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naturallygravitatedtolondon · 2 years

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a little wooden boy: quick notes on OFMD and The Adventures of Pinocchio

Naturally I have not stopped thinking about the silly pirate show for a single second since having finished it and recently I have been especially fascinated by the way it incorporates storytelling and performance as such prominent themes and how that is used to explore identity. This show is good bread! Really good bread. Anyway, in my attempt to somewhat organize my thoughts on all that I decided to look into The Wooden Boy story a little more and OF COURSE stumbled upon an absolute treasure trove, what did I expect from these writers.

The Wooden Boy story we hear in the first episode is so good and works on so many levels just by itself: It is first introduced in the “do the wooden boy voice” scene (EXCELLENT) and then picked up again at the end of 1.01 with Stede reading the story as a bedtime story to his crew. That’s such a beautiful moment of community (god I love that scene) and gives us a really good sense of the characters. It establishes that despite the talk of mutiny earlier, the vibe for this crew is beautiful found family (I love them I love them I love them). And it introduces an interesting thing about literacy that I need to think about more. And just that very simple story we actually hear (though it is implied that Stede has read the entire thing to them) – a wooden boy who wanted to become a real boy – sets up some major themes of the show: 1) Stede and Ed both feel disappointed in their life, “treading water waiting to drown” etc, they feel like wooden puppets and want to feel fully alive again. And 2) of course this is also about masculinity and the question that comes up again and again: how to be a real boy/man? And the failure to live up to that toxic ideal and then the space that this in turn opens up for a variety of other ways of being a man! and the rejection of the very idea of “real men”. But that’s another post (such as this excellent one on masculinity in ofmd by @edwardsilkheart as well as this equally excellent one by @sitzfleischh on the queer art of failure).

So. I think it is pretty unambiguous that the wooden boy story is supposed to be 1883 Italian classic The Adventures of Pinocchio? There is an obvious timeline problem but I think by this point it is established that ofmd will not be constrained by the shackles of historical accuracy and is the better show for it so whatever. This did however make me think that there might be a more elaborate reason why the writers insisted on having the story of Pinocchio in their show about gay pirates despite the anachronism.

I looked up the plot summary of the Pinocchio story on Wikipedia because I was only very vaguely aware of the details of that story, though maybe other people are more familiar with it and got all the narrative links immediately (Probably more people have seen the Disney movie than read the original novel but I can’t remember what exactly happens in the movie either so I can’t say how similar it is to the book). I did not, so I just experienced a long series of oh shiiiit moments while reading that Wikipedia article. Here is a list of all the things that immediately stood out:

First of all, the plot of this children’s story is WILD. Jeez.

At the beginning of the novel, Pinocchio meets a cricket which “warns him of the perils of disobedience and hedonism” and then Pinocchio “throws a hammer at the cricket, more accurately than he intended to, and accidentally kills it.” Reminds me of a thing that happens in the first episode of a certain pirate show..? ALSO the cricket then “ comes back as a ghost to continue advising the puppet” come oooooon

Pinocchio visits a theatre performance. This seems to be a minor plot point in the novel, but with the aforementioned focus on performance in ofmd, it’s worth mentioning.

The director of the theatre is a man called Mangiafuoco who has “red eyes and a black beard that reaches to the floor”. Wikipedia says that “despite his appearances however” this character “is not evil”. This is literally Blackbeard. And he is the director of a theatre! It's perfect.

There’s a cat and a fox character that pretend to be blind/lame and then later actually become what they pretended to be. (Jim??)

Pinocchio arranges a meeting with the cat and fox but the meeting does not happen because he is betrayed by them. Just stab me in the gut will you.

Pinocchio is hanged at one point but is rescued. I mean COME ON.

A NOTE ON THAT Pinocchio hangs from that tree for a looong time and is completely fine afterwards, it seems to me that he can’t really die from that because he is, you know, a puppet. Sorry to fuel the conspiracy @knowlesian but make that sentence about Stede Bonnet and swap out one letter in “puppet” (I am JOKING mostly but also am I??)

Pinocchio buries coins in the ground, like a little pirate

A “judge sentences Pinocchio to four months in prison for the crime of foolishness” that one made me laugh

there is an enormous snake with a smoking tail that attacks Pinocchio and then literally chokes and dies from laughing too hard at his fear and vulnerability. Honestly not entirely sure if/how this is relevant, but it reminds me of the two times antagonists (the British and especially Captain Badminton as well as the fancy party guests) are shown to laugh hysterically at our main characters and then die because of it…

Pinocchio’s father figure is swallowed by a giant sea monster (!)

(quick note here, I have been thinking about how the flashbacks emphasise Ed’s and Stede’s fathers and how both Ed and Stede are traumatised by abusive fathers and how that shapes them both in different significant ways. Ed’s father being physically abusive, Stede’s father being verbally abusive, which corresponds with the whole stinging with swords vs. with cutting remarks thing! And that ties in so well with the Pinocchio story! He is a boy who is literally carved and shaped by his father figure! Makes me think that we should talk more about Ed’s and Stede’s childhoods)

Pinocchio is disliked by other children at school

Pinocchio and a friend of his “go to a place called Toyland where everyone plays all day and never works” and “have a wonderful time for the next five months”, ummm?????

And then beyond those plot details, and I’m just directly quoting from Wikipedia here by the way, there is this:

“The structure of the story of Pinocchio follows that of the folk-tales of peasants who venture out into the world but are naively unprepared for what they find, and get into ridiculous situations” Yeah. I think that’s pretty crystal clear.

Also: “The Adventures of Pinocchio, is a work in which a hero experiences symbolic death and rebirth”, which now makes me want to think a lot more about death and rebirth in ofmd

And last but not least: “Although they are part of a comedy, Pinocchio's adventures are not always funny. Indeed, they are sometimes sinister. The book's fictive world does not exclude injury, pain, or even death”

In conclusion. The writers of this show put such a shit ton of thought into every stupid little detail. And this is literally just what I got from frantically skim reading a Wikipedia article, I’m sure there is so much more I missed or misread. But that is some insanely intricate foreshadowing, and it seems to me that they must have based parts of the story directly on the Pinocchio story/at the very least took lots of inspiration from that?

So yeah. This show. I just think it’s neat.

#this got quite long but I just kept finding stuff #also am I missing some obvious reason why you would link a fictionalisation of Stede Bonnet with the Pinocchio story?#or is it just that this matched super well thematically with the story they wanted to tell in ofmd #I have no deep analysis here just putting this neat little treat of intertextuality out there #ofmd #ofmd meta #our flag means death

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nyerus · 3 years

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Hello, Nyerus! I've seen that people don't like ⭐ember's portrayal of Hua Cheng and Xie Lian. They complains that ⭐ember's portrayal of Hua Cheng and Xie Lian is wrong. Hua Cheng shouldn't be buff, he should look like a beanpole and Xie Lian should be buff. I want to ask that according to the novel, which one is accurate?

So I think first it's important to remember that both the donghua and manhua both take creative liberty with their depiction of various characters. This is fine, even expected, and you can choose to subscribe to these or not. We're all here just to vibe and have fun, after all.

But getting to the point, Hua Cheng in the novel is never described as being lanky (like a beanpole) as an adult. The closest the novel ever gets is describing San Lang as "tall yet slender" reminiscent of that classic Gentleman™ build that is considered extremely attractive in Chinese culture. Just take a peek at the live action actors -- for any adaptation -- if you need an example of what that means.

As for his true form, he is described as being much bigger in... all dimensions, basically. In book 4, even before Hua Cheng powered up in the Kiln and was just Wu Ming, he is actually described as being "enormous." (Ch 192) Even if this is an exaggeration, he is much bigger than Xie Lian physically in both height and broadness. Take that for what you will. Meanwhile, Xie Lian is described as being a little broader across the shoulders, but also having a narrow waist (ch 6), and being androgynous enough that just a change of clothing -- makeup or not -- is enough to confuse people. He is also one of the smallest characters, taller only than Yushi Huang and Ban Yue. Part of the effect is that he looks like an angel but can actually punch you through a wall. He doesn't look like he can break boulders on his chest, and is described as a pretty boy (and so are other characters who funnily enough actually never seem to be depicted as "buff") by multiple characters. But he ultimately surprises everyone with his monster strength! He's the one Martial God known for his beauty as well as his skills and gentle heart.

Anyway, I personally don't think Hua Cheng or most TGCF characters are super duper buff. (Maybe Heaven's Eye??? Lol!!) But I think Hua Cheng and others absolutely have pretty defined muscles. Xie Lian also describes Hua Cheng's body as being quite firm and well-built on multiple occasions. It makes the manhua depictions of him more close to accurate than say super lanky beanpole or something. Even in the donghua, his true form is quite tall and broad across the shoulders. So both adaptations agree on that, and also pretty much agree on Xie Lian looking pretty fae-like. Again, take it for what you will. And to add, I think Xie Lian also absolutely has good muscle definition, just not to a crazy extent. He's toned and has an athletic body, but he's a martial artist, not a weight lifter.

We also have to remember what genre we're reading.... MXTX clearly has a preference for her characters. Even if you "death of the author" all that, it doesn't matter. It's still evident in the work itself, and speaks on it's own regardless. You don't have to overthink it.

People can absolutely choose to disregard canon and have fun with their fanon portrayals, and that's perfectly valid. There's no need to make fanwars of something relatively mundane in the grand scheme of things. It's best to enjoy things and let other people do as they wish. Just have fun~

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frevandrest · 4 years

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Everything Wrong with Saint-Just's Introductory Scene in La Révolution française (1989)

As promised, here is an analysis of Saint-Just’s first scene from La Révolution française (1989). You can watch the scene (with English subtitles) here. It sadly misses the dramatic entrance part, but everything else is there. SPOILER: This analysis will not, in fact, cover everything wrong because there’s so much trash you can’t adequately address it in only 1000 words.

In the scene, we see a young man with that hair rushing down the steps of the Convention (in what will be his signature dramatic! style). He pushes people way without even looking at them. There is someone at the rostrum, and many people wait to address the Convention. Saint-Just doesn’t give a fuck. “I demand to speak.” Some deputies murmur a weak protest, but they are shit out of luck because it’s time to introduce a new character, and we need to know what a jerk he is. So of course he’s granted the word.

At first, nobody pays attention, but “just like you, I would die for this Republic”, seems to work. He delivers the speech (which contains maybe two lines from the actual one), and by the end, Marat claps, the Convention claps, Danton and Girondins are suspicious; Robespierre is in love. Camille, oh Camille, does he know he’s just been replaced? Saint-Just pouts slightly (my interpretation) but doesn’t show much emotion. Next scene: Louis receives news that he’s being put on trial. Good job, new boy.

As first scenes go, this is a good introduction to Saint-Just as depicted in the film. But it’s also very wrong for SJ as a historical personality (what we know of him). Which sucks, because it’s not like it’s impossible to make an unsympathetic yet historically accurate SJ, if one wants to go that route. See, Saint-Just in La Révolution française is a prop; he’s not a character with his own complexities, goals or motivations. He is just there to be pretty and evil, and to take Robespierre away from Camille.

So, why is this introduction wrong?

Let us remember that this was Saint-Just’s very first speech at the Convention. He got elected days after his 25th birthday; he was the youngest out there. Also, even with Robespierre’s support (that some claim he already enjoyed), he was an unknown; a peasant provincial from Picardie barely out of his adolescence. He wanted to prove himself and demonstrate that he was a worthy representative. Being rude and pushing people away is not really a good way to achieve that.

Here’s the thing about Saint-Just: despite all stereotypes of the contrary, he respected authority. However, he only respected authority that he felt deserved to be respected. In 1792, “monarchy” was not it. But National Convention? Revolutionary government? Of course he respected it. He fought so much to get there, and he respected the place he was given.

Throwing his weight around, pushing people away, demanding to speak when someone else is at the rostrum, disobeying order... It was really not Saint-Just. He hated commotion and fights that happened so often at the Jacobin club. Even on 9 Thermidor, when Tallien interrupted him and shit hit the fan, he continued to attempt to deliver the speech. They pushed him, and he kept trying to speak, without, I don’t know, punching someone in the face (La Révolution française Saint-Just totally would, which is, admittedly, one of the many, many many reasons why it sucks that they shortened and condensed Thermidor).

The film uses “blame Saint-Just for Robespierre’s turn to darkness” approach. SJ is there to encourage Robespierre into cruelty and cold violence, and, if Robespierre starts to doubt even for a moment, to reassure him that yes, this is how things should be done, you are right Max, let’s kill them all, but particularly Camille; I can’t stand that guy for having you first ridiculing my poetry (wait... SJ’s poetry wasn’t in the film. Why does he hate Camille, again?) Who knows. The only explanation the film provides is that Camille is Good and Saint-Just is Evil, so of course he’d want to get rid of him.

Now, let us see about the speech itself.

The Speech

The speech Saint-Just delivers in the film contains maybe a few lines from the actual speech (notably: “this man should reign, or die”). I don’t have a problem with them not replicating the speech word for word because it followed on what other deputies talked about (which we didn’t hear)*, and because nobody has time for Antoine’s ramblings about antiquity. (And it would take around 10 minutes to act, which would probably provide us with more glorious shots of Robespierre falling in love being impressed, but it would take too much of the running time. I get that.)

So, in theory, I am fine with shortening the speech and paraphrasing, as long as the meaning and content is there. Which... it did on a surface level while also missing the point substantially.

*Not showing SJ addressing what others said before him was understandable (condensing runtime), but it’s another thing that made it seem like he didn’t listen nor paid attention what others were doing. Also, it’s a missed opportunity to characterize him as a jerk full of himself, since his real speech basically opened with: “all that the previous guy said is bullshit, and here’s why”.

Speech in the film: I would die for the Republic and I would fight the enemies of the Republic. We all know the name of the enemy, and I, like none here, am ready to fight against this enemy. Louis is a symbol of traitors among us. We should not hesitate; the king is an usurper.

In short, speech in the film is, kind of, less about Louis and more about what SJ will be important later: his own sense of revolutionary righteousness and for weeding out “traitors” from the Convention.

Another issue with the speech is that it wasn’t just about the speech - it was part of Saint-Just’s introductory scene, so we had to learn about his character through the speech. In the film, SJ is rude, cruel and cares only about... well, we are not sure, because there are no motivations whatsoever, but he is there to push Max when something bad needs to be done. I feel that his rudeness during the introductory scene and the way the speech was delivered fulfil this purpose nicely. However, I am not sure that we actually understand what Saint-Just’s speech was about, except vague “we must kill the king” vibe.

The Aftermath

The scene following Saint-Just’s speech is that of Louis, a doting father, reading a book to his son. Men come and rudely tell him to send the child away. He is to be put on trial. The implication? Saint-Just’s speech won the crowd over and they decided to kill Louis, or at least put him on trial.

In reality, while Saint-Just’s speech was highly noticed (his real-life dramatic entrance into Convention), the deputies did NOT listen to him. The whole point of the speech was that Louis should not be put on trial - trials are for the citizens, which he is not. Louis’ crime is not treason - the monarchy is a crime in itself. Saint-Just argued against the trial. Yes, his speech was highly influential but presenting it in this way puts way too much weight on this newcomer’s words and implies he was the key factor behind the trial.

Other Observations

- There is a long debate among historians whether Robespierre was present for Saint-Just’s first speech on 13 November 1792. (I think the conclusion is “probably not”.) But I don’t mind this change, if nothing else, for those glorious shots of Robespierre’s heart eyes and Camille’s “wtf did this guy come from and why is Max looking at him like that?”

- Marat. It is true that he generally praised Saint-Just as an orator, but he disagreed with this speech (Marat was for trial).

- The reason why this post is dedicated to SJ’s first scene is because I was asked/challenged to write about it. It doesn’t mean that his other scenes were any better (I’d say they were worse). In fact, the entire SJ’s character was a Thermidorized mess.

- That being said, I don’t hate this SJ. I cannot; LRF was my introduction to the whole Frev thing and will always have a special place. Christopher Thompson was ok, particularly in some aspects of SJ. However, the whole thing was a mess and it should be criticized.

- Hair. I promised to dedicate one full paragraph to SJ’s hair, but I... can’t. I simply cannot. I am sorry. I tried, but the words failed me.

- This was more fun that it should have been and there are so many things I didn’t get to say (the entire performance and what this scene means for SJ as a character in the film, a more detailed analysis of the speech and comparison with the real one, etc.) But it did show that I can still vomit write 1000+ words about anything that I have any interest in, which is... good to know, I guess? (Let’s just say that I won’t be winning any SJ contest prizes for laconicism).

#la revolution francaise #saint-just #french revolution #frev #saint just #movies

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rottenbrainstuff · 3 years

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I saw the Green Knight last night! (spoiler-ish discussion towards the end)

What a great big pile of stuff to think about. I haven’t been this surprised by a movie in a long time. It’s a very strange movie in almost every single way, incredibly interesting, and it’s received really glowing critical reviews. I’m torn though. Although it is a striking, strange movie, I feel a lot of the strangeness is style over substance, and amounts to strangeness for the sake of being strange, and I don’t think the movie is able to tie its themes up in the end to make a really emotionally coherent journey. It felt a bit like watching a student film (with a big budget), where it’s this totally fresh, exuberantly experimental thing that is so interesting and different… but needs a bit more polish on the plot to make it an actual story in its own right and not just a stylish experiment. A basic summary: if you want to see something totally different, this movie is for you, just don’t go in expecting an easy, polished Hollywood thriller.

Setting: gorgeous. It’s anachronistic medieval England, and despite the fact that it’s not trying to be historically accurate at all, oddly I feel it captures a better medieval vibe than anything else I’ve seen, period movie or medieval fantasy. At least in terms of the supernatural aspects??? The location: gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous, haunting shots of trees and forests and countryside. (why are there so many shots that are way too dark though?) Sound design: Amazing. Beautiful. I can’t remember a movie that made as much or as effective use of quiet. The scoring is incredibly strange, a mix of haunting vocals of medieval songs, and spooky thrumming sound design. Quite striking. Quite interesting. (the intertitles are an interesting idea but I think they could be more effectively integrated, especially in a movie with so much visual creativity - thinking of, for instance, the subtitle joke in The Man who Killed Don Quixote)

But let’s emphasize one thing very clearly: this movie is in a surrealist style, and that’s not going to be for everyone, it just isn’t. I think it either “clicks” with you, or it simply doesn’t, and that’s ok. I like surrealism. My brain gets it. It’s a fantastic way to tell a story, and creates ambiguity that means everyone who watches it takes away something different. And here, a surreal approach is SO suitable because it’s based on this very old… story, mythology, fairy tale, whatever you want to call it. These old stories do have a strange, absurd, surreal quality to them. It’s perfectly fine when a modern adaption smooths out the strange corners of a story into something that feels more familiar to a modern audience. But it is DELIGHTFUL to watch a movie instead try to embrace that strangeness. I’ve never seen a movie that felt as much like an old fairy tale as this one does. It’s delightful.

HOWEVER.

As I said I’m not 100% sure it all works in the end. It’s a movie that looks absolutely gorgeous, certainly. It’s a movie that is different in almost every way from every single Hollywood movie I’ve seen in years and years, certainly. But without a stronger focus and ESPECIALLY a much tighter ending, I feel it really loses itself in its own strangeness sometimes, and becomes a series of very cool scenes that are fun to think about… but not really a solid story that people will go away talking about. And that is a huge, huge shame, because there IS a strong story in there that wanted to be told, that could have been told with just a little bit more finesse.

And here’s my last big surprise with this movie (spoiler discussion below):

This movie subverts the plot of the original story in an extremely interesting way, but here’s the dealio: I think this movie relies on the audience being familiar with the original plot. Although I don’t know for sure, I would be willing to bet that a significant portion of the audience will not be. I would say probably even the majority. The only reason I actually know the plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is that it was a story included in a book I bought for my kids a few years ago. So like. First of all, how can you effectively subvert a story, if a portion of the audience doesn’t even know how it differs? Maybe that’s fine in the end. Even if that’s fine though, there’s like. Great! Big! Huge! Plot points!!! that do not get explained or addressed! There will be a lot of people who have no idea that in the original story, the lord Gawain stays with is actually the Green Knight, who has been transformed by magic. His entire stay there is going to have an ENTIRELY different context to someone who has no familiarity with the story. The Lady’s brilliant and disturbing monologue about how she hates green and what the colour represents to her will have an extra layer of significance for a viewer who knows she is talking about her husband, and what that says about their relationship. The belt! The freaking green belt!!! It is extraordinarily surprising that Gawain decides to take it off at the end! If a viewer doesn’t understand exactly what the belt is supposed to do, that it DOES really, literally protect him and he absolutely WOULD survive the axe blow with it, would they understand how significant it is that he decides to take it off?

I think you COULD make a movie that doesn’t require the audience to know the story… I think you COULD make a movie where the two audience groups will have two very different experiences and each experience will be satisfying in its own way… I just think they didn’t pull it off in this case.

So.

I think there’s a really great story hiding in here about what makes an honorable man, what makes a meaningful life, and how a real man may or may not compare to a fairytale hero. I think there is a very very interesting and very different movie here that was really delightful to see, in a time when movie studios are churning out the same slick and safe formulaic crap. I think it has great performances, great production values. I just can’t necessarily say that it is a *good* movie.

#movie nerdery #the green knight

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rachelillustrates · 4 years

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Comic review time!

Some thoughts on the Harlivy section of “Love is a Battlefield.”

(Featuring crappy cell phone photos taken as I was reading it on a computer that is not my own, so proper screencaps were not an option.)

🍃💞 Spoilers follow. 💞🍃

Okay, so even though I had read some reviews that accurately called out the toeing-the-line style queerphobia that we so often get with these two Wives, I still went and bought this. I can’t help but hope that voting with our dollars for all Harlivy content that acknowledges them as together, even if they don’t explicitly show it, will lead to more content about them that is open about their love (”Kisses, please.”) ❤

On that note - I haven’t read the rest of the book yet, having jumped right to the section on my girls. But I have been informed that the hetero-presenting couples do get explicit smooches, and that is extremely irritating, in the face of what we got here. We do get a forehead kiss, some decent hand-holding and a very interesting ending (more on that below), but it’s all written in a way that the homophobes/queerphobes could write them off as Gal Pals, again, if they really want to.

To be fair, though, if I clearly spent my whole adult life with someone in a more-than-friends kind of way, after “accidentally” getting into bed with them after they “accidentally” propositioned me as a joke, and then ended my elderly years with them the way this ended....... that’s gay, folks. Hands down.

That said, I did actually enjoy this story. It reads romantic to me from an asexual/demisexual perspective, which feels very Ivy to me, so that was kind of nice in and of itself (which doesn’t make the lack of obvious, undeniably physical-romantic evidence fair, per se, but we do live in a world that hypersexualizes everything, and this reads a bit like a Regency/Victorian romance in a sense, to me - with the tamer-than-usual standards of physical affection in public and the undeniable loyalty to each other, regardless. So yeah, I couldn’t help but like the vibe).

Here’s some specific moments I have some thoughts on, for the good:

So this one, and this dialogue, just struck me on a personal level because of how my Wife and I are together. She’s not very fond of people either, and my emotional breakdowns are a lot to handle, so I could see us here, and I appreciate that a lot. As always, the fact that Harley is ivy’s exception in her hatred of humanity never ever ever reads as anything other than romantic to me. There is an inherent queerness in that and I am Here For It.

Again. “Accidentally” misunderstanding. “Accidentally” propositioning. You lived to touch *Ivy* again, Harls. That is specific language. Not to mention the fact that Harley touched Ivy enough to get a rash everywhere means that Ivy didn’t just shove her out of bed. Ahem.

And as always, the fact that Ivy made a point to immunize Harley against her toxins is also inherently queer, even without the language choices noted above. If she didn’t intend to follow through with physical romantic affection, she wouldn’t have needed to do that, in that moment or in the future - she could have just warned Harley off and been more careful around her, herself. So obviously, if you put any thought into this fact at all, it’s clear what the intention was.

(The problem is that many people don’t put any thought into it, so unfortunately we need more blatant evidence of their romance, over and over again, to shut the homophobes and denialists down. Which is SO FRUSTRATING, since no one ever questions if Bruce is with Selina, or if Clark is with Lois, whether they ship it or not - they admit that its there, regardless.)

Including this brief moment because even though it’s subtle, Ivy reaching for Harley in a situation where they’re both in danger is a nice touch.

And same thing, here. They’ve obviously been through a lot in the situation they’re referencing, and Harley’s instinct as her Pam-a-Lamb makes an uneasy alliance is to hold on to her. Solidarity, support. Protective, too, with the guarded look on Harley’s face. I like it.

Aaaaaaand now we get to the bittersweet ending - I’m including this shot because, even though deathbed-side hand holding can be done platonically too, it’s obviously not platonic here if you weigh it against what we’ve already seen. This is the love of Ivy’s life, dying in front of her, and it’s intense. You can see in in everything - her posture, her expression, the fact that she’s folded Harley’s hand into both of hers.

But then:

Instead of getting very emotional about it, Ivy has already (and of COURSE she did!) come up with a solution. I’ve seen this referenced as them choosing to die together - but that’s not how it reads to me, at all. I see this as them choosing to live again, taking the chance at a brand new start.

Ivy doesn’t want to die here, but she doesn’t want to live, as she is, without Harley in her life. If they hadn’t done this? Ivy would have passed away too, eventually - the fact that she’s aged right alongside Harls is evidence of that. And then they’d be at the mercy of whatever afterlife may or may not be there - maybe not even reunited in death, if there’s an afterlife at all.

So of course she leans on science, she leans on the Green, to give them both another chance.

They’re choosing life. And they’re choosing it in the face of the uncertainty of memory loss - what if they don’t feel the same, in their new forms?

But then Harley says this:

How can I not love that? 💞🍃🌱

(Also, fanart will be coming of their new forms - since we didn’t get that, what the hell DC - if/when I’m able to get to it. I’m very busy, but the idea of this new life for them is captivating.)

(In the meantime, more of my existing Harlivy work is available here, among other meta and inspiration posts.)

(And my original comic work is available here.)

Thanks for reading!

#harlivy #comic review #otp #inspiration #demisexual poison ivy #demisexual #demisexual pamela isley #queer #lgbtqia #lgbtq comics #meta #or metaish #harley x ivy #harley quinn #poison ivy #dc comics

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adamsvanrhijn · 3 years

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you watching hdm brought back so many memories god they absolutely did the books JUSTICE and i am a firm believer in gay lee scoresby like please him and will's dad??? the TENSION the IMPLICATIONS anyway glad ur enjoying it!!

i am about to start a reread so i will wait to make up my mind on just how good it actually is but i do think they definitely at least did A Lot of it justice, although i am concerned about some of the choices in the first two seasons and how they are going to affect amber spyglass beats. but definitely leagues better than the film and, like i've said, while watching some of the choices and production elements were just. absolutely phenomenal and matched what i remember from reading the actual books, which is a testament both to philip pullman's capability of describing environments and characters and the production's dedication to representing them accurately. but it is also definitely flawed in places even uniquely from what i just mentioned about Choices

e.g. while they made it work in that it works for a coherent story in the adaptation itself, as an adaptational choice i'm.... less than enthused about the way they chose to represent the magisterium. i wouldn't go quite so far as to say it's hamfisted but imo they're beating viewers over the head with the totalitarianism rather than diving into what in the books i think was a very deft and delicate (while simultaneously absolutely scathing!) portrayal of the specific vehicles of control of faith-based institutions and faith-based authoritarianism, including the way that individual persons of faith "allow" themselves to be controlled by not just the organizing body of their religion but by their own faith. the magisterium in the tv series rules by fear. people are afraid of the magisterium. despite all the characters' talk of The Authority and shouts of "heresy", imo the show did not represent rule primarily by wielding the authority of god, it showed rule primarily by the power of government. in the novels, that is the power of the magisterium: wielding god against a believing populace.

even within jordan college, even with the pursuit of knowledge and the permissions granted by the concept of scholastic sanctuary, many characters, including lyra, actually believe in their religion! in lyra's world, people don't shout "heresy" just because they feel the need to pay lipservice to the magisterium. are they afraid of the magisterium? yes! but they're also afraid of the the authority, because they believe in the authority! they believe in the teachings of the church! they believe that heresy is an offense to the authority, not just an offense to the fascist power that rules their lives. there are notable exceptions, but they're exceptions.

imo presenting the magisterium to the viewers with the visual language of like, third reich germany, showing it as ~~Evil~ in an up-front objective way rather than an insidious-fabric-of-society way, showing its servants as having like the sole motive of controlling the populace for their own benefit rather than having the motive of pleasing and respecting an authoritarian god, skates past the point.

like in the novels is the magisterium meant to be evil? unquestionably yes! but representing that evil with the visual shortcut of IRL fascism rather than like... gradually revealing what/who the true enemy is in this universe... not a fan of that

like yeah in the show we get some characters, basically all of whom as i recall it are affiliated with the magisterium, having something like the fear of god in them, but like... it's not the same lol.

i just don't think that was effectively portrayed. and you know i'm sure a lot of that has to do with not wanting to provoke the irl religious populace significantly more than they inherently have to in making an adaptation of these books, because critiquing religious people is Quite different from critiquing a religious institution. and like okay that would be an irl constraint and i can respect it even if i don't like it, but i kiiiiinda get the impression that some of the people directly involved in this show were like, not really into that theme themselves.

and i can see why pullman would pragmatically compromise on that in order to bring forward what in most respects is a wonderful adaptation.

maybe i'll change my mind once i reread the books? my last reread was when i was a teenager and it's possible that it was this up front and just flew over my head and/or i forgot it

although having recently rewatched the first film, it strikes me as an adaptation that could have been great but was ultimately mired in outside forces' red tape in a way way way more obvious way — the good parts are really very good, you can tell that at points in the script there was a solid understanding of at least parts of the source material even if it isn't through the entire production, and i think the sense of it being so mild and sterilized for lack of a better word (as well as the ending which, don't get me started) and the tonal inconsistency is. intentional limitations from powers on high especially knowing how the production process went. sooooo many people feel threatened by this story and it reeeally shows in the film.

anyway you didn't ask for any of this but. you're welcome ajlkdsjfdsalkfsad

final note that actually addresses your ask: i definitely got Gay Vibes with those two from like my very first initial read and i'm still crazy about it like i'm crazyyyyy

#hdm tag

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nancydrew428 · 3 years

Text

Game 34

As of yet, there’s no proof that there’s going to be a 34th game. Her Interactive has answered a few fans and said that they were working on a game, but who knows what that really means? To get a semblance of an idea, let’s do a deep dive.

Starting with the past couple of weeks, HeR is selling all of the physical copies of their games, as well as some other products (like their physical puzzles). I watched a YouTube video that said that while this may seem like a bad sign, it might not be. For starters, many of the physical games have been sold out for literal years because they only make a set amount of physical copies. When they run out, that’s it. So this isn’t a completely new thing. However, they are doing a mass sale. On the one hand, it could be a last ditch effort to get whatever money they can before calling it quits. But on the other, it could mean that they are trying to make the best financial decision that they can think of. Story Retold (LJ), on YouTube, works for Her Interactive and commented on that video in early April.

The most accurate explanation is that we at HeR Interactive wanted to celebrate the month of April as Nancy Drew’s anniversary. 💜 We made it themed as collectibles but yes, once the physical units sell out, we don’t make anymore. :(

I personally don’t believe that that is the only reason. It makes sense that they want to honor Nancy Drew’s anniversary (the first book came out in April 1930), so maybe that’s why they chose this month? But I feel like that can’t be the only reason.

I agree with Nancy Drew Walkthroughs on YouTube that Her Interactive probably has to pay for storage to keep physical items, so by selling the games, they won’t have to pay for the storage. They’ll also be making money off the games that they otherwise would not be making money from. As we have learned with the pandemic, and as marketers have known for decades, having people panic is a really effective way to sell something out. It’s why so many websites will have flash sales, the biggest words will be “for a limited time only,” and sometimes they’ll tell you how many copies of the product there are left, how many people have it in their carts, or they’ll say “hurry now, less than 50 left!” Even if you realistically had a long time to buy that product or the company actually has a lot of the product left, they create artificial scarcity and manufacture panic so that you’ll make impulse purchases. While it feels kind of slimy, it is effective when done right. And, correct me if I’m wrong but, I don’t think that Her Interactive has really done this before. So it seems like they might be stepping up their marketing which could be a good sign for the company.

I think this could be the company taking a step in the right direction to make everything digital. Although I absolutely love having physical copies of the games and other memorabilia, I also think that we are living in an increasingly digital world, and it only makes sense for them to get with the times. Go digital, spend less money on making physical games, etc. So many laptops these days don’t have CD/DVD drive, so many of their older games (and their newest game) have issues which can be especially hard with a disc, and so many stores don’t sell the physical games anymore. With a smaller, probably not very wealthy, company, it makes no sense for them to waste money on this. Like I said, I love collecting the physical copies, but I don’t really use them, and younger people coming across the games will probably go for the digital version, probably even buying it directly from Steam. (Which kind of a side note, kind of related, this article on Her Interactive is really interesting. It mentions that HeR kind of fought putting their games on Steam, because Steam took too big of a cut of their money. But I do think that that’s better than not having any of your games sell. And if they’re going completely digital, and almost all of their games are on Steam now, it seems like maybe they’re modernizing and progressing.)

While this could be a bad sign and I don’t want to get my hopes up too high, I do have some hope that it might actually be a good sign that they are finally getting smart.

Another thing that could either be worrisome or a good sign is that they changed offices. In another video from that same YouTuber, he talks about how Her Interactive still has the address that they’ve had for years on their contact page, but on their privacy policy page, they changed their address to a PO box. Plus, there’s a listing for their old office.

Obviously, this could be a bad thing, because they no longer have an office, and that just doesn’t sound good? But this also means that they’ll be saving money by doing so. During the pandemic, they’ve probably had to work at home anyway, so why pay for an office that no one is going to be in? It also makes sense, because at this point, they probably are not the ones making the games. They’re a marketing team who gives the Nancy Drew name to other companies to make the games. All of this can be done from home. LJ also commented on this video in early April, saying:

As far as I know, we are NOT going out of business. 😋 We are all remote working now, since our team (including a male) is all over the U.S. Our work is digital, so it’s an easy change.

Something else that he talks about in that video is that they changed the layout of their website. He points out that it costs money to pay someone to change a website, especially where it seems like multiple details have changed. Hate it or love it, you have to admit that the website is more sleek, modern, and just a different vibe to what it was before. Why would they put in the money for a website and company that’s going to be dead soon?

Lastly, he discusses the company’s change in advertising. I hadn’t even noticed the change (mostly because I don’t look at what they post; I only come across it if it’s posted by someone on here), but when he pointed it out, I did see the difference. The picture advertisements that they post are better quality (not necessarily in content, but in size and resolution). They’ve also changed the font that they use, they’ve ditched the logo, and they use random pictures as well. Regardless of whether it’s good or effective or not, it is a change. Here are two examples (one, two) from the past two years, and here are two examples from the past two weeks (one, two).

This change in marketing is also in line with their Facebook posts. Facebook is the social media that they are most active on when it comes to engaging with fans, at least from what I have seen in the past. But at least since January, they didn’t respond to any comments until they announced that they were selling out all of their physical copies. They didn’t respond to too many questions, but they responded to a few, for the first time in literal months. If they were shutting down, why would they start caring about answering fans’ questions now?

I also found information about some of the stuff that HeR has been doing in the past 2 weeks. I don’t have an account on the website so I can’t see all the information, so I don’t know what was blurred out. I also can’t see any other “scoops” about them, so I don’t know what they’ve done in the past, and I don’t know if this amount of activity is normal or more or less than they usually have. But the company has been doing a few things here and there, so as I keep saying, maybe this is a good sign.

With all of this being said, it seems like Her Interactive might not actually be going under. We can’t be sure, but we can have a little bit of hope. But even if that is true, just because they’ll still be a company, does that mean that they are going to make any more games?

I honestly don’t know. There isn’t much information out there about game 34, but I will still compile the information that I’ve found here. Unfortunately, it gives us nothing other than them maintaining that there will eventually be another game.

(Timeline) TL;DR: I think that the key points are that they started saying that they were working on the game in December 2019 (as far as I can tell), but since then they’ve also said that they were planning the game. To this day, they are saying that they can’t give out any information regarding the new game yet and can’t make guarantees as to when they can release any information, let alone the game itself. The only thing LJ has seemed to say with certainty is that the next game will be made on Unity. They also have confirmed that there will be some improvements from MID, but it will be similar.

Some other tidbits from this that sound promising but probably don’t mean much: they have said that it shouldn’t take as long for future games as it did for them to make MID, they’ve mentioned that there are plans for multiple more games, that we should subscribe to their newsletter to stay up to date with any new information regarding anything (game 34 or otherwise), and LJ hopes to share news in the near future.

And other things that they’ve said that I’m 99.99% sure don’t mean anything at all: Nancy might potentially someday go on a boat in the future, LJ likes jump scares too “😉,” and Bess and George might appear in future games. (The first two are probably just jokes and fun, but the last one seems like it could be true, just because they’re in most of the games in some way or another.)

Lastly, some speculations: the next game might take place in Austria, and they might address the drama between Nancy and Ned.

Now here is the timeline.

On May 8, 2017, someone from Her Interactive said: "Yes we plan on making a 34th ND game. No is hasn’t been designed yet. Yes there will be a teaser at the end of MID, but no, we haven’t decided on what that teaser will look like yet." Obviously, it’s been years and plans can change (proven by the fact that there was no trailer at the end of MID, lol).

In December 2017, Her Interactive posted a letter about why MID was taking so long to come out. Here was the most important part:

As you may recall, we are moving to a new engine to be able to develop a game not only for PC/Mac but also for tablets, consoles, and now for the increasing popularity of augmented or virtual reality. Very exciting! Part of us going down this path was to ensure that we have multiple platform options for future Nancy Drew titles so that all Nancy Drew game fans and those new to our games could play these amazing games no matter what their preferred device or platform.

This versatility means that the design and development of our games are even more complex than in the past. Our PC/Mac game design will work for players on the go with tablets and possibly for players that may want to immerse themselves in the mixed reality world. We are also constantly evaluating new technologies and trends in the game industry. Consequently, this is why it is taking much longer to develop this title than previous ones. This thoroughness will put HeR Interactive in a better position for the future while providing us with the tools necessary to continue to deliver amazing experiences for our fans.

On January 2, 2018, LJ responded to a comment on the blog saying, “Hello Carmen! South America is always a possibility for future game locations. However, we haven’t planned that yet. MID will be available for PC as well.”

On July 21, 2019, a Reddit fan posted a response they got from Her Interactive. They explained that they lost trust in the company and would not be preordering the game. They responded with their reasoning for the game taking so long and how it won’t happen in the future.

We are moving to a new engine to be able to develop a game not only for PC/Mac but also for tablets, consoles, and now for the increasing popularity of augmented or virtual reality. Very exciting! Part of us going down this path was to ensure that we have multiple platform options for future Nancy Drew titles so that all Nancy Drew game fans and those new to our games could play these amazing games no matter what their preferred device or platform. This versatility means that the design and development of our games are even more complex than in the past. Our PC/Mac game design will work for players on the go with tablets and possibly for players that may want to immerse themselves in the mixed reality world. We are also constantly evaluating new technologies and trends in the game industry. Consequently, this is why it is taking much longer to develop this title than previous ones. This thoroughness will put HeR Interactive in a better position for the future while providing us with the tools necessary to continue to deliver amazing experiences for our fans.

On October 1, 2019, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “Hello Grace, the consistent schedule back then was on a system that never changed or upgraded with the times. Once we get the structure of this upgraded game done, the future games will not take 4 years to make.”

On October 2, 2019, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “The frustration is understood. We hope to be more accurate in the future, and to regain our players' faith in the next game release.”

On October 4, 2019, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “Hello Lisa, we understand the frustration and loss of trust in us. Since this game was designed from the ground up, we have certainly learned a lot and will be applying our lessons to the future games.”

On October 4, 2019, they responded to another fan on Twitter saying, “Hi highly doubt the next game will take this long - since we had re-designed from the ground up in a new system this time. We apologize for lengthy delay. :(”

On November 6, 2019, two users on Gameboomers made comments:

One said that LJ said there wouldn’t be a trailer for the next game after MID, but “she did say that there were some ‘early ideas’ floating around for the next game.”

The other got an email from Her Interactive that said, “We will absolutely be releasing more games after Midnight in Salem. We cannot commit to a release schedule as of right now since all of our focus is on MID. It will definitely not take us as long for the next title to release. Four years is not the new normal.”

On December 3, 2019, Midnight in Salem was released. The end of the game didn’t have a trailer for the next as is the tradition for Nancy Drew games, but there seemed to be some drama between Nancy and Ned, and she mentioned wanting to go to Austria. A user on the Her Interactive message boards pointed out that the game was outsourced to an Austrian company so that might be the reasoning. But maybe it could be the plan for the next game.

On December 3, 2019, an article came out about the company that said, “Her Interactive has already developed a Nancy Drew VR proposal based on one of the books with a Spanish director, but it's more likely an AR project would come to market first.”

On December 17, 2019, a user on the Her Interactive message boards said that they emailed Nancy’s new voice actress who confirmed that there will be more games where she will play Nancy.

On December 29, 2019, they responded to a fan’s DM on Instagram asking if they were going to make another game to which they said. “Absolutely! We’ve already begun!”

On January 7, 2020, LJ responded to a comment on the blog saying, “Hello Oona! Yes, we are planning on more Nancy Drew games. Can’t say when the next one will be released, yet. 🙂”

On January 8, 2020, LJ responded to a comment on the blog saying, “Hi again Jillian! I’m not sure on the release month or year just yet, but I do know it will not take 4 years to make. 😉”

On January 10, 2020, LJ responded to a comment on the blog saying, “Hello SWhite5052! I’m not sure what the intent from our designers is for poor Ned. I’m a big fan of Nancy’s boyfriend, and I do hope we get to have him in-game someday, be Nancy’s hero and also take her out on a romantic date. 😉” I don’t think this really means anything, but I hope it means that she has hope that there will be future games.

On January 28, 2020, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “Yes, there are plans for more Nancy Drew games. :)” Plural?

On February 3, 2020, LJ responded to a comment on the blog saying, “Hi Jam5022! We do not have any news to share yet, but we are working on the game. 🙂”

On February 11, 2020, LJ responded to two comments on the blog:

“Hello felicity18! Glad to hear you enjoyed Midnight in Salem! The leads didn’t add a teaser to the end of the game per tradition since we are secretly working on the next one, and haven’t put together footage to share or tease on it yet. Stay tuned for future updates!”

“Hi Madi! Ship of Shadows was shelved, meaning we stopped working on it. At this time, we are only focusing on the main mystery adventure line.”

On February 20, 2020, LJ responded to two comments on the blog:

“Hi Sarah! Yes, the next game will be made on Unity. 🙂”

“I hope so, Nicole! I always like having Nancy’s best friends on the case with her! No promises just yet, but it’s likely for a future game. 🙂”

On February 25, 2020, they responded to a fan’s DM on Instagram saying, “New game info coming shortly. Stay tuned!” This didn’t happen.

On April 13, 2020, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “Hi Anna! When we have news on the next Nancy Drew game, we will be sure to share it! #NancyDrew”

On May 22, 2020, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “No news to share yet, but we are working on it!”

On September 13, 2020, someone on Reddit said that there was an untitled 34th game on Wikipedia. As they pointed out, anyone can edit entries on Wikipedia. But almost 7 months later, it hasn’t been taken down.

On November 29, 2020, someone on Reddit posted LJ’s response to a YouTube comment. “Game 34 is in the works. That’s all I can say for now. :)”

On December 1, 2020, LJ responded to some comments from October 2020 on a blog post:

“Hello! Game 34 is in the works. Stay tuned for future updates and be sure to subscribe to the newsletter for when we announce news. Glad you liked the graphic!”

“Hello! No news yet to share at this time, but that we are working on it. Keep an eye out in future newsletters for future bits of information. 😀”

“Sadly, I do not have anything to share about the next game. 🙁 I hope to be able to tease out clues in the future, though!”

On December 4, 2020, LJ responded to some comments from October/November 2020 on a blog post:

“Hello, beka! Sadly, I do not have any new info to share about the future game at this time. 🙁 I hope to share news with you in the future!”

“Hi Stephanie! It has been a while, hasn’t it? Sadly, I do not have any news to share at this time. As soon as I have some that I can share, I will!”

“Hi Natalina! It has been a while since we have had a Twitch stream. Sadly, we do not have any news to share yet about the next Nancy Drew game. Stay tuned!”

“Hello Foundation2430, things have certainly changed since Sea of Darkness. I am limited to what we can share behind the scenes, but once I have things I can share with you about the current and future games, I will. I don’t think the next game will take 4 years. 🙂”

On December 11, 2020, LJ responded to a comment from a blog post saying, “Hi ali! We are working on the next game, but we do not have a release date for it just yet.”

On January 6, 2021, LJ responded to a comment from a blog post saying, “Hello Natalina! Sorry, I do not have any news to share about new Nancy Drew games or projects. 🙁”

On January 8, 2021, LJ responded to two comments on the blog:

“Hi Aly! The next game is indeed in the works. Sadly, I cannot share anything about it at this time. 🙁 But I do hope you have a great new year as well! I hope to share more secrets with you in the future!”

“Hello Sanjeet! Happy New Year! We do have game 34 in the works, but I cannot share anything with you at this time. 🙁”

On January 28, 2021, LJ responded to a comment on a blog post saying, “Hi Cleanna! I think Nancy spending time on a ship is a great idea, too. Hopefully, she will get to do that in the future!” I doubt that this will happen, but she didn’t have to answer it this way. I guess it was probably to create some hope.

On February 2, 2021, LJ responded to two comments on the blog:

The first response was to a fan who talked about VR where she said, “Hello Madi! Thanks for sharing your concern. We have seen others comment their worry about the graphics since they get easily sick from motion as well. We are keeping this in mind for our future games. 🙂” I don’t think that they ever really planned to do VR, but she didn’t have to add that last part. Again, I’m guessing it was to create some hope.

The second response was to a fan who asked a question on January 15th where she said, “Hi Jessica! I do not know when the next game will be released, but once I have info, I will be sure to share it!” She answered this a few days after she answered the first question, when this was the first comment on the post. I wonder if she didn’t skip it, but rather waited until she could say the right thing.

On February 15, 2021, LJ responded to a few comments on a blog post:

The first comment asked if they’ll share any information on the game this year to which she responded, “Hi Rach! I do not know when news will become available to share. Sorry!” I understand this because MID was a hot mess where they kept giving dates and time frames that they couldn’t keep. But if they’ve been supposedly working on this since November, a year should be plenty of time for them to give some information, right? That they’ll keep the same voice actress for Nancy, part of the plot, who a phone character will be, the state or country it will be set in, or something super simple. Yet she couldn’t even say that she’d give any information this year.

She also responded to someone saying, “Hi Sarah! I cannot say exactly, since the behind-the-scenes work is top secret. I hope to share news in the near future when I’m able to!” One minute she couldn’t say whether they’d give out any information this year at all, the (literal) next minute she said she hopes to share news soon.

On March 3, 2021, LJ responded to a few comments on a blog post:

“Hi Lindsay! There are plans for the future. Stay tuned for news when I am allowed to share it!”

“Aw thanks for sharing! We are indeed working hard behind the scenes here. 😉”

On March 10, 2021, LJ responded to a comment on a blog post saying, “Hello Rishi! I would love to share information about our next game, but sadly, I cannot at this time. All I can say is that we are indeed planning another game. 🙂” So they’re still in the planning stage for the next game?

On March 30, 2021, LJ responded to a few comments on a blog post:

“Hi Becca! Jump scares are my favorites, too. 😉 Sadly, I do not have any news or even a date when we will share news about the next game. 🙁” (I kept the first part, because she didn’t need to put a winky face. I’m sure this is just wishful thinking, but maybe there will be a jump scare in the new game? Lol. But she doesn’t even have a date for when she can even share news about the game.)

“Hi Grace! We are indeed working on another game. I do not have any idea when we will be sharing news about it, though.” Pretty much the same, generic response.

On April 5, 2021, Her Interactive responded to a Reddit fan on Instagram about the future game saying: “Hello lorichelter! The next game will have some improvements but will be similar to MID. We’re glad to hear you enjoyed the game! Also, future games will be Mac compatible, but unfortunately we do not have plans to remaster the old games at this time. :( If we ever find a workaround for the Apple restriction of 32-bit games, we will quick to share that trick.”

#her interactive #nancy drew #clue crew #video game #video games #timeline #info #game 34 #post #mine

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shyrose57 · 3 years

Note

Part 2 with da angst

2: Young Ranbob did not understand at all what was going on, infact he refused to believe he ever had anything to do with the sabotages, it was only when Dream took over completely and gave Ranbob enough of his mind to know what he was doing, did he finally accept it. He tried and tried to break Dreams control and get control of his body back, but nothing he did ever really worked, and the more he tried Dream eventually began to punish him, forcing him to stop. He felt aboustely awful, like a failure, a murder, and just a shitty person during all of this. His journal shows basically all of his mental decline, it went from normal, him recording special things during the day, to semi-normal, him expression concern and fear over the sabotages and killings (with some out of place words or sentences here and there appearing half way through, showing Dreams presence), to recordings from someone with obvious mental distress (misspelled words, extreme fear, showing fear of himself, hasty writings and drawings, very obviously out of place sentences (their neater than the rest and written differently, written by Dream), and meaningless words and sentences, obviously trying to say something but not knowing how too), all they way to flipping entries of when Ranbob is in control (sadness, despair, hasitly done, regret, and just heavy sentences) to when Dream is in control (Neat writing, stating "facts", showing a level of glee). Ranbob does still have it, he actually still uses it to record what happens in the groups and how far he's come. To the Gladiators its more of a "Hey I found this thing, lets read this thing." "No let's not read the thing." "Im going to ignore you and read it anyway.". The pictures are from the current ruined state of the City of Mizu, and pictures showing Ranbob at the fishermens house, struggling to walk and even eat on his own, though a few are from before Dream ever got a hold of Ranbob.

3: The way you just said "Causally drops some trauma on them, huh?" And "Traumatized gremlins" made me laugh so much. Its so accurate and made me just think of the brothers vibing toghere before I just pop in and drop tons of trauma on them before dipping. "Ah, damn, the opponent stared me in my chest." "WHY ARE YOU SO CALM ABOUT THIS!? YOUR BLEEDING OUT!" "Oh im used to this. Trust me I'll survive...probably." "RAN I SWEAR!". And "Ranbob when did you last eat?" "Uhhh, 2 days ago I think." "..." "D-did I eat too soon? I dont have to eat for another day or two max-" "Ranbob shut up and eat." "B-but-" "If you dont eat I'll tell Benjamin." "OK ok I'll eat." Ran thinks its normal to get stabbed often, while Ranbob thinks its normal to only eat every 2 or 3 days, and to not sleep for a long time. There is one particular hunter that's been hunting him the longest, they go by Raq and are the most determined to get Ran, though they don't plan on killing him, but rather kidnapping him and exploting him for pearls. It was a bit hard at first, Ran kept having to leave to wander around the City for a bit, though he eventually successfully got accustomed to staying in one place, though he does sometimes wish he could travel again.

4: A bit of everything, him getting violent and trying to run at first. But after that it fades more into what resembles a depressive state, with him refusing to move and crying while being lost in his head. He requires space to move around but be monitored in the first state, while for the second he needs constant comfort and physical contact. The aftermath was the fishermen and Jackie staying close to Ranbob for the next 2 days, while Grievous and Watson try to find Ran after he stormed off in anger and disbelief. Ran does know what a relapse means, but during the time he believes Ranbobs relapse might be something else (like his facade faulting maybe).

5: Not long at all, while Ran is carrying Jackie and Cletus makes fun of them as Ranbob is following him, Jackie quickly points out how Ranbob is like a lost puppy, and the same thing is basically happening to the two of them, but showed different ways. (The brothers making sure their family is safe by sticking close to them).

6: By the time they travel to Subbin, Ranbob has gained like 80 pounds and is a way more healthy weight and looks much more healthier than when the fishermen first found him.

7: Their usually either getting materials, looking around the area/exploring, being taught things by someone, or sleeping. Charles was the one who revived the nickname! He called him that when trying different tactics to calm him down from a nightmare, Ranbob immediately froze and after a while started to cry, Charles panicked but Ranbob quickly comforted him, saying he just hasn't heard Bobby used in such a long time and brings back both incredibly happy and incredibly sad memories. And with permission, Charles starts using it more. Ran also freezes when hearing it, immediately going ridged and almost ripping a map he has in his hands, when asked by Grievous what was wrong, he just growled out nothing and moved on. Though he does mull over it later, conflicting emotions running all over him.

8: Helping separate Ran and Ranbob was already big for the gladiators. As most people would just watch with glee. Then when they get time to talk and make the connection between Ran and Ranbob, they decide to make a exception and willingly put in effort to bond with the other group. Also them just naturally connecting made the bonding and trust easy between the groups.

9: They do both! They keep some books, pictures, and other stuff, but sell others as relics. Ranbob mostly disapproves of them selling the items, but also knows it'll probably be best to sell them, and have them either spread the story of Mizu as a warning, or have the story of Mizu destroyed by assumptions and twisting of the story.

10: I'm thinking maybe a Wilbur decendent is inhabiting a certain town, and when the groups stop in for a break, Wilbur decendant houses them and listens to their story, and tries to help?

11: They mostly just find them, they either find them in book stores or ruined towns and cities (maybe I can put The Masquerade tale in here somewhere), a wide range of people, from scholars to plain history nerds, to books from during the time of the SMP itself to books written by seemingly no one. Ranbob finds some himself, mostly when exploring with the group. I think I misworded this! Dream is the one who compared Ranbobs journal to Ranboos memory book! Ranbob knows of Ranboos memory book but he himself doesn't see the connection. Ran feels all of the above. He is extremely ashamed and disappointed in himself for hurting his brother, he hugs him tightly and apologizes non-stop, promising to make it all up to him, and while he asks for forgiveness he also says he doesnt expect for his brother to forgive him. Once he finally sees Dream for real though he's the first one to blindly attack and try to kill em. Though he doesnt succeed.

12: No one expect the brothers where outside in the rain when they fought. So no one knew of what was happening. Its only when Ran finally joined them, but alone, did they get scared and alarmed. And when Ran admits they got into a fight and Ranbob ran off, the fishermen immediately start yelling at Ran and run off to find Ranbob, screaming his name into the deafening thunder. Grievous follows them but Watson and Jackie hang back a bit, Jackie just looks at Ran with a heartbroken expression, tears in his eyes, and asks, with his voice shaking and laced with sadness, "Why can't you at least try to accept him, you dont have to like or forgive him, but why can't you just let him heal?" "Jackie..you dont know what's he done-" "I do know! And I'm willing to help him change and recover! You can't and your his brother! What kind of family member are you?" Ran tries to respond but Jackie just chokes and shakes his head at him, running off to follow the others. Watson then speaks up, simply saying "Mate, your doing more than hurting Ranbob at this point." Before running off to follow and join the others. Ran feels horrible, even before being confronted he so badly wanted to chase after Ranbob, but was to scared too and he constantly was trying to reassure himself that he did the right thing, but no matter what, he couldn't convince himself that was the truth. And after the confrontation, Ran is taking what was said to heart and also considering running away, leaving the group behind and sparing them of all the pain he believes he causes, believing that he's just as bad a family member as Ranbob was. But he doesnt, because he feels like he absolutely needs to talk to his brother and everyone else.

2: Oh god. Poor Ranbob. He really went through it. It does make me wonder, did anyone notice something was up? His mentor? Parents? Friends? Speaking off, what was his relationship with them all? From what I know, he seemed to be under a lot of pressure, so how did that effect things, and how did Dream’s presence change that? And uh, gladiators reactions to reading the diary? Also, did they get caught reading it, or? And how did everyone in general react to the pictures? The fishermen may have taken the latter, but how did they feel about seeing Ranbob before Dream came into the picture?

3: I tell it like it is, glad to hear it’s made you laugh though. And uh, oh boy. On one hand, I definitely shouldn’t laugh at stabbing and possible starvation. One the other. Ran’s reaction. Ranbob being threatened with Benjamin. Is he often threatened with Benjamin? What exactly happens if Benjamin is told? Will Raq be causing future problems? Is Ran happy to be on the road again?

4: That sucks. Did the gladiators witness it first hand, or did the fishermen kind of realize what was happening and split off for a bit? Reactions to either seeing or hearing this happen?

5: Ranbob’s reaction to this? Heck, all of the fishermen’s reactions?

6: As he should. If he ever starts looking even slightly thin again, Benjamin needs to jump into immediate action! Also, give him a blanket and warm drink, please? Please, he needs it, they all do.

7: So not too bad, that’s good. Charles was the one, huh? Interesting. Does Ranbob like having it back? And conflicting emotions, hmm? What would those emotions be? Does anyone ever notice the nickname makes him mad?

8: So the gladiators consider that their big approval? Why’s that? Like obviously, they helped break it up, but was it something particular? Did they get between the two? Jump into the arena? What?

9: A warning of Mizu...there’s something awfully tragic about that.

10: Sounds interesting! In what way would they be able to help?

11: Scattered about, hm? So Ranbob knows about Ranboo’s memory book? Did Dream tell him, or did Mizu have a copy, or? And yay, Ranbob finally gets a hug! Most wonderful! Sad Ran doesn’t succeed in murder, but meh. Always next time, I suppose.

12: You...you were really going for my heart when you wrote this, weren’t you? Um, first of all, ouch. Second of all, also ouch. That’s all I’ve got for you right now. Just, ouch, Anon. Ouch.

#dream smp #dream smp au #Brothers AU #tales from the smp #ranbob

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lunavadash-creates · 3 years

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Finally there is someone who understands my love for Saint oniisan! I am not especially religious, but I can totally say I became a huge fan of Jesus after seeing it! He is hilarious and has a funny voice! I love the way he says “Budda” after Budda suggests making food out of rocks. And the scene in the sauna is definitely my favorite. Idea of Jesus being the son of the yakuza's boss – I am buying it! I love such creative productions!

Your idea for Mira and Connor story seems more and more interesting. To be honest, it’s even better than plotline for Amara and Altair and Olivia and Haytham (although you make me question all my prejudices towards him and in the end I can say that I “like him” rather than “tolerate him”, your drabble with drunken Olivia was asdfghjkllove). Maybe next time you post some 5 words sentences or whatever it was, I’ll request something for them. I am definitely not a history lover, but I admire having such a deliberate background. You really have potential for being a professional writer. I mean, don’t get me wrong, but those are only fanfictions. People writing such things focus on the story itself, on characters, dynamics between them. I feel that you also work a lot on research for background to be the most accurate as it could be. Like, wow! And you actually really prepare for writing anything. The drabble with the reader wanting a tattoo and reaction of ac character taking into consideration how tattoos were perceived in the appropriate timeline? I had no idea that people were tattooed in ancient times! Or maybe it’s just my historical ignorance and sleeping tendencies in history classes. .

But summing up.. I suddenly feel sorry for Connor. Feeling betrayed, especially by those who are considered as closed ones or allies must be really awful. Let me hug him.

What’s your natural hair color and what is your color rn? Do you like it dyed? Would you change anything else about it?

I wouldn’t say that grey eyelash is unique. Not many people know about it, it’s almost invisible. It’s not like you are looking at someone’s eyelashes and their color. Besides, I usually wear make up, so..

I was asking about piercing, because well. I would love to have piercings. Like.. I really do. Maybe not too extreme (although nipple piercing looks good to me) – just ears and maybe nose. That’s all. The problem is I am afraid of needles. And yes, I have a tattoo. And yes, I am going to get the second one. And yes, tattoos are made with needles. But still, this doesn’t change the fact I am afraid of needles. And I just need a little encouragement. I talked with a friend who made helix piercing last year, but it disturbed her sleep. Earring hooked on her pillow and in the end her ear became swollen and hurt, so she took it out. So I need more opinions. Positive ones I guess.

But right now you make me think about the riskiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.. Getting a tattoo wasn’t even close to a risky thing. What about you? Any confessions?

🔪

tbh I'm not religious at all. But that anime was brilliant :D I also love how Jesus didn't bring gifts for all Japanese gods and then saw them on rice grains and was so sorry. It was adorable.

I'm glad you like my OC but tbh i don't remember writing about drunk Olivia 😂 but those 3 are my favourite babies. They are all different but just... they seem right for me. Ad I know a lot of people doesn't like Haytham and it's valid. I find him interesting so i decided to make a story about him, to show his loving and caring side. Because after all games, books, tv series and everything is made to be enjoyed, not to make some wars about who's right and wrong. I just enjoy things I like and that's it! Thank you for your words about being a professional writer. Tbh when i make stories I always check the background, history and all of those little details because I like being accurate. I like when things I write have a meaning, maybe some hidden sense. It makes me happy to find something that connects the dots, you know? And not knowing historical details like tattoos isn't ignorance. You don't need to study or learn about things you're not interested in. About that tattoo hc - I know it's nice to read about characters that are all "I love ink on your body" but I really want to be historically accurate. Because as much as we want our fave characters to be perfect, they aren't and I guess it's nice to explore their flaws.

I was reading Ac 1 book today and I finished that 2nd part and I noticed Altair was crying while killing Al Mualim. Tbh it made me think today about the vulnerability of people. Weird, right? Especially that Altair said that he knew Al Mualim's love was fake and fragile, that he was using Altair. And yet Altair treated him as a father and cried for him. I'm in such a deep Altair's hole, I really love that man.

Piercing. Knifey. It is your body and your life so if you want to have piercing? GO GET IT. Like really. If you won't do it you may grow to regret it. And if you decide that piercing doesn't spark a joy? Just take it off and let your skin heal. But really, nose piercing looks good. I love those little, silver balls on the side of the nose. Idk if you also like those but still. GO MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. GET THE PIERCING. BE HAPPY. Yes, you need to be careful about it in the beginning. There is a small risk of not healing properly but for that, you have all the meds to use. Keep that place clean and you should be 100% fine. So honestly Knifey, my amazing, smart, hard-working and talented friend, those are your worst of encouragement. GO GET THE PIERCING YOU WANT. And don't look back.

My confessions? Tbh I don't think I have any. I don't really do risky stuff, I don't have any tattoos and I don't plan on having any (I don't really like having stuff on my skin. Like I used to draw on my skin o get used to the thought of having a tattoo but it bored me after some time so I'm sure I don't want to have a tattoo but I love them on other people). I also stopped dying my hair for now to see my natural colour. Hmm what else... I think that's all. Not much is happening in my life rn. I just vibe and play genshin (its an amazing game and its FREE if you want to play :D)

#knifey #ask #knifey my beloved

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script-a-world · 4 years

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Submitted via Google Form: When do you usually know that you're finished making your world? I feel like I've gone down all these different worldbuilding avenues but I'm not sure if there's such a thing as over-building, if that makes sense? I think using what you need for the story/plot itself is good but 🤔 not sure if that will give readers a very thorough understanding of what the world really looks like and how it operates. For example, I could write my story with minimal worldbuilding and it would work, but readers wouldn't be able to imagine my world the same way I have made it, would they? I would really appreciate your perspective on this if possible!

Constablewrites: The thing is, it doesn’t matter if your readers don’t imagine your world exactly the same in every detail as you have done. If you describe a big castle and they picture it with red flags while you pictured it with blue, does that really change anything? Make sure that the important details are there, but beyond that, letting readers fill in their own blanks is absolutely fine. The important thing is to ensure that the details you do include are consistent.

Also, beta readers can help with this. If they say they’re having trouble picturing things, you probably went too far the other way. After all, the ideal with worldbuilding is to make the reader feel like they’re there. It’s just that sometimes a few suggestive details can go a lot further than a laundry list of specifics.

Ebonwing: If you’re working on a project that’s primarily worldbuilding with storytelling coming in second, there really is no such thing as being done. There’s always another corner of the world you can flesh out, another few details to work out for this or that culture, more words to think of for conlangs… But your question indicates that you want to use your worldbuilding as a vehicle for a story rather than as an end of its own, which is a different situation.

A balance needs to be found between not detailing the world in your story enough (leading your readers to have an unclear picture of it or not understand everything correctly) and overloading your story with too much information. Where that balance lies is a matter of opinion, and you’re not going to be able to satisfy every single last reader no matter what you do. What one person thinks of as an unnecessary distraction from the story, the next might love for immersing them in the world more.

With that in mind, I usually ask myself the following questions when it comes to deciding what I need and want to include:

Is this information crucial to understanding the story? For example, if my wizards draw their magical energy from the sun, that should probably be communicated to explain why they never cast spells during the night.

How well does this detail help paint a picture of the setting? Can you use it to convey more than one thing? Some things don’t change the impression a reader will take away from your description (see the red flag/blue flag example above). On the other hand, the fact that there are flags might help establish several things. If your castle is in the sky, you can combine the presence of flags with conveying that the wind blows more fiercely up there.

Can I use this detail to convey characterisation or foreshadow plot? Maybe your character just really hates flags for some reason, or they remind them of something bad that happened. Or there’s something political going on that is foreshadowed by the colour and symbols on the flags (one scenario where the flag colour is actually relevant, even if it isn’t in most others).

If you leave this detail out, will readers take away the wrong impression? If your setting has, say, both electricity but also armored knights and castles and everything, mentioning one without the other can easily lead readers to expect something differently than what they’ll get.

As Constablewrites said above, beta readers are really helpful for this. Lastly, I would also go a step further and say that not only does it not matter much if your readers see the world exactly as you pictured it, it’s also more or less impossible for them to do that from a written story. The pictures words can paint are necessarily going to be different depending on who reads them. I would advise to stop seeing that as a goal and instead think about how to convey the salient details as well as the aesthetic or vibe of your world and its places.

delta: So in every story, there are three important things, right? Plot, character, and setting (or world). You could tell a story with just plot and character, but that would be vague and bland (kinda like Waiting for Gadot or something like that). A story with only plot and setting would be weird, and a story with only character and setting would most likely be boring (or an anthropology book parody, I guess). So the question is, not just how much worldbuilding is necessary for the plot, but how much worldbuilding is valuable to the aesthetic or style or “flavor,” if you will, of the story. This is kind of what Ebonwing is getting at when talking about setting or impression - it’s the metaphorical taste you want the story to leave in your readers’ mouths (or, you know, brains).

So you could get your characters from A to B with only minimal worldbuilding, but would that story, in that style, accurately represent the kind of story you were trying to write? Like Constablewrites said, it will never look the same in your reader’s head as it will in yours, and that’s fine, but you want to make sure there’s enough worldbuilding that you at least leave the right impression, if not an exact picture. By tailoring those details to the ones that are most plot-critical first, you can help keep lengthy exposition to a minimum, if that’s something you’re worried about.

When it comes to actually writing, my advice is write every detail that comes to mind, talk to the nth degree about the many uses of this particular fish in the kingdom, and by the time you’re working on the second/third/whatever draft, you’ll have a better idea of how much is enough or how much is too much to actually be in the story and you’ll be able to fine-tune the actual text.

Mod Note: Check out our new Masterpost - Enough is Enough: How to Know When It’s Time to Stop Worldbuilding and Start Writing: https://scriptaworld.wordpress.com/2020/10/13/enough-is-enough/

#pylons #google submitted #worldbuilding

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