#it lines up better with pre-established themes and mechanics

[clonerightsagenda]

Spent yesterday working on TLC and discussing FMA with Gill. We really regressed 7 years.

[gobs-o-cs]

Also, yes, I know it's been a hot minute since posting here (not that anyone really follows me)

But my creative surges (and there has been a pretty big surge lately) have been tied up in a lot of writing - New world-building and consolidating my previous world-building.

The thing is - I write a lot of stuff into character backstories and that becomes the basis for the lore, right?

There's been a few times that I've pulled lore together into reference documents, or written large lore sections that don't really directly affect individual characters enough to be express parts of their backstories. Or maybe it's a lot of footnotes in a backstory because it, again, doesn't actually affect the individual narratives that much.

Well, I realized it's probably time to do another pass at pulling details out and putting them into a big reference document, as well as reconciling things like certain major events in the history of the world and how they line up with individual characters' ages and whatnot - Stuff that's kind of important to make sure matches up - Warforged were all initially found in ancient ruins and reactivated, before new ones started being created some time later - Need to get those specific years pinned down in lore. Plus, the people doing all this work on Warforged were conquered and their city destroyed a certain number of years ago, so the production/reactivating of Warforged would have (mostly?) stopped that long ago. [Also, establishing things like, the two different groups of Warforged essentially are different subraces lore-wise, not-so-much mechanically, but their personalities are very different]

Speaking of ruins - The Aasimar in my setting are nearly all beings preserved from the ancient times and only recently started emerging from their, for lack of a better word, time capsules. When specifically did this start, is there a distinct order to it, etc.

Then there's stuff like, established dynasties and plagues, and rise and fall of empires/factions to try to have at least a sense of relative timeframes for.

*****

Anyway, yes, lots of lore there.

More specifically, though - The most recent character I actually posted - Silas - The arc I'd always imagined for him was, basically two big aspects:

First, as a charlatan, he does fake exorcisms, but accidentally replicates a binding ritual that essentially makes a Warlock Pact with something. That part's done in the stuff I've already posted about him, and I have a more story-story written, but I don't post that stuff yet, because while I'm doing this initial revisiting of my old characters, I want to make sure things are all matched up and such.

The second part of his story is: The Charlatan comes up against an actual cult and has to step up to save people, because he's a mostly-decent guy/at least not cool with whatever the cult's getting up to.

So, while stuff relating to him and this conflict were fresh in my mind, I figured I should focus on the characters involved and get them done.

While I had the ideas floating around for 2 of cult's leadership group - The Human Cleric that actually leads them, and his right-hand/bodyguard White Dragonborn Paladin (her concept pre-dates me knowing of BG3's Dark Urge, not that it really matters because, y'know you can just make White Dragonborn characters). But I knew that I wanted a 3 member of the leadership group (Maybe a little petty of me, but all three correspond to the three sets I have that are identifiably from a certain squid-themed dice company whose profoundly shitty actions I only found out about sometime after dealing with them - So I wanted them all to be from the same group and having them be "villainous" was a bonus.

Anyway, given all the politics/world-building stuff I'd been working on, I had some ideas about what kind of character I should lean towards - And because I was making the character concept for her, I just dove right in and mostly have made her - The minis are all ready to go. I just haven't written the backstory for her yet, because I wanted to make sure I had all the details pulled together from the other cultists' backstories, and she's not the foundational one, there, y'know?

So, I'll give her a proper introduction post in due time, but for now, here's Fia Wilbur, Were-Boar-ancestor Shifter Bard (College of Spirits):

Prior to joining the cult, she was a humble fisher-woman. As a Shifter, her "monstrous" heritage leads to a lot of discrimination in the very Human-centric Empire that expanded out and claimed authority over her small town in the past [time frame, but, like, at most, not quite a century ago].

I also went with the fisher background because I was playing around with the idea of "Race does a job that they're not stereo-typically associated with." Centaur was very high in the running, if I'm being honest, but in the end Shifter of a species that's not like, notably sea-faring or inclined towards fishing/seafood felt right.

Anyway, once charmed into the cult, there wasn't any need to worry about making herself a visible target for hate, and she let her hair down, so-to-speak.

And is now a Bard - College of Spirits given the cult's veneration of ancient artifacts, history, and long (questionably?)-dead beings made a lot of sense, and it was a subclass I hadn't built a character of yet.

And while she doesn't fully become a were-boar, the "Shifter" heritage does allow her to shift into a more-bestial form.

So, cool, I have Fia basically figured out. She's now kind of the equivalent of a Christian Rocker drawing crowds into the megachurch, to try to make a comparison as to her role.

And while I was just about to start work on the other two members of the Cult's leadership group, I had a burst of insight into the actual nature of what their cult is and who the false gods they're worshiping are - And that led to a burst of insight into the nature of religion and belief in the world I'm building, in-general.

And then, once I got that bit sorted out - I realized, I'd like to have this conflict be bigger than 3 cultists versus Silas, his patron, and the Aasimar he finds awakening near the vault that was imprisoning the false gods.

*****

So, that led to the creation of more cultists and more opponents - The bulk of the named/to-be-named cultists that I started writing were now going to have been recruited from an imperial research expedition and the prisoners they'd brought along for manual labour, and the guards that were escorting/controlling that group. I should probably throw in at least one notable local villager that converted too or something.

So, of those new cultists, it's: the former lead-archaeologist, the former religious officer/overseer (~roughly equivalent to say, a commissar in the soviet military, but for the religious/ideological equivalent of this setting); the world-weary practical Dwarf captain that was stuck leading the prisoner details, and one of the most prominent prisoners from the group - The captured leader of a guerilla cell - A Tiefling from the city-state that was conquered and wiped out ~20 years ago.

And the new people on team not-cult were: The Half-Elf lieutenant of the guard unit; the junior researcher who was doing all the actual work and actually cared about the truth instead of just what the Empire wanted to hear; and a prisoner former compatriot of the "Firebrand" prisoner - A Warforged former manual-labourer.

Okay, so then what should I make this character? - Because this isn't just a written work - My whole shtick is making these D&D characters, after all.

I looked at the list of classes I hadn't used for Warforged yet, and Paladin's on there - Great! Need someone tankier since my "not-cult" party right now is two Wizards and a Warlock, with a damage-focused Paladin. I get an idea for a Redeemer Paladin - Emphasized non-lethal methods because she's a tax collector and it's harder to get back taxes from dead people. I love this concept and will use her somewhere later, but I wanted a non-military/enforcement background for this prisoner character.

I was going to disregard Bard entirely - Even though you could probably build a reasonably tanky Warforged Valor Bard. But then an idea jumped into my head - Again, not who I wanted this prisoner to be, but one I wanted to follow-up on: A Skill-Monkey Lore Bard - Essentially a walking encyclopedia/multi-tool built by the ancient Precursor people to help with all kinds of menial tasks in a library.

And honestly, given the nature of the whole "cult that uncovered something that the ancient empire sealed away"-thing, I realized this character has a lot of potential use here - So they were added to the the not-cult group too, as another former prisoner on labour detail, because the current empire doesn't really care to look to their prisoners for skills or knowledge - But our hero group absolutely can.

Okay, so circling back to the first Warforged Prisoner - Ranger offers some intriguing options.

Swarmkeeper sounds fun, but I'm not sure what angle to take for a manual labourer - Beekeeper is obvious, but I want to make a Dwarven Beekeeper Swarmkeeper that gets the honey for a meadery. And while I could double-up character backgrounds, I'd prefer not to if I don't have to.

I eventually hit on the idea of a guano collector/miner (A perfect unpleasant sort of job you'd put a mechanical underclass/slave to work in) who got sealed in a cave with bats and because [magic], their spirits bonded to the Warforged. Again, love this character concept - But not really the sort of role I'm looking for in this Prisoner-character - This one goes to the pile for later.

Finally, the obvious hits me - A Beastmaster Ranger who was a shepherd. They're not one who favours combat, but the urge to protect is strong.

There we go! Got it!

Time to start actually building and writing these characters and story!

*****

And then, out of nowhere, a wild totally-unrelated character idea hits!

Blood Hunters should work with guns/firearms, right?

Ooh! Blood Hunter Cowboy, like Quincey Morris from Dracula. That could be fun.

And hey, since we're using guns, why not a Giff?

So, yes, Monster-Hunting Cowboy Hippo-Man from space!

So, yes, I was possessed by the urge to make Mr. Mauricio "Moe" Quinto

The problem, in addition to pivoting to a new story, came with trying to build his mini in Hero Forge.

There's no Giff/Hippo heads in Hero Forge.

That required some work on my part - Starting from the Bovine/Minotaur head, I've managed to get him looking pretty decent as far as hippo-heads can be made, I think.

So, yes, this has taken some time.

And then, in writing his backstory an opportunity arose for another character hook, perfect for an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer

And hey, since we're doing a Spelljammer-flavoured character and backstory, why not make our new Sorcerer a Hadozee?

Guess what sort of characters Hero Forge is also not remotely set up to make?

But I try nevertheless - She's still a work in progress and there's definitely gonna need to be a lot of posing tricks for whatever angle I take images of her from when I get to that point but:

So, yeah, she's coming along anyway. I think the face has definitely turned out pretty good, all things considered.

*****

So, yeah, that's where my ADHD-ass has been with regards to writing/creating.

Once I finish up with these two, I think I can get back to the cult plot and get those characters done.

*****

Or not quite! Almost forgot about the quick pass on previous minis that I want to do to update their hands!

Someday, I'll move the list forward again

[droneseco]

Elecrow Crowbits: The Ultimate LEGO-Compatible STEM Learning System That Grows With Your Child

Elecrow Crowbits

9.00 / 10

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Brick builds, combined with magnetic electronics blocks, and programmable micro-controllers. Does it get any better than this? I think my long search for the perfect STEM learning kit is complete. If you have young children just coming up to the right age for it, the Crowbits system can accompany them throughout their primary education and beyond.

Key Features

Magnetic blocks build circuits

Kits to suit various levels

Specifications

Brand: Elecrow

Development Platform: Scratch and MicroPython

Pros

LEGO-compatible to customize your builds

Full range of components planned

Level up with your child with more complex projects and programmable microcontroller

Familiar Scratch-based programming software

Cons

It's a Kickstarter

Instructions need work expanding on the principles and explanations

Buy This Product

Elecrow Crowbits other

Shop

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Take a moment to imagine the perfect electronics and engineering learning kit. It would be so simple even a child could use it: magnetic blocks, perhaps? Modular, so you could swap bits in and out to modify projects. It would scale up, so you could start with simple circuits and move on to programmable hardware, catering to all levels of the curriculum. Lastly, I'd throw in LEGO-compatible, because LEGO bricks are the best tool for creativity and engineering ever made.

That's exactly everything the Elecrow Crowbits system is, and it's crowdfunding now.

Disclaimer: This is a Kickstarter

Four of the five available Crowbits kits were sent to us for evaluation during the Kickstarter, however, they are still very much in the prototype stage, and we've evaluated them on that basis. Some bits were missing, some were non-functional, and the software is still a work-in-progress. This is to be expected at this stage, but the core system is solid.

Also, the usual Kickstarter caveat applies: your money is at risk, and there's no legal obligation with any crowdfunding campaign to actually deliver a product. That said, this isn't Elecrow's first campaign (the CrowPi 1 and CrowPi 2 were a huge success). It's a well-established company with a reputation to maintain and a good track record, so we think the risk is minimal.

What Are Crowbits?

Crowbits modules are magnetic electronics blocks with LEGO-compatible pin holes on the side and stud holes underneath. The 4-pin pogo connections are either male or female, and have a small protrusion on the bottom to prevent wiring them the wrong way around.

Extension cables enable you to place a module elsewhere, and these too feature the same magnetic connection and can't be plugged in the wrong way. The whole system operates on a safe, low voltage, and with rechargeable battery blocks that charge over micro-USB.

Each Microbits module is color-coded for ease of understanding:

Blue modules are power and logic. In the basic sets, these are simple battery modules that don't require programming. In more advanced sets, these are programmable microcontrollers with pin numbers on the connections for addressing modules directly.

Yellow modules are inputs: buttons, basics sensors and such.

Green modules are outputs: LEDs, motors, buzzers, relays.

Orange modules are special and require serial communication lines to the programmable hub. These include things like color sensors, joysticks, or 2G communications hub.

A large range of Crowbits modules are planned, though these will be available separately at a later date. For now, you can only purchase the full Crowbits kits with their included module selections.

No Programming Required!

Since the first two Crowbit kits require no programming, how does that work? Simple, as long as you follow some basic rules:

Yellow input modules must be placed on the left of green output modules (when viewed with the module name being on the top, and symbol in the bottom right).

One input module can control a chain of output modules.

A new input-output chain will be created if you add another input module to the right.

Blue battery modules can go anywhere in the circuit, and their orientation doesn't matter as long as the pins are compatible.

With this, kids can create basic circuits. For more complex circuits (that still don't need programming), a series of bitwise logic operator modules are planned. A "NOT" logic gate is included in the Hello kit, and more will be available later.

This enables you to reverse an input, such that a button that would normally turn on an LED, would now function as a button to turn the LED off.

Crowbits Kits

The Crowbits Kits are divided into five stages of increasing complexity, but all share a common system and are compatible with each other. Some modules are duplicated between kits. Let's take a look at the contents and direction of each kit.

Hello Kit

The most basic of kits is also the cheapest, available for $30. It includes seven modules, one of which is a small battery module. Five project builds are included along with pre-cut cardboard parts to stick together. No programming is required, and the Hello kit is suitable for ages 5-6.

Explorer Kit

The Explorer Kit continues the no-programming theme, but adds movement through the use of a motor module and pack of technic pieces for some basic engineering. A total of eight modules are included, one of which is a medium-sized battery pack. The build guide contains a mix of brick-based and cardboard projects. With a little adult supervision on the trickier mechanical elements, 7-8-year-olds should be able to handle this kit. The Kickstarter price is $80, rising to $130 RRP.

Inventor Kit

The Inventor Kit is a big step up that introduces programming concepts and more complex mechanical engineering. The main module of this kit requires a BBC Micro:bit (v1) to function. This is not included, though it may be available as an add-on if you don't already own one.

For those not familiar, the BBC Micro:bit is an all-in-one programmable microcontroller specifically designed for use in the school curriculum. It's widely used in UK schools, and gaining ground in the US.

Related: 10 Beginner Projects for the BBC Micro:bit 

Ten modules are included as well as a large pack of technic bricks, suitable for building projects such as an obstacle avoidance car or color-sorting robot.

Given the use of BBC Micro:bit and Scratch programming in schools from around age 8, this kit would be suitable for 8-12 year-olds. It's available during the Kickstarter for $90, RRP $130.

Creator Kit

This was not yet ready for review at the time of writing, but the core of the Creator kit is an Arduino-based board, and includes 11 modules more suited to smart home projects and more complex interaction programming, along with a small selection of technic blocks. There are no movement motors. The Creator kit is available for $100 now, or RRP $150 later.

Master Kit

The most advanced kit in the range, the Master Kit uses an ESP32-based board at its core, featuring a TFT color screen. Also in the kit are some joystick modules, a small keyboard, laser ranging sensor, and 2G connection.

The Master Kit has a small number of technic bricks, and as well two silicone cases for a working phone, and a retro game console. It's designed to show the modules coming together to create a finished product. However, programming the firmware is quite complex, so I'd rate this kit as suitable for 14 and up. The early pricing is $100 for the Master kit, rising to $150 RRP.

LEGO-Compatible, not Actual LEGO

I should note that the Crowbits kits are not an officially endorsed nor licensed LEGO group product, and do not contain actual LEGO bricks. Instead, the LEGO-compatible technical bricks carry the brand name "CaDA", which I've not come across before.

That said, the bricks are well made and connect simply and securely, which is always a worry with off-brand construction bricks. For context, you can buy a set of at least 500 CaDA technic bricks on AliExpress for under $30.

You can of course decorate the builds with your own real LEGO, should you wish.

As a nerdy side-note, be warned that the instruction for the brick builds are read left-to-right, rather than top-to-bottom. If you're a LEGO family, this is mildly infuriating and means your child might skip steps!

Programming with LetsCode

Programming your Crowbits kits is done using Elecrow's new LetsCode (currently only for Windows, but support is promised for Mac OS and Raspberry Pi later).

LetsCode is a customized version of Microsoft MakeCode, which is itself based on the graphical block programming language, Scratch 3.0. As such, it'll be immediately familiar to anyone with experience of Scratch programming. It's widely used for introductory programming classes all over the world, and includes graphics blocks for all common concepts like loops, branching, and functions.

Pin numbers are printed directly on the blue modules, so it's easy to see which component is attached where.

If you outgrow graphical programming, you will also be able to program in MicroPython or Java, though this was not supported at the time of testing.

Should You Back the Elecrow Crowbits?

The Crowbits magnetic circuit system is easy to use and scales well for different ages and user levels. You can start with simple circuits, and move on to programmable logic controllers, and still reuse all the bits. It's a system that will grow with your child throughout their learning journey from age 6 to 14. Very few educational toys can make that sort of claim.

If you want your child to have a competitive edge in the programming, electronics, and engineering aspect of the STEM curriculum, then supplementing schoolwork is a great idea.

Even though many schools have now returned, it's possible you've opted to fully homeschool or just want to supplement their existing classwork. Over the next few years, schools will inevitably be different. There'll be a lot less practical work going on because of the aspect of touching shared equipment, so having this sort of kit available at home with software that's familiar will be of great benefit.

That said, the Crowbits kits vary greatly. If you're a completionist, you can grab a bargain bundle during the Kickstarter of every Crowbits kit available, for a cool $400 (rising to $600 RRP after the campaign).

But I think the best value comes from the Explorer, Inventor, and Master Kit bundle for $270. This includes a ton of mechanical bricks and plenty of movement modules. The BBC Micro:bit compatibility ties in perfectly to the existing curriculum (in the UK, anyway), while the ESP32 board is a good step up once they're old enough.

If you're only going to purchase one kit, I'd recommend skipping the Hello kit and going straight to Explorer or Inventor, depending on whether you want programming introduced yet. The cardboard projects in the Hello kit just felt a little too contrived and didn't engage my 6-year-old son in the same way LEGO does.

While the mechanical elements of the Explorer kit may need a little adult supervision, he was quite capable of the bulk of construction and able to use the LetsCode software thanks to previous experience with Scratch.

On the other end of the scale, I wasn't overly impressed with the Master kit either. The game console project, while it produces a cool end product, consists of simply the main board and two joystick modules on the side.

There is no construction, and the hardest part is loading on firmware, which tedious at best. The phone project is also impressive but limited to a 2G network, many of which will be disabled by the time the Crowbit kits ship.  The ESP32 mainboard is technically impressive, but once your teenage child is ready to program this thing, the magnetic block system may not be appropriate anymore. It's a good addition to your collection if you're purchasing the earlier sets too, but I wouldn't purchase it alone.

Overall though, I think my long search for the perfect STEM learning kit is complete. If you have young children just coming up to the right age for it, the Crowbits system can accompany them throughout their primary education and beyond. And when they're done with it in a decade, we'll probably all be learning in VR anyway.

Alternatives to Crowbits

Crowbits isn't the only STEM kit around. The closest competitor is the littleBits STEAM kit, which retails at around $400, doesn't include any technic bricks, and has a limited selection of magnetic modules. It's more closely aligned to the US curriculum though with more extensive teaching materials, and already in use in many schools.

The LEGO groups' own Robot Inventor MindStorms kit is also worth considering, retailing at $350. It's focused more on robotics than basic electronics, and isn't suited to younger children, but the software is also based on Scratch. It would make a great step once your child reaches 14, and has outgrown the magnetic Crowbits system.

  Elecrow Crowbits: The Ultimate LEGO-Compatible STEM Learning System That Grows With Your Child published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

[smt4flynn]

An Extremely Informal Text on Handsome Jack

Note: this is a repost of my essay on Handsome Jack that I wrote on tumblr prior to deleting my blog. I am posting it here for personal archival reasons.

Background:

  As the title denotes, this is my long-winded take and look into the character of Handsome Jack from the Borderlands series. This is something I toyed with after replaying all of Borderlands 2 in its entirety.

I’ve also always found the discrepancies between all of the games in their treatment of Handsome Jack fascinating, and a small talk with my friend on my Twitter sparked this desire to write this, though the other reason as to why I wrote this is simply to get used to typing on my tablet.

The reason as to why I’m doing this background despite there already being a preface in the text is simply to speak about my own experiences and to what triggered the creation of this text.

The word count of this text is roughly 4300 words, minus the background and content headings.

Content:

Please use this to ctrl+f/cmd+f and shortcut to the topics you’re interested in. Bold are the ones where I talk about Handsome Jack’s character.

Preface

The Progenitor of the Series, Borderlands 1

The Sequel and Popularisation of the Series, Borderlands 2

The Black Sheep of the Series, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

The Arguably Best-Written but Jankiest of the Series, Tales from the Borderlands

Aside: The Characterization in Borderlands 1

The Characterization in Borderlands 2

The Characterization in Borderlands: the Pre-Sequel

The Characterization in Tales from the Borderlands

Overall

  Disclaimer: 

The following text deals with issues regarding intense child abuse and other dark themes, such as murder and implied torture. Reader discretion is advised.

  Preface

  Handsome Jack is one of the more well-known, but not by much in the grand scheme of fictional characters, villains in video game canon. Considered one of the more charismatic (if not the most charismatic) characters and villains of the Borderlands franchise by Gearbox and 2K, Handsome Jack is the character who marks a paradigm shift of the Borderlands series in terms of plot presentation.

Following his appearance in Borderlands 2, Handsome Jack marks the introduction of an overarching story within Borderlands 2 until Borderlands 3, with Borderlands: The Pre-sequel working as a prequel/in-between of Borderlands and Borderlands 2, and a sequel to Borderlands 2 to set up Borderlands 3 and, by coincidence, Tales from the Borderlands.

Though the focus of this informal text is not the radical change in story-writing from Borderlands to Borderlands 2, nor will it be an analysis of the plot as a whole of each of the available games but rather on the inconsistent characterization of the main driving-force behind both plot and popularity: Handsome Jack. Though a rather polarizing character, it is inarguable that the main thrust of the popularity is because of Handsome Jack… though the biggest inconsistent writing in the games can also be burdened onto him.

As a result of this, however, this text makes an extremely explicit assumption that the reader has played through and experienced all of the games available - including Borderlands 1. This text will not explain key plot points nor will it give a detailed mapping of the plot twists, beginning, middle and end, or of the character arcs in the game. Extra-characters, those that will have to be paid for, will be treated as canonical characters as well.

The point of this text is to focus on personal interpretations of Handsome Jack - this is not meant to be academic nor formal in any way, shape, or form. I will not be replaying the games and hunting down the EchoLogs, though I will refer to the Borderlands Wiki for only one instance of the EchoLogs which is the optional side mission Get To Know Jack. Despite this, I will still do my best to summarize Handsome Jack’s appearances in all of the games.

To begin, an introduction of Handsome Jack’s roles in each of the games as well as a summarization of them. If you wish to skip these, please search for the sentences “The Characterization in Borderlands 2/Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel/Tales from the Borderlands”, replacing the game title as necessary.

  The Progenitor of the Series, Borderlands 1,

  A revolutionary game at the time of its release and extremely dated now with the existence of Borderlands 2, Borderlands is a game mostly lauded for its gameplay and not at all for its lacklustre and barely noticeable story. 

Though the game does have a story, it does not get the same level of detail and attention as the gameplay progression of the story. As it is an experimental beginning of the series, the game is bumpy and has mechanics thrown away or reworked and entire plot points rewritten, retconned, and changed for the sequel.

However, Handsome Jack does not appear in the game. Angel’s origins are rooted within Borderlands 1 unlike Handsome Jack, with her story being completely retconned from her being a satellite AI for Hyperion into the abused child of Handsome Jack in the sequel.

The initial intention with the reveal of Angel being the AI for Hyperion is a result of uncertainty; Hyperion, revealing to be the puppetmaster in Borderlands 2, is originally only a suggestion within the first game as the writer at the time admits his uncertainty of the direction he wishes to go with the game. 

Though the writer of Borderlands 1 changes in Borderlands 2, and then later on Borderlands: the Pre-Sequel and then later on Tales from the Borderlands. There is a trend of writers changing. Keep note of that.

As mentioned prior, Handsome Jack does not exist within the actual Borderlands 1 lore, and Angel is not a human within that game either. 

In Borderlands 2, it is retconned that he is the one who planned the original Vault Hunters arrival within Fyrestone but is unable to be heard due to being stopped by the then CEO, Harold Tassiter (last name given in Borderlands 2, first name in The Pre-Sequel).

  The Sequel and Popularisation of the Series, Borderlands 2

  Known as the one that brought Borderlands franchise to the mainstream, though not entirely, the Borderlands 2 game is considered a step-up entirely from its originator. The gameplay is improved, the story is better written, and there are better introduction to boss enemies and plot points.

Following the higher-budget release is the increase in voice acting. With the increase of voice acted lines are more frequent EchoLogs throughout the story, which allows the player character (shortened to PC) to feel less isolated from the non-playable characters (shortened to NPC) and the world.

Following the originator is, as well, a massive upgrade in the graphics and gameplay loop, with better downloadable content (shortened to DLC) and endgame material.

Handsome Jack features prominently in this game. Appearing in several trailers for the game [in both voice-over and animation] as well as becoming the main face, Handsome Jack is one of the most memorable characters in the game series, to the point that he still gets use, characterization, and plot relevance even after his death at the end of the game.

He is the main antagonist and the one who speaks to the PC throughout the entire game and attempts to endear himself while also making the PC hate him.

  The Black Sheep of the Series, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

  Developed by 2K Australia instead of the normal 2K itself, The Pre-sequel is the black sheep of the series. It goes back to some of its roots in Borderlands 1 by changing damage, health and shield numbers but also adds in new game mechanics that are either hated or liked by players.

Criticized for not necessarily adding anything new, The Pre-Sequel’s main goal is not to establish new gameplay loops (though some argued that the loop devolved) but rather to establish a branching point between Borderlands 1 and 2 and 3, and later on - by sheer coincidence - Tales from the Borderlands. 

The other issue that The Pre-Sequel has is attempting to characterise Handsome Jack prior to becoming a CEO dictator.

Saddled with an extremely difficult task, the 2K Australia team has to struggle with showing Handsome Jack’s descent into madness while attempting to portray him as sympathetic and hilarious, the latter being the focal point of his character in his original appearance in Borderlands 2 and the former not applicable. 

The story is considered inferior to Borderlands 2 and, due to its lack of success, the Pre-Sequel is unable to get much traction and releases only one DLC with others being cancelled. 2K Australia disbands soon after.

Handsome Jack’s role within the game is that he is a “tragic hero” protagonist as seen through the point-of-view of Athena, a recurring character from Borderlands 1 DLC who appears in The Pre-Sequel as a PC and its narrator and in Tales from the Borderlands as an NPC. Handsome Jack’s character is softened in The Pre-Sequel. More details on this later.

  The Arguably Best-Written but Jankiest of the Series, Tales from the Borderlands

  Published not by 2K, Tales from the Borderlands is the child of Gearbox and the now defunct TellTale Games, who are known for making dialogue-heavy, decision-based, and simplified adventure games.

Considered as one of the better TellTale Games as well as The Wolf Among Us and the original season of The Walking Dead Game, the game is a sequel to all of the prior games and works as a branching point to Borderlands 3. Though not the main protagonist of the game, Handsome Jack exists as a combined main-character with the protagonist Rhys and serves later on as antagonist to Rhys and deuteragonist Fiona.

Handsome Jack’s role within the game is to present an alternate route to Rhys: he is the dark-learning grey moral route of Tales from the Borderlands, where Rhys will have to struggle with placing his trust in Handsome Jack while keeping him hidden from the rest of the cast - especially Athena, in contrast to Fiona’s route where Rhys will place his trust in the deuteragonist and her allies more than he will in Handsome Jack, and may even confide about Jack’s appearance to her.

He suffers a second death as a result of this game, as well as softening his character up - though not as much as The Pre-Sequel. More details on this later.

Now that summarization of all of the Borderlands games are present, it is time to focus on the characterization of Handsome Jack throughout.

  Aside: The Characterization in Borderlands 1

  Even though I say that he has no appearance in Borderlands 1, Borderlands 2 makes a pointed effort to retcon it so that Handsome Jack is the cause of Borderlands 1’s plot. For that sake, this is only an aside and not an in-depth look.

Handsome Jack is still not yet Handsome Jack in this retconning. Though the game is post him abusing and isolating his daughter [and still doing it], Handsome Jack is still a normal programmer and is not yet rising to power. 

His character is that of a unwillingly obedient programmer in the face of his company’s rules. Later on, he strangles Harold Tassiter and takes his place as CEO after his success on Pandora.

Though ambiguous, he does seem to have a mask on throughout the Get to Know Jack EchoLogs though it is not explained as to why he wears a mask or how he gets his scar in them.

  The Characterization in Borderlands 2

  The main meat of Handsome Jack’s characterization lies within Borderlands 2. His basic characterization can be summarised as “fascist with superiority/hero complex who thinks himself as the protagonist and everyone else the antagonist of the story.” His personality is immediately set in the intro cutscene of Borderlands 2 with the line (paraphrased), “You may think you’re the hero of the story but you’re not!”, Handsome Jack is the main driving force for the story and the characters.

With his drilling of the planet for Eridium causing severe changes to the land and massacre of several bandit settlements in Pandora, Handsome Jack is already set to work even prior to the PCs appearing in the game.

Handsome Jack already exists as a villain of the game for a few years, with him recruiting and hiring “Hunters” only so that he may take advantage of their work and then later kill them - hence the appearance of the PCs and their subsequent train crash. 

Throughout the game, he antagonizes you on the EchoLogs and proceeds to deride and insult you, while also being the biggest and main source of humour in the game. Appearing as goofy and light-hearted at first and as someone who leaves most of the basic killing to his grunts, Handsome Jack is quick to escalate within the main story to reveal his heinous and despicable personality.

He is a ruthless and uncaring murderer who wishes to wipe Pandora clean for his own slate and is an oppressive CEO whose rules and regulations act as a dictatorship. The key point to take away from this game is that Handsome Jack’s character is irrevocably set in stone: he is a homicidal, narcissistic abuser with little regard for the life around him.

He is homicidal and power-hungry, and rejects all forms of criticism on his person and only cares for what he has to say and is quick to kill another person if they so-far as breathe wrong.

Throughout the game, there are side missions that reveal that he will also engage in human experimentation and essentially lobotomization through the use of his Eridium to understand its capabilities. All human [and animal] life, except for his own, are not even quaternary to his goal of “opening the Vault and controlling the Warrior.”

His relationships in the game reveal him to be cold and distant as well, even if there are not many; he is more than willing to sabotage Wilhelm despite the aforementioned character having been his obedient bodyguard for years upon years, and he is also almost unresponsive to the death of his girlfriend Nisha.

His relationship with Nisha in Borderlands 2 is ultimately bare-bones and she exists only to reveal that Handsome Jack views those close to him as “objects of his belongings.” Her relationship with Handsome Jack is implied to be built upon lust and arousal instead of actual romance. More details on this in The Pre-Sequel, with brief mention in Tales from the Borderlands. 

A theme of “ownership” can be seen in his brief relationship with Mad Moxxi as well, where he “steals” her away from Mordecai and then proceeds to destroy her belongings (her arena in Borderlands 1) after she breaks up with him. 

This reveals Handsome Jack as extremely possessive and vindictive, and shows a common thread of him not caring for his partners (whether in work or sex/romance) beyond seeing them as “objects that belong to him.”

Simply for the sake of mentioning it and having a complete set of his relationships, he also has a grandmother on Pandora - now dead thanks to him - that is his abuser, as she abuses him in the past using a buzzaxe. 

For reference, the buzzaxe is the weapon that the Psychos - the main inhabitants and enemies of Pandora - use for combat. His parents will be labelled as “unknown” for Borderlands 2 and mentioned in The Pre-Sequel.

The only relationship he cares for is that of him and his daughter’s, though argument can and will be made that it is mainly for the sake of him wanting a battery charger for his Vault Key and her being his daughter is almost secondary. 

Get to Know Jack implies an isolation and physical abuse of Angel which happens far before the events of Borderlands 1, as well as a dehumanization of her for the sake of his goals post his success in Borderlands 1.

Angel in Get to Know Jack is treated to verbal abuse and isolation from the rest of the world since her accidental murder of her mother thanks to her newfound and abrupt Siren powers. 

She also has to be physically forced into a chair, which is implied where she resides for most if not all of her life, and also repeatedly physically restrained due to her inability to cope with her powers - which are referred to as malfunctions.

Handsome Jack is, unavoidably and inherently, an abuser to his daughter; this is a fact that is explicit and thoroughly indicated and explored in Borderlands 2, where Angel is in repeated pain and often punished for trying to talk to and help the PC. 

This is also reflected in the curt way that Angel speaks to Handsome Jack in the EchoLogs, and mostly talks to him with a disconnect between him and her.

The PC ultimately euthanizes Angel before Handsome Jack, taking away the main source of his “battery” for the Vault Key. The death of his daughter then causes a change in Handsome Jack’s demeanour; he no longer makes jokes or playfully yet seriously insults the PCs. Instead, he is shown to become far more serious and spiteful of the PC, and begins to talk to them less and less as the game progresses past Angel’s euthanization.

Borderlands 2’s writing makes it clear that Handsome Jack is irreversibly a despicable human being; if not through his mass-murdering and massacres, then through his callous abuse of Angel, his human experimentation, his kidnapping and experimentation on Bloodwing, and then his subsequent display of said animal’s corpse in one of his major settlements being developed on Pandora. 

Though the only “softness” to his personality is his humour, the game never once tries to imply that Handsome Jack is good or is capable of redemption. His ultimate punishment is his main fear, which is the Warrior being beaten by the PCs and he, himself, murdered at the hands of the “filthy bandits.”

  The Characterization in Borderlands: the Pre-Sequel

  Let’s backtrack. Actually, let’s both backtrack and head forward to the sequel. The Pre-Sequel, which as shown is both aptly and absurdly named, is the game in which Handsome Jack’s characterization becomes the most bizarre. 

Aspects of his personality are still retained, especially his humour and his narcissism, though the second aspect is played for laughs and comedic purposes than an actual motivator for most of his actions.

As well, there is a sudden and radical shift in Handsome Jack’s role as a character: he is no longer the antagonist but the protagonist that the PCs are to root for and assist. For the sake of differentiation, I will be referring to the Pre-Sequel Jack as “Programmer Jack”.

The Pre-Sequel provides, or rather attempts to, an explanation for how Programmer Jack turns into Handsome Jack. It also attempts to explain how it is that he comes into contact with Wilhelm and Nisha, and to try and explain his hatred of Claptrap Units. T

he other explanation and main reasoning given for Handsome Jack’s scar is that Lilith is the ultimate cause of it through Deus Ex Machina.

In an attempt, however, to try and turn Handsome Jack into Programmer Jack, the protagonist, certain aspects of his character and past have to be retconned. The main retcon is the mask present throughout all of Borderlands 2 and the scar on his face that is revealed to the PC after they kill him. 

Instead, Programmer Jack has a normal face - deliberately drawn as him smiling and happy versus Handsome Jack’s neutral expression - with no mask and scar to show for it.

The other retcon is his relationship with Angel. The Pre-Sequel goes through great lengths to not have Angel appear in the game except for optional EchoLogs. In her appearances in the EchoLogs,The Pre-Sequel has her sound happier and more informal versus her tone of voice in Borderlands 2 to try and imply a more normal and familial relationship between her and Programmer Jack.

Though Angel still speaks factually to Programmer Jack, the tone and atmosphere of her conversations with Programmer Jack is different from Handsome Jack.

Any mention of his abuse and isolation of Angel is largely unknown or unmentioned, or even perhaps written out of the canon entirely or shifted to become present at the end of The Pre-Sequel and set on the events leading up to Borderlands 2. 

Programmer Jack is shown to be more human and emotional than Handsome Jack; whereas Handsome Jack’s introduction is the train explosion in the form of a dummy puppet and is meant to establish his hero complex, Programmer Jack’s introduction is the form of him in distress and under attack of Dahl soldiers to try and appeal him to the PCs as an “every man” who is biting off more than he can chew.

He is ultimately portrayed as harmless and unwilling to murder people unless absolutely necessary, shown in his murder of the mayor in self-defense who tries to kill him after he asks said mayor a few questions.

The game attempts to paint Programmer Jack’s enjoyment of the adrenaline rush after the murder as a red flag, though that attempt falls flat if the PC remembers that everyone in Elpis and Pandora love to murder people, including some of the Vault Hunters who treat murder as a sport and some of the NPCs who shrug off murder that doesn’t affect them.

The DLC character Aurelia is also essentially a female Handsome Jack, though that ends up being counter-intuitive as she thinks that Programmer Jack is “evil” by the end of the game despite an idle line revealing that she successfully kills an entire planet’s occupation due to negligence.

The other attempt of a red flag is when a Dahl war AI suddenly and abruptly has a heel turn and starts hating the fact that she is a war AI and that she has to murder people, and the PC is meant to feel guilty for the AI even though the lives of the entire moon is at stake. Programmer Jack is blase about the AI’s distress and prioritizes Elpis over the AI.

Ultimately, Programmer Jack can be seen as the “nicer” version of Handsome Jack - he is goofier, more harmless, at times helpless, and seems to genuinely care about the people on Elpis and fears for their safety thanks to Dahl’s meddling. His desire to find the Vault also stems from Zarpedon attempting to keep it a secret and a thirst for knowledge.

His relationships in the Pre-Sequel are also still developing; Programmer Jack’s response to Wilhelm is that of fascination and a want to have him as a bodyguard, to Claptrap a growing hatred, and Nisha a romantic disinterest but sexual attraction. Due to the make of the game, most of the interactions between him and Nisha show equality - though only in that they are both interested in each other sexually, and that Programmer Jack does not see Nisha as an object to own and keep.

His abuse at the hands of his grandmother is still mentioned, and the game implies his mother is negligent in that she gives Programmer Jack over to her grandmother before bailing on him. He also has a stalker in the form of Nakayama, a character that is introduced and dies only in DLC in Borderlands 2, who creates the Holo-Jack that will then be reused in Tales from the Borderlands.

The end of the Pre-Sequel states that Lilith punching the Vault symbol into Programmer Jack and thus severing his connection to the Vault and severely physically scarring him, as well as the dark choices he makes throughout the game, is the downfall of Programmer into Handsome Jack and, thus, a tragic hero made villain.

  The Characterization in Tales from the Borderlands

  This section will be kept deliberately brief. The Handsome Jack in this game is, plainly said, an interpretation of Handsome Jack by his stalker - Nakayama - who is in love with him. The Holo Jack in the Pre-Sequel makes a return here, though it is in the form of an AI projection being plugged into the machinations in Rhys’ brain where he can only be witnessed and seen by Rhys.

In Tales from the Borderlands, some of Handsome Jack’s characteristics make a return. He is murderous, narcissistic, humorous, and - most relevant - abusive. He is also shown to be possessive of Rhys in his route in Tales from the Borderlands, falling in line with how he views his relationships in Borderlands 2, though he is also shown to be more emotional similar to his incarnation in The Pre-Sequel.

 He develops a camaraderie with Rhys in his route that ultimately results in him wanting to kill Rhys and “take over.” Though the reason as to why he wants to take over is uncertain, as his plan to take over Rhys’ body is flawed from a writing and character standpoint, something which is lampshaded in the final episode.

Holo-Jack also shows more response to Nisha’s murder than Handsome Jack does, and he treats her death as a genuine tragedy than an inconvenience. Though his reaction to Angel is in-line and the abuse is downplayed as it is being told through Holo-Jack’s perspective to Rhys.

The main crux of Holo-Jack’s characterization is in his developing relationship with Rhys, and thus his subsequent attempt at isolation and gaslighting of him, and focuses more on his fear of nonexistence and failure in the final episode when Rhys confronts him. Holo-Jack abandons his pride and dignity and reduces himself to begging and pleading to not be reduced into nothingness.

In contrast, Handsome Jack maintains his egocentrism and narcissism and proclaims himself as the hero still while screaming and shouting until he has nothing more to say, in which either the PCs or Lilith will kill him.

There is not much to say about Holo-Jack; he is the comic relief, occasionally shown to be menacing and terrifying, is far more emotional and reactive than Handsome Jack, but also carries some of Handsome Jack’s characteristics. Though Holo-Jack is more in-line with Handsome Jack, there is also a lot of disconnect between the two interpretations of Jack as the result of the softening of Holo-Jack’s character to make him more marketable and appealing to the PCs.

  Overall,

  Handsome Jack as a character suffers from a constant change in character presentation, most presumably in part thanks to rotating writers and the teams that develop the games with him as a main attraction. 

With his original appearance in Borderlands 2 having him be a frankly dark and menacing character whose blow is lessened by the normally comic tone of the game and every appearance afterwards trying to soften him up, another aspect at play can be the marketability of the character.

The purpose of this text is not meant to insult people who enjoy all incarnations of Handsome Jack, nor is it meant to claim any superiority. The purpose of this text is to merely talk about and discuss a personal opinion and interpretation of Jack’s constant change in personality, and the issues of characterization as a result of it. 

As the one who wrote this text, Holo-Jack and Programmer Jack are still enjoyable in their own rights, though Handsome Jack is the most enjoyable and interesting of all interpretations.

If you have read this far, thank you, and I appreciate you staying this far in spite of the length of this informal and personal text.

[liathgray]

Anyways, here’s that essay

Please keep in kind this was not written to be consumed by people familiar with the source material, it was for a class. It’s focused on weird stuff and was meant to compare and contrast the Judas Contact storyline and season two of Titans.

Okay, here we go.

In 1984, a four-part story was published as an arc in Tales of the Teen Titans titled as The Judas Contract. Since, it has become one of the most influential and well-known stories to come out of the DC publishing company for its bold story choices and permanently changing characters who had been around for decades, as well as introducing death as something that can occur in the present, not just in the mechanics of a backstory. It garnered four separate adaptations, the most recent of which being the second season of Titans, a loose live-action version of the titular team. Between the two, there are many small plot and character details that do not line up, so for the sake of simplicity, pedantic plot elements will be removed from the comparison, instead focusing on individual motivation, the importance of the setting, and how characters are impacted and changed by the actions in the narrative.

The Judas Contract proper follows a team of pre-established young heroes being unknowingly spied on by their newest superpowered member, Tara Markov. She works alongside Slade Wilson, a mercenary and personal rogue of the Teen Titans, feeding him important information in order to fulfill his contract to kidnap them, hence the title of the arc; there is a Judas among them. The contract is almost completed until Slade’s son, Joey, enters the picture, determined to prevent any more death at hands of his father, emotionally conflicting Slade enough for Tara to feel betrayed and collapse the cavern they had been in, killing herself in the process. In the end, it is her story alongside the former Robin, Dick Grayson, who is inspired to take up a new vigilante identity as a result. Titans, has the same basic idea of there being a mole in the group and the evolution of Dick from Robin to Nightwing, but the surrounding plot and progression are entirely different. The Titans had existed previously, but broke up due to a series of events involving Slade, starting with the murder of a teammate, and ending in the death of Joey. There’s much grief and trauma surrounding this, so when years later Dick decides to reopen the team’s old headquarters to house and train new young heroes he stumbled across, his old friends are a mix of angry, re-traumatized, and reluctant, especially with the re-emergence of their aforementioned enemy. In the place of Tara, there is Rose. Daughter of Slade and, again, the spy on the team who, unlike Tara, has a change of heart and reveals her betrayal in an attempt to warn her newfound friends.

The most striking element of both is the use of character, and in what direction the agents go in, especially in light of the overarching themes that they share; that of redemption, recovery, guilt, and betrayal. In the comic, the focal point for all of this is Tara. She is continually treated well by her teammates whom remain compassionate to her, despite her brashness and tendency to get violent. They know little of her, yet still welcome her into their home and personal lives. It is revealed to the audience early on that Tara is working for Slade, which makes each interaction she has with those she is deceiving all the more upsetting, even distressing to watch. Tara’s particular flavor of trauma deals with abandonment, something she acquired after being forced out of her home country, which later developed into malignant narcissism. She becomes very attached to the idea of being in a position of power and finds comfort in the presence of Slade, as he was the first person to justify her being alive. Tara, in the end, fails to redeem herself, instead the illusion she had built of stability and power came crumbling down after she spends ally after ally until there is no one, and she has no power left. Though it’s somewhat cynical, the idea here is that these cycles of betrayal and neglect cannot always be broken, that’s the point of this character; sometimes people are just too dysfunctional and if they are not willing to put in the work to get better and heal, they just won’t.

Rose, Tara’s counterpart, goes through a very different metamorphosis, despite the setup being similar. Her initial motivation was revenge for the brother she never knew, having been told it was the Titans who killed him when in fact it had been Slade, though it wasn’t intentional. Slade, however, blamed the Titans, specifically Dick, thus Rose believed him and was willing to participate as a double agent. When she encounters them for the first time, she is met with sympathy and understanding, people who didn’t value her as a weapon, creating incongruity with the story she was fed of elite fighters and master manipulators. Upon learning the truth about the circumstances under which her brother died, and who exactly killed him, she backs out. Rose realized she was lied to and manipulated, almost immediately grasping the gravity of the situation and seeing how hard she was pushing people whose greatest crime was daring to care about the very person she thought she was avenging. Later, she tells her newly acquired love interest the truth, following it up by saying, “I’d take it all back if I could. But I can’t.” (Zhang). Where Tara failed, Rose succeeded; she got rid of the poison in her life and recognized that she was the bad guy, alongside seeing the humanity of those she attempted to sabotage.

The theme of redemption and recovery doesn’t stop with Rose. It is furthered by all the other existing characters, young and old. On the basis of new beginnings for the second generation, and moving past the collective trauma and fear associated with teamwork for the first. More so than anyone else, this idea is present in the journey of Dick Grayson. In the original story, he is motivated to save his friends from an ugly fate while in the throes of a very real identity crisis involving the title of Robin, which he had recently discarded, believing that it was time for him to grow past the role and create a legacy entirely his own. Which he does do; he rebrands himself as Nightwing, rising to the occasion and overcoming the difficulties of abandoning a role that represented his culminative childhood and heritage to do save the people he loves. It is very much about the conquering of his external obstacles.

This is not the case in Titans, it is largely about his spectacular fall from grace and the struggle of building himself back up from rock bottom. He had kept a secret from all his closest friends about the death of Joey; he told them Joey was murdered before he found him, when in fact, he wasn’t. Joey died trying to protect Dick from Slade, and Dick felt so much guilt and shame in having been partially responsible that he lied about it for years. When his teammates find out, his worst nightmare comes true: they leave him. He is with next to no support, devoid of the family he fought tooth and nail to keep together, and is left in the tomb of his last chance to remain stable. While Rose and Tara had to redeem themselves to other people, Dick’s story is a redemption to himself, not anyone else. He stops doing things for other people and imagines himself of deserving the loneliness of, in essence, being re-orphaned. In a desperate attempt to find forgiveness, he seeks out Slade who, instead of offering the sought after peace of mind, says, “I sentence you to live alone (…) Forever knowing that your Titans family lives and breathes somewhere out there in the world, but you can never be with them.” (Morales). His lowest point is monumentally more devastating than his comic counterpart; he isolates himself entirely, going as far as to get himself jailed to carry out the self-imposed punishment, expecting to be abused and killed alone in a prison, the prospect of death barely startling him. In moments like this, the tragedy of the character hurts so much more because the audience knows that if he gets knocked down, he may not get back up, he has every reason not to. Which is why it is so earnest and exhilarating when he does. Dick was broken down to his factory parts, every mistake and bad trait not only was put on display, but magnified. He was made to confront those things before being able to piece himself back together, only then could he take on a new identity as Nightwing. Seeing him fall again is tangibly damaging to the character, so seeing him climb his way back up, scratching, clawing, slipping up, and struggling all the way, it’s all the more satisfying when he reaches the top.

A large part of this fall and rise, or in the case of The Judas Contract, the lack off a fall, is to do with the setting. The comic has all their main characters living in relative harmony or with their own spaces. When they are not off stopping cults from destroying political landscapes or battling supervillains, they are at home, going about their daily lives as somewhat normal people with jobs and relationships. It exemplifies that they all have a decent grasp on who they are, and even if they don’t, they have a bed to go back to and a support system to rely on. This is an established team with a running headquarters, lovingly named Titans Tower, the scene is only a part of the narrative as the backdrop, as a story punching bag that ultimately doesn’t matter, and that is all it needs to be. The story is much more interested in the series of events taking place, otherwise known as the act. Everything that goes down becomes a spoiler because there are so many plot points to cover and twists to reveal, thus the scene becomes story fuel, which in turn fuels the act, fueling the actors. There is less of a fall because they all have a home to turn to; it is built around the idea that the primary agents are at least somewhat realized people, with lives of their own. They react to the world around them as it throws obstacles, and the idea is re-enforced by the irrelevance of where the action takes place, wholly opposing the priorities of its live-action adaptation.

Not to say that Titans doesn’t jump from place to place, in fact it shifts its characters around quite a lot, but those moves are reactions to and influenced by the primary setting. The Titans operate out of, again, Titans Tower, but instead of a home and safe place, it is a monument to their old team’s sins. A ghost town that continues to haunt them, bringing back their darkest times and motivating nearly every move they make. When they first arrive, it’s tense, they’re subconsciously expecting the worst and prepare to bail at the first signs of trouble, which they eventually do. It is their return that sparks the entire story moving forward, and the presence of a looming shadow built from mistakes colours their reactions and triggers a sort of trauma response. Conversely, it is a beacon of hope and rebirth for the younger members. It is the first place wherein they have been allowed to be themselves, even at their worst, then collectively learn to get better as a group, a family even. The motif of past and present, trauma and recovery, informs the presentation of Titans Tower, making the growth visible in ways it previously hadn’t been. Using the setting as story plays into how Titans is structured; it drip-feeds the audience information, allowing the plot to meander so each development can happen and be processed before the next major plot point kicks in, and if they lose the setting, their home, there’s nothing else, thus the consequences are much steeper.

Throughout its two seasons run, Titans has been unapologetically divisive; deeply flawed characters with a universe quite different from that of the comics. It was not designed to make audiences comfortable, often forcing them to look at the worst parts of characters they might have previously idolized and showing the amount of hard work that has to be put into self-betterment. It is highly character-driven, mostly following interpersonal relationships and intimate growth. Barely anyone feels self-assured, often scrambling for any sense of identity. Though everyone goes through their fair share of change, this is ultimately Dick’s redemption story to himself. It departs from the source material, which often showed readers the best parts of people, that the downfall of heroes comes from outside sources while overall making a cynical statement about the cycle of abuse regarding Tara. These are heroes who know who they are and have no problem in the actions they make, whereas in the adaptation, almost every conflict is generated internally by lies and secrecy. The adaptation removes the halo from these supposed heroes and allows the emotions to be a bit dirty and muddled, creating an equally satisfying but very different take on a classic comic story.

[techuser-blog1]

How to Get and Use PLAYit for PC Windows & Mac

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List of Contents: [show]

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playit-app-screenshots

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playit-for-pc

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3. Once it's opened, you may see the house screen of this app.

4. Google Playstore sometimes comes pre-installed within the Roman deity human. On the house screen realize Google Playstore and so double click on the icon to open it.

5. rummage around for the PLAYit app for PC free download and click on the install button.

6. Once you click the install button, this app are mechanically put in on the Roman deity human. This app are below the list of put in apps within the human. to begin mistreatment the app, you'll double click the app icon within the Roman deity human and begin mistreatment it.

Frequently Asked queries

1. 

what's the utilization of PLAYit media player for PC?

This app belongs to the family of video player that may play up to 4K resolution videos and any variety of videos offered on your device.

Therefore, if you'll use it to play top-notch videos on your laptop.

2. Do i want to put in associate human once putting in the PLAYit app for laptop Windows 10?

Yes. Since the PLAYit app is associate humanoid app, you would like to urge associate human to put in it on your laptop.

One of the foremost common humans is that the Bluestacks emulator that you'll simply install on your laptop.

3. Am I restricted to only 1 human once putting in PLAYit App for Windows 10?

No. you'll truly use any human you would like to put in this app on your laptop. Here, you're at liberty to use BlueStacks, Roman deity App player then on.

Bluestacks is kind of known tho' you'll still opt for different varieties of humanoid emulators.

4. however long will it go for install PLAYit for laptop Windows 10?

It all depends on your net affiliation. If you've got a quick net affiliation, you may be able to install this app quicker when downloading your favorite human.

However, it's necessary that you just twiddling my thumbs for the app to urge put in with success before you'll finally launch it.

5. when doing a PLAYit setup for laptop, can it work well on a laptop because it will on a phone?

Yes. As long as you've got downloaded associate human for your laptop, this app can work dead well on your device.

The human works as a bridge to attach humanoid apps on laptop therefore the human can enable the app to figure dead because it will on your phone.

Final remarks

This app caters to any or all your video and music wants. One advantage of this app is that it supports all video formats. Also, it permits you to customise songs the manner you please. With the PLAYit app, you'll stream any content you would like on-line and watch it despite its format. for more apps, visit http://alltechdownloads.com site. 

[homebrewsno1asked4]

2B 2

Welcome! Today’s subclass – inspired by 2B of Nier Automata, for those who just walked in – is the Planar Adjudicator.

What and why is a Planar Adjudicator, you may ask? I didn’t just want to make the 2B class a construct-killer; unless your DM’s world is teeming with robots, that won’t be particularly useful. So I reflavored the androids’ crazy superhuman combat maneuvers as laws of physics they’re allowed to break. And YoRHa as like interdimensional hitmen of balance.

Kinda like “if the Horizon Walker Ranger joined a Paladin order.”

I don’t remember the exact thought process, tbh.

Commence!

Clearances

As Planar Adjudicators climb in rank, they’re allowed to bend certain laws of reality, or waive them altogether.

When you first gain access to these clearances at level 3, you may take three. You may take two additional clearances each levels 7, 10, and 15. At these levels, you may also replace a previously-established clearance with another one of equal level.

See list of Clearances at the end of the class.

Save vs. your Clearances is 8 + proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.

At level 3, the fighter usually gains multiple features with their subclass: 1) Each archetype's primary mechanic; 2) a coin toss between an exploration or interaction feature, usually packaged with an extra skill proficiency.

To fit with the Planar Adjudicator's "spacetime cop" theme, I made the main mechanic Clearances - or laws of reality that the Planar Adjudicator's allowed to break to better hunt their quarry. In an earlier draft, I tried to directly base these Clearances on the various Pod abilities; but after a few false starts, I realized that most of the Pods either don't translate well into D&D mechanics, or would provide game-breaking stat increases/extra attacks. So instead, I looked to the Warlock's Eldritch Invocations for inspiration, and the Clearances scale/stack similar to the Eldritch Knight's spellcasting. (I think... I'm sorry, I really need to be more careful about crossing out my design notes, not deleting them entirely.)

The Clearances are supposed to reflect Nier Automata's flashy combat; encapsulate more of 2B's skills and android abilities not covered by my earlier choices of Race, Background, etc; and beef up the Planar Adjudicator's flavor.

Basic Planar Knowledge Database

Take proficiency in either Religion or Arcana.

As an action, you detect the distance and direction between you and any creature involved in your goal, such as a person you seek vengeance against or someone you pledged to defend. You must be familiar with this creature – i.e. have met them personally, or you know more than passing knowledge about that creature. If the target is on another plane of existence, you instead discern the distance and direction of the nearest portal to that plane, though you don't automatically know which plane it leads to.

The Planar Adjudicator's other starting feature - Basic Planar Knowledge Database - bundles one of two lore-intensive Intelligence proficiencies with a barely-changed version of the Revenant's Relentless Nature. I don't think it's too OP because it's mostly for flavor, but Hey! I've been wrong before.

(Maybe BPKD should at least be 'use x times between rests’?)

Database Upgrade

You hone your insight into your extraplanar quarry by level 7, analyzing your deep repository of lore for weaknesses.

Your melee attacks (not ranged, not spells) now count as magical for the purposes of overcoming resistance.

You gain proficiency in Religion or Arcana, whichever you did not choose from Basic Planar Knowledge Database. Except for critical failures, you can treat any Arcana or Religion roll of 9 or below as a 10.

Fighters' level 7 abilities usually go one of two ways: an attack/defense buff; or an exploration ability packaged with a new skill proficiency. The Planar Adjudicator's Database Upgrade is bit of a mix of both.

This is a melee-only version of the Arcane Archer's Magic Arrow, as well as the other half of the Basic Planar Knowledge Database - while also borrowing a little of the Rogue's Reliable Talent. I'm hoping that's not too much, as religion and arcana are mostly fun roleplay skills anyway. Who knows; the way you run your games, this might be OP.

Executioner’s Clearance

At level 10, you gain two types of Favored Enemy. One is always humanoids. For the other, choose from aberrations, celestials, elementals, fey, fiends, or undead. You gain a +4 bonus to damage rolls with weapon attacks against creatures of both types. Additionally, you have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track your favored enemies, as well as on Intelligence checks to recall information about them.

When you gain this feature, you also learn two languages of your choice, typically one spoken by your favored enemy or creatures associated with it; for example, elvish for humanoids and deep speech for aberrations. However, you are free to pick any language you wish to learn.

You also have advantage on saving throws against the spells and abilities of both these enemy types.

Fighters' level 10 features are exclusively combat-focused. Usually, they're an improvement to a pre-existing feature.

I borrowed the Ranger's Favored Enemy + Greater Favored Enemy for Executioner’s Clearance. Since even the stacked version of Greater Favored Enemy is still conditional, and it's already only a level 6 ability, I thought it fair to throw the Planar Adjudicator another bone.

Hammerspace

You can equip up to three weapons at a time, in any combination of weight class or ranged/melee. You can swap these weapons in and out as a free action, including in between attacks.

You stow any of these three weapons you cannot feasibly hold in a personal void not unlike a Bag of Holding.

Hammerspace adds a bit more Nier Automata-ness to the Planar Adjudicator's playstyle, what with the giant weapons floating behind you and switching between these giant weapons in an instant.

I can't for the life of me remember what I used as a base for Hammerspace. Honestly, I might have made it from scratch, but I wouldn't give me that much credit.

Unchain Protocol

Against your favored enemy types, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

While the planar adjudicator is at half their hit points (rounded down) or below, they score critical hits on 18-20 for all enemy types, not just favored enemies.

While the planar adjudicator's hit points equal 10 + Constitution modifier or below, your criticals gain a damage bonus equal to your level in this class.

At level 15, Fighters gain a variety of types of combat features. Attack spells/spell-like abilities and attack/damage buffs are common.

I think this is another weird fusion of a couple different class abilities. Like Champion/Barbarian’s Improved Critical plus one of the Brute’s abilities, maybe?

The first part of Unchain Protocol stacks with Executioner's Clearance. The second and third stages of the Protocol affect all critical hits, for the trade-off of inching closer and closer to death.

Evasion System Overclock

When an enemy misses an attack against you, you may incur the effects of Time Stop as a reaction. All restrictions of Time Stop still apply. You take the turns afforded by Time Stop immediately upon using this ability. You may use this once a day.

I know 2B has the whole slow-time-when-you-dodge ability from the beginning of the game; but there’s no way to give the player its D&D equivalent at an early level without tipping the game balance like the fucking Titanic.

My thinking is, assuming the player tries to use this ability to hit or run, Evasion System Overclock only affords them one extra strike, or a get-out-of-combat-free card if the player’s okay with ditching the rest of the party and appearing 1000 feet away. Hopefully, this forces your Planar Adjudicator to be a little more creative and strategic with their extra turns.

Clearances

Law of Applied Force. All ranged attacks have a maximum range of 300 ft.

Law of Auras. You can cast Detect Magic at will.

Law of Darkness. You can see normally in darkness, both magical and non-magical, to a distance of 120 feet.

Law of Healing. Whenever you regain hit points from a potion, spell, or ally’s class feature, treat any dice rolled to determine the hit points you regain as having rolled their maximum value for you.

Law of Inertia. Whenever you successfully deal damage to a creature, you can push the creature up to 10 feet away from you in a straight line.

Law of Interspecies Communication. Although limited by the intelligence of the beast, you can understand and speak with beasts.

Law of Linguistics. You can read all writing. You can comprehend any written word or symbol, should it hold any linguistic meaning.

Law of Natural Cycles. Within a minute of its death, you may ask a recently deceased creature one question. The dead creature’s spirit provides the answer to the best of its knowledge, translated into a language of your choice.

Law of Resilience. Your AC becomes 13 + your Strength or Dexterity modifier while not wearing armor. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Law of Rest. You no longer need to sleep and can't be forced to sleep by any means. To gain the benefits of a long rest, you can spend all 8 hours doing light activity.

Law of Vitality. You can cast False Life on yourself at will as a 1st-level spell.

Law of Warfare. Over the course of 1 hour short rest, you can bond a weapon to you. You can bond up to two weapons at once. These weapons gain a +1 to attack and damage rolls. You can summon or dispel these weapons as a bonus action.

Prerequisite: Level 5

Law of Conservation of Energy. For one minute, you can double your speed, gain +2 to AC, roll advantage on Dexterity saves, and take an additional action on each of your turns. The action can be used to attack (one weapon attack only), dash, disengage, hide, or use an object. You can use this feature once every long rest.

Law of Elemental Order. Every long rest, pick a type of elemental damage. When you hit a creature with a melee or ranged attack, you can use a bonus action to unleash an eruption of this damage type. This eruption is a 20-foot-radius sphere, focused on the target you just hit, and deals 8d6 of your chosen element. You are immune to this eruption. You can use this feature once every long rest.

At level 11, this feature recharges with a short or long rest, and the extra damage increases to 9d6.

At level 17, you can use this feature twice between rests, and the extra damage increases to 10d6.

Law of Proportional Might. Once per turn, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon, you can add 4d8 force damage to your attack, and you can knock the target prone if it is Huge or smaller. You can use this feature once every long rest.

At level 11, this feature recharges with a short or long rest, and the extra damage increases to 5d8.

At level 17, you can use this feature twice between rests, and the extra damage increases to 6d8.

Prerequisite: Level 7

Law of Opacity. Once per rest, you can use an action to gain the ability to see through solid objects to a range of 30 feet. Within that range, you have darkvision if you don't already have it. This special sight lasts for 1 minute. During this time, you perceive objects as ghostly, transparent images.

Law of Motion. For one hour, you are unaffected by difficult terrain, and spells or magical effects can't reduce your speed or cause you to be paralyzed or restrained.

You can spend 5 feet of movement to automatically escape from nonmagical restraints. Additionally, being underwater imposes no penalties on its movement or attacks.

Prerequisite: Level 9

Law of Gravity. At will, you can rise vertically up to 20 feet. While suspended, you have no momentum of your own and you may grab on to other objects in order to move as if climbing. You can change your altitude as part of your movement each turn.

Whenever you deactivate this clearance, you drift safely to the ground per the spell Feather Fall.

Law of Proportional Athleticism. Your jump distance is tripled.

Law of Spirit-Mortal Communication. You can speak to spirits - per the Speak with Dead spell - at will.

Prerequisite: Level 15

Law of Physicality. As an action, you and everything you wear and carry become invisible for up to an hour. If you drop an item or remove it, the item is no longer invisible, and if you try to attack or cast a spell, you're visible again. You can activate this clearance at will.

I don’t have an ending besides thank you for reading, hope it doesn’t suck!

[gwinnetts-archive]

meta : riley’s enlistment

one of the meta asks i’ve been working on in my drafts is about riley’s time on the front lines in alaska. i ended up writing a big ol’ thing about why riley enlisted to preface it all, but i think that’ll be better served as a separate post so the ask can focus on specifically his time in anchorage, so here we are

consider this a blanket content warning for racism (anti-asian) and mccarthyism as a pervasive atmosphere, bc pre-war sucked

the anchorage front line is established in 2059 as america attempts to defend their oil, and in 2066, china invades alaska. riley and zetta are twenty-eight. zetta has been finishing her masters, and riley has been struggling to find and keep jobs due to workplace discrimination being through the roof at this time

(riley is half-korean, not chinese, but, well. racism is what it is. i imagine riley would have faced a lot of “you’re just saying that to hide being chinese” attitudes, for example. and i can think of a dozen others, but i figure you can, too, so let’s move on)

zetta has been working with the currently-nameless little robotics company for a couple of years by this point — this dinky locally owned thing that wants to make commercial robots for households and companies, not anything for the war effort. so it isn’t as though zetta and riley can’t get by, but… riley wants more for them — for her. and more than just wanting to provide extra financial support, if riley isn’t working, the more free time he has… the harder it is for him to keep from getting involved in what’s going on

because an important part of zetta and riley’s character arcs is centered on action. i would actually say it’s THE core theme. it’s baked into their personalities, with the way that zetta copes with shit through action and riley copes through inaction. and for their character arcs, both of them are paralyzed with inaction during pre-war. i’ll be covering zetta in another ask, so i won’t go into it here, but riley?

riley is, at his core, an idealist. and he’s sensitive, easily moved by the suffering of others — even if all the discrimination didn’t affect him and his ethnicity, he’d be horrified by the cruelties of the american government, and he’d feel the need to do something about it. but that discrimination does apply to him, and his parents, and zetta by extension, and he’s equally terrified that if he takes action, then he’ll endanger his loved ones, too. but the longer things continue, the harder it is on him to stay out of it, and the more he blames himself, feeling like he needs to do more

he’s being torn by two different instincts in response to the same problem: his morality says get up, do something. his habits and coping mechanisms, formed by abuse at the hands of his grandfather when he was young, scream at him to stay still, let it pass. his restlessness manifests in small ways — anonymous donations to charities and shelters and the like, but it still doesn’t feel like it’s enough

but riley didn’t just enlist because he was running away from his internal conflict, hoping it’ll keep him from doing something stupid. he enlisted because he thought maybe, his service would prove that he — and by extension his family — aren’t a danger to the country. the reason why he signed on with the military, despite zetta begging him not to, is because it came to a point where it felt like it would solve all the problems at the same time

of course, it doesn’t really work out the way he’d hoped it would. and, god, did he have so much hope this would fix everything, that it would keep them all safe. but despite that, it also felt, more than a little, like a last ditch effort — riley didn’t know what to do. he was paralyzed with fear and uncertainty, not knowing what the right thing to do was, but wanting so badly to do it. and this was the answer he reached and desperately tried to make work

[naruhearts]

13x20: “I don’t care what happens to me”-- Dean Worthless Winchester, John Winchester’s Death and Destiel

Oh my god!

I gotta say, 13x20 was an ANGSTY FEELSY amalgamation of meta and foreshadowing for the Big Finale Triad of 21, 22, and 23. It laid down S5 tones, key themes, and narrative direction, hoo boy!!! 

I’m sorry I posted late! Time-of-month sickness was an interruption, yikes.

I’d like to start with the Dean & Sam final scene, then talk about the major culminating implications this Father-centric episode specifically holds for our beloved protagonist Dean Winchester the shackled child — the Man behind the Mask (which S13 has been a gigantic narrative mirror of) — and the Destiel narrative/Cas in relation to Dean’s arc and character disposition *rubs hands together*

Glynn & Co made Dean’s axel-swinging between communication and miscommunication pretty clear to me in the last scene of 13x20, especially regarding the dialogue that people thought was character regression into Brodependency.

After sleeping on it, I didn’t see the same scale of toxic codependency from seasons ago a la ‘there ain’t no me if there ain’t no you.’ It wasn’t mutual. I saw it as: 1. more from Sam’s end, and 2. Dean’s willingness to protect his loved ones (Sam and CAS, in bold) combined with letting go and the textual acknowledgement of his low self-worth carrying over from 13x05 (the low self-worth he internalized across 99.6798% of his life course).

Firstly, Dabb’s subverting S5. 

He put independent Dean in S5 independent Sam’s shoes here, and it’s surely not a coincidence that Dean himself referenced their implosive S5 Michael-Lucifer mess: “Where we were last time we had front row seats”. S5 exhibited Dean’s Holding On vs Sam’s Letting Go, with lost Dean crawling to Lisa’s door and yeah, we know how that prickly-edged story went. It’s finally Dean Letting Go vs Sam Holding On. It’s indicative of S13 faithless Grieving!Sam re: Mary/Jack seeking his own emancipation and finding real introspective purpose away from the codependent strings he’s clinging to. We heard Sam’s “If we die, we die together”. Don’t fret, his current arc is constructed to get rid of this kind of thinking and move towards Faith!

Dean’s prepared to cut the codependent strings — already has via 12x22, and then in 13x05 (albeit in a suicidal grief-ridden manner. Speaking of, 13x20 this time shifted focus to Sam’s risk-taking re: Lucifer and the Apocalypse in itself. Unsurprisingly, we already witnessed this narrative train running in reverse -- early S13 Grieving!Dean and Functioning Sam swapped roles post-13x06 and in 13x11. Man, I am pumpin’ my fists).

Atop the bro dualism, Dean’s behaviour in 13x20 concerned me the most, saddened me the most, and intrigued me the most. 

:’( 

I may have yelled said that Dean has emotionally matured, eliminated toxic coping mechanisms, achieved an internal balance between his femininity and non-performative masculinity (acknowledged in 13x04; actively manifested in 13x16 onwards x, x), and gained a sense of non-combative communication and understanding (seen in 13x14), yet his low self-worth constitutes the biggest roadblock to his FULL personal growth.

Okay, I know you’ll exclaim: after Cas returned, Dean wasn’t depressed anymore! 

Well, that’s accurate and relatively inaccurate. Dean’s low self-worth is the central facet of his characteristic development, and it does have a guaranteed correlation with depression. Yes, you can feel worthless without being clinically depressed, but worthlessness is maladaptive and contributes to feeling depressed --> Dean’s depression. 

Dean’s case is a heartbreaking one. He’s been depressed for YEARS. He never really cared about what happened to him for YEARS = our Dean meta textualized in gloomy letters!!

Yes, the single individual -- the canon WIN -- that placed him back on the rails was Cas, his Everything, resurrecting from the dead. Cas’ return drastically mitigated Dean’s severe nihilistic depression (aka his rock bottom nihilistic grief when he lost Cas) BUT it didn’t necessarily fix his pre-existing depression.

S13 depicts Dean -- despite Cas’ bright presence -- as traveling the rails empty. There’s not enough coal to fuel his engine because he LACKS the mental faculties to appropriately cope re: trauma and give up his control. This is why he seems to oscillate between character progression and regression, and he still isn’t 100% HONEST and OPEN about his feelings. He’s keepin’ it in. There’s no healthy psychological unload taking place.

Case in point? Dean’s regressed to drinking the hard booze again; Cas FILLS the negative spaces (as he’s been doing throughout S13). Dean is not disclosing the whole truth -- not saying what he’s genuinely feeling (to CAS. I discuss it x, x, x). 

Plus, Dean’s internal worries re: Death, the next apocalyptic war, Cas’ Heavenly plans, and his respective destiny/fate (Death’s “See you soon”) just exacerbate the personal instability he’s experiencing.

And then we observe Dean’s parental duty rearing its head:

To me this is what reiterated the Brodependency being dismantled in late S12/S13 (12x22 and 13x12/15 in particular). Don’t get me wrong – Dean’s mostly let go. He was willing to leave Sam behind in 13x05 after losing the one person who textually means Everything to him. 

Dean’s psyche is at a point right now where he AIN’T okay with Sam’s risk-taking. He questions his little brother’s half-baked plans and sympathizes with the close-to-here manic desperation (again, mirroring S5 and S13 Grieving!Dean), except Dean’s low self-worth puts him in the dark position: I’m doing it, all of it, for YOU (Sam and Cas) since I don’t value myself enough to do it for ME. He further says--

He obviously does, but us, the audience, know--in dramatic irony fashion--that this is NOT Dean’s entire truth.

He values his brother more than himself, and he values CAS more than himself. He cares about what happens to CAS. Nothing Else Matters. And we’re aware that Cas canonically occupies the highest pedestal in Dean’s life, which TPTB absolutely highlighted during Dean’s grieving arc, Cas’ return, and 13x16 onwards. 

(In this scene, Dean continues to tell Sam what he’s NOT telling Cas. USE THE RIGHT WORDS.)

 Cas is the love of Dean’s life, his Everything, and his Win. I mentioned before that losing Cas a second time would destroy him.

(**Dating 101: Dean therefore cannot establish a truly healthy, mutually interdependent relationship with Cas if he has low self-worth. He’s trying, but his personal losses -- more LOSSES than wins this season i.e. AU!Charlie/Mary/Jack in AU, non-confronted traumas i.e. Cas’ death, and insecurities cripple his ability to give Cas ALL of himself, out in the open!)

Although Dean HAS FAITH (Cas), the decisions he’ll formulate to protect/save Sam, Mary, Jack, and especially Cas aren’t exactly derived from mental stability. Keeping them safe is too paramount to Dean that the choices he’ll encounter could be questionable/dangerous, putting him in the line of (sacrificial) fire. 

Sound familiar? It’s deliberately supposed to sound familiar!

Jack, TFW’s Unity/Balance symbol and characteristic mirror, even stated that ‘if he can’t keep others safe, what’s the use’?

Dean will make the penultimate save-the-world (read: save my family) decision ALONE regardless of Sam’s regressive wish to die together. And I wrote that his arc is now DIRECTLY paralleling S11 Casifer & Depressed!Cas’ S11/12 arc, especially (mis)communicative 12x19 --> 12x23 ‘I Have Faith’ Cas. There’s prevalent narrative symmetry in Dean’s arc (intrinsically linked to Cas’ arc).

“You, me, and Sam...we’re just better together” indeed, and this year’s season-ender should unite TFW like last season--unite Dean and Cas--in order to change their fates/defeat Death, but Dean’s decision will be an isolated one --> one that was foreshadowed as he faced expositional Daddy Issues™ Loki by himself. And Dean may not tell Cas, just like Cas hadn’t told Dean in 12x23 about his sacrificial act.

These vastly important storytelling threads ultimately conjoin with “I don’t care what happens to me. I never really have” as the PINNACLE of Dean’s 13-year long characterization; the progressive climax sparking his death/decay so that he can be reborn and revitalized aka THIS IS IT!! Dean’s impending death and self-sacrifice for his loved ones (CAS) = the ultimate catharsis in that S13′s narrative has finally approached the IRL scenario of 13x16 ghost kid (DEAN)’s release from father figure Bad Man -- from the negative influence of all the other literal (Loki, Odin, Lucifer, James Turner) and metaphorical (Asmodeus, Buddy, Michael) fatherly mirrors permeating this season. He’ll LET GO of everything that incarcerated him since he was 4 years old: his Blunt Tool role, control, manipulation, parental abuse and absenteeism, parental duty, the heteronormative patriarchy, and the long-standing trauma slapped on him by Alastair, Amara, and Cain.

He’ll burn the remaining pocket knife of all pocket knives tethering him to his past -- John Winchester x, x He’ll self-transform.

And Dean’s S13 death would fulfill the sacrificial Act of True Love (with Cas holding heavy weight in Dean’s decision for LOVE)--

--and S14 Winning Him Back in the subverted flavour of S10. Romance tropes abound!!

 @thetwistedwillow and @sactownbrowns3 both ignited my stomach-churning feels. This is an extremely pivotal visual. The Michael-reminiscent sword and radiant halo-like lights atop Dean’s head? Yeah, set off HUGE Michael!Dean radars. Complete moral dualism with S10 Demon!Dean--selflessness vs selfishness. Free choice (saying yes to possession) vs stolen choice (demon transformation against his will).

Secondly, as aforementioned, Dean’s harbouring a LOT of traumas he hasn’t mentally confronted, with Daddy Issues™ re: John Winchester (reflected via Dean’s solo faceoff with Loki) as his overarching undealt source of trauma.

Loki tells Dean: “The truth is, [Odin] despised me, but he was my father. I’m sure you understand. What would you do for your father?” 

And Dean stabs Loki’s hologram. He stabs the metaphorical father figure who neglected his sons. He stabs another narrative embodiment of John’s ghost, foreshadowing that Dean’s death = John Winchester’s final death. It’s time to deconstruct and conquer his influence.

(Gabriel was an extended mirror of both Dean and Sam, too. Gabe, the little brother whom deadbeat Daddy Chuck never paid attention to. ‘Ah, big bros, right? Always think they know best’ Gabe, who stabbed and killed deadbeat Loki. Gabe, who subsequently ran away from home, was used and tortured beneath Asmodeus’ control, embarked on a revenge trip, and didn’t feel good about it. Dean and Sam themselves knew what it felt like to be manipulated. While it’s true that their traumatic experiences are subjective, they share common Deadbeat Father-adjacent life courses.)

What beautiful and consistent silent storytelling!!

And oh look, narratively associated to this ^^ is the reappearance of Dean’s John-linked BAG OF EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE--

I can’t can’t can’t wait for him to let go of it PERMANENTLY! 

And of course, Cas’ death remains his immediate significant source of undealt trauma (same links above:  x, x, x)

*looks at Dean’s serious, intense, and emotionally laden expression* *clutches chest tight* *blinks away tears*

I additionally wrote something about Endverse!Cas and D/C (mis)communication a few months ago which I feel is relevant again:

And we know HUMAN Endverse!Cas was representative of that, a sad, depressed, and hollow depiction of the wrong choices for the right reasons who festers (AND DIES), in part because of Dean’s wrong choices, and also because of his own consciously uninformed, narrow-minded choices that led to this literal apocalypse of mind, body and soul.

5x04 laid down what Cas (and Dean) shouldn’t become. If both Cas and Dean (TFW) continue to fail in learning their lessons regarding healthy interdependence (where control must become equality; ignorance must become understanding; intransigence must become compromise; stonewalling must become transparency; lying must become honesty; silence must become communication), Endverse will be their life.

Thankfully, they’re learning as of S13 onwards and I’m ECSTATIC. Slow but sure progress (13x15′s conveying the shift), yet they still have to use the RIGHT WORDS.

Endverse!Dean, who never gave up his control to Cas nor listened to him, was himself consumed by the NEED over the WANT and an authoritarian means to an end. He lost everyone. And Endverse posed an ultimatum for Dean (and Cas’ own characteristic progress): keep your control forever, and you’ll have one destination–no growth, no life, no freedom. 

Full circle!

Dean Winchester must die so he can live.

And what are Dean’s WINS (plural) by dying? Saving people instead of losing people--saving Mary, Jack, Sam, and Cas. Saving the world. Reuniting his family unit. Interacting instead of performing. OUTING INSTEAD OF HIDING. HIGH DEPRESSIONLESS SELF-WORTH INSTEAD OF LOW DEPRESSIVE SELF-WORTH.

Better yet, Dean will undergo character development in relation to his loved ones (and Cas). With high self-worth, Dean’s capable of learning how to value HIMSELF independently. In turn, without personal obstacles he’ll learn how to sustain HEALTHY interdependent relationships and COMMUNICATION as well as learn how to WHOLLY GIVE HIMSELF to others (Cas).

Tell Cas he’s not expendable, Dean. Disclose the real reason YOU “needed him back”. Expose your feelings, choose Want over Need, and push away your rejection fears! Cas loves you dearly—let him know that his love for you is reciprocated. Nothing but good things ahead!!

Gosh, this post is way longer than I expected—thank youu for sticking to it! Circumstances shall get worse before they get better, and it’s totally necessary to ensure our characters meet the final demise of their prisons.

BTW, I still can’t believe we got a borderline blatant onscreen bi!Dean (and Cas insert) treat!! What’s by is by! Overall I’m incessantly praising Dabb’s spectacular work so far + Glynn and Rich Speight Jr’s craft in this ep!!

Very little sub is left in the text, my friends. TPTB are rendering years’ worth of meta increasingly explicit in S13. I can only HOPE and expect that 13x23/S14 brings us past the Point of Know Return subtextual boundaries and into full-blown textual narrative! Authorial intent EXISTS. 

**I know, I know--S14 wasn’t confirmed as the last season and S15 is fair game. The plot accordion, as per usual, re-emerges with the slight overhaul/pullback of characteristic arcs and narrative plot due to season renewals, but I’m Endgame Positive that slow progress is SURE progress. Imho Dean and Cas are so close in saying everything from saying nothing. THE UNSAID WILL BE SAID.

Bracing myself for the last 3 episodes—they’ll burn us in awesome ways!! 

[fuzz1912]

I’ve got an okay feeling about this

A fan’s review of SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY.

(Spoilers ahoy, matey. Proceed with extreme caution. Running on extreme low sleep, so this will probably be updated over the next day or so.)

I’ve been pretty clear about the parameters for what I consider to be a good Star Wars film. My initial concern has been that they should at least be internally consistent, and consistent within (let alone respectful of) the established lore of the Star Wars universe. Beyond that, my mind also turns to whether or not it merely repeats what has come before or extends the universe in logical and interesting ways. Is there a need for this story to be told, or does it excessively rely on (or trivially extrapolate from) a known backstory? And finally, does it strike the right balance of humour and fan service while telling a decent story that stands on its own?

So, having been quite critical of Disney’s previous Star Wars releases on that basis, how does this latest instalment fare?

May the month of May be with you

There’s something right about Star Wars in May. Despite the attempts by all and sundry to turn a stupid dad joke into ‘Star Wars Day’ (May the Fourth - get it? No, Cinco de Quatro is much better), in fact the month of May has its own enduring significance for the franchise. Each of the original and prequel trilogy movies were released around the mid-May Memorial Day holiday. In the US, this means summer, when kids are on break and sitting in an air-conditioned cinema is preferable compared to just about anything else. For us on the other side of the world, it is on the cusp of winter, just as the weather really starts turning for the worse - the wind picks up, the chill sets in, and darkness falls before you know it.

It’s those memories of fighting to stay warm while making it to midnight on a dark, crisp winter’s night that have always accompanied first watching a new Star Wars film for me. For some entirely silly commercial reason, Disney has thus far eschewed the traditional May release window instead choosing  December for its premieres, which has never felt right to me - December is for Christmas movies and Lords of the Ring, not Star Wars. So if nothing else, there’s some small satisfaction for me in being able to enjoy a new Star Wars movie for the first time again in the cold of May - perhaps its karma, but it feels like that’s translated to my reaction to this second anthology film.

Why make a movie about Han Solo?

Here is a character who is infamous for his intrigue. Many so-called fans criticise George Lucas for adding context to Star Wars where they believed none was necessary - see the “Han shot first” controversy (the real objection being that Greedo shot at all - which changes nothing about Han himself)(1) - in which case, why sacrifice the ultimate lamb and give him an origin story? That being said, I am loath to be too critical of the raison d’être for the ‘Star Wars Story anthology’ films (this and ROGUE ONE) - they have to date been somewhat respectful of Canon, made some generous nods to what is now ‘Legends’, and taken some interesting new directions in filling the gaps in the existing story. We don’t necessarily need them (much like we don’t need the Saga to continue an already concluded story), but that doesn’t mean they don’t have anything interesting to add to the stories we already love. 

Back in the very early days of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (what would now be called ‘Legends’) there was a series of novellas by Brian Daley about a pre-Yavin Han Solo and his adventures with Chewbacca and (you guessed it) a couple of droids on the Millennium Falcon, as he tried to eke out a living as a white hat smuggler in the Empire-lite Corporate Sector.(2) They were some of the first EU books that I read, and simple though they were, I enjoyed them because they were episodic tales set in a different part of the world of Star Wars established by the films. They weren’t high stakes, and didn’t give Han Solo an origin or back story - they just gave a glimpse into some of the sort of swashbuckling adventures that we assumed the character we met in the Cantina Bar would have had.

This movie is nowhere near as light or insignificant as that - much like ROGUE ONE before it, it takes a throwaway line mentioned in the original film and turns it into a definitive origin story about how Han Solo became that guy who shot first.(3)

Now the story of a film that lost everything and the one director who had no choice but to bring it all together

From what little has been made public, this film has not had an easy gestation - even more so than ROGUE ONE, whose ending was completely changed (undoubtedly for the better). THE LEGO MOVIE directors were fired during the shoot due to “creative differences” with writer Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote the brilliant EMPIRE (but also the lackluster AWAKENS). Apparently their take was too humorous and not the sarcastic selfishness that characterises Han Solo - which I guess is a good thing considering how ridiculous the obvious jokes in the Disney ‘Saga’ films have been. Their replacement is none other than early Lucas protege and all-round pretty damn talented Ron Howard of Imagine Entertainment (not Orange County Imagine), whose voice is embedded in many of our heads thanks to his shoddy narration of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT.(4)

Ron Howard reliably makes good movies. He might not have the most stylistic flair, he may not be the most innovative or creative, he may not use the most challenging source material, but it would be difficult to suggest that any of the movies he’s made are anything less than solidly watchable - and most of them have been, in their own way, pretty great. He now runs a director’s masterclass, and you’d be hard pressed to find a better teacher from whom to learn the craft.

George Lucas had offered Howard the opportunity to direct previoud Star Wars films over the years, but as with Lucas’s other bestie Steven Spielberg, Howard didn’t want to take the reigns from his longtime friend. Now that Lucas has rather foolishly handed the keys over to the Walt Disney Company, that reluctance seems to have diminished. I’ve been disappointed with the direction Disney has been leading the franchise enough times to have serious doubts about this film, but the one thing that kept me optimistic about it was that it was ultimately left to Howard to deliver the final product.

That faith was well placed - this was the first Star Wars film in some time that I really enjoyed.

“You’re the good guy”

The fundamental premise of the film appears to manifest itself in this line of dialogue that Qi’ra casually throws away towards the climax. This information will spoil the payoff of A NEW HOPE, just like knowing who Darth Vader is spoils the reveal in EMPIRE. But it’s nevertheless true to the core of the character of the Han Solo that we know and love - despite being a selfish cad and a scoundrel, he is a softy underneath.

Given the context above about the importance of the tone of the film, it would appear that the decision made by Lucasfilm to bring in Howard was on the money (though really, the question is why he wasn’t there from the start). Moments of over the top humour have been toned down (at least from what I can recall of one of the early trailers showing Han being interviewed to join the Imperial Academy). That’s not to say there aren’t any funny moments, but for the most part they feel earned and not simply played for easy laughs (like *ahem* Poe/Hux).

There are some call-backs in the dialogue to the original films that might go a little too far (L3: “They don’t even serve our kind here”), but they are mostly effective when they subvert our expectations (“I hate you”/“I know” and “I’ve got a GOOD feeling about this”) which is nice when the film itself is a giant call-back. On the other hand, there were a couple of lines of dialogue that strayed towards uncharacteristically real-world expletives - especially Han’s use of the phrase “Bantha crap”, when we all know the correct terminology is “poodoo”.

Visually the film was just as much of a treat as any Star Wars movie, exploring some new frontiers with the Maelstrom / Maw surrounding Kessel, as well as the WWI-style trench warfare and snow train hijacking scenes. What I loved about each of these was that they created new unfamiliar environments with their own mechanics that drove the plot and the plight of the characters, as Star Wars does at its best. The Kessel Run - in particular the climax with the Millennium Falcon trying to escape both a hideous space monster and a black hole / gravity well at the same time - was both spectacular and incredibly intense to watch, despite the fact that you know that the chracters you’re invested in are going to survive (and that the Falcom reliably has trouble making the jump to lightspeed). From that perspective, it far exceeded anything in the last couple of ‘Saga’ films (two hour long chases of fuel attrition, anyone?).

The music was serviceable and on par with, if not a little better than, Michael Giacchino’s score for ROGUE ONE. It was used effectively and enjoyable, with impactful use of the well-known themes and leitmotifs. While I wouldn’t have called it as memorable as John Williams at his best (he was only partially involved), it was adequate if not decent - and unlike the ‘Saga’ films, it didn’t have to be any more than that.

Finally, the performances were for the most part quite good. Alden Ehrenreich faced the near impossible task of stepping into Harrison Ford’s shoes to recreate one of cinema’s most iconic characters, and he did it pretty well. Rather than attempt to mimick or channel Ford’s trademark smirk or swagger (let alone be forced to undergo make up or CGI as was done rather poorly in ROGUE ONE), he simply stayed true to the character and made it his own. Within a few minutes, I was on board and completely accepted him in the role, made all the easier by not constantly being reminded of how Harrison Ford would have played it. To each of their credit, Howard and Ehrenreich have created a perfectly believable young Han Solo that stands on his own two feet, not in the shadow of a legend.

Similarly, Don Glover (aka Childish Gambino) perfectly captured Lando Calrissian and at no point did I feel like I missed another legend in Billy Dee Williams (though I feel like Glover may have had some prosthetic teeth put in). Having to portray the dashing Lando in his prime provided Glover with the opportunity to bring greater depth to the character than Williams, who pretty much just played himself. Woody Harrelson and Thandie Newton were both solid as far as their roles allowed them to be - as was Joonas Suotamo, for the first time reprising his role as Chewbacca (despite the subtleties of the Wookiee costume, not for a moment did I doubt it was the same character created by Peter Mayhew). Paul Bettany chewed the scenery as the slimy crime boss Dryden Vos. Wherever there is Bettany, Jon Favreau can’t be far behind, giving a short but charming life to the personable alien pilot Rio (bonus point for giving the universe a little more needed diversity). Also bringing her vocal talents to the fore was Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who created one of the more sympathetic droid personalities in L3. Perhaps the only slightly disappointing performance came from the otherwise brilliant Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra, through no real fault of her own - despite playing a duplicitous badass, she wasn’t given much meaningful to do.

“Assume everyone will betray you and you will never be disappointed.”

The film is at its essence a heist movie, and a good one at that - it effectively uses the tropes of the genre, and though largely predictable it subverted them enough to keep me engaged the whole way through. The number of double crosses was just right enough to reflect that none of these characters were naive, but they all had their fundamental weaknesses.

I feel like Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jonathan did a pretty decent job with the script. Having said that, while the plot overall was thrilling, the story itself was a little disjointed. Other than Han’s relationship with Qi’ra, there was no real thread that wove all the way through and connected the somewhat disparate few escalating heists that resulted in Han’s independence and acquisition of the Falcon. Perhaps that’s enough, given most of the second and third acts focused largely on the famous Kessel Run and its consequences - most amusingly, how the Falcon goes from Lando’s souped up, sleek hot rod, into the bucket of bolts we’re introduced to in A NEW HOPE.

The side plots involving the competing crime syndicates and the mysterious motivations of the marauders weren’t particularly compelling until they each revealed their secrets towards the conclusion - but they did an effective job of believable world building, and setting up things that we already know will follow (like the Rebellion). However, the ‘droid rights’ concept inspired by the new character of L3 seemed a little underdeveloped and out of place.(5) It actually reminded me more of Hermione Granger’s Elf welfare from Harry Potter mixed with Korg’s ‘revolution’ from Thor Ragnarok, though I’d love to see the idea more fully explored within the Star Wars universe.

The film introduced the concept of ‘hyperfuel’ (also known as coaxium) as the primary MacGuffin for driving the plotting of the heists. This acted as a deus ex machina at several points with some interesting results in the execution of the Kessel Run itself (Where were the spice mines by the way? Was Disney afraid of being sued by the estate of Frank Herbert?). While fine in isolation to this movie, this did also feel a little bit on the nose given the central role fuel bizarrely played in the plot of the last ‘Saga’ film (not to mention the ongoing focus on Han’s lucky gold dice, which was overplayed in that film and introduced here as if they were far more significant to Han’s established identity than they actually are).

But there was one final touch to the plot that got the kind of ecstatic reaction out of me that I haven’t felt in years - it genuinely shocked and thrilled me, but more on that later.

“I’m putting together a crew? Are you in?”

A good heist requires the building of a good crew that brings a variety of talents to the table. To be frank, the actual Kessel Run heist in this film itself was somewhat anticlimactic. Other than the diversion created by L3 and the subsequent fire fight, the stakes involved in boosting the coaxium from Kessel were not particularly high. On the other hand, the escape and ensuing ‘Run’,(6) as well as the inevitable series of double-crosses and competing moral and selfish imperatives after pulling it off, were full of thrills and gave the characters an opportunity to really shine through - and this was nothing if not a character piece.

The Anti-Hero: The eponymous Han Solo. Well, this is his movie, you can hardly expect us not to start with Han - who is for the first time the sole protagonist of a film. As this is an origin story, he’s not going to be leader of this pack, but he’s hopefully going to show us why he will be when he meets the Skywalker family. Despite a stray reference to his father being a shipbuilder on Corellia, we never get Han’s true family name or any other indication of his lineage; he was dubbed ‘Solo’ by the Imperial recruiter quite literally for being on his own.(7) We meet him as a street kid with a conscience and a mouth - who’ll happily point out to a superior officer in his company that they are themselves the hostiles, not the natives of the planet they’re invading for the glory of the Empire. Much like his father-in-law before him, he starts off idealistic and a little bit twee in his oft-repeated desire to become the best pilot in the galaxy (the title actually held by said future father-in-law). Also like Anakin Skywalker in PHANTOM MENACE, we don’t actually get to see a lot of those skills before he slips into the role; Anakin at least was a Force-sensitive pod racing child (let alone the Chosen One), but other than the pretty nice speeder chase opening the movie its’s not until the Kessel Run itself that we actually see Solo’s exceptional skills. Han in this film is very much driven by the loss of Qi’ra right at the start, and his quest throughout is to first find her and then win her back. Having seen his cynicism while Luke is under Obi-Wan’s tutelage, it’s a nice change to see him as the earnest student trying to learn the game from his own mentor, the master con-thief Tobias Beckett. He slots easily into the role of rogue, deserter and mercenary, and through Beckett and his crew he also learns never to trust anyone but himself - with one notable exception. And the fact that exception exists, is also why underneath all that bravado, Han truly is still the good guy - when given a choice between a quick score or the greater good, he chooses the latter. Han may start off street smart but somewhat naive, but by the end he demonstrates empathy and a canny insight that lays the foundation for the scruffy looking nerf herder with a heart of gold that Luke meets in the Mos Eisley Cantina. At the very end of the film, we can see conclusively why Han had to shoot first.(8)

The Brawn: Chewbacca. The one notable exception to Han’s rule is his future trusty co-pilot, who we’ve never yet seen not by his side. Here we get to see how they meet for the first time and forge their lifelong partnership. While I was fully expecting Chewie to show up at some point, I must admit to being misdirected by the set up leading to his meet-fight with Han. Howard’s staging suggested that the ‘beast’ the stormtroopers were feeding Han to would be something like RETURN’s Rancor and the muddy fur that was our first glimpse of him also echoed EMPIRE’s Wampa. Hearing that familiar growl was both thrill and relief, as Chewie engaged Han in ferocious combat until we hear Han speak Wookiee for the first time in order to persuade Chewie that he can devise a way for them both to escape.(9) The two are literally bound together until Han tracks down Beckett - who immediately recognises that Chewie, not Han, is the prized recruit. Han learns of Chewie’s desire to reunite with and free his tribe / family, something he can and can’t relate to at the same time. Chewie appears initially skeptical of Han, but circumstance conspires to keep them together from one job to the next and along the way they continually pull each other out of the kind of pickles that would well establish the life debt he later owes to Han (but nothing specific is singled out here as the sole cause for it). At a critical moment, we see Chewie choose to stay with Han rather than return to join others of his own kind. This cements the fact that Chewie isn’t simply sidekick, but that Han and Chewie are in fact partners in crime. It’s also probably the most agency we’ve seen Chewie use throughout the saga - except perhaps for the moment that we’d all been waiting for (and had been teased at least once with Beckett), when he finally pulls someone’s arms out of their sockets. He’s also the first to throw cold water on Han when he starts bragging about making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs - as Chewie points out, he was already rounding it down.

The Money: Lando Calrissian. When we first met him on Cloud City, Lando presented as a smooth-talking, responsible administrator with shades of a dark past. Lando is just as charming as he ever was, but in his younger days we can see more of the conniving, selfish operator he needed to be to survive as a renowned smuggler in the galactic underworld. However, as with Han, a glimmer of his true nature shines through his relationship with L3, his partner in crime (and possibly life). While Lando’s side of that relationship wasn’t that well explored at first (other than L3 suggesting that he may be what Futurama would call “robosexual”), and it’s not clear how sympathetic he was to her robot rights crusade, it is clear following L3’s death just how much she meant to him.(10) In return for an ever-diminishing cut,(11) Lando provides the getaway vehicle for the heist - his highly-polished and specially-modified freighter, the Millennium Falcon. The Falcon we see for the first time(12) is pristine and complete, including the escape pod completing its front that we’ve as yet not seen. Having cheated Han out of his first opportunity to take possession of the Falcon, we see the foundations of the mistrust underlying their chummy rivalry, and the guile that Han brings back to the table to finally win it fair and square. Given the considerable damage Han does to the ship through the maelstrom to turn it into our beloved hunk of junk, it’s somewhat ironic that in RETURN Lando promises Han to bring the Falcon back from the Battle of Endor “without a scratch”.

The Beauty and the Brains: L3-37 and Qi’ra. I feel terrible conflating these two, particularly between the two female members of the crew, but unfortunately that’s the sort of movie this was. Qi’ra may have conceived of part of the scheme, and been the mastermind who ultimately ended up on top, but she didn’t actually have a whole lot do other than drive the plot. It’s arguable that she may have used her emotional leverage over Han to ensure that she always had the upper hand throughout most of the film. Perhaps hers is a character that has scope to grow over the course of a greater story, but in this chapter alone she felt a little underdeveloped; you never got a sense of why Han was so besotted with her, to the extent that he would spend years trying to get her back - and her convenient reappearance at just the right time was a little contrived. But I find it more interesting to look at L3 as the one who used her appearance and/or emotions most effectively to create a robot rebellion diversion to allow the heist to proceed, despite the fact that it was literally her brains that ultimately enabled the getaway. Unlike the prissy C3PO and the sardonic K2SO from ROGUE ONE, L3 is the first protocol droid we’ve encountered that is idealistic and empathetic, and she tolerates no nonsense from her beloved Lando or the rest of the crew. While her demise was somewhat inevitable, she’s probably the most ‘human’ droid to date across all of the Star Wars movies. The other resonant feature of L3 is that she literally becomes part of the Falcon, and is as such retconned into the Saga itself as the ‘peculiar dialect’ that always seems to bring bad news to C3PO.

The Leader: Tobias Beckett (and his partner Val). Beckett also doesn’t have much to do beyond driving the plot and be a representation of the mercenary that Solo would become - his Fedora Man - without the redeeming qualities. When Val vainly sacrifices herself to try to help Beckett settle the score to end his indebtedness to the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, he loses what little remaining connection and trust he had with others (at least, that’s what Beckett would have us believe). The challenge for Han will be not to do the same when Qi’ra walks away from him (or at least, not until he rescues a princess from a hidden fortress). Beckett is a ruthless mentor for the hungry young Han, but his commitment to making sure Han learns his lessons ends up being own weakness, resulting in his ultimate demise as Han catches him monologuing. Truly the student does become the master, with some regret but no hard feelings.(13)

The Competitor: Emphys Nest. Now this is an interesting character. Initially set up as a brutal marauder captain with a proto-Ren mask, it turns out that in fact she is the leader of a group of outcasts dispossessed by the Empire, who are not in the game for the money but for survival - and ultimately, rebellion. I found the the portrayal of the marauders and their motivation a little hard to follow at first, but ultimately far more believable and earned than the ‘resistance kids’ in the ‘Saga’. Also, I love the realism of the idea (reflected in the REBELS series) that there are disparate cells of resistance across the galaxy fighting their own wars against the Empire, who eventually coalesce into the organised Rebel Alliance. The fact that Warwick Davis’s PHANTOM MENACE cameo character Weazel returns as one of Nest’s lieutenants is icing on the cake.

The Heavy: Dryden Vos. I was fully expecting the boss of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate to be a Hutt, so it was a surprise to see an apparently humanoid villain instead.(14) Vos appears recklessly tyrannical and limitless in his arrogance. It’s hard to believe that he’s effectively just a middle manager, though he alludes to that fact along the way, setting us up for…

The Big Bad: Holy poodoo. Darth F’ing Maul (sorry, simply ‘Maul’ now that he’s ceded the mantle of Sith to the little brat watching him from the fighter cockpit). I could not contain my glee when I saw his horned face reappear. Now this is probably going to be confusing for the casual viewer, because most would have assumed that Maul was dead after Obi-Wan bisected him in PHANTOM MENACE. But those who have had the benefit of watching CLONE WARS and REBELS know that Maul survived and has tangled with our heroes (and even his former master) a number of times, all the while plotting his comeback and revenge against his almost-murderer Kenobi. Along the way, Maul and his brother Savage Oppress took over the alliance of criminal syndicates known as the Shadow Collective (of which Crimson Dawn is one part) and took control of the planet Mandalore (in the process killing Kenobi’s beloved Satine - yes, just like in MOULIN ROUGE). We also have had the benefit of seeing his final rematch with Obi-Wan on Tatooine, possibly one of the most meaningful duels of the saga. So with context, given CLONE WARS and REBELS are technically Canon, it’s unsurprising in a way that Maul would be revealed as the ultimate villain of the piece. Nevertheless, the reveal of seeing this iconic and criminally-underutilised antagonist once again in live action was simply breathtaking. Maul was portrayed by original PHANTOM MENACE actor Ray Park, and voiced by Sam Witwer. I was somewhat disappointment that the amazing Peter Serafinowicz didn’t return to reprise Maul’s voice, but given the substantially greater amount of work Witwer has done for the character since in CLONE WARS and REBELS, it’s fair to say that Witwer is now to Maul as Hamill is to the Joker.

“You look good. A little rough around the edges, but good.”

The rather unsurprising conclusion to all that is that this film has managed to meet and perhaps surpass, the bar I’ve set for what makes a good and enjoyable Star Wars movie.

Simply by virtue of the fact that they aren’t recreating the figurative wheel, Disney seems to do a much better job with these Star Wars anthology movies than the ‘Saga’ they are unnecessarily trying to continue (but in fact are simply rebooting). I really hope they take advantage of the favorable ages of Ewan McGregor and Daniel Logan to tell the Obi Wan and Boba Fett stories that are dying to be told, let alone find a way to bottle a tiny bit of Don Glover brilliance before he becomes bigger than Yeezus and stops acting altogether.(15)

At this stage we know that there will be at least two ‘spin-off’ trilogies, by Rian Johnson (ugh) and the Game of Thrones showrunners (Qi’ra returns?). If each of those manage to continue to follow the trend set by SOLO, and to a lesser extent ROGUE ONE, rather than the tired tropes of the ‘Saga’, then my outlook is optimistic on the future of Star Wars on the silver screen for years to come.  

So for now: I’ll happily go see another Star War.

Notes:

(1) I’d add that despite sketching out a potential back story and cameo for an orphaned young Han Solo adopted by Chewbacca and present at the Battle of Kashyyyk in SITH, Lucas exercised restraint and omitted it from the shooting script. While not begrudging the creator his licence, it appears in hindsight that this was probably a wise move and certainly created an opportunity for this film.

(2) Actually, now that I read that back with decades of hindsight, I can totally relate!

(3) In this case, that line was Solo’s reference to the Falcon making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs - long maligned as an incorrect reference given that parsecs are units of distance not time, though there have been some novel explanations of how that might still work that were Canon-ised by this film.

(4) Actual narration may be brilliant, please see a theralyst if doubt persists. Speaking of which, I wonder (did someone say WONDER?) which still life image he used as inspiration for this movie?

(5) I feel like the galactic resentment towards droids was signposted a little more effectively indirectly by the prequels, given the years of destruction caused by the Separatists’ droid armies.

(6) Lando set the bar at 20 parsecs, which is way higher than what Han eventually claims he achieved. It makes you wonder about the significance of the “less than” part of the claim. 

(7) It may as well have been “Corellian” or “Corleone”, for that matter.

(8) But let’s not blind ourselves to the fact that that says nothing about whether or not Greedo would have taken a shot too - Greedo already delivered his verbal coup de grace and allowed Han to get a response in before Han shot (back). Han’s mid-monologue blow to Beckett was more along the lines on Indiana Jones’s similar shot against the swordsman in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. As I said before, whether Greedo shot or not changes nothing about Han, who had already been preparing for the shot himself. 

(9) It’s a shame we didn't get an allusion to how Han picked up his stuttering Wookiee language skills or knowledge of their Imperial enslavement - particularly given the fact that the reason probably would have further demonstrated his empathy - hat tip to my friend Justin Scott for that one.

(10) I’ll be honest - as a COMMUNITY fan, it’s always a joy to watch Don Glover cry hysterically.

(11) He can’t seem to avoid deals that get worse all the time!

(12) Technically we did see the Falcon briefly in SITH, but let’s say that Lando has done a bit of a refurbishment since then.

(13) There hasn’t been such an effectively executed succession plan since the soon-to-be Darth Vader got ‘ahead’ of Darth Tyranus.

(14) It appears that the Hutts are being set up as the antagonists for a future Solo movie.

(15) I still vainly hold out hope for #SixSeasonsAndAMovie.

[baekunkun]

Capturing And Also Storing Understanding: Shared Network Drives

In most businesses' computer networks, there really are a collection of Drives used for the storage of advice. These are often divided up in to the following classes:

A corporate-wide shared drive, comprising documents related for the entire business enterprise.

A division, or band common drive, including documents pertinent to one specific unit.

A individual drive (by way of instance, a PU: drive), containing documents relevant only to individuals.

It's required to identify suitable and clear use procedures for these three types of batch map network drive. Excellent practices in managing electronic records should be pioneered in either the user workspace and the corporate space and, like so much in this area of work, ends and begins with the individual.

Thorough description of this process

Implement'release and tip' across the organisation: This really is a method of controlling the duplication of a record being circulated. Rather than minding the document to an e mail address, that gives each receiver a single backup, a pre-defined variant of the record is set on a shared drive -'published' - and a'pointer' or dictionary is emailed to alarm receivers. Recipients may then retrieve the file from your common drive as required. This will help to encourage a culture of sharing paperwork and also lead to people believing more closely about the most suitable way of publishing data on receivers and to deal with them frequently as appropriate company documents. It will also decrease the sum of a number of functioning copies from the hyperlinks of many men and women.

Set a general filing structure

Where there is really a large quantity of electronic documents stored on the net use username password, a basic general filing arrangement needs to be established. Where there are group or project-based filing arrangements, these should target to adapt to the essentials of the general filing arrangement to stop divergent clinics and application. The overall filing arrangement on network drives ought to:

Use simple but plausible structures which meet the requirements of both the organisation and the users.

Not utilize respective titles or rank names for folder or directory names.

Use titles which recognize reasonable components, for example as for example business purposes and activities or theme: sub-theme relationships.

The need permanently filing structures in a shared network-drive is chief, however end users must be invited touse constant filing arrangements in their very own group and personal work spaces. This can aid with the coordination between working papers and formal back files, and certainly will ease retrieval and entry across most of work spaces to your person.

The use of a common terminology is important to integration: arranging the usage of shared drives ought to be performed in conjunction with considering design conventions.

Work towards consistent utilization of language that is common across all groups and units of the Entire organisation;

Develop formal liaison mechanisms involving individuals accountable for records in the local level to Determine and execute those conventions;

Where possible, create terminology from the common network folder arrangement in line with language in the paper filing technique.

Build connections into the paper filing system: The organisation using a shared network drive can ordinarily be designed to represent the newspaper filing arrangement that digital records have been stored in a manner harmonious with their newspaper counterparts. This may be attainable by establishing a hierarchical'folder in folder' arrangement employing Windows, to mimic the arrangement of the newspaper document plan. Some considerations would be:

Electronic buildings are usually broader and more economical - have more thickness - compared to their paper counterparts; it is important to restrain the number of degrees to better maintain endurance: in general, no further than four or five degrees to an hierarchy.

Alphabetical folder titles are typically a lot far more usable in the electronic setting than are numerical file or classification reference amounts.

Paper submitting techniques tend to use longer names than are more comfortable in a Windows setting, causing lousy file listing displays.

Get a Grip on over folder production

The place where in fact the folder arrangement onto shared drives is formalised, there is a demand for clearly articulated rights and responsibilities for document creation, most likely allotted to certain functions.

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Issues in Scottish Curriculum Design Essay Example for Free

Issues in Scottish Curriculum Design Essay How any educational programs is separated into is two primary ways; one being the educational program in real life, where the points, substance and encounters of the educational plan on paper are actualized by and by. The other is the educational program on paper which is the philosophy of what ought to be executed in training in all cases. The belief system in educational plan can be separated into four fundamental classifications. Most papers on this theme, consent to a degree what the four belief systems comprise of, yet Schiro���s (2008) philosophies are the most generally known. The ‘Scholar Academic’, the ‘Social Efficiency’, the ‘Learner Centred’ and the ‘Social Reconstruction’ philosophies are the four primary classes clarified in the Curriculum Theory that will be talked about in this paper comparable to The Curriculum for Excellence, the present educational plan in Scotland. The most established of the four philosophies is the Scholar Academic belief system which centers around the collection of information and comprehension. The point of this belief system is to pass on the information on specific controls (branches of knowledge), to permit there to be future researchers in that specific region and accordingly, further create understanding. The scholarly trains are the aftereffect of the culture’s arranged information and comprehension of every region, and in view of this, the motivation behind instruction is to help understudies to get familiar with this information. The following philosophy is Social Efficiency. This is truly predominant in our educational program today and intends to set up the student for turning into an effective and contributing part in the public eye. The learner’s objective is to gain proficiency with specific aptitudes that will thusly accomplish certain targets that advantage society (Lorrie A. 2000). The individual will get familiar with a blend of information and abilities that can be assembled, in this way making the aptitudes progressively proficient and increasingly valuable to society. The student fixated philosophy concentrates more on the requirements and premiums of the individual instead of the substance they are to learn. The thought behind this hypothesis is that learning will happen because of the cooperations between the individual and their condition, thusly being more down to the encounters instead of the substance. The most current of these philosophies is Social Reconstruction. This is the place the social reconstructionists know about the issues in the public eye and see the activity of the instructor to address these issues in the study hall, trusting that it will recreate their general public all things considered (Groenke, S. 2009). The focal point of the educational plan would not be founded on information yet a greater amount of qualities and sentiments that would profit the general public and cause it to accomplish the best fulfillment of its individuals. In ‘Building the Curriculum 3: A structure for learning and teaching’ it has instances of every one of the four of the characterizations of the educational plan philosophy gave by Schiro (2008). It has instances of Academic belief system as it talks about the significance of information and the capacity and chance to expand the profundity of information previously procured as it states “Throughout a youthful person’s realizing there will be expanding specialization and more noteworthy profundity, which will prompt subjects progressively being the chief methods for organizing learning and conveying outcomes.” (page 20, Building the Curriculum 3). From this statement we can relate the scholastic philosophy through the fixation on creating information further to specialization in specific subjects, along these lines having the option to give the information and permit it to develop from that point. There are numerous instances of ‘The Social Efficiency Ideology’ in the paper as it centers around wellbeing and prosperity encounters and results where the individual’s get the chance to pick up aptitudes that advantage the person throughout everyday life and work, yet in addition the network around them. This is to assist them with turning out to be powerful patrons in the public eye: …support all youngsters and youngsters in creating aptitudes which they will use for an amazing duration and in their work, including the advancement of pre-professional, venture and employability abilities, individual abilities, elevated levels of psychological abilities and the chance to place learning into a viable setting. (page 15, Building the Curriculum 3) This model shows that the educational program is intending to support the learning of specific aptitudes that will improve odds of employability and fundamental abilities that will enable the youngsters to sink into society and have the option to have their impact inside it. The Curriculum for Excellence considers itself to be being fixated on the student, and their individual needs. There are bounty models all through the paper of this belief system where the kid is associated with what they are realizing and defining themselves objectives to accomplish and having decision in what they realize inside the educational program, “All youngsters and youngsters should encounter personalisation and decision inside their educational program, including distinguishing and getting ready for open doors for individual accomplishment in a scope of various contexts” (page 17, Building the Curriculum 3). This statement shows that the possibility of the educational plan is to give youngsters opportunity to settle on their own choices in what they are realizing and at their own level. There are four limits that make up the reason for the educational program that are portrayed in this paper. ‘Successful learners’, ‘confident individuals’, ‘responsible citizens’ and ‘effective contributors’, are the limits that the educational plan means to empower youngsters to turn into. ‘Responsible citizens’ is a genuine case of The Social Reconstructive belief system as it clarifies how they will learn regard and about various societies and how to carry on dependably inside the network in all viewpoints (political, social or something else). As Building the educational program states: …able to create information and comprehension of the world and Scotland’s place in it, comprehend various convictions and societies settle on educated decisions and choices assess ecological, logical and mechanical issues create educated, moral perspectives on complex. (page 22, Building the Curriculum 3) Here in this model, it shows that the educational program needs to furnish youngsters with differed information so the choices they make later on will assist with making a superior society. The thought is to show them esteems and regard with the goal that they may settle on better educated choices concerning what is best for the general public around them. Building the Curriculum 3 contains instances of each of the four of the belief system classifications, however there are two that are generally common, ‘Learner Centred’ and ‘Social Efficiency’. After inspecting the proof in more profundity it appears that the ‘Social Efficiency’ belief system is the most predominant inside this paper. Its fundamental spotlight is on getting ready and preparing people for future undertakings. For example, the aptitudes required for future work possibilities whereupon Kridel’s (ed.2010) outline, of David Sneddon’s thought of social proficiency, clarifies the educational plan as an approach to make people effective for work. As talked about by Arnoldy (on the web), social effectiveness in training is more to help the social economy than for the individual, yet negating that hypothesis in this paper, are the instances of student focused philosophy that is dabbed all through. However, consolidating these two speculations, Valades’ (on the web) discusses the possibility that to assist society, teaching youngsters to learn and improve their abilities and capacities to help the network later on, is the route forward. From Building the Curriculum 3 and having summed up that the fundamental belief system behind it is concentrating on setting up the people to turn out to be progressively proficient and beneficial for adding to our general public, we can see that there will be some ramifications for educators. Educators who have been educating for a considerable length of time under a similar educational plan will battle to acknowledge the new educational plan, in the event that it is as totally extraordinary approach to how they have been educating previously. In spite of the fact that the principle focal point of the educational program in Scotland has been centered around getting ready people for the future, it has not been centered around the more individual level. This may cause suggestion for instructors as they just have explicit designated times to be with classes and it will be difficult to offer every person, the time and consideration they have to create explicit aptitudes to the point of being proficient. The instructor should concentrate more on the encounters and results the students are questioned, to build up the aptitudes required for this present reality. This messes some up as it relies profoundly upon what the school can bear to give in methods of encounters, as the greater part of these will likely be met outside of school. In this way, instructors need to discover a method of accomplishing the result of making the individual an increasingly viable supporter of society by joining what they realize in and outside of the study hall. This would be an undertaking for instructors, as the condition every individual they train will be extraordinary and this accordingly implies the educator should figure out how to join these various situations or discover a similitude and spotlight on that. Building the Curriculum 3 has some ramifications for instructors, yet the attention being on social productivity implies that somehow or another there are not all that numerous progressions from the past as at any rate throughout the previous hundred years the school educational program has been centered around making students that will have aptitudes that will assist them with accomplishing destinations that will make the general public an increasingly effective spot. A Comparative Overview of the Curriculum Ideologies Chapter 6 http://www.sagepub.com/upm-information/47671_ch_6.pdf (visited 29th dec 2012) Critical Pedagogy and Teacher Education in the Neoliberal Era: Small Openings pp 3 Springer Netherlands, 200

[gamerszone2019-blog]

Borderlands 3 Review - All You Need Is Family

New Post has been published on https://gamerszone.tn/borderlands-3-review-all-you-need-is-family/

Borderlands 3 Review - All You Need Is Family

After Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, a disappointing spin-off released in 2014, Borderlands 3 is a welcome return to form for the franchise. The game reunites fans with the core group of memorable main characters from the first two games and delivers the mayhem-heavy loot-shooter experience that the series is known for. Borderlands 3 carries forward many of the things that made the first two games special, but in doing so it also brings with it a few of the same stumbling blocks. There are noticeable improvements to the series formula, though, as Borderlands 3 provides additional freedom in how you want to play.

Set seven years after the events of Borderlands 2, Borderlands 3 wraps up most of the narratives established in the earlier games, while also teasing additional threads that could be explored in the future. Despite these hints, there’s a definite finality to Borderlands 3’s campaign, which satisfyingly wraps up the arcs of characters that fans have been following for 10 years.

As one of four fledgling Vault Hunters–Zane the operative, Amara the Siren, Moze the gunner, or FL4K the beastmaster–you are recruited into the Crimson Raiders, the militia that defends the only civilized pocket of society found on the bandit-filled wasteland planet of Pandora. Led by Lilith, a former Vault Hunter, the Crimson Raiders have gone to war with Tyreen Calypso and her twin brother Troy, who are using their influence as popular video streamers to convince their cult following to help them acquire the immense power found in secret vaults scattered throughout the universe. The story is a bit of a slow start, but it quickly picks up near the end of the first act and rarely slows down on its way to its grand finale. Looting and shooting are still the focus of Borderlands 3, but its campaign also delivers a fairly well-written story of sacrifice, the importance of family, and the responsibilities of heroes.

Borderlands 3 provides more flexibility than ever before to create the type of character you want. For the first time in the series, the Vault Hunters all have an active skill tied to each of their three respective skill trees. Amara, for example, can equip Phaseslam to deal immense close range damage, Phasecast to tear through enemies from afar, or Phasegrasp to crowd control or focus her elemental abilities on one target. Using perks from all three skill trees, you can evolve each of these skills in meaningful ways. For instance, if you want to make Amara’s area-of-effect Phaseslam ability into something more precise, you could change it with perks found in both the Brawl and Fist of the Elements skill trees so that the ability transforms Amara into a levitating spider-like creature that shoots a massive fire-based death ray before she careens to earth in a smaller slam. Phaseslam can evolve in other ways too, as can Phasecast and Phasegrasp–providing numerous options for how you want Amara to fight. The same can be said for Zane, Moze, and FL4K.

As a result, it’s pretty easy for both you and a friend to be playing as the same character but have completely different builds and roles on the battlefield. This added freedom also makes it far more feasible, and thus enjoyable, to play Borderlands 3’s campaign entirely solo in comparison to previous games in the franchise, as you’re not limited to established class restrictions based on your Vault Hunter choice. You obviously don’t have to go it alone–and Borderlands 3 actually makes co-op more rewarding thanks to an option that removes the need to compete for loot–but it’s nice knowing that if you want to, your experience will not be completely defined by the Vault Hunter you choose.

The freedom to build your ideal loadout extends beyond your Vault Hunter’s skill trees. Borderlands 3 makes clear-cut distinctions when it comes to the manufacturer of each gun. Before you even loot a new firearm, looking at which company made it will tell you most of what you need to know about what it can do. Maliwan guns are fairly weak but each one shoots elemental bullets, for instance, allowing you to more easily electrocute shields, melt armor, or burn through flesh, while a Hyperion firearm raises a forcefield in front of you while aiming down sights and becomes more accurate as you pull the trigger. They’re minor changes to further differentiate each type of gun, but these new manufacturer effects make it a lot easier to build specialized loadouts that can augment the perks you choose.

But, more than anything, the guns are just fun to shoot. It may come as little surprise given that distinctive firearms has been the bread and butter of the franchise since the beginning, but Borderlands 3 has quite a few unique guns that offer a wide variety of enjoyable effects. Some have actual gameplay-changing ramifications, like a sniper rifle that can transform into a shotgun. But Borderlands 3 also has guns that are just playfully quirky and weird–ones that insult and tease you for your performance or just shoot more guns, for example. And you acquire new firepower at a gratifying pace, with new loot regularly dropping from the tougher enemies in the groups you encounter and explosively erupting from bosses you defeat. Borderlands 3 never lets up on giving you new weapons to experiment with, progressively increasing the explosive potential and wacky effects of the weapons you find, which in turn serves as a satisfying visual representation of how much stronger you’re getting beyond the higher damage numbers.

Even without the loot, defeating enemies in combat is fulfilling. Shooting an unshielded enemy in the head rewards you with their cranium erupting in a satisfying blossom of blood and gore. When you don’t land that final headshot, enemies mostly go out with a final battle cry–ranging from pitiful cries for salvation to humorous insults–and the game doesn’t repeat lines often enough for them to grow stale. Combat is never dull as a result, with your chosen Vault Hunter shouting out funny or cool-sounding one-liners in the brief moments you’re reloading and making your way to your next victim.

As entertaining as Borderlands 3’s combat is, the fun that is found in the freedom to fight however you want is occasionally interrupted by the structure of boss battles, a traditional problem for the franchise. Many of the bosses look cool and have incredible theme music, but they all amount to the same strategy: shoot the weak spots, run from or jump over attacks, and repeat. You can cheat some by hiding in an unreachable corner and slowly chipping away at the boss’ weak spot, but that’s not much fun either as pretty much every boss in the game has a large healthpool and many of the later ones are bullet-sponges.

Borderlands 3’s late-game bosses pack a wallop with every attack too, downing you in a few hits if you’re not careful and thus demanding that you near-perfectly dodge for an extended period of time–which can drag on and feel boringly repetitive in the longest of these fights. So when you do encounter a boss in Borderlands 3, it typically grinds the mayhem-filled action to an abrupt halt as you’re forced to respond to the boss’ patterns by playing more slowly and carefully.

The new climbing and sliding moves do allow you to better navigate environments and thus get out of the way of certain attacks, but both mechanics are better suited for weaving among the scattered firefights with normal enemies, not the concentrated bombardment of the bosses. Several boss battles are frustratingly difficult to tackle on your own as a result, to the point that they all seem like repeated suggestions that you should be playing Borderlands 3 with at least one other person. Two or more players allows you to take turns reviving each other, making it easier to last longer. But simply trying to outlast one strong enemy doesn’t impart the same enjoyable impact of the mayhem-filled firefights from the rest of the game. You feel more like a badass running around and gunning down a vast assortment of different enemies than you do hiding behind cover and waiting for the boss to stop attacking you just so you can safely get a few shots off.

Thankfully, boss battles only make up a small part of Borderlands 3’s overall campaign. Most of the story sees you go up against the Calypsos’ seemingly never-ending cult of bandits or the armies of the twins’ corporate sponsors as you race to find the pieces of the keys to open up vaults across the universe. Your journey takes you far beyond the planet of Pandora, and it provides opportunities for new types of combat encounters in a series that has largely revolved around wide-open deserts full of bandits or factories full of robots. For example, the jungles of Eden-6 contain an assortment of dangerous wildlife that have different hunting grounds and patterns, and the low gravity of a Maliwan space station orbiting the planet of Promethea allows the elemental gunslinging corporate soldiers you’re going up against to jump higher and more easily attack you from above. Certain weapons have greater utility in certain environments as well, such as an explosive mushroom-like grenade that becomes more powerful when thrown into water. That’s easier to do more often in Eden-6’s swamps than Pandora’s sand dunes. Borderlands 3’s campaign sees you bouncing back and forth between planets every few hours, which keeps each setting from growing stale while also encouraging you to keep adopting new playstyles, strategies, and weapons.

Borderlands’ heroes are nothing if not personable, and that trend continues in this latest installment–transforming the motley crew of outlaws into a family you feel a kinship with.

Even if Borderlands 3 takes you far beyond the scope of Pandora and sees you meet brand-new allies and encounter never-before-seen threats, the original cast of characters that have defined the adventures from the beginning are still at the forefront, and the story is better for it. Whether you’re a long-time fan or not, it’s the connection to the Crimson Raiders that acts as your motivation for fighting through the campaign. Borderlands’ heroes are nothing if not personable, and that trend continues in this latest installment–transforming the motley crew of outlaws into a family you feel a kinship with. Your connection to the Crimson Raiders continues to grow with every mission as well, as–thanks to the spaceship Sanctuary III–the entire group is with you throughout the course of your journey.

Newcomer Tyreen is clearly a bad person, but the campaign’s story never gives you a compelling reason as to why you would want to kill her so as to stop her for good. Lilith is fond of reminding you that Tyreen’s plans would ultimately destroy Pandora, but Borderlands 3 introduces a bunch of planets that would make for more preferable homes. Tyreen, and thus Troy, never amounts to a credible threat that you feel like you need to stop as a result, so the Calypso twins instead feel like the primary source of much of Borderlands 3’s comic relief, not villains that must be stopped.

With most of the franchise’s juvenile humor and ludicrous jokes coming from your planetside interactions with the Calypsos, it’s on Sanctuary III with your crew that Borderlands 3’s well-written story delves into its more heartfelt and emotional moments. The game wastes little time reintroducing you to mainstays Lilith and Patricia Tannis, a brilliant yet socially anxious scientist, and building the drama of its narrative around them as the two women grow into their new roles within the Crimson Raiders. Tannis’ evolution is especially compelling as you see her make courageous strides to move beyond the self-imposed limitations she’s set for herself on account of her autism and social anxiety. For two characters that were popular but little more than caricatures in the first game, it’s rewarding to see the growth the two underwent in Borderlands 2 now culminate into two leaders that you’re willing to follow to the end.

That isn’t to say the other fan-favorite characters have been left out. Pretty much everyone from the previous games returns to complete their respective arcs. Borderlands 3 weaves in plenty of memorable new characters as well–such as the coffee-obsessed Lorelei, artificial intelligence BALEX, and scoundrel turned rebel general Clay–but the game’s story is very much the fulfilling conclusion that long-time fans have been looking forward to for the franchise’s mainstays.

And what a conclusion it is. Borderlands 3 has a few stumbling blocks when it comes to bosses, but these fights are overshadowed by the game’s rewarding gunplay and over-the-top humor. The game’s character-driven narrative acts as a satisfying finale for the loot-shooter franchise, and the new mechanics and features–especially the reworked skill trees and weapon manufacturer effects–give you plenty of agency in how you want to play through it. If you’ve never been a fan of the franchise, it’s unlikely Borderlands 3 does enough things differently to change your mind, as the game best excels at continuing what the series has always done: deliver a humorous tall tale of misfits looting and shooting their way to heroism.

Source : Gamesport

[kayawagner]

Beer, Bullets, & Blood - Unrest at Rockchester Station

Publisher: Sword of Odin

Beer, Bullets, & Blood - Unrest at Rockchester Station

A Ready to Roll module for Bullets, Blood, & Beer, a Forged from GRAM saga where you’re free to explore the desert and it’s many temporary towns and outposts in a Wild West-themed open world sandbox.

The Wild West was all about exploration, about setting up camp out on the frontier and staking your claim. Many of the settings for the GRAM Role-Playing Game have their own framework and Bullets, Blood, & Beer is no different, honoring it’s inspiration by being its own thing. There is no specific, linear storyline for this saga, as much as there is a world full of strings to pull, a world of options to pursue. Unrest at Rockchester Station is a perfect starting point for this sort of journey.

Much like Westworld’s Sweetwater, Rockchester Station is a hub where multiple threads conviene. If you are needing to resolve a disagreement with violent means, if you are hoping to make a new place better for those who are wanting for a fresh start, then Rockchester Station is a good home. This module isn’t structured into scenes like previous Ready to Roll scenarios have been, but is instead a collection of events without an order that allow for players and their GM to pick at, for a table to wander through at their leisure as they see fit. This module is an open world to wander through and examine, to settle and make a home; it’s a world where players’ actions trump everything as they establish themselves in a place otherwise without rules or boundaries and all of the provided events are not mandatory.

Ready to Roll!

The Ready to Roll series is a line of all-inclusive products, where each module contains the setting information, scenario, and pre-created Iconic characters, so that you can quickly prepare for a session even if you're unfamiliar with the GRAM Role-Playing Game or inexperianced with RPGs in general. All you need is one of these scenarios and the short copy of the rules and you're ready to start!

This product only contains the scenario content, and requires the Ready to Roll - Rules & References product to play!

About The GRAM Role-Playing Game

Named after Odin's sword, the GRAM Role-Playing Game focuses on telling narrative-focused sagas worthy of the eddas.

The game mechanics are easy to understand as both a player and as a GM and math has been minimized as much as possible making it ideal for younger audiences and players who are new to the hobby. Players need only a single twenty-sided die, a character sheet, and a one page reference sheet to have everything they need (and never need the rule book), the GM also has a second reference sheet and shares a deck of playing cards with the table.

Characters are built as a personality first, statblock second and are created by selecting from a diverse range of abilities instead of structured classes that highlight teamwork, utility, and alternative problem-solving paths which allows and encourages players to bring their unique concept to life, from sniper-mages to rap gods to sentient barrelfolk.

Players earn rewards for invoking their character concepts such as quirks and relationships which lends to players staying more in character, interacting with their party, and participating in the story and less time metagaming and rules-lawyering.

The game engine and the characters are created to be flexible and adapt as play progresses; characters can evolve and their character sheet changed. There are no strict archetypes forming a dedicated path to power or destiny and no one way to ”win.”

Conflict is resolved through competitions which are fast paced and engaging, using a deck of playing cards. There is no dedicated set of skills, but attribute tests using twenty-sided dice against static numbers or compared to an opponent’s roll when opposed. These options come into play more frequently than combat, which when it does happen takes place on a grid and is quickly but tactically resolved.

Creativity is encouraged for players and GMs with customization suggested in the form of tips and tricks from the development team on how to make the game your own from renaming and tweaking abilities to borrowing from pop culture, and including anecdotes about real-play experiences.

Approximately 30 different campaign sagas have been played to date, from classic fantasy to near-modern horror; from contemporary modern day to far-reaching sci-fi. This includes both original campaigns and “fanfiction” mock ups of worlds from popular shows, movies, and books. These have all been detailed to provide options to get started and inspiration for you to build your own worlds!

Are you ready to FORGE YOUR OWN SAGA?

Price: $4.99 Beer, Bullets, & Blood - Unrest at Rockchester Station published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Time, space, body, and writing: power and care

Hey @mittensmorgul and everyone else, we need to talk about the theme of time in this season - I think it’s one of the biggest themes that have been brought along during the season so far, and in First Blood, imo, it has become even more evident.

There’s the obvious past/present dynamic in regards to Mary, her life with John and her past as a hunter, Dean’s memories of her (and hey, we’re going to have an entire episode on the time of Dean’s memories... at least two episodes about Cas’ past, and possibly his memories of it specifically...) and in general the entire theme of the perception of the past vs reality of the present (reality/perception being one of the biggest themes that course though the entire show since the beginning, but the theme has had a shift: we started with Sam’s visions of the future, now we have gotten to the theme of one’s perception of the past, but I guess this could be matter for another post).

But we also have a subtler way time features in the season, less about the past and more about the present-future: we have Mary saying she needs time when she decides to be on her own, Sam saying families sometimes do better after some time apart when he’s discussing it with Dean, agent Camp (the older prison guy in First Blood, I had to look his name up, I missed it in the episode lol) saying that it’s a matter of time before Dean and Sam will crack with the isolation, Dean keeping track of time with the incisions on the wall to count the passing of the days...

Speaking of the incisions, I think it’s relevant that Sam is seen coping through physical exercise, i.e. relying on body, while Dean does that though the keeping track of the days, i.e. relying on time. I believe Dean probably did some exercise during those six months or there’s no way he could do what he did after escaping if he went six months without any physical activity lol, but the show chooses to show Sam doing it, while Dean is shown making the incisions on the wall, and I believe that’s relevant. In fact, Dean is also shown shaving, which is also a way of coping connected to taking care of the body - in this case, appearance, which fits in the long theme of mirrors (also something to be talked about, as the mirror in the cell was very crappy and deformed the reflected image...).

So they use body and time in order to deal with being enclosed in such a small space. Space is also a thing in this season; I wrote something (or planned to? who knows at this point) about Mary saying she needs time and later Dean using the word space instead; Magda’s story was about being confined in a hidden space, the body of the ghost in The Foundry was hidden in an enclosed space inside the house... and of course the prison story, which is all about space, with the spacial confinement and the importance of the location of the prison itself.

Body, time and space are the dimensions studied by Michel Foucault in regards to the dynamics of power that take shape through the details - what he calls microphysics of power. To keep it short and simple, how do schools, prisons, hospitals etc work? Through a series of apparently small dispositions in the organization of time and space and the management of the bodies of the people in there. Your body is kept enclosed in a very defined space (the school desk, the cell, the hospital room) and your time is precisely organized (classes, management of activities in a prison, schedule of exams and tests in a hospital). All of these things seem innocent enough, but together they create a system that places you inside a huge mechanism that wields power over you.

It’s not just about institutions; the way all the spaces around us, the way our time is articulated, pretty much everything about our bodies (as feminist, queer, disabled theories well explain) conveys some kind of power dynamic. It’s not a coincidence that marginalized groups have a long (and not over) history related to institutions like hospitals, psychiatric institutions, and prisons (the lines between which are not always so clear, because a lot of principles behind their functioning are the same) in addition to discrimination and issues in the school system: modern Western society has invented those institutions as mechanisms of power through normalization: schools teach the same things to everyone, hospitals cure you so you become healthy - aka “normal” again, prisons are for criminals, aka people who are not normal (what’s criminal in modern Western society? ...yeah.)

And the normal, of course is also one of the biggest themes of the entire show, together with its twin concept, the natural. But I don’t want to digress too much.

Ah, I should probably mention that Michel Foucault was a gay man. (It probably doesn’t come as much as a surprise, right?) He was extremely politically active on a lot of the fronts of the social fights of the 70s, from psychiatry to racism, and his work contributed to push towards reformations in fields like the prison system. His work is still influencing feminist theories, queer theories, and a lot of other fields, and it keeps being a fertile ground for new developments!

I’m not saying Dabb has Foucault’s philosophy in mind, but I’m not saying he doesn’t.

(In case you’re wondering, Foucault caught AIDS while frequenting BDSM bathhouses in San Francisco and passed away in 1984. He had a very good time, though.)

This post got a lot longer than intended. Actually I didn’t even mean to talk about Foucault when I started. What happened.

Anyway. Let’s get back to Supernatural, kind of.

The hold of the power dynamics of society is strong and we can’t think of just get free of them with a snap of our fingers, but Foucault proposes strategies to get a little free of it as individuals (I’m not explaining it very well but I’m starting to run out of brainpower sorry).

Basically, what Foucault proposes as a strategy against society’s crap is what he calls care, i.e. a work for the improvement of the self - it’s a complex topic and if someone is interested I could elaborate on it some other time, but the aspect of this theme in Foucault that I believe is most interesting for this kind of analysis is the important Foucault places on writing as a technique for the care of the self.

Of course writing is one of the big themes of the show. Chuck/God as a writer, Supernatural books, tablets, Metatron’s new scripts... we know how the thing goes. Now, this season has placed much focus on the written work of the Winchester family par excellence, John’s journal, the word of the “god” of the family, the ripping of whose “script” (his conditioning) is pretty much Dean’s story in the show (with a side of Sam’s but for different reasons, c’mon we know what Dean’s story is about).

And now we’ve had a new character coded in a way that connects him to Metatron as “script writer”. Mick’s “let me paint a picture” speech is directed in the same way as Metatron’s “what gives the story meaning” speech (both technically speeches to a character but framed as a speech to the audience in a super hyper meta operation), and of course they both use a typewriter.

So we can deduce that Dabb has also placed his own stand-in character in the show, after Kripke’s God and Carver’s Metatron (with Robbie Thompson’s masterful contribution especially in connecting Carver’s narrative with Kripke’s God). It sure is soon to see how exactly Mick will work as the current showrunner’s meta character, but I am pretty sure 12x09 establishes him as it (him or the administrative/strategist/theoretical side of the British Men of Letters in general, i.e. the people who write - literally or in the sense of giving directions and establishing principles and lines of conduct). It’s likely that in this case Dabb’s stand-in will be some sort of anti-author, but again it’s too soon to make statements.

So, back to Foucault, writing as care, i.e. improvement of the self with the objective of happiness, i.e. creating sense/meaning. Supernatural’s meta undercurrent has been about meaning - Metatron’s experiments with storytelling, the author’s approval of transformative work in Fan Fiction, the confrontation between Chuck and Metatron. John’s journal has also been about meaning, the meaning of Dean’s self, Sam’s self, now Mary’s self (and of course their selves in relation to one another, because self is constructed via interpersonal dynamics). The apocalypse has been about Team Free Will rejecting a pre-made meaning that others wanted to impose on them; the tablets have all been smashed (by Cas, the character that maybe more than anyone has been looking for a sense of self). Hell, every piece of writing has been important, from Dean’s farewell letter when he planned to say yes to Michael to his note to Sam after becoming a demon... and recently even texts, with emphasis on the fact that Cas has learnt making them last season, and now Mary has. Writing is a theme we should also think about.

This post has probably gotten long enough and it’s almost midnight so I’ll just finish it by suggesting to collectively look into this themes; power (and resistance - power and resistance are two sides of the same coin, one isn’t without the other and one is where the other is) through the management of body, time and space, and resistance in the form of care (as seeking of sense/meaning) through writing.

[rebeccaheyman]

reading + listening 9.7.20

It’s been a minute since my last bona fide review roundup, in part because our week of vacation was followed by a week of long-overdue family visits (after all parties clocked negative covid tests), and in part because I hit a reading slump. Or rather, my version of a slump: a couple DNF aBooks in a row, plus an imbalance of reading and listening. I’ve pulled myself out of the lull, but the list below reflects my relative floundering for the past two weeks. Le sigh.

You Have a Match (Emma Lord), eBook, ARC (pub date Jan 2021). NetGalley review:

I absolutely loved TWEET CUTE and was eager to see how Lord would follow-up such a sparkling debut. YOU HAVE A MATCH brings the same timely, fresh, emotionally immediate storytelling as TC, albeit with slightly less humor and slightly more pathos. The concept takes a little more oomph to get off the ground (Leo's ambiguous ancestry leads to the DNA test that yields a secret sister result for protagonist Abby, and all relevant parties end up at the same summer camp together), and at times the narrative posturing becomes quite literally acrobatic (climbing trees, falling in ditches). Still, I happily suspend my disbelief for the sake of Lord's smart, authentic-feeling characters. In what might be a hallmark of her work, there's a consistent social media presence (IG, as opposed to TC's reliance on Twitter and an in-world messaging app). My dearest wish is that Lord's future work will not consistently rely on these trappings, which will sadly not age well; her storytelling chops are more timeless than the contemporary technologies featured in these narratives.

Muse (Brittany Cavallaro), eBook, ARC (pub date Feb 2021). NetGalley review:

I want to start by noting my excitement for this book -- and really, anything Brittany Cavallaro writes. I loved the Charlotte Holmes series and was eager to explore this new direction for Cavallaro's work. But for me, MUSE felt like it was always starting -- the action always rising, world always building, characters always establishing their identities. I didn't feel especially close to Claire, whose powers are somewhat ambiguous until they crystallize, very momentarily, in Act III. Part of the trouble, for me, is the intensive brain exercise required at the book's outset, to both visualize and conceptualize this version of America--a monarchy ruled by generations of King Washingtons. Ultimately, the story's setting (St. Cloud, along the Mississippi River) could be any imagined place; that this is a re-envisioned version of 1890s America has nothing to do with the political intrigues that drive the plot forward. I longed to spend less energy on parsing the intersections of real and imagined Americanism, and more time exploring Claire's power, her relationships to Beatrix and Remy, and the political machinations and intrigues in St. Cloud.

If my reading of MUSE is correct, then the second installment in the duology should be a runaway train of action, smart plotting, and feminist agendas -- in short, a book I very much look forward to reading. What I appreciated most in this first half of the story is what I've come to expect from Cavallaro generally: snappy, smart prose and strong women helming the narrative. It wasn't enough to make me love this read, but it's absolutely enough to keep me invested in the story's (eventual) conclusion.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January (Alix Harrow), aBook. May I confess that while this book came highly recommended from an extremely trusted reader-friend, I DNF’d my first attempt with the eBook back in November 2019? I couldn’t tell you what about me + this book didn’t jive last year, but a title this decorated and adored isn’t one I’ll easily give up on. I circled back around to it with the aBook (brilliantly narrated by January LaVoy), and while I can’t say this will rank among my favorites in the genre, it’s a solidly inventive, beautifully written narrative. In theme and structure, it’s awfully close to THE STARLESS SEA, which for me was a better book overall (one of the best of the year, actually). Something about the way the eponymous January too frequently claims “if I had only known what would happen next, I wouldn’t have done x” turned me off; this character seems to have a habit of being so caught up in her emotions that she doesn’t see obviously awful things about to happen. The antagonistic forces felt overdone and a little silly at times, and the mastermind reveal is too obvious by half. For all the flaws in TEN THOUSAND DOORS, the writing is solid enough that I’m absolutely planning to read Harrow’s next, The Once and Future Witches, out next month. 

The Marriage Clock (Zara Raheem), aBook. THE MARRIAGE CLOCK appealed to me in part because its narrator, Ariana Delawari, is a joy (she was absolutely brilliant on THE WRATH AND THE DAWN duology), and in part because I’m a sucker for Desi-focused narratives; I just love reading about these big, close-knit families with a strong focus on culture and family devotion -- not to mention the food and fashion. Suffice it to say, I was predisposed to enjoy THE MARRIAGE CLOCK... and it was... just okay. The book tries to build a story of self-actualization on a foundation of anecdotal montage -- essentially, the first two thirds of the book are about bearing witness to a series of bad first dates and getting commentary on the sorry state of modern romance. The story definitely improves once Leila goes overseas to attend a wedding, but I confess by then I felt obligated to finish simply based on time invested. The book’s conclusion, which I won’t spoil here, would have felt more satisfactory if Leila’s behavior and attitudes hadn’t been so childish throughout. Bottom line: If you can watch early seasons of Sex In The City without wanting to shove Carrie Bradshaw into oncoming traffic, you’ll probably really like THE MARRIAGE CLOCK. But if you’re looking for a more mature, nuanced Desi romance with lots of heart, consider my personal fav, THE BOLLYWOOD AFFAIR (Sonali Dev).

Smooth Talking Stranger (Lisa Kleypas), aBook. This was my first contemporary romance from Lisa Kleypas, which came highly recommended by another trusted reader-friend. The opening salvo didn’t draw me in as quickly as some of Kleypas’s historical romances, but I stuck with it because of the personal rec and Brittany Pressley’s easy-to-listen-to narration. The story is enjoyable enough, despite an underlying “mystery” that lacks real intrigue. All in all, it seems like fairly average contemporary romance... right up until the emotional gut-punch leaves you wrecked at the end of Act III. I couldn’t tell you why -- because again, nothing super special about our MCs or the plot -- but this novel had me crying all kinds of tears by the end. A strange, and strangely satisfying listen, but not necessarily one I’d recommend.

Just Like Heaven (Julia Quinn), aBook. I’ve been meaning to read a Julia Quinn for awhile; she’s a prolific heavy-hitter in the genre, and frankly it feels negligent not to have read her yet. I’ve hesitated, in part, because of purportedly questionable content in one of Quinn’s early titles, THE DUKE AND I. Reading reviews of that novel red-flagged Quinn’s entire catalogue for me (yes, it’s that bad). After reading plenty of reviews for JUST LIKE HEAVEN, I was pretty certain the egregious violations THE DUKE AND I weren’t being repeated, and the allure of Rosalyn Landor’s narration confirmed my choice. Long and short verdict: Meh. While I found our hero and heroine passably tolerable, there’s not much plot here. Instead, there’s an almost obsessive focus on one character’s recovery from an infection (gross), and when that chicken stops laying eggs, we’re asked to care about a quasi-farcical string quartet our other MC is forced to play in. The secondary characters introduced as potential leads for the rest of the quartet were either too stupid or too annoying for me to care about. If you’re hankering for historical romance, pass this over and just reread Tessa Dare for the millionth time (when will I start taking my own advice?).

Fable (hard cover) + Namesake (eBook ARC, pub date March 2021). Instagram mini-review of FABLE here. NetGalley review of NAMESAKE here. Adrienne Young is brilliant, full stop. I loved her previous duology -- SKY IN THE DEEP and THE GIRL THE SEA GAVE BACK -- and the Fable cycle does not disappoint. Strong, subtle characterizations; rich settings and evocative description; just enough mystical magic to make the world sparkle, but not enough to undermine the essential humanity of the story’s heart; and love of every stripe -- familial, romantic, friend, self -- driving the plot forward... could you even really ask for more? I devoured both halves of this gorgeous whole in a single weekend and I know you’ll love them both. Buy Fable ASAP and pre-order Namesake so Adrienne Young knows we know we don’t deserve her.

That’s it for me! On my radar this week:

Luster (Raven Leilani), aBook

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (Olivia Waite), aBook

Lady Derring Takes a Lover (Julie Anne Long), aBook

The Smash-Up (Ali Benjamin), eBook ARC

The Heiress (Molly Greeley), eBook ARC

We Can Only Save Ourselves (Alison Wisdom), eBook ARC

Plus, the continuing saga, Will I ever finish WHEN WE WERE MAGIC? Stay tuned, and happy reading!