#cos everything seems to be played comedically

[theskyexists]

Damn that murderbot trailer kinda sucks

[an-angelstears]

this is real, not acting ...

fate . you and your co-star, satoru gojo, start to feel something real ... and NOT for a movie !

the demon (warnings/contents) . [ part 1 , sfw ]

the angel (pairings) . satoru gojo x gn!reader

you were a famous actress/actor, mainly starring in horror or action movies. you gained a lot of fame after one particular action movie with a hint of horror where you had to fight aliens and such.

you were known as the attractive actress/actor that played one of the main characters in the show; and especially for how badass the character was portrayed. this obviously opened a bunch of doors of opportunities, and your manager suggested that you try other movie genres—like drama or ‘rom com’s.

you of course accepted, seeking to climb up the metaphorical stairs of the entertainment industry. even though you were much more experienced with action movies—maybe trying a bit of lovey dovey and stepping out of your comfort zone is a necessary step to make your name boom! on social media.

so, you auditioned for romance-type movies. at first, all the recruiters were confused. what was an action star doing in a romance audition? but after a few auditions, you finally got accepted into a rom-com titled ‘Changed Me’, with you being the main character’s love interest.

the story was simple; the main character was a normal highschool kid who was burnt out from school and from lack of money. after meeting a bubbly person who was rich, said person fell in love with him and the main character intended to use them for money at first, but then also fell in love over time.

the story was simple, yeah. but it was going to get carried by satoru gojo anyway. oh, and speaking of satoru gojo..

when you checked who the main character was, it was the legendary, mighty, strong, famous, steal-your-girl-and-man actor, satoru gojo. this is insane. how are you going to film your first rom-com with a professional romance actor with years of experience? well, just try your best, i guess..

it was time to film the first scene of the movie, which was satoru gojo’s character introduction. but you still wanted to watch him work since you were a complete beginner in these types of movies. all that you know is that it’s just like acting in action movies but you gotta hold back cracking a smile when you get too flustered.

seems simple enough..

you watch satoru gojo intently, watching how he keeps the ‘slice of life’ vibes in every scene with his humor, dialogue, and of course, looks. he looked calm and happy while being quiet, since he will be narrating the dialogue later anyway.

after he filmed his scenes, you then go on to observe him narrating his lines. his cocky, but still manly voice fits his character so well.

“so, yeah, this is my morning routine.. just wake up, go to school, do homework, and go to bed.. add in a bit of eating, drinking..” he mutters against the microphone, adding in a little defeated sigh to show that the main character is not satisfied with his current life.

damn, you thought. that was hella easy. it wasn’t your first time being introduced to scenes where they feel a little comedic—but it actually holds a deeper meaning. like in this one, satoru’s character is trying to play it off with a little bit of a joyful tone, but the dialogue itself plus the defeated sigh shows that he’s clearly not well.

then, the scene just switches to some comedic thing where the main character falls off of his bed trying to get up for school, with satoru muttering a little “augh.. that hurt..”

..maybe you were overanalyzing this?

maybe it was just a comedy scene, and not like those deep, emotional scenes hidden behind a comedic feeling—like what was usually present in your past movies.

right, past movies. plan a; forget about them.

well, not straight up forget about them and everything you’ve learned. forget about the usual formula, since this obviously isn’t accurate with this movie you were gonna act in.

from what you remember, there’s rarely any slice of life things with action movies unless it’s a jackie-chan (not sponsored) movie—with comedy, of course, and other comedy related action movies.

so, when a couple of days passed by, and it was your character’s first introduction in the movie, you knew you were fucked.

“okay, and.. action!”

your heart raced. the scene was very simple; you were just going to bump into the main character and introduce yourself. haha, easy, right?

but not when you keep accidentally staring at satoru gojo for too long, making the scene too awkward and you both having to restart it.

“why did you even bring a romance rookie over?” you hear satoru gojo whispering to the recruiter, making your heart drop. your first impression for this very experienced actor now just got buried in the ground.

“alright, mr. gojo, y/n, come on.” the director calls, ready to restart the scene.

after hearing that whisper, you really wanted to impress him for some reason. so when the scene played, you pretended to look at something in the distance—mimicking someone who is zoning out.

« just make sure to not actually fall when you feel satoru gojo bump into you. » you thought to yourself.

so when you feel a rather muscular build colliding with you, you pretend to fall, your books (props) falling on the ground. you look up to see satoru gojo, making sure not to stare too long.

“hey! watch where you’re going!” you scoff, picking up your books.

meanwhile, satoru seemed impressed. you were just stuttering over your lines a minute ago. “sorry,” he muttered, crouching to help you pick up your books.

bite back your smile.

it seemed impossible. how could you even get charmed just by this? he’s just acting! this isn’t real..

“cut!”

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

Would anyone be stupid enough trying to kidnap or holding Catnap & Dogday’s kid(s) for ransom considering Angel’s loaded after the the whole play Co. thing. Everyone knows who Angel and the toys are, but there’s always going to those stupid enough to try.

Honestly, I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to try to do that, considering that by the point Dogday + Catnap adopt a kid everyone also knows the Prototype roams around the farm and is very protective of the toys. HOWEVER.

If someone still insisted on doing that, I think they would regret it really, really quickly. Dogday and Catnap easily track their child down, but what no one was accounting for is the whole toy army that follows them + Angel and Prototype. Whoever did the kidnapping would be lucky to be dead after the encounter bc the toys and Angel would do everything in their power to make their life miserable, to say the least.

... We could also follow the comedic route and make it so that the kid stares at their kidnappers like "sir, ma'am, boss guy, are you SURE it's ME that you guys want? Like, 100% sure? No doubts? Sure-sure about that? Like, sure-sure-SURE about that????", and they annoy every single one of them until they hear a roar in the background and go "!!!! DAD!!!!" before Catnap bodyslams the first kidnapper he sees, followed by Dogday almost biting someone's arm off. "PAI!!!!", they shout. "And uncle! And aunt! And uncle, uncle, aunt, aunt, aunt, uncle... And... Grandpa and grandma??????", and with each family member they see the realization that the kidnappers are in trouble just becomes bigger. They stare at the boss of the whole operation and tell them "told you so!!!" with the SMUGGEST look.

The kid hugs their parents as tight as they can, Dogday bombarding them with questions while Catnap just softly pets their head. They're trembling and this close to crying but their kiddo seems alright and that's all that matters.

[soupct123]

I come before you, tired, angry, and slightly unhinged, to offer the Portal and Half-Life lesbian appreciators something:

GLaDOS x Colette Green

(Is the ship name GreenDOS?)

Thought process:

[Skippable if you know who Colette is. The end of this part will be marked with “end” in this font]

I was binging Richter Overtime videos one day and his short on Colette sorta stuck in my head. Colette is, as far as the Half Life lore goes, barely a character. Despite her actually having lines when you play as her, due to Half Life Decay being a co-op game that needed built-in player communication, we have so little canon information about her that the Richter video is only about 6 minutes long, 1 of which is devoted to the Vortigauts you get to play as when you beat the base game. From the little of her in the Half Life 1 instruction manual she is an electronics and robotics engineer, and in Decay she starts laughing dementedly when she starts attacking and finishes off enemies.

I was just “woag hot crazy low poly butch” and the information sat in my head for a while until the next time I thought about Chelldos and Chellyx stuff. The comedic potential of Chellyx with GLaDOS being jealous about it is one of the things I like most about it. Then I thought “it would be cool if GLaDOS could get a rebound too. Or maybe Chell gets to be single and jealous. I don’t think anyone would go for shit like MossDOS or genericrebelnpcDOS tho and I don’t do ocs.” Then Colette activated in my brain

With “roboticist” and “crazy” being the only things we have on her personality, I think they make a good base for having her be with GLaDOS. Colette being a robotics engineer gives her and GLaDOS potential for:

1: thematic depth

2: good banter

3: smut

If you play the games the way they’re “meant to be played,” Chell is quiet, unflinching, and just a little quirky with it, so I think someone who outwardly matches/exceeds GLaDOS’ freak would be funny to pair with her.

[End]

Since Colette has lots of room left on her slate, I will add a bit of headcanon to make things juicier:

Other than what I saw checking tags here, I don’t know how widespread the Gina Cross and Colette Green ship is, but I ship it. My take: They got romantically involved while working together at Black Mesa, and while they were very passionate when they were alone together, Gina preferred not to be very public with it. You can attribute it to Gina’s more proffessional personality if you want a slightly less heavy reason compared to the sadly more realistic one. This explains why the colorblind security guards try to flirt with both characters in Decay. Colette didn’t want to keep it secret, and it came out to a few scientists, who were all cool about it, but it caused strains whenever Gina was there to witness it and tried to divert the subject. With the events of Half Life 1 causing the events of Decay, the two were getting closer, until the game ends (I don’t really remember what their goal was but it was probably some weird shit that was added on to be important to what Gordon was doing in a convoluted way). I operate under the assumption that Colette survived, and remains in G-Man’s pocket dimension thing.

In Opposing Force, a corpse with Gina’s face model but a different colored HEV suit can be found in Xen; it is not explicitly stated in any games or official material to be Gina Cross herself. A writer years later claimed it was her on social media, but it’s subjective whether claims made that way should be taken as fact, and with everything in the gearbox expansions being in canon limbo anyway, most of what I’m discussing doesn’t really matter much if you’re “playing by the books.” Despite the discrepencies, I personally go with that being Gina Cross’s corpse, because one of the Half Life franchise’s biggest problems is that nobody dies and stays dead.

Whether Colette was aware of, or even personally witnessed Gina’s death is also unknown, so I guess whichever seems more appropriate for a given story will work.

Last headcanon: I’m not as dug-in to the Half Life side, but I saw someone else saying the automated female voice for all HEV suits was Gina Cross herself. The official voice actors are different, and they could’ve actually meant the training course in the tutorial, but I like the idea, and she is canonically the one who designed the HEV suit.

With all that said, here is the workings of a little concept that I had:

PORTAL: REBOUND

(There’s a version of this in my head that’s a full-ass AAA game, sorta like that cancelled ravenholm game with the opposing force guy, but with my motivation levels this thing will be lucky if it makes it to a single chapter of a fanfic.)

During an altercation involving the G-Man, some, or possibly all, of his assets have been randomly released from stasis. Colette Green is awakened by rain falling on her face, and finds herself on a cliffside dotted with the wreckage of a large facility. She has nothing to her name but her H.E.V. Suit, and after screaming into the air and punching several rocks, the suit’s automated voice tells her to seek medical attention. It’s Gina Cross’ voice, which just drives her crazier with grief. As she follows the only path there is, through overgrown parts of the facility, she is beset upon by Xen creatures, many being unfamiliar to her, and having cybernetic enhancements that seem almost parasitic*. She has to fistfight, evade, and use her environment to get past the critters, and once she finally moves into safer parts of the facility, she is barely standing. She begins scavenging for supplies, and discovers that this is Aperture Labs, a place she knew of only by reputation. With no HEV chargers and Aperture’s health and safety deficits, she is forced to modify her suit with whatever she can salvage. She notices that some of the security cameras still follow her, but after they don’t produce any meaningful reactions, she assumes they’re just tied to motion detectors. Her voice’s radio picks up garbled transmissions in certain areas, but none seem useful, even the clearly decipherable ones. At first she has to salvage supplies from office areas, storage areas, and loading bays, which offer some raw materials that she can patch herself up with and begin attempting to build a long-range communication device, and she finds a good melee weapon for use against the occasional small critter. After going through several papers, maps, and whatever computers still work, she chooses to head for a test track, and discovers a Portal gun. Of course she’s fascinated by the device, but her main objective isn’t to test, so she brute forces and walks right through some of the damaged tests, but finds herself getting into it when she needs to finish one to progress. Along the way, she meets the turrets, uses some broken ones to build her own “regular” gun, uses some to defend against the Xen creatures, and further modifies her HEV suit, now with long fall boot parts and other quality of life gadgets. Her loneliness is getting to her, and she starts hearing Gina’s voice in her head, so to distract herself she forcefully befriends a wounded turret, and carries them around on her back so they can shoot things for her.

Eventually, all of Colette’s physical needs are met, so now all that’s left to do is find out what happened while she was in stasis and find long-range communications. She begins snooping more actively, and as she pokes and prods deeper and deeper, she finds parts of the facility in pristeen condition, still operating cleanly, if seemingly a bit sluggish and directionless. To her frustration, there are no humans left, but as she gets closer and closer to the answers she seeks, she feels like she’s actually being watched now, and every room she enters seems to whir to life whenever she approaches. Still left with so many gaps in her knowledge, the rooms and walkways now begin to shift with a clear purpose and path, which she distrusts and avoids at first. The facility just tries harder and harder, and she begins lashing out at the paths, until she’s left with no options but to follow. The walkways lead her directly into some test chambers, which she is forced to solve. She’s great at it, even when the chambers begin to cheat. What’s strange is that with their increases in complexity, they contain less hazards than the earlier tests. The radio reciever in her suit starts to pick up sounds, fuzzy at first, but they become clearer as she progresses through each test. It’s a robotic female voice, that doesn’t seem to be speaking, just making very quiet “observation noises.” Humming, sighing, ohs and ahs, chuckling, and moans. Gilette finally calls the voice out by refusing to solve a test and shouting “Who the hell are you? I can hear your fucking moans!”

The voice is taken off guard, and sounds really embarrassed, then figures out that she hears her because of the HEV suit. Colette had learned the hard way that the emancipation grills fried Aperture tech that went through them, unless covered by another material that wasn’t listed for destruction in the grill’s system, so she had been avoiding them, breaking them down, and wrapping her valuables in abandoned jumpsuits. The test door opens, but Colette can see the grid flicker off and on again for a moment, suspecting it had been updated, and shoots through the glass of an observation window. She makes one halfhearted attempt to get completely off the path, but lets her rage set in and brute forces through several more chambers that are mostly just traps to get her through an emancipation grill, until she’s led into a fool-proof one with no way out but through it. She pieces together that her ability to test is what’s important to the voice, and begins bargaining.

“I know you can hear me. I know that you don’t want to kill me, because you would’ve done so already. I know you want me to keep doing these tests. Either come to me or let me come to you.”

No response.

“I kinda like doing these tests. I can tell you like watching me do them. We can work something out.”

Nothing.

“Alright then. I guess you don’t care about these tests.”

Colette puts her gun to her own head.

“I’ll just kill myself then. It’s easier, and I don’t exactly have much to live for. It’s been fun, lady.”

Colette squeezes the trigger

The voice frantically begs her not to

The emancipation grill turns off, and the next chamber has a portal emitter open for her to finally meet GLaDOS

Multiple Choice Question:

Grades and answer sheet will be posted next week. This question will be on the test.

From there the toxic yuri builds up as these two awesome unstable freaks bring out the best worst most fun parts of each other. Two smart bitches telling each other exaaaaactly.

The things Colette will do to GLaDOS, with her masters in robotics and PhD in mechanical engineering, is beyond anything Chell could ever fathom. Gina Cross’ spirit is weeping. Colette basically buys Atlas and P-Body’s love with upgrades and cool stuff she scavenged, like a [gender neutral term for aunt/uncle] buying their [gender neutral term for niece/nephew] an xbox for christmas. GLaDOS feels deeply ashamed that she’s been getting it on with a Black Mesa employee but she likes everything else about Colette so far and eventually it turns into a kinky roleplay thing. When G-Man is done with half life 5’s plot or whatever he goes through the list trying to recapture all his missing assets, and when he sees a nude Colette clinging to Glados’ underside and pulling her wires with her teeth he figures it’s not worth trying to get her back. I can clearly see either of them holding a cigarette in bed after their first time and thinking “god I needed that”

Is my vison too niche or completely stupid? Idgaf it’s funny

*for the Portal: Rebound lore, the parasitic cybernetic enhancements on the Xen creatures are basically what regular aperture tech does when it’s left unchecked and evolves, like that movie Screamers 2. They evolved like earth animals do and gain basic instincts to first simply survive, then propogate, and eventually some parasites become sentient. Some parasites simply run off of their hosts’ energy, others begin altering and taking over their minds. Things get bad when leftover combine-altered creatures like gunships and striders get infected with parasites that lead to larger leaps in Aperture parasite evolution, and maybe even alerting the Combine themselves to Aperture tech. This is a half-baked concept because I just wanted to give Colette some new cool things to fight but once the lesbian shit starts it doesn’t matter to me

[quietpineapple]

First time watching the Mission: Impossible franchise. Was not disappointed. The first few movies felt so drastically different from each other like they weren't quite set on what exactly they wanted the franchise to be.

The first one felt the most james bond like to me. Especially with the gadgets. It's like they took the classic James Bond Movies and wanted to make it a bit more grounded and realistic. Maybe my favorite just because it's the original and sort of lays the ground work for how the rest of the movies will play out (gadgets, masks, infiltration, teams, love interests(?), and going rogue lol).

The second movie takes the character of Ethan Hunt and James Bond-ifies him a bit more by having him in fancier outfits, nicer cars, and having him be a bit more of a ladies man and suave. This movie also seeks to up the stakes and trys to go bigger and better than the previous movie. The threat this time is not Ethan Hunt being framed or a list being leaked but a potentially world ending virus being released into the wild. And the action also trys to elevate itself feeling much more like a matrix movie with all of the acrobatics and slow motion. This movie feels a bit weaker than it's predecessor but I still was entertained by it.

The third movie tries to elevate it the franchise yet again but this time has more success. The story feels much more fleshed out and engaging than the previous as well as having a heart at the center of the story (Ethan trying to protect his wife). The action in this movie feels much more realistic than the acrobatics and dual wielding running and running of the previous. Feels more "militaristic" like Ethan is strategizing and has to think and improvise on the fly to get through situations. The villain in this movie is the best so far and might be my personal favorite for the whole franchise. What the villain is after in this movie is what he calls "the rabbits foot". That is all that we know of this device. Could be world ending could be less dramatic, but the audience does not know, but it is what everyone is chasing after. A true mcguffin.

The fourth movie and the first movie with a proper follow up title "Ghost Protocol" really sets the standard and lays out the blueprint for how the rest of the movies will be. The threat this time is nuclear. Another potentially world ending threat that our hero has to stop. Almost everything in this movie has been taken to the next level, the set pieces, the action, the danger, and the crazy stunts that Tom Cruise performs. An overall great and engaging movie.

In "Rogue Nation" we are faced with another nuclear threat brought to us by a villain who is seeking out to punish the countries that he claims made him who he is today. A very smart villain who seems to know just what to do to get what he wants. He knows how to manipulate people into doing his bidding and seems to know how every situation will play out. The first movie where the climatic ending battle is not really a physical battle but a battle with words which leads into a chase scene where this time Ethan finally has the upper hand and manages to outsmart our villain and lead him into a trap where he is captured.

"Mission: Impossible Fallout" is the first movie where a director returns to film a sequel. The same director from "Rogue Nation" Christopher McQuarrie returns to direct not only this movie but the movies after this as well. The movie with Henry Cavill that many fans claim is the best. It certainly has its big moments as well as big name actors but ultimately is a bit lackluster for me in terms of story. Henry Cavill fits great into this franchise as the sort of comedic co lead who is pretty much the anti- Ethan Hunt. To me the third act and final confrontation fell a bit flat. The movie also could not have made it more obvious who the secret villain really was (could have been intentional but idk). Some great chemistry and banter between Tom Cruises and Henry Cavills characters.

"Dead Reckoning" is the most recent but not last movie in this franchise. This is part 1 of a 2 part story. Part 2 releases later this year. My least favorite of the McQuarrie directed movies so far. The plot reminds me a lot of Metal Gear Solid 2. I think it is pretty funny that the main threat of this movie is A.I. because I am pretty sure when this script was being written a.i. wasn't as such of a hot topic. The story in this one for me is the most lackluster one so far but does have some new and interesting characters. The action and gadgets as always is top tier. Still waiting on part 2 which will be called The Final Reckoning to see how I feel about how they tie up this story. There is also a sequence in here at the end of the movie during the climax that is straight out of uncharted 2. For those who have played that game they will get what I'm talking about (it's a train escape scene).

Overall I feel like this is a very solid entertaining franchise and it's not surprising that they are as big of a box of success that they are. I'm eagerly anticipating the next and also potentially final movie in this franchise (at least with Tom Cruise playing our protagonist). I'm hoping they somehow go even bigger and better and really end this franchise with a bang. I hope that this is a franchise that people will continue to watch and talk about for a long time.

Hopefully you enjoyed reading this semi-review(?) I don't know what to call this, this is my first time doing something like this. I'm not sure if I will continue to make more of these types of movie related posts in the future but if not I hope you got some type of entertainment/enjoyment/whatever out of this.

(p.s. ignore Jason Statham and the Minecraft movie in the screenshot lol)

[wynought]

The Horror in Burrow's End

I have been having Thoughts (TM) about the horror aspect of Burrow's End for a while now, and I think I can put at least some of those Thoughts (TM) into words now. Spoilers for Burrow's End (up to, and including episode 8) and Neverafter below.

Many people have pointed out that Burrow's End has been more horrifying (or at least felt more horrifying) than Neverafter, Dimension 20's proclaimed Horror Season. There has been a lot of terrifying body horror and gruesome gore, and with the latest episode (episode 8, as of writing this) we've also seemingly risen to another level with the absolutely stunning Wenabocker tapes (kudos again to Carlos Luna, the acting and sound design were legitimately masterful).

But we've also had that with Neverafter; the opening scene with Rosamund waking up is a perfect example of body horror, the Stepmother is an advanced lesson in eldritch horror, there are powerful and unknowable antagonists all throughout the Neverafter. So why is it that so many (if not all of us) feel that Burrow's End is so much scarier than Neverafter? I think there's a multitude of factors at play here.

Of course, we have the difference in the cast - the Intrepid Heroes are a well-oiled machine of tight comedy at this point, they know each other, their strengths, their comedic timing, they know what they can get away with in terms of shenanigans. The Stupendous Stoats are all incredible performers and have obviously worked together before in various constellations. However, they don't have an Established Dynamic in the way the Intrepid Heroes do. It is also the first time that Aabria is DMing a full-on D&D game in the dome, with battlesets and minis, and everything that entails, and she has said herself that she usually does theatre of the mind - there's a good possibility she wasn't even aware herself, how exactly this would influence her own style and the atmosphere she would create. All of this contributes to a vastly different feel of Burrow's End compared to Neverafter.

Additionally, both players and their characters in Neverafter were genre savvy, as was the audience. Neverafter was marketed as a horror season. We knew the tone going in, the Intrepid Heroes knew it going in, their characters were conceived as being horror versions of commonly known fairy tale characters. The marketing for Burrow's End was different; sure, we all immediately made the connection to Watership Down and The Secret of NIMH, and those aren't exactly known for their easy and happy themes, but I don't think any of us from the audience, or even the players were expecting the bear. This also ties into the player characters themselves. The Intrepid Heroes' characters didn't know each other beforehand; they grow together and they have/develop familial vibes, but they aren't family with all the added baggage that entails. Rosamund and Gerard may be cousins, but they're 100 years apart in age and have never met before. Pib and Pinocchio are successfully running scams together and do care for each other, but they don't quite have that long-time sibling dynamic. Mother Goose and Ylfa are arguably the closest to each other before the events of Neverafter, with Goose taking on a parental role, but they are stuck in their own recent traumas and seem to have gravitated towards each other more out of the need to fill the respective holes in their lives than out of a genuine, pre-established bond. Destiny's Children do grow and go on to become important people in each others' lives, but there's a difference between bonds forged by danger and choice, and bonds forced by necessity. The Stupendous Stoats were conceived as a family. Viola is Ava's daughter, and also Tula's sister, and also Thorn's wife, and also the kids' aunt, and also the co-leader of a cult. She has so many roles to fulfill already that 'horror protagonist' isn't even on anybody's list, least of all her own - and that goes for all the player characters. Their established dynamics mean that, for a bit, they don't, no they can't even realise what kind of story they are in. Thorn is living in a story where he is the tragic hero destined to save his people, Tula lives in a story about grief and loss and acceptance, Viola lives in a story of political intrigue, the kids live in a YA adventure novel a la Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Ava lives in Encanto (but don't tell her, she'd hate that). Then they encounter the bear and there's a slight record scratch, but, after having dealt with that mess, they go right back to their established roles. They react to the horror in a very, for lack of a better word, human way, they treat it as incidental to the reality they live in. They feel like a real family, slowly finding out just how scary their world truly is. The horror's impact on their lives is very different from the way Neverafter impacted the protagonists. We get to see the stoats' realisation that they're horror protagonists, but Destiny's Children had already gotten that message by the time they come together.

Another huge factor is the season length. Neverafter ran for 20 episodes, while Burrow's End is half as long. A lot of horror hinges on the audience and the protagonists being unaware of how exactly the antagonist/monster/spooky thing works. The audience usually knows on some level that there have to be some rules the horror has to abide by, the protagonists may or may not; but especially in something like an actual play TTRPG show there have to be some rules because this is a game, after all, and it would be incredibly unfun for the players, the DM, and the audience to have a fully unsolvable mystery. The problem with this is that the actual terror goes away once the rules are solved - sure, you can still do gore and disturbing stuff, and you can scare the protagonists, but your audience will expect an action-based story now, instead of a reaction-based story (e.g. the protagonist figures out that a silver bullet can hurt the werewolf, so now the audience expects them to stop running and make/find silver bullets in order to protect themselves, and either succeed in killing the monster or die trying). The longer your story is, the harder it is to keep up this level of suspense. You will either start to tread ground and the story will begin to feel stale, or you will reveal too much too early and lose that sweet sweet terror of the unknown. I think Neverafter was too long for an effective horror season; I don't think it is bad how many episodes we got, I enjoyed every single one of them. But I do believe that much of the horror aspect was lost around the halfway point - one of the worst things to happen to a D&D party, the TPK, happened in episode 2 and was "solved" (in the sense I talked about above) in episode 3. The Lines Between and the Authors were introduced in episode 8. The world's rules were established by then, and the Intrepid Heroes could start acting on them. Of course, there were still scary elements (the fact that Death itself had been imprisoned and was being tortured, the undead Dwarven army, Rapunzel's trickery and unsettling personality, etc. etc.), but to me this felt more like a very dark fantasy story, instead of a tale of horror. Burrow's End is so much shorter than Neverafter, and I think this works to its advantage as a horror story. The protagonist stoats' limited perspective on what is going on in the Blue Forest, in Last Bast, with the Blue in general, their general lack of knowledge on all things human make for so many different vectors of horror, and the abundance of mysteries means that even after 8 episodes there are still aspects of the world we are unaware of.

This neatly brings me to my last point: There is a unique dynamic at play in Burrow's End that contributes a lot to the uncanniness of the story. Namely, that the protagonists are stoats with no/minimal knowledge of humanity, while the players and the audience know so much more than the protagonists. TTRPGs oftentimes make it hard not to metagame, not to let your prior knowledge influence your character's decisions, and Burrow's End takes this to an extreme level. There is a difference between the "my husband was killed by the thunder on a cloudless day" kind of horror, and the "this stoat was shot by a gun, but his body wasn't collected immediately, meaning that probably wasn't a hunter, so why are people shooting stoats?" kind of horror; a difference between "humans are faceless monsters with hairless, yellow, smooth skin" kind of horror, and the "that's a person in a hazmat suit, why are they wearing hazmat suits?" kind of horror. The beauty of this is that we as the audience (and also the players, because the fun thing about TTRPGs is that you can be both audience and protagonist at the same time) get to experience double the horror. We can feel for the protagonists and their struggles in this dangerous, deadly world, where everything seems out to get them, and we get to understand things that they don't or even can't grasp. We get to put the clues together, painting by numbers in the negative space left by the stoats' explanations, while still reeling from trying to understand why the world works the way it does. We can piece the kind of environmental disaster together that caused the Blue, while being surprised by a horde of carnivorous chipmunks piloting a dying bear. We get to feel twice as afraid of this world by virtue of hearing the words "loss of coolant accident in reactor charlie" spoken by a human, but understood by stoats, and understanding what those words imply.

All in all, I am very happy with Burrow's End. I have previously stated that as a horror fan I was disappointed by Neverafter; I did enjoy it a lot, but it just didn't scratch that itch (not trying to badmouth Neverafter here, just stating my personal experience). Burrow's End is more than making up for that, especially since I didn't expect it going in. I am extremely impressed by Aabria's ability to first create, and then hand us the tools to unravel a mystery on this scale where every new piece of information makes the whole picture seem more terrifying, and her nerves of steel to not reveal too much information, even this late in the game (reminds me a lot of how long it took to figure out everything about Kalina in Fantasy High Sophomore Year, to the point of only fully understanding her in the finale episodes, while she had been a mystery for almost all of the season). It takes a lot to not spill all your very cool lore as soon as you get the chance, and the organic way things have been revealed to the stoats and to us is really something else. I'm just really looking forward to episodes 9 and 10 of Burrow's End, and also all of Aabria's future projects with D20. Thank you @quiddie for this beautiful season, I'm enjoying myself so much!

[tumblingxelian]

I have to admit I'm impressed with how awful a father CRWBY made Taiyang while giving him a veneer of reasonability.

To the point that his ability to just spout off things reminds me of an Aunt and Uncle who have no idea just how badly they are painting themselves.

As in - when he makes a judgement call about how Yang lost her arm that fits it into his "Over dependence on his semblance" it's incredibly telling about him not ever actually asking anyone about what happened.

It means he never talked to Yang about it, or even you know offered because while Yang wouldn't have said everything she'd probably have said a little.

Or talked to any of the students who probably got information about what happened from Blake when she dragged Yang to safety. Which wouldn't have been much but probably included the fact that Blake was attacked by someone, Yang intervened.

Given that students presumably died when Beacon fell and that Yang was a first year student... Like by itself, Yang being alive enough for a teammate to save her is a victory.

Nevermind context of her going up against someone that fought Blake, who came back injured herself, and Adam probably did get ID as going around killing students. So the fact that Yang was vastly outclassed would have been known, you know if Taiyang asked at all about "What happenend". Or worse - he did and still blames Yang. Like what did he expect her to do - leave Blake to die? Yang got Blake enough room to run, Blake used the opportunity to get both of them out of there but Yang bought that opportunity for Blake.

Meanwhile I'm looking forward to the Belladonnas actually talking to Yang. Because I don't think it's an accident that we didn't see said interaction before we started being shown in detail the grease fire of the Xialong Rose family.

From my perspective Tai is a rather interesting execution on the archetypical father on these fronts. IE, he's not a classic bad father the way Jac is, or the classic emotionally distant husk archetype. Yet to me, he is still 100% a big problem and done a lot of harm to Ruby & Yang with lackluster parenting & 'teaching'.

As outlined here.

I think this is one of the reasons why a lot of people struggle to actually see him as flawed even when e gets basic facts wrong.

Another reason is just how much undue credit men are given by default that women have to earn. Hence lots of people shrugging off Qrow's drinking or Ozpin's manipulation, or Ironwood's authoritarianism until they couldn't anymore.

Though being more charitable, I would also note how CRWBY often play these characters against their more traditional archetypes to help offset the audiences presumptions.

For instance,

Ozpin is a mysterious headmaster of an adventurers school but he's the 'fun' headmaster who both helps the kids go on adventures but unlike certain other headmasters sends an adult escort with them.

Or Ironwood, he's a big military hard liner who wants more tech, bigger weapons and to throw his military around. But he asks about the kids, he jokes casually, he's not just some General Ripper.

& Qrow of course is the bitter veteran and mentor, who is super badass & drinks/smokes, but in contras, he's also seemingly functional, friendly and clearly has a good rapport with his nieces.

Its easy to see why people saw those aspects and were willing to ignore things like:

Ozpin sending teenagers into terrorist dens, Ironwood backstabbing his allies while making himself out to be the victim, and Qrow's blatant dependence on alcohol to function.

Cos CRWBY made them characters & not archetypes.

So when the shit hit the fan and subtext became text, subtly problematic behavior became blatantly problematic and festering problems once seen as comedic now had real weight.

I feel Tai fits the same mold, he's on the surface 'functional', he definitely cares, and even seems to do some 'fun dad' stuff. He just also as no idea how Yang's Semblance works, & was absent or otherwise none functional for so long its left deep scars on Yang having to keep the family together & Ruby outright says Yang raised her.

He's in many ways a more realistic and nuanced portrayal of a dysfunctional or toxic parent who may not obviously have issues the way an open abuser like Jac, or an absentia parent like Raven might but can still do harm.

Also excellent breakdown on how the surrounding context of the Fall of Beacon. Team RWBY are first years, Blake is an incredibly experienced combatant, Yang had been put through the ringer. Literally everything was on fire and even people like Ozpin died.

The fact the whole team made it out at all is nothing short of a miracle. But accepting that "Sometimes bad things happen" is a surrender of power, its an admission that there was nothing to be done and that is terrifying. Especially for a man whose had two of the most important people in his life vanish on him without a trace.

He wants there to be something in Yang to blame because then there is something that can be done about it. Add in his clear and overtly stated projection of Raven onto her, and hos incoherent his reads on her personality are given Yang's addressed stuff like stubbornness & strategy well before this.

& you get a parent making being dismembers in a no win situation against a more powerful opponent the victims fault while giving vague, generalist advice to feel like they're doing something.

Gosh I want them to just adore her, and her to adore the Belladonna's.

Thanks for the ask, and good luck on that essay you mentioned, remember to tag me ;)

[upslapmeal]

The Giggle

I. hmmm. I think I've warmed up to this ep in the last couple of hours as it's sat with me but this was my least favourite of the three. I think. idk maybe just WBY was so good that whatever came after would feel like a bit of a letdown, regardless of what insanity (my beloved DW insanity) it contained

it just kinda felt a bit all over the place? like the 2023 stuff felt v disconnected, and I think it could have just done with a bit more space to breathe and really feel the threat of the Toymaker, esp in the second half. as excellent as NPH was I do wonder if the simplicity of the games (splitting the deck and catch) did his threat level a disservice when compared to the complexity of the trilogic game and the insane riddle games Dodo and Steven had to play. and the last thing I want to do is be a well ACTUALLY that's not how it worked in classic who person, I just wasn't a fan of the prizes element - as ambivalent as I am towards the original serial, I did like the simplicity of the consequences: either you lose, and the Toymaker keeps you as a toy, or you win and the Toymaker loses everything but you have to pay the price. the problem with the Doctor wasn't so much that One beat him at the game, it was that One managed to escape afterwards. maybe it works differently outside his realm idk I'm not going to dwell on it too much but I think the episode just confirmed that I don't care too much for the Toymaker as a villain lol

BUT!!! there was lots I enjoyed!! I liked when the Toymaker really got to show off his reality bending, even if I think they could have done more with it. Donna and the Doctor got some great moments, even though I wish Donna had done a bit more. it was lovely to meet Mel! still a long way from her episodes in classic who but I'm looking forward to getting more of her in s14! the vlinx seemed ready for a UNIT spinoff any second now, and the choral music that cropped up a few times in the ep (the Toymaker's theme?) really reminded me of the music in Years and Years

and then there's the big stuff - bigeneration? sure why not!! p much everything in this show post-Billy Hartnell going back to some cavemen was new and ~not what this show is~ at some point or other so why not introduce something wild and new for an anniversary special! (annoyingly though I saw someone spoil it in a random youtube comment!!! I tried so hard to avoid the leaks why) it does leave me wondering what's going to happen with the DTface Doctor - will he regenerate and lead to two co-existing Doctor pathways? I do find it funny how Fifteen essentially went nah I'm not bringing that trauma with me, that can stay behind in Mr Vessel For Trauma (though I can't wait for him to get some Fresh Trauma™️ of his own). all the reassurance in the lead up to the re/bigeneration felt a bit silly given that Fourteen has only existed for a solid 24 hours but I did like the comedic effect of it leading to...nothing (at least for a moment)

and Ncuti was ELECTRIC waltzing around in his pants and absolutely owning every moment on screen!! 'you need a chair' yes he does!! it would have been fun to see him with post-regeneration effects but it was excellent getting to see him and Fourteen interact, and their excitement at having done something totally new! he's going to be off at the club while Uncle Fourteen does his residential therapy, but I can't wait to see what he brings to the darker, angrier, ancient side of the Doctor too.

anyway, The One Who Waits is going to be the Big Bad the Meep referred to aren't they

[volcanicobservervigil]

M3GAN Review

The marketing for “M3gan” has heavily featured the unsettling charm of the title character, a four-foot-tall cyborg with big doe eyes, a messy wig, and the fashion sense of a repressed lesbian school principal from a 1950s melodrama. And it seems to be working: A strategically placed GIF here, an activation with half a dozen women in M3gan drag there, and Blumhouse—who has always been adept at stirring the pot—has managed to drum up more attention for “M3gan” than for the last five lackluster horror films released into the dismal January theater season. But the company could have gone another route as well. In case you’ve been living under a rock, this film comes from the writer of “Malignant.”

For that film, Wan directed a screenplay by Cooper, who was a TV writer and turned to horror films on the side. It was their joint effort on melding haunted-house style frights with outlandish gruesomeness that made “Malignant” a viral sensation when released on HBO Max in the Fall of 2021.

Now Cooper is a television writer and horror screenwriter, and has recently joined Blumhouse to write “M3gan” which she developed alongside Wan and is working on a sequel to their Conjuring spinoff “The Nun.”

Like “Malignant,” “M3gan” knows it’s ridiculous. It fills a kiddie pool with absurdity and splashes around in it. “M3gan” is more comedic than “Malignant,” which broadens its appeal. (The audience at a Chicago preview of the film went crazy for it.) Like most blockbusters, the underlying themes comprise classic science-gone-amok cautionary tales, this time with an added lens of modern motherhood woven through a knowingly absurd “tiny terrors” narrative. The most well-known example of this subgenre is “Child’s Play,” and many comparisons to “Chucky” and M3gan (an acronym for “Model 3 Generative ANdroid”) will, and have, been made. Their motivations are different, however. Chucky’s boy Andy was a victim of his doll as much as anyone else, while M3gan fiercely protects her girl, the nine-year-old Cady (Violet McGraw).

The film opens with a scene that sets the stage for rest of the movie’s blend of over-the-top satire and mischievous morbidity; Cady plays with an obnoxious Furby-like toy called a Purrpetual Pet that goes off on its own.

They are headed for an Oregon ski lodge for a winter holiday family vacation when suddenly out of nowhere comes a snow plow that knocks off Cady’s parents in a “Final Destination” style sequence. Cut to Gemma (Allison Williams) the inventor for Funki, a high-tech toy company based in Seattle. Funki is a toy company that deals with the little gadgets that Gemma adores.

Sadly enough, it's Cady’s aunt and she is now the legal guardian of the girl owing to her and her sister-in-law’s death. But Gemma is not the nurturing type. With all the work she has, not spending as much time with a screeching Cady is a blessing. If anything, toys—no, collectibles—merely stay in their boxes and on a shelf located within her living room. Still, these two remain the only family each other has. Thus they need to learn to co-exist, or at least conjoin in a way that satisfies a court mandated therapist who is not at all convinced after consulting Gemma’s supposed parenting skills.

Meet M3gan, the perfect solution to Gemma’s problem. She is a caring prototype that can record and retrieve information thanks to her Short Circuit-style features. M3gan is like a teacher and babysitter rolled into one. She can remind Cady to wash her hands after using the restroom, and she can even teach her to use coasters. In short, she is everything children want and parents wish for. M3gan is a doll that acts as a companion and can watch over children 24/7. This gives parents their freedom and alleviates the worry of keeping their children busy. M3gan will, undoubtedly, make Gemma’s boss extremely rich. So much so that he is willing to betas test M3gan with Cady as the solo test subject. What could possibly go wrong without any unforeseen consequences?

“M3gan”, under the nimble direction of the “Housebound” helmer Gerard Johnstone, uses its themes in a very smooth and formed way that doesn’t seem too overwhelming, and stays tasteful. It seems like the movie is “about” grief and the consequences of surpassing one’s creator. However, the real tragedy lies in the human-like figure that resembles a person, but moves and sounds anything but like one.

The plot certainly has a few loose ends and weaker areas, and the rating of PG-13 guarantees that the violence is toned down, preventing it from reaching its gory potential. (There is a promising scene of doll based chaos towards the end of the film that cuts off abruptly, implying it was removed due to MPAA cuts.) Despite all this, the film is a joy due to its constant tongue-in-cheek tone.

Johnstone does not seem to run out of benefits from M3gan’s character’s uncanny valley. He directs the little stunt performers who play her to move in strange, jerky ways, reminiscent of every from “Robocop” scanning faces to Samara crawling out of the TV in “The Ring” to high energy voguers. (At critical points in the film, there are “skinned Furby” stylistic choices that are used which I can only describe as such.) Along with the doll’s sassy comebacks and dowdy sense of fashion, the film truly embodies camp, which is hard to achieve in the modern age filled with irony.

The peak "M3gan" peak happens towards the middle, when Cady and Gemma go on a field trip to check out one of the alternative schools Cady may be attending while Gemma is working. One of the instructors approaches Gemma's car and looks through the window at what she assumes are two girls sitting at the back and says hello to both of them. Cady responds to the teacher's greeting waving her right hand saying, "M3gan", which faces the woman with a robotic neck twist and a mechanical whirring sound. “Jesus Christ!” the teacher cries as she jumps backward while simultaneously giving a nervous exhale. The audience bursts out laughing alongside her. That is the logical reaction to witnessing something like M3gan out in public—only after spending a lifetime of normative precursor exposure (or, in this instance, marketing) are we taught to appreciate her.

[bollywoodbloggg]

Welcome (2007)

Trailer of the film: 

The Bollywood film that I decided to watch was Welcome (2007). Welcome is directed by Anees Bazmee and Mayur K. Barot and written by Anees Bazmee, Rajeev Kaul, and Praful Parekh. Welcome is described as a romance, drama, comedy and crime. The actors and actresses in this film really brought the storyline to life. The big stars that were featured in this film were Akshay Kumar (plays Rajiv), Katrina Kaif (plays sanjana), Nana Patekar (plays Uday Shetty), and Paresh Rawal (plays Dr. Ghungroo). This films starts off with Rajiv who is a young, smart, put together man whose uncle (Dr. Ghungroo) is determined to find him a lovely bride. Rajiv falls for Sanjana, who is the sister of Uday Shetty, who is a gangster. Once Dr. Ghungro discovers the truth about Sanjana’s family, he objects which then leads to a chain of uprodicable events. Throughout the film the characters encounter dramatic conformations that are composed in a comedic way. This film is full of chaotic scenes that are filled with action, visually appealing backdrops, cosmetic one liners, and continuous entertainment.  

A key scene from this film I believe is when sanjana's truth about her family is revealed to Dr. Ghungroo. She has been pretending to be someone else because like mentioned about Dr. Ghungroo ( her love interest's uncle) does not approve of what her family is involved with. The way Snajanas was fooling Dr. Ghungroo was by telling him her family is a respected cultured family, she has her family dress differently, speak more politely to create the illusion that they are upper-class people. Overtime Dr. Ghungroo begins to suspect that the background of Sanajans is not what she is saying it is. During a chaotic scene at a hotel, Uday and Majnu happened to be acting like gangsters without knowing Dr. Ghungroo and his wife were at the same place, blowing their cover of being upper class people. This was definitely a turning point in this film, creating more tension and drama knowing that the identity of sanajas family is not what she was saying it was. Following this Dr. Ghungroo tried everything in his power to cancel the wedding where as the gangster duo continues to try and convince him they are good people and want a respectable life for their sister. 

These are Sanjanas brothers. Uday (left) and Majnu (right) 

Rajiv and Dr. Ghungroo 

Rajiv and Sanjana 

While viewing this article titled “Welcome Back”, writer of this article Bradley Fernandes went into great detail about co director Anees Bazmee about his career in comedy centered movies also well as his new movie that was a sequel to welcome that came out in 2015. The author wrote “Making a comedy is no walk in the park. The genre is the toughest to pull off. But director-writer Anees Bazmee has perfected the knack of making audiences laugh.” It is extremely important when creating films that are meant to be funny reach the audience, each comedy film leaves viewers with different emotions. Bazmee explained how he didn’t start off as a film director and writer, he had many jobs of all kinds prior to the start of his career in film making. Although he has had a successful career in this industry, something that still scares him today is beginning to write a subject. He states “Writing is a tedious job. It needs isolation. You can’t write with 10 people around you. A blank paper is scary, sometimes you just can’t write the first line. Whereas while directing, you are surrounded by people.” Not being a writer and director myself, I am still able to understand that difficulty some may have with starting up on a writing project. The majority of the audience seem to really enjoy this film. Taran Adarsh rated the movie on Bollywood hungama a ⅘ stars. The writer states “WELCOME is one of those entertainers that deliver what it promises: Funny sequences, super performances and loads and loads of laughter.” It is always great to see that this film gave the audience what they were expecting. 

Fernandes , B. (2015, September 14). Welcome back. filmfare.com. https://www.filmfare.com/interviews/welcome-back-10514.amp 

Network, B. H. N. (2007, December 21). Welcome review 4/5:  welcome movie review: Welcome 2007 public review: Film review. Bollywood Hungama. https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/amp/movie/welcome/critic-review/welcome-movie-review/ 

[starlight-time-machine]

Week in Review

04/28/2024 – 05/04/2024

Sunday

Week 12 of missing Cipher Academy

Ah, there’s the breakup I was expecting in Girl Meets Rock. I’m also liking this Kabru-esque co-worker of Chihiro’s (in looks, not personality), perhaps even as a love interest for her…though she has enough going on right now as it is. And then the further sprinkling in of queer overtones was nice.

Undead Unluck is so good…I like that Nico has managed to retain some of his cheeky cheerfulness in combination with the agedness he’s suddenly gained with all those memories. And I’m starting to see the NicoIchico vision, that “confession” was so cute. But most of all, I love that him regaining his memories has managed to develop 100’s Nico’s character arc…he finally gets to properly grow and repay Fuuko for everything…

Took a break from Manga Sunday to try out another TV show, The Big Flower Fight. It’s honestly hilarious how much they aped the Great British Bake Off’s formula, down to the tent and hosts and judges and the sketches that show what the contestants are going for, etc. It’s a bit awkward at times but fun enough to have on in the background, with some fun contestants to root for, and there were a few pieces that I enjoyed like the moth from episode 1 or the turtle from episode 7. I think the right people won in the end, too, so it was a perfectly fine show. I’ll give it a 4/10, which may seem harsh, but it’s basically just six hours of pleasantly British white noise so it’s not going to have a particularly lasting impact on me.

Oshi no Ko cheesy as hell…the sun coming through as Ruby makes her “dazzling declaration”…okay… The fake out with the stairs… Let’s see what Hikaru does next I guess…

One Piece extremely good. I love seeing some familiar faces, and with the mention of Robin’s past again, this really feels like the culmination of something that’s been in the works for a long time. And we actually get Vegapunk’s message!! I’m not well-versed in One Piece lore enough anymore to make any theories, but I’m excited to see what other details we can glean before the Five Elders inevitably cut the message short.

SpyFam also extremely good this week. I love that we’re getting a whole miniarc focused on Henry and Martha…I hope they actually get together, but with Endo’s glacial track record I’m not really holding my breath. Their backstory so far is really cute, tinged with an air of bittersweet regret in their old age and the ever-looming presence of war.

Monday

I’m going to be honest, I’ve been sucked into a massive Rune Factory 4 Special hole for the past few days and it’s still going strong…all I do is wake up and play RF4S while watching YouTube videos… I’ll talk about RF4S in length when I ‘finish’ it, so these next few days will be pretty barren.

Tuesday

RF4S

Wednesday

RF4S

Thursday

DunMesh Thursday! Today’s meal is stir fried tofu with preserved duck egg and rice, which maybe would’ve fit in better with the Asian dishes last week, but oh well. Today’s episode was really fun, the shapeshifter chapter is a fan favourite for a reason and I don’t think the adaptation disappoints. I love the use of the crappy digital zoom again, as well as the anti-climax of Marcille silently exploding the beast – the comedy beats were really solid all throughout. And now I can’t wait to see Izutsumi’s introduction in proper next week…

Caught up with Akuheki finally and it’s…okay… I felt like their reconciliation was a little too quick and easy, and then the manga brushes that aside entirely to focus on recontextualizing Youhei’s trauma in a way I kind of really don’t like… Absolving the woodsman of all guilt and making him out to be a martyr feels like they’re trying to uncomplicate or un-taboo Youhei’s relationship to him… Granted, the woodsman being his father doesn’t make his trauma any more manageable, but the way that everything was presented and the number of “serious moments being undercut by a comedic beat” scenes in this stretch of chapters (and the fact that this is the last volume) doesn’t give me a lot of confidence that the manga is planning on further exploring how this changes Youhei’s psychology…feels more like a bandaid that they’re putting on his trauma to make him more willing to be in a relationship with Daimon… I hate to say it, but I think Akuheki is fumbling the ending for me. If the ending was good then I would’ve wanted to buy it physically, but not so much now.

Also read the latest chapter of Takatora-kun, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the story is moving beyond the realm of high school. With the socio-political talk that’s gone on in this manga so far, I’m really excited to see how these guys fare in actual society.

Friday

RF4S

Saturday

I didn’t even play a lot of RF4S today, just caught up on work and fell asleep early lol

[veryflirtytransportalate]

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I have made fistfuls of progress! I met the Railroad, I got that thing Virgil asked for, and Preston is still waiting on me to get back to him about those guys I helped, which I will totally eventually do. Yup, things are really clicking into place for ol' Sizzel, so it was time to upgrade the banner.

I think people are starting to recognize that my allegiances lie predominantly with the Minutemen, but no one has as of yet ascertained that the Preston Patrol are a cover for my dreams of total economic domination. Everything I purchase, I purchase with hundreds of bottles of purified water, and nobody seems to mind that weird metallic aftertaste.

I have yet to meet The Institute everyone speaks so fondly about, although I'm practicing for when I do: I've been going to Nuka-World and swallowing the intense desire to remove everyone in the entire vicinity from existence. I imagine these skills are going to come in handy whenever somebody at the Institute becomes so stupid that they think they can enlist me into their dumb operation. Literally every organization I run into does it at some point... except for Diamond City where I should be mayor, godfunkingdammit. I'm 99% sure that both Nuka-World and the Institute will fall by my hand, but I'm willing to let it play out a little bit.

Deacon is embarrassing to be around. Not that I'm not, but, he is. I have to admit, I sort of enjoy his jovial attitude and desire to method act a spy thriller. That's at least less embarrassing than role playing as knock off Batman, and I spent like three days doing that. Respect, Deacon.

(My rambling thoughts about the Railroad and how I'd rewrite everything below, including how Tinker Tom would be a Minuteman.)

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I usually ramble and rewrite the game below the cut anyway, but today is especially rambly, and especially rewrite-y. Also FUNK the Tumblr app, making me post this at 9 AM when it was SCHEDULED for 3:30 PM. 😤👿😤

The second thing I hate is the hands on the synth in the first picture, I had absolutely no idea, but without access to software there was nothing I could do about it. C'est la vie.

I've recently been playing a lot of my second save, which is a Survival run that I play entirely in black and white, so expect to see pictures of that in the future. I don't think anybody reads any of this part, so if you are, you get a little preview, as my thank you for reading the part where I just ramble about whatever I want and I don't have to commit to any kind of storytelling.

I don't dislike Deacon as much as I dislike McGravy but I don't like Deacon all that much either. I do appreciate that he is injecting some much-needed levity into the proceedings. The waste land is an absolute hellscape, and this dude just straight up didn't get the memo. He was written and voice acted and directed and animated to be the wacky one. I feel like a lot of people in the Fallout 4 development team thought they were making "the wacky one", unaware that many of their co-workers were also making, "the wacky one". I don't understand the Railroad at all, they have this dramatic the lights turn on and they're all wielding high-powered weaponry moment, like out of an anime, but this should have been the one faction that they treated with the most severity. Considering the real world connection that they're trying to make here? This would have been the perfect place to juxtapose thoughtful realism with the bombastic and horrifying world, not the place to introduce somebody surreal and comedic like Tinker Tom. Tinker Tom should have been a Concord/Sanctuary person, especially because Sturges has this flipped up hair cocky attitude situation going on, and that's basically what Deacon, Glory, and Desdemona eat, drink, and breathe.

I'm just kind of freeballing this right now but: I don't know if the characters are all that much bad as they are misplaced. Let's do some dramatis personae rearranging. Mama Murphy should totally be in Goodneighbor. Absolutely ridiculous that Goodneighbor does not have all of the super fun-loving wacky chem affiliated weirdos, and Mama Murphy is a textbook wandering oracle stereotype with a white wash, she'd fit in great there.

Swap Tinker Tom and Sturgis. I haven't considered that fully but that just seems like one too many mechanical people since we want TT in the Minutemen, and I think Tinker Tom should take the role of the wacky one that Mama Murphy was filling in the Concord/Sanctuary group. Imagine that Preston is trying to be serious and solve the problem but that gets undercut when Tinker Tom has a solution that actually would be very helpful and is well considered, but is rooted in this ridiculous technological background that nobody else can follow and unless he can teach everybody advanced engineering really fast this might not be the best plan ever. You ever see the new She-Ra? Entrapta and Adora. I can't think of any other examples at this moment, but I think dramatically the broad and overall heroic goals of the Minutemen provide a more cohesive framework for slightly more exaggerated or expressive characters, and the Railroad should have been a faction that presented a straightforward and grounded objective and methodology.

This is fun, I'm going to keep going, but I can't stress how winged this is, I'm not even going to spell check this, so if you've made it this far, congratulations, you've seen the breakdown of all logic for me at this point.

Dr Li was really humanity focused in Fallout 3*, so her joining The Institute doesn't make any sense to me. She bangs on the doors of the whatever building to get in, she advocates for saving an individual who is a detriment to the survival of the group, and she does so in a, "I will not be accepting contrary suggestions because this is how we're doing it," kind of way. Like she wouldn't hear that the Institute are boogeyman? That she what, got kidnapped by them and just rolled with it like Sean did? Ridiculous. And all of the questions raised by this plot thread aren't fun, and wouldn't be fun to explore and answer. I would take Dr. Li and have her start off in Diamond City, at that same science school place where the girlfriends are. And just like before she can get recruited into the Brotherhood of Steel, and just like in the base game, it will be extremely disappointing that you can't recruit her to any faction that you want.

You know what this isn't even related to switching anybody but I would also rewrite it that instead of having the courser go after a synth that we've never heard of and will never hear from again while we fight gunners to get to them, the courser should have been targeting a synth super mutant at the top of the tower because it would have been a nice storytelling moment where we see that the Institute is aware that Virgil looks like a super mutant now and is taking active efforts to deduce where he has escaped to, and also validates Virgil trusting us, a stranger, because he can see the writing on the wall that is hiding strategy isn't going to work forever, and would have also tied in that big tower where Strong is located, and like Faux (sp??) in Fallout 3, we'd be able to collect a companion if we wanted to while on the critical story path, which is always really fun, and also it would dramatically escalate the stakes because you would see that the Institute is not just replacing people in communities with synths, but that they have started to place agents in positions within super mutant communities in the area as well, which is equal parts disgusting because the Institute villainizes super mutants as subhuman, but also terrifying because it truly represents that the Institute can get a version of anyone anywhere at any time, and also there should have been random events where the Institute sends a one-to-one clone of the player to kill the player, I don't know if that happens maybe it happens later in the game and I just never got to it, okay my fiance just came home with quesadillas and nachos and said I'm allowed to have some I'm going downstairs goodbye.

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*I'm coming back later to say that I was watching a video and somebody was describing a theory about Catherine from point lookout being Catherine the mom, and they listed some of the things Dr Lee had done, including driving Pinkerton into hiding, not being willing to cooperate with the Brotherhood of Steel at all, and argued that she was a narcissist. I could sort of see the logic in their argument, that she had a pattern of non-cooperation and that cooperation required that she be placed in a high level position, but I just don't know if I agree that that behavior wasn't in some ways justifiable. I would need to do more digging into who Pinkerton was in Fallout 3 to know whether or not it was justifiable that she didn't want to work with him, but at the same time, regardless of his involvement, she's a high-level administrator by trade, it seems to be what she excels at. I would believe if she was saying no, this is not a format of work that I really consent to or feel like I can thrive under, and her departure from the Brotherhood of Steel had more to do with organizational differences, which makes sense because they're an extremely militaristic and self-aggrandizing organization, I remember starting the DLC for the first time, broken steel, and being somewhat surprised at the total control the Brotherhood of Steel took over project purity. But that's exactly what they do, is exert control over these kinds of technological programs. Lots of people have an objection to that aspect of the brotherhood, so why be so judgmental over Dr Lee if she had the same impression and chose to withdraw her participation, knowing that the Brotherhood was committed to the free distribution of this resource, which was her ultimate goal in the first place! Complicated, very complicated, and if nothing else I wanted to make clear that my original assessment of her felt somewhat oversimplified after learning more about her. Also I wrote this entire thing using voice to text, because I was busy doing dishes, so if it doesn't make sense in certain parts, I hope you can deduce what I'm trying to say, because I don't have time to go back and fix it.

[georgefairbrother]

Porn Yesterday was a 1974 episode of Steptoe and Son, from the final series. Harold (Harry H Corbett) picks up an antique ‘What the Butler Saw’ machine on his rounds and brings it home to Oil Drum Lane. He is delightedly running the images of vintage pornography through the viewfinder, until he recognises his father featuring in a scene that also involved a woman and bath full of milk. Suddenly it’s not quite as much fun, and Harold is worried that any scandal might affect his already faltering chances of getting into the golf club.

"What my poor mother must have gone through. She didn’t know about this, did she?"

“Course she did, that was her sister in the bath.”

“Auntie Rose???”

“They were desperate times. Everything we had was in pawn.”

“So were you!”

Although being played largely for broad comedy with some great one-liners, the writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, could still bring out some intense dramatic performances with rapid changes in mood, a technique later used to great effect by John Sullivan in Only Fools and Horses.

Addressing Harold’s disgust, Albert Steptoe (Wilfrid Brambell) recalls the economic conditions of the time, the poverty and starvation, and how desperate young people were being exploited and misled with the offer of a fiver for being in what they believed would be legitimate films to be shown at the Gaumont. At times, the studio audience seems at a loss as to how to react. When Albert is reduced to tears, there is a brief laugh. The audience also laughs when Albert relates that poor Auntie Rose had died of pneumonia two weeks after being immersed in the milk bath.

There’s a happy ending; a deal is done with the local Vicar to make the machine available for the church jumble sale and split the profits. Albert becomes a celebrity in the parish, signing autographs for which the Vicar cheerfully charges two shillings each for church funds.

Steptoe and Son came about as a result of Galton and Simpson being offered a series of  ten 30 minute slots for the BBC’s anthology, Comedy Playhouse, with total creative freedom. One episode, The Offer (1962), featured father and son rag and bone men, and was innovative in that actors, rather than variety comics, were cast in the principal roles. Harry H Corbett, at that point seen as a serious dramatic actor with enormous promise, surprised and delighted Galton and Simpson with his interpretation of his role, especially crying real, hopeless tears at the end.

Steptoe and Son ran from 1962-65 and then again 1970-74; a total of 57 episodes. During the early run of the series, Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell were such big stars they co-headlined the 1963 Royal Variety Performance with the Beatles.

One of the interesting things to note about the series is the intensity of the acting through long, dialogue-heavy scenes, and with very few detectable mistakes. Retakes were frowned upon in those days due to the expense, and so as not to ruin spontaneity with the studio audience. It’s interesting to compare with Dad’s Army, for example, which retains obvious dialogue stumbles, continuity mistakes and goofs right the way through.

It’s also interesting to imagine Steptoe and Son without the audience laughter. (We get some idea from the feature films). Albert takes vindictive delight in derailing any attempts by Harold to live a life of his own, while Albert is, at times, cowering in fear in the face of Harold’s potentially violent temper. The comedic aspects aside, it would actually make a dark, confronting and occasionally frightening kitchen sink family drama.

It was reported that, at the 1964 general election, Labour Leader Harold Wilson attempted to have the Thursday evening screening of Steptoe rescheduled, concerned that potential Labour voters would be staying home to watch it, rather than coming out to vote. The BBC did not change their programming, and Labour won with a four seat majority.

[stewblog]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

I’ll just cut right to the chase. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has a real shot at being one of my favorite movies of the year. It almost certainly won’t be an awards contender and no one’s likely expecting this to break box office records. But as a work of pure entertainment? A high bar has been set for the rest of 2023 to try and clear.

There was reason to think otherwise, however. High fantasy films both before and after The Lord of the Rings have largely been underwhelming duds. The genre is difficult to truly nail, but co-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (along with their co-writer Michael Gilio) have managed to channel everything fun, fanciful and fantastic (in the older sense of the word) about swords and sorcery into a rocket-propelled adventure that satisfies at nearly every turn.

And if you’re completely new to the realm of D&D and have no idea what a displacer beast is, can’t point out where Neverwinter is on a map, or know the difference between magic missile and mage hand, fear not! Honor Among Thieves does a fantastic job of introducing the audience to this world and its inhabitants.

Guiding us through this adventure is Edgin (Chris Pine), a bard and thief who pals around with Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), a barbarian warrior exiled from her people. They’ve broken out of prison and are scheming a way to rescue Edgin’s daughter and get payback on the man who stabbed them in the back during a theft that went horribly wrong. To do it, they’ll need the help of a struggling wizard, Simon (Justice Smith), a shapeshifter, Doric (Sophia Lillis) and paladin Xenk (Rege’-Jean Page). As you can probably guess, what they see as a very straightforward mission at the start becomes something much more dangerous and complicated the deeper into it they get.

The particulars of the plot aren’t terribly interesting and feel like a fairly standard setup at play if it was a Saturday night and you’re sitting at a kitchen table with some friends, rolling a D20 and waiting for your older brother to further unfurl his scenario as Dungeon Master. What makes Honor Among Thieves such a cracking good time at the movies is the playful spirit Daley and Goldstein infuse into the proceedings, the superlative chemistry among the cast and a script that delivers a very precise balance of humor, pathos and swashbuckling adventure.

Part of why this movie had my audience eating out of the palm of its hand was due largely to how funny it is. There’s an abundance of laughs to be had with sarcasm and one-liners to spare, though it blessedly avoids that Joss Whedonesque trap of simply making everyone a snark-machine that fires off identical-sounding quips at the drop of a hat. The members of our heroic quartet each react to the escalating escapade with humor at various moments, but it all feels organic to who they are. These characters are all archetypes (each a literal class you can choose in the tabletop game), but the script never treats them specifically as such. We’re given ample backstory, but never so much as to bog down the proceedings. Each gets their time to shine. Page deftly steals his scenes by being charmingly dense. Smith and Lillis are new to my eyes but keep up with the veterans. And this may be the most fun I’ve seen Rodriguez have since the first Fast & Furious movie.

But even as well-balanced as the party is, it’s safe to say that this is Chris Pine’s show. I’ve been a fan of Pine’s since he pitch-perfectly played a slack-jawed yokel assassin in the schizophrenic action flick Smokin’ Aces. It was clear then that he had a wicked comedic sense and he was unafraid to bury himself in a character. But he was also burdened with leading man looks, which of course only confuses Hollywood producers who seem incapable of letting pretty people do wild and weird things. (See also: Pitt, Brad.) The joy of Honor Among Thieves is that it perfectly splits the difference for Pine. He’s certainly a capable leading man, but his role as Edgin finds the perfect balance between his strengths as a character actor and his leading man charm.

I can’t stress enough, though, just how fun this is. The villains are villainous. The heroes are (mostly) scoundrels with hearts of gold. There are no existential moral conflicts at play. It’s just a good old-fashioned magic-fueled romp with high (but not world-ending) stakes and a healthy dose of heart. And, perhaps most importantly for a high-fantasy flick, it doesn’t skimp on the stuff you want to see. Dragons. Black magic. Danger-filled caves. Mythical beasties of all stripes. A deadly maze. Mimic chests. Gelatinous cubes. It’s all here. A movie of this pedigree demands these elements show up in excess and Honor Among Thieves delivers.

I hope these early screenings are a sign that Paramount Pictures knows how great this movie is and they’re trying to build as much positive word of mouth as possible. I want sequels. As many as I can get. This was a delight from end to end and if nothing else, I’m happy with that.

[kdramaxoxo]

Hi there! 😃 I was wondering if you could give me a few recommendations of pure good-hearted kdramas.

I made the error of watching Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Never Said Goodbye (very sad Chinese movie with Lee Joon Gi and Ethan Ruan), and then Silenced with Gong Yoo, all back-to-back. I'm now in need of the fluffiest, happiest shows ever.

You always seem to give out good recs to others, so I was hoping you (or perhaps your mutuals or followers) could lead me to some good ones. Thanks for all you do! 💓😄

Awww HUGS anon!

I know what it feels like when what you need is the lightest and fluffiest of fare! I have an older light and fluffy list but I'll pair it down so that it won't even include ones with long forced breakups which 99% of kdramas (also, I highly recommend the starred one at the bottom you're open to watching j-dramas).

Light and Fluffy Pure Good-Hearted K-Dramas:

Shopping King Louie: The perfect example of a k-drama. It’s super trope-y and totally ridiculous but really funny! Seo In Guk plays a rich dude who loses his memory and ends up being taken care of by a poor girl from the country. Forced cohabitation, amnesia, chaebols, all of it.

Touch Your Heart: A sweet, silly and very mild rom com about a serious boss and his hallyu star secretary. This show was an obvious response to the chemistry that Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na had in Goblin so it was nice to see them together again. Yoo In Na is such a fun person to watch!

Her Private Life: Park Min Young really knows how to pick dramas. I loved this one about a museum curator who is secretly a fangirl obsessed with an idol. It’s fun and fluffy but does have a very mild childhood trauma thing with his mother but I mean, 99% of dramas like this do? If you like this one, Touch Your Heart and Why Secretary Kim are by the same person and have similar vibes.

Light On Me (web drama): I absolutely adored this simple and sweet drama! One of my favorite korean BLs EVER! Because it’s longer than the average Korean BL, it actually has: *cues triumphant music* Character development!

Eulachacha Waikiki / Laughter In Waikiki: I hope you’re ready for a crazy amount of unlikely situations and nutty hijinks because this show is probably one the most silly ones I’ve ever watched. It follows a group of friends who own a hostel so it’s a slice of life drama. At certain points I was like “this is TOO silly” but I’m glad I stuck with it cause it was so hilarious. Plus, the baby is a star!

Have a Nice Dessert (web drama): If you’re looking for low angst and a super soft boy, this is your drama!! It’s a web drama about a girl who loves photographing desserts and the boy who likes her.  Like all web dramas, it’s short, and there’s really no time for angst and breakups :)

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo: A K-drama fandom favorite! Adorable college romance about a female weightlifter and a super hot swimmer dude. I mean she’s hot too. Anyways, two cuties!

Top Management: Adorable mini drama about a girl who can see the future and becomes the rookie manager for a kpop band. Fun and easy (plus they seem to be setting it up for another season…)

Terius Behind Me: FBI agent goes under disguise as a babysitter! While there are some intense parts of this drama because it’s a crime thriller, the characters are super funny and all work perfectly together to create a comedic element. Honestly this show was almost perfect for me, and I’m very picky.

Light and Fluffy Pure Good-Hearted J-Dramas:

***Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!:  If you’re used to k-dramas were everything could go wrong at any time, you’re in for a real treat! Cherry Magic is my absolute favorite drama of last year and this year combined (even with a silly name like it has!) - It’s the ONLY show I’ve ever given a 10/10 rating to. An introverted guy finds out a seemingly popular and confident co-worker has a crush on him. This drama is so so soft, so so sweet and it has not one but TWO ace characters and a lot of gay panic! I’ve rewatched it recently and smiled the ENTIRE time. Plus there’s a valentines day special that’s really fun.

Pretty Proofreader: Sweet little j-drama about a fashionista who ends up becoming a proofreader. There’s an adorable boy and she’s legit the prettiest girl eve - seriously you’ll die watching her style all of her outfits! There’s not a great romance, but if you don’t care about that, each episode features a little story where she works on a project and helps the people involved. Very sweet though episodic.

Kieta Hatsukoi (My Love Mix-Up!): A fluffy love story between a bi panicked boy and the guy he has a crush on. It was a bit cartoony but it’s sweet and fun, and how often do you see a Boy’s Love where the guy crushes on a cool female friend and then realizes he ALSO likes a guy in class? I really appreciated the nuance of that experience plus it’s pretty wholesome and fluffy. 

Happy Healing Anon!