#playing around with the intro sequence and ended up with Them

[birdhand-arts-extra-chaos]

the yappersssssss (animatic sneak peak)

[marcelloshdz]

double duty

summary: when you're asked to host and perform on saturday night live, you and marcello hit it off quite well. marcello x female!singer host. requested by anonymous.

“i’m so excited to be here!” you cheered as you walked through the hallways of NBC studios. you were pulling double duty on saturday night live this week, and you were absolutely over the moon. you’d been a fan of the show for as long as you could remember, and this was quickly becoming a “pinch me” moment. you were walking with some of the producers and writers on the show, getting a little tour of the studios. the writers had already pitched you some amazing sketch ideas, and you couldn’t wait to work on them and see what ended up in the final show.

the week quickly became very busy, but you were also making sure to take the time to soak it all in and truly enjoy your time there. you were having so much fun working through the sketches and meeting and making friends with the cast. you were a huge fan of the current cast, and you couldn’t believe that you were getting to work with them.

it was wednesday afternoon, and everyone had just settled into their seats for the table read. as you made your way through the scripts, your cheeks were hurting from laughing. everyone had written such incredible sketches, and you couldn’t believe that you were getting to be part of them.

the first hour passed by, and you’d made your way to a sketch that you were in with marcello hernández, playing a couple. admittedly, you’d been a bit nervous about working with him, as you’d become a fan of his (and developed a bit of a crush) in the three years he’d been on the show. you sat at opposite ends of the table as you read through the script, stifling laughs and playing off of each other very well. you looked around the table as the cast was laughing through the sketch as you and marcello and the other cast members that were part of the sketch read through the script. once you reached the end, the two of you exchanged the briefest of glances, and he shot you a soft smile. you smiled back, feeling your face flush as you moved to the next sketch. 

the rest of the week flew by, and it was finally show day. you’d been hanging around the studio all day running through the scripts a few more times before rehearsals. you’d also been rehearsing your songs, settling on your set designs and costumes. you were performing your two most recent singles, ahead of your album release coming within the next couple of weeks. 

you finished rehearsal of your first song, ready to take a break as they ran through weekend update. as you left the stage, you ran into marcello. he shot you a wide smile as he continued walking up to you.

“hey!” you said with a smile.

“hi. i liked your song.” he said softly.

“thanks.” you said awkwardly, standing there in a brief silence before he spoke again.

“so, i just wanted to let you know that our sketch got moved. we’re gonna be the first one back after update, instead of going before. that’ll give you more time to get ready before your first performance.” he said. 

“get ready, calm my nerves, all the same.” you joked.

“nah, you’ll be great.” marcello reassured you. you smiled again, whispering a small thanks before you had to move to rehearsal for the next sketch. 

before you knew it, it was finally time for the show. you stood backstage watching the cold open before moving behind the famous door. your heart raced in your chest as the announcer read through the names of the cast members during the intro sequence, followed by your name as host and musical guest. 

“ladies and gentlemen, y/n!” rang through the speakers. you pushed through the door and down the stairs, taking your place at the edge of the stage. you smiled wide, waving at the audience and taking in all the cheers. 

“wow, wow, wow. thank you very much. my name is y/n, and i am so grateful to be here hosting saturday night live!” you began your monologue, hitting all the jokes in the right places, and getting amazing laughs from the audience.

you ran through the first few sketches, getting many words of affirmation backstage from the cast and crew between set changes and commercial breaks. before you knew it, it was time for your first performance. 

“ladies and gentlemen, y/n.” you’d brought a close friend of yours to new york with you for this week, and the producers were kind enough to let them introduce your first song. 

you made it through your first song without a hitch, taking in all the applause that erupted around you. you were then rushed backstage, and allowed to take some time to take a break during the commercials and while weekend update was on. you met up with marcello for another quick little run through of your sketch before it was time to go back on stage. 

the premise of the sketch was you bringing him over to meet your friends for the first time, and him making a weird first impression. basically, a different version of his now-famous “protective mom” sketches with pedro pascal. hearing him calling you his girlfriend gave you butterflies in your stomach. way more than you’d like, but you’d never admit that out loud.

heidi gardner, ego nwodim, and bowen yang were also in the sketch, playing your friends, and taking the sketch to new heights. the jokes were getting laugh after laugh from the audience. you and the other cast members were even having trouble keeping it together. 

once the sketch finally concluded, you took in as much of the applause that you could before being rushed off the stage to get back and change for your next performance. just as you were stepping out of your dressing room, marcello found you and pulled you into a tight hug.

“you killed it! thanks for doing the sketch with me.” he said excitedly.

“thanks for trusting me! i know you had a heavy hand in writing it, and i’m glad it was picked for my episode.” you pulled away from him, giving him a wide smile before being whisked off to your spot on the performance stage to get ready for your next song. 

they began counting down from the commercial break, and you took a couple deep breaths before they came back. 

“once again, y/n.” you heard marcello’s voice announce from the main stage. your heart fluttered in your chest at the way your name sounded in his voice.

you finished your second song, and the episode began to wrap up. once it was over, everyone gathered on the main stage for good nights. you said your thank yous to the cast and crew, thanking everyone who came in for cameo appearances, and wishing everyone a good night. 

later that night, marcello found you at the after party. you both already had a couple of drinks in you, and had loosened up after a stressful week.

“hello again.” you said, sitting up on the barstool and giving him your full attention. 

“hey. i just wanted to congratulate you on a successful week. when you were confirmed for host, i gotta admit, i was really excited.” he said. 

“oh yeah?” you asked, raising an eyebrow at him. he laughed and nodded. 

“ooooh yeah. i’ve been listening to your music for a while. my sister is a fan, and she’s played a lot of your songs for me a few times.”

“mmm, she’s smart.” you laughed. “i didn’t know you were gonna be introducing my second song. that was a nice surprise.” you said, marcello taking a step closer to you.

“i’m glad you thought so. i asked specifically if i could do it.” he said with a smirk.

“wow, aren’t i special?” you asked, reciprocating his smirk. you sat up further on your barstool as marcello continued to close the space between you.

“very.” he said softly, fingertips drumming along your thigh. “so, i never do this, but,” he took a deep breath, “would you maybe wanna hang out some time? outside of all of this.” he said.

“sure. i’d like that. i’ll be in new york for a few more days before heading back to LA, so we could get together before i leave.” you said, nodding excitedly. you exchanged numbers and made your plans.

“we’re heading into an off week, so i have all the time in the world.” he said with a smile. 

you and marcello spent the rest of the night together, talking and getting to know each other. it could’ve been mostly the alcohol, but you were so comfortable with him.  you enjoyed being around him, and you loved talking and laughing with him. 

at the end of the night, marcello walked you outside to your uber that was taking you back to your hotel. 

“thanks again for a great night, and a great week. i really enjoyed getting to work with you.” you said to him as you stood on the sidewalk. 

“and i you.” he said with a smile. just then. your uber pulled up and he opened the door for you to get in. “text me when you get to your hotel.”

“i will.” you said. before climbing into the car, you pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, his face immediately turning a bright crimson. “see you later.” 

you watched from the window as marcello stood on the sidewalk, smiling and waving as your uber drove off. you let out a sigh of content, still not believing that tonight was even real, and that you’d already made plans to see each other again.

you turned to your friend, who raised an eyebrow at you.

“what are you smiling like that for?” they asked.

“just over the moon about tonight.” you said, evading a direct answer.

your uber ride was quiet as you rode back to the hotel. once you were finally back in your room, you took your phone out and text marcello to let him know that you were back at your hotel. he immediately replied, telling you that he couldn’t wait to see you again, and he wished you a good night.

you wished him a good night as well and got ready for bed. you slept peacefully that night, excited that you were going to see marcello again in just a few days. 

[familyvideostevie]

tlou hbo season 2: episode 4 thoughts

wowwwww i think i might be having a good time now, you guys. who knew! at this point I'm just along for the ride and my beef is my beef but i can appreciate a lot of what they are doing. this post is delayed cause i could not be bothered last night but here we go.

spoilers for tlou hbo and tlou part ii below.

EPISODE 4: DAY ONE

GOOD -i am immensely compelled by the 2018 flashback (minus that cameo). the backstory of seattle that we get in day 2 of the game is some of my favorite environmental storytelling -- how the regular people didn't like FEDRA but liked the WLF even less, how the WLF capitalized on FEDRA's failures but ultimately was just another form of martial law, etc. Jeffrey is as good as it gets, and Craig is smart to use Isaac more. I find his turn interesting and this idea that they are pushing of the end of the world just being a cycle of us vs them that everyone is caught in even if they know they're caught in it. -loving the sets. weston's, the city landscape, the rainbows, the tank, the music store! i could go on. i am replaying part ii along with the show and just did some of day 1 so it was a delight to see all of those things. -take on me my beloved.......if i ever were to lose you, how i miss you. -again with this Isaac focus! i think it's really smart. i think the only way to make the wlf and abby's eventual defection interesting is for us to learn about this place that has shaped her so heavily. the torture was perhaps the most difficult part of ths show to watch thus far, frankly, but it also raised some really interesting questions about faith and the power it gives people. the seraphite had such faith that he became useless to Isaac because he was not going to give in -- where else in this story do we see such blind devotion and the places it can take them? *cough*. i don't want to give craig too much credit but i think this is a good theme to be running with. -the tv station!!!!!!!! arrows!!!! rip leah you don't exist here but this whole sequence was fantastic. as someone who plays no return to destress, the set here was great. the bodies, the seraphite intro for dina and ellie, the sneaking around! exactly like stealth play in the game. ellie's kill and the neck stab! i was giggling. it's just so cool to see shit like this play out on screen. -the flaressssssssss. god, the subway was just so beautiful. i loved the way it looked and felt and the music. -saving dina with a bite! i wondered how they'd do this reveal (though it does seem like we will be getting spores anyway) and this makes sense. damn the bite looked painful. -the theater. again with these sets! loving loving loving them so far. -okay. dina and ellie in the theater. this whole conversation about ellie's immunity is the first time that HBO!ellie and dina felt like...an ellie and dina that worked for me, even though the set-up of this confrontation is totally different. the mannerisms and panic and exasperation from bella really clicked. and though this dina is different, isabela really took the episode for me in this scene. i said to my friend oh, she's Acting. the fear, the shaking, the tears! i find the way HBO!dina switches between being extremely competent and practical to being silly and flirty very interesting but she really sells it for me. and god, some of these shots were just amazing. the tears and the lantern! -and, finally. i forgive craig for that tent scene. do i think we needed that? no. BUT. LETS GO LESIBANS LETS GO. get fingered with those dirty-ass hands! kiss!!!! KISS! and not for nothing i liked that dina got to explain herself, even if i think we didn't really need this absent homophobe mother. we've got one already and his name is seth! but, wow. the elation i felt. also, ellie was funny as fuck here. more on this scene in the next section

IFFY -what the FUCK is josh peck doing here. i was so taken out of it i did not know what was happening for like, 2 minutes. i honestly couldn't tell if i was making it up. i guess if they wanted us to hate him and everyone in that truck, they succeeded. but, literally, why. -bro, would a pregnancy test even work. i know she took like 5 of them but, can someone fact check that one -dina's sixth sense is really funny to me? i like it in abstract, like it's cool that she's good at this, but also i think it's at odds with how i sometimes feel about her and ellie's dynamic in combat. more on this later. -okay but does ellie actually want a kid. i don't feel sold on the idea of her being that excited given the circumstances. i feel like the pregnancy reveal in the game had a lot more weight and her frustration felt really valid if harsh, so while it was kind of nice to see her be excited for something i was a little like....okkkkkkaaaaaay. the dialogue was funny, though. we're having a baby. so we're all having a baby. I'm gonna be a dad. it fit for HBO!ellie, and that's what I'm watching, so i really should stop complaining. -i'm interested in ellie wanting dina to stay. it's different now. removing the obstacle of dina being pregnant on the road and physically unwell because of it makes things a little murkier -- i wonder if she will become tired/unable to fight eventually, or if she'll get injured. because i think so much of the downward spiral ellie will find herself in is because she goes to the hospital alone and kills nora, etc. i guess jesse has to show up at some point, too! i wonder how that'll go over -- i do like this idea that ellie has plans for the three of them to be doing the kid thing together after seattle, since that'll just. really hurt. when he dies.

BAD -please for the love of god can we get dina a hair tie. she has the most beautiful hair and 2023 curtain bangs but my god. please. she's soaked by rain and has been running from infected in a dirty subway and stayed up all night to watch ellie maybe turn into a zombie and yet she's freshly blow-dried. PLEASE. -okay, i have some beef with the way dina and ellie are written (we knew this). while i think it's fitting for the style of the show and the characterization, i think it's now coming out specifically in the way they are in combat situations. and i just don't like it! i think it's kind of weird! they are just...idiots, sometimes! and other times they are capable! i know this is like, how people are, but the immaturity thing comes back. i just don't believe that these young women are so unable to handle themselves that they make mistakes like this -- or potential mistakes. ellie wanting to go to the tower and dina telling her it's a trap, etc. how is ellie that dumb? i know she's motivated, but something about ellie is that she's smart. she's good at this. and i like that dina is her grounding force but to constantly be guiding her this way feels a little much. i just don't have a sense of the trust between them and their actual ability to get shit done? am i making sense is this dumb -why does dina have feathered brows. isabela is so beautiful but guys come on -he taught you well. he did. okay. i hated this, sue me. i just hate the way that we're talking about joel and ellie's talking about joel and dina is talking about joel. it lacks impact because of the way we don't know how they parted -- that they were talking but fighting and joel was being bratty frankly and ellie is just...lying to herself about how it all went? i don't know. and dina god love her but please. i get that there is shared grief there but i just like, don't see what the payoff is.

anyway, i'm on board. like, i really am i guess. down to clown. probs my favorite episode so far. and day two my beloved...hope you don't disappoint me

[pushovermediacritic]

The Land Before Time Liveblog 3

The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving

Last Time: The Gang accidentally broke the border wall while crossing it and kidnapped a foreign child, then bombarded him with racist microaggressions. When the kid's parents crossed the border to rescue him, The Gang and their parents beat them up. In the end, they re-affirmed that a closed-border policy is for the best and repaired the wall.

Also, Pinky and the Brain were there.

The Universal Logo is still not Pangaea.

Narrator: "A long time ago, at least 35 hundred million years ago, the earliest form of life made its first appearance on Earth."

... I think that checks out? I think "35 hundred million" is 3.5 billion? That lines up with what Wikipedia says for the estimated origin of life (at least 3.5B, the oldest trace of life is from 3.7B). I'm a little surprised this animated kid's movie from 1995 got that right. Kudos.

The narrator then goes over evolution and eventually reaches the first creature to walk on land.

No, get back in the water! You don't know what you're doing! This decision will eventually lead to HUMANS!

But not yet, first dinosaurs.

Narrator: "For most of the Earth's dinosaurs, life was filled with danger! But for the fortunate leaf-eating dinosaurs of the Great Valley, life was peaceful, and food plentiful."

Kinda splitting the difference between movie 1 and movie 2 here. In 1, they went to the Great Valley because there was a famine, and in 2, they make a big deal out of how safe it is. Here the narrator lists both qualities.

As an aside, it's interesting that, 3 movies in, we're still getting long, dramatic intro sequences to introduce the very concept of dinosaurs. I wonder if/when that will stop.

Narrator: "The Great Valley was the perfect place for children like Littlefoot the Longneck, Cera the Threehorn, Ducky the Swimmer, Petrie the Flier, and Spike the Spiketail to grow and learn and play."

The Gang are playing by rolling and chasing a head-sized rock like it's a ball.

You know, I would say that's probably not a good idea, rocks are solid and much heavier and harder than balls, but we know these kids are ridiculously strong by now, they'll be fine.

As if to prove my point, Littlefoot headbutts the rock several feet into the air, then when it lands, Petrie kicks it and he just bounces off without the rock moving whatsoever. It's still a goddamn rock. Dinosaurs are just Built Different.

Spike then dives for the rock, lands on it, and Fucking Destroys It.

You know, if I did that with a rock the size of my head, I'd probably shatter my ribcage. But dinosaurs are Built Different.

Three movies in, and I can't believe that I'm still power-scaling in Land Before Time.

Cera finds another rock and starts knocking it around. She passes it to Littlefoot, who juggles it with headbutts until he drops it and...

Hmm.

While these characters are new to the audience, they aren't strangers to The Gang, Littlefoot asks Hyp if he can have their rock back, please.

Hyp: "Your rock? Who said it was your rock?!"

Goon 1: "Yeah, who said it was your rock, huh? Who said, who said?!"

(they both glance at Goon 2)

Goon 2: "-oh, uh, yeah!"

Hyp is a Hypsilophodon, Goon 1 is a Nodosaurus, and Goon 2 is a Muttaburasaurus.

Littlefoot admits that no-one said that, and then Cera demands they give it back. Hyp refuses on the grounds that she didn't say please, and Cera retorts that she knows she didn't (Littlefoot did say "please" earlier, so obviously he doesn't really care). Hyp and Cera glare off and growl at each other until Littlefoot steps in and suggests they all play together.

Hyp asks his goons if they want to play with some babies, and Petrie takes great offense to being called a baby. Hyp pokes Petrie and they all laugh at him, causing Cera to snap and charge Hyp, but he steps out of the way before egging her on.

And then the Earth starts shaking and meteors start falling.

Man, shit always be happening around here. Can't even confront some bullies without the apocalypse.

The bullies run away and then a meteor lands on the other side of the Great Wall, causing a rockslide that the kids barely escape, running to their guardians.

Littlefoot makes it back to his grandparents, then a tree falls and he escapes by hiding under some roots. Littlefoot wants to go find the falling rock that landed in the Mysterious Beyond, but his grandma tells him no. Littlefoot and his grandpa admire the beautiful aurora created by the meteors.

Grandpa notes how mysterious it is, and I agree. It is mysterious, because that's not how auroras work! Meteors can't cause auroras!

The next day, everyone is gathered in the pond at the base of the Thundering Falls, drinking and eating water plants.

When suddenly, the Thundering Falls stop flowing.

Littlefoot asks his grandparents what's up and grandpa says he doesn't know, before grandma shoos him off to play with the other kids so the grown-ups can discuss the waterfall problem. Littlefoot's grandparents are starting to get some distinct characterization. Grandpa is more fun while grandma is more serious.

Littlefoot finds the other kids playing a hiding game. Cera is hiding and the other kids are looking for her. Littlefoot tries to tell them about the Thundering Falls, but they keep cutting him off. Cera jumps out from under a pile of big leaves and scares them, then they pick Littlefoot to hide next, but he keeps waffling, so Spike goes to hide. He sticks his head in a bush, leaving the rest of him exposed. We've actually seen this behavior multiple times in both of the previous films, Spike hiding just by sticking his head in the dirt or a bush, leaving the rest of him wide open.

Littlefoot finally blurts it out that the Thundering Falls are dried up, and they should go see.

Hyp: "Why don't you hatchlings go run and see?"

Goon 1: "Yeah, run and see, run and see!"

(Hyp glares at Goon 2)

Goon 2: "Oh! ...duuh, yeah!"

Cera's ready to throw down, and blows a raspberry. The Goons blow raspberries in return, but Hyp tells them to knock it off. Littlefoot asks why Hyp is always trying to pick a fight, and Goon 2 also wonders why. Hyp responds by singing song 1 of this movie, When You're Big.

This song is... okay. It's not bad. It's got a decent flow and wordplay, kind of a Broadway-style song. As far as villain songs go, it's a lot better than "Eggs". Hyp sings about how when you're big (a teenager), you have a lot more freedom to do whatever you want, including be gross, loud, annoying, fight, and pick on little kids. Also in the song, he calls Ducky a "Duckfoot". So, add that to the list, alongside "Swimmer" and "Bigface".

After the song, Littlefoot immediately and brutally undermines it by pointing out that Hyp isn't going to be very big at all as a grown-up. Cera and Ducky agree, bringing up that when they grow up, they're gonna be much bigger than Hyp.

It's hard to get a sense of scale for these movies, but it's important to keep in mind that Littlefoot is like 2 feet tall, max. Ducky and Petrie are only a few inches. The average size for an adult Hypsilophodon is only 6 feet, and that's length, from head to tail.

Hyp: "Oh yeah? Well, I'm gonna see to it that you never grow up!"

Goon 2: "Uh, yeah!"

Goon 1: "Never grow up, never!"

Goon 2: "Uh, how're you gonna do that, Hyp?"

Hyp: "Sheesh, you're dumb. Let me lay it out for ya, first we chase 'em, second we catch 'em, third we hurt 'em. See?"

Yeah, Hyp clearly doesn't know WHAT he's talking about. He's talking about killing these kids, but he doesn't really have a concept of what that even means. Like just beating them up is gonna prevent them from growing. He's all talk. Meanwhile, these kids worked together to kill a full-grown Sharptooth at the end of the first movie.

Anyway, while Hyp is blustering, The Gang just sneak away. The bullies storm off, and they're so stupid they didn't even notice Spike, still in his terrible hiding spot.

Later, the adults are meeting and the Valley is starting to dry up. Littlefoot's grandpa establishes they need to ration out what little water they have remaining, not using it unwisely. Cera's dad has some thoughts.

Cera's Dad: "Huh! Threehorns never use water unwisely, but your herds do!"

Clubtail: "Our herds? What makes you think our herds would do such a thing?!"

Cera's Dad: "You drink greedily with no concern for others!"

Spiketail: "Can you believe he's saying that?!"

Man, you can always count on Cera's dad to be racist as fuck. He single-handedly turns this civil meeting into a big racist argument, with accusations being thrown around left and right by everyone. Cera's dad is a load-bearing pillar for the racism theme of this franchise.

Smash cut to The Gang all playing and frolicking in a pond, splashing water everywhere. The kids are "playing bullies", pretending to be Hyp to make fun of him. Then the bullies actually show up, standing high up on a rock. Hyp claims this is their watering hole, then he pushes Goon 1 off the rock and he falls on top of Littlefoot, splashing water right into Cera's dad's face (apparently, the adults weren't very far away).

The bullies run away and Cera's dad accuses Littlefoot of wasting precious water.

Littlefoot's Grandpa: "Our children don't understand the water problem. The Great Valley has always given them everything they need!"

Okay, I kinda ignored this last movie, but that implication was there, too. The Gang didn't grow up in the Great Valley, they only recently came here. You know, in the first movie. Both of the sequels have acted like The Gang don't know what it's like outside of the Great Valley, and that's just simply wrong. You can't just retcon the first movie out of existence. Especially since later movies will make reference to it.

The Gang start talking about the water problem and Littlefoot does this hilarious shrug that doesn't work AT ALL.

He doesn't even do it quickly, it's a slow, deliberate, and impossible movement. You can't just have quadruped characters do hand gestures without thinking through the logistics first, otherwise you get dumb shit like this.

Littlefoot's Grandpa: "We need to teach our children how to use the remaining water wisely."

Cera's Dad: "Speak for yourself, Longneck! My Cera would never waste! Your Littlefoot is a bad influence!"

Littlefoot's Grandpa: "That's not true!"

The kids don't even know what the word "influence" means. Cera's dad tells Cera to come, and that she's not allowed to play with "the little Longneck anymore". Grandpa tries to diffuse the situation, and Cera tries to resist, but Cera's dad insists and yells at her that he knows what's best. Sniffling, Cera goes with her dad.

This is something that's been bubbling under the surface for a while. Cera's dad said she shouldn't play with Longnecks in the first movie and the second, too. He was just looking for an excuse to really put his foot down on this issue, and this was the perfect one. This is Cera's dad at his worst. The other kids go home with their parents, too, but just because it's getting late.

Littlefoot's grandpa says that Cera's dad is just confused and scared. At night, Cera and her dad argue.

Cera: "I don't understand, daddy!"

Dad: "You need friends who know how to behave, especially in times like this."

Cera: "Littlefoot is my friend! He'll always be my friend!"

Dad: "Cera, I'm your father. I want what's best for you!"

Cera: "No you don't! You just don't want me to have any fun!"

(Cera runs away into some reeds)

Dad: "Cera, please... I'm just trying to- oh, as a parent I... wouough!"

That's Dad letting out an exasperated groan. This conversation really doesn't touch on the deeper issues at play here, it's really surface-level. I like that he can't even find something to say at the end, but aside from that, this argument is disappointing.

Next morning, grandma and grandpa wake up Littlefoot early to drink morning dew from leaves, since they need to conserve water and get fluids from other sources. Littlefoot accidentally breaks the dew-covered Tree Star, since the leaf itself is dried out and fragile. Grandma mentions there will be an increased fire risk in the coming days, and Littlefoot should remember the escape paths.

We then see a montage of the Great Valley slowly drying up. Fish in a small pool having to flop over dry land to get to a creek.

A triceratops herd walking alongside a riverbank with several feet of wall before the waterline. A lizard knocks down a rock from a cave wall and it bounces on multiple other rocks before falling in the small pool at the bottom.

Littlefoot and his grandparents are looking for food, and they find some trees, but most of the leaves are brown and crusty. There's one tree with a few sparse green leaves, and Grandpa pulls down a branch of them for Littlefoot to eat. This is really giving me flashbacks to the first movie. There, the famine wasn't caused by a lack of water, but it was a famine nonetheless. Even though their turn for water isn't until later, Grandpa gives Littlefoot the go-ahead to go drink, since he's a kid. Cera's dad is at the watering hole, and he argues against it. Then Cera's dad sings song 2 of the movie, Standing Tough.

It's kind of a dad rock man anthem. It's also... okay. Not bad. It's all about how when times get tough, you gotta get tough. You have to step up and be better, stronger, smarter, tougher, etc. He does mention something interesting, which is that his own father told him "stand and fight, don't run away". Definitely a lesson in how parents are molded by their own parents.

He also cites his daughter as the reason he's being harsh about this, but like, he's got a lot of daughters. Or should. Cera's mentioned her sisters a few times in the last two movies. But sometime between then and now, she's become an only child. Whether due to retcon or something more tragic, it's an odd decision, since the last movie's end credits showed her and Ducky getting more baby siblings.

After the song, Cera whisper-calls Littlefoot over and they complain about the grown-ups acting like babies. Littlefoot hatches a plan.

Littlefoot: "Water! If we find some, the grown-ups will stop being mad!"

Cera: "Maybe! Except for my dad, he aaaalways mad."

Littlefoot: "Yeah, he is kinda grumpy. But I'm sure it's just because he's so worried about the water."

Oof.

The kids go off to gather the rest of The Gang, while the adults keep arguing. Cera's dad says "no" to the very idea of compromise. Meanwhile, the animators have compromised his very body by forgetting to draw in his fourth leg:

At night, the kids gather, but Spike is a heavy sleeper and snores. He doesn't wake up until Petrie mentions the plan is to find water, that gets him up. Then the kids run off, screaming into the night in frustration at their guardians being mad all the time nowadays. I'm surprised no-one woke up. The kids decide to try and sniff out the water.

Not sure that'll work, but hey, I don't have a dinosaur nose. Human noses are some of the worst among mammals, so I can't exactly say I'm an expert on sniffing.

The next day, Cera's dad has taken it upon himself to full-on police the river, charging at and chasing away anyone who tries to drink out-of-turn. I changed my mind, this is Cera's dad at his worst. The Gang are ready to give up their search when Petrie sniffs out a pond.

The kids enjoy playing and drinking, but then the bullies confront them and demand they let them have the water and not tell anyone else about it. They run to tell the grown-ups, but Cera wants to try fighting them, and they convince her to just run. Then the bullies get the negative attention of a purple wasp, which drives them off (did wasps exist at this time period?).

The Gang gets a little lost while running and they find a cave leading through the Great Wall into the Mysterious Beyond, where they find a GIGANTIC lake of water being blocked off by a landslide.

I dunno if opening that dam is the best idea, the Great Valley might go from a drought to a flood. The kids seem to think that's a good idea, though, and decide to head back to tell everyone.

However, you see that lightning at the end of the GIF? Remember what Grandma said about an increased fire risk?

Lightning strikes a tree and makes a huge wildfire, which rips through the Great Valley's dried up forest.

Meanwhile with the adults, Cera's dad is telling Ducky's mom to stop drinking, she's had enough (but she's a Swimmer, she might need more). Littlefoot's grandparents decide he's gotten too bossy, but then the kids run up and warn them about the fire. Apparently the area it started as is Two Boulder Pass. Cera's dad insists that he's the boss and he will lead everyone on his path to safety from the fire... which Littlefoot's grandpa points out is downwind of the fire, right where it will spread. Guess Cera got her bad direction-skills we saw in the first movie from her dad. He insists that he's right and that Cera go with him, and she complies.

Littlefoot's grandpa realizes Cera's dad is being stupid and endangering himself and his daughter, and he decides to follow him, while Littlefoot's grandma leads everyone else away from the fire upwind of it.

Cera's dad's route immediately proves to be a terrible decision, as the fire quickly catches up and both Threehorns are running for their lives from the blaze. They come to a ravine and Cera tries jumping it. She almost makes it, but the edge she lands on crumbles and she falls in. Her dad jumps in after her and now they're both running down the ravine away from the spreading fire.

Meanwhile with Littlefoot's grandma's group, she's having a hard time with the thick smoke because of how high up her head is. She decides Littlefoot has to lead the group because he's much smaller and closer to the ground, where the smoke is thinner. The adults are having a hard time seeing through the smoke, so Littlefoot yells for them to follow his voice.

Cera and her dad get completely surrounded on all sides by fire, but Littlefoot's grandpa uses the Longneck trick from movie 2 to topple a tree for them to cross.

The two groups reunite on a cliff on the side of the Great Wall, safe and sound. Good thing Littlefoot remembered the fire exits.

Littlefoot's grandma: "We are all very lucky."

Cera's dad: "Lucky?! How can you say we are lucky when our Valley burns?! We are without water and now we are without a home! All is lost..."

Littlefoot's grandma: "All is not lost, my friend. You still have Cera, and you are still here, able to care for her."

Cera's dad: *sigh* "Oh, you are right. Thank you, Longneck."

This is a BIG moment of growth from Cera's dad. Not only did his boneheaded stubbornness almost get himself and his daughter killed, but he was rescued by a Longneck and then consoled by one when he fell into despair afterward. And then he specifically thanked her using her species name in gratitude.

However, the other adults are inclined to agree with the Threehorn that all is lost, until Littlefoot remembers that they found the water, it's backed up from the Flying Rock that landed in the Mysterious Beyond.

The other adults are hesitant to go into the Mysterious Beyond because of the danger, but Cera's dad points out that the Valley is dangerous now, too, and they have to go. Littlefoot's grandpa mentions that that much water will attract Sharpteeth. Cera's dad has a plan, but no-one is confident in his plans anymore, and everyone starts arguing over it.

Meanwhile, the bullies are higher up, looking down on the adults. Hyp wants to get to the water first, but his goons are... less than enthusiastic about potential Sharptooth encounters. Hyp insists he's not afraid of anything, even Sharpteeth, and decides to prove it by going, then calls his goons babies to motivate them to join him (because he doesn't actually want to be alone).

Littlefoot sees them and decides The Gang needs to go and convince them not to do anything stupid and reckless. The rest of The Gang doesn't think they should care until he sings song number 3, Kids Like Us.

And, uh. The official Youtube version of this includes the earlier scene with the bullies. For context, I guess.

Anyway, Kids Like Us is nice. I think it's the best song so far in this film. Littlefoot is very empathetic, and he really gets to the heart of this movie's core theme regarding fear and pride motivating bullying. It's not great, but it's good.

Hyp and his goons walk through the Mysterious Beyond, and finally we get a name for one of them: Goon 2, the Muttaburasaurus, is named "Mutt". Going by that pattern, I'm guessing Goon 1's name is Nodo. They cross over a bubbling bog, clearly lost, and Mutt and Hyp both almost fall in multiple times (in the business, they call this technique "5-second foreshadowing"). They find a pond of water and Hyp eagerly jumps in to drink some water.

But whoops, it's actually a tar pit and Hyp is trapped and sinking.

By the way, real tar pits can look deceptively like ponds. That's why they were so dangerous to real-life dinosaurs.

Mutt and Goon 1 aren't sure what to do, and The Gang hears Hyp's cries of help and come running. Littlefoot name drops this as a "tar pit", which is interesting that the writers didn't come up with some other name for it. Littlefoot tells Hyp to stop moving and he completely freezes still, before a bee lands on his nose. Then Petrie lands on his nose and tries to pull him out by his nostril, attached to a chain of the other kids (they use this technique a lot, but it's kinda hit-or-miss in effectiveness).

Petrie loses his grip when Hyp complains and Hyp briefly sinks beneath the surface, but Petrie fuckin' heroes up and dives into the tar pit to save him. Ducky grabs Petrie under the tar and pulls him up while Petrie successfully pulls Hyp out by his tooth (I guess it's a better handle than his nostril).

After getting out, Hyp insists that he had it under control and never needed any help (despite literally yelling "Help, help"). Petrie and Ducky in particular are mad at him brushing off their efforts, but he doubles down. That is, until he sees the adult crowd walking by. Specifically his dad. Hyp's IMMEDIATE first reaction to seeing his father is to run away, hide behind The Gang, cover his face, and shiver uncontrollably.

Well, damn. That says it all, doesn't it? Littlefoot's grandpa scolds him for exploring in a dangerous place like this, and Littlefoot retorts that they were trying to keep Hyp and his friends from getting hurt. This makes Hyp's father notice Hyp hiding behind them, and he immediately starts yelling.

Before we get into this scene, I like how The Gang earlier were right, Hyp won't be very large as a grown-up. Hyp's father is less than twice his size.

Hyp's father: *grab's Hyp's tail* "Hyp! Here we are, chasing after you when we should be finding a way to free the water! I thought I told you to stay where it was safe! Don't look at me that way, I'm your father and I know what's best for you!"

Cera's father: "... yelling is no way to teach your child what is right, or to show that you care."

Hyp's father: "How would you know?!"

Cera's father: "I know because- because I have a daughter. And I yell at her. Too much. Especially when I'm worried for her safety."

Cera: "You don't have to worry about me, daddy."

Cera's father: "If you always react with anger, that's all your son will know. And... that's all he'll be able to express to others."

Hyp looks very sheepish, and all the kids take a sympathetic step toward him.

Hyp: "... what?"

Cera's father: "I know now that we can't live together that way. With such anger between us. Our kids found water because they worked together. Now we must work together, too."

This speech... okay. To preface this, I really like this speech. It perfectly boils down the core theme of the movie, and Cera's dad's character development. It's a good speech.

But it doesn't quite go far enough. Hyp's reaction to his father is REALLY extreme for what is shown, just yelling at him the same way Cera's dad yells at her. Cera is quick to anger, but we never see her cowering from her dad in fear like Hyp did here. And Cera's dad does acknowledge his flaws, but his admittance of wrongness barely touches on his racism. It does touch on it, right near the end, but barely. I feel like if this movie were braver to push its rating, it could have gone further with Hyp's father and the overall theme of generational trauma and bullying.

It is a really good speech, but it could have been great, especially since it's the emotional climax of the whole film.

Anyway, because this franchise still demands an action climax (and we need to pay off the Sharptooth foreshadowing), Mutt then notices a whole pack of 4 raptors, closing in.

Littlefoot's grandpa tells the kids to run, and one of the raptors jumps at him. Grandpa pulls his neck out of the way at the last second and tail-whips the raptor, launching it into a headbutt from Cera's dad, who flings it backward into a wall with such force that rocks start falling on top of it, knocking it out. 1 down, 3 to go. Hyp's father takes charge on leading the kids to safety.

Another raptor leaps at Grandpa, but he tail-whips it away. Littlefoot's worried for his grandpa (just like last movie, he's clearly got some lasting trauma from his mother dying), but Grandpa tail-whips another one away as Hyp's dad tells him to keep going. Grandpa emphasizes the importance of holding the line, but Mutt's parent (on the other side of Grandpa from Cera's dad) completely breaks down from fear, cowering and breaking formation, allowing all 3 raptors to jump over them to go after the kids.

Hyp's dad leads the kids down into the ravine right in front of the rockslide that blocks off all the water. They stop when they hear gnashing noises at the top of a cliff above them. The 3 raptors show up. But then the other adults arrive behind them and engage them in battle, unseen by the kids and audience. The noises of the fight are so vicious that the teens run the other way. The battle is so epic that the whole cliff collapses, everyone falling and getting knocked out.

The 3 raptors recover first, and decide the four unconscious adult dinosaurs are an easier target than the children. Hyp's father tells the kids to run to the dam and he dashes in to fight the raptors himself, even though he's the same size as one raptor and he's outnumbered 3-to-1. He does okay, though, getting in a double-punch, then using his agility to make the raptors all headbutt each other. Hyp decides to save his dad and teases the raptors to go after him instead. But before they reach him, Littlefoot's grandpa recovers and hits all three of the raptors with one mighty tail whip.

The grown-ups are back up and the raptors decide to pivot to attacking the kids, who are standing on the dam. Hyp kicks a rock down at one and Cera's dad follows up with a mighty headbutt that buries it in rocks. The Gang decides to go with the ol' standby of pushing a giant rock on them (another move we've seen in both of the previous movies), but this particular giant rock is too big for even them to push, so the teens help out and push it over.

That rock knocks down a ton more rocks, burying all three of the raptors. But even THAT'S not enough (holy shit, these raptors are TOUGH), and all three get back up.

But Littlefoot notices that rock they pushed unblocked a small stream of water, which slowly builds up bigger and bigger. The kids run off the dam and the adults run up a slope as the dam explodes with a massive flood, drowning the raptors, cascading down the Thundering Falls, and flowing into the Great Valley to put out the wildfire. Except never mind, the raptors are fine, they surface on the opposite side of the rushing river so they can't reach the others on the other side. Remember when I said earlier that Dinosaurs are Built Different? Apparently raptor dinosaurs, specifically, are Built SUPER Different.

Everyone returns to the Great Valley, but most of it is still dead from the fire.

They have to ration out what little food they have, as well as search the Valley thoroughly for any spots of green untouched by the flames. The kids and teens find one such place, and Hyp's father catches himself when he's about to yell at Hyp over it. Hyp says there's enough if they share, and Mutt and Goon 1 are surprised to hear him talking about sharing, but he insists that not sharing is for babies.

Narrator: "And so, as it turned out, the dinosaurs traveled from green spot to green spot, eating their fill. Each helping the others to find what they needed. Each learning the special kind of joy which comes from giving to others. And in the years to come, this story of sharing was told over and over again, until it became known as 'The Time of the Great Giving'."

SURPRISE! This movie was a Thanksgiving Day special, all along!

Looking it up, Goon 1's name is indeed a shortening of Nodosaurus, it's just "Nod". Well, I was close. It is odd that he's never named, and Mutt is only named once, so it's easy to miss. By the way, I don't think that Clubtail we see throughout the film is meant to be Nod's father. Nodosaurus didn't have a club tail, but this is also a dinosaur movie from 1995, so who knows?

This movie's core theme is about bullying, and it kinda folds the racism theme of the previous two movies into that bullying theme via Cera's dad and his character development. Hyp and his goons are the bullies to the kids, Cera's dad is the bully to the adults, and Cera's dad and Hyp's dad are bullies to their own kids, representing how generational trauma makes parents create bullies out of their kids. Cera's dad even mentions his own father in his song.

Cera's dad really is a MAJOR focus of this movie. I was worried his character development would feel forced and rushed, but that fire scene and then the speech later did a lot to make his turn feel realistic. His racist attitude has been a major background element of both of the previous movies, and this one dealt with it. Not quite bringing it all the way to the forefront, but close enough to deal with it by proxy of his other issues.

This movie has kind of a slow first half but it hit its stride in the second half when the kids find the water. Which, to be fair, was the case with the last movie, too. Chomper didn't even hatch until the halfway point.

The raptors' insane durability really stretched the limits of my suspension of disbelief. There were 5 herbivore adults fighting them, all but one being bigger, plus 8 juveniles, but the raptors seemed like unstoppable Terminators. Except the one who was apparently taken out like a punk at the very beginning of the fight. If the writers really wanted the raptors to be that big of a threat, they should have made there be more than just 4. Like, 10 would make more sense.

Pros: All 3 songs are better than Eggs. Cera's dad's character arc was surprisingly great. The tension of the drought was pretty good. The whole fire scene is really good. The bullies are WAY better than Ozzy and Strut. Petrie gets a neat arc in standing up to the bullies and earning their respect. The raptor fight at the end is kinda fun, it goes in a lot of interesting directions.

Cons: None of the songs are as good as You're One Of Us Now. The dialogue is more stilted and clunky than in the last movie. The final battle at the end felt tacked-on and it dragged a bit too long. The raptors, aside from their absurd durability, aren't interesting characters at all. Mutt and Nod do get a tiny bit of depth, but not enough.

Score: Overall, this movie didn't have any glaring flaws like the editing in the first movie or the Struthiomimus brothers in the second, but it's also generally not quite as good across the board. I think I'll give it a 7/10.

The Land Before Time: 8/10 (hypothetical uncut version: 9/10)

The Great Valley Adventure: 8/10

The Time of the Great Giving: 7/10

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

pt XIV good omens season 2 (still not traumatic) episode 2

Here we go. It might not have been traumatic, but it has made me utterly in love with a fictional character. Great.

While everyone runs around between episode 1 and 2 to use the loo or fetch emotional support fruit, in preparation for my inevitable gay panic for Crowley, I eat an emotional support banana as the intro sequence plays.

I realise too late that bananas remind me of fellatio.

The episode begins. There are incoherent screams of BILDADDY through the chat. The phrase religious fervour and ecstasy comes to mind. I do not say it.

God and Satan are betting on a poor bloke so his goats and kids are going to be dead, Crowley has a permit to wreak havoc, Aziraphale is scandalised.

Gabriel's angel hair is very Lord Farquaad. Everyone agrees.

Jimbriel is determined to make his new dad proud, and rearranges all the books in alphabetical order of the first letter of the first sentence. Aziraphale struggles to compliment him.

CROWLEY LIVES IN THE BENTLEY. I'M READY TO RIP THROUGH REALITY'S FABRIC TO GIVE THAT IMMORTAL SOME LOVE AND AFFECTION. AND OF COURSE HE STILL KEEPS ALL HIS PLANTS AND HAS THEM IN THE BACK. @neil-gaiman WHY MUST YOU CAREFULLY CRAFT BEAUTY THAT BREAKS ME.

Anyway.

NO NOT ANYWAY I'M STILL RAGING BUT WE HAVE A SUMMARY TO DO AND I'M A FUCKING PROFESSIONAL GODDAMN IT.

Angels are assholes. Jimbriel is very supportive bookseller's son.

The shit-job subtlety attempt last episode was very powerful because TOGETHER THEY ARE STRONGER! *unicorn music*

Aziraphale strokes Crowley's chest. The fandom sobs.

Crowley suggests getting humans wet to make them 'vavoom' and the apple falls from my slack jaw mid bite.

Aziraphale and Crowley are shit at interpreting human media.

Job storyline. If I open my mouth I'll start scream-crying about how Crowley didn't even kill the goats. He had both heaven and hell's permission, orders from God and Satan, and he didn't even kill the goats. Anyway no we're not doing this now thanks.

Crowley introduces Aziraphale to food. Aziraphale goes ham on the ox rib while Crowley has a little spring awakening about his kinks. I eat my other emotional support banana in honour of the blowjob angles.

Crowley didn't even want to reveal that he'd saved the goats to Aziraphale even though Aziraphale was looking at him with betrayal, because it was for the goats and he wanted to-

Sorry. I'm so fucking normal about goats.

David Tennant and his son are having a HECK of a time.

All Crowley wanted to do was ask questions and christ if he isn't angelic who is he put goats' safety over his-

Bildaddy is the best cobbler and obstetrician. Gabriel is an idiot.

Back in actual time, Crowley gives up on Aziraphale mid-flashback and they saunter off to facilitate some lesbian romancing.

OUR BOOKSHOP. OUR CAR. PLENTY OF USE.

Boundaries, Aziraphale, please. Someone reminds us that the Bentley is all Crowley has left. I fill with preternatural RAGE again.

Aziraphale poor baby has a crisis over betraying heaven. Crowley comforts him even though Crowley fell so every defence of heaven is an attack to himself. I'm totally normal and start eating my emotional support kiwi.

Still eating my emotional support kiwi when the episode ends. Crowley says Aziraphale is too pure and angelic looking to be a demon which means that she doesn't see how pure and angelic she was while making the stars, she thinks she was marked in some way, imperfect. It is okay for her to fall, not Aziraphale.

Anyway yes summary all done.

BUT THE GOATS. CROWLEY DEFIED HEAVEN AND HELL FOR GOATS. AND-

END END THE SUMMARY NOW.

[wesleysniperking]

One Piece Film: Sniper Island

Now I’m spiraling into a full-blown daydream (and maybe it’s because I’m re-reading Usopp’s arc), but hear me out—a standalone movie for Usopp. Imagine if it were titled One Piece Film: Sniper Island. It could dive into Usopp’s legacy while also giving us the Sniper King nostalgia we all secretly crave. I genuinely feel like there’s a trade-off happening in canon—if Oda delves deeper into Usopp and Yasopp’s stories, we might lose out on callbacks to Usopp’s Sniper King persona. Let’s face it: Sniper Island might forever remain the metaphorical place “in your heart.” So why not consolidate everything into a semi-canon movie?

Here’s how it could go:

The opening scene kicks off with a fresh, revamped version of the Sniper King theme song—complete with a killer intro sequence that either reimagines Sniper King as a legendary figure (a vigilante of sorts) or gives us a nostalgic recreation of his iconic Water 7 debut. Then the screen cuts to a mysterious setting. Shanks or Benn Beckman walks into a darkened room. We hear sobbing in the background, but the camera isn’t on the source yet. Calmly, one of them says, “Chaser, you can come out now.” Suddenly, the camera pans to Yasopp, trembling yet victorious, embracing his captain in relief. Around him are defeated adversaries, henchmen laid out like dominoes. Yasopp, having fought tooth and nail, reveals just how formidable he is when he taps into Observation Haki in ways we’ve never seen before.

From there, the story transitions to the Straw Hats. They’re sailing as usual, and Usopp is entertaining the crew with one of his grand tales—Sniper Island, of course. Luffy and Chopper are eating it up, Brook strums a few chords of the theme song, and Robin quietly chuckles. Franky and Sanji exchange knowing looks, while Nami rolls her eyes, telling them to stop indulging him. Jinbe looks on, completely baffled. Meanwhile, Zoro is either asleep or smirking faintly. The camaraderie sets the tone, but little does Usopp know trouble is brewing.

The crew soon encounters enemies who are after Usopp specifically. Whether it starts with a ship battle or unfolds at a lively carnival where Usopp shows off his sharpshooting skills, he ends up kidnapped. The adversaries drag him to the elusive Sniper Island. Cue the crew embarking on a rescue mission, with Luffy absolutely livid. Usopp, meanwhile, is confronted by the false king of Sniper Island—a cruel and arrogant sniper who mocks him, dons the Sniper King mask, and disparages Yasopp’s reputation. Usopp’s fury boils over, flashing back to moments like when he punched Kuro during the Syrup Village arc.

This movie could showcase Usopp reconciling with both his father’s legacy and his own. We’d get scenes where Usopp reflects on the role Sniper King played for him during Enies Lobby and Thriller Bark, giving depth to why he created that persona in the first place. The false king could narrate his rise to power, maybe even referencing other legendary snipers like Van Augur or elite Marine marksmen, creating a sniper-centric worldbuilding element. The island could be a secret haven for snipers, their own version of Laugh Tale, shrouded in mystery.

In the final battle, Usopp would use his Observation Haki in brilliant and innovative ways, proving his growth as a sniper and a warrior. The Straw Hats arrive just in time for backup, but Usopp is the one to land the decisive blow. In the aftermath, the island’s people declare him the true Sniper King and prepare a grand ceremony in his honor. However, in classic Usopp fashion, he humbly steps aside, passing the title to a young admirer who sees him as an inspiration. Luffy beams with pride, knowing Usopp will always choose his crew over any crown.

To tie it all together, there could be a flashback from Luffy where Yasopp would regale him with stories about Usopp. These tales could serve as a crucial clue that helps the crew find him on Sniper Island. The movie would be heartfelt, action-packed, and full of callbacks to Usopp’s journey, giving fans everything they love about him—from his insecurities and resilience to his knack for storytelling and his incredible sniping skills.

It’s a total fangirl fever dream, I know, but wouldn’t it be amazing to see Usopp face off against the best snipers of the One Piece world while grappling with his father’s legacy and his own growth? And come on—imagine the hype if the movie ends with a lingering question: was it all real, or was Sniper Island truly only in your heart?

Usopp fan club

[lightwise]

Comparing Acolyte vs. Skeleton Crew - Eps 1 & 2

I am SO SORRY for how long this post ended up being 🫣 😆

I am comparing and contrasting The Acolyte vs. Skeleton Crew episode by episode to figure out where Acolyte fell apart (for me) and failed to live up to its potential. There are three themes that I have pulled out of both shows: the perspectives and viewpoints of their child characters, the power struggle of light vs. dark in the galaxy, and specific viewpoints and opinions about the Jedi Order.

To recap from my intro post here, the trailer for Acolyte laid out these lines: "In an age of light, darkness rises. This isn't about good or bad, it's about power and who is allowed to use it." Not only does the show itself end up being centered around a much smaller/more personal angle than the trailers showed, (Osha as a character and the existence of the twins and the mystery around Brendok is not mentioned at all), I would argue Acolyte never actually shows us what the “light” in this time period is supposed to be, or who the Jedi truly WERE and what they stood for as a whole, and therefore its foray into the darkness feels both forced and lackluster.

In contrast, Skeleton Crew both delivers on its marketed purpose, adds in new ones once the show gets started, and consistently hits on and delivers on all of those themes every single episode, including wrapping them up in the finale (with just a few things that could have been delved into more thoroughly--like Tak Rennod's identity/fate, or the specifics around At Attin's history).

Interestingly, as I started writing this I realized for every major positive I found in Acolyte, I often had a minor or major qualm that was the opposite side of the same coin. The good and bad are linked, just like Osha and Mae. That really might be what it comes down to with this show—it’s not that it doesn’t have great moments, ideas, and even execution.  It’s that the ratio of good to bad doesn't balance out, depending on the episode, and that’s enough to tank the entire effort. 

So how does this play out in the first two episodes?

In both shows, the first episodes end up solving several mysteries very quickly, leaving the stories more open ended than the trailers suggested.

In Skeleton Crew, we aren't left wondering whether Captain Silvo, shown in the opening sequences, is also Jod Na Nawood, a prisoner who helps the Skeleton Crew kids escape Port Borgo (he is). Nor do they leave his Force abilities up to the imagination, with him pulling a key through the air within a few seconds of meeting the kids, although his status as a trained Jedi will remain in question until the finale. And the kids, who catapult themselves off into space by the end of the first episode, have a definitive way home by the end of the second (they have a ship, a droid who can fly it, and Jod's contacts who can help them along the way)--as long as they can figure out where exactly their home is.

The mystery of what At Attin is, and how to find it, turns out to be the driving plot point going forward, mixed in with some questions around Jod's character and motivations, character growth for the kids, action elements, and good old-fashioned pirate shenanigans. Despite the first two episodes covering so much ground, the arc of the storyline is still pointing in the same direction, just with some added layers. Skeleton Crew stays within its pirate adventure genre and makes sure that each unfolding mystery that is revealed each episode sits firmly within the umbrella that the trailers and first episode establish, in service to getting the kids home.

In the Acolyte, after being teased with a murder mystery and the rise of the Sith from the trailers, we witness in the first five minutes the shocking first murder (RIP Carrie Ann Moss), then learn that the same killer is supposedly in two different places in the galaxy at once, then are quickly led step by step through the revelations that Mae and Osha (who I repeat was not in the trailer at ALL) are twins, that Osha is innocent even though no one thinks she is for a hot minute (except Sol, bless his heart), Osha then figures out her sister is alive, then Mae is proven alive, supposedly has a master trained in the Force who is not a Jedi, and then she is proven to be the murderer of the Jedi--the mystery shown in the trailer as the supposedly driving force of the entire narrative. Rather than all of that being neatly wrapped up in a way that brings clarity (although it would remain rather dizzying even if it had), instead the plot branches into multiple other mysteries and conflicting directions, and cuts off half the limb it was supposed to be standing on.

What happened on Brendok? What crime occurred to warrant Mae tracking down four Jedi and trying to brutally murder them in cold blood? Who has trained her and goaded her into this situation in the first place? What does that have to do with the "rising dark" from the trailers? Who exactly are the Jedi in this day and age and what political troubles are they having, and do the failures of these four Jedi have anything to do with it? Can it actually pull all of these threads together into a cohesive tapestry?

Episode 1

You'll hear me say this a lot: the opening fight sequence is stunning. The use of the Force, the martial arts, the calm controlled presence that Carrie Ann has, and the nods to her Matrix days were beautiful to see.

I have to admit, the shock of Carrie Ann Moss being killed off in the first five minutes got me good when the show aired (how dare they do that to Trinity?!?! 🤣🫣). And it honestly put a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the season. Now that I’m more removed and can evaluate the story as a whole, I do admit it works at least for a shocking and engaging opener. However, I still think it felt like marketing bait to use such a prestigious actress for a role like that, and to have used her character (and Kelnacca’s, but we’ll come to that later) as one of the major draws of the show only to fake everyone out. Just kind of a waste of a good actress.

Set is very Mandoverse but that’s to be expected (it's my opinion that Skeleton Crew is the first show to truly from start to finish use the Volume effectively and without compromising the depth and complexity of locations, scenery, or camera angles). 

Alien designs and droids throughout the show are pretty good. Outfits are also pretty decent. I disagree with their decision to put Indara in a robe more similar to the Prequel Jedi (I read in an interview they wanted the first Jedi we saw to bring us back to things we know in Star Wars). Terrible choice in my opinion. They should have been driving the High Republic era home immediately. Also I just think the robe looks silly on her haha. Once we get to Yord and Sol’s costumes I finally started getting the ornate, prestigious, High Republic feel I was waiting for.  

I haven’t read the High Republic books, but have heard snippets of their storylines, and have watched Young Jedi Adventures. I would argue this episode doesn’t do as much world building as I would have hoped given that we have both an entirely new cast of characters (no legacy characters to latch onto or guide us through the story), AND it’s a new time period that has never been shown on screen before. Even the prequels had legacy characters that were already known and loved, and Lucas really leaned into the ways in which the aesthetics and culture and clothing were very different than the original trilogy.

The use of the Nemoidians and the trade federation was the one tie in to the prequels that I thought was smart here. 

There are some little details that were well thought out. Osha sitting up out of sleep and holding her fist to her heart right after Indara takes a dagger to the heart. Her banter with Fillik while doing a very dangerous job, and her dissociation while watching the flames on the ship hull (I have zero opinion on the space physics of that scene, sorry). Mirroring the hint of character depth we see when Mae lets the bartender go because he has a child. Both Osha and Mae have more going on underneath the surface--Osha has a darkness that is belied by her cheerful demeanor, and Mae has a simmering empathy that is at odds with her violent mission.

That being said, Amandla’s performance as Mae is a qualm I have throughout the show. I’ve seen people say the opposite, but for me I mostly enjoy Amandla’s performance as Osha, and her embodiment of Mae falls flat for me. Osha has a more dynamic range of expression, care, and backstory that we’re shown, and while Mae is meant to be sinister, a mystery, and arguably trying too hard, I feel like Amandla was also trying too hard with her, and it felt forced. Ironically, for the child actors who portrayed both characters, I felt the opposite. Mae’s child actor came alive for me and Osha’s did not. I don’t know if it would have been better to have two adult actresses portray the adult characters, and one child portray the kids, or if I just can’t connect with Mae as strongly given how her storyline unfolds.

Yord’s intro was great. Finally we have full blown High Republic robes and we are every quickly given insight into Yord’s character and the friendship that he and Osha shared, making his suspicion and arrest of her all the more heartbreaking. The tension between them is fantastic, and Yord really lets us see the struggle between delight at seeing an old friend and his horror at what he believes she has done. We also see quite clearly that Osha has zero idea of what she’s about to be accused of, making us believe even more that she must be innocent somehow. Whatever my qualms are about acting capabilities throughout this show, this episode and this scene especially is not one of them. 

And yet here we have another coin flip for me. Why - why - W H Y did they go to all that effort to make Yord’s padawan Tasi Lowa, her character, her costume and prosthetics, her very distinctive personality—all for her to never show up in the rest of the show again????? It makes zero sense, and maybe provides some insight into how their immense budget was poorly used. While I think her character is very interesting, and I wanted more of her, given how she’s actually used, they should have never had her in the first place. Plus, we’re given no indication on what the High Republic rules are for having padawans, and Yord seems a little young to already have one. Either way, this was a miss for me. 

Similar to Yord’s intro, Sol’s is well done too, and we are shown that he is a deeply feeling and very complex character.

A huge qualm I have with the show: Vernestra, and the political climate of the Jedi order at this time period. Now, again, I have not read the THR books yet, but I know that a younger version of this character is in them, and I know how the order was viewed/inhabited the galaxy at the height of its influence several hundred years prior. This show was supposed to be a connecting bridge between the Jedi we see in the prequels and their inexorable fall into Palpatine’s clutches, a galactic war, and genocide, and the victorious, mostly peace keeping, knowledge bearing, compassionate, curious, respectful and respected Jedi religion of THR. Instead, through Vernestra, we are presented with a Jedi leader who is rigid, passive, rigorously against attachments, and who is willing to do anything to save face in a political climate that somehow is already suspicious of the Jedi, yet we are given no explanations as to why. I also felt that the actress herself, as well as her styling and makeup etc. did not hit the mark, neither for her character nor her species (Mirialan). I haven’t even read about the younger version of her character, and yet I feel like this older version of her is out of sync and jarring. 

The prison break is alright. Interestingly, the prisoners already don’t trust the Jedi or what they would do to Osha, and there’s no explanation for that either. Again, when and how did the Jedi’s reputation become so poor? The show is assuming too much in that regard and is not currently backing it up. 

The chair pilot droids are pretty cool. 

We’re given more clues that Osha is truly not the murderer by her rescue of the last prisoner. 

Jecki’s intro is also great, as is the setup for Sol to go to Carlac and find Osha. 

The vision sequence with Osha and younger Mae is used fairly well. I think at the time I was very surprised that the mystery of who the murderer was was being solved so quickly and so blatantly, and I wondered what the rest of the season was going to cover if this was being solved up front. This was a similar issue in Mando season 3, and also a tactic used in Skeleton Crew as I noted above. In Mando and Acolyte the marketing leaned heavily on these mysteries, so when the show just batted them away within the first episode it felt like a bait and switch. In Skeleton Crew it worked partly because the mystery wasn’t as heavily implied in the trailers and partly because Jod’s mystery wasn’t ever the main focus. The trailers captured the essence of the show but left the details to be unveiled. Whereas in Acolyte, the trailers promised one thing and then delivered another. 

Osha’s rescue and reunion with Sol is fine in how it wraps up the episode. 

The Stranger's appearance—idk what to think about it at this stage. It’s spooky and interesting, but at the same time rests on the main issue with the show—what is the “dream” of the Jedi that the stranger wants to kill? The show continuously refuses to give explicit backstory on what the current state of the Jedi is and what they stand for, while simultaneously attacking them for their role in the galaxy, but all without giving us a good reason or context for either stance. 

Episode 2

I just gotta say it up front—Torbin’s beard is atrocious 🤣🤣🤣. I just can’t take him seriously like that. Him floating in the air for the Barash vow is pretty cool though. 

Again, Amandla is just so stiff and awkward as Mae. I think she was trying to get across how much inner turmoil she has, but it really does not work. She feels like a caricature of herself at points, whereas Osha (for me) feels like a more well rounded person. 

As usual the stunt work does the work for the actors in this show. It is really interesting to watch Mae once again put her full effort into trying to best a Jedi and be thwarted for a time. And on the outside Torbin looks perfectly at peace and steadfast, the essence of who we believe Jedi to be. Of course we know later on that’s not the case at all. 

It’s also interesting seeing a little outpost type of Jedi temple. I wish we saw more of that in this show--just how the Jedi are acting as peacekeepers throughout the galaxy in ways we never got to see in the prequels.

Jecki and Osha immediately set up a very cute banter as they’re sizing each other up. Their dialogue explains the new term of meknek and how it subverts our usual droid expectations in Star Wars. Jecki also starts to warm up to Osha and we get more insight into her character. 

We get some insight into Sol’s character as well, although we won’t know until later just how much. He tells Yord “don’t let fear affect your judgment.” We find out later he is speaking from deep and painful experience here. We also find out that the existence of Mae’s sister was not passed on to all of the Jedi. So far only Sol and Indara seem to have immediately known that fact (Vernestra and Yord did not). While the big mystery of who is trying to kill Jedi is being solved up front, some lingering mysteries of what exactly happened to both Mae and Osha and how they tie into the Jedi order is being teased. 

We get our first real look at The Stranger—excuse me, I mean Qimir 😁. Manny Jacinto is at his best when he’s playing scrappy, frazzled, out-of-it himbos. Mae is noticeably more expressive and herself around him, so we can assume they have a relationship of sorts. Their banter is delightful, and we learn more about Mae’s mission and that she is trying to kill four Jedi, and at at least one without a weapon, in order to satisfy a Master whom Qimir presumably works for as well. 

We get hints that Mae might be on the Sith side of things when she and Qimir bring up the phrase “peace is a lie.” And Qimir’s beliefs are laid out when he states that "everyone has a weakness, you just have to find it.” We also finally get a bit of insight into what the show believes about the Jedi—that they “justify their galactic dominance in the name of peace.” Dominance is an interesting perspective on their role as peacekeepers the Republic.

“Like every other Jedi, he only thinks he’s found peace” Qimir says about Torbin. He needs what only Mae can give him: “absolution”. The show has the Jedi condemned before it even starts, and that is true of the four Jedi in question, as we will find out. They’ve done wrong. But the show is extrapolating that out to all the Jedi, and in these first two episodes is doing nothing to support that claim. 

We see the father/daughter quality of Sol and Osha’s relationship, and we start to see that Qimir’s assessment at least of certain Jedi might be right—Sol claims he has made peace with what happened on Brendok, but he is clearly hiding something. We also know that Osha is very troubled as well and hasn’t been able to let go of the past (something that we know Jedi of all time periods are encouraged to do).

Starting with the cuts between Mae/Torbin and Sol’s group, this is the first time that the editing starts to fall short for me. The jumps back and forth and where the dialogue gets cut off feel awkward and too fast to me, like they’re forcing an artificial sense of anxiety. I also think it was a little over dramatic for there to be one last fakeout of whether or not Osha was behind the killings, but at least it gives Yord the evidence he finally needs to believe she is innocent. 

Another interesting “Jedi culture” thing that isn’t explained—giving a civilian a weapon supposedly violates a bunch of rules. Since when has that ever been a thing? 

The sets on Olega are fine, but still don’t feel quite as lived in as those in Andor or Skeleton Crew do. 

I’ll never get over Qimir being an adorable dork. 

It’s very obvious there’s a darker side to him, and that he immediately knows he’s not talking to Mae, and that he’s interested in who Osha might be. Another “mystery” that the show decides not to leave a mystery (and the show runners admitted they never meant it to be questioned in the first place)—whether Qimir and The Stranger and Mae’s Master are the same person. 

It’s REALLY interesting that Qimir is willing to sell Mae out so quickly. It's also interesting that the Jedi are fine with not arresting a man who has been caught willingly supplying poison to someone. 

We start to see the darkness and anger residing in Osha, and that it is directed towards her sister.

Sol also wants the absolution Qimir spoke of—except he wants to gain his by trying to save Mae from the dark path she’s been on. 

Once again, the fight scenes are the saving grace of this show for me. Just incredible stunt work and choreography, and the continued showcase of how the Jedi, when staying calm and cool and collected are more than a match for Mae’s frenzied and anxious attempts to bring them down. She can only best them when she gets at an emotional weakness of some kind, but she cannot best them physically. 

Sol says something interesting—that Mae has misunderstood the Jedi arts and that her master had failed her, and hidden himself from her. Both he and Yord have made free use of their ability to peer into other people’s thoughts, and it seems to be accepted as both a practice and by outsiders that this is a thing the Jedi do regularly. I’m not sure that is supported as normal by the rest of the media, but please correct me if I am wrong. 

There's an interesting parallel towards the end when Qimir backs Mae up against a wall while she is trying to get her knife pressed against his throat. You probably already know what I'm referencing (Osha and his lightsaber, anyone?) but I will bring this up again later.

By the end of the episode we know Mae’s weakness—her sister. Most likely her plans for revenge have hinged more on grief over her sister rather than a true commitment to the dark side, and we will see that play out over the show. She misses her and wants them to be together again. We also know that Mae is Osha’s weakness too, but not for the same reasons. Her attitude towards her burns with anger and resentment. It's obvious that these two have a lot to work through both separately and together. 

So how do these episodes stack up from a storytelling perspective, a quality perspective, and the three themes I pulled out earlier (children's POV, light vs. dark, and how the Jedi are handled)?

Quality and Story

Hear me out: I know I just complained about a bunch of details, but quality and storytelling wise I actually think these first two episodes of Acolyte are fine. Decent. Even good, actually, as far as episodes of television go, to be quite honest. Overall I really enjoyed them when they first aired, once I got past the shock of the first five minutes. I appreciated the dialogue and banter, the new characters, some of the settings, and the epic choreography. I also was down for learning more about the mysteries that were stacking up even though the initial one was already solved. On this rewatch months later--I still think they're very good. Which makes the rest of the show that much more disappointing. But we'll get there. The visuals were already better than the other Mando shows, and the new characters seemed interesting even if I wasn't attached to them yet.

For Skeleton Crew, I was hooked immediately on all counts, but especially in quality. Every alien species, every prosthetic, the sets, the camera angles, the dialogue and cheeky banter, the action sequences, the CGI, the plot points and progression, all BLEW. ME. AWAY. My expectations for this show were on the floor, so to have it immediately become one of my favorite parts of Star Wars ever was not at all what I anticipated. I have no doubt I will continue to find it impeccable years down the road. After the first two episodes I was just hoping that they wouldn't fumble it. The fact that they didn't is kind of a miracle given the Star Wars track record at this point, and it was also a breath of fresh air after the sour taste and exhaustion left in the fandom after Acolyte.

Children's POV

An interesting contrast between Acolyte and Skeleton Crew is how the children are used. In Acolyte I would argue they end up being props, whereas in Skeleton Crew they are the main perspective. Skeleton Crew is about kids, for kids, and mainly from the children's perspectives, and yet the creators didn't let that stop them from making a complex, layered, and still very mature story that doesn't shy away from violence, innuendo, and the gritty reality of the Star Wars galaxy and pirate lifestyles. Whereas in Acolyte, Mae and Osha's childhood selves and the ways their past haunts them, both in visions and flashbacks, was unexpected and at times awkwardly executed. For these first two episodes, Osha's vision of child Mae is interesting, and I think showcases their bond and adds a sense of intrigue, but it's still from adult Osha's perspective. We don't know yet what happened to those children or what their perspectives were. Right now it is more intriguing than fulfilling.

The Jedi

"The Jedi justify their galactic dominance in the name of peace." Acolyte starts out at the tail end of the High Republic, an era filled with prosperity, scientific advancement, conflicts with dark side users (the Nihil) that ended with the Jedi restoring peace to the galaxy, and a strong governing Republic. There are temples on many worlds, and upwards of 10,000 Jedi help keep the peace across the galaxy. However, all of that has never been shown on screen before (barring a children's cartoon), and Acolyte had the heavy task of introducing not only a new time period, but also a version of the Jedi order that bridges the gap between THR and the more weary, waning force that we see in the Prequels as they become corrupted by the dark side and get dragged into war. They're not there yet though. And while Acolyte does do an okay job of showing the expanded Jedi Order, the hustle and bustle of the Coruscant Temple, various outposts, and even the training of the next generation, it doesn't really give us context on who the Jedi are in this era. What defines them, what their role is, how they interact with and serve the Republic, what level of partnership they have with the Senate and what their jurisdiction is. What is normal for them interacting with the public, what the average person thinks of them. There are a lot of rules thrown around, a lot of talk of remaining respectable so their enemies can't find fault with them--but at least in these two episodes, no explanation as to why they might be scrutinized in the first place.

As I said before, I think Vernestra's character as a spokesperson for them really doesn't mesh well with where the show is supposed to be starting out. The attachment issues sounding more like Prequel Jedi feels out of place, the brazen use of mind reading is jarring, and while it becomes very clear that Sol, Indara, Torbin, and Kelnacca did SOMETHING years ago, I think the show falters in one very clear area when it comes to the treatment of the Jedi--the actions of four individuals are being used as a placeholder for a critique on the Order as a whole. And for me it doesn't hold up. Of course at this stage we can't know that yet, and the directions the show is going could have been interesting. But I needed more groundwork laid here than what we were given.

For Skeleton Crew, the frequent mention of the Jedi as heroic role models on a remote planet in the middle of the Mandoverse era was not something I expected at all. However, it clearly is set up both to provide Wim with an ideal to follow and interpret the world through, as well as giving the kids a framework to deal with Jod when they first meet him. In the first two episodes it's more of a fun quirk, much like Wim's storybook. By the end it will become very important to both the story and the kids' character growth.

Light vs. Dark

"Peace is a lie." The Acolyte trailers promised an epic showdown between the light side vs. the dark side. So far in these episodes we start out with a clear line being drawn--the Jedi, good, on the surface. Mae, and her Master--evil, and trying to take them down. But is it really that clear? Osha is presumed guilty at first, then shown to be innocent, and then revealing a dark well of anger underneath. Sol claims he has let go of the past, but clearly still feels the need to atone for mistakes he has made. Torbin is so wracked with guilt that he is willing to take a Barash vow and will only break it to welcome death. Vernestra seems on edge and worried about upholding an appearance of respectability--but it shouldn't be an appearance at all. And the Stranger, Mae's master (and Qimir) both seem to have a grudge set against the Jedi, claiming them to be manipulative and overbearing, yet we have no insight yet into why they want to take down the Jedi "dream" that supposedly not everyone shares. I'm always for grey morality and complicated motivations, and I think the Jedi have always been very flawed at every stage of their existence. But so far the clear cut light side vs. dark side dynamics that even the most morally grey characters in Star Wars tend to fall along aren't proving to be so clear cut after all.

The themes of good vs. evil in Skeleton Crew are more obvious at the beginning. At Attin is presented as a happy planet even though it is very obviously a surveillance society. Jedi are talked about as legends of helpers and heroes. Pirates are the menacing, chaotic troublemakers that they usually are in media, and the introduction of Jod at the end of episode 2 just starts to lean into the possibility of a more complicated morality. But one of the biggest themes of the show that will become apparent as each episode goes on, is that at each step of the children's journey, there are always people who are willing to help them, even in as lawless of a place as a pirate stronghold. And that will end up being one of the deepest ties the show has to what makes Star Wars, Star Wars.

Read my recap of Episode 3 here.

[inkdragonworks]

June Update

Breaking the chain of not updating to talk about what I've been working on. As the absence of Poppin & Jupa here can tell, I switched projects back in April, to an older one I worked on for about 8 months in 2022. Main reason was feeling dejected a bit after the animation didn't do as well as I was expecting; been getting the impression that Tiera is more popular than them with folks lol.

Again I won't be cancelling it, or never working on PnJ, just switching focus so I can stay productive and make something that feels fun for me, which this has.

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

As a refresher, here's the game I've been picking at:

The game's current design can be broken down into:

intro sequence to introduce Tiera and the setting

initial puzzle + encounter to introduce the main mechanics

large hub in the form of Fragaria Park where you avoid the main threat, collect items, interact with side attractions, and access the 4 side areas

4 side areas, which have their own puzzles/challenges within with a primary goal at the end that progresses you towards the final escape

optional collectibles Since April I've worked on a part of the large hub, 3 of the 4 side areas, and the optional collectibles.

"Who works on optional stuff before the main game is done" well they play off of the main mechanics but mainly it's an excuse to draw something cute instead of programming.

These are Anna Banana and The Fruit Friends (Also Strawberry), characters from a cartoon show that Tiera likes (Except Strawberry).

They don't play any significant role/impact in the game (Besides Strawberry), but they reveal part of Tiera's interests, they form a small bit of the world's background, they make for fun type of collectible that gives something to do besides the main puzzles, and, again, I just felt like drawing cute shit.

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

For the hub, I worked on a themed side area dedicated to a playground. This does have puzzle elements in it, but a lot of it are silly interactions, and a reference to that cartoon I did a while back. Maybe you can recognize it here.

It's one of those "makes the setting feel more realized/fleshed out" deals.

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

For the side areas, what I've mainly been doing is settling on their exact design, blocking out the areas, and working on their puzzle sequence, obstacles, and any single screens that are tied to it.

Here's what I mean by "single screen":

Something that cuts away from the main game to it's own puzzle. This one here is for the performance theater. All graphics are placeholders just to get the logic in and see if it might work.

Making these type of puzzles is fun cause it reminds me the most of Resident Evil 1 and various flash adventure games I've played.

As for obstacles, a significant one I'm playing with for the theater is darkness, making use of Tiera's sonar to detect a safe path around deep pits.

She won't fall off right away, but it's tied to the same stamina system.

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Another side area are the sewers, everyone's favorite video game setting. That obviously involves water, but the trickiest thing about it has been dealing with really complicated patterns of depth changing.

What that means is Tiera climbing up and falling down a lot, and trying to keep track of that. Here's what that looks like without proper graphics:

I'm very happy with how the area is turning out so far though, it's something you'd get to later and I think the puzzles do a good job of reflecting that progression.

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

The last side area I've poked at was the final sequence of the game. I've had a lot of different ideas of how to go about it but I think I'm happy with the set of them I have planned, something that builds up towards the climax and building off of what was set up in the rest of the game.

I wanna be careful about spoiling it, but here's one effect from it I've started work on:

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I'm trying not to overshare here, though there's a lot more I've thrown into my server that I couldn't here. One of the side areas I haven't gotten to really pinning down is the Hedge Maze. I have a basic outline, but the main obstacle involved requires more dynamic logic. It's hard to settle on what that logic should be without set level design, and it's hard to settle on level design without knowing the limitations of that logic.

It's a similar issue with the main challenge of the game, both for the player and for designing: the ghosts.

What's intimidating is the feeling that they need to be very deliberate in this type of game, to balance between adding tension without veering into frustration. I'm hoping tackling everything surrounding them will make me more confident, but odds are I'll have to start with something simple and half-broken just to break the ice. And accepting I'll have to make something that gets thrown away, which I'm not used to doing... I really prefer thinking through stuff first before making it.

Anyway, thank you for reading.

[chestersbraincell]

Hi so I just had a sort of zombie apocalypse dream that towards the end morphed into something that felt HUGELY like a prediction sort of dream for Deltarune so. Yeah. Oh yeah also keep in mind this COULD ofc just be something my brain cobbled together using my recent consumption of both Handplates media and the Oblivion theory(especially the cryptic stairs part, that reminded me a lot of that scrapped Deltarune intro sequence or something). Well anyway here is it, have a ponder:

A door, I can’t remember the colour. But it wasn’t grey. Maybe it was orange. Or yellow, or brown. Something in between all of those. Maybe green, maybe red, but those are more unlikely. Definitely not blue. Three doors actually. Along a wall. More doors on the adjacent wall. Past the door? Void, darkness. Something like the gaster room behind the door. All black sole for the floor which was grey. The doors were still that same colour, in a similar layout three on one and three on the other, but aside from the three doors infront, the other three were on the opposite wall to the one before. Maybe there were four on the front? The one we ended up chasing through was in the middle of the front doors, but it felt slightly offset to the right.

Through that door everything was greyscale, including the people. It seemed as if they weren’t aware of us. Like a scene playing out, ghosts of the past, a projection of sorts. There were fireworks, grey fireworks, filling the air above. Maybe it was ambient magic, I’m not sure. There were a couple people, 3-5, I think the gaster followers by context but truly I don’t really remember what they looked like. Facing a person who was facing them, and seemed to be like, teaching them some kind of spiral-like magic pattern. Kind of like that spinny thing they do in doctor strange to open trans-dimensional portals. I have little to no doubt this person was gaster. As many things in this dream, the way he looked was greatly inspired by fan interpretations and theories I’ve consumed. Bore a striking resemblance to Handplates gaster, both pre and post face obscuration with that white flame thing. The white flame thing appeared in the dream when I tried to recall his face towards the end of the dream, which tracks. But I do kinda remember what his face looked like before. Well, two features to be exact. There were definitely cracks on that face, perhaps a few more/just appearing so due to being more detailed and spread out. And, and this will shake the Deltarune gaster is actually papyrus truthers I’m sure, he appeared to be wearing around his neck what looked like a red scarf, albeit torn and dirtied/faded almost to unrecognisability. Like, perhaps charred in a fire or explosion. At the latest/last iteration I remember trying to mimic what they were doing with the magic and struggling, only to have this weird thought of like. “No…I need a higher power. But what could be higher than a combined human and monster soul?”And I couldn’t think of what could be more powerful than that. And upon retrospection when waking up, obviously more human souls ie omega Flowey but I don’t think that was the point. I just have this feeling it was me becoming lucid, which would be reflective of a sort of meta direct interaction with the player in-game. Well anyway, in each iteration, he only seemed to notice us at the “end” of the training “sequence”. Like, suddenly gaining awareness. And then he would flee into the darkness behind him.

And then there were stairs. And a terribly horrible darkness. And then we were back at the beggining. Back at, atleast in this dream, the beginning set of doors. At the last/latest iteration I instead woke up but yeah. Oh yeah also the people I was with(I’ll assume at some point in the dream transitioning from whatever zombie apocalypse in a shopping mall hideout thing was going on to the utdr stuff the people I was with slowly just become. Susie I guess. Funnily enough I don’t remember Ralsei which is interesting considering that before beggining chase I(who I felt was Chara at this point? But I guess in Deltarune context this could be Kris 🤷) and Asriel(again, we both DID feel older even before the transformation so perhaps Deltarune Chara and Asriel? That or Ralsei, lol) decided to fuse souls/I absorbed his. ) ANYWAY WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY, The people I was with(Susie) didn’t seem to remember this sequence occurring before, when I felt it had happened atleast once already. With the implication it looped many times over and I was just starting to gain awareness after so many. And being like “I remember this” to Susie when we entered the firework room thing, but she just. Didn’t.

For me personally I think this could be predicting many things hence why I’m like, doing this. So I can look back for any potential connections when new chapters come out. But the one thing I’m getting a vibe for is that the multiple doors part is oddly reminiscent to be of that one maze part in Chapter 1. And the fireworks later are reminiscent of Chapter 2, atleast a little. Could we, then, come across some ominous stairs in Chapter 3? Or a looping theme, like a cassette resetting(tv related)? Or a tv remote rewinding? Idk. Aside from that this could also be predicting a pattern where random parts of each chapter foreshadow an eventual ending-ish sequence leading up to the big meta reveal or whatever. Also the er, the looping thing could be foreshadowing the time loop theory being true or whatever

Feel free to ask me any questions for clarification on the dream though honestly? Idk if my memories of it will be reliable from this point onward so. Yeah.

[dustedmagazine]

Listening Post: Gastr Del Sol

Photo by James Crump

Gastr Del Sol was the convergence of two individuals who had not spent their youths like anyone else and were on their way to lives quite unlike most lives. Between 1991 and 1998 David Grubbs and Jim O’Rourke made a sequence of records that simultaneously pointed out what a lot of music listeners were missing and where music might go next if it was really interested in being interesting. Grubbs came from Louisville, Kentucky’s hardcore scene; he played in Squirrel Bait while he was in high school, and took Bastro with him to college. Jim O’Rourke grew up tracking down recordings from the far reaches of every fringe and then setting about making his own place within each method he learned. Before he was out of college, he’d already made connections with Henry Kaiser, Derek Bailey and the folks at Ina GRM. Each was a guy who knew what the other did not, and their collaboration pushed both to make music that they would never make again with anyone else.

Gastr Del Sol began when Grubbs decided to let Bastro get quiet, and made one LP before O’Rourke came aboard. Their first album together, Crookt, Crackt, Or Fly, was assembled from miniaturized poetry, elongated post-punk riffs, frozen improvisation and fluid, texturally-focused compositions. Their last, Camofleur, is a droll pop statement completed just weeks prior to the collapse of the duo’s relationship. The acrimony between them took a couple of decades to die down, but around the same time that they buried the hatchet, a live recording of their final concert surfaced. We Have Dozens Of Titles shuffles together that performance plus every compilation, single, or EP track that Gastr Del Sol released outside their core Drag City discography.

Intro by Bill Meyer

Jonathan Shaw: I have admired Gastr del Sol from a sort of distance. I like “At Night and At Night,” from the terrific Hey Drag Citycomp; I know Upgrade & Afterlife quite well and dearly love “Dry Bones in the Valley...”, the Fahey cover collab with Tony Conrad. The first song on this new-ish record sidles in alongside those wooden textures, but is a more anxious affair. I like that it never quite boils over or takes its propulsive energies to catharsis. It’s sort of a complement to the conversation with the French kid blowing up firecrackers at the track’s close: it can’t quite move forward, in spite of all of the things that want it to.

That’s also a handy metaphor for my relationship to the music. When I have listened to Crookt, Cracked..., I get the sense that these are really, really smart folks, doing some smart stuff, but I haven’t quite connected with and moved into the sounds. They can be forbiddingly remote. So, I am glad for this record, and its invitation to revisit the band’s trajectory.

Bill Meyer: Each record is so different that I can easily see someone liking one and not likening others, and if you held a gun to my head, Upgrade & Afterlife is the one I would name as my favorite. Which makes it all the more interesting that this collection spans their existence from O’Rourke’s first presence (the Teenbeat single — and it’s pretty amazing that they ended up on that label) to the very last concert (that trip is probably when the encounter with the Francophone child occurred, since the concert was in Quebec).

By virtue of its length and timespan, We Have Dozens Of Titles shows more sides of Gastr Del Sol than any other record.

Bryon Hayes: I think that’s one of the band’s traits that I find appealing, that their sound and approach shifted from record to record. “At Night and At Night” was my introduction to the band, and it also seems to encapsulate multiple faces of Gastr Del Sol in a single track: a drone intro, followed by a guitar/poetry passage, and then a dollop of minimalism accompanied by backwards cymbal splashes. I bought Hey Drag City for Pavement, Silver Jews, and Smog but was introduced to some new and intriguing sounds across the whole of the comp. That track, and Gastr Del Sol as a whole, always felt like a riddle or a logic puzzle to me, albeit one that continuously changed, so it wasn’t possible to “solve” it. But I actually like that fact: the thrill of the act of investigating is pure enjoyment itself.

I never did get to experience Gastr Del Sol in a live setting, so those tracks on We Have Dozens of Titles are particularly revelatory for me. I like the more stripped-down setting of “The Seasons Reverse,” for example. Maybe even more than the version on Camofleur. I’d also bet that the field recording of the kids came from Victoriaville. The town is far enough into Quebec that it’s likely there was a language barrier between O’Rourke and the local youth at the time. Also, the drawn-out version of “Blues Subtitled No Sense of Wonder” feels much fuller and richer in the live setting than it does on Camofleur. I’m not saying I dislike that album, but I too would pick Upgrade & Afterlife as my favorite...

Bill Meyer: Because I lived in the same town as Gastr Del Sol, I was fortunate to see them a lot. The concerts were pretty different from one another, and didn’t always sound much like the most recently released record. When they played with John McEntire, things could be more rock-ish, and I have one fond memory of them getting pretty wild with the feedback. Afterwards O’Rourke seemed embarrassed, like he’d lost control and done the wrong thing. There was room for spontaneity, but they were not an improv act. In 1997 they did lock into the two guys with two acoustic guitars thing for a while, probably because they had a fair number of out-of-town gigs in their later years; they didn’t necessarily want to lug a lot of gear around.

Another aspect of living in the same town with them was seeing the other things they had going. O’Rourke could often be seen accompanying someone whose work he championed (ex: Rafael Toral), and they both played with Red Krayola (although O’Rourke bailed for a while and Grubbs kept going), Edith Frost, and Arnold Dreyblatt.

Jonathan Shaw: Never saw the band, and the live material on this comp is what’s impressing me most. Given my proclivities toward their work with acoustic guitars, I am most compelled by “Onion Orange,” which works a space between gentle and tense to very satisfying effect. The repetitive sequence of notes in that initial six-or-so minutes is really engaging; it invites anticipation, flirts with letting that become apprehension. I can imagine that would be even more powerful in a real room, with the players really making the noises in front of you. But even here, via the mp3 I am playing on a device, it’s strong stuff.

Bill Meyer: I still need to a-b that with the original on Grubbs’ solo album.

That album, Banana Cabbage, Potato Lettuce, Onion Orange, seems not to be on Bandcamp, and Table of the Elements is long defunct. I’ll have to pull out my CD and play it. On the original edition, Grubbs plays everything, but O’Rourke recorded two of the album’s three tracks. I remember it being very still, a Grubbs take on Morton Feldman. What you hear in this live performance, Jonathan, is probably what makes me think I like this new version better than the original. There’s a management of tension that probably comes from two people playing it together in real time.

The way that We Have Dozens Of Titles is sequenced, with live tracks littered throughout the collection, makes it easy to forget that we’re hearing a complete set here.

Ian Mathers: There’s a relatively well-known tweet (for those of us that are too online, at least) where a guy who’s only ever seen one movie sees a second and immediately compares it to his only experience. As someone who’s never heard Gastr del Sol before (although they’ve lingered somewhere on my impossibly long “get to this someday” list) and only really knows Jim O’Rourke’s work via his Bad Timing album, I had my own “Getting a lot of ‘Boss Baby’ vibes from this...” moment playing the opening live version of “The Seasons Reverse.” The guitar playing there immediately put me in mind of Bad Timing, which isn’t a bad thing! I was slightly relieved when this compilation pretty immediately shows off different aspects of his and Grubbs’ sound, even in the other live tracks.

And while I did enjoy all of We Have Dozens of Titles, enough so that I’m wondering based on the comments here which of their albums I should check out next, the live tracks do feel like a cut above everything else. I’m probably going to try listening to just them, and while I respect the choice to scatter them throughout this release despite being one show (do we have any idea if they preserved the order of the setlist, or jumbled that up as well as splitting them up?) there is a part of me that wishes it was a separate release. Which is kind of silly, I know — absolutely nothing is stopping me from just playing the live stuff whenever I want, and I’m very glad to have the rest of the material here. My first question for those more knowledgeable: is the album version of “Blues Subtitled No Sense of Wonder” as amazing as the live one here, and should I make that my next stop?

Bill Meyer: If you like the live version of “Blues Subtitled No Sense of Wonder,” you definitely need to check out the studio version. For that reason, I’d point you to Camofleur and then suggest that you work your way backwards through the catalog.

Bryon Hayes: The album version has beautiful vocal harmonies with lyrics that are dryly humorous; the title of the box set is derived from them, actually. The music on the box set version feels fuller and louder than that on the album, the electronics bolder and noisier, accompanied by rich organ tones. Also, that interlude of shouted movie dialogue (or whatever it is), is not in the Camofleur version. Both are appealing, but I enjoy the live version slightly more. If Grubbs sang on the live version, it might be the clear winner for me.

Ian Mathers: Interesting, thanks for the tips! If I’m remembering correctly, there’s no vocals on this collection for at least a while, and I was slightly nonplussed when they came in; not bad, certainly, but it felt slightly out of place with the music. (I was working while listening, which might be the culprit there.) I’ll be interested to A/B the two versions and see what I think.

Bill Meyer: I just drove past the Lyon & Healy building at Lake and Ogden, which prompts the question — what do you make of “The Harp Factory On Lake Street”?

Jonathan Shaw: I sort of like it when there are vocals — in part because of the poetic nature of what’s sung (see “Rebecca Sylvester” on Upgrade & Afterlife), in part because it feels grounding in musical contexts that frequently get very abstract.

Bill Meyer: I like the way you frame that, Jonathan. Grubbs’ words do have a way of anchoring part of the music, bringing a sonic fixedness that contrasts with the music around them, but also introducing an uncertainty of their own because of their sometimes-oblique content.

Roz Milner: I’ve just been lurking this thread. I’m not familiar with this group, although I do like what little Jim O’Rourke’s music I’ve heard (Bad Timing, Happy Days). Any recommendations on where to start with them?

Tim Clarke: I’d start with Camoufleur, which is easily their most accessible album. I have a bit of an uneasy relationship with Gastr Del Sol. I got into them soon after I became obsessed with Jim O’Rourke’s Eureka, but it was quite a shift in tone from that album. I do enjoy Camoufleur a lot, and the album versions of “The Seasons Reverse” and “Blues Subtitled No Sense of Wonder” are, in my opinion, far superior to the live versions on We Have Dozens of Titles.

Gastr Del Sol are quintessentially experimental, in that much of their music sounds so open-ended, as though O’Rourke and Grubbs are constantly wondering what x would sound like played at the same time as y, whether it’s an open, suspended acoustic guitar voicing alongside a sour synthesizer drone, or some piano with some field recordings or samples. Upgrade & Afterlife actually freaks me out! The first time I listened to it after buying it from Rough Trade in London, I couldn’t venture past the opening track as a massive gnarly insect flew in through my open window while I was listening to it on a spring evening. It scared me so much I don’t think I’ve revisited the album since. There are moments on We Have Dozens of Titles that are truly magical, so I think I’ll have to get over my fear and revisit Upgrade & Afterlife after all this time.

Christian Carey: The timing of this release is interesting. David Grubbs was just appointed Distinguished University Professor by CUNY, the highest faculty distinction possible. In addition, he was just awarded the Berlin Prize, and will be in residence there next year. Wonder if the awards might have helped to fund the recording project.

Jonathan Shaw: Distinguished Prof at CUNY — pretty swell. Makes sense. Some of Gastr del Sol’s headiest stuff has the feel of the “experimental,” and in ways that engage the connotations of knowledge and concept in that term (which often gets used lightly and lazily, IMHO). That might have something to do with why I like the live tracks so much. There’s an organic quality to them. Still thorny and challenging music, like the ebbs and flows that make “Dictionary of Handwriting” disorienting and strange. But it’s happening. It’s made, not just thought or assembled.

Jennifer Kelly: Once again, not super immersed in this band, though I had a copy of Crookt, Crackt or Fly at one time, which I can’t find and don’t remember very well, though I’m listening to it on YouTube right now, and the combination of Grubbs’ wandering vocals and aggressive, stabbing guitars seems familiar-ish. So, coming to this a bit cold, though I’ve enjoyed Grubbs’ more recent work with Ryley Walker and Jan St. Werner — and there are definitely some common threads. Nonlinearity, an elastic sense of key and rhythm, a haunted room kind of aesthetic.

I found this track-by-track exposition at the Quietus, which I was trying to read as the songs came up and it’s quite good. I especially liked the paragraphs about “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” written for what sounds like a truly bizarre Christmas comp with Merzbow and Melt Banana on it. Gastr del Sol’s lone concession to the holiday form was sleigh bells, though Grubbs says the main reference was to “I Wanna Be Your Dog” not “Jinglebells.”

Anyway, you might enjoy this.

Tim Clarke: In addition to the Quietus piece, this recent podcast interview is also very enlightening in regard to the history of the band. A rare opportunity to hear Jim O’Rourke chat lightheartedly too.

Having spent more time with the album now, I realize that my listening gets derailed by a couple of Grubbs’ and O’Rourke’s tendencies with this music. The first is when Grubbs does a kind of scat singing that follows the spiky contours of the acoustic guitar parts. And the second is when they retreat into near silence.

Bill Meyer: Near-silence is an O’Rourke strategy to make sure that the volume is set high enough when you get to the loud part.

Christian Carey: I’m curious what connections to later projects people hear in the recording. As TJ mentioned, there are some mannerisms that seem to forecast avant moves by both Grubbs and O’Rourke, with greater assuredness in the idiom. The post-rock vibe is unmistakable, and I am finding the songs with connections to Tortoise et. al. to be the most compelling music-making here.

Bill Meyer: Re: similarities with Tortoise, it’s worth keeping in mind that John McEntire of Tortoise was also a member of Bastro and a key non-member contributor to Gastr Del Sol. Re: the term post-rock, I appreciate the irony that Gastr Del Sol was actually O’Rourke’s entree into rock following years of intense work in improvisation, musique concrete, etc. with people like Henry Kaiser, Eddie Prevost, Christoph Heemann and Illusion of Safety. It was his “I’m almost ready to rock" project.

Ian Mathers: Roz, if you still haven’t settled on a way to check out Gastr del Sol, I was in a similar position to you and honestly, I found this compilation a pretty welcoming (and broad-ranging) introduction! I haven’t moved on to checking out any of their albums yet, but I have played We Have Dozens of Titles a number of times, and while I’m still experiencing it more as a gestalt than I am picking out specific elements (so I’m not sure how I’d answer Christian’s question at the moment, for example), I find the time just slipping away when I do. I was reading Steven Thomas Erlewine’s newsletter recently where he was discussing this collection and he described Gastr del Sol as “music that changes the temperature of the room,” and I keep coming back to that as an apt description of what I’m experiencing.

Bryon Hayes: I read somewhere that Grubbs’ The Plain Where the Palace Stood is his solo album most similar to his work in Gastr Del Sol. I’m listening to that record now and it actually reminds me of the little Bastro that I’ve heard along with parts of The Serpentine Similar.

Bill Meyer: Gastr Del Sol’s existence corresponded with Grubbs’ time at University of Chicago, where he was getting his PhD. I believe it was in poetry, and the words he wrote for the band’s songs reflect that study.

Christian Carey: I've been having fun poring over David Grubbs’ trilogy of books and guessing which stories might be about Gastr del Sol. He's excellent at being covert, but I would be surprised if they weren't featured in some of his writing.

[mxtantrights]

famous dc!au (dick's version)

TRACK ELEVEN: UNDERSTAND

It's grueling work. The first video was easy but this director has an extravagant and almost larger than life. It's not common for you to star opposite a famous guy who now, on top of that, will play a greek god.

Dick makes it easy. He shows up on set and jokes around with you. And he always eats with you on lunch break, he tries to pay each time but you try to make it even.

Still you can't help but to feel saddened that your friendship is basically over. Along with end of your friendship and the possibility of it being more than that is less than zero. There was no way Dick would have time for you after this video is done. He's too important and busy. And too not over his ex, possibly.

You try your best to smile while on set today.

-

Dick is freaking out. Like actually nervous and almost throwing up, that type of freaking out. The song he wrote-the one about you but doesn't actually call you out by name, but are about the moments he shared with you-it comes out tonight.

He can't pull the plug on it, he hasn't tried but he knows it won't go over well. His manager talked this single up so well to the studio heads that they wanna renegotiate his contract for one more year.

He doesn't wanna creep you out. But he also can't keep going on like this. It feels like a viscous circle of torture. He's close to telling you and relieving himself of this heavy secret. But then he thinks about how you might not feel the same, and how his confession might chase you out of his life completely. He doesn't want that.

He tries his best to not fall in love with you today.

-

"Okay and that looks great guys I think we've got it for today. We'll send word if we need to do reshoots." the director says.

Someone is pulling a robe over your body. You're not really paying attention because you're watching Dick walk away from set. You had just finished the dance sequence and you were out of breath and sweating.

But all that was on your mind was Dick. It was crazy.

You can't let this go on for forever. You know that. But you honestly don't know what to do that won't hurt your feelings in the process.

With a sigh you head back to your trailer. When you get in you see a fruit basket on top of the couch. You walk over to it, there's a bright blue note sticking out the top. You take the note out.

Your fingers rip the envelope open.

'Thanks for everything. I wanted to get your opinion on this.-Dick" the note reads.

You look at the bottom of the note to see a QR code. You take your phone out from the safe in your trailer and scan it. The link takes you to a blank site with only a media player on it. The time stamp is two minutes fifty seconds.

You hit play, intrigued. When you put your volume up you can barely hear what is playing but it sounds like a song, it sounds like Dick's voice. You hit pause and look around your trailer for your headphones. You find them in your back.

Quickly you connect them to the bluetooth on your phone and hit play again. The intro plays and your brain gets this fuzzy feeling, like you've heard these sounds before. You rewind once, twice trying to understand why its so familiar.

But you decide to leave it alone as you want to hear the rest of the song. The melody plays out and honestly Dick's voice puts you in a bit of a trance. You don't really notice the words he's saying at first but when he gets to the chorus your focus is brought in.

Maybe we could try if you let me

Take you by the hand

You're the only one who understands

It hits you then. Where you heard the beginning from. It's from the first music video shoot. When you and Dick were throwing jokes at each other. It was your laugh. Dick put your laugh in a song?

You can't believe it. Well, you-not you really cannot. But why did he leave this for you to listen to if...

Was this a confession? You hit pause on the song. Then your feet are moving before you can even fully think out the repercussions of your actions. You walk right out of your trailer and onto the lot, all the way over to Dick's trailer which is on the other side.

When you get to the door that's when you feel how hard your heart is pumping. Maybe this wasn't the best idea. Maybe you had gotten ahead of yourself. Maybe it wasn't a confession but just him letting you know he's using a personal moment between the two of you in his new music.

Just as you're about to walk up the steps to knock on his door, the door opens. Out comes the stunning and beautiful Zantana. You can feel it in real time how your confidence deflates like a balloon. You try to keep your smile on though.

Her lips start moving but you can't hear her, that's when you realize you still have your headphone on. You pull them off your ears.

"Sorry. What did you just say?" you ask.

She smiles, "Oh, I just said that he's not in here. He might've slipped out a while ago."

"Oh." you say.

"I'm Zantana by the way." she says, holding out her hand.

You take it into your own and shake hands, introducing yourself to her as politely as you can. Your brain is working on overdrive. He's not here? How would she know that if she wasn't here with him?

"I can let him know that you were looking for him." she says.

You shake your head wildly, "No it was nothing. I can just text him."

"Okay. See you around maybe? Are you coming to the party?" she asks.

You feel horrible. You feel like absolute shit. Like here she is being so sweet yo you meanwhile you don't know if these two are a thing or not and you've maybe been harboring feeling for her significant other.

"Party?" you ask now.

Zantana nods, "Yeah the release party for his new single."

Your eyes widen. The song you were listening to a few seconds ago? That song? He was planning on releasing it into the world? What? Your mind is jumping through multiple hoops at the same time.

"I didn't know anything about that." you say, lying.

"Hey, I can put you down as my plus one and get you in. Don't worry about it." she offers.

"I'm just not sure if I can make it." you try to wiggle your way out of going.

"It's a really good song! I know your support would mean a lot to him." she explains.

You think to yourself, maybe she thinks the song is about her. or maybe it is about her and you've gone delusional and the laugh at the beginning isn't yours, because maybe some laughs sound the same. Maybe.

You can't decline an invitation like this. If you want to end this on a good note, if you want to end this at all you have to go.

"Okay, I'll be there." you say.

[strangestcase]

My ideas for a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen theatrical musical which will never come to reality:

-based off the movie (if loosely) because the comics would be a pain to adapt

-also the songs would really help hiding the writing issues

-Mina’s actress wears a secret contraption that stretches into bat wings on command, and special makeup that highlights her features under certain types of light- thus allowing her to go Dracula mode onstage. She also gets costumes she can take off in one piece so that as her character develops she gradually ditches a more traditional Victorian getup for a modern, goth outfit.

-the Invisible Man is played by an actor in a bodysuit wearing a removable mask and moving puppet arms around (which represent face makeup and gloves respectively). To become invisible he simply drops them and moves around the stage, as other actors pretend they can’t see him.

-Hyde is a large stage puppet maneuvered by various actors, with Jekyll’s actor moving his face and providing his voice. The transformations consist of Jekyll simply entering or leaving his place in the puppet, the other puppeteers building it up around him or removing key pieces. And the mirror scenes are done with projections and pre-recorded audio.

-Lots of Puppets just. So Many Many Puppets. For the Nautilus for the Phantom’s men for Dante for all that sea life etc

As for the music:

-cheesy intro number on the line of “deviation from the norm will be punished unless its exploitable”

-We need at least one (1) sad song about Mina’s tragic backstory, or rather how she feels about it. Not very good this is.

-she also is given the role of protagonist back

-Jekyll is going to be framed as her love interest through and through btw. Same as Dorian. Tom already has his getting adopted by Allan arc. Literally a YA love triangle but they’re all goth middle aged queens.

-listen this is my idea so I make the rules

-EPIC NEMO THEME -the hunt for Hyde becomes a short but catchy dance sequence.

-The Nautilus is introduced with a HUGE high level song worthy of a Bollywood musical with the aforementioned sea life puppets. Please ignore how incredibly dark the lyrics are.

-YES I KNOW THOSE MOMENTS ARE LITERALLY BACK TO BACK IN THE MOVIE. I’LL FIND A WAY TO SPACE THEM OUT.

-Mina and Dorian MUST have a duet that makes it into Lovers To Enemies To Lovers To Enemies playlists I SWEAR TO GOD.

-Confrontation 2

-Jekyll and Hyde literally have Confrontation 2

-Captain Nemo is going to get a solo song about his past and his motivations and here he should figure out M first, like in the comics (Allan has more of a mentor role / common thread between the other characters)

-Dorian Gray villain song complete with a little dance! A jaunty little gothic vaudeville song that uses his motif (which will sound whenever he’s onstage)

-Moriarty doesn’t dance because he thinks he’s above dancing but he does sing. He also has a villain song but it’s way more serious than Dorian’s

-Allan doesn’t sing a single line until the last song (as he’s dying)

the musical ends with Mina becoming the new leader of the League and getting her final costume change which will include a question mark motif as a nod to the original comics

And then intro number reprise but with a more tongue in cheek cynical tint and a final hopeful note. I need people to come out of the theater as full blown anarchists.

[aieevee16]

An (Over) Analysis Of Obscura: Cirrus

This is mostly me ranting about Cirrus' character and my opinions about him.

Spoilers ahead for Cirrus and his route ahead.

Trigger Warning: Implied abuse of power, trafficking, murder, religious themes and Sadism.

First Impressions

Cirrus is one of the main Love Interests of Obscura and he's portrayed as the "Humble Priest", which is stated in the intro of the game, the game's main page on Steam and Itch.io, and the Trailer.

Looking into Cirrus at first glance, he is shown as the "Guiding One" whenever someone comes into the Lunar Church in the Marketplace. He is the priest of the church after all, so it is his duty to provide guidance to the people who seek help or retribution.

Route and Character

[Spoilers for Cirrus' route up ahead.]

In Cirrus route, Cirrus comes off to Vesper, or the Player, as a welcoming being when we first step foot into the Lunar Church. He is seen as benevolent and open to all who comes in. But as soon as we try to engage in small talk, he almost immediately shuts it down, commenting on how mouthy Vesper is. It's safe to say Cirrus doesn't like small talk.

Looking at this interaction alone indicates how he prefers to go straight into business and not wanting to beat around the bushes. He is a busy man, after all; a priest, nonetheless. He'd rather get things over with as quickly as possible so he could move on to his next business that needs to be attended.

Moving forward with Cirrus' route, he can be pushy at times when we refuse him. For example, there is a looping sequence where if you refuse, Cirrus highly recommends to rethink our decision. And if we still refused, he says the same thing over and over again until we comply to his word.

Cirrus does not take 'no' for an answer. He wants obedience and submission and doesn't want any questions to be asked when he tells them to do something. His position in power gives him an edge compared to everyone else, so he's more of an imposing figure and will most likely pressure someone to comply, whether they like it or not.

And as we go forward into Cirrus' route, depending on our choices and interactions, the tension between Vesper and Cirrus becomes more... Intense, to say the least. Cirrus has a way of building up that tension. He comes off to Vesper as a welcoming and Humble Priest, like we see him in the beginning, but slowly demonstrates his dominance and power over others.

And when I say "dominance", I say it as in an intimidation tactic. Cirrus uses his power to influence our choices; quite literally when the choices are:

"Yes."

"Yes."

"No." "Yes."

At some point in the game. In other words, we have no choice but to accept him. And this is seen strongly during our first timed choices. The timed choices gives us pressure to choose and makes us panic. And depending on which option you choose, it can result in multiple bad endings if you're not careful.

But if you manage to get to the path leading to his neutral or good ending, his presence is still intimidating to us as the player. And that dominance seen clearly in his CG art. Comply to whip yourself, he looks down on you and watch with a sadistic smile. Don't comply; he does the whipping himself.

Here, we see him towering above Vesper, making them look small in comparison to his already talk stature. He looks down with a grin. The lighting of the scene makes him look malicious compared to when we first meet him.

Cirrus may be known as the "Humble Priest" when in actually, he is the "Sadistic Priest" once you play his route.

After the initial whipping scene, it can go either way depending on your choices, he could either help you on finding the Lunar Ichor cure or get rid of you as soon as possible.

The Endings and Intimacy Points

I won't do each ending because there's a lot of endings but I will talk about how Cirrus handles the situation in the endings. There are two categories of Cirrus' route endings: Help and Remove.

If I remember correctly, Cirrus has two Help Endings.

The neural and good ending tells us that Cirrus sees us as someone who's worthy of his time and energy to lend a helping hand in finding the Lunar Ichor. The Help Endings tells us that Cirrus will only give us help if we show him he has power and we submit to him. If we are willing to give him power over us, he will provide us with the answers we need. He is a priest, after all. He is there to provide to those who seek help and guidance.

And then we have the Remove Endings. As what it implies, there are many ways for Cirrus to "remove" us from his presence. One of which we remove ourselves from him all together if we have chosen one of the timer options. Going back to Cirrus, he has other ways of removing us from him, which are literal back stabbing (murder on the spot), and selling us off to someone else.

If he sees us as someone who's unworthy of his time and energy, he won't hesitate to get rid of you. It is "out of sight, out of mind" for him. He is a priest, after all. He has other important matters to attend to.

And when it comes down to his Intimacy Points, you just gain a perfect 6/6 when getting his best ending. If not, you're automatically on the neutral and bad endings. The points tells us that Cirrus prefers perfection and has high standards when it comes to devotion. It's either him or not when it comes to his standards on you.

He's the "You're either with me or against me".

Design

When it comes to Cirrus' design, he has subtle hints that he is not all that he seems to be.

If we look carefully into his design, we see a lot of snake imagery on his priest robes. Snakes are often associated with evil or the devil in Christian Mythology. The snake also represents deception, trickery, and manipulation, which is also seen in the story of Adam and Eve, where Eve is tricked by a snake, who is the devil, into eating the forbidden fruit.

Cirrus is a priest; a follower of the Lunar God, nonetheless. The star pattern on his blue scarf and crescent moon brooch indicates his worship of the Lunar God. But he doesn't act like how a priest should be like as we progress into his route. The snakes on his robes may have been a foreshadowing as to who Cirrus really is.

Moving on to Cirrus' himself, in all of his sprites, he stands straight up with his shoulders square and chest out. Here are some examples of his sprites as reference.

He is not seen slouching or hunched over in any of his sprites. He stands straight and tall. It gives him a kind of presence that tells us that he is a very important person, as to which is is. His posture, along with his already tall height, adds to his intimation and dominance over us as Vesper.

A proper posture for someone who must be seen as nothing but perfection. His statues as a priest also comes into play here.

As a follower of the Lunar God, and quite possibly the closest thing to the Lunar God themselves, Cirrus must be seen something similar to a God. He must be perfect in everything. From how he stands, the way his clothes are fitted, the way his hair is styled, even the design of his mask.

He is seen as someone who's other worldly, given the fact he's much paler in comparison to the other Love Interests. His white hair also gives him a somewhat glow to his figure. He is, in other words, ethereal to look at.

And finally, his mask's design. The mask is simple in design, but it's also eye catching enough with it's intricate lines that makes us look at his face more than anything else on him. The mask is eye catching enough for us to pay close attention to him more, which gives him an advantage when conversing with us, and possibly manipulate our decisions.

Conclusion

Cirrus is a complex character that has many layers to him. He is cunning in deceiving the player and manipulate our choices. He is a master with his way of building the tension between him and Vesper as the route progress and how we see him go from the "Humble Priest" to the "Sadistic Priest". I'm sure there's still more about his character I've most likely skimmed over. But this is what I've managed to gather so far about him and his character in his route. And so far, he's terrifying yet fascinating to study on.

[just-a-carrot]

hhhhh ik you said at some point that you don't particularly enjoy depicting the cast as their child selves, so I hope this request doesn't make you too uncomfortable but..

Aside from the intro sequence, do you have any specific scenarios or stuff like that that you could thing of as happening in the first iteration of the wonderland. Ik the game is a horror game and all but it's just super wholesome to think about the more fairytale like aspect that happened before everything went to shit(/pos).

Mostly this was brought about by thinking of Jerry like. He's already shown in Arc 5 to have parental sort of tendencies and if he still existed in the first iteration of the wonderland it would just be super sweet to think of scenarios of him just babysitting the cast and stuff. Lot of kid chaos yk? SKKJHJSB sorry it's just so wholesome and sweet to think about that kinda dynamic/scenario

ahhhhhh... oh gosh 💦 now i feel very sheepish because that's not what i meant and it doesn't make me feel uncomfortable at all. i was referring more to when i'd see people draw, say, genzou, 3, 4, 5 times, and every single time it was him as a kid/in high school, and never once did i see them draw him as an adult. THAT SPECIFICALLY made me feel weird. particularly as it happened most often with genzou so in the back of my mind it was always like... "oh... so you just don't want to draw him fat... 😅" and i'd just end up feeling very strange. HOWEVER, i haven't seen that happen in quite a while, it was mostly just still stuck in my head from earlier days of production, and since it often happened with genzou (and orlam a bit) my mind kinda associates it most with them lol. HAVING SAID THAT i am not uncomfortable in the slightest if ppl draw them as kids, if ppl come up with scenarios for them as kids or in high school, if ppl ask me questions about them as kids, etc. so please never feel bad asking me questions about it!! i'm really sorry that my badly explained answer to that other question came across that way, i don't want ppl to feel bad or uncomfortable about that. and i think imagining flashbacks or cute moments of them growing up is very sweet. like, a huge part of their dynamic as a group COMES from the fact that they grew up together and have all these shared moments, so i do really enjoy coming up with them and thinking about their changing dynamics through the years, etc.

anyway as to your actual question... lkdajfa

it's not something i've thought of extensively before but i have come up with at least the types of scenarios that you see hinted at in the game itself. like they talk about playing hide and seek in the sunflower fields. riding on the kiddie kruise. getting snacks and messing around in the village. also all the wishes that show up in the final cutscene were all taken from ideas i had for stuff they would have done, as all of those wishes would have led to resulting shenanigans of some sort

i personally had not thought about jerry's involvement in all of this; HOWEVER, someone did make a fan game about this exact thing during last year's fanart contest, showing jerry doing fun and silly things and going on adventures with them as kids when they came to wonderland, and though obviously it's not official, i think it's incredibly sweet and i love to think about them having these kinds of moments!!! so if you want to think about jerry being there (along with the other rabbits) and helping them get up to all kinds of shenanigans i think that fits incredibly well, even if i don't have any specific ideas for what those would have been aside from what i've already mentioned/hinted towards in game hahaha. somehow i feel like others would be able to come up with a lot more silly and creative things than i ever could in regards to this matter 🤣

[megumi-fm]

this week fortnight on megumi.fm ▸ the last leg

is that a pun referring to my aching ankle? yes. is resting at home for another week gonna ruin my mental health? yes. but am I exaggerating and throwing a tantrum for something that's probably not a big deal? also yes.

📋 Tasks

💻 Internship // progress tracker ↳ biopython model replication ✅ ↳ code for obtaining single fasta from overlapping sequences ✅ ↳ running HMMer and superfamily script✅ ↳ output analysis 🔁 ↳ literature review on transport proteins 🔁 ↳ transport protein family analysis 🔁 🎓 Uni ↳ our paper is finally out! there's a doi and everything now <3 it's not open access though :/// I might do some totally legal things to ensure more people can read it ↳ collected the hardcopy of my LOR ↳ collected my gradecard ↳ visited my advisor and updated her on stuff 🩺Radiomics Project ↳ radiomic features finalized✅ ↳ data cleanup 🔁

📅 Daily-s

🛌 consistent sleep [14/14] 💧 good water intake [14/14] 👟 exercise [/14] just basic stuff to maintain ankle mobility

Fun Stuff this week

💗i went to uni to watch one of my friends present something to the juniors! then I spent the afternoon chatting with my guide and later on went window shopping with my best friends (in retrospect i should not have done this because my ankle got infinitely worse the next day and now I'm stuck resting at home for an additional two weeks) 🎮playing undertale with @muakrrr 📺 ongoing: Marry my Husband, Cherry Magic Th, Perfect Propose, Doctor Slump, Flex X Cop 📺 binged: Blueming, Roommates of Poongduck 304 📹 Started watching Going Seventeen // so I've been listening to SVT for a while now and I did watch their Don't Lie II eps like two years ago but I never really checked anything else... however, considering that I'm stuck at home and that @zzzzzestforlife (who has impeccable taste) has mentioned it often on their posts, I decided to check out GoSe properly and. wow. I started with their mystery episodes [fav scenes under cut] and now I'm watching GoSe2020 in chronological order and !!!!!! The concepts, the storylines, the acting, the humour, the editing, even the subtitles are all so so good. I've been watching this show for two weeks now and I am now officially a cubic <3

📻 This week's soundtrack

Wk1: The Best of ATEEZ // I've been real obsessed since their 2024 world tour clips started showing up on social media; I was a casual enjoyer up to this point and then I went and checked them out and it's all so dystopian and immersive. My favourites would be Intro: Long Journey (which makes me feel like I'm in Pirates of the Caribbean), the Symphony version of Wonderland (for its musicality and Jungho hitting those notes), MATZ (that is insane in it's the visual storytelling in the MV) and Wake Up (whose performance choreo ended me) Wk2: The Best of BTS // in an attempt to revive a project I abandoned a year ago, I spent wayy too much time curating this playlist to get the most satisfying BTS transitions ever and I can confidently say that I'm nowhere close to my goal T-T but I kind of like the way it is now so I am simply going to give up

---

[Feb 12 to Feb 25 ; week 7+8/52 || this was not supposed to be one post but then... idk what happened... I feel very dull lately because of my ankle and just when I thought it was getting better it's become painful again... my friends and parents keep chastising me (and fairly so) for trying to move around even before I fully heal but patience has never been my strong suit. sitting still is really the biggest punishment for a hyperactive ADHD kid like me... i'm sure plenty others have it worse but... yeah... GoSe really carrying my mental health right now ]

my fav GoSe scenes

---

[solalunar-eclipse]

Sonic Boom - S3E18

Chapter title: Co-op Mode

Summary: Nominatus returns, team-building ensues, and the author jams as many references into a single chapter as possible.

AO3 Link

First | Previous | Next

[Episode opens on our six heroes all gathered together in Tails’s house. Sonic and Amy are playing a fighting game, while the other four watch from various positions around the room.] 

“You’re up against a champion of Ultimate Smackdown Siblings, Amy, so get ready to get smacked down!” Sonic cried, pressing buttons on his controller as quickly as he could.

“Psh. Please!” Amy scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You’re just button-mashing! It takes a master of strategy to win this game.” With that, she dealt Sonic’s character a particularly brutal combo, prompting a chorus of “Ooh”s from Tails and Sticks. 

“Excellent move.” Shadow commented, currently leaning against the back of the couch. Sonic pouted in protest, somehow managing to direct his expression towards Shadow despite never allowing his eyes to leave the screen.

“Aw, come on, why’re you siding with Amy?” he protested, his voice pitching up into whining indignance. “I thought you said you were gonna be a neutral party!”

“I am,” Shadow maintained a tone somewhere between infuriatingly calm and effortlessly smug—somehow both an improvement from and yet also worse than the tone that had so easily aggravated Sonic back when they were rivals. “I’m just enjoying the entertainment, no matter whose side it comes from.”

Unfortunately for Sonic, he was just distracted enough by this opportunity for some of their usual banter that he didn’t see Amy’s Terminal Smack activating…and then was promptly forced to watch as his character got blown across the screen and disintegrated in a blast of light.

“No!” he wailed, sliding off the couch and onto his knees. “How could this be? Betrayed, by my very own friend!”

Shadow hid a far-too-fond smile at being called Sonic’s friend. Thankfully for his pride, the hedgehog was far too caught up in his own lamentations to notice…but both of them were soon interrupted when the TV screen began to crackle with static.

“Tails, what’s going on?” Amy leaned forward to eye the screen suspiciously, her hands opening and closing in preparation to summon her hammer.

Before the fox could speak up, the connection suddenly resolved, revealing a black-and-red demon with four horns and an arrow on his forehead. 

“Nominatus?!” Tails cried. “I thought you were trapped in Eggman’s lab!”

The demon folded his arms, scowling out from the screen. “What, you assumed I’d just stay there once my episode feature ended? As if! That man was far too busy with his robots to pay attention to us, so it was almost insultingly easy to escape.”

Shadow had been watching the entire scene with increasing confusion, and took this opportunity to speak up. “Who is this, exactly?”

“Oh, he’s just some sort of evil computer guy!” Knuckles explained.

“Just—wh—” Nominatus sputtered. “I am not ‘some sort of evil computer guy’! I am Nominatus! Viral sensation! Trending on every platform where there are trends to be had!”

Sonic and Tails shared an extremely skeptical Look, and that was the final straw. “You think you can mock me, hm? Well then! I’ve faced you twice in your own realm, but no more fooling around!” the demon barked. “This time…you’re coming to me.”

And with that, he snapped his fingers, causing everyone to vanish into thin air.

The controller that Amy had been holding clattered to the floor as the television shut off abruptly, its screen cutting to black. The house was eerily silent, every hint of life within its walls having been rudely blinked out of existence.

…and then the energetic music of the introduction kicked in, utterly shattering the mood.

[The intro sequence goes off without a hitch…but this time, the characters are drawn in pixel art for their signature poses, with an 8-bit version of the theme tune to boot. Otherwise, the individual character introductions and team shot all stay the same.]

[Nominatus takes the villain position this time, tossing various ‘like button’ symbols  back and forth between his hands in a manner reminiscent of a certain ‘bad ending’ from a specific game released back in 1991.]

[The intro then continues on, before ending with the title of this week’s episode.]

In a blinding flash of light, the six heroes appeared in a white shopping mall filled with neon store signs and decorations everywhere. Above, an unmistakably vaporwave—inspired purple sky, complete with pink-yellow sun, was visible through the glass ceiling. 

Each of them also carried their own personalized weapon, styled in silver with neon accents in their specific color. Amy had her usual hammer, while Sticks held a high-tech bow and arrow. Knuckles wore reinforcements for his hands (and a pair of angular blue sunglasses atop his head, for some reason), and Tails carried—of all the things—dual handguns. Sonic, of course, had a one-handed sword, which was currently attached to a white belt around his waist. Shadow, on the other hand, had an odd sort of pole with an octagon and the word “STOP” at one end strapped to his back, which he immediately removed and stared at with a distinct amount of bewilderment.

Just as the six of them had finished recovering from the shock of being in a totally new world, a projection of Nominatus appeared in front of them. “Welcome to the Mall of Metalloid Madness!” he announced, proudly spreading his arms wide. “This is the lobby for a new game I’ve invented called…the Labyrinth Zone!” 

(Curiously, while no one else reacted to this, Sonic shivered for reasons even he couldn’t quite explain.)

“Once you all declare you’re ready, you’ll be dropped in teams of two into my carefully constructed labyrinth! It’s your job to find your way out without using all three of your lives, or else…” The demon smiled wickedly. “You’ll lose a lot more than just the game.”

“And what if we don’t want to?” Tails gave him a look so flat it could’ve had a job as a cardboard cutout. “What if we just find you and blast you until you put us back?”

Nominatus frowned. “Well, you wouldn’t want to disappoint my millions of followers, would you?”

Nobody said even a single word of agreement. The crickets remained silent in solidarity.

The demon sighed. “Fine, then, if you don’t do it I’ll never let you go and your island will fall prey to my inevitable conquering forces, blah blah blah, you know the rest.”

Sonic sighed unhappily. “Okay, guys, I guess we gotta do this.”

Tails shrugged. “At least I’ll probably get to blow some stuff up.”

“Nice positive thinking…I suppose?” Amy said hesitantly, but with a faintly resigned smile. 

Nominatus perked up considerably at this, regaining his previous energy. “Well then, when you’re ready to proceed, press the button with your color.” Behind him, six pedestals rose from the ground, each with a lit-up button on top in blue, yellow, red, pink, orange, and black.

Before he could switch off his hologram, the team rushed directly through him, making him glitch out and yell after them, “Hey! Show some respect for the villain who’s holding you hostage, maybe?!”

Of course, none of them did this, instead opting to all hit their buttons (Knuckles even doing so with such force that the pedestal nearly crumpled). Instantly, they all vanished in a burst of light, teleporting into the referentially named Labyrinth Zone.

[We cut to Sonic and Amy, who are together in the maze.] 

“Huh.” Sonic muttered, taking in his surroundings. They largely consisted of tall, black-and-grey gradient walls, contrasting with a blinding white sky.

“It seems like we really do get to work in pairs—that’s nice, at least!” Amy said brightly. 

Sonic shot her a grin paired with a thumbs-up. “Sure is! You mind whacking me up high so I can get a good look at the layout, Ames?”

She pulled out her hammer, but then hesitated, squinting upwards. “Hold on a minute, let me try something first.” Abruptly, she hurled her hammer straight up…only for it to smash into a force field right above the walls and crash right back down.

“Ah.” Sonic stared upwards. “Thanks for saving me…a lot of broken bones, apparently.”

“I wouldn’t want to mess up your handsome face, now would I?” Amy asked, in a manner that was only half joking.

The hero abruptly choked on his spit and began coughing vigorously, before stumbling after Amy as she walked forward to enter the maze. “Hey hey hey, you’re not supposed to be the one who’s leaving me behind!”

The two of them rounded the corner and came face-to-face with a series of platforms and badniks (obviously just Nominatus-themed recolors of Eggman robots), an obstacle that was more than manageable. Sonic tore through the high route immediately, bouncing between badniks like the showboater he was. Meanwhile, Amy trawled the lower route at an admittedly slower speed, with the trade-off being that not a single robot escaped her wrath.

As she progressed onward, she found herself having to dodge several spike traps, before leaping onto a moving platform. Unlike her speedy friend, she preferred to handle these platforms with care, making sure she knew exactly when they’d be closest before using her hammer to launch herself into the air for a bit of extra leeway. 

Amy jumped to another platform, this one moving up and down instead of side to side. Carefully, she focused on the feeling of it climbing beneath her feet, until—“Hyah!”—she slammed her hammer down just as it stopped its ascent. 

Astoundingly, her hammer launched her into the air, complete with a spray of hearts where she had previously stood. So we get bonuses for perfect moves. Noted. she thought to herself, quite pleased, even as she stuck the landing.

The pink hedgehog scanned the sky for her friend, watching as he revved up a spindash and launched himself across a particularly massive gap ahead of her. She hesitated to say this too often, lest it become ego-stroking instead of a compliment, but his speed really was quite impressive—

—at which point she watched in horror as his jump fell just ever so slightly short—

—and he slammed into the edge of the other side, uncurling in shock just in time to plummet into the pit below.

Amy raced forward, heedless of the careful tactics she’d previously used as she skidded to a stop, throwing herself to her hands and knees by the void below. The darkness seemed endless, with no speck of blue to be found in sight.

“SONIC!!”

xxx

Tails and Knuckles blinked into existence next to each other, looking around themselves in surprise. “Hey Tails!” the echidna cheered, waving happily at his friend. “I’m glad we got put together.”

Tails beamed up at him. “I’m glad too! Between the two of us, we should be able to get through this place no problem!”

They fist-bumped lightly, Knuckles taking care not to break his friend’s hand in the process. “So, where do we start?”

Tails frowned, staring up at the sky. “I think I see a distortion up there…maybe there’s some kind of invisible ceiling keeping me from flying? Let me check…”

The fox flew carefully upwards to the top of the wall, reaching out a single finger to touch the force field above—

—and promptly exploded.

“Tails?!” Knuckles yelped, stumbling forward and staring upwards wildly, as though his friend would reappear at any moment.

As a matter of fact, Tails did reappear right next to Knuckles, with a sound straight out of a 16-bit game and several flashing invulnerability frames. A ring of repeating, glowing text surrounded his middle briefly, reading: TWO LIVES REMAINING.

“O-kay.” the engineer remarked. “No touching the weird barrier. Honestly, I probably should've used a wrench, but oh well. We get it now.”

Of course, the next room they entered then proved to contain platforms that would slowly rise towards the ceiling, before abruptly dropping back down once they had successfully crushed any occupants into the deadly force field. 

Tails instantly facepalmed, but then narrowed his eyes at the puzzle, thinking carefully. “So, we’re going to need to time this really carefully, Knuckles. It’ll be tough to get over these platforms, and we only have five lives between us. I know I’ve got my tails, but are you gonna be okay moving that quickly while also staying low so you don’t get zapped?”

“I could also stay even lower,” Knuckles remarked glibly, without any further elaboration.

“…what do you mean by that?” Tails tilted his head, his brow furrowed.

“What if we just went under the platforms?”

Tails turned to look back at the puzzle, and immediately facepalmed again.

xxx

Shadow and Sticks appeared together, in the third and final starting area of the labyrinth. 

“Fancy seeing you here.” Shadow remarked, half to himself.

“Huh?” Sticks blinked at him, clearly confused.

“It’s just a joke—obviously you were brought here with the rest of us and are now visibly partnered with me, so a comment that implies surprise is meant to be sarcastic.”

Sticks stared for another moment…and then actually snickered. “You’ve got a good sense of humor,” they said casually, as though they were discussing the weather instead of dropping a massive compliment bomb directly on Shadow’s head.

The android’s eyes immediately dropped to the floor. “Ah. Thank you.”

“Just telling the truth,” Sticks said, taking a couple of steps forward before glancing over their shoulder to see Shadow properly. “I don’t get why people bother with saying anything but what they mean.”

“I know why they do it, but I don’t necessarily enjoy it.” Shadow explained sympathetically.

While he had been speaking, Sticks had already peered suspiciously around the nearest corner to see what Nominatus had in store for them. Abruptly, their eyes widened, and they shot back around the corner as quickly as possible. “Shadow?” they said, looking over at him warily. “Can ya use this—” they held out a leather hair tie—“and tie up your quills real quick?”

“Certainly.” Shadow began to put up his quills without complaint. “I don’t doubt your judgment, but might I ask why?”

Sticks frowned. “I think you probably need to see for yourself, but I just have one other question first, while we wait for their backs to turn around again.” One of their ears twitched, signaling that they were listening to something. Indeed, when Shadow focused on his own auditory receptors, he could hear the slow, methodical pace of feet drawing nearer. Metal feet, to be exact.

“What is it?”

“The parts and schematics used to make you, they’re the only ones that exist in the world, right?” They rubbed their upper arm uncomfortably.

Shadow frowned, baring his fangs ever so slightly.“Yes. I have the only set of blueprints, and spares for almost everything. It’s enough to do patch jobs, but not enough to build another android.

“Sticks…what exactly did you see?” 

“Something that shouldn’t exist.” they muttered, their ears flicking back briefly against their head. They gestured to the corner, letting Shadow know that it was safe to take a look.

He walked up to the edge of the wall, looked around it, and saw…himself.

Copies of him.

Walking right there.

In the hallway.

xxx

Amy still knelt at the edge of the pit, staring down into the darkness. By now, she had begun to scan the interior of the abyss, searching for any type of foothold that could be used to scale its sheer sides. So far, she wasn’t having much luck, but if there was one thing that she made sure everyone knew about Amy Rose, it was that she did not quit.

Suddenly, she was startled out of her intense focus by a chiptuned sound behind her.

She whirled around, lunging forward and swinging her hammer as hard as she could at the threat—

—and blinked, wide-eyed, as it passed right through Sonic’s flashing body and the “TWO LIVES” message.

“Huh. Respawn invincibility, that’s helpful.” he remarked, before shaking his head (and rustling his quills in the process) as he came back to reality.

“Hey, wait, what was that for?! You were gonna hit me!” Sonic complained.

Amy huffed unhappily. “I thought you were down in that pit! I was just about to climb down there and look for you!”

Sonic grimaced. “Yeah, no, probably don’t do that one. I…don’t think it has a bottom.”

“…what.”

“I didn’t hit anything, I was just falling, and then all of a sudden I reappeared back here.” he explained, making Amy glance back over her shoulder and shudder.

“Alright, so how are we getting over it?” she asked.

Sonic shrugged. “I dunno, maybe you could just hit me over or something?”

“…how would I get over after doing that?” Amy gave him a decidedly unimpressed look.

“Ah. Yeah. Right.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I could run along the wall and take you with me?”

Amy smiled confidently at him. “Now that sounds like a plan.”

“Alright, lemme just—” Sonic stretched out both of his arms, did a couple of quick side-lunges, and then shot her one of his trademark grins. “You ready?”

“Of course I am.” she said proudly, tossing her quills.

Moments later, a blue blur had grabbed her and was already racing across the wall, moving so quickly that gravity didn’t even have time to consider dragging them both down into the pit. (Gravity might have been tempted to post an incensed rant on the internet about this lack of respect for established institutions, namely laws of physics, were it capable of doing so.) Somehow, they even managed to tear back down the wall on the other side, before skidding to a stop safely on the other side of the pit.

It was at this point when Amy noticed that Sonic had taken her hand to pull her across. Coincidentally, it was also exactly this moment when Sonic realized just what he had done. He immediately pulled his hand away with such speed it’d have given her friction burn had she not worn gloves, and refused to meet her eyes.

Amy, meanwhile, smiled quietly to herself. She understood.

“So, how about we finally get out of this maze?” she asked, granting him freedom from his own internal embarrassment.

Sonic perked up immediately, his energy fully restored. “I thought you’d never ask!”

xxx

“Alright, Knuckles, are you ready for this?” Tails asked, once again. “We’ll need to move quickly under these platforms if we want to make it before they drop back down.”

“I was born ready!” the echidna insisted, cracking his knuckles and beaming confidently. “Literally—echidnas are meant to dig in enclosed spaces anyway, that’s why I’ve got these bad boys!” He dropped into a boxing stance easily, showing off the newly-reinforced spikes on his hands.

Tails smiled, shaking his head and running a hand through his bangs. “Okay, just promise me you won’t try to dig through solid steel.”

“Pinkie promise!” Knuckles replied cheerfully, holding out his hand with little finger stuck out and all.

The fox snickered, but held out his own hand and linked their fingers, as requested. Then, he turned to the platforms, flicking his tails a few times in an effort to warm them up somewhat. “All set?” he asked his friend.

Knuckles shifted into a stance that was even closer to the ground, letting more of his innate instincts take over as he prepared to power through the obstacle ahead. He flexed his fingers, curling them into fists once more, before giving Tails a thumbs-up.

Tails gave him one back (along with a smile that looked astonishingly like Sonic’s) and then, sucking in the biggest breath he could, yelled “GO!”

Immediately, Tails tore off, blasting forward and around obstacles with a speed cultivated from following his older brother around for years on end. Knuckles was no slouch himself, however, able to squeeze into unexpected places while the platforms were low from his lifetime of practice digging tunnels. His sense of direction was second to none as well, helping him avoid obstacles even when they didn’t register consciously in his mind.

He did almost try to dig once or twice in an effort to stay down, especially as the ceiling began to rise, but he thankfully remembered his promise to Tails each time and didn’t do more than push off a little awkwardly from the ground as a result. Meanwhile, the engineer had pulled out his dual pistols and was firing off shots at the platform mechanics ahead, trying to at least get one or two of them to slow down without actually compromising his own speed.

However, as they pushed themselves further along the course, the tangle of uneven machinery posed more of a threat than they would have liked. Tails struggled to maintain his top speed while dodging pistons, and Knuckles nearly got his spikes snagged on wiring a number of times.

Vaguely, out of the corner of his eye, the echidna registered some of the pistons beginning to extend to their fullest heights, even as the end was in sight, and so—

—launching himself off the ground with all fours, he hurled himself towards Tails and curled around the fox with just enough momentum to get them clear of the platforms right before they crashed down.

After a moment of silence, Knuckles uncurled, to reveal a perfectly unharmed and extremely delighted Tails. “We made it!” he cheered, holding up a hand that Knuckles had no hesitation in high-fiving right back.

[Camera gives a close shot of the high-five, before cutting to the next and final group.]

xxx

Shadow felt a prickle of cold run down his back and lodge itself right in what passed, in him, for a stomach. “Those…what are they?”

Sticks jumped on his shoulders, making him nearly overbalance and grip the corner of the wall in an effort to prevent them both attracting the attention of the things. “Fakes,” she said simply, distracting him from any ire he might have felt towards her. “They’re walking weirdly, nothing like how you do. They don’t even seem to know how to use those skates they’re wearing.”

Shadow tensed further. “They shouldn’t know much of anything, since they’re not made by the Ancients or the doctor.”

“Do ya wanna smash ‘em?” Sticks asked eagerly, but seemed to hesitate when he couldn’t think of a reply. Sure, he didn’t want them to continue existing, but it felt a little strange to smash things with his face on them…especially so soon after this little group had convinced him that maybe his face didn’t deserve to be smashed.

She hopped off his shoulders, pulling him back behind the wall. “…do you want me to smash ‘em while you wait here?”

Shadow shook his head. “I don’t want you to get hurt. I just don’t really like the thought of hitting a bunch of weird robots that someone’s made to look like me…” he muttered.

“Well, how about this? You go out there and Chaos Blast them, then just hang back and cover me!” Sticks offered, grinning in a distinctly feral manner and slamming one fist into an open palm.

“You’re okay with beating up a bunch of other Shadows?” he asked, frowning.

Sticks shook her head hard. “No, I’m okay with beating up a bunch of robot imposters trying to impersonate my friend! This is my dream!!”

[Camera shows a close-up shot of the lower part of Shadow’s face, as well as the top of his chest. His mouth has a small, yet very genuine smile.]

“Well then, let’s not waste any time, shall we?” he said, activating his skates and blazing around the corner.

“CHAOS BLAST!”

xxx

Not long after their scrape with the bottomless pit, Amy and Sonic found their way into the center of the labyrinth. Before either of them even had a chance to consider any of the other pathways, Knuckles and Tails came running out of one of them, seemingly in high spirits. It only took the two teams a second to register the sight in front of them, before the four were practically crashing into each other with excitement at finally being reunited.

They didn’t have long to wait before Shadow and Sticks arrived, moving at a much slower pace. Shadow’s legs, skates, and gloves were smeared with a strange black substance, but he was otherwise clean—in stark contrast to Sticks, who looked like they’d just been through about fifteen oil changes. There was hardly a body part that wasn’t splattered with the stuff, not to mention their bow and quiver, which were practically dripping.

“Are you alright?!” Amy cried, rushing over immediately and pulling out a spare glove in an effort to help Sticks tidy up somewhat. “Oh my goodness, what happened to you?”

Sticks, meanwhile, folded their arms triumphantly. “We fought a bunch of fake Shadows! I got most of them, but Shadow hit a lot with his Chaos Blast powers.”

Shadow sighed, nearly going to rub his face but then looking at his glove and reconsidering. “It certainly was an experience.” he muttered.

Sonic made a move towards him, but just as he did, the ground began to shake. The six heroes wobbled briefly, stabilizing each other just in time to register that the labyrinth’s center circle they stood on was actually a platform—one that was slowly rising towards the final level. But after the strangeness of the labyrinth, there was no real way for any of them to guess what might be coming next.

The platform delivered them into a dark room, marked only by a dome of red cross-hatching that gave off a faint glow. Automatically, they all grouped into a tight circle, watching each others’ backs carefully.

With a flash of light, the dome lit up around them, showing hundreds of thousands of message bubbles winking in and out of existence each moment. 

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I mean, it’s not like we wanted to watch this, but nobody else could be bothered to spend any time with us…

Suddenly, Nominatus dropped from the ceiling, landing in a surprisingly striking pose as his cape billowed behind him. “Welcome…” he bellowed, “to the final boss!

“You’ve done very well so far, and I honestly do appreciate it.” he continued, striding towards the team. “It’s been a while since I had a big event, and I needed something like this to boost my ratings in the algorithm. You all definitely delivered! I haven’t had this many viewers in a while! But I’m afraid…these people certainly aren’t here to watch you win.”

He smirked. “They’re here for me. So while you may have survived this far—

“—I suspect you’re about to break that streak.”

“Oh, no way!” 

Sticks pushed to the front of the group, her teeth bared. “I just hit my personal best in ‘number of enemies defeated in solo combat’, and I plan on living to beat that another day, gamer boy!”

All five of her teammates burst into various degrees of laughter behind her at the name she’d chosen for Nominatus. Bolstered by their support, she continued: “Nobody else might want us to win, but we want us to win! And guess what? That’s enough for me!”

Around her, the others burst into cheers, drawing their cool cyber-weapons. And then, they charged.

[For the rest of the fight scene, the animation kicks up a notch. It starts with a fast circle pan around Nominatus as all of the heroes attack him in their own unique ways, from a whack that only a quick forearm block kept from hitting him in the face (complete with comical CLANG sound effect) from Shadow to an earth-shattering ground slam delivered by Knuckles. 

However, the camera then reveals that this has done absolutely nothing to significantly damage the digital demon…

Then, the team begins to work together in similar ways to what they did during their time in the labyrinth, and nearly every strike hits perfectly. Nominatus hits back with lasers and harsh swipes with his claws, now finding himself struggling to even the odds. It becomes clear quickly that teamwork, as it often proves to be, is what helps the heroes succeed in their battles.]

When he saw an opportunity left by a successful hit from Shadow and Sticks, Sonic raised his sword, dropping into a fighting stance. He shot a wink over at Amy, smirking. “Hey Ames, you ready to see my Terminal Smack?”

The hero revved up his legs, faster and faster, until they formed a figure eight—and then he shot forward, leaping into the air, and slashed his sword downwards. 

Nominatus went flying backwards, skidding across the ground. As he came to a stop, the various messages began to flicker out, one by one, becoming more sparse as time ticked by.

The demon struggled to push himself upright, his arms shaking. “No…no! Wait, chat! Chat, I can still win this! No!!”

Sonic grinned, pointing his sword down at Nominatus. “You want us to keep kicking your butt on livestream? Or are ya gonna let us go?”

“Ugh…fine!” the demon snapped. “Just go! I’ll find other ways to diversify my content!”

And with that, the world broke down around them, becoming more and more pixelated…

…until then they were back in Tails’s living room.

“Aw yeah!” Sonic cheered. “Did you guys see me with that sword? I was all like hah—hyah—” he continued, mimicking his movements from the fight moments prior.

“Yes, Sonic, we were all there. We definitely saw it.” Shadow replied, voice drier than a Meh Burger bun.

All of a sudden, the TV blinked on behind them, their game of Ultimate Sibling Smackdown still loaded. “Ready for another round?” the announcer asked, cycling through one of its preset voice lines.

All six heroes either screamed, jumped, or did some combination of the two. Tails even ended up in Knuckles’s arms.

“Uh…maybe we should hang out on the beach for a while. Far away from any video games.” the fox suggested, after an awkwardly silent moment.

The rest of the team, still in varying states of sheepishness, wholeheartedly agreed with that particular statement.

[roll credits]