the republicans and fox news, and has warned that "more changes are coming soon."

Worst of all, John Malone, who is on WBD's board, and gave Zaslav his job in 2006, has explicitly said that he wants to CNN to have a "less liberal bias", and thinks that Fox News "makes actual journalism." Yes, Fox dominating a third of US cable news is not enough, he wants to make another 3rd of it propaganda programming.

Warn-scover-CNBO's market capitol were flushed down the tubes in light of all this horses__t, but in order to keep the a new propaganda apparatus of unfathomable scale from rising, it must stay down and never recover. Warn-scover-CNBO's changes scaring off huge droves of people is an objective good, and the complete collapse of the company is our only hope now.

Tl;dr: The death of Infinity Train and Uncle Grampa is the canary in the coal mine of a massive swath of pop culture and journalistic practice turning into a right-wing propaganda apparatus unlike anything seen before.

180 notes - Posted August 28, 2022

#3

NEW VIDEO: Ike get TROLLED: JelloApocalypse Animatic

@jelloapocalypse

200 notes - Posted February 1, 2022

#2

268 notes - Posted August 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Epithet Week Day 1: Prison of Plastic

333 notes - Posted June 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[govindhtech]

Gigabyte M27U Gaming Monitor Specifications And Features

Gigabyte M27U review

The new Gigabyte M27U monitor targets video gamers, but not exclusively. Users running multiple apps will have plenty of space on the 27-inch IPS panel’s 3,840 x 2,160 resolution. High resolution can also be a bit of a hardship at times because it requires gear that can support native resolution and yet playback at a good quality level. A maximum refresh rate of 160 Hz is supported with the M27U. One millisecond (MPRT) or five milliseconds (gray-to-gray) is the response time according to Gigabyte. Supported is FreeSync Premium, which aims to successfully stop tearing.

A maximum brightness of 400 cd/m is specified. Despite having DisplayHDR 400 certification, the IPS panel’s 1,000:1 contrast ratio makes it doubtful that it will be especially useful for displaying high-contrast content at an OLED’s level. 95% of the DCI-P3 colour space is covered, according to Gigabyte. It advertises a number of gaming features, including night vision, zoom, highlighting dark spots in the image, and a crosshair display. Image signals can be input into the monitor using USB-C, DisplayPort 1.4, and HDMI 2.1. A USB hub including three USB 3.2 ports is available for accessories and storage, and USB PD, however limited to 18 watts, is supported. Finally, two speakers each with a 3 watt output are mounted.

M27U monitor

Monitor is frequently underappreciated because it is an unseen player. In actuality, monitors work in concert with other components in the PC to maximise performance. GIGABYTE gaming monitors offer top performance without overkill with the best features and quality.

A VISUAL WORLD

160Hz UHD

You may enjoy a fluid gaming experience and detailed visual quality thanks to the high resolution and quick refresh rate!

MPRT Response Time of 1 ms

While providing IPS-grade vivid colour, the SuperSpeed IPS technology cuts the response time to 1 ms!

90% DCI-P3 colour, 10-bit

Excellent colour reproduction with a 95% DCI-P3 extremely broad colour gamut.

Gigabyte M27U

EASY BUT ELEGANT

The sleek look embodies the straightforward design concept of the GIGABYTE gaming series, while the robust stand and matte finish offer additional features that enhance the features.

Gigabyte M27U Features

Seeing in the Dark

Improve your low-light vision by bringing out details and making it easier for you to identify foes lurking in the darkest shadows without overexposing the screen.

OSD Companion

The simplest way to change monitor settings is to use the keyboard and mouse to configure the display choices using GIGABYTE OSD Sidekick.

Help with Games

Timer

Counter

Crosshair

Alignment

PIP/PBP

Dashboard

An onscreen timer will help you keep track of the amount of gaming time that has passed.

Target Stabiliser Syn

With the most recent update, you may simultaneously enable V-Sync technology and lessen motion blur!

Version 2.0 of the Black Equaliser

Without changing other parts of the display, the Black Equaliser 2.0 brings out the intricacies of the scene’s dark side. Simply turn this option on to see all of your adversaries who are hiding!

Automatic Update

With features that GIGABYTE is always developing and improving, users can easily enjoy the best gaming experience while providing additional safety for their monitor.

Design Ergonomic IDEAL ANGLE FOR VIEWING

The stand for the GIGABYTE Gaming monitor is made to provide a wide range of tilt adjustments.

Useful technological features

Without flickering

Avoiding tiredness and eye strain

Undistorted Audio

Delivering a high-caliber audio experience

TÜV Rheinland certified for the preservation of eye health.

M27U price

The store and any ongoing specials may have an impact on the cost of the Gigabyte M27U Gaming Monitor. Here’s an overview:

US: The price range is from $449 to $599. India: The range of prices is from ₹38,000 to ₹80,245 depending on whether import charges and GST are included.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[neoimpetu]

to say that the recent event hasn't made seojun more paranoid would be a lie. ever since it happened, the male found himself unable to leave his house without this sick feeling of being watched, of eyes following his every move. his walk to the electronics shop wasn’t any different. every few steps he'd steal a glance over his shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever (or whatever?) was following him but each time, all he saw were what looked like ordinary people getting on with their lives. being part of the group came with its own set of risks, a fact he acknowledged when he made the decision to join. however, the emotions that came along with their activities– anxiety, paranoia, fear, adrenaline… were all heightened. there’s no doubt the heat on them was rising and he couldn’t afford to let his guard down.

as he ventures deeper into the shop, eyes scanning the aisles in search for specific items, his attention shifts when he catches sight of a widescreen display showcasing one of his friendlies against shadow and a grin immediately spreads across his face. the outcome had been in his favour back then, but shadow was a tough opponent and she could’ve easily flipped the tables more than once. unconsciously, seojun’s mind switches to analysis mode, watching every move and countermove from both avatars. reviewing his matches has always played a huge part in his improvement process, unfortunately, recent distractions have him completely neglecting this part.

“holy shit.”

barely above a whisper, but the sound reaches his ear and his head follows, turning to face the source of the noise. there stands a young man, notably shorter he has to look down to actually meet his gaze. eyes a vibrant green… his hair orange.. the exact same shade asㅡ “martian? you’re martian right?! shit, sorryㅡ that’s actually you, i knew it! holy fuck! i'm your bigg—”

the rest of the sentence completely fades into background noise, the man could only stare, struggling to make sense of the situation. he hadn’t been wrong, he’d sensed it— his suspicions were once again confirmed, it just wasn’t for the reason he had anticipated. is this some kind of glitch? a new type of virus, perhaps? or maybe someone is trying to trick him for one of those viral videos that seem to pop up every other day? seojun can't decide which is worse— "did you know most people think you're ugly? man, they're gonna be so shocked whenㅡ hey wait–!"

fight or flight, fight or flight... for his own sanity; definitely flight.

& @fiskesprett // reina!

[kevinpshanblog]

One of the magicians I follow on YouTube is doing a giveaway. In order to qualify in the comment section you had to post a comment that included a reference to an Alfred Hitchcock film title. Here’s what I wrote.

I had a SUSPICION the theme would be Hitchcock. You are NOTORIOUS for these giveaways. The Hitch theme could ROPE in anyone. The thought of winning makes me dizzy with VERTIGO. Let there be no SHADOW OF A DOUBT I want to win. You have to be PSYCHO to give this much away. Let me just say, your magic reviews are SPELLBINDING. I CONFESS, when a new video of yours appears I'm in a FRENZY to watch it. When it comes to magic I certainly don't consider myself THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. I can always learn more. If you're looking to me to be a master magician you've got THE WRONG MAN. If I have to put in the extra effort to learn a new trick I'm always willing to take THE 39 STEPS. None of these giveaway items is for THE BIRDS. Until the winner is announced I will sit at my REAR WINDOW, practicing my latest trick, THE LADY VANISHES. It's a great trick with a nice FAMILY PLOT.

[neuroticdragon]

I am hella tired but I gotta talk about how Gamergate indirectly caused one of my longtime friendships to end. I'll post under a cut because of mentions of suicide.

Someone in one of the Discord servers I frequent posted a six hour video about Gamergate. I am currently 4.5 hours into it. (Literally just had my phone playing as I played a lot of Cult of the Lamb.)

I realized in a very roundabout way, Gamergate ended one of my friendships.

I mean there was a lot more to it than that. I had been miserable in the friendship for YEARS at that point, but it did play a small part.

So uh... Long story short, years after Gamergate, Zoe Quinn came out with allegations against Alec Holowka about an abusive relationship which ended in a successful suicide attempt from Holowka.

As a frequent user of the internet, of course I knew who Zoe Quinn was. I was aware they were falsely accused of sleeping with a game journalist to get a good review of their game. I was also aware a lot of the narrative about them was largely false. The entire well had been poisoned by bad faith actors.

I, as a victim of abuse myself, had sympathy for Quinn.

My now ex friend posted a video on my private (now deleted) Twitter account about how Quinn HAD to have been lying because Don't You Know About Gamergate.

Basically the video made the argument that because Quinn was a "compulsive liar" therefore this accusation had to be false. Which... is not how you make an argument. Admittedly I didn't finish the video because it made me so viscerally angry and I was disgusted my friend was listening to such vile nonsense.

It was an extremely mask off moment for my friend. Suddenly a lot of his weird idiosyncrasies about women and relationships came into light. I don't want to say he was a full on incel but he did have many of the same tendencies.

I still don't know whether or not Zoe Quinn was lying about the accusations and I doubt we ever will learn, but shortly after Holowka's suicide, one of the (male) developers on Night in the Woods also came out with his own accusations about Holowka and his abuse while working under him that matched a lot of Quinn's story. I at least felt somewhat vindicated that I had taken the "right" side.

Oh and then of course the fact that Holowka's sister said she believed Quinn should have been enough.

But you know, that's what happens when your internet diet is heavily focused on trolling, you're inevitably going to fall down some nasty rabbit holes. And my friend was definitely falling down some nasty rabbit holes. It wasn't anything you noticed immediately, but get him talking enough, and eventually you realize who he really was deep down.

I snuck onto my now ex-friend's Twitter after I blocked him and he was asking if anyone knew whether or not they knew the Quinn allegations were true. I guess to show that I had blocked him "for no reason" which... Was not the only reason I cut him off but that's not something I want to get into here.

But even if the Quinn allegations were proven false beyond a shadow of a doubt, the fact that he's listening to folks whose entire goal is to destroy the life of one person is enough to make me not want to associate with him. I already knew about how weirdly obsessed he was with Ken Penders.

Anyway, it's whatever. Just thought it was interesting that Gamergate indirectly ended one of my friendships.

I'm going to sleep.

[fettesans]

Top, screen capture from Apple Vision Pro Review: magic until it's not, Nilay Patel for the Verge, January 30, 2024. It shows the POV of Marques Brownlee seen being recorded on the camera and wearing the device while in a video conference with Patel and Joanna Stern, both rendered as 3D personas. Bottom, screen capture from Shadow of a Doubt, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1943. Via.

"I think reality is just more interesting than that."

As I’ve been using it for the past few days, I kept coming up with a series of questions — questions about whether the tradeoffs were worth it.

Is using the Vision Pro so good that I’m willing to mess up my hair every time I put it on?

Is it so good that I want to lug it around in its giant carrying case instead of my laptop bag?

Is it so good that I want to look at the world around me through screens instead of with my own eyes?

Basically, I keep asking if I prefer using a computer in there rather than out here. And as interesting as the Vision Pro is, there’s a long way to go before it can beat out here. (...)

The front display on the Vision Pro is an attempt at keeping you from being isolated from other people while you’re wearing it. In Apple’s photos, it looks like a big, bright screen that shows a video of your eyes to people around you so they feel comfortable talking to you while you’re wearing the headset — a feature adorably called EyeSight. In reality, it might as well not be there. It’s a low-res OLED with a lenticular panel in front of it to provide a mild 3D effect, and it’s so dim and the cover glass is so reflective, it’s actually hard to see in most normal to bright lighting. When people do see your eyes, it’s a low-res, ghostly image of them that feels like CGI. The effect is uncanny — the idea that you’ll be making real eye contact with anyone is a fantasy. And there are no controls or indicators in visionOS for this external display, so you never really know what other people are seeing. Imagine looking someone directly in the eyes and talking to them without knowing if they can see your eyes — it’s weird!

[sptsblogs]

Prism Casino Reviews: All You Need To Know

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See, Sedusa was in the Reboot...

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What I’ve learned...

So IDW begins with a typical Powerpuff Story. They beat up Mojo, they beat up a monster, it turns out to be a golfer that went missing for decades. But interestingly, Mojo is rethinking his life. By the end of the first issue, he wants to be dosed in Chemical X. Second issue, Mojo is gone and Jojo is back. But HIM sees a prime opportunity to mess with the girls and decides that if they are willing to give second chances, let’s see them do so.

So HIM made all the remaining villains, Sedusa, Morbucks, Fuzzy and the Gangreen Gang, into good guys. The sad part is I really like them as good guys. Sedusa is back doing hair and being humorous. Fuzzy is fighting for our property. Morbucks is working with the girls. And all of them work together to beat up a giant monster. It’s just a shame HIM just turned them back to normal as quickly as he turned them good.

So HIM’s plan was to make the girls never trust everyone. All he did was cork their bad intentions and once loose, they went back to their natures. Hearing this, they decide to fight HIM for messing with them. But HIM was too powerful for them. It’s just a shame his Shadow Clones don't work on Bubbles because she has no deep darkness in her (even though she totally does). It also shows that Bubbles has an exclusive power outside language: light projecting. 

Mojo is back and he sends a nuke down the volcano to basically wipe out the human race. The Girls stop it, but Mojo is in space for Plan B. Shame we never know unless it actually does lead to the Super Crossover Crisis. Monster Day has the girls fighting every monster from the Island in Townsville. All thanks to King Steve who was the monster who gave them the pep-talk when they were trying to find new hero identities. The Girls eventually won thanks to Bubbles showing she has the idea to reprogram Mojo’s Robots. Thus leading her to her computer language in the Reboot.

The series ended with a two parter where The Boogeyman works with Disco aliens while Viking Alien Boy Bands team up with both the Powerpuff Girls AND Rowdyruff Boys. And sadly Mojo’s Plan B was taken out since the series was ending. Overall, I do prefer this over the DC Series since it does feel like a modern take of the PPGs. And funny enough, a lot of stuff here actually comes up in the Reboot.

Super Secret Crisis War is pretty fun, but not really a lot of game changing Vs Stuff. I don’t think the Girls directly hit Vilgax or Aku. Though the thing that’s interesting is both Fosters and Dexter were referenced directly in the PPG Series, yet are treated as separate worlds in the crossover. Maybe those are specific variants. The other crossover I reviewed and like before nothing really that game changing... Except Mojo threatened to destroy the Multiverse and rebuild it!

Finally reading the reboot comics, and found one holding all the issues proper. Off the bat, Donny and Jared are going to be completely ignored. As much as I dislike Bellum for being overhyped, they’re objectively worse and boring respectively. So far, I think if you wanted more action from the girls the comics seem to be giving it to you. Just skip the second issue. Chicken Butts. 

The Time Tie Miniseries is alright. Gives Mojo a Time Tie. Though the Bureau of Bad special is doing wonders. Already, it solidifies the scaling to Dexter’s Superhero stuff (and I did that already for Macho man) and it’s basically the best of both worlds. The story feels like the old school Powerpuffs but with the new designs and characters. And with that, all the comics for the Powerpuff Girls are done. Now, the video games as listed on Wiki (skipping the Browser Games because I doubt they got much).

Starting with Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone because I’m curious what kind of game it is for the PC. It's an educational game. But it introduced us to Mojo’s Psychic Shields, shields that protect his brain powered by his brain. So in theory, this means he can’t be mentally probed. But reveal his deep dark secrets (which aren’t that bad), and they’ll weaken.

Best Feat I found... 

Mojo threatens to destroy and rebuild the Multiverse. Granted, it was mostly Dee Dee’s fault but Mojo took over and had everything set up to finish destroying and remake everything in his image. Second place is Mojo’s Tail being able to send the Powerpuff Girls flying through space. If Gal-Cactus didn’t stop them, they would be flying for almost 400 years.

Next Time...

More games. Possibly the Gameboy ones.