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kob131 · 4 years ago

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https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBYcritics/comments/qzr4tn/rwby_discussion_some_of_you_guys_gotta_get_over/hlo8r57/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

I was reading some comments on Twiins Iink’s video on Adam and found this on the subreddit.

... I have words.

It is that among RWBY's many problematic storylines and characters, Adam is one of the worst examples of the revolutionary murderhobo. Due to Adam's lack of character prior to V3, this technically applies more so to the WF in its entirety than just Adam, but Adam is usually the face of the issue since he is arguably the face (not leader) of the White Fang.

You know, I have a rule whenever someone uses the word ‘problematic’ like this.

I replace it with ‘disagreed with me’. And if it makes more sense- I throw it out.

... Guess what happened this time?

You have this rebellion organization who as we have seen in the show, are the only people who seem to be willing to fight back against prejudice, brutality, and corruption while other people like the Belladonnas do jack-shit.

Lisa: Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted...

Right because the effective group always goes around disrupting other forms of rebellion. That’s not a sign of insecurity and tribalism.

Also gee, since you’re so obsessed with the early Volumes and taking what Blake said at face value as gospel, what did she say about the results?

Blake: (off-screen) "Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear."

Right. Thing is about fear- it is unsustainable. Fear is an extreme emotion and like all extreme emotions, it cannot be sustained for long periods of time. People eventually return to normal and when that happens, when the people intimidated into treating the Fanaus as equals without actually being convinced and a growing number of people who associate the Fanaus with fear and threat- what do you think is gonna happen? Hint: take a look at how any dictatorship ends.

But of course much like Killmonger (MCU), Sylas and Xerath (League of Legends), if you're a revolutionary character who threatens the status quo too much and dare suggest that violent resistance may be necessary instead of begging your murderous oppressors and militant officers to be nice, they have to be slapped with the Murder Hobo stick.

Doesn't matter how arguably heroic their goals are, if they fight against the grain or suggest the need of actual rebellion, then they get slapped with the murder hobo stick.

Dunno about the other two but funny you should mention MCU Killmonger. Because that guy never cared about who he said he cared about. If he did care about other black people, he wouldn’t have destroyed the scared site of a Wakanda’s own religion just to make sure he couldn’t be challenged. No, he cared about revenge. On getting back the people who wronged him, whoever he kills in the process be damned. Just like Adam.

And just like Adam, the fact that Killmonger has a goal means he is NOT a murderhobo. A murderhobo is usually someone who just kills whoever is around them for the sake of short term personal gain, like a homeless person who kills to get people’s stuff. It is used explicitly to depict them as reductionist and without grander goals. The word you’re looking for is ‘terrorist’. But that doesn’t have the connotation you need huh?

Aside from that side of things, I think another thing that contributes to why people felt Adam was going to be more nuanced or at least not a Psycho-Ex, is honestly his character design.

Character design is THE most important thing about conveying "who" a character is to the audience, and since Adam had literally nearly no character for three volumes, all we had to go on was his character design and how that acts as a lens for his actions prior to the "darling" moment. And yeah, Adam seems cold and calculated by his slick suit, ornate decals on his outfit (including a Rose which usually exudes either romance or class), and uses straight up Iaijutsu which further accentuates that kind of "Vergil-esque" personality (even though Vergil has been confirmed to not have been an inspiration for Adam, but the vibes are still there).

A. ‘Vibes’ are just your bias. I’ve gotten over my ‘vibes’ you get over yours.

B. No, character design is about setting EXPECTATIONS.

Look at this design. Look at the pristine silver and gold aesthetic, colors used to signify holiness and divinity. Look at his metallic appearence, almost like an immortal guardian of mankind.

Look at this design. Red and dark blue, almost black. Signifying danger and blood. The emancipated look of his body, almost unnatural and sick. The leathery bat like wings, an animal associated with malevolence.

Who do you think has the history of trying to help mankind the most?

If you answered the first: you’re dead wrong.

Character design sets EXPECTATIONS, not DEFINTION.

C. As I said above, red and black are defintively MALOVELENT colors when used together. While both have netural and positive connotations, together they paint a picture of darkness and blood, the danger of the unknown and the sign of life ending, in your head.

D. And a wilted rose, which Adam has, would signify a DYING romance or FADING class.

E. Yeah, what was Vergil obsessed with again? ... Power? He was a definitive bad guy due to his selfish actions before being forced to reform? Yeah I thought so.

And then we learn that the White Fang are a rebel group who have had enough of oppression, and to any decent person, fighting against oppression and corruption = not completely evil, in fact it usually makes people inclined to believe that certain measures might be fine with the right justification... which the WF probably could have had if they weren't slapped with the Murder Hobo stick.

Hilariously- you kind of proved you didn’t pay attention.

Who is the common man among the White Fang? Illa, a sympathetic and ultimately good person portrayed as having a point.

Who is the worst among the White Fang? Adam, a broken man invoking pity and sorrow.

Who is the best among the White Fang? Blake, whose worst flaw with them is defending them too much.

Cool...now the humans.

Common man? Cardin, petty racist bully with a cowardly disposition and no redeeming features.

Worst? Jacques Schnee, selfish, self-centered and amoral business man who abuses his loved one AND children with no reason given other than ‘he’s malicious’.

Best? Weiss, a VERY flawed character in the beginning who is basically forced to side with Blake at the end.

As bad as you tried to make the White Fang look- the humans are FAR WORSE.

There just isn't really much in Adam's design that communicates him as immediately a creepy loud and un-organized psychotic slimeball. Had he been designed more like say, Tyrian or used daggers and explosives instead literally "THE" quintessential power-fantasy certified badass fighting style that is Iaijutsu.

Except for one thing-

Adam is also portrayed as DANGEROUS. As in, he is a threat on screen with a history of unstable behavior and maiming/killing other characters. Whenever he appears, there was a constant threat of death if anyone fucked up. All that badassery you tried to say contradicted his character? Communicated the danger he represented.

And if his design was meant to be ironic, their isn't anything immediately occurring that can establish that irony. Like you said, we have three years of nothing but a badass character design, so unfortunately badass character design + rebel against oppression will = morally grey badass.

But red and black color scheme + man in a position of power and authority + a weapon built kill people as quickly as possible + bull horns with the animal signaling anger, rage and dangerous wrath + no morals to restrict him = oh shit.

Once again I think the actual problematic aspect of Adam's character (the villainized revolutionary) is more important to talk about than whatever Vergil power fantasy he could have been, but the topic of his character design and how it may have affected many people's perception of the character had always fascinated me, and makes me wonder how Adam would be like if he just had a less-badass, and more character-appropriate character design.

He fucking severed the arm of the strongest fighter in the main team. An action that can never be forgotten, as it is now a part of Yang’s design.

Missing the point to the end.

All-in-all, all I have left to say is, PLEASE STOP MAKING REVOLUTIONARIES MURDER HOBOS! JUST MAKE THEM THE HEROES OF THE STORY!

Look up the French Revolution or the Chinese Communist Revolution and their aftermaths. Then come back and try saying that.

The Revolutionary War only worked because, unlike Adam and the White Fang, the leaders had morals and principles they stuck to.

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mittensmorgul · 4 years ago

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do we know why the boys were not allowed to have facial hair on the show? i feel like it was more in character than to assume sam and dean had to time to just always be clean shaven in the middle of apocalypses, being demons or possessed, fighting gods ect. on the flip side, im still confused as to how cas grew facial hair in purgatory when i didnt think that was something that happened to angel vessels?

Hi there! There's actually quite a bit going on in this question (I think this is my way of saying sorry it's taken me a few days to get to it :'D)

I'll start by saying I don't think it was a matter of "not allowed" to have facial hair, but it's actually more complicated than that. Not to mention Dean especially was almost never what I'd call "clean shaven" outside of when they were beginning a hunt and posing as FBI.

There's a video I think on the s1 dvd's called something like "a day in the life of Jared and Jensen". Wait... I found it on the youtube...

youtube

It's only about 10 minutes long, and if you haven't seen it, it's worth watching all of it. It was shot during the filming of 1.20 Dead Man's Blood, so they hadn't even been at this a full year yet. About 2 1/2 minutes in, they go through hair and makeup, and talk about shaving.

Back in s1, Sam had to be more clean shaven to look younger, and Dean had to have a bit of scruff just to look a bit older. So at first it was to visually make their ages more obvious. But it's also about continuity on camera. Remember, each episode of supernatural was filmed over eight weekdays (with a couple days for weekends in the middle). Episodes are NOT filmed in scene order. It would make it almost impossible to show normal, chronological beard growth over the span of two weeks of filming, you know?

If they film scene 38 first, then scene 12, then scene 19, then scene 2 over the course of four days, their facial hair has to remain believably consistent, not grow and shrink :'D So having a designated easily duplicatable facial hair style (and hair cut, because head hair can grow noticeably in two weeks, too, especially when it's as short as Jensen's on the sides/back) makes visual continuity actually possible. Especially when they're filming entire EPISODES out of airing order.

Think about Jensen's beard in the AU bunker battle scene in the beginning of 15.04. That was the first episode filmed of s15, and those were the first SHOTS filmed of s15 before Jensen shaved off his hiatus beard for the rest of the season. Those scenes were probably filmed in a single day, two at most, before he had to resume "standard Dean." Also think about Demon Dean's slightly longer hair that went back to normal, or Sam's beard from the first three episodes of s14 before he shaved in 14.04. Those times the longer hair/facial hair was used to show a lack of self-care for various reasons.

I think Cas's Purgatory beard was used to show the same. He was doing "penance" in his own mind, but I do think it was also the seeds of his entire depression arc that would run right through 15.18 and then never get an actual resolution (sorry, I had to at least grumble about that a little bit...). I remember Jensen saying when he asked why Dean was clean-shaven in Purgatory and Cas wasn't, he was told by someone that "Dean has knives," and would actually continue shaving for some reason, while Cas wouldn't even bother using his grace/powers to maintain his appearance there.

I don't believe the show has ever made any sort of statement about angel vessels NOT growing hair/facial hair. Plus by this point in the series, we really do have to consider that Cas's body, not as much his vessel anymore. Jimmy was long gone, and the last at least two times Cas had been resurrected, that body was also remade for him. We're at least two degrees of remove from that being a normal vessel, so even if angel vessels aren't "supposed to" grow hair or change their appearance, Cas would have an exception asterisk attached. :'D

The thing is, we HAVE seen other angels change the appearance of their vessels. I mean... Lucifer, for one, especially in s13. He grew scruff, looked messy, etc. And it was explained to be a result of having been imprisoned and his grace seriously depleted to the point he couldn't even perform small magical tasks for himself.

So why did Cas grow scruff in Purgatory? Because television is a visual storytelling medium. If you had a friend in real life who usually looked like Cas normally does, and then saw him after months and saw the guy Dean found in Purgatory, what would your immediate thoughts be about how that friend had been doing lately? Did similar thoughts about how Cas's last few months in Purgatory alone, running from Leviathans, staying alive primarily to keep the Leviathans focused on HIM instead of on Dean?

I think the phrase "run ragged" applies to Cas's Purgatory look. Sometimes facial scruff combined with smudged on dirt is the fastest visual shorthand for "yikes this guy has had it rough lately." Hence his "get clean" scene in 8.07 restoring him entirely to "normal," including clean-shaven and a decent haircut somehow. I think he'd been entirely able to have given himself that look in Purgatory, but he just never bothered to. For whatever reason, Dean did bother. And that was part of the visual narrative telling us that Dean still cared, and that Cas (outside of his mission of keeping the leviathan away from Dean) didn't.

Like, even when Cas was human in early s9, when he was on the run and homeless, even when he was given opportunity to shave his scruff (at the beginning of the episode while brushing his teeth, and at the end after showering at the bunker and before being kicked out) he still retained the scruff. The next time we saw him in 9.06, when he was settling into his "new human life" as a sales associate, even though we understand he's still technically homeless, he's actually maintaining his appearance, demonstrated by his care for himself and the fact he bothered to shave. For him, it was a visual signifier of his growing to accept himself.

To go way back up to that video above, in the makeup trailer are dozens of photos of different looks for each of them. Yes, some are purely silly, but even as shown in 6.15 The French Mistake (the "I'm a painted whore!" scene) are a few similar continuity photos. Every day of filming, every change to makeup and hair (including FX makeup showing wounds, bruises, etc.) has to be documented for the sake of continuity. Or you'd have an episode with alternating scenes of them having longer/shorter/longer facial hair over the course of what's supposed to be a single day on screen. The easiest way to maintain that continuity is character consistency, only having a drastically different look occasionally, for a specific reason.

So why couldn't they have chosen to go with a beard for an entire season? It's just as easy to maintain beard consistency day to day on set as it is to just have them shave to scruff, right? Crowley did that... he was clean-shaven the first few seasons he was on the show, and then grew the beard, so why not Sam and Dean?

As I said above, the visual language of the show actually means something. These aren't real people who might casually decide to grow facial hair for fashion reasons. They're fictional characters being used to tell a specific story. Their appearance and their clothing choices are visual shorthand to give us information about their current mental state, their internal priorities, etc. It's all part of the story, and in this story, Sam and Dean generally care enough to maintain their chosen physical appearance. They only seem to grow beards when they're either being run ragged or otherwise lack the ability to care for themselves, whether by choice or by circumstance.

I think it's less "they were not allowed to grow beards" and more "this would not be in character in the visual language of the show."

#visual storytelling #spn fashion hour pffft #heck what else do i even tag this? lol #on the nature of angel grace #i guess since there's literally nothing in canon that says angels can't grow facial hair or that they don't #just that in most circumstances they actually bother to maintain the appearance of their vessels

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thoushallnotfall · 5 years ago

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hiya! i’ve been following your blog for a couple of days now and i saw that you liked doing character analysis so i thought i might ask a question of my own. i haven’t read the pre script yet so idk if this was ever mentioned but when david dies it almost looked like he was finally being set free and almost happy? were the boys tricked into becoming vamps and killing ppl was like a life that was forced onto them? why else would david be almost happy to be set free from that?

Ahhhhhhhahahaaha! Okay yes the prequel script covers how the boys were turned and I have been waiting for someone to ask me about it! (This will be a long post; strap in)

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So some basic background to understand about the prequel script before we get into it here:

It takes place in 1906

The boys are homeless orphans living in San Fransisco and they're already together at the start of the script

There is a fifth lost boy named Jasper, who is Dwayne's brother

Dracula is in this script. I'll be referring to him as Vlad throughout the rest of this post. (That's actually not that important; I just think it's funny)

Okay, so when the boys meet Vlad they rob/kill him, run away to the resort (yah know, before it's been sunk by the earthquake), and eventually Vlad shows back up and chases them all down.

Now the script is somewhat ambiguous here since we're following David, who is the main character, but it seems like the four other boys are actually "blooded" at this point without their knowledge. David is the only one without sun sensitivity, and a previous injury Marko had is suddenly healed.

Through some "plot" (aka the boys are stupid) they end up working for Vlad. They know something isn't 100% normal, but vampires are not common knowledge at this point. They get into a fight and Vlad is literally flying around and dropping people like human pancakes so...yeah not human.

During that fight we get a small scene were he's somehow managed to get Marko and Paul to drink some guy's blood, but we get no context. I'm assuming Dwayne and Jasper also go full vamp off screen during this fight because that happens at some point and they don't explain it and I've thought it through and this is the only time I can think it would have happened.

This scene is interesting because the boys don't really seem to understand what's happening to them still, and the only dialogue we get from them is that they, "Can't tell the others about this." The literally just whip the blood off their mouths and go back to smiling like nothing happened when David shows up to get them.

They all end up thinking Vlad's super cool (he uses the Jedi mind trick and wins ownership of the resort, so he and the boys are living it up), and after some time he brings out the same bottle Michael drinks out of and starts passing it around. (Real talk: this scene is amazing. Vlad's just like, "It's blood." And they're like, "What?" And he's like "Haha, jk it's wine." And then he's like, "Or is it?" And then the dumbasses still drink. Poetic cinema. We were robbed.)

David is the only one that's thinking something is weird about the whole situation. Which is funny because he's the only one that actually hasn't been turned yet. So when the bottle gets to him he refuses, then the other boys kind of cheer him on and start chanting his name (it's literally just the same scene they did with Michael. This script does a lot of callback shots to the first movie.)

However, when David takes a drink, he spits it out, realizing that yes, it is blood. He gets pissed at Vlad for making his friends drink blood and they leave. Vlad says they'll need his help and to meet him at the old lighthouse the next night.

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I'm going to take a little detour since this ask was specifically about David and mention his love interest now. Anastasia was a Russian princess staying in the hotel. She was going to San Francisco for school, they talked like three times, she was pretty. Riveting stuff. 100% called they were going to fridge her and then they did. God I'm good. I'll talk about her more later, but just know that she exists.

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So the next day David comes back from a date and goes into the room where the boys are sleeping and opens the shutters. (side note: they own the resort now. Like, they own it. The whole thing. Why do all five of them still share a room? 👀 There must be more rooms. Just a thought.)

When the shutters open he catches Marko and Paul on fire it's fine they live. So that night they go meet Vlad at the lighthouse and he lets them drink from him to replenish themselves. He then tells them what they are and offers his blood to David. So David had a choice to be one of them, and he turned him down. (by bashing him in the head with a pipe)

The boys run, they get on a train, the boys try to eat David (bummer), they end up in a car full of military guys. The boys and Vlad (who just shows back up) all start eating them, but in the chaos David gets shot. So Vlad offers to turn him to save his life, which David accepts.

So they're all vampires now, Vlad has this stupid Vampire king world conquest plan. David tells him he's an idiot and tries to leave. Then his love interest shows up and Vlad turns her (with a bite...I know it's sexier but I wish they'd be more consistent with the lore; they tried to do this with Lucy too. Does it only work on hot chicks?) she freaks out and kills herself because she doesn't want to be a vampire (called it) and David goes to kill Vlad to avenge her.

The earthquake that sinks the resort happens at this point and David and Vlad fall in this hole. Vlad gets impaled on this iron pipe and says something very interesting; only a wooden stake can kill a vampire. (We'll come back to that). While he's still stuck on the pipe he gets fried in some sunlight and yay no more Vlad.

Jasper gets hit by some sunlight during the earthquake and dies. RIP.

They meet Max the next night, who was Vlad's older brother, and he's cool with his brother being dead I guess and agrees to teach the boys what he knows about being a vampire. And yeah that's the prequel script in a nutshell! So let's wrap up a couple things here so I can answer you question!

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So of all the boys David was the only one given an actual choice, and he turned it down. He never wanted to be a vampire, so I would imagine under all those layers of leather and sarcasm he's still bitter about it. He only agreed because he was afraid to die. Then I'm sure he went along with it because of that fear, but also because he had to take care of the boys. He also has the added guilt of Anastasia's death weighing on him. I wouldn't doubt at all that there was a part of him that was at peace with the idea of dying at the end.

HOWEVER: As established in the prequel script, technically David would have lived? He wasn't staked with wood; he was impaled on a set of antlers. When Schumacher was planning to make his sequel The Lost Girls (so not the ones we got...) they talked about potentially bringing David back for it. Do with that information what you will; neither of these movies got made after all.

Thank you SO MUCH for the question! I hope my answer was helpful! ☺️ I do really love answering these! ❤️

-Rachel

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

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Survey #397

“you’re my religion, you’re my reason to live / you are the heaven in my hell”

Do you think that you’ll always love who you love now? Even if we're never together again romantically, I will ALWAYS love her at least as a best friend. Have you ever made out with a random person? Yeah, no. If you could do your first kiss over, would you? No. I'm lucky that my first kiss was honestly cute as hell. Do you like your country’s president or prime minister? Well I voted for him, so I obviously can't hate him. He seems to be doing fine so far, though take that with a grain of salt seeing as I don't keep up with politics. Even before voting for him, I just did a small bit of researching on his values. What color is your house? Yellow with white accents. Do you listen to Christmas music during the holiday season? No, I don't enjoy it. Man, Jason's mom sure did, though... I loved how in the spirit she'd get and always played Christmas music in the car during that time of year. I miss that woman and I sure as hell hope she rests easy now. Do you like ginger ale? Solely if I have a stomach bug, and I can only ever sip it. What are you listening to? "Electric Sugar Pop" by Jeffree Star. What’s the last thing you watched on TV? The TMS office has the TV on, and the woman who overlooks it (I have zero idea what her position is called) tends to have it either on a cooking channel or a home improvement one. Today was a cooking one. Is your favorite author the author of your favorite book? I don't have a favorite author. Describe someone you find really attractive: M-Mark Fischbach. *___* If you HAD to look like someone else, but could choose who, who would you choose? Hm... maybe my friend Alon. I've mentioned I feel like a million times that she is like, ethereal with how gorgeous she is. Have you ever seen someone get a tattoo done? If so, what was it? Did they cry or were they in a lot of pain? Yeah; it was a watercolor feather with "ohana" written below it. She didn't cry at all, but she grit her teeth a few times. Do you have anything you couldn’t go a day without? Some form of technology. Have you ever gotten caught doing something illegal? No. What’s your favorite flavor of Vitamin Water? I don't even think I've ever tried it. Is there someone you wanna date right now? Yeah. What first attracted you to the last person you kissed? If we're talking the very first, our vast similar interests. How many brothers does your father have? None. Does your best friend have any tattoos? No. Do you like Ben + Jerry’s? Yep. Man, I want their Phish Food ice cream now. Would you ever wish to be the opposite sex? Nah. Do you think you’re attractive? Nope. What is your favorite card game to play? Magic: The Gathering. I really miss my PS3 where I had Duel of the Planeswalkers installed on it, it was really fun. Do you own a globe? I don't think we still do. What is your favorite wild cat? Perhaps clouded leopards. If your bedroom had three portals to anywhere, where would they lead? South Africa, Sara's place, and maybe a nice little cabin in the mountains for when I'm feeling a peaceful getaway. You can ask any author one question about their story. What do you ask? I have zero idea. What’s a place you have a strong emotional connection to? The pond behind the local community college. Jason and I took our first prom pictures there. Do you take yoga classes? No, but I'm actually considering it since they offer those at the YMCA Mom and I now go to. What is a decision you’ve made that changed your entire life? To let Jason go. It's pretty great, my PTSD has been less of a bother lately! Have you ever made any money from a side-hustle? Could you consider being paid to take pictures once in a blue moon a "side hustle" when I don't even have a main job? Do you ever wonder what kind of person you’d have turned out to be if a certain event never happened to you? Ugh... it's incredibly painful to wonder how life would be if Jason never left. If you could have anyone’s singing voice, whose would you choose? Adele's or Amy Lee's, probs. What are your top 3 favorite genres of music? Metal, hard rock, alternative. Do you think Mars will be colonized in your lifetime? No. Have you ever been homeless? If so, what led to your homelessness? Technically, yes, because Mom couldn't afford the rent. She, my little sister (who still lived with us at the time), and I each were accepted into the homes of willing, kind people, though. Have you ever been on a ship? No. Who was Van Halen’s better singer - David Lee Roth, or Sammy Hagar? David. Which fictional character has the most memorable quotes? Heath Ledger's Joker is quoted all the time, so probably him. What do you think of the "Healthy At Every Size" movement/philosophy? Before I answer this, I want you to keep in mind that this is coming from someone who is obese, so I would positively love to agree with that for my own self-confidence, but I don't. I believe it's a very dangerous mentality. I think you should cherish your body unconditionally, like it's an amazing machine, but I firmly believe you should have an active interest in becoming what is physically healthy. You couldn't pay me millions to convince me that, say, a 300 lb. person is healthy. What was the name of the first person you ever had a crush on? Why did you like them? I think my first *real* crush was this guy Sebastian my freshman year of high school. I thought he was very sweet, funny, caring, and attractiveness was a bonus. What food will you absolutely not, under any circumstances, eat? Sashimi, caviar, raw eggs... Which famous person would you like to be BFFs with? Bindi Irwin, for one. What kind of natural disaster is most common where you live? Hurricanes. Have you ever had an animal get into your attic? No. Have you ever been bitten so hard that there teeth marks were there after? I mean I've had hickeys before if that's what you're asking. Ever gave one? Oh, I guess you were. Yeah. Do you think its weird if guys wear make-up like eyeliner? Not at all. Would you ever date a disabled person? (Be honest) Yes. Would you rather adopt or have your own child? IF I wanted kids, I'd rather have one myself because I'm well aware I personally need that special connection. Stepkids count, too, because they'd be my partner's and therefore very important for me too. What is the most personal question you have ever been asked? Probably TMI, so here's your fair warning, but I've been asked before if I "touch" myself and I was absolutely repulsed that someone would ask me that. Were you abused by your parents? No. If you’re not straight, who was the first person you came out to? Sara. Were you one of the smartest in your class? Up to finishing high school, modestly, I was. Where did you meet your first crush? Art class my freshman year of high school. Do you ever go places with wet hair? Yeah, idc. Who is your favorite little girl? My niece Aubree. She's such a wonderful girl. Does your best friend have kids? No. If you were pregnant, would you want a boy or a girl? Hypothetically, a girl. What place outside of your own home do you spend the most time at? Um, maybe my older sister's house? Have you ever participated in a medical study? No. Do you have any family members who are cancer survivors? Yes, including my mother. Twice. Are you allergic to any medications? None that I've tried. Do you have any licenses other than your driver's license? I don't even have that. If you’re atheist, would you raise you kids believing in God or not? No; I wouldn't intervene with their own spiritual (or lack thereof) journey. They'd learn what they'd learn and decide themselves what they believe. Do you like reading self-help books? No, I just can't get invested in those. What is your opinion on sex change? If you're unhappy with your body, you're more than free to surgically change that with no judgment from me. Do you have any goals for this summer? If so, what are they? Yes, to lose weight. Can you get a strike at bowling? I have before. There was one occasion where my first go was a strike RIGHT after saying I sucked at bowling, hahaha. Do you ever take pictures of negative moments? Well, I photograph roadkill, and that's one hell of a sad moment. I actually wouldn't mind broadening my horizons of photographing negative moments (with permission of course), because I actually find these very impactful and even builds empathy. I will never, ever forget this one picture I saw sometime of an emaciated boy huddled in the dirt with a vulture close by watching him... like fuck, it made me want to sob. No one should ever have to live like that, especially a child. Would you ever post a picture of yourself crying on social media? No. I know that sounds contradictory to what I just said, I just wouldn't be able to do it myself. Have you ever held a newborn baby? Once, when my last niece was born. I'm terrified of holding them because they're just so fragile. Do you know anyone who has twins? My friend just had triplets. What is your favorite country in Europe? Germany. Are you thriving in your life right now? BOY HOWDY- Do you remember to water plants? I don't keep plants. Name three YouTubers you aspire to be like. 1.) Markiplier in a vast plethora of ways; 2.) Jeffree Star for his incredible work ethic; and 3.) Shane Dawson for his incredible compassion. Yes. I know the controversy, but regardless, he cares a lot about people. Who is your favorite character from Harry Potter? I wouldn't know, given I haven't read the books or seen the movies. Do you watch PewDiePie? Not anymore; his content doesn't interest me anymore. I watched him religiously back in the day when he was a serious let's player, though. Do you have a Steam account? Yes. Have you ever played Five Nights at Freddy’s? No, not personally. I like watching LPs of it and I find the story fascinating, but it's not the kind of game I'd enjoy playing. Have you ever tried Akinator? Yes. I don't think I ever beat it, except maybe once. Are you wearing socks right now? No; unless I'm wearing closed-toe shoes like sneakers, I never do. I hate the feeling of them. Can you twerk? Haven't tried, don't wanna. Do you like dabbing? No, it looks stupid. Do you like fishing? I honestly do think it's fun with all the anticipation and thrill of seeing how big the fish is, however I don't support it anymore unless, like hunting, you genuinely need it for food. The only case where I'd go again was if my dad asked me, because that's always been our bonding experience. Do you have a Spotify account? Yes. Have you heard of Blizzard Entertainment? Well, they're the company behind World of Warcraft, so obviously. Do you like bananas? Yes, but only for a VERY short window of time. I am beyond picky with the ripeness of bananas. Are you addicted to anything? Caffeine and technology. Do you know your phone number? I actually don't. Do you swear in front of children? No.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''here for you'' by ozzy osbourne

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 6 years ago

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Spider-Man: Far From Home Thoughts Part 3 a.k.a. Iron Man Junior: Far From Spider-Man

This will be the final part of this essay series and here I’m going to go through how this film holds up as an adaptation of the source material.

Shockingly the answer will be that it’s fucking awful.

I’ve already made what must be over a dozen posts about how terrible Far From Home is as an adaptation and representation of Spider-Man but screw it let’s go over it more!

Before I start to rant let me qualify something.

When you are adapting a character as famous, iconic and beloved as Spider-Man you don’t have to be a 1:1 translation of the source material. But you 100% do have to respect the spirit of the source material as much as practicality will allow. You have to respect the essential ideas, original intention and core themes and concepts underpinning the character and his world.

That is the root of my objections in this post and so many others.

Homecoming and Far From Home misunderstand Spider-Man on a fundamental level. Or worse they do understand him and actively chose to ignore what he’s about, what he represents.

He’s all about great power and great responsibility within the context of being a relatively relatable Average Joe.

This isn’t making him an everyman the way Bilbo Baggins or Luke Skywalker are. For Spider-Man he has to much more accurately reflect the average person and the world the average person lives in. He has to live in a real city, he has to worry about bills, laundry, studies, getting a job, holding a job, maintaining friendships and romantic relationships. He just has to be Spider-Man ON TOP of that and that must clash with his normal life. Being Spider-Man is one more additional responsibility he must juggle.

Before I rip this film to shreds for so aggressively NOT doing that let me get a few scant positives out of the way.

First of all the action scenes were not just generally improved from Homecoming, but honestly felt more like Spider-Man. I could easily see the way Peter and Mysterio attacked, defended, countered, etc, being something from the comics. Particular praise must go to the Berlin action sequence.

For many years Spider-Man fans have understandably claimed that Mysterio would be the perfect villain for the big screen due to his skill set being about generating great visuals. And we were right because we get not just a classic Mysterio action sequence in Berlin but outright one of the all time best ones from any version of Spider-Man. The film even drops us some appreciated fan service, firstly by putting Peter in his red and blue costume so it feels like the comic come to life and secondly via the giant Mysterio hand ripped straight out of ASM #66-67. The snow globe sequence in particular, if it wasn’t from a comic (and off the top of my head I can’t recall it being so) was simply inspired.

Equally Mysterio’s look was a different yet ultimately brilliant realization of the comic book. To an extent Mysterio is also a spiritually faithful rendition of the comic book character. In the comics he was a special effects master, stuntman and failed actor who craved fame and was frustrated by the lack of recognition he got.

In the movie he created highly realistic holographic technology, was frustrated by it’s small scale use, the lack of recognition he got for it and with a whole crew of helpers fabricated his Mysterio identity in the hopes of becoming the most famous superhero in the world, although he was himself rarely in the costume.

Traditionally Mysterio is a practical effects guy and this makes the most sense given how he physically fights Spider-Man, but the updating of that to holographic technology is fine and dandy because CGI has, for better or worse, supplanted practical effects. Even in the 1994 cartoon when that wasn’t the case the showmakers gave Mysterio holographic tech.

Him not being a stuntman is more of a mixed bag. On the one hand being a stuntman is what enables him to sort of fight Spider-Man himself, but on the other hand outside of his debut Mysterio’s usually been more effective when not physically fighting people but rather tricking them and manipulating them. So if you are focussing more on that aspect of the character dropping the stuntman angle is fine.

In fact one of the two things (and we will talk more about the other later) which does spiritually undermine this version of Mysterio is his lack of explicit connection to Hollywood. However he is still an actor just not a professional actor in the film or TV industry. And a great actor at that as he is so capable of fooling everyone.

We might also argue that having a crew of helpers undermined Mysterio’s independence and intelligence, but I think it works for the movie fro 2 reasons. First of all in a movie for general audiences suspension of disbelief doesn’t stretch as far so savant characters are less acceptable. Mysterio is 100% a savant. He’s a skilled actor, stuntman, manipulator and technician who knows holographic technology, robotics and all manner of things like that. In the movies you could maybe buy someone having a grasp of the purely technical side of things, but even Tony Stark wasn’t an expert on biology or chemistry, maybe he knew enough to get by but remember he needed to read up on stuff in Avengers 2012.

By giving Mysterio a group supporting him it makes it more believable that this villain is capable of all these things. More poignantly, and you can see this especially when they were ‘rehearsing’ for the London attack, it renders Beck something of a director, thus subtextually giving him yet more connection to the world of film. Again it’s just a shame this was not more explicit and instead his abilities and motives stem from...well we will get there.

On a final note Mysterio can in truth be one of the creepier Spider-Man villains and you don’t really get that vibe outside of the Berlin fight scene (and even then only a little bit). I think that’s fine as he was still manipulative which is one of Mysterio’s better skills in the comics.

So there is a lot this version of Mysterio has going for him, he’s faithful in the idea but not in certain details. Unfortunately those details sink this take.

Other positives include the set up of Chameleon as the stoic and silent agent Dmitri within SHIELD. This will not only pay off in MCU Spider-Man 3 but will is also a great example of irony and foreshadowing. Chameleon was introduced as a saboteur and enemy agent so him being a mole within SHIELD lends itself well to his character and the fact that he is an imposter amidst imposters (the Skrulls) is deliciously ironic.

Also this movie gave us the best version of Ned and Betty’s relationship ever because no one died or got cheated on. Finally I liked Aunt May running a homeless shelter. It gives her something to do and is a very fitting role for her.

I want to go back to Mysterio for a moment though as this isn’t really a positive or a negative of his character.

He’s a very tricky character to adapt. In his debut he is pretends to be a powerful new superhero who wants to bring down Spider-Man whom he’s obviously framed.

In a movie I can understand how framing Spider-Man might not sustain a 2+ hour movie.* However the bigger question to ask is whether or not you bother with having Mysterio framed as a hero or not.

In the 90s it was easier as Spider-Man and his mythos wasn’t so prevalent so people simply know a lot of stuff via osmosis, and in the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon the showmakers simply present him as a criminal off the bat.

If you do go with him pretending to be a hero it’s tricky to pull off without feeling like you are going through the motions.

All of which is me saying the movie is faithful to the comics in presenting Mysterio as initially pretending t be a hero but I don’t know how good of an idea that is. I don’t know anyone who walked into the movie not knowing he was the bad guy.

That’s about it for positives.

So...FUCK THIS MOVIE!

Once again in this Spider-Man movie everything revolves around Iron Man.

I’ve written in posts past how this undermines Spider-Man’s agency simply as a character in a movie but as far as adaptations go this is beyond insulting.

Spider-Man was in part created to be an independent superhero. In part created to literally NOT have the kind of relationship he has with Iron Man in this movie.

I cannot describe how much of a fundamental misunderstanding of Spider-Man’s character it is to have Iron Man be utterly integral to who everything about him.

He’s so goddam integral that Peter’s alleged character arc in this movie is about becoming him (in the most obnoxious of ways too, see Part 2) and he is the wellspring from which 99% of this movie springs from even though he’s fucking dead. I mean my god the plot device everyone is after is Tony Stark’s glasses!

Spider-Man doesn’t get to be his own man even when Iron Man is literally not alive!

Shit even Mysterio is motivated and built to be a dark reflection of Iron Man. And this kills his character not just because it denies him independence because it makes his ambitions entirely too big scale to work as a Spider-Man villain. His motivation is to gain access to Tony’s magic glasses. At least Vulture with a tweak could have worked as a regular Spider-Man villain. He had the working class down to Earth and relatable ambitions and lifestyle down. Mysterio is doing everything to both spite Tony and become him.

Jesus, even Iron Man’s dead weight and most irrelevant supporting character Happy Hogan is not just in this movie but plot relevant...for the second movie in a row! He’s even dating Spider-Man’ aunt. At this point given how she’s never even mentioned him is Uncle Ben even dead in this universe or did he just run off with a somehow even sexier 50 year old?

Oh...and let’s talk about Uncle Ben, whom I was naive enough to think was going to be referenced when that gravestone appeared but noooooope, fucking Iron Man again.

From Endgame onwards disgusting posts and articles were written about how Iron Man’s death now truly makes him MCU’s Uncle Ben. Because you see he was Peter’s father figure and he died...so that’s the same thing. Nevermind that he didn’t die because Peter was inactive and selfish, or the fact that his death didn’t widow his aunt, or anything like that. Shit Peter doesn’t even seem that upset about it beyond 1 or 2 scenes. And yet that’s one or two scenes more than we’ve ever seen Uncle Ben get referenced. Think about that we’ve seen Iron Man mourned more than Uncle Ben in a SPIDER-MAN movie!

We see that more than we see Aunt May even. Aunt May is just there in the MCU movies which is not just a waste of Tomei as a talented actress but it is again insulting as an adaptation. Even in Spider-Man 3 and ASM2 she had more to do and delivered a good scene or two. In these movies she’s eye candy and nothing more. She is more relevant as a punch line about how men are attracted to her than as her own character.

And now that we are on the subject of supporting characters, I talk about this more in other posts, but Michelle is so bad. The romance comes out of nowhere there is no justification given for their respective feelings for one another and to say she’s not Mary Jane would be redundant.

She fails to be anything like Mary Jane on any level beyond her nickname. This is not okay for several reasons. Among them is the fact that the Spider-man movies have had a problematic habit of treating the love interests as interchangeable characters as opposed to being their own distinct characters. Worse we’re screwing up Mary Jane not only a second time on film but worse than before. This is the Lois Lane of the Spider-Man mythos, she’s an iconic beloved character integral to the over all story of Spider-Man. And we’re treating her as so insignificant as to able to present an OC with her initials and claim that’s good enough.

As for the other supporting characters they continue to be broken. Like how the fuck did Betty Brant wind up the relatively most faithful character? Ned is just a repurposed Ganke except now they’re writing him as a lame Disney Channel sidekick character so he’s not even got the depth of comic book Ganke and Flash...oh Flash. He’s not just irrelevant to the movie, he’s not even really a bully in this film. He’s just a preppy docuchebag no one takes seriously and in fact gets treated as the butt monkey on more than one occasion. The only redeemable moments for his character were when he sang Spider-Man’s praises and was stoked that Spidey follows his social media channel.

All the characters feel like shallow attempts to make Spider-Man ‘about youth’ which as I’ve said countless times in the past, he provably isn’t about and never was. But this film not only continues to lean on that misinterpretation but lean harder on it. Like the premise of this movie is literally about Spider-Man trying to enjoy his summer vacation and school field trip.

But the film fucks up Spider-Man’s defining values in so many other ways.

Of course there is the blip.

People were so hype for Spider-Man to be in the MCU but hindsight is painful because that fact just hurt Spider-Man movies on a fundamental level.

In Marvel comics, we never know for sure if any of Spider-Man’s friends or family died in the Infinity Gauntlet and no one remembered it happening anyway. It also didn’t happen in a Spider-Man story so it could be safely ignored as is the nature of a shared universe.

But in the movies Far From Home acting as MCU Chapter 23 creates an ongoing problem for these Spider-Man movies. The fact that Spider-Man and everyone he knows died and came back but also there were some people who are five years older than him now creates a fundamental dissonance undermining the more grounded, relatable angle of his character. The only solution of which is to simply wilfully ignore the elephant in the room that represents that dissonance. In short these Spider-Man movies would’ve been better off not being connected to the MCU or at least being on it’s fringes.

This applies to even the post credits scene of the movie as now in our movies that are supposed to be about the grounded and relatable hero we have fucking aliens! And they were there the whole time. The movie even gleefully plants its flag in rejection of the idea of having a more grounded Spider-Man by saying Spider-Man ISN’T a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man by virtue of having gone to space. I was okay with that in Infinity War as that was not a Spider-Man movie but by actively rejecting that idea in this movie it showcases how the film makers treat Spider-Man as a more generic hero who can be anything and everything...and therefore nothing. There are no definitions to the type of things he will get involved with.

You might counter outside of the opening school scenes and post-credit sequence the alien involvement isn’t that much of a problem because all the interdimensional and alien stuff wasn’t real in the movie.

But that leads us to the next problem. Spider-Man as a globetrotting super spy agent. Again...this is not Spider-Man. Spider-Man is more domestic, more down to Earth and sans space travel there is nothing less grounded and down to Earth that globetrotting and secret agents. There is a reason James Bond is indulgent escapism!

Worse the spy stuff essentially hijacks the movie, it’s not even something that flows out from Peter’s character or world, it comes out of nowhere to appropriate his story.

Speaking of which...SHIELD have to hijack Spider-Man because...Spider-Man doesn’t want to get involved...

...what?...

I will repeat that.

Spider-Man, the character defined by a low level burglar he chose not to stop who then killed his uncle thus teaching him that having super powers gives him a responsibility to use it to help others...chooses to not help out against giant elemental monsters threatening all life on Earth...because he wants to enjoy his vacation...

...words simply cannot do justice to how beyond broken that is as an interpretation of Spider-Man.

This isn’t even a case of he quits because being a hero has taken such a toll on him and he’s had a wobble.

This is him still deciding to be Spider-Man but actively tries to avoid it because he wants to have fun for an extended period of time. MAYBE that’s okay. MAYBE him deciding to not take his suit along on vacation could be justified and in character.

But when presented the means to be Spider-Man and a major crisis that requires his help (it isn’t like there is a small group of equally or more powerful heroes to cover for him) for him to simply reject it, to have to be forced into helping and when he reluctantly does only doing the bare minimum until he realizes people he cares about are in danger...no.

Just no, whoever was responsible for that characterization you should not be allowed to write for Spider-Man.

It’s not even consistent with Homecoming’s already misinterpreted version of Peter Parker. In Homecoming Peter was screwed up because his intervention made everything worse near 100% of the time but even that’s better than presenting Peter as choosing to not intervene at all for purely selfish and unsympathetic reasons. And to rub it in our faces when he does choose to intervene he does it with more high tech Stark crap. No him making the suit himself doesn’t make it okay, Spider-Man shouldn’t be using technology from other people like that nor consistently having access to such high-tech. It goes against the idea of him being independent and of being grounded.

The Stark tech crap is also relevant to what is a major contender for the single worst scene of any Spider-Man film to date. The drone strike on a bus.

In this movie about the superhero who’s supposed to be relatable and like us, Joe Average, we have a scene where he uses a pair of high tech bequeathed to him by his dead superhero father figure accidentally to launch an orbital drone strike on a fellow school student on his bus because he’s about to ruin his chances with hooking up with a girl. Then he has to engage in wacky hijinks to save the kid and everyone else.

Do I need to say more about that scene? To call it jumping a shark would be an insult to other shark jumping moments. It shatters the verisimilitude of the movie maybe even more than the blip.

Let’s switch back to Peter’s personality in this movie. I’ve already talked a lot about it in prior posts but I do have two more things to point out.

The first of these is that we have less quips than in prior Spider-Man movies. And I don’t just mean the most recent ones I mean of any of the movies going back to 2002. And by less I mean 0. Spider-Man NEVER quips or jokes in this movie. Ever. It’s like they’ve grown to understand Spider-Man even less than in the last movie!

The second and more significant is how stupid Peter is when it comes to his secret identity. In the comics Spider-Man is famously secretive about his identity, to the point where it’s almost paranoid.

Here though he isn’t concerned about SHIELD or random SHEILD agents knowing who he is, or Mysterio, or everyone in a bar or anyone looking at the bridge in London where he unmaskes makes out (awkwardly) with Michelle.

The movie pretends like it cares about this aspect of his character by having Peter point out if he goes out as Spider-Man abroad people will deduce it’s him.

Not only is this an attempt by him to weasel out of hero duties but it’s moot because Betty immediately figures it out (leading to the cringe Night Monkey gag which doesn’t even make sense since monkeys don’t crawl on walls or shoot webs!), Michelle figures it out and Peter was cavalier with his identity before and after that scene.

All culminating in just everyone knowing his identity which like in the comics fundamentally fucks up the idea of him as the everyman even more. Forget space aliens and spy shit now he’s a celebrity. Celebrities are the exact opposite of the everyman, that’s why they’re friggin celebrities!

Big take away from this movie as an adaptation?

It was fucking insulting for it to have been dedicated to Lee and Ditko.

Fuck this movie. Fuck this direction for Spider-Man. Fuck Marvel for ruining Spider-Man again.

*That being said I did once hear a brilliant pitch for Spider-Man 4 wherein Mysterio frames Spider-Man and the police call in aid from Kraven the Hunter to catch him.

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spacetimewraithwrites-archive · 6 years ago

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Requested by @pen-in-hand, all the even numbers of this ask game. The rest is under the cut!

02. What is one of your character’s biggest insecurities? Are they able to hide it easily or can others easily exploit this weakness?

Warren struggles with his self-worth in general. He often feels like he has no place in the universe, that he doesn’t belong, and he’s pretty good at hiding it from people who don’t know him really well (or, you know...those who can read his feelings just by touching his skin UWU lol)

04. What are their favorite traits about their lover? (one psychological and one physical)

It goes without saying that Warren is enamored with almost every part of Thrive mentally and physically, but his favorite physical trait would probably be his eyes (that’s something I include in a lot of my writing...I have a thing for characters with things for eyes lmao. mostly green and blue, too....huh). He loves their color and the fact that he can read him pretty darn well despite the fact that Thrive is very good at masking his true mental state.

I know it said one of each but I’d say he loves Thrive’s hands as much as he favors his eyes. He’s quite fond of their shape and bone structure, as well as the fact that when they’re not completely upending the laws of physics they’re twitching or flexing as if he’s not sure what to do with them at any given time.

Psychologically, the biggest thing that attracts Warren to Thrive is his intelligence. Over eight thousand years of knowledge exists within him and he’s extremely adept at putting that knowledge and wisdom to good use, and that’s a big turn-on for Warren lmao.

06. Do they have any hobbies that their lover finds unusual, odd, or otherwise annoying?

Hmm...Warren’s only real hobbies are coding/programming and dancing, and I think because Thrive comes from a planet and culture that never discovered the impact of dance, he finds it a bit unusual. More intriguing than annoying, I believe. He’ll humor Warren with a slow dance sometimes (twice in the books so far, once during a pretty emotionally heavy scene in...Eternal? maybe? maybe Aurora. I dunno yet. and once leading into their first big love scene in Rebirth).

08. What is, perhaps, their biggest flaw? Are they aware of this or oblivious to it?

Warren’s biggest flaw may be a little bit subjective but in my opinion, it’s the fact that he’s so willing to throw himself into the fire for good causes. His jumping headfirst into being on Thrive’s side before they even met, running headlong into the Milky Way war, going against Thrive’s explicit wishes (orders. they were orders.) and ███████ ███ ██ █████████, that kinda thing.

10. Is your character more feminine or masculine?

He’s more masculine in the “traditional” sense, but he’s not ashamed of his more “feminine” qualities. He’s been brought to tears on a few occasions and it’s important to him to maintain a good channel of open communication and honesty when it comes to emotions within any kind of relationship.

Except, you know...with Brayden when it comes to Thrive lmao WHOOPSIE

12. Is there some particular talent, skill, or attribute that they simply could not give up?

His gift with computers and tech has always kinda been expendable to him, he loves doing it but if he woke up one day and forgot how to do any of it he wouldn’t be as torn up as, say, one day he woke up and forgot how to dance. He got through his teenage years (though he almost didn’t) because of dance, and he could never in a million years willingly give that up.

14. Do they live alone or with family? How do they feel about their family/roommates?

If you were to get smartass-y, for like 99% of the first two books he lives with the entire universe since he technically is homeless. The once-uninhabited Tournaltis becomes his home in book 3, and while he doesn’t spend much time there over the course of the next books, it’s always an option in the background.

He ends up with seventy-one roommates and while I can’t say...well, anything about them (other than Thrive obvs), I can and will say that he isn’t sure what to make of them, in the most affectionate way possible lol.

16. Is your character the athletic type or more of a couch potato? What are some sports/games that they like?

Warren isn’t much of a sports guy, but he’s also not really a couch potato. He loves the outdoors and doesn’t like being cooped up in one place for too long, which is why being put up in the Destiny is especially hard on him. He doesn’t mind spaceships so much since they’re always moving from point A to point B.

18. What kind of home would they want to live in? Where would they place this abode?

To be true, his dream home is his grandparents’ cabin in Alaska. Off the grid for the most part, deep in the forest, right by the lake...’kay maybe not the lake so much, but he’s a loner at heart and always will be.

20. Does your character like animals? What are some of their favorite animals? Would they want pets? What about mythological creatures?

Warren doesn’t mind animals, but he’s not a big pet person. Interestingly, I think his favorite animal is the desert lights that come out at night over the beach on Tournaltis. They’re phosphorescent orange glowing insect-like creatures that float in the air over the shore, stretching from the water all the way back to the cliff face. He thinks they’re so interesting and they create a beautiful landscape, especially when the sky is clear and the Milky Way makes an appearance.

22. What kind of tattoos, piercings, birthmarks, freckles, and other such unique physical features do they have?

He’s still got a hole in his right ear (I think, yikes) from when he was fourteen and got it pierced, though he hasn’t worn an earring since, and he wouldn’t mind a tattoo if he ever came across a memorable or one with enough meaning. He’s got various freckles on different parts of his body, but no birthmarks.

24. In their own words, how would your character describe what their lover is like?

“Full of love and passion, unbelievable wisdom and an overwhelming sense of spiritual righteousness that only doesn’t come off as arrogance because he himself does not seem to be able to cope with the fact that he can’t save everyone in the universe.”

26. What is their lover like sexually? How do they feel about their lover’s quirks, needs, etc?

Thrive is not a sexual being normally. In fact, he’s only interested in the act when he’s physically interacting with someone who’s feelin’ some type of way, but he gets enjoyment out of Warren’s satisfaction and his unique emotional signature, so truthfully he only does things for him as they both equally benefit.

Warren feels a little guilty about this since he’s hardwired to believe that it’s important to make sure all parties are left feeling taken care of during intimacy...it takes a bit for him to get used to the fact that Thrive gets his kicks from him getting his kicks, lmao

28. If your character became a celebrity, what would they be famous for?

Well...he kinda is a celebrity? At least in the year 2272. I mean...he helped save the galaxy for cryin’ out loud. Truthfully not as well-known at Thrive, but the textbooks all mention Warren at some point.

30. When it comes to the arts (music, film, theater, etc), what does your character like?

He likes mostly indie stuff and some hip-hop and rock, both residual from his middle- and high-school years. He surprisingly doesn’t watch a lot of movies. He can appreciate art and actually dabbled a bit in painting when he was a kid, but he ultimately decided it was better left to those with a talent for it.

32. If your character’s lover offered to take them out on a dream date, what would they want to do?

Warren is pretty classically romantic in the sense that just some time under the moon(s) and stars is perfectly fine with him.

I’ve been thinking of including a scene in like, Eternal or something that likens to Mass Effect 3′s Citadel DLC...I kinda wanna put Warren and Thrive on a dinner-and-activity sort of date on the Node and play with how uncomfortable or surprisingly comfortable they may and/or may not be in that situation. Also kinda for a purpose as they’d be discussing the goings-on and their next plan or whatever.

34. Does your character have favorite foods? (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, etc)

Warren likes all food at all times. Really, that’s truly it lmao

36. Does your character have any medical conditions? Are they serious or minor? Do they affect their day to day life?

He doesn’t have any medical conditions that I can think of off the top of my head...well, I mean...there may or may not be some stuff after Rebirth....

38. What kind of weather does your character like? Cloudy skies, rainy days, sunshine, etc?

He’s particularly fond of cloudy, snowy or rainy weather where you just wanna curl up under a blanket and sleep.

40. Does your OC have any guilty pleasures they enjoy? Hobbies, past times, music, etc that they wouldn’t want known by others?

Not really. Warren feels (like I do) that anything you enjoy should be done without shame, within reason.

42. Is there anything in your character’s past that they regret, haunts them, or they wish they could change?

He does regret how he could’ve left his grandparents. He regrets putting them through the horror of almost losing him, especially not that long after losing their son and their daughter-in-law to illnesses.

Not saying goodbye to the rest of his family, or anyone really, before the end of Destiny is a big one. Everything that happened on the Destiny, definitely.

44. Is there a particular event that would emotionally devastate your character?

WELP. I can’t quite...HUH. I can’t exactly...well, I can’t talk about it lol

Maybe losing Thrive somehow????????? and I cannot confirm nor deny that this happens. lmao

46. What is some random affectionate thing that your character always does to their lover?

He calls him “babe” a lot, which like...always makes my knees weak ngl lol

Also, he likes to try to get ahead of Thrive’s needs, waiting in their room to give him neck rubs after a stressful day on Tournaltis, for example. Or letting Thrive reach into his mind to be reassured or comforted or whatever it is he’s looking for at the time.

He also loves to flirt with him because his reactions are amusing lmao

48. Is there anything in particular that would ignite your character’s jealousy? Or does your character not get envious?

Warren is the most jealous before he’s officially in a relationship with Thrive. After that threshold’s crossed, not so much. His feelings toward Sussa in regards to Thrive before fully understanding the nature of their situation is uhh not great.

I mean sure, if he saw Thrive mackin’ on someone else right in front of his face he’d have QUESTIONS....

But he trusts him and knows that they could talk through anything if feelings shifted or began leaning a certain way.

50. If your character confessed love to their crush, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc, what would they say?

Warren would say, “I’m crazy about you. Insanely, tragically in love with you.”

And Thrive would say nothing. Cuz that’s canon lmao

#honestly thank you for this #gave me a chance to refresh my Thriving shit #ask games #profile: Warren #if I left something out or typoed or misread a question or anything I'm so sorry #I'm running on four hours of sleep but I'd be damned if I wasn't gonna finish this!!

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krupptonaru-blog · 6 years ago

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Barefoot Gen/Grave of the Fireflies

Ughhh what a difficult movie to watch. I kind of knew what was coming, but it was so unfair that they spent 30 minutes building up the characters, for it to turn out the way that it did. Usually I prefer to try and do a close analysis of the material, but I think I might’ve been too caught up in it to really do that this time around. I can’t really point to any specific themes besides the most obvious ones. So, I’ll talk a bit about the things that stood out to me, and those (obvious?) themes. (also I’ll try structuring it into paragraphs, so it’s not a straight wall of text like it tends to be)

The response to the air raid (Oh it’s early), feels really casual. I feel like it almost glanced over the firebombing of Tokyo. Like it talks about how it was really vicious, but then it just moves on. According to wikipedia 100,000 people were killed in the raid, and more than a million were left homeless. I get that it didn’t kill quite as many people, and that it doesn’t leave behind radiation poisoning, but still.

Another thing that stood out to me was that there was a relatively neutral stance. They didn’t try to absolve the Americans of anything (atomic bomb is pretty bad, and there was also that scene where they gunned down a little girl). But they also threw some blame to the Japanese government. First, there was the character of the father (openly against war/continuing it). Then (roughly 57 minutes in) they bring up that America demanded Japan’s surrender after the first nuclear bomb. It’s then stated that the Japanese essentially ignored this demand, and they also covered up what happened in Hiroshima. In this, we can see that this movie isn’t just meant to be “America bad” (or perhaps this is my bias as an American speaking). So, like I said, I think there’s neutrality in that both governments are to blame.

Of course, perhaps it’s stretching to think that it was assigning blame to Japan’s government. But, if we assume that it was, then I think we can see themes similar to what we saw in previous works. In my previous post, regarding Phoenix, I hypothesized (that feels a little formal for what I actually did, but let’s pretend) that when characters were saying “It’s the samurai who start wars”, what they were actually saying was “It’s the people in power that start wars”. Take that, and combine it with the fact that (or the fact that I think that) much of the suffering was done by the common person, and then you have a message that essentially says “People in power start wars, and the common people suffer (for it)”. I believe an echo of that message is also heard in this work. Early on in the movie (~24 minutes) Gen asks why they continue fighting, and Gen’s father says it’s because their leaders are wrong and the people in the army are the same. Continuing on to the scene at 57 minutes (leaders ignore demand/Hiroshima cover-up), which then leads to the bombing of Nagasaki. In Phoenix it’s Kiyomori/Yoshitsune/samurai that are in power, in Barefoot Gen it’s the Japanese government/army, and in both it’s the commoners who are killed/lose their home/war orphans/etc.

Another thing that stood out to me was the line in the last picture above. This is, again, in the scene around 24-25 minutes. Gen’s father declares that this kind of war can’t be right. But then he also says that protecting everybody’s life is right. I feel like we’ve also seen this theme in earlier works that we watched. Starting with the earlier one, I think that we see a similar theme in Zipang. One of the bigger things that I focused on in Zipang was the idea that “Exclusive defense is the guiding light”. If I’m not mistaken, something to that effect was explicitly stated. We also don’t see the Zipang take anybody until they’re attacked. Then in GATE, they’re initially attacked, then move through the gate to try and set up negotiations (or something?). The more important thing is we see the main character’s going out of their way to try and protect people who are technically “the enemy”. I feel like the common tie between all of this is a new(?) idea that the most important thing is defending/protecting people (emphasis on defense, as opposed to offense). Though Zipang focuses more on the fighting aspect (defending), I think GATE is pretty close in message (protecting). Fighting isn’t prevalent in Barefoot Gen, but they did do things to try to protect people (e.g. working with the maggot guy, then also cheering him on).

Finally, throughout the movie, we see a very optimistic view of both people, and the resilience of the human spirit. Ironically I feel like this one optimistic view is the one that isn’t really shared with previous things that we’ve read. But it did feel like it was one of the movie’s main goals. There’s the rich guy(?) who caught them stealing a koi fish, let them have it, and rewarded them for it. There’s the neighbor who initially gave them his rice, and then also helped to carry Gen’s mother away from the flames. There’s the mother who just lost her baby, who then feeds Tomoko. Then they also ‘adopt’ Ryuta (arguably the weakest example, but we’re keeping it). In all of this, we see an incredible streak of selflessness, of people banding together in a time of pain/confusion/need. Gen survives his sickness. And then we have the final scene where they ‘send off’ Shinji. To me it all speaks to an incredible strength in the human spirit to be able to endure so much and still be able to help others, and then to move past that pain and look to the future.

In the section about Barefoot Gen I mentioned that they kind of glanced over the Tokyo firebombing. I think Americans tend to learn about/focus on the atomic bombs. It makes sense. Massive weapons of destruction and all. But the firebombings were devastating as well.

What can I say about the actual movie? Well the aunt’s a dick. What else can I say? That’s a bit more difficult.

First, I’ll say that I think the overall, prevailing, theme of Barefoot Gen was a very optimistic one. I think the prevailing theme of Grave of the Fireflies is like... the exact opposite. Bad circumstances bring out the worst in people. First we have the aunt. Exchanges the dead mom’s kimono for rice, and then refuses to give them their rice. She even has the nerve to get offended about it. Then there’s the farmer that Seita steals from. He beats the heck out of Seita, and even after seeing that Seita really does have a little sister to take care of, he still tries to get him arrested. I get that you wouldn’t want somebody stealing yourself, but leaving a girl that young to her own devices would be condemning her to death. There’s also Seita himself. He turns to stealing because he doesn’t want to go back to the aunt and apologize. He’s not innocent by any means. Where Gen seemed to feel optimistic about the future, Seita was unable to let go of the past (and he died for it). I thought one of the ending notes (when the girls in dresses came back to the house) was very odd. Perhaps because I’m already viewing it in a negative light, it feels like it’s rubbing salt into the wound. On one side a little girl dies, and on the other you have adults (?) blithely returning home. Makes you want to call it unfair.

Another theme that I think I saw was a loss of innocence. I don’t think we are told explicit ages, but they’re both children. Seita has to bear the burden of taking care of his super young sister. He’s constantly berated by his aunt about how he isn’t doing enough. With the death of his mom, and the absence of his father, this young teenager is put into the position of a parent way too early. But, when I say loss of innocence, I’m more thinking of Setsuko’s. I mean, she’s so young. She really should be innocent, and she shouldn’t have to worry about anything. We see early on when she runs into a dead body (on the beach) that she just thinks that he’s sleeping. We wouldn’t expect somebody her age to really understand death, so that’s fine. But then later on (57 min mark) she is burying fireflies and she talks about how their mom is also in a grave. The scene is also interesting because her burying the fireflies is contrasted with others burying bodies. Then she asks why the fireflies have to die so soon. It might be a stretch, but it seems like her understanding of death has changed to me. Also of note, in the same scene Seita cries. I only bring it up because when I see it, it makes me think that he hasn’t had time where he could sit and grieve. But that’s just my thoughts on it.

Finally, I think we have to ask why they chose to frame the story as a spirit’s memories. We have a very grim opening, where Seita dies of a broken heart (okay, more likely from starvation). Then (very end of movie) he goes with Setsuko and says it’s time to sleep, as they sit overlooking a modern Japanese city. Why? I’unno. Maybe that’s for you to decide.

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burnouts3s3 · 7 years ago

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Let's Talk About: Carl Foutley and Hoodsey

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously.

"Let's Talk About" is a series of articles focused on individual character or characters and their development and commentary throughout the work in question. THIS IS NOT A REVIEW OF THE WORK, but rather what the character says about the world around them. If you wish to read a strict review, please click on the link to read it. My reviews focus more on the purely technical aspects of the work. There are bad characters with good messages. There are good characters with bad messages and so on and so forth. Thank you.

Author’s Note: Okay, this is going to be a weird one. Originally, I wanted to do a review of As Told By Ginger, one of my favorite childhood shows and cartoon I sincerely hope people get to watch. But, thanks to Paramount, the studio that owns Nickelodeon and, by proxy, ATBG, trying to buy the official releases of this show have been a nightmare! While Paramount ‘has’ released DVDs of the show, they are very sparse and leave out way too many episodes. Even attempts to upload episodes to Youtube have been shut down by Paramount. For some reason, Nickelodeon refuses to sell episodes of the show digitally through venues like Amazon or itunes. As such, I’m going to be skipping over my review of this show and focusing on a topic near and dear to my heart.)

Let's Talk About: Carl Foutley and Hoodsey

As Told By Ginger is probably one of my favorite childhood shows growing up. The characters felt real. The situations were relatable and the humor was on point.

For those who don’t know, As Told By Ginger was a Nickelodeon Cartoon that ran through the 2000’s that depicted the everyday life of Ginger Foutley, a middle school student who tries to get through her day to day by writing in her journal. It was a simple premise but executed spectacularly thanks to the animation studio of Klasky Csupo (who also did other shows such as Rugrats, the Wild Thornberrys and Rocket Power).

While Ginger would be dealing with her problem (such as a cute boy who’s using her to get a good grade in Chemistry class or helping her friends, Dodie Biship and Macie Lightfoot, with a problem), her younger brother who was in Elementary School, Carl Foutley, and Dodie’s younger brother, Robert Joseph “Hoodsey” Bishop, would be getting into trouble.

In his Doghouse (a memory Carl holds onto in hopes his runaway dog, Monster, will return), he and Hoodsey create ideas to swindle his classmates. Carl and Hoodsey would usually have their own subplot where in Carl hatches a scheme to get money, get revenge or attempt to get his petrified eyeball away from Blake Gripling.

See, producers and executives are a bit wary to catering to a single demographic. In ATBG’s case, catering to girls. (To be fair, even in the original pilot Carl and Hoodsey were there). As such, while Ginger and Dodie were doing “girly” or “feminine” things, Carl and Hoodsey were doing “boy” things and had the share of the gross out humor.

It’d be easy for Carl and Hoodsey just to be the comic relief. Their material is funny and they break up a lot of the dramatic moments with their antics. But as the series progressed, I began to realize that the show runners were doing a lot more with the two than I realized.

For example, I thought there was a strong sense of “children during the face of mortality”. When Hoodsey and Dodie’s grandmother dies in “Losing Nana Bishop”, Hoodsey has a different reaction from the rest of his family. See, while Dodie, his father and his mother are all grief stricken with the loss of his grandmother, Hoodsey isn’t. And he feels weird about it, saying “But I don’t feel sad, Carl.”. A child realizing their apathetic towards their own relation’s death is a strangely mature arc to go through. Hoodsey eventually comes around saying he will miss her but in his own way stating “I’ll never look at blue foam or a raisin and not remember how Nana used to laugh at me and pinch my cheek really hard."

This happens earlier in the series. Carl begins a sort of May-December Romance with Maude, an elderly lady he meets at a nursing home. (To be fair, it’s said that these feelings only come from Carl and Maude doesn’t return his feelings but finds him entertaining company). As Carl prepares to propose to her, Maude dies and Carl has to deal with it.

But the biggest impact was during No Hope for Courtney, when Carl realizes Ms. Gordon has retired because Carl pulled a prank too far and traumatized her. Because of that, Carl does everything he can to get her back. Eventually, he wins her over. However, the night before class, Carl wakes up and calls out her name. The next day, it’s revealed that Ms. Gordon died in her sleep. (This was done as a tribute to her voice actress Kathleen Freeman passing away). The final shot is Carl crying over her death.

Religion is also a big part of the show (which is surprising, given that this was a Nickelodeon show meant for children). Carl is an atheist, but it’s only really mentioned in passing when Ginger nearly dies from a burst appendix.

In contrast, Hoodsey is seen more as the more religious of the duo, if not necessarily the more moral. What I mean is that Hoodsey is as willing, if not more so, to get into much trouble as Carl is but Hoodsey does believe in a divine power. We get glimpses of this. When Carl and Hoodsey get Mrs. Gripling’s money so Hoodsey can pretend to be a homeless boy for her (Mrs. Gripling was trying to become the head of a social club and did so by faking to do actual charity work), Hoodsey argues they should give the money back, stating "when the big guy sends me a message, I try to pay attention." In “Losing Nana Bishop”, Hoodsey says that their grandmother is somewhere in “that great big bingo hall in the sky”.

Normally, Christianity vs Atheism debates are reserved for the internet Youtube videos or conservative propaganda pieces. In fact, there’s a scenario you could see how Carl would argue with Hoodsey about religion.Instead, the writers of the show establish this through a clever and subversive way.

Hoodsey believes in Santa Claus while Carl does not. The two get into an argument about how ‘real’ Santa is, with Hoodsey being so devoted to Santa he breaks his friendship with Carl.

Eventually the two bury the hatchet and decide they’re better off laughing at things such as neon signs of reindeer pissing.

"Sure you're cool hanging with a non-believer?" Carl asks Hoodsey.

"To each his own and all that," Hoodsey replies.

What led to Carl’s jadedness towards Santa Claus, Carl replies "Something stupid. I think I used to wish my dad would come home for the Holidays or something like that". This is a reference to the fact that his birth father left his family when he was young.

In the world of sitcoms and cartoons, the showrunners sometimes depict various family units and how they contrast with one another. Carl’s family had a Single mother, Lois Foutley, and Ginger. He was the only male character in the house and the youngest child.

Through the 90’s most shows had nuclear, if dysfunctional, families with a mother and father and multiple children. Even if the sons were often trouble makers, they had father figures to look up to. Bud Bundy had Al, Chris Griffin had Peter, Eric Forman had Red, Bobby Hill had Hank and Bart Simpson had Homer.

Hoodsey, whose parents are still together and haven’t separated, even makes a side comment to Carl "You see how complicated having two parents can be?"

To be fair, as time went on other cartoons and cartoon characters have commented on divorce. Sharon Spitz from Braceface, Pepper Ann Pearson from Pepper Ann, Sammy "Squid" Dullard from Rocket Power, Will Vandom from W.I.T.C.H. and Tino Tonitini from the Weekenders are all products of divorced/separated couples. But whereas their mothers they stay with are considered embarrassing, overprotective, smothering, or strict, the absent father figure is usually idolized and admired, even with their actual presences hidden or built up. For the first times we hear about them, we never actually "see" what Pepper Ann's father and Tino's father looked like until later in the series after they're mentioned.

It's also implied that the absent father figure is the better off or the richer of the two households with a "cool" profession. Pepper Ann's father is a pilot, Squid's father is an executive, Will's father is seen driving a sports car (implying he's wealthy) and Sharon Spitz's father is a rock star. As such, it's seen as an idolization of the absent father figure. "My dad's not here because he's busy being cool somewhere else".

Then, we finally get hints of who Ginger’s father is.

In "Hello Stranger", Ginger gets a congratulations letter for graduating Elementary School (an event, as her friend Darren mentions, that happened ages ago) from her father. Ginger invites her father to attend her poetry reading only for him not to show up. Lois decides to send flowers to Ginger and has them written to be from Ginger's Father (even though he had nothing to do with them). Ginger sees through the guise but thanks her mother anyway.

When we do finally meet Ginger's Father, Jonas, the truth is finally revealed: he is a mall Santa who can't be bothered to make it to her daughter's poetry reading. It's also implied he's not well off financially. "I'm sort of a Jack of all trades and Master of none" he says in a later episode.

When Carl and Jonas do meet on Christmas Day, Hoodsey inadvertently stages a meeting between them, Carl, meets him with scorn and hatred. He even says "My Mom always warned me about getting in a car with a total stranger." Jonas gives Carl a globe full of peanuts, not knowing that Carl is violently allergic to them.

The show doesn't mince words; Jonas Foutley is a deadbeat dad who doesn't know his own children and his attempts to be there fall flat. (To be fair, the show gave him redeeming values such as giving GInger good advice or having him wrestle rogue attacking turkeys).

Ginger and Carl have very different reactions to their birth father. Ginger attempts to get Jonas back into her life as much as possible while Carl wants nothing to do with him.

Consider how strange that is. Ginger, the older female child, idolizes her father while Carl despises him. Carl instead attempts to help Dr. Dave, a recurring character and co-worker of his mother, help woo Lois. Carl who’s the younger child instead feels more comfortable with his step father while Ginger, who would be older and would have more memories of her father leaving her, is dedicated to making her father a part of her life as much as possible.

It’s interesting to see how he, who is barely entering middle school not only wants to embrace his potential new father, but harbors resentment against his birth father. He even goes so far as to address him as Jonas while calling Dr. Dave Dad. Carl even accuses Jonas of conspiring to ruin Lois and Dave's wedding!

In one of the final episodes of the season, Carl helps Lois find a new house. Lois decides to indulge Carl's gross out side and shows off houses that she thinks Carl would like before settling on a real house. Except, throughout the episode, Carl dismisses each of the houses and commits himself to finding an actual home.

When Lois asks why Carl is acting out of character, Carl responds.

"It's my last duty as Man of the House before Dave steps into the role", he says.

Think about that. Carl, despite admitting he loved the creepy and gross houses Lois showed him, decides to take the responsibility of house hunting seriously because he considers it the last duty "as man of the house" before Dave comes in. He is deliberately choosing to step away from his own selfish desires and deciding to 'act like a man'. Not masculine as in gaining muscles or beating up people or acting as an authority figure, but doing something as simple as helping his mother and changing his attitude and behavior.

Consider the context: Carl favors Dr. Dave, a step-father, despite Dave not being his birth father and him acting squeamish and cowardly, more of a man than his actual parent. Why? Because Dave is there and helps his family while Jonas, Carl's birthfather, has been mainly absent from his childhood.

So naturally, Carl's viewpoint of masculinity and manhood are changed. Rather than being assertive of muscular, it's simply being there and supporting his family when he can.

That's strangely profound in a child.

It feels like Carl’s arc is that of maturity. But through the series, attempts into forcing Carl to mature all fail. Ms. Gordo and George (a strict boy scout who uses military training to straighten out Carl), all fail. Attempts to force Carl to destroy the dog house, his secret lair and his nostalgia into hoping his long lost pet, Monster, will come back fail. Even when a classmate tricks Carl into growing up fails. But instead, Carl chooses by his own accord when he's finally ready to destroy his dog house. He chooses to turn his back against pranking. He chooses to help his mother out with the wedding and move.

(It should also be mentioned that Carl was willing to let his dog house be destroyed when George blackmails Carl that by leaving he would cast the blame on Ginger whose program is failing). Then, on Lois’ wedding day, Monster, the dog Carl has been waiting to come back, returns to him.

In some ways, Carl’s story is a view of masculinity but through the lens of grade school boy. Through this sense of jadedness, we see a boy who’s grown weary of the world but works through it by being as gross and angry as possible. But instead of pursing masculinity as a form of power or revenge fantasy, he views it as an aiding tool and someone who genuinely wants to help (even if that help causes more trouble than aids).

Tress MacNille is a voice acting professional who’s shown her merit through shows such as the Simpsons, Futurama and other works. But it’s with Hoodsey that she embodies a character and gives said character real depth. But it’s Jeannie Elias who absolutely delivers as Carl (she also played Botley in Jumpstart 3rd grade adventures). It’s not uncommon for female voice performers to voice young boys (this is done for a variety of reasons as animated shows can go on for years and female actresses tend to ‘sound’ younger than male ones), but Elias performance while holding a scratchy voice manages to convey anger, sadness, humor and cunning at all the right times. Kudos to her.

The series ends, showing an Adult Ginger reading her book to a group of her adult friends as well as Darren with their child. Hoodsey and Carl are seen sitting next to each other.

Though, there is one detail I do find funny. In an episode, Carl says "I can see Me and Hoodsey being friends 30 Years from now".

I guess some friendships do last a lifetime after all.

https://amzn.to/2UHi4lk

#carl #hoodsey #carl and hoodsey #robert joseph bishop #as told by ginger #atbg #nick #nickelodeon #carl foutley #klasky csupo #rugrats #the wild thornberrys #rocket power #dodie #dodie bishop #macie lightfoot #macy lightfoot #lightfoot

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ninja-muse · 8 years ago

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Urban Fantasy Recommendation Masterpost

This is a list of the urban fantasies I’ve enjoyed most over the years, split down a few lines and to be updated as I discover new series. I’m also including contemporary fantasies because the lines often blur. Hope you find something you like on it!

$ for LGBT characters £ for characters of colour € for characters with disabilities * for potentially problematic depictions of the above ! for #ownvoices (all based on my slightly spotty memory, so feel free to correct if I’ve missed something)

World-Focused

or stories that spend most of their time steeping you in the magical world

American Gods - Neil Gaiman £

Shadow Moon gets out of jail and is hired by the cagey Mr. Wednesday to … he’s not really clear, honestly, but it puts him in the path of people who may or may not be gods. Multiple mythologies.

Among Others - Jo Walton €!

A 1980s teen flees her troubled home in Wales to get to know her birth father and attend an English boarding school. Is her mother’s family able to work magic or is it just wishful thinking? Reading science fiction might give her the answers. British folklore and faeries, and a very interesting take on magic.

The Boggart - Susan Cooper

A Canadian family inherits a Scottish castle inhabited by a mischievous boggart—who then stows away and finds himself in Toronto. Scottish folklore.

The Bone Clocks - David Mitchell £

The life of a woman from teen-hood to old age as she lives her life and occasionally intersects with an ancient war between good and evil, fought with telepathy and other things that look a lot like magic.

The Changeling - Victor Lavalle £ !

After his infant son is violently attacked, Apollo Kagwa, used bookseller, descends into the hidden world of New York in search of his vanished wife.

The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin - $ £ ! for race

New York City, newly alive, is being attacked, and six humans, no longer quite human, must do everything in their power to save their city.

the Dark is Rising series - Susan Cooper €*

A group of English kids—four siblings, a seventh son, and a boy who might be a reincarnated Arthur—versus the forces of darkness. Five books, only the last of which includes all the kids. Cornish and English folklores, Arthuriana.

Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips

The Greek pantheon now lives in North London and is as dysfunctional as ever. Artemis walks dogs. Aphrodite does phone sex. Apollo is a washed-out TV psychic who’s just fallen, via Eros, for the cleaning lady—who’s trying to date someone else, thank you very much. Greek mythology.

The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker £

A golem and a jinni both find themselves in turn-of-the-century New York, both literally and figuratively. A beautiful exploration of the immigrant experience, friendship, and identity. Jewish and Arabic folklore.

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

A mostly-good angel and mostly-wicked demon discover they’ve been training the wrong Antichrist days before the scheduled apocalypse. The real Antichrist wants a dog and to save the whales. Also features a legacy witch, a rookie witch-finder, the Four Horsemen, the Four Other Horsemen, Satanic nuns, and a Queen soundtrack. Christian mythology.

The Hunter’s Moon - O.R. Melling

A Canadian teen visiting her Irish cousin ends up mounting a cross-country road trip to retrieve her cousin who’s run off with the faeries. Irish mythology.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London - Garth Nix $£

In the summer of 1983, Susan Arkshaw travels to London to find her birth father. What she discovers is a family of magical booksellers, and an Old World that’s very much alive.

Middlegame - Seanan McGuire

Roger and Dodger are exceptionally gifted, telepathically linked, and a little more than natural. James Reed will stop at nothing to use them, or people like them, to get ultimate power. Alchemy, time travel, and portal fantasies are involved.

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman £

Richard Mayhew has it all: a good job, a hot fiancée, a nice flat. Then he helps an apparently homeless girl with the power to create doors and is pulled into the magical community below London. Nothing will ever be the same.

Of Blood and Honey and And Blue Skies From Pain - Stina Leicht

It’s tough, living in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and Liam finds it harder than most. No one trusts him, he can’t find work, everyone wants him to choose a side, and to cap it off, he feels like a monster is inside him and knows something inhuman is stalking him and his. The war between the Fey and the Fallen is heating up, and the only people keeping peace are an order of priests—who also, surprise, want Liam’s help. Irish and Christian mythology.

The Sixth World series - Rebecca Roanhorse $£€ !

Maggie Hoskie is a Monsterslayer of Dinétah, but she’d rather not be. Even rescuing a kidnapped girl is supposed to be a one-shot deal. But the monster’s a new one, an apprentice medicine man’s attached himself to her, and Coyote’s around, so of course it’s not that simple. Navajo mythology.

Son of a Trickster - Eden Robinson £€ !

Jared’s life sucks. He’s sixteen, living in a crap house in a crap town with crap prospects. He’s paying his dad’s rent with weed money. His mom’s more interested in parties than holding down a job. His only friend’s a pit bull. And just when he thinks that’s as low as it gets, a raven shows up and say he’s Jared’s real dad. Heiltsuk (and other First Nations) mythology and folklore.

Sparrow Hill Road - Seanan McGuire

Rose Marshall, the Phantom Prom Date, the Ghost of Sparrow Hill Road, hitches her way from coast to coast while dealing with paranormal problems and route witches—and avoiding Bobby Cross, the immortal who killed her.

Sunshine - Robin McKinley

Rae is a baker. Tough and practical and smart, but a baker. Who’s just rescued herself and a vampire from captivity using magic she’d half-forgotten she had. Unfortunately, the master vampire’s still after them, the magical police know something’s up, and she just wants to keep being normal. Includes mild, realistic PTSD and a whole lot of delicious desserts.

An Unkindness of Magicians - Kat Howard

The Turning has started in New York and every magician in the city has their own reason for entering the tournament—power, status, acknowledgement, revenge, revolution. The high stakes would be enough for anyone, but it’s starting to look like there’s something suddenly wrong with magic, too.

Witches of Ash and Ruin - E. Latimer - $ £ € *

Dayna wants to be a witch, live her life, and block her OCD thoughts so she doesn’t have to deal with them. Then scary but gorgeous Meiner and her coven roll into town prophesying Bad Things, and a serial killer reappears who seems to target witches and shit. Meet. Fan. Themes of family and abuse.

Ysabel - Guy Gavriel Kay

Ned Marriner’s tagging along with his photographer dad to Provence when he begins to notice magic awakening around him. There’s an ancient love triangle that‘s repeated throughout history, using contemporary locals as proxies—and it’s very interested in Ned, his new friend Kate, and his father’s entourage.

Mystery-Focused

or stories that spend most of their time solving a magical crime

The Arcadia Project series - Mishell Baker $£€ !

Millie’s nearly broke, scarred, a double amputee, mentally ill, and Done with all the BS around that. She’s also despairing of ever resuming her directing career, so when a mysterious woman offers her a job with her temp agency, she’s intrigued. What wasn’t mentioned? She’ll actually be an immigration agent working with the Fae of Hollywood, and one of them’s just gone missing.

the Blood series - Tanya Huff $£€

Vicky Nelson is the pinnacle of the tough, no-nonsense PI—which poses a bit of a problem when she’s hired to catch a “vampire” on the streets of Toronto and then actually meets one. (He writes romance novels.)

the Felix Castor series - Mike Carey $*

Felix Castor is an exorcist. A hard-drinking, down-at-the-heels exorcist in a London brimming with ghosts and demons. Unfortunately, he never seems to get the easy cases where he can just waltz in and play a tune—and his past mistakes might be coming back to haunt him.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams

Dirk Gently solves mysteries by wandering around, getting into strange situations, and then connecting dots no one believes even exist. Like time traveling robots and Romantic poets, or rampaging eagles and mold-ridden refrigerators.

The Grendel Affair - Lisa Shearin £

Makenna Fraser is a seer working for Supernatural Protection and Investigations in New York. “Seer” meaning she can spot the ghoulies and ghosties few people can, including her coworkers. When an off-the-books gnome removal turns into a blood-soaked crime scene, she and her partner are handed the case—but will her eagerness to prove herself just land her in hotter water?

the Greta Helsing series - Vivian Shaw $£

Dr. Greta Helsing serves the undead of London. Her best friends are vampires and demons. The boundaries between worlds are thinning, causing all manner of metaphysical trouble. Plays with 1800s horror classics; equal parts sensible, disturbing, and funny.

the Greywalker series - Kat Richardson $£

Harper Blaine prides herself on rationality and unflappability, but after briefly dying on a case, she’s suddenly wrong-footed and seeing ghosts everywhere. In the middle of all that, she’s hired by a mysterious voice to track down an organ that’s more than it seems, and suddenly haunted street corners are the least of her problems.

the Incryptid series - Seanan McGuire $£

Meet the Price family, a close-knit group of cryptozoologists whose mission is to protect and preserve endangered cryptids like dragons, gorgons, and the religious Aeslin mice from humans. They’re also hiding from the Covenant of St. George, a.k.a. why the cryptids are endangered in the first place. Technically paranormal romance.

the Iron Druid series - Kevin Hearne £

Atticus O’Sullivan is a herbalist and seller of New Age paraphernalia by day, two-thousand-year-old druid by night. He thought moving to Arizona would keep him safe from gods bent on revenge. He thought wrong. Multiple mythologies.

Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge - Paul Krueger $£€ !

Bailey Chen is fresh out of business school, broke, and living with her parents. When a childhood friend offers her a job as a barback, she takes it as a stopgap—but then she discovers the secret cabal of bartenders who fight demons using magical cocktails and after that, there’s no looking back.

Moonshine - Alaya Johnson £

Zephyr Hollis, a charity worker and ESL teacher in 1920s New York, and therefore flat broke, takes a side job from a student, Amir, without asking questions. But will the vampire mob, the drug-crazed vamps, Amir’s literal smoking hotness, or her family history do her in first?

Night Owls - Lauren M. Roy $

Valerie is a vampire with a successful campus bookstore. Elly grew up fighting monsters and fearing for her life. When their paths collide via a book in Elly’s keeping, they must unite to prevent said monsters from unleashing hell and then some.

the October Daye series - Seanan McGuire $£€

Toby Daye wants sleep, coffee, and for everyone to leave her alone already—not necessarily in that order. Unfortunately, as a changeling Knight and PI with a knack of finding people and solving problems with maximum chaos, none of those things will ever be easy to come by. Multiple folklores.

the Olympus Bound series - Jordanna Max Brodsky $£

Selene di Silva’s been keeping her head down for a long time, shutting herself off not just from New York, but from the world. (Being a former goddess will do that.) But then she stumbles on the body of a woman who’s been ritually sacrificed and her past as Artemis comes rising up again. Greek and Roman mythology

the Rivers of London series - Ben Aaronovitch $£€

When Constable Peter Grant meets a ghost at a crime scene, it’s only logical for him to take a witness statement. When DCI Thomas Nightingale learns of this, he offers him a job as an auror the sorcerer’s apprentice a valued member of a magically-focused police unit. London, its river goddesses, various magic workers, assorted Fae, and the Metropolitan Police will never be the same.

the Shadow Police series - Paul Cornell $£

Following the mysterious death of a suspect, four Metropolitan Police officers are drawn into London’s sinister magical underworld in their hunt for a killer.

the Smoke series - Tanya Huff $*£

Tony Foster’s found his footing as a PA on a Vancouver-shot vampire show. Unfortunately, the paranormal weirdness that is his life continues and it’s somehow up to him to save the day.

Unholy Ghosts (and following) - Stacia Kane £*

Chess Putnam works as a Church exorcist, partly out of obligation and partly for the pay, which goes to fuel her drug addiction. Unfortunately, no ghosts are nice ghosts and her private life keeps intruding on her cases.

the Watch novels - Terry Pratchett

Ankh-Morpork is the citiest of fantasy cities. Its City Watch is a bunch of misfits. Sam Vimes isn’t putting up with any nonsense. Somehow, they fight crime.

Zoo City - Lauren Beukes £

Zinzi December is a con artist and occasional finder of lost things who lives in the Johannesburg slums with her sloth familiar. Her latest case? Find a pair of missing teen pop stars—before the apparent assassins do.

#book recommendations #masterposts #urban fantasy

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lnicol1990 · 7 years ago

Text

Isn’t It Obvious?

Okay, here’s the first story that needs to find its writer. It is for @squigglydigglydoo‘s Toon Henry AU for Bendy and the Ink Machine.

I am respectfully asking people not to like this post. It is not my work and I don’t deserve the credit! The rightful owner is @caspersthefriendlyghost, and as soon as they put this for their own blog, I am deleting this post.Everything below the keep reading is their work and I make no claim to it.

Everything below the keep reading is their work and I make no claim to it.

Alright! It only took forever but I did it! I’m a little rusty since I’ve had no time to write at all but I gave it my best shot! (Marianna belongs to @upperstories!)

Being cornered by your former boss from thirty years ago in a different dimension was not how Henry wanted to spend his Friday night. Well, his date he had planned was the least of his concerns right now.

Joey limped closer to him. His back was already against the wall and he didn’t trust the toon logic to work in his favor. Shouldn’t his gimp foot not be affecting him anymore?

It didn’t matter. Not now at least. He still wasn’t exactly sure how cartoon logic would play out at the moment since technically speaking he is the good guy, but so far nothing has been going in his favor. Well maybe not good but not exactly bad either. How was he to know that if he tried to make a break for it that a banana peel wouldn’t show up out of nowhere?

“Henry, Henry, Henry. What to do with you.” Joey said with a smile. He was absolutely drenched in ink. At least his body wasn’t actually ink like Sammy. That poor son of a bitch…but he can’t think of that now. He can worry about him later.

“Joey…Joey please…don’t do this.” Henry begged. What could he do to get through to him?

His eyes quickly scanned the room. If Joey were to try something he needed a plan. Wait, is that Bendy? His eyes were wide and…scared? Alice and Boris had a hand on both of his shoulders. Wait a minute, cartoon logic. Bendy is the star of this show. Maybe since Bendy perceives Henry as the villain that’s why he’s always the one getting the short end of the stick. If that were the case he just needs to get him to see the truth, but how?

Wait. The hero being trapped by the villian. All the toons and even that fucking machine right there in all its glory. Evil genius with a master plan. Getting Joey, the evil genius, to tell him his master plan shouldn’t be too difficult.

This better work.

“Before you…you do whatever it is you plan to do with me…I need to at least know…why?” What was he thinking? Of course this wouldn’t work! Joey may be toonified, but he’s still Joey! And unfortunately Joey isn’t an idiot.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Never mind.

Henry saw the toons slip out of the door frame from the corner of his eye. Good. The last thing they needed was for Joey to catch onto his little plan.

“No? You brought our characters to life. What more do you want?” Henry tried to calm himself down. He was in no position to be yelling at Joey.

“What, them?!” Joey began to laugh. “Of course I want more! They’re only alive because I needed to make sure that I could actually pull this off!” Joey gestured to his beloved machine. “Yeah, I mean I they’re cute and nice to keep around but they’re nothing compared to what I have in store!” Henry refused to move. This couldn’t be right. Joey loved them when he still worked with him! They were his whole world! The reason he woke up in the morning! What happened?

“This machine is more then you think! Not only can it our bring cartoons to our reality, but it can bring us here! To this world! Where I am the god here. I can literally bend reality to my liking!” No. No this wasn’t the man he once knew. How could someone change so drastically? “One day I will have our world collide with this one. I will-”

“We really mean nothing, huh?”

Bendy’s voice caused Joey to jump at least a foot in the air. He turned around to look to the small toon. He was still surprisingly in his normal state. Well, he was dripping a bit.

“Bendy I…I just..I thought.” Joey stuttered.

“You created us…you promised we would one day leave! That we would be a family.” Bendy said. Henry’s heart hammered in his chest. He was just waiting for Bendy to snap, but Bendy kept calm. A little too calm.

“But Bendy I though that maybe you liked it here! We could still be a family I just need more time to figure out how to make this world merge with reality! You just need to wait.” Joey rambled. Bendy began to walk out of the door frame and into the room. Joey took a step back with every step Bendy took in.

“This was the place everyone walked out on me. This place is nothing but bad memories…I can’t stay here any longer. You promised we would leave soon!” Bendy stopped walking and stared at the ink machine.

Joey knelt down in front of Bendy and began to wipe the excess ink out from Bendy’s eyes. “We still can. You, me, Alice, and Boris can all live somewhere far away from here! We can still be the family you’ve always wanted! I just need more time and we’ll be okay.”

Bendy leaned forward into joey for a hug. Henry saw his eyes. They were void of all emotion.

“we can even rebuild our studio somewhere else. You can still become famous again.” Joey said. Bendy and Henry didnt break eye contact. What was Bendy thinking?

“Yeah…” Bendy murmered.

Poor Joey, he didnt even see it coming.

Bendy pulled away from the hug gently enough but he grabbed the collar from Joey’s shirt and pushed him back as hard as he could. Joey’s head made a sickening crack once it connected to the ink machine.

Henry couldn’t look away. No matter how badly he wanted too he just couldn’t. He just barely registered Alice getting in between Bendy and Joey. Judging by the starts swirling around Joey’s head, he was still alive.

He pushed himself off the wall. How dare Joey do this to him? To everyone? Didn’t he mean anything to Joey? What about Sammy? Oh god, who else did he bring down here that ended up worse then Sammy?

Henry’s fists clenched. He didn’t know whether it was the fact he was in a cartoon world or not, but nothing felt real. He had to keep Joey alive though.

“Bendy, don’t kill him.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” Bendy’s voice was the softest he’s ever heard it. “Not in front of them anyways.”

Henry let out a breath he did even realize he was holding. What now? Was Bendy still hellbent on getting revenge on him? Would Bendy be okay? What will happen to them all when he leaves? When would he be able to leave?

Could Henry even get home?

No…no he had to be able to get back to his family, right? He couldn’t just be stuck here, right….right?!

One look at the toons and he knew that now was maybe not the best time to ask. Boris and Alice were tying up Joey with some rope they must have grabbed from the pocket dimension they all have behind their back while Bendy just stared at the ink machine.

This had to be the first time Henry ever seen Bendy drip without him being pissed at him and honestly? It hurt seeing Bendy like this. Sure, Bendy has been getting his kicks by messing with the old man, but he was…mostly harmless. Okay maybe mostly harmless is a stretch since Bendy got quite a few blows to him, not to mention Sammy, but still. If Joey hadn’t kept everything a secret from everyone and hadn’t been feeding the toons lies then Bendy wouldn’t be acting like this!

“Henry…” Bendy’s voice snapped Henry out of his thoughts. Out of instinct he blocked his face from the demon.

Bendy gulped and pushed back the excess ink out from his eyes. “You…you gotta get out of here…you….” Bendy walked up to Henry and sat down next to his feet. Henry soon followed his lead and sat with him.

“What are we gonna do?” Henry asked.

“what do you mean? I’ve seen Joey work that machine more times than I can count. You’ll be able to get outta here in no time.” Bendy whispered. His dripping only got worse. “you can go and live your life and…forgot about us again.”

Henry couldn’t help but laugh. “F-forget? Bendy, not a day has gone by where I haven’t thought about you!”

Bendy could have melted into a puddle right then and there. He’s honestly surprised he didn’t. “Then…but why…you didn’t…”

“Come back?” Henry finished. “I wish I could have. Joey told me if I took one step out the front door that I would be sorry if I ever came back…and I planned on coming back, I really did but…the war really fucked me up. I couldn’t function…would have been homeless or worse if it weren’t for my wife.”

Bendy shuddered. “but..but you’re better now, right?”

“well…not exactly. But I’m working on it…being here hasn’t exactly helped though.” Henry said. “But we can talk about this later. You said you can work this contraption so we can maybe have a cup of coffee and all of us can have a much needed heart to heart conversation. I’ll have to figure out all of our sleeping arrangements though. I’ll try to get everything situated to you can all have your own rooms, but for now would you all be okay if two of you had to share a room for a bit until Marianna get everyone’s rooms set up?”

Alice’s head snapped at attention. “wait.. all of us? At your house?” Alice looked over her’s and Boris’ work and they both sat in front of them, leaving Joey in the far corner of the room.

“Well yeah? I won’t just leave you here with Joey. I can’t just abandon you all.”

Bendy couldn’t take it anymore. Tears formed in his eyes before he crashed into Henry’s side, sobbing. Henry tensed. He already felt awkward and anxious about inviting Bendy to live with him since he was just terrorizing him not even ten minutes ago, but this was too much to handle.

“I-I’m so sor-sorry!” Bendy wailed. Henry relaxed a little at the state Bendy was in. It was sobering to see him so upset. Of course he feels guilty! He’s still the same little dork he once animated! He was just misguided. Maybe misguided isn’t a strong enough word. He was manipulated by the asshole currently tied up…who could wake up any second now.

“Hey Boris? Do you know how to use the machine to bring us back?” Henry asked while picking up Bendy and himself off the floor. He was in no condition to be doing anything.

“Uh..yeah I think so! Alice, could you help me just in case I forget something?”

“Of course.” Alice smiled weakly at Henry before running over to the machine with Boris.

The two managed to get the machine on with only a few hiccups here and there which Henry was surprised with. Joey must have worked on it with them more then he thought. It took Henry forever to turn it on in reality!

“Alright, y'all ready?” Boris asked, looking quite proud of himself and Alice.

“You two should go first. I’ll meet you out there with Bendy.” Henry said. Bendy pushed his face into Henry’s chest and wailed. The poor guy…but Henry didn’t have time to worry just yet.

Alice and Boris hesitated, but went anyways. First Boris, then Alice were sucked up into the nozzle of the ink machine. Henry couldn’t help but feel a bit sick. Would it hurt him to go through it? Would Bendy be able to go through it with him or would something happen? He wasn’t really in the mood to be molded together with the demon…but he had to try.

“Hen-ry.” Oh of course. Right when they were about to be home free Joey just had to wake up!

Against his better judgement, Henry turned around to look at him. He had his hand gently placed on the back of Bendy’s head so he wouldn’t have to look at the monster that created this mess.

“What do you want?” Henry all but hissed. He could feel Bendy’s body melt even more. His breathing started to get faster. He couldn’t stay here much longer.

“Please…Henry..my best and dearest friend..you can’t just leave me here.” Joey began to cry. “Please…you can’t…don’t leave me here.”

Henry’s grip on Bendy grew a little tighter. “Thirty one years ago i wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving you, you know that, right? I cared about you so damn much.” Henry felt his eyes sting. “But after all this shit you put us through?”

Henry turned around.

“I hope you rot in hell.”

He stepped up to the machine with Bendy securely in his arms and was sucked up back into reality.

They didn’t think twice about unplugging the machine.

Well, Marianna’s always talking about how she misses having children in the house. Hopefully three traumatised cartoons to raise will be enough for her. He just hopes she isn’t too angry with him for missing their date.

#please help me find the writers #squigglydigglydoo #toon Henry AU #batim #Bendy and the Ink Machine #Not My Work #not my fic #not mine

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musicmushi · 8 years ago

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hmmm harvest fog spice and maize for the ask thing!

harvest - what fictional character do you most identify with? Why?

*deepest sigh* I can hardly between my children! But okay I think it’s pretty safe to say that I most identify with Aradia Megido like I always had this idea that if I were to remake homestuck scenarios to fit real world logic, I’d basically make have the easiest time with Aradia’s story. Her life, death, robot, life again arc really speaks to me and the moment when she smiles and is like ‘I’m very much alive and I intend to stay that way!’ is the realest shit to me! I could really go on forever how I feel connected with my spoopy ram child. Also the whole ghost and occult thing is so full of YES! (Also also I really relate to Tavros but he’s more of a inspiration for me)

fog - how well do you think you’d do in a zombie apocalypse scenario?

I believe that you’re really only as good as the team you surround yourself with. Which I mean to say that singular skillsets are indeed important but like with all apocalyptic scenarios, the best way through it is team work and trust. That being said I will probably either be the last bitten or the first. I would make a decent lookout but not much more.

spice - have you ever encountered a house that you believed to be haunted?

Yes I lived in an old farmhouse that was suspected of being haunted by some previous owner and one time when we were trying to make the place livable before officially moving in, my step-dad was fixing the electricity in the attic and my mom and one of the workers heard an awful blood curdling scream come from the attic. My mom freaked out thinking my step-dad got electrocuted but when they rand over to check on him he was completely fine (unfortunately) and really confused as to what my mom was freaking out over having not heard a single thing before my mom and the worker barged in to check.

maize - share the weirdest encounter you’ve had with a stranger on the street.

Well this isn’t technically the street but considering what happened it might as well have been. But first just so I keep in line with the rules, the strangest thing I ever had happen to me dealing with street strangers is I’ve had multiple guys stop me while I’d be walking around my old city and they’d ask me if I had a boyfriend or try to request sexual favors or something. I’d just be like ‘please just let me walk home from the grocery store in peace’

OKAY now for a specific story!

So while I was living at this same city, I would pass the time with walking around for blocks just listening to my music and minding my own business. I decided to do this early one day when it was like...the ending edge of a sunrise and I walked around till like...11 or 12 noon or something and I decided to stop at the library to take a breather and kick myself for not eating beforehand.

So I’m sitting in the library just taking in the quiet and relax before I plan to set out for home again and there’s this guy that’s sitting across from me and he’s like ‘sup’ and I’m just like ‘hey’ because I don’t wanna be rude and ignore a simple greeting.

Anyway, he starts doin the small talk thing like askin things like ‘hows it goin’ and simple stuff and I’m a friendly person so I’m answering casually and just bein myself and he tells me he’s an artist that does commissions and I was like ‘oh cool!’ because it is cool and I’m always happy to hear that there’s artists in this freakin state I live in. SO he pulls out his phone and sketchbook and he’s showin me his portfolio basically and everythings cool for a little bit until he starts typing in his phone and I’m thinkin ‘oh he’s obviously texting someone right now’ like the small talk session is over and he doesn’t wanna talk to me anymore like okay cool whatever.

But then he waves me over to show me his phone.

He shows me what he typed and it was something like ‘what would you say if I asked you to have sex with me?’ and I start fuckin panicking internally because wow NO! I’m immediately made uncomfortable and I want this exchange to end but I don’t wanna be rude or jumpy or anything so I just look at him and laugh awkwardly like ‘haha you’re so funny no of course I don’t wanna have sex with you! I dont even know your name! Get the fuck out of here!’ (I didnt actually say that though)

So I laugh at this and then he laughs which feels like a relief to me like ‘oh thank god he was just joking okay’ so the topic drops for a little bit and I kinda wanna go home now but I can’t just excuse myself because I don’t wanna be rude or anything. He waves me over again for me to read another text thing on his phone. It was another sex proposition and he was like ‘yeah but no for real though’ to which I reply with confusion and a polite and awkward ‘no thanks thats okay’ and the topic drops and I’m thinkin that I wanna go home NOW!

Well I don’t know how this happened but I somehow agreed to walk with him to some batting range or something because he wanted to hit some baseballs and eat from the concessions stand thing they have there I guess and I was like super hungry so I was like ‘eh food okay’ and I didn’t want to upset this guy or have him stalk me to my house or anything so I just go along. He leads me out of the library (after I tried to sneak out ahead of him and he was like ‘aw cmon I dont bite you dont have to be scared’ which just scares me even more but OKAY)

So anyway he leads me out and we walk to the range and we start talking about movies or rather he goes on about his favorite movie and I kinda nod and let him go on and during this I let out that I really like voices and voice actors and he’s all ‘I can do a really good stitch impression!’ and I was like ‘oh really thats cool’ and he does it and I’m just like ‘yep that sure is a stitch impression’ and in my head I’m praying that he didn’t just spring that on me to like impress me or woo me or something. So some more conversation happens and he brings up what he had me read earlier and I’m like ‘yeah I don’t get what your deal is like why would you ask me that? I’m all fat and sweaty and gross and I look like a homeless person’ and he scoffs and is like ‘ya know I really hate when girls talk about themselves like that. If I weren’t so sure you’d probably hit me, I’d kiss you right now to prove you’re pretty’

!!!! BEEP BEEP BEEP THIS IS YOUR MENTAL WARNING GO THE FUCK HOME NOW!!! BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!!

At least that’s what went off in my head when he said that. But I didn’t listen because I was now alone with this guy walking on the side of a single road to a place I’ve never seen before. Not the smartest thing I’ve ever caught myself up in. So I really don’t wanna end up on this guy’s bad side because I have no idea what he’s capable of or willing to do if I make him upset. I laugh at this thing like ‘oh haha that’s weird okay yeah no don’t do it’. So the topic is officially dropped, the batting range is closed so we decide to walk back to a gas station on the way back to the city square. As we approach the gas station he asks me if I have a boyfriend and I kinda panic and I’m like ‘yeah! uh he’s out of state though’ and he’s like ‘oh! That explains it! Ya know you’d be more fun if you only got fucked more often’

What????!!!! WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN???!!!! Can someone please explain this? Because I still don’t get it.

Again I don’t say anything I just sorta laugh awkwardly and the whole time I’m stickin with this guy because I don’t wanna be rude or mean or anything and I dont wanna upset the dude both out of fear and a weird sense of courtesy. So after that mess we go inside the dang place and he asks me if I ever had faygo before. My brain is so full of what at this point I’m somewhat convinced that I’ve been creeped on by fuckin Gamzee Makara at this point. I mean not really but you get my point of thought process here. I tell him ‘yeah I like it okay’ and he then tells me that he’s a juggalo and asks me if I’m a fan of ICP

!!!! Hhhhhh what the fuck did I get myself into??

I say no and I mention that it all just ‘reminds me of a webcomic I like because there’s a juggalo that likes faygo a lot and you should check it out you’d like him a lot’ and I tell the guy the name and he’s like ‘cool’ and so we get to the faygo and I’m lookin at the choices trying to decide on a flavor and the guy just fuckin grabs a random-ass bottle from the fridge thing and is like ‘here youll like it’ and I’m just like ‘okay whatever’ and I pay for the whole thing including some cigarettes that he wanted because I’m so nice or rather because I’m a scared little pushover that just wants a decent transaction and nothing bad to happen.

So after all that and some more idiocy from the guy I’m finally able to get away from him and back home without him knowing where I live and I told my mom as soon as I entered my house and she thought I was being overly paranoid and that this guy coulda been really cute or something. I decided to stay inside a lot more often after that and I never ran into him again.

The key problem I had was a fear of being told that I was being a bitch or something so I never said anything when things actually scared or worried me. I just went along with the uncomfortable words in the hopes that it was all just some joke and I wouldn’t get hurt. Maybe I was being paranoid jumping to the worst conclusions but thank god nothing physical happened. I can’t help but wonder what woulda happened if I was more firm from the beginning...I probably woulda gone home a lot sooner and avoided the story I told you. I shouldn’t have been so scared to be ‘rude’ because its not rude but I don’t like people telling me I’m being rude or selfish so I end up being a pushover. Don’t be afraid to be ‘rude’ when things bother you. I mean don’t be a destructive bitch or anything but polite assertiveness and a firm ‘no’ is not rude. Don’t do what I did.

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aidoru-ojisan · 8 years ago

Text

Hey guys, not sure if any of you saw that post I made that was basically a rough summary of the Cute Girls playing In A Metal Band story I wanted to make (if you did you have an idea what this post is about) if not uh... well to sum this up this is basically the rough draft of the first chapter of that series. No intended name has been given to it, I merely gave the chapter the name “Bastard Noise” (this is also a reference to the noise side project of a very influential Powerviolence band, Man Is the Bastard, the genre itself also speaks for the tone o f the series) this is intended to be a rough draft, so no names of characters nor specific designs of characters have fully been thought out yet. This is just me wanting to get feedback and stuff. I intended to have a fully fleshed out 1st chapter soon, I still need to design the characters themselves. So I would be grateful if you can take time to read this rough draft of the first chapter for my “Cute Girls Playing In A Metal Band” series, please do not roast me for terrible writing nor grammar mistakes, I haven’t written in a long time but my passion was recently revived for the art by complete boredom LOL

"You there? What the heck are you doing here? This is no place for a rich brat like you."

What ravenous tone this largely built gruff man spoke to me. I can feel his strong barbaric gaze through the shade his large yet ripped dark hood.

Is this what society calls a "barbarian?" The lack of scent of alcohol or filth tells me this man is not homeless despite wearing the clothing of a homeless man.

Here I was, simply taking a leisure night walk with my husky/german Shepard mix female dog, Laika. Why was I walking her during night despite knowing the dangers of such a time? Simply because it was easier to walk her, despite being well trained Laika was very protective of me around men and many men usually walked during the day time to go to work, lunchtime to enjoy the fleeting breaks they had (not to mention I'm usually having lunch at school that time as well) and the evening is well known for being the time when most people return from work, so nighttime was the perfect time to walk her.

I had nothing to fear of the night, I'm not that much of "simple rich girl" that is afraid of things I don't have full knowledge of. The night was dark but the street lights and the protective aura Laika surrounded me with gave me a sense of assurance.

That's until...

"Are you deaf? I told you to leave, get out of here already."

Despite seeming to intimidate me, it is almost as if I can see the built hooded man being wooed by the single azure eye Laika had, despite having a very ferocious expression on her face, which her dark brown eye expressed much more than her azure one, to warn the man to not harm me, the man still seemed to be entranced by her.

Never judge a book by it's cover they say.

Making a small sigh, and slightly patting Laika's head to calm her down, I look into the eyes of the man hidden beneath his dark hood.

"I'm sorry, I'm just little baffled by the situation I'm currently in."

"Well anybody would be" could be heard as the man scoffed and shook his head.

Regaining his composure, the man then does a small sigh while taking out something of his pocket, Laika being wary that it might be a weapon the man takes out a piece of bread from his pocket

"Can she eat this?"

I suppose anybody would be surprised by this outcome, even Laika is, but I for one wasn't. I did a small nod to the man to reassure him it was fine

"She isn't that much of a picky eater, but she may be wary of the person giving her the treat."

Of course the man knew I was implying him, but then I could feel his intimidating aura change into a warm aura. Kneeling down to Laika's level, I could also see all of her wary aura fade away as she took the piece of bread from the man's hand "I'm just glad she didn't get hurt while she was loss."

"More like I'm glad she didn't see you as a mortal threat."

The man made a small chuckle at me as he lightly petted Laika's head, enjoying the warm sight, even I knew that Laika was much more of a trouble maker than this supposed "barbarian" tonight.

As I was walking her down the usual path I always take her, with all her strength, Laika managed to pull me hard enough to break the grip I had on her leash and fall to the side of the path, luckily I was wearing the clothes a "slob" would wear, and my track jersey would already be covered in dust and other dirty things during gym, so I didn't care much despite knowing how expensive this jersey is.

Yet Laika's sudden burst of energy and escape was very shocking for me, for there was a sudden loud noise that echoed throughout the dark alleyway that even the most absent minded person would know dangers would dwell. yet I was courageous despite my rich girl status.

Even so, the worry I had for Laika's well-being mattered too much for any stereotypical traits to get in the way... Thus as I chased after her to regain control of her, I found her, dark caramel and black fur being shined on by a faint red light, growling at the largely built dark hooded man who was also revealed by the faint red light...

It was reliving to me that both of them no longer showed any sign of intimidation despite the amount they had during their first encounter. Now I can feel assured that me and her will return home safely tonight

"Even though you gave me the chance to pet your dog, don't think I'm still not gonna tell you to get the hell out of this place."

Hmm, it was quite humorous to see him speak those words in a harsh tone as he continued to lightly pet Laika's head.

"I see, not even her cuteness can sway you."

"She's cute but her cuteness isn't enough to change my feelings."

Making a small chuckle as I fixed my rustled caramel hair from chasing after Laika, I then take a small peek past the faint red light

"That loud noise... what was it?"

With faint curiosity, I spoke that question, but it's almost as if the man heard me speak the word “noise”, I can feel an aura of anger emit from him. Laika becoming more conscious of him, the man stood up as Laika moved back to protect me

"Noise"?..."

Hmm? Why does it appear the man is so displeased with me speaking that word, that is what brought Laika here no?...

"I'm merely curious, since my dog came rushing over here as soon as she heard it."

Most of the man's intimidating aura faded with a small chuckle he made as I spoke that sentence

"Your dog has good taste."

"Good taste"?..."

I spoke with a confused expression, does he mean for food? I doubt that, since Laika really has no preference for her meals, she eats whatever I feed her, high quality or low quality pieces of bread like the man gave her before.

"The dog is probably old enough to know what she heard compared to you."

That's right, Laika was about 2 years old, in human years that should be about 20 and I just turned 14 not too long ago...

"Wait? Is this noise she heard can only be heard by adults? I do know that dogs can hear certain volumes of noise compared to humans-"

"Noise Noise Noise..."

As I was about to finish my sentence, the man's intimidating aura returned, Laika becoming more protective of me, can just me speaking the word "noise" be triggering the man? "Is there an issue with me speaking the word Noise-"

"IT'S NOT NOISE GODDAMMIT!"

Backing away a bit as the man burst out his rage. Laika started to ferociously bark to warn the man to not come any closer to me

"Oh... I'm sorry... I just get pissed off when people call Metal "noise"..."

"Metal?..."

As the man calmed himself down, he softly apologized, Laika becoming less wary of him, I was confused yet curious.

"Metal" can he be speaking of the material?

"Well it's technically Grindcore mixed with Powerviolence and Noise but eh, it's all Metal."

The man just uttered words I couldn't comprehend, but didn't he just speak the word that "pisses" him off?

"Ah, I'm sorry you look kinda lost."

"Of course I am, you are speaking of things that are alien to me."

The man scratching his head in humility, I then made a small giggle,

"Yet... I feel a great passion in your words, do you love this Metal you speak of?"

As I spoke that sentence, I can almost see the man's eyes, which were covered by the darkness of his hood light up

"Love?... Metal is my life."

As he uttered that sentence, I felt the strongest passion I have ever felt in my life imminent from them, for in this world, bound to a specific life style and set of rules, even I have never felt such a passion like this for anything.

"You look surprised by what I just said, surprised a dude like me can talk that way?"

The man made a wry smile as he spoke those words, shaking my head, I then made a small chuckle

"I'm surprised that any person in the world we live in can have the amount of passion you have."

As I spoke, I can see the man making a displeasure smile while I spoke the words "in the world we live in."

"The world we live in... It's fuc- messed up you know?"

Trying his best to not curse despite his displeasure, he probably did it due to my young age, since a young person my age shouldn't even know such words.

"Messed up?..."

Certainly what he spoke of was confusing me, in a world that would be considered the "perfect utopia" how is it messed up?...

"Can't you see?... we are caged up in this world, we have to follow the rules this society set out for us, we can't talk about anything we want, heck we can't even express ourselves..."

I did know this world only became the "perfect utopia" it is now through setting out certain laws and lifestyles for its people... but all of those laws and lifestyles were meant to ward "evils" and "chaos" that would disturb the foundation of this utopia the government and the people built... can it be?

"Is Metal one of the evil things that are forbidden?..."

As I finished my sentence, the man slammed his fist onto the alley brick wall, Laika becoming protective of me once again, the man clenched his teeth in frustration

"Even then in that time we could do what we wanted... no one really cared about us but... we did, but now... we can't do what we want anymore, everyone who loved Metal back then is now too scared because of this whole system... we've been reduced to just a small pack of dudes, trying our best to keep Metal alive... cause like how Dio said... "I am Metal, I'll never die. We are Metal, we'll never die..."

I did not know of this Dio persona, but the words that the man quoted from them... such great passion and love can be felt behind them...

"All of these emotions you are displaying... is Metal truly "evil?"

Speaking those words with a strong convection, the man's eyes came into contact with mine, his dark brown iris, showing a great fire despite the darkness of the alley and hood covering them in shadows

"Heh, the way you spoke those words, your plain brown eyes are pretty as your dog's one blue eye."

"Thank you for the kind words... but your answer to my question, please."

Despite his quite flattering yet insulting statement, he then takes a deep breath in and sighs, letting loose all the tension that his body got from the multitude of emotions our conversation brought him.

Gazing at me with the same passionate dark brown eyes he had before, he then calmly speaks.

"Metal was never evil or good."

The convection he spoke those words with, I felt my heart stop for a moment... his statement was simply that powerful "Here take this."

Approaching me and handing me a blank white CD held withing a plastic case, he then whispers in my ear "Even though being young, you seem mature enough to know what Metal is, listen to that when no one is around, with earphones or something."

The serious tone he whispered these step of actions I needed to take, truly I knew if I was found out with this I would find myself in a unsatisfactorily situation.

Moving back to the area he stood, near the opening where the dim red light shined, he then sighs,

"Not everything on there is too heavy, just promise to listen to it all at a safe level of volume OK?"

Hmm... Of course I knew that, listening to any form of music at high volumes can damage ones hearing but remembering how loud the noise from before was, I have the idea that this "Metal" is especially loud

"Yes, I shall be taking my leave now... thank you for having this conversation with me. It was quite interesting."

"Be glad your dog was here, she's the only reason why I even considered talking to ya."

As the man smiled at Laika, she did a happy bark at him, making a small giggle I then make a small smile at him

"Never judge a book by it's cover... I guess that saying is true, despite looking like a dangerous man, you seem like quite a passionate man who is fond of dogs as well."

"H-ha? Go home already kid, I better not see you round these parts again."

I can see the man being quite embarrassed by my statement, making a small giggle once again as I turned away, I then spoke one final sentence to him before leaving,

"Who knows? Maybe this CD and your passion will be enough to make me come here again."

"I SWEAR- Hey! Kid! Don't rich girls like you know manners! HEY! Don't walk away when I'm not done talking to ya!"

Giving him a farewell wave as me and Laika were leaving the dark alleyway, I can hear him laugh as we were leaving...

Yet who knew the words that I spoke to him would become true... his passion and "Metal" were enough to awake something withing me that I never knew that a simple rich girl like me would have... that something that awoke was...

"YOU BASTARDS F**KING READY????!!!"

Screaming my lungs out before the mob of people that appeared nothing more than pigs trapped within cages filled with their own feces, the heat that all our bodies brought into the whole area was enough to give one a heatstroke, the area was enveloped by a crimson red from the bright stage light that shined upon me and my fellow comrades beside me... it was almost as red as the fire within are hearts... the ravenous rage that burned like a flame, that flame wanting to burn down the system that oppressed our true selves, the system that kept us silence...

"NOW, LET US DESTROY THIS F***ING SYSTEM WITH THE VERY “EVIL” AND “CHAOS” THIS SYSTEM TRIES SO HARD TO KEEP FROM US!!!!"

As I felt my throat burning from my roars of rage, the double bass and cymbals of a drum were being pounded on creating a destructive wave of sound, a bass with a sound so disgusting and dissonant, it made my stomach turn, one lead guitar and rhythm guitar erupting a chaotic sound... the whole stage and room became a room fulled with rage and chaotic passion

#tfw pls destroy my story like Anime critics destroy trash Anime #LOL I just want feedback tbh #I'll have a name for the series and characters soon #I also want to think out they way they'll look #gotta make em look cute but also metal you know #mb oji-san's ideas

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johannesviii · 8 years ago

Text

Escape Velocity

Some highlights of the last EDA I’ve read (Escape Velocity).

I took these screens while reading, along with my reactions. As usual, this is full of spoilers.

“You think Father Time was bad? The next one is a lot worse.”

I beg to differ.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not good. The plot is as basic as it can possibly get, the writing isn’t subtle at all, the Earth Arc ends in a whisper instead of a bang, and most of the secondary characters barely register. But I only read it in three sittings (admittedly several days appart from each other), the Doctor can travel again, Fitz is back, there's a new companion, and most importantly I didn’t wish I could strangle the author. 4/10

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE

Okay so I already know Anji is a new companion, and I’ve got rather high expectations because everybody seems to love her.

Also, a story set in Belgium! That’s pretty rare.

You two are kinda cute together, and since this is an EDA, something terrible will happen to you. It’s so obvious. It’s just a question of time, okay.

Hahaha we have the exact same age

Also “somewhere really alien” wow that’s not very subtle writing, is it

FITZ! FITZ IS BACK!

Fitz yes hello long time no see glad to see you’re finally back in these books - also are you seriously complaining about waiting a few hours for the Doctor to show up while he had to wait for, what, 120 years or so

Well you’ve been technically homeless for quite a while now

We already know that’s a different alien but I still like his reaction

Good job Fitz you actually took the right decision for once

“I find it difficult to keep relationships” is ALSO an understatement considering 90% of your girlfriends DIED

WHICH MEANS SHE’S GOING TO SURVIVE

BREAKING NEWS: Local man cannot stop thinking about the Doctor even while he’s being shot at by a guy with a gun

That was cliché but still pretty brutal

FITZ. COULD YOU PLEASE STOP THINKING ABOUT THE DOCTOR FOR LIKE. ONE MINUTE

“there’s this guy I... er... work with”

Anji’s a trader, that’s pretty cool.

“He was a gentle character although he could be a bit of a prat”

The last time we checked, he was in a much better place than he was in the middle of his exile, so you shouldn’t worry too much.

MEANWHILE THE DOCTOR IS READY TO DROP LITERALLY EVERYTHING AT THE FIRST SIGN OF THIS “FITZ” CHARACTER HE’S BEEN WAITING TO MEET FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS oh my god

Anji would rather get drunk than talk to the in-universe equivalent of Doctor Who fans holy shit

Understatement of the literal CENTURY

Fitz rates every shower he uses across space and time and I’m sorry but this is great - also he reminds me of a friend who used to do that for toilets

Oh I like this.

It would have been so easy to make Eight’s memory come back all at once. This is less spectacular, but much more interesting.

“A DOCTOR WITH A DODGY MEMORY IS BETTER THAN NO DOCTOR AT ALL” oh my god

Again, I really like that approach. I don’t know if it was a decision the writer took, but as long as the cliché of the memories flooding back is avoided, and as long as it leads to a slow recovery (or even none at all), I’m fine with that.

Also that line of thought made me think of a great post-rock album called All the Memories All at Once, by Sunlight Ascending, so I recommend it.

OOOOH NO HELP CUTE

Priorities, Eight.

I laughed

I hope so too.

I just remembered the Kulans were mentionned briefly in the previous book.

“He seemed genuinely interested in everything and everyone he met”

That’s a good plan I like that plan

“Something vague about cats”

And that DVD which contains a virus isn’t a Chekhov Gun at all of course

You used to lie a lot better.

Okay good at least they found Anji’s boyfriend.

To be honest though, so far I don’t give a damn about the story. A space race helped by aliens who want to leave Earth. It’s not like that theme hasn’t been used in this arc already.

Are you guys making a contest for the understatement of the week

Did he just

No, this book can’t be that clumsily written

He did

He just let slip he knew that happened in Brussels and I can’t believe that trope of the villain letting slip crucial information hasn’t died yet.

On the other hand I still love this kind of Description Cut.

Uh. Fitz’s memory is being rewritten by the new timeline. Better have that talk about the Doctor’s lost memories very soon, then.

I like this explanation he thinks he has found for his previous incarnations.

ROLL CREDITS

This is an amazingly terrible, terrible plan and I’m giggling

Also I’m hungry now

I TOLD YOU IT WAS A TERRIBLE PLAN

But I’m still hungry

That f█cking description of fizzy mineral water though

Also that villain is both a misogynist and an ungrateful jerkass

Technically........... it did

ROLL CREDITS

Okay.

Dave is so going to die now that you said this and you know it.

Understatement number 68553

Understatement number 7746152390

Truely this is a day for History books

CALLED IT

Also, that was a terrible idea, much like most of the ideas displayed in that story so far. But I can’t bring myself to hate that book. Somehow. Mostly I’m just glad Fitz is back and stuff.

I have a bad feeling about this

This is both a bad idea and very cute

We now have an official number for the years Eight spent stuck on Earth!

Very easily it seems

BREAKING NEWS: Local man still cannot stop thinking about the Doctor

Does it mean... Dave... is

CALLED IT

I F█CKING CALLED IT

But apparently the sadness refuses to end today.

You should have seen him in the Fifties, Anji.

The reference to An Unearthly Child is a bit too blatant but I love that episode too much to get mad at this book.

Also I’m way too happy about what’s happening to get angry right now.

I’m torn between mourning the old TARDIS interior and wanting to draw that new TARDIS interior as soon as I can

HE’S ALREADY GETTING DEFENSIVE ABOUT HIS SKILLS HAHA

I’m so happy for him tbh

I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE

Somewhere, Griffin the Unnaturalist is cringing and he has no idea why

Doctor, no. I know you’re happy. But. Could you please concentrate

Honestly I have to side with the villain on that one.

Actually, the Eighth Doctor’s real speciality is “getting hurt constantly” with a side of “getting thrown into every single cell in the entire universe”

MY HEART JUST MELTED

HOLY SHIT ANJI

HOLY. SHIT. ANJI.

That was the worst decision in a book entirely made of bad decisions.

I’m still laughing though

You’re not off to a good start, Anji. Sam had at least waited one book before she killed somebody, and that somebody was already dead anyway.

You... don’t really want to know.

I love this

There’s gonna be a lot of healing to do.

I’m sad he can’t remember Sam, too.

NEVER SAY THAT, DOCTOR

REMEMBER HEATHROW

“IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE HEATHROW”

MORE AN UNEARTHLY CHILD REFERENCES

I’M TOO EXCITED TO BE MAD

I snorted.

Okay, so that wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. And I’ve heard the next one is pretty good. Looking forward to that.

#Eighth Doctor #Fitz Kreiner #Anji Kapoor #Escape Velocity #Eighth Doctor Adventures #EDAs #An EDA liveblog full of useless comments #long post #gif #caps lock

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townnightwalk · 8 years ago

Text

SCRAPPED BEGINNING, FIRST PLOT STRUCTURE

28/04/2017

-bellow includes the first structure plan of the game and first rendition of the beginning of the game, planned and written but eventually rewritten. The structure was also changed as the game proved to be much longer and aiming to complete it all in the time set was impractical.-

- the reason it was rewritten was the beginning felt too slow, so it was cut and redone to be more interesting and mysterious.- It was actually produced in the game engine also before it was scrapped-

- there is also a scene attempting to improve on the previous idea, trying to highlight a characters gender identity and including some issues they have to overcome. this was also scrapped as it still felt unnatural and advantageous. in the final script a simple mention is all that is included so far in the final game. The reason why was to make it more ‘normal’, to make sure his identity is mentioned but not taken advantage of or introduced with an uncomfortable situation/traumatic situation.”

I'm now aiming to complete one act of the game by the due date set by the class, bellow is a break-down of act 1 split into the major scenarios and decisions/consequences of each scene

I've also managed to get through a lot of the artwork, I'm trying to have an array of sprites with different facial expressions for different emotions to work with each scene. Lastly I have coded part of the first scene and put it together in the game engine in order to make sure it works properly with what I had planned- I learned that due to some coding barriers I had to rework how the scene worked, and this has helped me realise what borders I need to work under.

ACT 1

SCENE 1

· Driving through the night

· Drive off away from homeless man

· Hit the monster and pass out

Major Decisions and consequences- if you drive away too quickly the homeless man appears dead

SCENE 2

· Wake up and get carried to shelter by jones and sybil

· Enter church courtyard

· Meet kit

· Monster attacks

Major Decisions and consequences- convincing them the monster is real- if you cant they refuse to believe you, and one goes outside to be trapped and doesn't return until later

SCENE 3

· Experience visions of past

· Ended by kit connecting to monster

Major Decisions and consequences- calm down sybil or kit gets seriously injured, as opposed to just minor injury

END OF ACT 1

Written scenes

First scene

· Start with prose

Sometimes, memories are hazy,

Like lines of heat on a distant horizon,

Wavy and uncertain, tricking you

Sometimes the haze is heavier

Like white noise and static on an old tv

When you turn the dial on your grandparents set

All you see and hear is a deafening mess of white and black

Sometimes, you can find places like this

Liminal spaces, wedged between real life

But very much real, although they feel like a dream

These spaces can confuse you, scare you

Consume you

Beware of those who live there

Your hands feel locked to the wheel you've been clutching for hours. It's quickly obvious that you've been disassociating while driving again, with the streets unfamiliar and no clue of how you arrived here. It floods back as you turn to a sleeping passenger, resting her head against the glass. She doesn't snore, but there is a tiny trail of drool that leads to the mess of hair working as her pillow.

You're shaken from a haze again by a voice coming from behind your headrest.

[jones]: what's the time?

[Prue]: oh um, it's 2 I think.

[jones]: how much farther?

[prue]: til what?

[jones]: you pass out and we crash

[prue]: I'm fine< 1>

[Prue]: fair point< 2>

<1>

You can hear him huff with minor frustration, but he lets it out with his sigh and starts again

[Jones]: we should have a plan for where to sleep

[Prue]: just follow sils lead

[jones]: I'm pretty sure sleeping in your car is illegal

[prue]: well, then we can sleep at the station if they catch us. Problem solved.1

[Prue]: heh, bullshit, if we get booked for that over everything else 2

[jones]: joking?

[prue]: joking. But, you got any other ideas?

[jones]: …none

[jones]: ok look im not sleeping in a car on the side of the road, didn't you go through the high school creepy pasta phase?

[prue]: just because Sybil's asleep doesn't mean you're safe from getting your ass kicked for comments like that

[Jones]: I don't want hook man to kill me

[Prue]: I promise I'll kill you first

<2>

[prue]: I feel like I passed out a few hours ago

[jones]: I can take over driving for a while?

[prue]: you don’t have your license and this is still technically a stolen car

[jones]: sure, if there is a cop prepared to stop a random car at 2am on a Tuesday

[Prue]: another fair point

There's a silence that passes over the car, not uncomfortable, mostly uncertain. You indicate left and line the car up with the sidewalk and turn the key to silence the engine.

Crack the window? 1

Keep the windows closed. 2

1 The heat keeps flowing through the ducts but you crack a window for a source of fresh air. <if this is done, the homeless man gets his fingers through

2 The heat keeps flowing through the ducts as you shuffle in your seat to get comfortable.

[jones]: do you think he called it in?

[prue]: the car? I don’t know. Maybe. There's a chance he didn’t even notice yet.

[jones]: would he call it in on you?

[prue]: he's done it before, this isnt the first time I've taken his car out1

[prue]: what about your mum?2

[jones]: how far did you get

[prue]: like 30km out of town, I was about 16 though, maybe he thought if he didn't he'd get in trouble

[jones]: what do you mean?

[prue]: 16 year old driving off, that’s two illegal things. All I'm doing now is stealing, can't get in trouble for letting an adult run away.

Jones response is measured silence, and looking at him you can tell he's still guessing himself.

[jones]: not the stealing, but she might call you in

[prue]: for the car or kidnapping her innocent son

[jones]: maybe both, she'd probably blame sil for everything though.

[prue]: heh, all she did was enable me, shes as guilty as you

Your eyes sting, with even the faint reflections of the street lamp making them burn. Your body is begging for sleep, and there's no way to fight it off. Jones was right, another 10 minutes and you'd be sleeping in a ditch after being jettisoned through the windscreen.

[jones]: night prue, we'll figure it out in the morning

[prue]: figure what out?

[jones]: every fuck up from today

[prue]: that’s a loooot to deal with

[prue]: night

Your eyelids are shut for the last few exchanges, and you fall into sleep in a matter of moments.

You see no faces and hear only the distant sound of a motor, with pricks of rain hitting your feet. A hand takes yours in the most gentle hold you've ever felt, with soft skin smooth against yours. Her hand is a contrast to yours, soft white and with maintained oval nails too short to hurt as she grips tighter. The motor sound gets louder, and her grip gets tighter. The pricks of rain start to hit your head and the feel like nails that drill into your head with the noise of the engine now blaring in your ears. She lets go and you look up to see a mound of flesh, with lumps and bumps and holes that could only be formed from extreme weather. As you take in the details you can make out a nose, cheekbones, and other facial features. As you make the connection the eyes burst open and stare into you, a person living with a rotting face. They howl and scream and you see rotting teeth that are bared and lunge at your face.

The glass stops them from reaching you.

[sybil]: PRUE!]

You blink again and the face is still screaming and starting to leave marks on your window, a hand grips your right shoulder

[sybil]: PRUE DRIVE!

you fumble for the keys 1

Scream 2

Freak the fuck out and try to punch him through the glass 3

You reach down without taking your eyes off him, fumbling until you find the key. The engine comes alive with a roar and you slam your foot on the accelerator. You screech down the street and stare straight ahead as you fell Sybil clamber into the back see to watch him from the back window.

[sybil]: He fell! Oh shit he isn't getting up. Who the hell was that creep?

[Jones]: I don't know but he must have been drunk, maybe he was a homeless guy with like?

[jones]: a skin disease?

[Prue]: god I think I'm going to be sick

Your body is frozen, you can't move as he keeps clawing at the window and starts to slobber as he yells. Instead of words all you can manage is a weak scream, you've never experienced a genuine scream of terror before.

[sybil]: GOD. MOVE!

Sybil shoves you even closer to the window as she forces herself beside you, turning the key and slamming her foot on the accelorator. You burst forward and you see the mans face skid against the glass with torturous detail, leaving snot, spit and blood along the side of the car

When your fist hits the glass he flinches and staggers back holding his nose, but as he looks up you see he is unharmed. There's a tiny crack visible in the fog on the glass, and your hand feels like someone tried to crack your knuckles until they heard the bones break.

VISIONS

THE SAME PARTY- things go badly for everyone involved, who you pick decides whose point of view scene you see. All end with prues sister and then kit brings them back

Sybil and jones- childhood friends, seperated when jones was homeschooled and because his mum hates sybil

They reconnected online and sybil found out where he'd moved and turned up at the house one day, climbing into the window and dragging him outside to hang out with her

Vision of the party, his first actual party with sybil, he gets disoriented and freaks out

Jones: you told her?

s: told her what?

J that I'm

S a guy? I just used your pronouns dude

S was that the wrong thing to do?

J I don’t know

S sorry, I thought it'd be nice

S its not like shes going to meet your mum and use the right pronouns in front of her

J yeah I guess

s I thought it might be good for you, let you be yourself for a night

S that may have been overstepping on my part

J DD

1 no, its nice.

2 just ask first

1 It does feel nice. I mean, it just took me by surprise is all

S im glad dude, but if I did fuck up you can tell me k

J yeah, ok

2 just maybe ask first, im not saying I don’t trust her or think she might do something but.

S she wont, but I get you and ill remember. We ok?

J yeah we're fine

#progression #writing

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