#because so many games feel like they cut content and animations for the short races and Im afraid I’ll miss things :(

[waluigisgaybf]

I really want to play more non magic based classes or at least just more heavy fighty type classes but I just love being a super magic bitch in my video games sm

[102773906]

Week 9 Fandom: How does fandom influence inclusivity in the world of pop culture?

In the world of pop culture, fandoms are links that bring together individuals who have a common interests. As these communities go through change, they play an important role in shaping the landscape on inclusiveness in the world of pop culture.

Bridging Realms of Diversity

Fandoms are diverse melting pots that cut over social, cultural, and geographic barriers. Enthusiasts from many backgrounds gather in these groups, brought together by a mutual appreciation for a certain facet of popular culture, whether it a cherished novel series, a highly anticipated movie, or an immensely popular video game (Robbins & Kullman, 2020). For me, it would be “Avatar: The Last Airbender”. At first when I was getting into this animated series I felt like an outcast. Nobody seemed to be interested in it and it made me feel alone. That was until I met my college course-mate who was also interested in this animated series. Mind you both of us had nothing in common before this. He was the quiet kid in class and I was the social bee. We rarely talked until we both found out that we liked the same animated series. Now, even though both of us have gone our separate ways we still do keep each other updated on the latest news on this animated series and both of us are highly anticipating the upcoming live action version that will be coming out on Netflix next year. This shows that people are able to identify common ground in this setting, which fosters a sense of belonging that transcends conventional societal barriers.

Celebrating Representation

In fandoms, inclusivity is about representation more than it is about size. Characters and stories that capture the complex fabric of the actual world are what fans are clamouring for. Fandoms have developed into platforms that support and celebrate varied representation. As a result, content producers are encouraged to explore and incorporate characters with a range of abilities, gender identities, and races ( McGinnis, 2021). In “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, four cultures are represented. In short this animated series has four fictional nations which are Air Nomads, Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe. In real life, the Air Nomads represent the Tibetans and Tibetan Monks, The Fire Nation represent Imperial Japan, the Earth Kingdom represent monarchical China, and the Water Tribe represent Indigenous Artic cultures like the Inuits and (Chavey, 2020). This effort for representation enlightens and educates those outside of these cultures in addition to fans who see themselves represented in their favorite animated series and shows.

Fan-Driven Activism

Fandoms are becoming into places where enthusiasts use their combined influence to promote social change. Fans are no longer passive bystanders when it comes to addressing issues of diversity and inclusion within a particular franchise or speaking out on behalf of larger social concerns. Social media platforms serve as a platform for fan-driven activism, giving people the chance to confront prejudices, spread awareness, and hold content producers and business executives accountable (Vilenchik & Schultz , 2011). At this point one can see that I really am an avid fan of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” because I’m still using it as an example. This shows how awesome this animated series is with it being filled with real life lessons and morals. To all of you reading this blog, you should go and watch it during your free time. In fact, stop what you are doing and go and watch it right now because it’s that good. So basically, in this animated series, the Fire Nation waged war on the other three nations which led to a hundred year war. They eradicated the entire Air Nomads, colonized the Earth Kingdom and waged war on the Water Tribe. At the end of the show, The Avatar liberated them all and the four nations once again lived together in harmony. This teaches us that no individual or nation should think that they are above the rest. This animated series can be used as a beacon of hope and an example for current social issues such as for the ongoing war between Palestine and Israel, Ukraine and Russia war, and the tension between China and Taiwan.

Although fandoms play a crucial role in promoting diversity, difficulties still exist. Progress can be hampered by instances of toxicity, gatekeeping, and opposition to change in some fan communities. On the other hand, these difficulties provide fans the chance to participate in discussions that advance comprehension, demolish preconceptions, and create an environment that is more welcoming to all. The influence of fandoms on inclusivity in the world of pop culture is huge and ever changing. As fandoms continue to change, their role in promoting inclusivity will without a doubt remain at the forefront of the cultural conversation. As Uncle Iroh fro “Avatar: The Last Airbender” says, “It is important to draw wisdom from different places. If you take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale.”

References

Chavey, L. (2020) Parallels between ‘avatar: The last airbender’ and history make a captivating fictional world, The Stanford Daily. Available at: https://stanforddaily.com/2020/08/25/parallels-between-avatar-the-last-airbender-and-history-make-a-captivating-fictional-world/#:~:text=Each%20of%20these%20four%20nations,Nomads%20by%20Tibetan%20Buddhist%20monks. (Accessed: 26 November 2023).

McGinnis, M. (2021) Fandom is love. fandom is family. fandom is representation., Mindy McGinnis. Available at: https://www.mindymcginnis.com/blog/rachelle-storm (Accessed: 26 November 2023).

Robbins, L. and Kullman, J. (2020) Diversity in fandom: How the narrative is changing, ASU News. Available at: https://news.asu.edu/20191018-creativity-diversity-fandom-how-narrative-changing (Accessed: 26 November 2023).

Vilenchik, N.K. and Schultz , J.M. (2011) Experiencing fan activism: Understanding the power of fan activist , ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259823285_Experiencing_fan_activism_Understanding_the_power_of_fan_activist_organizations_through_members’_narratives (Accessed: 26 November 2023).

[abhorrenttheorizer]

I can't believe people still follow my antics somewhat on this platform. I hardly post anymore and when I do it's bullshit. Unfortunately, I am about to do it again 💔

A sincere apology to the people who followed me for anything other than bitching about Sky and Journey specbioposting. I've got a lot of personal issues with original designs and my refusal to accept that the Journey Tumblr fandom is effectively dead has made it so that I've unintentionally become a fandom account. Sorry for my obsessiveness, and hopefully I am able to overcome this art block and make something original for once.

With that being said, I am once again about to Journey 💔💔

CONTENT WARNING for naked birb cat creature with a fupa under the cut 💔💔💔

EXTRA CONTENT WARNING for bright image immediately under the cut. From one photosensitive lad to another, the following image is bright AF turn down your brightness pls

Also long post lol

The feet and toes are a lot thicker than I would've liked. Their feet and legs are much more slender, and the actual foot itself should be longer and thinner (damn canvas space + brush size...) but because I'm a dolt I gave this guy chunky camel feet without meaning to.

This is an adult individual of a mildly pale complexion. To avoid making the image even brighter, there's one detail I have forgotten omitted to paint. The arms gradually become paler from the shoulder to the hand, and the hands themselves are typically lily white and glow very brightly regardless of skin tone. I know in-game Rythulians lack arms, however I do not care. Beefy paw arms = funny.

Also, I have only drawn one individual. Rythulians are simultaneous hermaphrodites, and as a result don't have separate sexes or sexual dimorphism, so this adult pictured here is the only "species representative" needed to be drawn.

Anyway, Rythulians as a species, unlike their ancestors are designed for desert life (no shit). Similarly to ostriches, their lower body and legs are free of hair to induce cooling, however unlike ostriches and most other land animals Rythulians also sweat through their skin, even the skin that is covered in fur. They are also a species that is heavily tied to magic (later post), so there is much to their biology that would not feasibly make sense through Earth's standards.

Generally speaking, they're a pretty tall race. Individuals are generally anywhere between 7 and 10 feet (2.13 to 3.25 metres) tall, with long dainty legs designed for bounding across sand. They're also incredibly lightweight, as "obese" individuals barely tip the scales at 32 lbs (14.5 kg). This is due to the many unique characteristics of their internal body, which I will demonstrate in a later post :,)

The fur they have is fluffy, and somewhat dense. The pure white fur coloration serves to insulate and protect the Rythulian's upper body, cooling the brain somewhat by reflecting sunlight. The only dark hairs they have are on their facial discs. The dark hair on the facial disc serves to reduce glare, especially for their unique glowing eyes.

The strange fleshy orifice at the center of a Rythulian's chest is it's wax gland. More will be explained about this later, but the wax gland is present and almost fully functional at birth, and one of its main purposes is to melt the body's fat deposits into "wax" which is then eaten by other Rythulians, especially babies, elders, sickly individuals, and young ones. Wax production is very similar to nursing, and is essentially a non-mammalian way of producing milk. The other purpose, reserved for adults, is to release a single zygote which will then develop into a baby (after it has been feeding off of dwarf stars for around 9 months, but that's a topic for a later time).

The skin itself is loose, stretchy, and squishy in many places, while it's a bit tigher in other areas, like the legs and feet. Rythulian skin feels a bit like very soft and stretchy plush cloth, a slight nod to their symbiotic relationship to their clothing. Under the arms, they have a short band of folded skin that expands outwards similarly to that of a flying squirrel. However, this band of skin stretches from the middle of the upper arm to the waist, rather than from the wrist to the ankle. I like to think that Rythulians co-evolved and have a symbiotic relationship with their cloaks, so this flap of skin was made to aid the act of flying, gliding and soaring as the loose skin catches the air current alongside the cloak itself, and reduces fatigue to the arm.

So... I know what you're thinking...

What the hell is with that unsightly FUPA???

Well, the fupa is actually a fat and skin deposit similar to the "primordial pouches" found in cats. They serve much of the same purpose too, enabling the Rythulian to jump higher, run faster and stretch more without ripping the skin. In fact, a Rythulian's "primordial pouch" is so efficient than they can be stretched up to 6x their height without being in pain or tearing in half (this is also due to Rythulians not having a spine or cervical bones or really any traditional skeleton either, but that's a post for another time). This pouch was co-evolved as a way for modern Rythulians to deal with Guardian attacks without extreme injury, as Guardians generally attack by crushing the Rythulian and then yanking them upwards as their scarves or cloaks are torn.

Speaking of running fast and jumping high: When Rythulians are not starving to death on pilgrimage, they move very swiftly in their mountain and sandy environments, often bounding across their arid mountain environments at upwards of 10x their height horizontally and 8x their height vertically. They run swiftly as well, up to 87mph (140kmh). Unfortunately, their endurance is poor, only being able to run at top speed for around 3 minutes before complete exhaustion. After which, about an hour of rest is needed before continuing to move.

As for their arms, depending on the circumstances, their arms can be quite powerful, able to punch with enough force to break bone. Pushing, pulling, carrying, and crushing can be done with relative ease, but certain environmental factors may seriously inhibit their stamina. A Rythulian's upper body is significantly stronger than it's lower body, since the muscles required for flight take a lot of energy, and Rythulians are a flying species (provided they have cloth to help them out, which this individual clearly does not).

The feet are covered almost entirely in dense, soft fur to keep the Rythulian from sinking into the sand and also keep sand out of their sheathes.

What do I mean by "sheathes"?

Well, a Rythulian's foot is anatomically somewhere between a camel and a cat. The foot paws function like those of a cat, except the claws sheathed within the paw are blunt hooks used to latch onto mountain rocks. In short, they have retractable "hooves", a reminant of their ancestral form.

Excuse the crude animation, but here is how a "whole foot" flex works. Rythulians have 4 zygodactyl toes for climbing on steep cliffs, the front claw-hooves latching onto the rocks and the rear claw-hooves adding support by catching onto other divets within the mountains. Besides the whole foot flex, Rythulians can protract and retract each toe individually, providing a completely individualized support system based on the surface area of rocks they may stand on.

Another thing that I have mentioned in one of my earlier posts about Rythulian headcanon anatomy, is that their ears are not truly ears. Their real ears are on the sides of the head.

Rythulians have 4 earholes designed for processing different sounds. They are positionally asymmetrical, however the ears themselves are relatively in the same place, like in mammals instead of owls (in which one ear is at the top of the skull, and the other is closer to the jaw bone).

On the left ear: Upper hole for lower frequencies from above, lower hole for higher frequencies from below

On the right ear: Upper hole for higher frequencies from above, lower hole for lower frequencies from below

Because of the earhole asymmetry, Rythulians are able to triangulate like owls do and pinpoint the exact location of a sound. Their hearing is exceptionally sensitive, which was mentioned in this earlier post

The catlike rhinophores atop their heads serve a completely different purpose:

A Rythulian's actual nose is completely useless for smelling. What are their "ears" are actually their rhinophores, of which they use to detect airborne chemicals (poorly) as well as express emotion.

The rhinophores themselves have very coarse hair, much different than the normally soft, silky hair on the rest of their bodies (minus the facial whiskers). Each ear smells independently, however this is inefficient, as rhinophores are typically more effective underwater. To solve this problem, Rythulians will intertwine their rhinophores together, rubbing them vigorously in order to generate a stronger olfactory signal to the brain. This is generally not effective either, as smell is their weakest sense. An "A" for effort regardless.

Here is a head sketch of a yawning individual as an example. The lips have an odd shape, but I will explain that in a later post.

Rythulians have 16 piranha-like teeth, and a small spiny radula in place of a "tongue" (will go into why they have a radula later, it's a doozy). While they will consume plants on the occasion, and they are capable of tasting and enjoy the sweet flavor, Rythulians are obligate carnivores. Their teeth are designed to tear off small chunks of meat, to which the radula rasps into smaller chunks of meat to be swallowed whole. Their preferred prey are aquatic (fish, mollusks, cetaceans, seals, etc), but due to the arid, often barren habitats they're native to, they are not picky and will often catch and eat most things that move. They are not cannibalistic and don't favor eating other humanoid things.

Their second weakest sense is their sense of taste. They can taste all flavors that humans can, but on a much weaker intensity. The short and stubby radula is covered in small, villiform denticles that are used to shear away small chunks of meat. On the outer and rear edges of the radula are small, flatter denticle plates. These are used to shred out meat from shelled creatures such as crustaceans or mollusks. Between and sometimes around these denticles are taste receptors, of which a Rythulian has very few. However, Rythulians have a very sensitive mouth, and salty/spicy/acidic foods are generally not favored by them, as they can quickly become painful.

Denticles start off at the back of the radula, flat, before splitting and pointing upwards into "new" teeth. It's an unusual form of denticle replacements.

Anyway, that's pretty much it for this installment. Next installment, I will go over the hair texture, fur length, skin colors, and body language of my Rythulian headcanons.

Thanks for making it this far! I have no idea how to write or format things so please excuse the rambling and text walls.

[unwrittenlibrary]

i know, you know.

summary -> bucky would die for you, but that’s not what you want from him.

words -> 1.7k

warnings -> light angst & near death & use of nickname (sweets)

notes -> i started game of thrones & i am obsessed with the idea of medieval bucky now so add that to my wips list

»»————-　☾　————-««

Bucky has no sense of self preservation.

You’re unsure if it��s because when he was a boy he was sent to war where it wasn’t a when you come home, it was an if. Or maybe because he’s lived so long he doesn’t feel like he needs to worry about life.

At first Bucky’s martyr-like care for you had made your pulse race. Throwing himself in front of punches thrown your way and saving you from bullets by reaching out his metal arm.

Then you realized he never thought things through. He just threw himself into harms way without worrying about whether or not he would survive the action.

You’ve learned all this within the two years you’ve known him. He’s become your best friend. Something more than that too. Shared stares and secret kisses that leave your heart fluttering and skin heating.

You love him, the kind of love that bubbles under the surface of kind smiles and more than friendly touches.

The kind that leaves your leg shaking as you sit beside him now, because Bucky Barnes has been asleep for three days.

A bullet had tore through his chest and left him gasping for air and bleeding out at your feet. You had dropped beside him to your knees after sending a bullet through the attackers chest.

“Sam, you’ve got to get us out of here.” You gasp into your comms. “Bucky’s hurt.” Your hands come to rest over the wound and you press harshly against them.

You look around in panic. “You idiot.” You mumble to him. Bucky’s blinking slowly and is obviously in a daze as he tries to focus on you leaning over him. “

“I’ll die before I let someone hurt you.” Bucky whispers. Your hands are stained red and Bucky’s eyes slide shut again after he breathes the words out. You let out a choked cry as you stare down at him.

“He’ll be okay.” Sam’s hand is resting on your shoulder in an attempt to comfort you. “Bucky is a fighter.”

You shake him off. “Bucky is an idiot.” You snap. Your eyes trail over his chest that’s rising and falling steadily.

‘He’s lucky.’ The doctor’s words come to your mind. ‘If it weren’t for that serum he most likely would have bled out in the field.’

You can’t stop thinking about the scene. The tips of your fingers are still stained red, the blood stubbornly refusing to wash away and remains a constant reminder of Bucky’s words in the field.

“Bucky is an idiot with no self preservation.” You start again. The words that had been caught in your throat the past three days come tumbling out like vile. “He’s selfish and doesn’t have any remorse for his choices or any idea what his actions may do to the people who care about him.”

You look at Bucky again. He doesn’t stir. His chest is still rising and falling steadily while his eyes remain closed. “I’m going to get a drink.” You push your chair our abruptly. Sam jumps away from you as you shove past him.

Guilt weighs you down immediately. You hadn’t meant to snap at Sam and you certainly didn’t mean all you said about Bucky.

It’s just - Bucky isn’t supposed to look like that. You had never seen him look so vulnerable. His skin pale and body completely immobile as he sleeps.

It has you panicking. Bucky, your Bucky, was strong and unmoving in a way that left enemies shaking. He had an aura that made you feel warm and confident with him by your side.

The hospital walls are a blank white that leave you simultaneously nauseous and comforted as you rest your back against it and shut your eyes.

Nobody stops to ask if you were okay or if you needed help, many of them too busy or preoccupied with actual patients. It was relieving to be able to have a moment of silence with nothing in your thoughts but what may be going on with the people you watched moves throughout the hospital.

How many were visitors there for a similar reason to yours? How many regular patients or who was a favorite nurse?

Sam’s voice makes you straighten out when you hear your name. You look at him apologetically, but before you can get the words out, he cuts you off. “Bucky’s awake.”

You pause. “Just like that?” You ask dumbly. You knew that this is what would happen. The doctor had explained that Bucky had been placed in an induced coma so his body could heal on it’s own and that he would wake up on his own time.

After three days though, you can’t imagine looking into Bucky’s eyes. You don’t know how to after seeing him so close to death.

“Just like that.” Sam says kindly. “I told you he was a fighter.”

You swallow thickly in an attempt to hold back tears. “I don’t… I’ll be in there soon.” You settle against the wall again.

Softly, Sam speaks, “Soon? He’s asking for you.” He tilts his head in an attempt to get you to look at him, but your eyes stay stuck to the ground. “Nobody ever said Bucky wasn’t an idiot, but he’s an idiot who cares. About you.”

“He can care about me without trying to kill himself!” You exclaim. You shoot an apologetic look toward the nurses who glance over at your voice.

There’s a beat of silence before Sam sighs. “He can. But how is supposed to know that? All Bucky has known is war, maybe in some way saving you from violence is all he knows how to do to show he cares.”

You look away again before you heave out a sigh. Your mind is a scrambled mess of panic, stress and exhaustion. All you want is to go home and forget any of this ever happened.

“I’ll give you some time.” Sam presses a reassuring kiss to the top of your head. “Just talk to him, yeah?”

You nod reluctantly. “I will.” When you don’t move, Sam raises his eyebrows. “Just… Give me a second.” When Sam leaves you in the hallway again, you suck in a deep breath in preparation.

<- ☾ ->

“Sweets.” Bucky smiles softly when he spots you in the doorway. “Been wondering where you were.”

You look him over like you’re expecting to see him covered in blood again. “Needed some air.” You answer curtly.

Bucky watches you quietly as you move further into the room. “Something wrong?”

“I’m glad you’re okay.” You avoid answering the question. Bucky notices you pause at the end of his bed and stares with furrowed brows.

When you don’t say anything else he forces out an awkward chuckle. “I’m always gonna be okay, sweets.”

“That’s not true.” You snap. You heave in a breath as Bucky watches with wide eyes. “You don’t get to just… Just wake up and be fine.”

“I am fine.” Bucky waves his hands out in front of him as if to show you. You shake your head in disbelief. “What? I am!”

“Your blood was on my hands!” You yell, shocking Bucky into silence. “You were bleeding out! Bucky, I had to watch you almost die in my arms. You don’t… You don’t get to sit here and just say you’re fine.”

“Sweets…” Bucky trails off. His eyes move over you like you’re a wild animal and he’s afraid you’ll pounce. It makes you even more upset that you look like the irrational one here.

You look away. “You were bleeding out and there was nothing I could do but watch. I can’t… I can’t do that again.”

“What am I supposed to do?” His voice raises and you know it’s so you’ll look over at him again. “Just let them hurt you?”

There’s a moment of tense silence before you nod. “Yes.”

“I’m not doing that. I can’t and I won’t.” Bucky’s shaking his head wildly at the thought of you getting hurt. “That’s not an option.”

You scoff. You’re still standing at the end of his bed and you can’t bring yourself to move closer. Not with how angry you are at him. “What is this self-sacrificial bullshit? Who does it help?”

“You!” Bucky yells. You’re almost afraid somebody will come in to check on him and find the two of you in the midst of a fight. “I’d rather be in this bed than see you in it.”

You let out a humorless laugh, but it just ends up as an exhausted sigh. “I can’t lose you, Bucky.” You finally admit in a whisper. “I can’t… I need you here, alive.”

Bucky’s eyes soften as you looks you over. “Come here.” Your eyes grow teary as he opens his arms for you crawl in beside him. “Please, sweets. Come lay with me.”

“Bucky…” You sniffle as the beginning of a sentence trails off. You move quickly to lay beside him, careful of the wires. “I don’t want you to die for me.”

His hand runs up and down your arm as your head rests on his shoulder. “This life. My life. It’s been full of violence, I just want to protect you from it.”

“You can protect me without almost dying. I won’t watch you do this again.” You look up at him sadly, the sound of his monitor beeping steadily somehow helps you breathe calmer as you push the words out. “If you want me in your life, you’ll give up this self-sacrificing bullshit.”

Bucky shifts so he can look down at you. “What else should I do?”

“Let me fight on my own. Have faith that I can handle myself.” Your hand trails down to intertwine with his. “If I… If I ever got hurt in the field like this, I’d rather you fight for me than die for me.”

Bucky inhales sharply. “I do have faith in you.” His left hand comes up to rest on your cheek and turn you eyes to face him again. “I know you’re a good fighter. I just… I…”

“I know.” You agree. The words are clear in his eyes and the nervous smile on his face. “I just need you to promise me, no more being a martyr. I don’t need anything else right now.”

Bucky’s thumb gently runs over your cheek bone. “I promise to try.” You allow your eyes to shut as Bucky leans down to press a kiss to your forehead.

There are words unspoken between you two. Things that should be said and talked about, but it can wait. You’re content to lay with him, like this, for now.

»»————-　☾　————-««

notes -> just a short bucky piece while i work on my longer fics! next part of the survivor series should be out soon.

[whumpcollector]

Lucas pt.3: Pit Fight

Here’s part 3 everyone. Wanted to get his out sooner but college is hell and I am a sinner.

Content Warnings: Blood, depictions of violence, forced fighting, references to torture, If I missed anything please let me know!

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

The roar of the crowd filled Lucas’ ears, washing over him like a wave. He wasn’t used to this sort of audience. When he performed the most noise the crowds made were small gasps and cheers of applause at the very end. Here it was an endless sea of shouts, jeers, and calls for blood. It was terrifying, and Lucas was fighting to push down nausea as he waited for his turn to enter the pit.

His fight was scheduled to be the last one of the night, the grand finale. A duel between two mages, a once in a lifetime spectacle for everyone in the building. He hadn’t seen his opponent, but he had overheard some conversation when he was led to the holding area. Apparently the betting pool had him at 26 to 1 odds of winning, which wasn’t a good sign. Dread began to creep up his spine and the boy turned his attention to the current fight, hoping it would distract him. 

The current combatants were two men, convicts. They were both slated for execution on the same day and were offered a chance at amnesty if they both fought in the pit. Whoever survived the fight would be allowed to walk free, and neither of them were going to make it easy for the other. A chain roughly ten feet long connected them at the waist, making it so that there wasn’t much room to fall back or give ground. Both were forced onto the offensive and both looked like they were half an inch from death.

One of the fighters, a short stocky man, was bleeding heavily from a gash on his forehead and had one eye almost swollen over. The other, a taller man with long limbs, was sporting a broken arm and had to limp when he moved. They were both covered in bruises and cuts and were obviously hurting. Despite that neither of them were willing to back down, and the crowd was eating up the brutality.

The shorter man lunged forward, slamming his body into the taller man and sending them both to the ground. They struggled, arms and legs flailing as they each fought to get an advantage. After a moment the taller man was able to straddle his opponent. Without a moment’s hesitation he began to pummel the shorter man, raining blows down onto his head with the ferocity of a wild animal. Blood spurted into the air and after a solid minute the shorter man stopped struggling. The taller man didn’t stop his assault and continued on pummeling his now dead opponent. Finally, when the shorter man's face was almost entirely caved in, the taller man was pulled off of the body by two of the pit’s guards. He was pulled away as the crowd screamed and chanted, blood lust almost emanating from their bodies. 

Lucas watched the entire ordeal with wide eyes. He had seen and suffered acts of violence, bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed, many times in his life. This was something else, something worse. The moment he stepped into the pit he would be facing down another mage. A mage that was most likely stronger and tougher than him. A mage that would be both willing and able to kill him. When he had walked into the pit he convinced himself that he might be able to walk away, that if he puts up a decent fight and then lets his opponent beat him into unconsciousness that would be enough. Now the crowd was in a frenzy, and Lucas could feel in his bones that only one of them would be walking out of this. He could also feel that it wouldn’t be him.

“Nervous eh?”

The slurred voice of Devran pulled Lucas out of his mind. His master’s had been enjoying the night, drinking and eating while they watched from the waiting area. It was arguably the best seat in the arena. They were also both in a good mood, their riskier bets had all paid off and the fights had been good up to now. Maybe he could appeal to them, beg them to stop this.

“Master Harol-”

“Shut it kid.” Harold cut him off. “I know what you’re going to ask and the answer is no. I was already paid for the fight and if this crowd hears I backed out and screwed them out of their finale? They’ll have my head on a pike. I’d focus on figuring out how you’re going to win instead of trying to weasel your way out.”

With that Harold took a long swig from his tankard and waved Lucas away. The boy obeyed, sulking to another corner of the room. His mind was racing. He wasn’t a fighter, and he only had a few minutes to figure out how to be one. Once the pit was cleaned out and the audience back from collecting their bets it would be his turn. 

His magic began to flare, energy flowing through his body until it stopped at his wrists. Lucas grunted, taking a deep breath and forcing the magic to dissipate. He couldn’t afford to lose control now. If there was any chance of him winning this it would be because he made sure he had every possible advantage going for him. Having his magic backfire on him wouldn’t aid that plan.

A few more minutes passed and Lucas was still far from anywhere close to ready. Unfortunately time wasn’t on his side. Harold walked up behind the boy and lifted him to his feet before unlocking his shackles and all but dragging him to the gate. The metal bars blocking the way into the pit were raised and Lucas shot Harold one last desperate glance. The man looked down with a blank expression and then shoved the mage through the gateway into the arena proper. 

The gate slammed closed, trapping Lucas inside the pit. He looked around frantically, searching for any avenues of escape. He found none and his eyes eventually settled on the only other person in the pit with him, his opponent. He was taller and far more toned than Lucas was, which didn’t come as a surprise. He also had an air of confidence that Lucas was sorely lacking. 

Their eyes met, and the man shot Lucas a glare that caused the boy to fold in on himself. There was a cold determination in his man’s gaze that sent shivers down the boy’s spine. The message was clear, Lucas should expect no mercy tonight. 

A loud voice pulled Lucas’ attention away from his opponent. “Ladies and gentlemen I hope you’re all situated because our grand finale is about to begin! We have a very special treat for you my lovely audience because tonight you will witness a once in a lifetime event! Tonight, you all get to watch not one, but TWO mages duke it out in this very pit!”

The crowd exploded, excitement and bloodlust filling the air. 

“Now for those of you who may be concerned about two master magic wielders being in the same building I assure you we have invested in some...extra security tonight.”

The announcer gestured and Lucas followed him. The boy turned around and froze, his eyes widening in fear. Situated among the top seats of the area was a man pointing a crossbow directly at Lucas. The silver tipped bolt and half mask marked the man as a witch hunter. Lucas gulped and took a hesitant step to the side. The man tracked his movement flawlessly, the tip of the bolt always pointed directly at the boy. Lucas turned and saw his opponent looking backwards. Sure enough another witch hunter had his sights trained on the bigger man. 

“Yes ladies and gentleman those are indeed genuine witch hunters. Their job will be to make sure you fine people are protected from any nasty tricks those mages down there might pull. Give a round of applause would ya?”

The crowd obliged and a loud cheer erupted from the stands. Neither of the hunters even blinked at the noise, their focus solely on the two mages in the pit. Lucas and his opponent turned their attentions back to each other as the announcer spoke one last time.

“I think we kept you waiting long enough, without further ado...LET THE GAMES BEGIN!”

The man sprung into action, pulling his right arm back and then flinging it forward in a throwing motion. Lucas yelped before diving to the side, three small projectiles whistling past his ear. He looked back and saw three icicles embedded in the arena wall. Lucas gulped before turning back around to face his opponent. The man was almost on top of Lucas, his fits encased in a thick layer of ice. The boy barely had enough time to roll to the side, the man’s fists slamming into the ground where Lucas’ head used to be in an explosion of ice shards.

Lucas scrambled away, scrawling on all fours before stumbling upright. He barely had a moment to catch his breath before he heard an angry shout from behind him. Pivoting on his heel Lucas saw the other mage running towards him, his right hand encased in a sharp blade of ice. The man swung at Luca’s neck and the boy almost threw himself to the ground to avoid it. The older mage kept up the assault, swinging wildly at Lucas while the boy dodged desperately. Luckily it seemed like the older man knew about as much as Lucas did when it came to fighting. His swings were slow and clearly choreographed giving Lucas plenty of time to move out of the way. Despite that the younger mage could feel himself tire out. He needed to get some space, a few seconds to catch his breath and gather his bearings.

Lucas channeled his magic into his hands, the familiar burn filling his veins. Energy flowed into his fingertips, and when the older mage went for another wild swing Lucas thrust his arms forward, creating a small explosion. The man flew backwards, his clothes and hair singed from the blast. Lucas moved backwards, putting as much distance as he could between himself and his opponent without boxing himself against a wall. 

Lucas watched the ice mage stand up, an appropriately cold look on his face. The boy gulped, he was hoping he could try and plead with the other man but right now that seemed unlikely to work. Still, he might as well try.

“Please,” Lucas called out desperately. “I don’t want to fight you”

The man responded by throwing his arm forward in and underarm motion. Long shards of ice materialized on the ground as he did, creating a line of razor sharp icicles that grew towards Lucas. The boy ducked down, the tip of an icicle embedding itself where his head had been a moment ago. The ice mage repeated the motion, creating waves of ice in whatever direction Lucas tried to move.

Lucas was getting boxed in, the space he had to maneuver shrinking as walls of ice cut him off. He needed an out soon. Waiting for the man to commit to another attack Lucas began to gather magic in his hands again. When he saw the ice wall begin to materialize he flicked his fingers outwards, creating a shockwave that broke through one of the ice walls and allowed him to get away. Once he was in the open Lucas turned and tried to reach out again.

“We don’t need t-”

A large chuck of ice slammed into his stomach, cutting him off and sending him to the floor. Lucas coughed, blood coming up with spit. So that was it then. The only way he was getting out of here was if he fought, if he killed the man in front of him. The thought of it made his stomach churn, but whatever sense of self preservation he still had forced him to act. Gritting his teeth Lucas channeled energy into hand before shooting it out forwards. A bolt of lightning arced from his fingers and the older mage barely had time to put a barrier before it struck him. Ice shattered and the man stumbled back, dazed and off balance. 

Deciding he needed to keep his momentum Lucas clenched his fists, letting magic build until small fireballs materialized from his palms. The fire burned his skin, but he let them grow bigger and hotter. Once they were the size of small melons he threw them towards his opponent. The older man dived out of the way, the fireballs barely missing him before hitting the wall and burning out. Some of the flames licked the faces of the front row audience, but they didn’t seem to care.

The crowd was roaring with excitement, each display of magic seeming to rile them up further. Some had taken sides, chanting their support for their preferred combatant. The crowd didn’t know either of the mage’s names, but nicknames quickly developed. One patron was leaning over the barrier separating the ring from the stands, yelling at ‘ice-man’ to get up. Another shouted support towards Lucas, telling ‘hot-shot’ that she had a lot of money riding on him. 

Both mages eyed each other. Lucas was already preparing his next attack and ‘ice-man’ prepared to defend himself. The younger mage shot out another lightning bolt and the man rolled to the side, the bolt grazing his shoulder. He responded by forming several small icicles in the air and throwing them at Lucas, who ducked beneath them at the last moment. Lucas summoned a pillar of flame and sent it towards his opponent, preventing him from gaining any ground. 

The back and forth continued and neither mage seemed to gain any ground. Shards of ice and arcs of lightning flew across the small arena. Lucas’ opponent would keep trying to close the distance between them while Lucas desperately fended him off. The stalemate dragged on, and both of them were getting desperate.

The fight had only gone on for around ten minutes, but Lucas felt like he had been in the arena for hours. Sweat soaked his hair and he could feel every part of his body protesting the intense use of magic. He just wanted to lie down and rest, just for a moment. Unfortunately his opponent wasn’t going to give him the chance. The ice mage was rushing towards him, a solid blade of ice covering his right hand. Lucas began to channel his magic again, but nothing happened. His magic was spent, and the realization hit him right as the older man was within striking distance.

A sharp pain blossomed from Lucas’ side, and he looked down to see his opponent’s ice blade piercing his body right above his thigh. A deep, biting cold began to spread from the wound and Lucas could only shiver and gasp as the ice mage twisted his arm, driving the blade deeper before breaking it off of his hand. The boy turned his gaze back to his assailant.  The man’s eyes were filled with a cold determination and he drew his arm back. Ice covered his hand again and he sent a haymaker flying towards Lucas’ face. 

The boy was sent flying backwards, his body slamming heavily onto the ground. Stars danced across his vision and he could feel blood gushing from his now broken nose. The cheering of the crowd filled his ears, none of them seemed to care that he was dying on the floor. The shard of ice was still embedded and all he could feel was the cool. The skin around the wound was covered in a thin layer of frost and it felt like the blood in his veins was freezing solid. Lucas’ breath began to slow, and soon he started to slip away. His vision darkened, his body shuddered, and then consciousness failed him.

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

“Hell of a show eh?”

“Yeah, too bad the rat went down though. Was feeling lucky, put down a few coppers on him.”

“Really? Well you’ve always been shit at gambling.”

Harold and Devran shared a chuckle as they walked through the hallways of the arena building. They were both fairly intoxicated, stumbling and swaying as they heard towards the holding cells. While Devran may have lost his bet, the payday they got from the fight far outweighed the loss and both men were in quite high spirits.

“Think the little shits still alive?” Devran asked, slurring his words slightly.

“I dunno, maybe.” Harold paused for a moment before continuing. “If he aint I think we still managed to make a profit off him overall.”

“Really? Well that's good at least. Can’t say I’ll be sad to see him go.”

“You know you’ll miss him.”

Devran scoffed. “Really? Why’s that?”

“Won’t have anyone to kick around when you’re bored. He was always good for that at least.”

They shared another chuckle. “Yeah, guess you’re right.”

They continued the rest of the walk in silence. It wasn’t long until they reached the cell they were looking for. Lucas was lying on one of the benches in the cell, still unconscious, while the ice mage sat on the other. His attention was focused on the boy, and he gave Devran and Harold the barest of acknowledgements when they entered the cell.

 “Well done out there, really gave the rat a beating.”

The man didn’t respond and Devran scowled before spitting at his feet. Harold walked over to Lucas and placed two fingers on the boy’s neck. He focused and after a moment he felt a faint pulse. He nodded his head before reaching into his stachel and pulling out a small vial. It was the same stuff that Devran had given Lucas on the trip to the city, and without delay Harold opened Lucas’ mouth and poured the liquid down his throat.

Nothing happened at first, but soon enough Lucas began to sputter and cough. With a deep gasp the boy awoke, sitting up and looking around confused before he noticed Harold and Devran.

“There you are kid. Welcome back to the land of the living,” Harold said with uncharacteristic warmth. “You did good out there, real good. Good enough to earn yourself a few days rest. We’ll be hanging around the city for a while, have some deals I want to pursue. While we’re here you’ll get the good stuff. Warm food, a bed, I’ll even keep Devran away from you. Sounds good huh?” 

Harold didn’t wait for a reply. He reached out his hand and Lucas flinched before it settled on the top of his head. Harold ruffled the boy’s hair in a way that could almost seem affectionate before turning around and leaving the cell. Devran gave Lucas a neutral look before also taking his leave. They locked the door behind them and as their footsteps faded away Lucas turned to his cellmate warily. 

The older mage looked at him before holding up his hands in a placting gesture. “Easy kid, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Lucas wasn’t convinced. “You almost killed me out there.”

The other man rolled his eyes. “No I didn’t. Trust me if i wanted you dead you would be dead.”

“You stabbed me!” Lucas said, his voice almost rising to a yell. “You stabbed me and left me to freeze to death on the floor!”

“I stabbed you and left the blade in so you wouldn’t bleed out,” the man replied calmly. “Yeah sure it was cold, but not enough to freeze you from the inside out.”

Lucas still wasn’t convinced, and he slid into a corner of the cell, his arms wrapping around his legs protectively. Both mages stared at each other for a few minutes. The silence grew until eventually before Lucas decided to break it. “You didn’t need to punch me that hard.” 

“Yes I did! my win needed to look convincing. If it didn’t the crowd would have complained about the match being rigged and we’d both pay the price.” The older mage sighed before softening his voice a little. “I was just trying to make sure we both got out alive. Besides, I had a feeling you weren’t exactly a stranger to pain.”

Lucas didn’t respond and simply looked at the man. Up this close and without the distraction the fighting he noticed a lot more. He noticed the scars on the man’s arms, almost identical to the ones on his own. He noticed the man’s sunken eyes and gaunt face. He noticed the collar around his neck, familiar looking runes etched along its surface. He noticed the burns that his own attacks had left. He noticed how two of the man’s fingernails were missing. 

“This?” the man asked, holding up the afflicted fingers. “My master did this to me before the fight, said it was an ‘incentive’ to perform well.”

Lucas nodded, a sense of understanding formed between them. “My name is Lucas,” he said softly.

“Finch”

They fell into silence again, this time far more comfortably. A few minutes passed and Lucas felt himself dozing off before hearing Finch call out.

“Hey Lucas, how long have you been with those two?”

Lucas paused, thinking for a moment before responding. “Five years.”

Finch nodded, and then asked a question.

“You want to get away from ‘em?”

Tags: @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi​ @haro-whumps​

[carlatsukinamistolemyhamsandwich]

9, 12, 14, 25, 28, 30, 31, 34, 37, 40, 41, 42 and 50 for the Diabolik Lovers Ask Game please! By the way, I love your blog SO MUCH. ♡♡♡

From this ask game.

Thank you for the ask anon, I’m really glad you like my blog :)

This got kind of long so I’ve put my answers below the cut.

9. Do you hate anyone in DL?

Hate is a very strong word, but if you saw my recent post on Shuu’s CL route then you’ll know that I am not the biggest Karlheinz fan. Richter and Cordelia are also fairly awful but I can’t help but feel some sort of pity for Richter as it seems he had a pretty miserable life and while some of the things Cordelia did are just horrible, my negative feelings towards her have somewhat lessened since we got a bit more of a glimpse at her backstory in DF. Menae must have died before Cordelia could really remember her, and we have to remember that she was heavily manipulated by Karl. Like yes, Cordelia is dreadful, but I still think Karl is the big bad of the series. He does so so many awful things and no matter which game you look at, I can’t help but feel that his reasoning is always pretty bleh (even if that probably is just due to not great writing).

Also after that Subaru LE ending Seiji Komori can eat dirt.

12. What do you think of the fandom?

Hmm... While I know some people hold negative views of the DL fandom at large, I don’t think any fandom is entirely unproblematic. My personal experience has generally been pretty good but I will admit I have seen some fairly terrible behavior in the 3 and a half years I’ve been seriously into DL. Then again I also haven’t been this deep in any other fandom and, sadly, I think that is just the nature of the internet.

Still, there are some amazing and very talented people in this fandom, and I feel extraordinarily lucky to have been able to interact with them, so I prefer to focus on that over anything else.

14. Sub or dub?

Sub all the way. When I first started watching anime, I initially just watched dubs, but after I started learning Japanese, I switched to subs to try and pick up some more vocab and now I can’t go back. Also I really like a lot of the Japanese voice actors in DL ^^

25. What do you think of DL haters?

I generally hold the attitude of “live and let live”. If someone doesn’t like DL because of the triggering content (and the way it deals with it) or the sometimes questionable plot then fair enough, it’s not like I think the series is without its problems. The only time I will have any issue at all is if they actively attack fans of the show. If someone is just minding their own business and not hurting anyone then under no circumstances is it okay to blindly attack them over a work of fiction. So yeah, you do you as long as you’re not being a twit about it.

28. Would you ever show your parents DL why/why not?

For anyone who remembers some of the random stuff I post, you’ll know that my mother is indeed aware of Shin’s existence (and Carla’s) which perhaps would have been difficult to avoid given that he’s plastered all over my bedroom wall and I talk about him A LOT (I am just as bad irl folks), but I’ve never gone into the details of the series with her as I feel like she’d be fairly disturbed at some of the content (and it’s for this reason that I would never show her the anime).

You will understand then, why I was slightly horrified when she told me she’d read the wiki because she wanted to know more about the characters I loved so much (like bless her, but also O.o). Apparently Carla is “a baddie” but she thinks Shin is okay.

My parents are also aware of the existence of this blog but, fortunately for me, have no interest in reading it.

30. What do you think of Yui?

I like Yui (I mean what is there to dislike?), she’s a lovely character and has a really good impact on the boys. I’m not as invested in her as perhaps some of the fandom but that’s because I am unapologetically here for the dumpster fire that is the boys.

I prefer writing reader inserts over Yui x diaboy fanfics, simply because it’s fun to see the boys in a slightly different relationship dynamic to that we get in the games (like if you look at my most recent Shin drabble, Yui would never tease Shin like that but I would so reader insert it is).

31. What is your favourite Dialover song and why?

What do you mean I have to pick just one??? Gahhh I love love love Kessen no Dies irae, because it features the Tsukinami bros and it’s just my sort of music but I think my favorite might actually be I.M.I.T.A.T.I.O.N.G.A.M.E. I’m not the biggest Kino fan but Maeno’s singing voice is phenomenal and it also brings back happy memories of when I finished Shin’s LE route for the first time. 

34. Tell us your top three routes! Why are they your favourites?

Hooo boy, this is a tricky one because we all know my bias at this point ^^;; I’ve limited myself to one Shin route because otherwise this list would just be me waxing on about Shin and goodness knows I do that enough already.

1) Shin’s Lost Eden Route

While I like his DF route, I love that Shin’s LE route pays a bit more attention to his feelings towards Yui than his complicated relationship with Carla. I love that it really stretches him as a character and we get to see him relying on Yui, like I don’t know who came up with that plot but BLESS. I think the pacing is very good and the bad endings are just so tragic (and I love really angsty bad endings). And some of the scenario chapters from this route just make me melt.

I also love this route for personal reasons. I’d only just fallen into Shinhell when LE was released and I remember seeing the CGs for his route but there was no information on the plot in the English speaking side of the fandom and it was driving me nuts because I just wanted to know that he was okay. It was at this same time that I had a bit of spare money so I... bought a PSVita and a copy of Lost Eden so I could find out what happened (I was planning on getting a Vita anyway just maybe not THAT soon). I’d only been learning Japanese for 6 months (I am nothing if not horribly ambitious) but I didn’t let that stop me and played through the route. And I loved it (even if I struggled a little with the language) and I was so happy to find out what happened to him. So yeah, I just have warm memories of it.

2) Carla’s Dark Fate Route

While I like Carla’s LE route, I think the pacing and plot of his DF is just a bit better. I love that it gives us the best glimpse at the backstory of the founders (I will take any and all Krone and Giesbach tidbits I can) and I think the progression of Carla and Yui’s relationship is really well handled (even if he is dreadful towards her at times). Also I like Carla, I think of all of the diaboys, he’s one of the ones I’m most similar to so I find it easy to empathize with him.

3) Subaru’s Dark Fate Route

It’s been a while since I played this route but I remember having a really good time when I did. The Vampire Ending is incredibly sweet, as are some of the scenario chapters and I thought the plot was fairly well structured. Plus Carla and Shin are in it so bonus points there.

37. If you could change one thing in your favourite Diaboy what would it be?

I never want to answer questions like this because I love Shin as he is, I don’t want to change him. 

I mean I would like for him to see more value in who he is than just his bloodline and get it into his skull that he is not inferior to Carla but only as gradual changes based on environment (or just idk talking to Carla but goodness only knows that won’t happen unless Carla’s on his deathbed again).

40. Your thoughts on Karlheinz?

See above. But yeah, not a fan, would not be sad if he became the victim of a bizarre fishing accident and never again appeared in the DL franchise but I think that’s a bit too much to hope for. Sorry Karl fans but I can’t get over the stuff he’s done (and also I have had enough of “and it was Karl’s fault all along” coming up in the games).

41. Would you buy the games if they were released in English?

I’m a little torn on this one because I love supporting Rejet and otome game localisations but I own all of the games aside from VC already so there wouldn’t really be any point. I think if I had a LOT of money to spare then I would, but as my finances stand at the moment then it’s a no.

42. If you got to design the 14th Diaboy what would he be like?

Oh this is a difficult one, ideally I’d like to see someone who was a member of one of the other demon races but I don’t think you can really have a diaboy without the blood-sucking, so I guess I’d make them half vampire half adler (as I think they’re the race we know the least about). As for personality... It’s tricky because I feel like the diaboys already cover a pretty wide spectrum. I’d probably make him a cocky jerk because I love cocky jerks and I’d make him fairly witty too but more logic than feelings orientated. I’d have him kidnap Yui because he wants to use her as a pawn against the diaboys in some nefarious plot (that I’m not going to think too much about because this post is not meant to be an OC planning session) and not because he has any interest in her or plans for her himself.  I guess he’d sort of be a cross between Kino and Carla?

I’d give him a vendetta against Karlheinz too because I can :D 

I had to cut this short because I started coming up with a backstory an everything but I think that’s too much ^^;;

50. Do you think Richter should have a route of his own?

Honestly? No. It’s not that I wouldn’t be interested to see the story of Richter with someone who is not Cordelia (even if he is not my favorite dude from the franchise) but more that I can’t see Rejet dropping Yui as a heroine and RichterxYui? No thank you. After all the stuff he’s done in the games and his obsession with Cordelia? I just don’t feel comfortable with that pairing, sorry.

[hearteyes-for-killmonger]

Part 18: Visitor

In the early hours, Erik walked casually through the next hotel's parking lot dressed in comfortable all black with his bag of equipment, following silently and subtly a few feet behind a clueless older white man, mid-50s in loafers. The guy was making his way to a small silver Ford c-max with key in hand. He hit the unlock moving to the passenger side and luckily, he was parked next to a truck. Erik hopped in the cut behind him and between the two cars, wrapping his right arm around the guys neck, catching his chin in his elbow. The guy grabbed Erik's arm trying to resist and protect his throat, but Erik gripped his shoulder before locking his left arm behind the man's head, thumb to his own right ear. The throat was caught between his arm and bicep as he squeezed for ten seconds feeling the man go slack. He released him gently to the ground and took the keys, sliding into the driver's seat. Pulling out of the hotel lot, he turned on the radio grimacing when country music flared from the speakers. He switched the radio to the hip hop station. After thinking over the dinner incident, he knew exactly how he'd been located. He knew the risks earlier when he'd taken that damn picture despite being in the middle of a game of assassins. He needed to get to the computer at the Reunion Tower to access employee files. That was his start.

Parking a block away, Erik created his own route to side entrance, carrying his bag over his shoulder. It would've been so much easier if he could've strongarmed an employee to get in, but they were all long gone as were the police so fuck all that. He didn't need anyone to get the job done, he'd do it himself. Checking out the lock, he wondered about the security system. If he weren't on a time crunch, he'd have waited to scope the place out for cameras and to check the security system. All he had to go on was what he'd picked up earlier in the day. His knowledge was something, but not thorough. He knew they probably had a security alert system in place but it likely wasn't sophisticated and officers were not 24/7. He'd probably trigger a silent alarm so time was of the essence as well as a mask for whatever CCTV they had. He had an unassuming black ski mask that he put on, tucking his gold necklace. He also wore gloves so his race wouldn't be known.

Picking the side lock instead of the front or back was the better decision. Typically it was the least congested when it came to security, in his experience and now that he was into the tower, he had to be efficient and brief. He had two goals. 1) Hack into the employee records for staff schedules and staff personal information. He could get this from payroll. 2) Delete all photos they have on file that way he could delete his own image without singling himself out.

---

The harsh bounce of the plane as its wheels drop loudly and beat the runway shakes you awake and throws you around in your seat, the mechanical whirring of the machinery rushing forward like a giant car. Judging by the hush that had been as a blanket over every passenger, it seems that you're not the only one who was knocked out. As the lights shine on in the plane you can see and hear people waking up, shifting to life in their seats. The sky is still black, but the plane is guided by by amber artificial lighting. When it finally rolls to a stop, you have to wait along with everyone else to get off. Fighting the urge to close your eyes, you check the time. It's close to 2:45, which means it's almost 5 in Texas.

Erik is probably stretched out right now on his face, buried under pillows and enjoying having that hotel bed to himself. Maybe he'll let the maids into the room this time... or not. Knowing him, it's still not likely.

Finally the first few rows stand up starting the exit wave. You jump up with sleep still in your eyes to tug your bag down from the overhead bin, following the quick moving line of passengers through the suspended hall into the airport gate. They all move like they have somewhere to be in a hurry the way they speed speedwalk from the plane like they weren't just knocked. Meanwhile, you're ready to take a nap in one of these many empty seats you keep passing up.

"We ain't that reckless," you mumble. If you fell asleep in a public area with your luck you'd wake up with half your  luggage or items missing. "..Sleepy sleepy sleepy," you mumble.

The good thing about flights at this time is that the airport is practically empty which means there's no one in your way, no one to compare your pace to, and no one to dodge or speed walk against. You can take things at your own pace without the social pressure to keep up without looking fatigued. Collecting your checked luggage from the baggage claim, you go your own pace to the parking lot hitting the unlock on the key fob. The familiar lights flash on and you head on over settling in.

It feels so strange driving Erik's car without him in it. You feel yourself blinking a little too much and too long, yawning into the side of your wrist with watery eyes. The same energy from the airport is on the road, borderline deserted. There aren't a lot of cars out riding around past 3 especially where you're headed. You flip on the radio turning it to a pop station and High Hopes by PATD has just started. Cranking it up, you sing along as loudly as you can muster to wake yourself up. You can feel yourself swerve a bit. The music carries you all the way to that exit where you turn off into some stretch of rural nothing. It's where you take an unmarked and nearly unnoticeable road that looks like it leads to nowhere. Following it, you find that familiar long and dark backroad, riding through under a canopy of tall grass and weed-like plants that shoot up from the dirt like walls. You drive slowly fearful of a frantic deer or some large animal jumping out in front of the vehicle. Finally, you're met with the large isolated modern house with glass panels. It's very dark. Strong shadows are cast all over the surrounding area, the greenery... the only light comes from the stars up above, twinkling mildly off of the glass.

How does Erik see anything when he comes home at night with the lights off? The place isn't even lit properly, he ought to leave the lights on! How does he feel safe like this?

Come to think of it, he does pack guns. You'd counted three. One he gave to you for emergencies, one you'd seen in his hand when he came to your rescue in your apartment, and one you'd seen at dinner when the restaurant got shot up. You cringe at the memory of the blood and the shots. It looked like someone had died yet Erik had been so ready to rush out to play hero, confronting the situation head-on as if he were still active duty and on the front lines. That part of him while honorable is still very scary because his overconfidence and meddling nature could potentially be the death of him. Then what? He's only human and not immune to attacks but he just won't back down. It seems to be embedded into his makeup.

Three guns. That's only what you've seen! The thought makes you shake your head. Maybe that's it right there. Maybe Erik doesn't feel safe either. Maybe that's why he has so many guns.. to protect himself.. because of the life he's lived. He's seen some awful things, you're sure. Things you can't imagine and the way he hardly blinked watching those attackers... You shiver. He wouldn't call it fear, he'd call it being prepared. Either way, he feels a strong need to watch his back, that much you can gather.

The first thing you do when inside the house is go through and flip on all the lights downstairs and then upstairs. Well, not all of them, but enough to start to feel like you aren't the main character in a horror movie with some homicidal maniac hunting you from the woods. The influx of light enough to ease your mind for the time being and you use the excess jittery energy to unpack and put your brand new belongings away. You hadn't gotten a chance to wear everything you'd bought in Texas, but something told you that you would. Erik was entirely too extra to not find an occasion. He'd probably create one.

Stripping down, you locate his hamper tossing in your belongings. You'll wash them all tomorrow. As for now, you head naked down the hall and into the bathroom more excited than ever to use his spa room of a shower. Looking over the contents arranged on the long and exposed shelf under his double sink, you pull from the neatly folded white washcloths and towels stacked next to the wicker basket of Erik's grooming items. To the left are a gang of small white candles in simple glass jars with black labels and white print. He's got at least two of each scent.. Vanilla, Sandalwood, Egyptian Musk, Coconut Mango, and Leather. Heading back into the hall, you snatch the lighter from Erik's bedroom drawer, lighting the Coconut Mango before carrying your body wash into the shower.

Once out, you wrap a towel around yourself carrying the candle and head to your own assigned room to lotion down and put on a tank with some small shorts to sleep in. Only suddenly, after showering you're not ready to sleep just yet.. so you head back downstairs with the spare blanket you found in the guest room's closet and help yourself to a yellow gatorade and some popcorn figuring you probably ought to cook something tomorrow so his groceries don't go to waste. There're some good ingredients in his fridge. You aren't doing any of it tonight though.

Sitting on the couch and flipping on the TV, you get cozy under the blanket as the current commercial break ends. There's a lady with a blunt blonde bob popping corn over the stove like she's in the stone age. You eat a handful of your own popcorn as she picks up the phone and the voice sounds creepy.

Who the hell is she speaking to and why is she entertaining him? Wait, is that Drew Barrymore?

"Wait.. Oh hell no," you change the channel not wanting to watch a horror movie right before bed, especially Scream.

"Nope," you repeat suddenly a tad paranoid. Not while you're in a bigass house in the middle of nowhere alone, like a cabin in the woods and your phone is upstairs. No ma'am, no sir. You keep flipping, sipping your gatorade.

After flipping through nonsense, however, curiosity gets the best of you and against your better judgement, you go back to Scream. You'd never actually watched it before though it was hailed as a classic.

"No he doesn't have her doing trivia," you snicker.

"...And he kills her boyfriend. This is crazy... He done stabbed her in the chest and choked her? That's a little personal, he must have known her. This killer is someone she knows."

"Dang, he must have stabbed her in the lung because she couldn't even yell to her parents. Will he kill them too or are they not on his hit list? Her only targets teens who cook their popcorn weird."

Shovelling more popcorn into your mouth you ignore that you're basically her right now, choosing instead to watch the mom as she looks outside.

"Don't tell me... Oh NO.. NO NO NO."

When you see the body hanging, you almost turn it off but then these homicidal 90s suburban teens come on screen and each of them seem not just capable of murder, but intrigued by it. You can see this creepy film is gonna be a whodunnit. Suddenly, you're more aware of the chill on your arms and the sounds in the house.

It's just the house settling, you remind yourself. There's no one out here. Erik lives away from society and that includes psychotic knife-weilding murderers.

Flu pops into your mind threatening to make you frantic, but you cast his face down immediately.

Nope... no one is out here. It's just me and I'm okay. I'll be okay.

The doorbell rings your heart hops into your throat. There's an accompanying aggressive knocking on the door causing your head to snap right to face it as you sit still as possible.

Who the french toast is all the way out here at 4:40 a.m. and why? Keep it together. Find a weapon.  Don't freak out. Get up... quietly.

Again, someone knocks and you continue to stare at the door like a deer in headlights. The doorbell rings twice and your eyes widen when a feminine voice yells.

"ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE." You listen closely. "I WILL BURN ALL THIS SHIT DOWN, KILL," she threatens as if she's looking for somebody.

Who?

Against your better judgment again, you pad to the door and peep through the peephole spotting a slim brown girl with long dark curly hair in a big sloppy top bun. She's looking you dead in the eye and you have to remember that she can't actually see you.

Looks about his type though. Exactly his type actually.

"Stop looking at me and open the door, Kill. This is business."

With your hand on the knob, you unlock the door and pull it open to a crack. Staring at the woman in front of you, she's about an inch taller but it's close. She opens her mouth but her eyes widen briefly in surprise and she closes her mouth, squinting in pure bewilderment.

"Who.. are you," she tilts her head with an pained expression that says you are way out of place and far from home. You know that already and she doesn't need to look like that. Afterall, she's the one banging on the door at close to 5 in the morning while you're inside. So who's really out of place? "Hello?"

"..That's none of your business. Who are you and do you know what time it is?"

Her eyes are unwavering, staring you down. "It's none of your business," she remarks. You start to shut the door in her face, but she pushes it back open.

"His car is here. Tell him to come out."

"He's not here. Check back in a few days." Rolling your eyes, you try to shut the door again and she pushes her way in going straight to the staircase.

"KILL," she yells from the bottom. You fold your arms and glare at her until she looks your way.

"Are you done? I don't know what you two are on, but like I said he's not here."

"Look, I'm not the one you wanna toy with," she retorts, her finger twirling dismissively at you. She takes off upstairs and you follow to keep a keen eye on her, but you need to grab your phone from your room to call Erik. He answers on the second ring.

"What's up, baby," he mumbles.

"Why.. what you doing?"

"Taking a shit."

You frown looking at the woman who's standing in the doorway watching you. Her eyes narrow and her lips pout.

"There's a woman here looking for you. She just scared the living daylights out of m-"

"You opened the door?"

"Yeah because she-"

"You don't know who's on the other side or what they want so why would you open the fuckin door?"

"Pause. How did this become an attack on me?"

"I'm not attacking you but if she was someone dangerous you'd be dead right now."

"Erik, anyone out here is out here on purpose as far out into the cut as this damn house is. That means they either know you or they're extremely lost and looking for civilization. So you tell me who dangerous is lurking around the middle of nowhere? You got evil exes to destroy?"

"KILL. ANSWER YOUR PHONE," the woman yells from the doorway.

"You never heard of serial killers," Erik asks. "People who be FUCKIN people up for no reason?! You don't answer the door at 4 AM, stupid!"

"Don't call me stupid, asshole! What do I do about this girl here staring at me. Did you not hear her screaming like an idiot-"

"I heard that shit! Tell her ass to chill the fuck out! I'll get with her tomorrow," Erik snaps. "Don't be answering the door so late at night. All them damn movies you watch, you'd think you'd-"

"You'd think you'd control your damn subs! Y'all are both irking the hell out of my nerves."

"Don't be doing stupid shit when I'm not there to protect you. What if it were someone dangerous?"

"You so damn paranoid! I'm a ask you one last time then I'm leaving because this is some bullshit and I don't have to take it."

---

"Oh you real bold when I'm not there. Keep that energy in life and you'll be good." He'd just left the home of a man on staff who'd gone home early in the day before shit went down.

It seemed a bit suspect when Erik saw it on the schedule and when he was the man's face on his scanned ID, the man looked like he could be a relative of one of the shooters, maybe a younger brother.

Erik's hunch turned out to be right and with a gun to the guy's nose in his sleep, he rushed out an address while begging for his life. Apparently big bro was into some shit he ain't know about. At least that's what he'd claimed. It could've been the truth. It could've been a lie. Erik pulled the trigger and left him there as a stain and a warning to anyone involved that they would be located and exterminated in the same manner.

"She a friend. We collab on projects," Erik muttered closing the car door as he hopped out and started walking.

Swift wasn't playing if she showed up on his doorstep. She never did that. She'd never had to, he was typically efficient and even quick. But this time he was fuckin up and trying to fix it. She wanted this job wrapped up.

Of course she had other shit to do and places to be that would make her money, but she was hanging around and standing by for him solely because she had a crush on him. He was very aware although she'd never admit it and he was grateful for her help and support. She was an invaluable partner, much like Rell. He hoped he'd never have to end her the same way.

"Give her the phone," Erik softened, ignoring Y/N's grumbling as he walked on a dirt path into a wooded region surrounded by pitch black.

"Hey," Swift said simply. She knew not to talk in front of his subs. She'd already met Shay once and Jaliyah twice.

"You're scaring my sub, stop that shit she's skittish and very sensitive."

She sighed.

"I was compromised and targeted," he divulged knowing the expression she'd wear. In his mind he could see her jaw drop, the thinly veiled panic in her brown eyes. "Relax, they took out the wrong guy. I know exactly how they found me and I'm on them as we speak."

The line went quiet and he waited for her response, standing still.

"Fine. Have fun," she enthused finally. He knew what that coded response truly meant. Be careful.

"I'll be fine." She was probably thinking of coming to Texas just to back him up. She was powerful. However, he was confident in himself and finally in a space where he was thinking clearly. "I got this," he assured her. "Go ahead to Mazatlan. I'll hit you up when this is done. No one gets the drop on Killmonger."

Hanging up, Erik walked carefully and quietly until he heard voices, then he moved stealthily around the clearing that was set up with a camper, fire, and lights to check out the surrounding area. From far back where he stood, there was a narrow road and a few other trailers. The main road was near, but he'd come a back way through the trees on foot. He counted four voices and they were discussing ways to get their hands on more military grade weapons. One of them had a collection of assault rifles for trade and another was looking to invest in a tank. Erik stood positioned in the woods unnoticed with his bag on the ground and 27 lb AS50 assembled and aimed once he got the visual. The AS50 had a lower recoil than his AW50 so it would be easier to hit four targets quickly. He waited a moment making sure he could actually fatally hit each target, determining that he easily could. Before anything could go wrong, he braced himself and quickly hit the trigger four times. The bodies fell and his sharp ears no longer picked up conversation.

Moving quickly to a different position with a visual, he got low. The next person to come into view got popped and fell. Going in closer to the trailers, he waited, but no one else came out.

"Fuck it," he said after fifteen minutes. He stepped into the clearing and nudged the bodies with his foot checking for reactions and movements. Two responded. He shot them both again. The third body brought him great glee.

"Been chasing yo ass," Erik frowned staring down. It was undoubtedly his target.. in the flesh. He was late, but he'd gotten him and now Swift could get up off his back and he could go- "Shit.."He felt a bullet go through his leg.

He fired instantly in the direction from which the bullet came and his shot went through the trailer in front of him under the cracked window. He only hoped he hit whoever it was.

Limping, he forced his hit leg to carry him into the trailer where he saw a small blonde boy on the ground bleeding out with a .40 caliber pistol in his still hand. A touch of guilt touched Erik's heart. It was just a little kid, a kid who likely knew nothing of what was going on and had been raised in the bullshit, taught early on to shoot.. This was probably his first real gun. The little guy was probably the son of one of the five men he shot. He felt even more guilty knowing he'd taken someone's father away like that. It probably didn't really matter since the boy was dead now, but still... The world was a fucked up place.

Even more fucked up was the fact that he now had to go into each of the trailers and shoot whoever was holed up in each one. They were probably innocents, but he had to be thorough. No more fuck ups. He ripped a peice of material from a shirt hanging over a chair and quickly tied it around his leg under his pants. He controlled his limp moving to the next trailer finding a haggard older woman holding a little girl to keep her calm. The woman shook her head but before she could speak, Erik spoke first.

"I'm sorry," he whispered pulling the trigger twice.

[avaantares]

FFVII:REMAKE - A Review

So I beat the game two weeks ago and started writing down my thoughts while they were fresh in my mind, but I didn’t post anything then because my one IRL friend who is also playing it hadn’t finished it yet and I didn’t want to risk posting anything spoiler-y. But the extra time has allowed me to play through the game again on Hard difficulty, which has allowed me to reconsider and elaborate on some of my thoughts. And frankly at this point I just need to dump my Very Big Opinions somewhere, so... here ya go.

I discuss visuals, gameplay, character and story below. I’ve tried to keep spoilers minimal up front, though obviously if you want to go into the game totally cold, don’t read this. All major spoilers are clearly tagged. All of it is below a cut to spare your dash.

Also, there are pretty pictures, because why not?

First, my background with this franchise: I played through the original FFVII multiple times; I’ve watched and rewatched Advent Children and Last Order, played Crisis Core, gave up on Dirge of Cerberus despite my deep love for Vincent Valentine (sorry, VV, but your game was just a mess), and lamented that Before Crisis wasn’t available in my country. I even played (and own!) Ehrgeiz, the obscure fighting game that featured the main cast. (Still bitter that they didn’t keep Miki Shinichirou as the voice of Sephiroth. He’s one of my faves.)

^ Ehrgeiz, a mediocre fighting game that forever endeared itself to me by including Turks!Vincent Valentine as a playable character. 💖

In short, I’ve been waiting for this game for DECADES.

So. Here we go. My thoughts on Final Fantasy VII: REMAKE.

The good:

The character models are very pretty. With individual pores, threads and scuffs visible, they’re so detailed that it’s almost impossible to reconcile them with the mouthless sprites from the original game – even more so than Advent Children (and dear goodness, that was over a decade ago now, wasn’t it?). Still, they’ve kept the costume details and absurd proportions largely intact (Barret’s fists are literally larger than Tifa’s entire head, yet somehow it works visually), so it’s not too much of a departure from the familiar.

They’ve kept the aesthetic. I was afraid the game would try to update the iconic world of Midgar, but by and large, it’s full of visually-arresting designs that preserve the gritty-industrial look and feel of the original.

Japanese version is included. BLESS YOU, Square Enix, for including the Japanese voices and character animations. Not only is it impossible for me to hear Cloud in anything other than Sakurai Takahiro’s voice, but the Japanese script is a bit nicer to the characters. I’m not really keen on the English dub… but more on that below.

They fixed the spelling of Aerith’s name. This may seem like a minor point, but considering it’s been 20 years and I’m still bitter that Devil May Cry still hasn’t corrected “Nelo Angelo,” it’s a small victory.

Improved combat. Admittedly, I wasn’t sold on the new combat system at first, but after playing through the game twice, I’ve come to really like it. It has a few rough edges and can get chaotic in some battles, but it does a decent job of blending the feel of an action game with turn-based strategy. The fact that you can switch to a more traditional turn-based system if you prefer is also nice. (I haven’t tried Classic mode yet, though.)

Weapon customization. The Skill Points system allows you to upgrade your loadout instead of acquiring new gear. The tutorial was somewhat lacking (I didn’t quite figure out the multiple-core-unlock thing right away), but I appreciated the ability to add materia slots or stat buffs rather than just cycling through a dozen swords that Cloud apparently keeps in his back pocket.

Background dialogue management. On the whole, the conversations as you run through town enhance the story without slogging down the gameplay; you don’t have to stop and talk to every single resident, because snatches of their conversation reach you (and your on-screen chatlog) as you pass. You can stop and listen for more detail if you want, or you can just keep moving. The extra worldbuilding is really nice.

The music. The orchestrated versions of the original themes are excellent (and some of those music cues gave me goosebumps… Did I spend way too many hours immersed in the original game? Probably). I can take or leave some of the collectible jukebox tunes, but the background music in general is good. (But did I earn that Disc Jockey trophy? Yes, yes I did.)

Supporting character development. Jessie, Biggs and Wedge actually have characters! And personalities! Clichéd ones, admittedly, but it’s an improvement over the original game killing them all off within the first few minutes. The game also does justice to the Turks, and actually surprised me with how much depth of character it gave Reno and Rude in particular (perhaps setting them up for a mini redemption arc so players forgive them for dropping a plate on tens of thousands of slum residents?). Their moments of concern for each other and (brief) crises of conscience made them more than the stock villains they were in the original game, more in line with their temporarily good-aligned characters in Advent Children. Tseng, likewise, was on point. However, I do have to qualify all this with one irate question: Where the heck is Elena?! Seems like the female characters are always getting left out… /sigh/

Improved plot devices. REMAKE cleans up some of the more questionable and outdated content from the original. As you likely already know from the demo, the new game somewhat exonerates the protagonists by having Shinra blow up their own mako reactor to turn public opinion against AVALANCHE (possibly because someone finally realized that it’s hard to sympathize with characters who are willing to melt down an entire reactor and kill a bunch of innocent civilians). AVALANCHE are still eco-terrorists, but they’re… terrorists with a conscience? I dunno, at least they feel bad when people die now… Likewise, the weird and uncomfortable Honey Bee Inn segment of the original game has been reborn as an amazing dance extravaganza. Less voyeurism/prostitution, more Vegas floor show (complete with minigame choreography) and makeover. The whole Don Corneo scenario is still hella creepy, but frankly, there’s nothing that can fix that.

Series references. Fans of the original will appreciate all the inside jokes and direct references to the original game and other franchise entries: One-off comments about Chocobo racing; a broken console in Wall Market that shoots at you; a framed picture of the original 32-bit Seventh Heaven; ads for Banora apple juice; side mentions of characters and plot devices from spinoff games; PHS communication… The game definitely pays tribute to its history. They even recreate the original loading screen and several of Cloud’s iconic poses/animations throughout the game:

The neutral:

Recycled gags. Look, I know Advent Children was the ultimate evolution of FFVII for a while, and admittedly, it did some things very well. The running gag with Rude’s sunglasses and the victory fanfare being used as a ringtone are some of the best moments in the film, in part because they were so unexpected. But as much as I enjoyed the repeated nods to AC in this game, they felt a little desperate, like there were no new jokes to insert so they had to double down on the ones they’d used the last time this franchise had a renaissance. (See Rude’s broken sunglasses, below.) And fitting into the series as a whole, it feels a little weird. Why is Rude’s ringtone the same as the clones’ from Advent Children? Does Barret really need to sing the victory fanfare over and over when he defeats an enemy? Is there supposed to be some history behind that song that was left out of the worldbuilding? It just feels too meta.

Arbitrary localization of names. I don’t really grasp why it was necessary to rename so many items and characters for the English market. Some changes make sense for localization (e.g. Whack-a-Box certainly works better for an American audience than Crash Box), but others seem arbitrary, like changing Aniyan Kunyan to Andrea Rhodea or Mugi to Oates (a play on the meaning of his name in Japanese, but... does it matter?). And then… well, I don’t want to spoil A Major Plot Element, but there’s another thing that changes names from one English word (in the Japanese track) to a different English word. Why? No idea. It doesn’t affect gameplay, and it’s not really a problem, but listening to the Japanese track, I found it jarring to have the subtitles contradict what I was hearing.

Underutilized characters. While the whole gamut of original FFVII characters make appearances, several of them aren’t used to full effect, or aren’t used at all to advance the story. Rufus Shinra’s bossfight is a decent challenge, but while his character was vital to both the original FFVII and Advent Children, his presence in this game is little more than a cameo. His fight could be cut or swapped out with any other boss, and it would have zero effect on the plot. Similarly, while Hojo is a key player in the full story (which this game doesn’t cover, since it’s only a fraction of the original timeline), he’s largely wasted here, except as a means of extending play time by making you wander through corridors and fight a bunch of monsters for “research.” (I have no idea what his motivation is; you’d think he’d be more interested in recapturing Aerith or Cloud, but instead he just... opens an elevator and lets them leave? after they beat up some midbosses.) Reeve Tuesti actually has a solid presence in this game, but since he’s ONLY ever active as himself, there’s no explanation for the random Cait Sith cameo in one scene (players new to the franchise probably have no idea why a random cartoon cat showed up for a few seconds and was never mentioned again). Obviously the plot arcs have to change when the game is covering only a few days’ time in a much longer story, and the major players need to be introduced at some point if they’re going to feature in later games in the series, but from a narrative standpoint, there are an awful lot of superfluous characters doing things for no reason in this installment.

The bad:

THE PADDING. Dear goodness, there is so much padding to make this a standalone game instead of just the first chapter of a longer adventure. I got really, really sick of running literally from one end of the map to the other on side quests – and that’s me, an avowed trophy hunter who spends hours scouring dark corners for collectible items in other games, saying that. So much of this game felt like time fill that didn’t really advance the story. It’s also full of unnecessary new characters with improbable Squeenix hair, like Roche the super-annoying motorcycle SOLDIER (below), or Leslie, Don Corneo’s doorman who somehow merits his own backstory and side quest. (Though in fairness, every FFVII sequel has added superfluous characters, with Crisis Core possibly being the worst offender.) But it just felt really drawn-out and bloated for a game of this generation. If this game had been as compact and tightly-written as the other games I typically play, it probably only would have taken me 15 hours to beat instead of 50. (I don’t actually know how many hours I spent on it the first time through, as I didn’t check the play clock before restarting on Hard difficulty. I do know it took me over 110 hours total to complete the game on both modes, though much of the second run was spent dying repeatedly on a handful of nasty fights. Hard mode removes items and MP replenishment, and if you run out of MP at any point during a chapter, you’re going to die. A lot.)

The pacing. Related to the above... the Midgar portion of the original game was just the setup for a larger story. It wasn’t meant to have its own complete dramatic arc so much as to introduce you to the world and the major players. Consequently, there are some really odd beats in this story, as well as a total lack of urgency in your mission. There are no natural places to slot in the side quests and minigames, so they’re shoehorned awkwardly between plot sequences. “Quick, our friend is in mortal peril and needs our help!” "Okay, cool, we’ll go rescue her after we spend ten hours running around town doing random errands for townspeople and playing games with the local kids.” Uh... what?

The graphics just aren’t as good as they should be. While the character models are gorgeous, there are a lot of low-res background textures and weird polygons that don’t quite match up with other components. Most egregious are the Shinra logos, which frequently get close-ups as part of the fixed camera work and, frankly, look like lossy JPEGs. (See image below, screencapped from a PS4 Pro. Those jagged edges on the logo are present throughout the entire game.) There are weird clipping errors and artifacted images and reflective surfaces that don’t reflect, making the game look more like something from the PS3 era than a 4K late-gen PS4 game. (And it’s not that we don’t have the technology: Uncharted 4 was released back in 2016, and the rendering of its vast world was twice as pretty. Devil May Cry 5, released in early 2019, has far more realistic textures and object interaction. Granted, those are different types of games with fewer NPCs to render, but I feel like there’s no excuse for a game this big to look this mediocre.)

The HUD could be better. The lower-corners concept is okay, though it took me a while to train my eyes to travel between both sides of the screen and track the fight action. But for a long time, I didn’t even notice the commands in the upper left corner of the screen, and after playing through the game twice I still have no idea what they say because I couldn’t focus on the tiny text long enough to read them while trying not to die in combat. (I just looked it up; apparently they’re combat control shortcuts? Huh, that would have been useful to know.) It wasn’t until my second time through that I realized there even WERE separate controls on screen during the motorcycle minigames; I had resorted to panicked button mashing to figure it out the first time through because there was no tutorial (you’re just dropped into the action) and, having ignored the small text for the previous hundred combats, I had no reason to look for on-screen instructions there. Not that it would have helped, since on many backgrounds the text in the upper left is really difficult to read (see below). It’s worth noting that I have better than 20/20 vision and played this game on a large TV screen and still had trouble reading some things; on a smaller TV, or for someone with less acute vision (like my sister, who is blind in one eye), I think even the basic menu controls would be difficult to see. While you can resize the font for subtitles, my cursory glance through the menu did not uncover an option to increase the size of the HUD. 

Inter-fight menu mechanics. Specifically, the inability to save (or save loadout settings) between fights in a multi-part sequence. There are several back-to-back fights in which it is necessary to switch characters or change gear between bosses. The game treats them as one continuous fight, though it does allows you to access the equipment menu by holding square during key cutscenes. Which is good, if you only have one of a particular materia or accessory that you need to switch between characters, and in most cases when you die the game lets you restart just before your current fight instead of restarting the whole sequence -- also good, since some multi-stage bosses can easily take 20-30 minutes to beat, and if several of those are strung together in sequence, you’re in for a long play session to get past them. But since it’s treated as one fight, you can’t save between bosses (more than once, I had to leave my PS4 running in Rest Mode overnight and just hoped we didn’t have a power glitch), and if you happen to get killed and need to restart the fight, your loadouts reset. Which means if you’re, say, fighting the end boss on Hard difficulty and get killed in the first two minutes -- which happened to me a lot -- by the time you restart the fight, sit through the unskippable cutscene, access the menu and rearrange all the materia and accessories you need, you’re spending five or six minutes gearing up for two minutes of play, and then doing that over and over again every time you die. It gets really old.

The English dub script. *deep breath* Okay, look, I know I can be a bit elitist about translations, but I really do not like the English adaptation of this game. It makes Cloud come across as less socially-awkward and far more of a deliberate jerk, Aerith is mouthy and even swears (which is not accurate to her original character), and it downplays some of the symbolism that’s more obvious in the Japanese script. One quick example: When Aerith gives Cloud a flower, she says (in Japanese), “In the language of flowers, this means ‘reunion.’” It’s subbed/dubbed in English, “Lovers used to give these when they were reunited.” That’s a subtle difference, but since the concept of “reunion” is a freakin’ huge part of the FFVII plot, and since Sephiroth was on screen literally seconds before that line is delivered, my brain automatically went, “OMG REUNION!!!” while I’m guessing people listening in English only picked up on the romantic subtext. It’s a pretty minor thing, and of course translation is always a complex balancing act between literal meaning and local market understanding, but the English version just seemed to me to have a different vibe overall. (Unfortunately, the English subtitles are the same as the dub, so unless you can understand the Japanese audio you’re kind of stuck with that dialogue.)

-

-

[WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT]

-

- …And my #1 complaint about Final Fantasy VII: REMAKE is…

…it’s not actually a remake.

Sure, the game starts out the same way and covers a lot of the same events, but fundamentally, it’s a sequel, not a retelling. It’s evident from Cloud’s future-oriented visions throughout the game that something else is going on, and the ending MAKES NO SENSE if you don’t already know the story. Heck, even the rest of the game doesn’t really make sense if you don’t know the story -- Sephiroth’s presence is never explained; Zack isn’t even introduced, just shows up randomly at the end; Cloud’s flashbacks of Tifa and her dead father in Nibelheim are left as a complete mystery (and since she evidently remembers the burning of her town, judging by her dialogue outside Aerith’s house, why doesn’t she even react when Sephiroth shows up?).

The core elements of the plot – the Feelers (Whispers) preserving a specific fate; the three entities from the future (whose weapon types just happen to correspond to certain named characters) defending their timeline; the return of post-Advent Children Sephiroth (the only time we’ve seen him in human form with one black wing), who has inhabited the Lifestream since his death and promised that he would never truly disappear, who in the end appeals to Cloud directly for an alliance rather than attempting to control him, because he knows now that Cloud is strong enough to defy the Reunion instinct; the change in the outcome of story events in which Biggs (and, unconfirmed as to which timeline he’s actually in, but quite possibly Zack) now survives his intended death -- all point toward Sephiroth trying to manipulate destiny into an alternate outcome in which he is victorious, and using this naive version of Cloud to facilitate it. That means this game is taking place in an alternate or splinter universe, created at some point after the events of the original Final Fantasy VII, and possibly even after the events of Advent Children.

All of that is fine from an overall continuing-story perspective – it opens up a lot of interesting possibilities, like the fact that Aerith might survive now that Cloud has seen prescient flashes of her death (among other events), and there are opportunities for more story twists and changes from what players might expect. But touting this as a remake of the original game has the potential to confuse players who are new to the franchise. FFVII was groundbreaking back in 1997, and it defined JRPGs for an entire generation of Western gamers. But that was more than two decades ago, and a lot of current gamers weren’t even born then, so while they’ve probably heard of the classic game, they aren’t necessarily steeped in its lore. FFVII:R relies heavily on prior knowledge of the series to carry its twist ending, so it largely fails as a standalone game.

Also, speaking as a longtime fan of the franchise… I honestly found the ending rather lackluster. It was a twist, of sorts, but not the sort of shocking, mind-bending revelation that made the first game so iconic. Granted, it’s hard to follow an act like revealing that your protagonist’s entire identity is a lie, not to mention killing off one of your main characters a third of the way into the story! But when the surprise ending is just, Surprise! We’re going to change things up a bit this time around so you aren’t entirely sure what’s coming! Also, here’s a gratuitous Sephiroth fight because everyone expects that, even though it doesn’t serve the main story at all nor resolve any conflicts previously established within this game! it smacks of Different for the sake of Being Different, not for the sake of a really amazing storyline they’re hiding up their sleeve. It’s a bit of a let-down, and I find that I... just... don’t really care that much. Which, for someone who’s been a fan of the series for nearly a quarter of a century, means there’s a Big Freaking Problem somewhere. If you’re not keeping the attention of your die-hard fans, how do you hope to build a fanbase of players new to the franchise?

Given the pacing and story issues inherent in this game, I’m not convinced that the following game(s) in the franchise are going to be structured any better. Considering the amount of pure side-quest padding they did in Midgar, I have no idea how they’ll maintain that same tone on something the scale of the World Map portion of the original game, unless they just completely eliminate things like Fort Condor and the submarine and the spaceship side quests. I have a feeling the Gold Saucer is going to be reduced to a Jessie flashback, a Chocobo race (probably to win a key item), and a battle arena run like the coliseum in Wall Market in this game. If they include all the story elements and side characters from the original, this series is going to be a dozen games long.

Still, on the whole this game was enjoyable, and I’m glad I played it. It wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, but they haven’t completely killed off my interest, so I’ll probably continue with the series whenever the next game comes out. Though I’m not really sure if the higher-priced edition I pre-ordered was worth the extra money, so I may wait and see how the next game is shaping up before deciding which version to get...

But if they don’t give me a really pretty (playable) Vincent Valentine in the next installment, I may riot. I do have priorities.

[nemowritesstuff]

Wingless Dragon Race Introduction: Amiriad

Wingless Dragon Tag: @malaykawrites @madammuffins @kaatiba @mvcreates @starlitesymphony, @dove-actually, @waterfallwritings, @donovyn--nox

I haven’t talked much about the Amiriad, and that’s because there isn’t one on the crew of the Wingless Dragon, so I didn’t feel the need to. But since I’m now involving the Amiriad in a plot point, it was time to solidify the race.

It feels like there’s a lot more history for them than any other race, but that may be because they were an idea I had for something different that I repurposed for this universe. Hurray for recycling!

As the story is on its first draft, all content is subject to change. Under a cut because it’s 1900 words.

Amiriad are an insectoid species from the planet Chikasact. They value devotion to the hive over everything and are always eager to engage in battle.

Description

Amiriad stand on four legs with two arms, a thorax, and a head. They are generally around five to six feet tall with a dark brown exoskeleton. They have four claw-like pincers for hands and three claws for feet. Their heads are oval shaped and end in a single set of pincers in front of a small mouth. Amiriad eyes are large compound eyes that can see in the most amount of colors of any GF race. Amiriad do have a set of antennae, and their primary use is smelling. Built for combat with a hardened exoskeleton and lean muscles, an Amiriad can run almost 8km/h on four legs and 10km/h on six.

Amiriad are carnivores, eating any meat they can get their hands on. While Amiriad attempt to eat twice daily, they can last months without eating or drinking if needed. They cannot process vegetation at all. In fact, too much plant products in an animal's stomach can render it inedible. Despite their restrictive diet, their bodies are able to process most venoms and poisons faster than it can harm them, rendering them nearly immune to even large doses of toxins.

In combat, Amiriad typically wield a weapon with their arms. They prefer melee combat, but can use guns just as effectively. Their exoskeleton is strong enough to protect them from general threats, while advanced armor is nearly as strong as a starship's hull. Skilled warriors can split their arms into four, allowing them to wield more weapons. In order to use four arms in combat competently, an Amiriad must train for several years.

Amiriad are born from an egg, where they are ready to join the hive as workers. Young Amiriad are given a short time to take classes to learn about the galaxy before being thrust into service. As such, maturation is considered two years old. Adult Amiriad serve a small stint in the military before either continuing military service or leaving to pursue other work. They can either specialize in one job or train in multiple jobs, such as miner, hunter, soldier, diplomat, police, etc. A select few Amiriad train to become queens, but the selection process is thorough and the training rigorous, leading to rarely more than a handful of queens being trained in a year. Most Amiriad die before reaching old age, but those that do tend to live no later than fifty years.

Society

Amiriad are a collective hive, devoted to the hive and built around the military as a central pillar of society. Basic service is mandatory. Advanced training is given to those who prove themselves, while others attempting to join risky or prestigious battalions train themselves almost to their own death. After their mandatory serves, about half of the Amiriad join some other job dedicated to helping the hive. Builders, traders, engineers, doctors, and even teachers all exist to further the hive's interest and bolster the strength of the military.

Their devotion to the hive is so ingrained it is treated as a religion. The Amiriad call it Duty, and while many humans would describe it more as a cult than a religion, it is the officially recognized religion of the Amiriad. Duty is the most prominent religion among the Amiriad, but they are some also interested in Tichon (the religion), Humanity's pagan religions, and the Yur's old beliefs. 

History

In the beginning, there were twelve major factions vying for control of Chikasact. After almost three hundred years of war, where each faction's control waxed and waned, several key alliances changed the entire landscape of the planet. The number of factions dropped to four. The smallest faction, an alliance between the bold warriors of the Kitch and the masterful engineers of the Tikitik, prepared to unleash new weapons of war: the airplane. Thanks to the Kitch-Tikit aircraft, the other factions quickly fell under their thumb.

Faced with the possibility of an alliance breaking down, the leaders of the Kitch and Tikit agreed to dissolve their factions in favor of a singular faction. They mixed hives in order to become one single people. However, neither the Kitch nor Tikit wanted to have the first High Queen of Chikasact to come from the opposing faction, despite their apparent integration. They needed someone without loyalties to one or the other; they needed an outsider.

They needed Iktuit, the sole Queen of the Diskt.

The Diskt-the first faction to be bombed into near oblivion by the Kitch-Tikit-was always a small faction. The Diskt never fully regained their strength after their defeat, but maintained their independence as an ally of the Kitch and Tikit. This is different from every other larger faction, which were either absorbed into either the Kitch or Tikit or all of their queens, and thus their lineage, were killed. As the sole queen of the only ally of both the Kitch and Tikit, Iktuit of the Diskt was the perfect choice for peace.

This peace did not last. Soon after being crowned High Queen, Queen Iktuit declared a civil war on her subjects, throwing the entire planet into turmoil again. The reason? Iktuit hated both the Kitch and Tikit for how they destroyed her home and slaughtered her people, so she forced them to destroy the united world they had created.

After the declaration of war, several other queens looking to gain power also declared war on each other. The entire planet descended into war once again, except instead of battles being fought along faction borders, cities split and destroyed themselves. Queen Iktuit saw the chaos she created and reveled in it, joining battles just to ensure no side gained the upper hand.

The Iktuit Civil War did not last long. Queen Iktuit, in her attempt to keep both sides weak, wiped out the majority of both the Kitch and Tikit generals and queens in months. This display of power won her the support of many Amiriad. What few opposed her fell to the Iktuit's loyalists.

As the dust settled, only one nation remained, and Iktuit, the Bloody Queen, ruled.

Queen Iktuit immediately set about reforms, creating the modern Amiriad government. Instead of trying to strip power from her people, she encouraged everyone to take as much power as possible. This, combined with an emphasis on the betterment of the hive at all costs, meant the strong would take control in order to help-not destroy-the weak. With Queen Iktuit's passing, none other again claimed to be her equal. Instead, a council of generals and queens serve the High Command and attempt to match Iktuit's brilliance in both war and peace.

When the Galactic Federation first encountered the Amiriad, the Amiriad sent scouts to determine the GF's military might. The GF had a barebones militia that served more as a deterrent for criminals than an actual military fleet. The Amiriad determined that there was no point in engaging them in war. The GF welcomed the Amiriad with open arms, and the Amiriad quickly went to work redesigning the GF's militia to be a full-blown military force, with Amiriad making up over seventy percent of the armed forces.

The Amiriad found first contact with the Sheta and Humans to be a memorable day. The Sheta, masters of medical technology, intrigued the Amiriad; the Humans and their war-filled past looked to be a staunch ally. The Amiriad were just as surprised as the rest of the Galactic Federation when the Humans chose not to join and instead form an alliance the GF. However, the alliance did allow for the Humans and Amiriad to train with each other and practice with war games.

Relations between the Amiriad and Humans grew tense when a human joined the Amiriad's Arena. The Amiriad sent disgraced military personnel and convicted criminals to the Arena fight for entertainment and honor. A human managed to work her way into the Arena, due to a technicality in the rules. This human proceeded to beat Amiriad after Amiriad in individual combat. The Amiriad were confused by such a feat. How could a squishy human with far fewer limbs beat the armored Amiriad with such constancy?

The lone Human inspired other humans to join the Arena. The other humans were not as skilled, but their inclusion led to some Amiriad calling the Arena tainted by their presence. The Amiriad Champion, however, welcomed the new challengers. The Amiriad, forced to accept the humans, kept their growing resentment behind closed doors.

The spark came when the first Human Combatant managed to secure a fight against the Amiriad Champion. The battle ended before it began. The Combatant spoke with the Champion, wondering if the Champion knew that their old commander set them up for failure to force them to join the Arena. The resulting conversation led to a schism in the Amiriad that lasted several days as the Champion searched for the truth. The Champion learned the truth and killed his former commander for impugning his honor for personal gain.

Despire the Combatant being right, many of the Amiriad military commanders felt human intervention in their internal politics went to far. With growing pressure from those who could now voice their resentment of humans in public, the Amiriad demanded the Humans surrender the Combatant for Amiriad punishment for their involvement in civil unrest. Humanity refused. The Amiriad declared war on Humanity.

The Galactic Federation stepped in immediately. After much tense discussion, both the Humans and Amiriad agreed to keep war outside of Galactic Federation space, not to involve the other Galactic Federation races, and limited on what weapons could ethically be used. This war ended with Humanity gaining the upper hand and forcing the Amiriad to surrender. The defeat broke the Amiriad's pride.

Beaten, the Amiriad planned to leave the Galactic Federation. The Tichon convinced them not to, but the Amiriad still retreated out of GF controlled space and returned to their home planet.

In the Galactic Federation

Amiriad are not a common sight in the modern Galactic Federation. Few supply ships travel into Amiriad space, and even fewer Amiriad ships travel in the Galactic Federation's jurisdiction. What Amiriad that are seen are usually outcasts from Amiriad society or serve as representatives in the GF.

Relations between the Amiriad and all the races are still strong. Even Humanity, once their enemy, are happy to negotiate and trade with the Amiriad.

Bonus Facts

Amiriad don't really have pronouns as humans do. They are always referred to by their rank. Language technicians from the Amiriad have decided that masculine pronouns are used when referring to them in Inglo-Russian, and created a couple new word in Chikti specifically for when humans use pronouns.

It is believed Queen Iktuit was the first Amiriad to use four-armed combat in war. The fighting style is informally referred to as the "Queen's Fury" fighting style, thanks to this belief.

Tichon can use a Amiriad's egg sack. The resulting children display a mix of Tichon and Amiriad traits, but the children never live past a year, so there are no hybrids known to exist. The Sheta took particular interest in this, but Amiriad and Tichon governments, as well as the Galactic Federation, forbade any investigation into this phenomenon.

[reconhq]

Do you have any advice for someone who wants to make a (very LGBTA positive) webseries of her own?.

oh boy! I sure do. I’ve actually been on a couple other projects other than Recon, all after the first season was written & mostly after the first season was shot, and ya girl has learned a lot because of and since season 1!

i am so sorry but this is going to be SO long. i am kinda obsessed with web series & digital content and it’s my actual professional career now so just… get ready. sorry 😅 i’ll add a TLDR at the end.

(p.s. this is just advice from me, Emma, and not the rest of the Recon team who may have different/additional advice, maybe someone will add on after the holidays) 

write your bible before anything! depending on if you’re co-creating or just co-producing/writing, this should be done before you bring on additional folks. if you’re co-creating, this is obviously a collaborative process. when i created recon, i did it on my own. i pitched the original idea to some dear friends (one of whom makes a cameo as a security guard in ep 20!) and got their opinions, adapted from their advice, and once i had a solid format, main character, and general plot, i started on the bible. it took probably a month of fucking around before i felt ready to write a bible. 

the basic components of a bible are a log line, short season overview, character breakdowns for your characters (mine are ~paragraph or two for main characters, with shorter ones for less central characters), a summary of the show’s main themes, genre and tones, and the format of the show (if you’re mapping out multiple seasons, it may be relevant to do this for each season as well as the overall show), as well as the most important part of your bible– the episode breakdowns. i’ll touch on those in a minute. 

i do all my original brainstorming on paper, because i am adhd as fuck and it’s easier for me. your bible isn’t the place to brainstorm. separate them out. not saying you have to write on paper, but have a separate doc for brainstorming so the formatting for your bible can be easy to follow. 

if you’re co-producing or having someone else produce your work, it makes sense to have your co-producer or producer right there with you as you work on your bible to give feedback. does this mean they’re writing it? no. is it useful as hell? yes. 

my partner-in-creative-crime justice and i tend to share bibles and brainstorm docs with each other when we’re working together on a project. depending on which roles we’re playing on each project (e.g., i’m producing his podcast COSMIC under our company name but not co-creating or writing, so i mostly gave notes on his bible. we’re also working on a series called Inked, and we’re more like co-creators there, so we both write in the doc.)

your bible is the holy doc of your show; it’s what you show to any writers, producers, designers, any creative working on your show so that everyone is on the same page. it is your main reference and guiding light through the whole season; make it clear, organized, and as easy to read as possible. i personally use google docs for my bibles, and use the hell out of the outline function. highly recommend, but everyone has their own system.

break your ENTIRE story before before you write a single script, before you write your pilot, before anything. it’s part of your bible.

if you’re not super familiar with tv/screenwriting, breaking a story means figuring out the beats. the breakdown of reason s1 started as messy af writing on whiteboards, and turned into this:

this is absolutely not what your first outlines or final drafts will look like. we changed…. a ton while writing our scripts. you can see even in this sequence– episode 8 and 9 got blurred, and we barely touched on ava’s past because there wasn’t room. regardless, this doc & breakdown served as the basis for all our writers and kept us all on roughly the same page. when we disagreed, we could go back to this and sort it out from there! 

find your people. two roles were crucial to me when we made recon: a mentor, and collaborators. having good people behind me was so so important; i could have never done this on my own.

i got…….. so lucky with my mentor, bernie su. he not only gave me incredible advice, read scripts, and reviewed cuts, he purchased the damn show, accounting for 75% of our funding. i feel like it’s important for me to acknowledge the luck and privilege i have here: the show would not happened without him, and i only got that chance because i live in LA, went to USC, and applied for the right job at the right time. HOWEVER, aside from the funding that made recon possible, bernie’s expertise seriously helped. after principle photography, we were left feeling lackluster, and bernie gave me advice that led me to make changes that transformed the show. having someone with experience– whether in tv, film, web series, any sort of writing– is invaluable. 

while i created recon on my own, i did not develop or make it on my own. the episode breakdowns? half me, half other people (mainly justice lol). the look of the show? EP/DP christa, production designer amanda, graphic designer hal, and justice as costuming lead. i did not write season 1 on my own. i recruited friends from USC and even one from high school to write episodes i didn’t think i could do justice (no pun intended). 

once you’ve found your people, trust them. there will obviously be cases where you disagree enough with someone’s creative opinions that you shouldn’t, but except in extreme cases, trust your people. try to only chose people you trust in the first place. letting go was so so so hard, but many of the best parts of recon happened because i got over myself and trusted my cast and crew. episode 16, player vs player, was justice’s baby, and i almost didn’t let him roll with the animations because i was too nervous. holy fuck, i’m so glad i trusted him. same with reflections (ep 15), written by my now-fiancé, which no one else could have written. hal was a bit unsure going in, but the episode is phenomenal. my production designer’s choices were amazing, and i had little to do with them other than being like “yes that is so cool let’s do it”

seriously. trust your people. watching bernie on artificial & emma approved trust us, his crew of mostly 20-somethings, with creative decisions taught me a huge lesson. i was 19 when he hired me, 19 when he bought the show, and he actually fucking trusted me and the rest of his team to do things. my initial reaction was what the fuck, but it worked. it also let him focus on the big picture while giving us the space we needed to feel creatively and emotionally fulfilled. trust your people.

this also applies to your actors. we had a google drive specifically for our actors to throw up ideas/backstory for their characters, and we’d read through it and give feedback and contributions. it led to better performances and characters with more depth. we also met with actors where we could to discuss their ideas for directions for their characters– video game nerd taylor came from convos with joré. 

katiemichal and kat were just like, the same people as their characters, so there was less of this, but there is definitely value in casting the irl versions of your characters as them.

edit your episodes individually, then read through the WHOLE SEASON at once to edit. repeat that until you read it and it’s cohesive. 

keep track of your timeline and your canon, even canon that’s not explicit in the show. there’s so much recon lore that we kept to ourselves that informs several decisions in the first season. 

unless your character’s race/ethnicity (even gender) is a key part of their character or the show, cast with an open net. ava was originally a white girl name jody. ana, the actress who played her, originally auditioned for riley, and we changed the character’s entire backstory for her, which added an amazing dimension to the show we get to see in reflections (and an upcoming podcast shh). lesson fucking learned on my part– almost too late. don’t be like me.

ren, on the other hand, we were 100% sure was non-binary, and although we opened auditions to all genders, we specified from the start it was a non-binary character and we’d give priority to queer/nb actors. it was the right choice.

PRODUCTION DESIGN IS FUCKING IMPORTANT. cinematography is great, and we obviously focused on it a lot w the style of our show, but PD tells so much of your story without saying a word or taking up a second of airtime.

sound is the single most important thing on set. you can make an ugly shot work, ugly sound will bring people immediately out of the show and possibly abandon it. we fucked up scheduling for Punching Bag, and had to delay its release (it was originally episode 13, not 14), hire a sound editor, and put a goddamn disclaimer on it because we didn’t have time to get good sound because of our own mistakes. arguably my biggest regret of the season, because the script and acting for that episode is so good, and we low-key ruined it. GET GOOD SOUND. 

only exception to this is probably coverage and continuity; although those can be fudged a lil more. get a script supervisor or have your AD do it so you don’t miss anything crucial. always get your masters first. 

schedule more than you think you should. like, down to the 15-minute block. it won’t work, but it will work worse if you don’t. do your best to stay on schedule (hint: AD/producer on set)

trust your gut. this is your baby, and your choices should service the story you want to tell. let that be your north star, and while you should let your story evolve with time and the contributions of your cast and crew,  

TL;DR: write your bible & break your season first. find a team you trust, and trust them with their choices (both cast & crew). if you can, find a mentor/someone with experience to give advice. edit your show both as individual episodes and as a whole season, multiple times. continuity is crucial, backstory is crucial, coverage is crucial, scheduling is crucial. GET GOOD SOUND. and always keep sight of the story you want to tell.

i am so sorry. this is a fucking essay. 

[pinof]

9/20/18 Rize Liveshow Notes

- “Phol” instead of “Phil”. Dan had to remind Phil that we cannot see the typos.

- “Phil and his small child Daniel say hi.”

- Phil’s quiff is gone. Phil’s hair is too short.

- They both need haircuts. They said they’re waiting to get it cut when they go back home.

- They’re going back to London on Monday.

- They’ve been to so many places in the last week.

- This is Phil’s first time to India.

- Dan has been before with his family, but never to Mumbai.

- They had a good day. Went for afternoon tea and the Gateway of India.

- Phil: “I feel like such a failure.” Dan: “No, don’t do yourself hard.”

- Phil feels bad that he didn’t order the Indian special and went for something comfortable instead.

- Dan had the best afternoon tea of his life.

- “I could have a little nibble of Dan’s.” *Dan winks*

- “Phil is going to get that Chicken Masala and he hasn’t in ten years.”

- They’ve never had authentic foods of the countries that they go to until now.

- Dan apologized for the disgusting mouth noises from his insta stories today.

- “It was like Nu Nu from the Teletubbies.”

- Dan played the new Guild Wars 2 patch until 6am with a friend last night.

- Lots of people asked them for selfies, but they didn’t know who they were.

- They were with a friend and wanted pics with her as well.

- People were nice and said, “Nice shirt.”

- Phil hates how his fringe looks and Dan fixed his hair.

- The bartender completely ignored Dan and asked Phil, “How old is the boy?”

- Bartender heard Dan call Phil “daddy.”

- Phil said Dan has useful eyes.

- “Do I look like a 50 year old man?” “As we established, Phil. You were wearing a nice shirt.”

- Dan is Benjamin Button.

- They had to send Dan out to the car to play with his toys.

- They forgot to give us a Truth Bomb last week.

- This Truth Bomb is “What animal represents Phil?”

- At one of their II shows, they kept saying “yeast.”

- Dan said Manila was a very passionate show and the people made them feel important/loved.

- The Manila phannies lost their shit at everything.

- BME - Big Manila Energy.

- Dan knows some people at Mercedes and Dan helped them out with how to use social media. They said that they owed him a favor, so Dan asked if they could go to the Formula 1 race.

- Phil isn’t really into F1, but he still loved it so much. They had amazing seats in the box and got to listen to the race commentary through headphones.

- They met Valtteri Bottas and Phil asked him, “Do you play Mario Kart? Are you good at it?”

- Louis didn’t spray them.

- “Who the hell would think that Phil would say ‘spray me daddy?’”

- Dan’s timer went off to call his grandma half passed midnight.

- Dan said we are more important than his grandma.

- It was her birthday a few weeks ago.

- “Yeah, grandma’s phone is broke. It only works when she is in the utility room.”

- Phil is now a fan of Formula 1.

- They talked about the typhoon in Hong Kong.

- Martyn’s flight got cancelled.

- They were scared that they wouldn’t be able to do the Hong Kong show, but remained hopeful so they didn’t say anything about cancelling it in hopes everything would be okay.

- Martyn is stuck in Australia and Phil said he is going to become an Australian.

- “A Dabbington. Dabbing skeleton.”

- They watched Han Solo on the plane.

- The Darth Vader moment was their favorite moment in Rogue 1.

- Dan was just talking at Phil about the Star Wars prequel. Phil said he didn’t care.

- Dan said Revenge of the Sith is the best Star Wars movie.

- They said the Sims video was insane.

- There is a banging DAPG video coming soon. They had a tasty dinner.

- The giveaway is still on apparently but Phil will get back to us soon about it.

- Someone said Phil looks like a Turtle then said peacock but his quiff isn’t up. A road kill peacock.

- Someone said Phil is a seahorse because Phil is such a daddy then hung up.

- Someone said Phil reminds them of an emo ferret.

- Dog content!

- Dan wants the dog to lick him.

- Someone said Phil should be a penguin with really long arms.

- Someone didn’t realize that Dan and Phil them on screen.

- “When you think it could be you.” “It IS you!”

- They said Phil would be a koala.

- Phil found out he might be allergic to guava.

- “Phil is allergic to pineapple, coconut, tequila, chocolate, guava. Everything that he likes.”

- Phil still eats everything he’s allergic to because he likes it.

- This is their last liveshow on tour.

- The next liveshow will be at home.

- They forgot what home was like.

- They’re going back home, but the TBC dates are still more than likely going to happen in the future.

- More gaming videos coming soon.

- Dan’s eyebrows look creepy.

- More breakfast content coming soon.

- Fast goodbye.

[destinysthralls]

fang hc:

(likes & dislikes) 

LIKES:

Animals---specifically the beasts of Gran Pulse, the bigger the better. She enjoyed hunting them, eating them, and riding them, but also used their furs and tusks as decorations. Fang has also done a great deal of animal taming--and understands how to farm and domesticate prey animals peacefully. Women---of all kinds and sorts. Fang loves soft women such as Vanille as much as she loves hard women like Lightning, and she'll protect them above all else---even if they don't need protecting. Gambling---is it any surprise that a woman obsessed with talking about Luck would enjoy a good game of cards around the campfire? Fang keeps a deck on her person at all times---and she always wins, because Vanille, of course, lets her win. Competition---Fang enjoys a good competition through sparring, a chocobo race or a game of cards but be warned---she's a very poor loser. Nature---Fang feels most at home in Gran Pulse, surrounded by the beauty of her planet. Yes, it's wild and there are beast around every corner---but it's an adventure to be tamed and hunted, and there's beauty and life everywhere. Flying---Fang flies on Bahamut now, but before this, Fang would fly on the backs of the great Beasts that traversed Gran Pulse. It was only for a moment, sometimes---but it would make her feel trulyalive. Fruity Drinks---while Fang is the rough and tumble type, she has no taste for beer or ale, and much prefers the fruit-laced cocktails of her home with greater alcoholic content. She gets tipsy and sleepy rather fast. Make-up---while Fang's hair naturally falls that way and she doesn't have to put much maintenance into her apppearance, she enjoys collecting and wearing fancy lip glosses, moisturizers/face washes and perfumes. Fang absolutely loves doing mud masks and face masks, and does often during nights with just her and Vanille. Action Movies---Fang enjoys action movies, especially those from Cocoon featuring high action stakes and car chases featuring lots of destruction. While she loves hunting, she often fantasizes about giving those in Cocoon a taste of their own medicine.

DISLIKES:

Losing---Fang is a sore loser, and as a child would even throw tantrums about it. While she no longer does, she's prone to pouting and growing cross with you afterwards, claiming you were cheating even though when she cheats, she claims it's part of the game. Technology---Vanille handles all of the technology, and while she's taught Fang quite a few things---Fang finds it difficult to handle with her short temper. She hates Cocoon technology in particular, which is both more advanced and more unnecessary in her opinion. The Fal'cie---she both blames them for her own predicament and the fate of her and Vanille's parents, and so many villagers from Oerba before them that were lost to their focus. Cocoon---Not for just the reasons you think. It's easy to get lost in Coocon. Fang is used to her home where she knows where everything is for miles and miles---in the much smaller Cocoon, full to the brim with people who look at her funny for her clothes and demeanor, she's pushed this way and that in the crowds, and she loses her place on the map. Puzzles---While Fang is quite smart, she'd rather push her way through every problem than solve a puzzle. She cuts corners and cheats most times---and is often punished for it.

[erictmason]

THEY’RE GONNA WRECK IT: A “Ralph Breaks The Internet” Review

I don’t know that I ever would have told you that the original “Wreck-it Ralph”, one of the more pleasant surprises of post-Pixar-merger Disney, “needed” a sequel; the original’s story was compelling and complete enough on its own.  But the characters were so much fun to spend time with and the world felt so intrinsically interesting that it also seemed like a prime candidate to give a sequel to anyway.  And to its credit “Ralph Breaks The Internet” starts from a premise clearly designed to keep it from simply being a needless retread of the original, trading the halls of an old Arcade for the world wide web.  Unfortunately, the resulting film, while not exactly a TOTAL wash, also feels like it’s learned all the wrong lessons from its predecessor, taking an anted-up version of the first movie’s playful Video Game in-jokes that were there a mere garnish and here turning them into an inescapable aspect of the entire story that severely compromises its narrative integrity.

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Said narrative picks up six years after the events of the original, with Ralph happy as can be with his lot in life nowadays: thanks to his friendship with “Sugar Rush” superstar Vanellope Von Schweetz, he’s more than content to just do his job and hang out with her goofing off all night.  Vanellope, however, feels increasingly constrained by the repetitive limits of her closed-off racing world, leading Ralph to try and give her a new surprise or two to cheer her up; unfortunately that just leads to "Sugar Rush” getting broken.  Ralph and Vanellope thus decide to venture into the arcade’s newly connected Wi-Fi system to reach The Internet in hopes of finding the part necessary to fix the game before it’s permanently unplugged.  

Which kind of sounds like a bit of an overcooked premise, and indeed the number of contrivances the movie throws at you more or less right out the gate to get to where it wants to go speaks to the problem at the heart of the whole thing, but to start things out on a relatively positive note: Ralph and Vanellope remain a great pair of characters, and if nothing else the opening few minutes of the movie honestly do make for a pleasant little coda to the first movie.  More to the point, there actually IS something admirable about how this movie chooses to dig into how their characters have changed and where they stand:  now that he has an anchor of affirmation in Vanellope, Ralph is able to find acceptance and fulfillment in the same places he once felt rejected by...but once that anchor is threatened (as it is when Vanellope finds herself increasingly attracted to the idea of staying online in the wild and unpredictable world of an online racer called “Slaughter Race”), all of his old insecurities begin to surface.  Meanwhile the same drive to strive for something greater that drove Vanellope in the first movie has now begun to slowly but surely push her out of “Sugar Rush”; this one’s a bit shakier (and the movie fumbles it pretty much completely in the execution but we’ll get to that) but you really can see the emotional logic it works on in a way that adds up, especially because the movie genuinely has the courage of its convictions and chooses to pursue it to its most logical conclusion rather than try to hedge its bets or chicken out at the last minute.  

As well, basically all of the new characters work.  The obvious highlight is Gal Gadot as Shank, the Boss Character of “Slaughter Race”; even as her presence in the movie overall is surprisingly limited given her importance to the main emotional arc that (eventually) reveals itself as the heart of the story, she is nonetheless an immediately enjoyable presence, at once tough as nails and On The Edge (one of the movie’s better sight gags is how the world of “Slaughter Race” is bathed in the reds and browns that dominated Video Games for most of the mid-00′s and Shank feels right at home in that tone) but also a caring figure who looks at her job with a genuine sense of Duty and Honor.  Likewise Taraji P. Henson’s Yesss is delightful, a beaming bouncing presence whose constantly-changing look is a consistent delight (and who may have the most enjoyably subtle details of animation of any character in the movie with the way her coat lights up whenever she gets excited being a personal favorite).  But even minor characters like the Search Engine curator Knowsmore (our now-traditional Alan Tudyk role) and Bill Hader’s J.P. Spamley are genuinely fun new additions to the overall cast.  You do find yourself wishing they could maybe get a bit more screen time or else be better integrated into the overall story, but even so I really liked just about all of them and they do a lot to buoy the whole thing.

Unfortunately none of them, nor the movie’s clever-if-not-especially-original conception of what “The Internet” would mean to this kind of world (my personal favorite touch might be portraying pop-up ads as old-school Newsies), can really add up to much in the face of the larger problem here.  See, even though they’re a relatively minor presence in the overall movie, the original “Wreck-it Ralph” hyped up the presence of its various Video Game character cameos (many of whom return here), and the attendant in-jokes that came with them.  “Ralph Breaks The Internet” apparently seems to have the mistaken belief that it was this wink-wink nudge-nudge meta-humor at the original’s margins that was in fact the key to its success and thus, using The Internet as a launching pad to broaden its range of targets, has made that element much, much more prominent this time around.  Sometimes that does make for amusing gags; the extended (and heavily-touted) scene where Vanellope meets the other Disney Princesses is indeed a particular highlight, and the one sequence where the movie comes even remotely close with reconciling its desire to indulge in fairly tired meta-textual snark with actually trying to tell any sort of real story.  Far more often we have to deal with things like how a joke about Ralph making the age-old mistake of reading the comments stands in for any kind of actual attempt to show how his old anxieties are resurfacing (in a moment that fails to land almost completely; it is honestly impossible to tell while watching it how seriously the movie expects us to take it), or even more frustrating how Vanellope’s realization that she wants to stay in “Slaughter Race” is told to us through an incredibly ineffectual and far too self-aware parody of the old Disney-style “I Want” song.  That Vanellope would in fact choose to leave Sugar Rush behind is already the biggest buy-in the movie asks us to make of its characters, so that failed short-cut proves especially harmful to the overall arc here.  It all leads to a finale that feels like it could, indeed even should, work for how frankly it chooses to tackle the underlying emotional problems at the heart of the story, but it ultimately can’t because the movie just flat-out has not done the work to really earn it.

There are other smaller problems as well; Fix-it Felix and Calhoun, the primary side-characters from the first film, are here given what feels like it should be the lead-in to an enjoyable and inspired B-story of their own but instead wind up being nothing more than glorified cameos.  I’m also not super fond of how the movie actively begs the audience to question the logical nature of its world and characters as often (and seemingly without much thought) as it does.  But the real fundamental issue here is that “Ralph Breaks The Internet” just plain cannot square its two competing impulses; the desire to actually try and tell a story that meaningfully expands on the original’s characters in some genuinely-daring ways is ultimately undone by the far-stronger drive to weigh it all down beneath a lot of knowing referential humor that feels far less relevant and insightful than the writers think it is.  There really is something good deep in the heart of all of this, but, sad as it is to say, it basically gets wrecked this time around.

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Naruto and Death Note Matchup Request

Name: Corethra (or Corey for short)

Gender: Female

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Occupation: Hand Packer at an ice cream factory

Zodiac Sign: Pisces

MBTI Type: INFJ

Race/Ethnicity: African-American

Height: 4'11

Body Type/Shape: Average with some curves here and there. I’m pretty small because of my height.

Hair Color/Style: Black and naturally curly but I keep it relaxed and flat-ironed so it’s straight. It’s long and goes down to just below my shoulder blades.

Glasses or No?: Yes I wear glasses

Eye Color: Brown

Hobbies/Interests: Video games, reading, writing, anime, internet surfing, listening to music, politics (sometimes), watching movies/TV shows, basically being an overall nerd

Personality: At first glance, I seem quiet and keep to myself, only speaking when I need to or when I’m spoken to. I’m an anti-social introvert to the fullest. When I get comfortable enough in whatever environment I’m in, I start to open up bit by bit. I’m a tomboy and pretty rough-minded. I’m very sassy, have a smart and witty mouth if not humorous and outrageous at times, can be borderline rude, and I’m more sensitive than I care to be. I can literally cry at someone’s suffering especially if it’s someone I’m close to.

Many of my friends say that I’m very sweet and kind which I usually am if I’m in a good mood as well as affectionate as hell. Hugs and pet names galore with me! However only my friends and family see that side of me. My language is often unfiltered, harsh, and blunt which shocks people because they think I’m a pure angel. I say what I want when I want and no one tells me otherwise. If they do, they can expect a mouthful from me.

I have many pet peeves and I get annoyed easily in general. I’m also slowly embracing misanthropy. I’m practically zero tolerance when it comes to bullshit. I hate confrontation but I’m starting to work on it so I can be less passive-aggressive. I also wish to stand up for myself more often than I should so people won’t think that I’m weak and an easy target. I’m pretty cynical which is to be expected and usually expect the worst from people. When someone angers me, I will either just withdraw altogether and completely cut them off or get in their face and go off before doing the former. I’m the “hold my anger in and release it all at once” type but I hope to change that one day. I can be quite petty and even cold as well and if someone wrongs me, they will have to make the first move to mend fences.

I have issues with trust and a wild imagination to boot. I usually trust my instincts and can see right through bullshit. I don’t like taking risks and I have to know all the details and be organized as hell when I do something so I don’t mess up and look like an idiot. I haven’t been in a relationship yet and am still a virgin due to my issues with trust and not wanting to be hurt or humiliated. I expect a lot from people although I’m pretty laid-back and a bit lazy most of the time which allows me to also take a lot of shit from people too before I eventually say “fuck it”.

Many people praise me for my intelligence which is fitting since I’m an intellectual. My ideals and beliefs are rather odd to say the least (I’m a classical liberal/independent and despise most ideologies/ideas. This includes religion, feminism, social justice, traditionalism, statism, big government, nationalism, socialism/communism, etc.) and I feel misunderstood because of it (mostly because of the black community ostracizing me). I am indeed a rebel, open-minded, and a free thinker. No one tells me how to think or feel or else they face my wrath. I am definitely an outcast at heart. Before I give my opinion on something, I like to do as much research as possible before coming to my own conclusion. I don’t mind discussing things but I prefer logic over emotion when doing so which makes it damn near impossible these days for me to have an real conversation without insults and threats being thrown (usually towards me). Chances are I’m gonna find something wrong with damn near anything someone believes in or says and I’m not afraid to call it out when I see it.

I’m currently battling depression and often experience many symptoms including suicidal thoughts. I also suffer from iron-deficiency anemia and irregular periods. These things are pretty annoying and humiliating for me to deal with whenever they pop up.

Overall, I’m pretty crazy and a handful to deal with. Good luck matching me up with someone :P

NARUTO

I ship you with...CHOJI!

He’s always calm and tempered, knows how to read the mood and how to temper a situation, so if you ever get pissed off at something or someone, he will be there to help you out.

He is a food lover through and through so he will make sure that you are taking care of yourself, like eating regularly, staying hydrated, going out and so on.

Of course, since he always carries food with him, he will share his crisps with you if you ask him that.

He knows what it’s like to be an outcast, having been like that before he started the Academy and before Shikamaru befriended him and took care of his bullies, so he’d do his best to make sure you don’t go through the same struggles he went through.

He’s a very sociable and nice person so he’d make sure you’re always happy and content with life as it is, helping you out if you need to laugh or take care of a situation that’s not favorable for you.

DEATH NOTE

I ship you with...MATSUDA

He’s kinda very shy and awkward, mostly because he’s always surrounded by impeccably brilliant geniuses at his work place, so you being a normal human being would be a great change of pace for him.

Being with you would give him a boost of confidence and would help him get back to his usual cheery and content self, and in turn, he will make jokes and puns to make you laugh.

He is a self-confessed coward with an usual weak personality, but if something bad happens to his loved ones, he’s definitely going to react and protect them, in his own way.

Since Matsuda is actively involved with everything politics, crimes and social affairs related, so he’s quite knowledgeable in these topics and would gladly discuss with you any topics you can even think about with no problem and no restrictions.

[randomrichards]

THE BEST MOVIE MOMENTS OF 2018:

HONORABLE MENTION:

The Opening/Closing Credits from BUDDIES

I’m putting this as honorable mention because this is an older movie recently rereleased.

The first film about the AIDS Crisis, Buddies strikes at the heart with its opening credits with a typed list of AIDS victim up to 1985. Set to a mournful score by Jeffrey Olmstead, the never ending list of lives cut short puts you in tears.

Alex Honnold faces Boulder Problem in FREE SOLO

Most thrillers can only wish they could be as gripping as in the moment when Alex Honnold maneuver’s his way through the most challenging section of El Capitan Wall without rope in this Documentary.

Ray Offers Wisdom from Mid90s

“If you looked in anybody else’s closet, you wouldn’t trade your shit for their shit.”

Ray (Na-kel Smith) and his friends may not be the best role models for the impressionable Stevie (Sunny Suljic), but in this moment, Ray teaches him a lesson in perspective.

Glenn Close’s performance in THE WIFE

I’m not referring to any moment. Just Glenn Close’s acting. She speaks more volumes with her face than most actresses could with dialogue.

10)        The Beach Scene from ROMA

Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) is an extraordinary woman. Sure, her life hanging towels and cleaning dog poo doesn’t seem like anything special. But like many lower working-class people, she endures. Boy does she endure a lot of shit in this movie. Not only does her deadbeat boyfriend ditch her to practice martial arts, but her baby is born dead. Despite all this, she not only continues her work, but she shares a close bond with the family. She showcases this bond and her strength when a fun day at the beach goes horribly wrong.

When Paco (Carlos Peralta) and Sofi (Daniela Demesa) swim too far out, Cleo walks into the ocean to save them despite not knowing how to swim. We watch in dread as she faces severe waves to find the kids, the camera always close to her.

This scene also contains a beautiful scene of the family hugging Cleo when she tears up over losing her baby. Seeing them all huddled together in front of a bright white sun captures the heart.

9)         “A Place Called Slaughter Race” from RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET

Admit it, it’s fun to take pot shots at Disney Tropes. Hell, even Disney gets in on the fun. And boy do they seize on every moment to mock Princess tropes when Vanellope Von Shweetz (voiced by Sarah Silverman) encounters the Disney Princesses. Of course, it helps that Director Rich Moore and Head of Story Jim Reardon creates some of the best episodes of the Simpsons. Though there are many hilarious moments[1], none can hold the candle to Vanellope’s “I Want” song.

As she reflects over a puddle, Vanellope sings about her longing to be in the gritty game “Slaughter Race.” Seeing this little girl perform this lighthearted musical number over a background of riots and dumpster fires is comedy gold. Nearly every element of this number elevates the comedy, from singing shark (with cats and dogs in its mouth) to the creative lyrics (“Am I a baby pigeon spreading wings to soar?/ Is that a metaphor?/Hey, there’s a dollar store”). And the number still finds time to emphasize Vanellope’s fear of hurting Ralph (John. C Reilly).

Kudos to Alan Menken for mocking the trope he (and the late Howard Ashman) introduced to Disney. Just as deserving of Kudos is Silverman, who faced to task of singing in Vanellope’s high pitched voice.

8)         Charlie Loses Her Head from HEREDITARY

With her unusual hobbies, connection to her late grandmother and that clicking sound, you’d assume Annie’s (Toni Collette) daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro) would be the centre of the whole film.[2] Boy, were we in for a surprise.

Spoilers!

When Charlie suffers a peanut allergy reaction, Peter (Alex Wolfe) races her home. On his drive, he sees a mysterious figure in the middle of the dark road. In his attempt to dodge it, he doesn’t see Charlie hanging out the window. Seeing her head slam right into a pole leaves us as traumatized as Peter is. To see them kill off a main character so early in the film is downright shocking. With this death, predictability goes right out the window and we are left uncertain of what direction this film will go.

7)         Neil Armstrong Soars in the X-15 Rocket Plane in FIRST MAN

It’s funny how the most exciting scene in this film isn’t the moon landing. Don’t get me wrong, the scene’s still breathtaking in its realism, but it’s surprising how thrilling the opening scene.

Damien Chazelle hits the ground running with Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) soaring the atmosphere in an X-15 Rocket Plane. He soars higher and higher into the skies until he flies out of earth’s surface and gets stuck in space

Albeit, you know he will be back on earth in time for the moon landing. And yet, I found myself on the edge of my seat, wondering how he’s going to get back to earth. Most of it is thanks to the visual effects, which contains some of the most believable since 2001: A Space Odyssey. The effects leave CGI in the dust with practical effects that look so real, you’d think Gosling was actually flying into space.

6)         The Ferris Wheel Scene from LOVE, SIMON

High School Movies are home to many unforgettable romantic scenes. There’s Samantha (Molly Ringwald) and Jake (Michael Schoeffling) standing over a birthday cake in Sixteen Candles. There’s Patrick (Heath Ledger) singing to Katarina (Julia Stiles) on the bleachers in 10 Things I hate About You. And who can forget Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) blaring Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” outside Diane Court’s (Ione Skye) in Say Anything. Be ready to include the closing scene of Simon (Nick Robinson) waiting on the Ferris wheel for online pen pal Blue from Love, Simon.

After being outed by a student, infuriating his friends for deceiving them in his attempt to stay closeted and abandoned by Blue, Simon makes a plea to meet with Blue face to face on the Ferris Wheel at a carnival. As he rides on the Ferris Wheel, he, fellow classmates and the audience wait in anticipation for Simon’s happy ending.

5)         The Book Heist from AMERICAN ANIMALS

When Spencer Reinhard (Barry Keoghan) and Warren Lipka (Evan Peters) plotted to steal extremely valuable books from the Transylvania University library in Kentucky, they thought they had the perfect heist. With the help of their friends Erick Borsuk (Jared Abrahamson) and Chas Allen (Blake Jenner), they thought they pull off a heist as smooth as Oceans 11.[3]

But reality hits them like a sledge hammer when they try to pull off the heist. Unlike their dreams, Librarian Betty Jean Gooch (Ann Dowd) doesn’t get knocked out with one taser jolt. It also isn’t easy to lug a six-foot book down a flight of stairs. Then there’s the fact the basement has no exit. That’s just a few of many problems they never consider. From then on, we witness them pay a huge price for their hubris and lack of real-world understanding.

Only youths as smart as they are to come up with such a stupid plan.

4)         The Mutant Bear from ANNIHILATION

Biologist Lena (Natalie Portman) and her team find themselves in a quite a bind. After entering the Shimmer, physicist Josie Radek (Tessa Thompson) has barely survived an attack from a mutant alligator and Anthropologist Cassie Sheppard (Tuva Novotny) has been attacked by a bear. Now paramedic Anya Thorensen (Gina Rodriguez) has gone mad and has tied up Lena, Radek and Dr. Ventress (Jennifer Jason Leigh). But when they hear Sheppard’s cries for help, they will soon find Anya is the least of their worries.

Their journey delivers many grotesque, nightmare inducing visuals (especially the slithering intestines.) But the most memorable moment in this film was the image of the helpless crew trapped in a cabin with a mutant bear. Bears are scary enough on their own, but a faceless one is pants spitting meeting. And then you hear it imitate Sheppard’s screams and suddenly you need a new pair of pants.

3)         The Great Snap from AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

The whole Marvel Cinematic Universe had been leading up to this moment. The fact that nearly every character had a moment to shine in this one movie demonstrates the astounding direction of the Russo Brothers. But despite all the epic fight scenes, everyone agrees that this film’s greatest scene is the heroes moment of defeat.

Despite every effort made to stop in, despite outnumbering Thanos and despite Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) sacrificing Vision (Paul Bettany) to destroy the mind stone, Thanos still got all the infinity stones. And with a single snap, Thanos succeeds in wiping out half the universe’s population. One by one, we watch many of our heroes vanish into dust while others watch in helpless horror. But none are more heartbreaking that the moment when Spider-Man (Tom Holland) falls into Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) arms, crying “I don’t want to go.” All because some characters couldn’t make the sacrifice needed

Yes, we knew he was going to succeed in the end.[4] And yes, you know most of the heroes won’t stay gone.[5] And yes, their return will likely involve the surviving heroes sacrificing themselves.[6] But the ending still feels powerful despite this knowledge.

It all concludes with Thanos sitting near a cottage, content in his triumph. If the MCU ended here, it would have been a perfect ending. But I’m still curious to see how this will go.

2)         The Closing Close-Up in CAPERNAUM

The closing image of Zain’s (Zain Al Rafeea) face will haunt you beyond the closing credits. Throughout the film, we’ve seen this kid struggle through hell on the streets of Lebanon, trying to protect his sister from their resentful parents and helping an Ethiopian Migrant Worker take care of her son. But when he’s sent to prison for assaulting a pimp who bought his sister, he decides to sue his parents for the crime of bringing him into this miserable world. Writer/director Nadine Labaki never looks away for a second to the brutality of Zain’s world and how it brings out the worst in Zain.

When the film freezes to the image of Zain smiling for a Passport photo, your heart breaks for him as Khaled Mouzanar’s haunting score plays out.

1)         Tish and Fonny’s Walk Through the Park in IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

No other opening scene has done a better job of putting its audience under its spell than when loving couple Tish (Kiki Layne) and Alfonzo “Fonny” Hunt (Stephan James) stroll through a park holding hands.

There’s beauty in every element of this scene, from Nicholas Britell’s romantic score to the warm looks in the character’s eyes. But what really sells it is James Laxton’s lush cinematography. The colours pop through the yellows and blues on the couple’s clothes and the green of the grass. You are as in love with this couple as they are for each other.

Then the film cuts to Tish visiting Fonny in prison, this time the yellow is the prison, the blue is Fonny’s jumpsuit and the green is on Tish’ outfit. From then one, we know why their love is worth fighting for.

[1] Mostly at the expense of Ariel (Jodi Benson)

[2] Especially when she appears so prominently in the advertisements.

[3] As indicated by a fantasy sequence.

[4] Since we know this was going to be a two parter.

[5] Especially when there are already planned sequels to Black Panther, Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. After all the money Marvel’s got from Black Panther? They’re not going to give up that meal ticket.

[6] What with Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans retiring their characters.

[refractstudios]

Your First Look at Distance v1.0

Hey, everyone! As it's been said many times over the years, when we go dark something big is usually brewing under the surface. You probably can tell from the title, but after many grueling months we're finally ready to unveil what we've been creating.

Thanks for everyone's patience as we bring this insane 6+ year project to its conclusion. This year we've been fully focused on wrapping up the large bundle of content to all be released in Distance v1.0. It's essentially a huge DLC pack with several surprises inside. Since the start of early access, expanding upon our shipped level content has always been the plan, right alongside implementing the long list of promised features from our Kickstarter campaign (e.g. Trackmogrify, ghosts/replays, stunt mode, announcer, etc).

We're still working with our business partners to determine the release date, so we’re not yet able announce that in this devlog. In the meantime I’d like to cover some of what you can look forward to in Distance v1.0, as well as a few personal notes about the development process.

ADVENTURE

First up, Distance v1.0 includes a full featured Adventure campaign. This final campaign is a reworked and extended version of the campaign currently available on Steam Early Access. To achieve our original vision for Adventure the entire experience is receiving visual, audio, story, and gameplay upgrades.

(example of an upgraded Adventure level; new version above, old below)

In fleshing out the final narrative my goal was to create a unique experience by utilizing emotions not usually found within the racing genre. To achieve that we pursued a minimalist narrative that focuses heavily on atmosphere, mystery, and flow. Some loose story threads remain from the early access version, but in the end it’s a whole new beast.

The campaign in total is about 1 to 1.5 hours long depending on your skill level, so don't go in expecting an epic. It's a minimalist narrative experience, with gameplay focusing on the core abilities of your vehicle. The story is simple on the surface, but the deeper you look into it the more you may uncover.

Alongside the visual and gameplay upgrades, I've also worked hard to improve the overall soundscape with lots of new sounds, several new music tracks, and dynamic transitions. For a taste of some new stuff, here's a fresh new track from about halfway through the campaign.

As you’re probably aware I tend to prefer silence over accidentally spoiling something. It's probably overkill most of the time, but in talking about such a short campaign I'm not excited to give too much away. Hopefully these screenshots will hold you over until we can finally release a proper teaser trailer.

ARCADE

I'm also excited to say that the Arcade portion of Distance is also getting a large overhaul. Not only will we be releasing several brand new Arcade levels with v1.0, but we've redesigned the Arcade experience from the ground up. My aim with this redesign was to improve the sense of progression, give more value to earning medals, and make it more interesting to traverse the wide variety of included content.

With that goal in mind, the team came together to create new menus, improve existing ones, and logically group Arcade content as best as we can. After trying a few different progression systems, we settled on something simple and straightforward. Within Arcade there are level sets which can be unlocked by earning medals. We've also meticulously gone through each track and updated the bronze, silver, and gold times to be as accurate and consistent as possible.

As I mentioned above, several new arcade levels are being released with v1.0. These levels push our editor technology to its limit and explore completely different visual themes and gameplay than what’s found in the Adventure campaign.

(“Chroma” created by Kristian)

(“Virtual Rift” created by Galen)

Along those lines, I'm also pleased to announce that several of our favorite community-made levels will be directly included in v1.0! Not only does this allow us to highlight some amazing community levels directly from within the game, it's also our way to share these levels with PS4 players as we won’t have a Steam Workshop replacement at launch. Kristian, Brent, and Galen have also taken time to revamp several of their own levels from Steam Workshop to be directly included in v1.0.

(one example of an included Workshop level, “Inferno” by Backgrounds’)

(Brent upgraded his Workshop level “Neo Seoul” exclusively for v1.0)

By the way if you liked the old menus, don't worry because they're still included as the "Advanced" level select menu. It's even been improved further to include a search feature.

(the Advanced level select menu)

Much like the “Old Levels” in Nitronic Rush, a Legacy level set has been included. It features all of the classic levels from early access, as well as a few levels cut from the final version of the Adventure campaign. Since the changes between the old iterations and the final ones were substantial enough we figured they would be worth including as a fun bonus.

(the Legacy level set in Sprint mode)

In addition to the new unlockable levels in Arcade, we also spent time creating a few cheats that affect appearances or gameplay when enabled. Unlock them by earning various achievements/trophies. We thought this would be a fun way to give achievements more value instead of just being arbitrary tasks to complete. And yes, a few more achievements will be added to v1.0 on top of what already exists in the early access build.

(a few cheats to unlock in v1.0)

Finally, a quick comment on the unlockable cars. Yes, there will be a few bonus cars to unlock by earning achievements. You can change the colors if you like, but no, they do not affect gameplay at all. Here’s a look at the Archive.

(the unlockable “Archive” car)

Hundreds of other smaller improvements have been made across the board, including improvements to the car's damage system, the cockpit view, etc. Instead of dissecting each one it'll be more fun to just find those yourself.

LEVEL EDITOR

For all of our lovely level creators, just a quick note on the v1.0 editor. Don't expect a big v1.0 level editor overhaul but there will be several new features added. This includes access to the features and many new assets used to create new level content, plus a few new addable components.

For example, you can add an Animator Audio or Animator Camera Shake component to your animations. Regarding the new v1.0 assets mentioned above, you’ll have to wait a bit longer since showing them here would give too much away from the campaign.

(some example addable components coming to v1.0)

PS4 DEVELOPMENT

As it’s been for a while now, the PS4 side of development has eaten up a substantial amount of our time. Fortunately we’ve pushed past most of the scariest hurdles, and at a quick glance the PS4 build looks nearly identical to the PC build.

(one of the new Adventure campaign levels running on PS4)

One the biggest challenges we had to overcome was simply hitting our goal of 1080p at 60fps. After some impressive technical wizardry led by Jason, we’ve made substantial improvements to performance across the board for both the PS4 and PC builds.

More than anything we’ve smoothed out most of the rough spots in levels that were pushing the hardware to its limit, so the experience is quite a bit more consistent in each level. This was really important to us from the gameplay perspective because our fairly “twitchy” gameplay really feels subpar at even 30fps, so one way or another we think everyone will benefit from the work poured in here.

(performance graph showing frame rate over time in a new Arcade level running on PS4)

Beyond that, it’s just been a lot of work to support features like leaderboards with replay uploading/downloading, and the various technical certification requirements to allow us onto the PS4 in the first place. There’s still quite a bit of work to do there, so we’re currently evaluating how we can improve our process to wrap those up sooner.

NOTES ON THE DEVELOPMENT

Simultaneously managing public and private builds over the past few years has been a growing challenge for us, so to reach release as soon as possible we’re simplifying things by putting all of our energy into v1.0. Unfortunately that means that there will be no more updates to the Steam build until v1.0 is released.

We ended up taking a long and unorthodox approach to early access, and I understand if there’s been any confusion as to how v1.0 fits into the overall picture. We did our best for a long time to balance the development of both public and private builds, but it eventually became unsustainable to keep that up. Over the past year we’ve gradually transitioned to just focusing on v1.0 content (and tools to create that content), as well as solving the various technical challenges required to release on PS4.

As a result I haven’t had much to say publicly since everything we’re creating is secret, spoiler-filled content. Regardless, I fully acknowledge that I could have done better in terms of communication. The deeper I fell into creating “secret” content like the Adventure campaign, the harder and harder it became to break out of that world and maintain an external perspective of the project.

The reality of Distance as a project is that it’s been fairly overscoped from the start (at least for our team size and skill set). On top of that we do feel a duty to provide something innovative with artistic merit. For us it’s been a continual battle to not only live up to external expectations, but also live up to the standards we have ourselves. Instead of conceding defeat and scaling things back, we’ve continued to face each artistic and technical challenge until we’re satisfied with the final product. I’m not saying this was necessarily the wisest approach, but I hope you can understand how we ended up investing so much time into Distance.

It's been a long and bumpy process for all of us, but the v1.0 release is in sight and I think you’ll really like what we’ve cooked up. Distance has always been an extremely personal project for us, and as a result I think that you can see our personal passions shine through the final product. I’m extremely proud of my hard-working and dedicated teammates for pushing through endless barriers to reach this milestone. I’m also endlessly thankful to our faithful and extremely patient players who’ve been cheering from the sidelines from the start.

My next blog post will likely be the release date announcement. There also may or may not be a few secrets I neglected to mention here… so stay tuned. Thanks as always for the support!

- Jordan (with everyone at Refract)