#realized in the original version that i completely just ignored the fact that elemental magic is a pretty substantial part of the series

[vdelta]

so i decided (based on a poll i ran earlier today) that i was gonna start doing more thorough character bios for my ocs, so i decided to flesh out a better template based on the one i did for varent a while back

so naturally i redid varent's bio as an example

woe, more vl lore be upon ye

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Cats Historical Hypothesis

So, who wants to hear about the potential history of a few seconds of the 1998 version?

Too bad. This is my channel and I can do what I want.

So, I’m gonna talk about a brief moment that occurs in the 1998 version, as well as a few others and guess about its origins. Why do some productions have it and some don’t? Where did it come from? This is speculation based on comparing 14 different versions (Broadway Revival, Buenos Aires, 1998, German Tent Tour, Hamburg, London circa 2002, Madrid, Mexico 1991, Moscow, Paris, UK Tour 2013, US Tour V, Vienna, and Zurich), and whatever historical trivia I can find on the wiki. This is called a hypothesis for a reason. It’s not proven fact. It’s an educated guess.

Anyway, here’s a screenshot of the thing this essay/tangent will be about:

I’m too lazy to get a version I didn’t type on.

I’m adding a cut for people who don’t care to more easily scroll by this thing.

So, some productions have a joke at the beginning of Gumbie Cat where Misto strikes a pose or otherwise attracts attention to himself, assuming that Munk will sing about him before anyone else, only to quickly realize that that isn’t the case and react accordingly. The exact way this plays out varies between production.

Out of the 14 productions I’ve compared, this gag appears in: Buenos Aires, 1998, Paris, US Tour V, Vienna, and Zurich (where it’s actually more sad than funny).

The fact that all three Vienna-based productions I have access to used it makes it highly likely that it originated there. If it came from Broadway, more of the other Broadway-based, but not Vienna-based productions would have it. But, Buenos Aires and US Tour V are Broadway-based. Where did they get it from? And what about 1998, which is primarily London-based?

So, if you’re looking for something, it helps to look at where it’s not. Buenos Aires was mainly based of the 1991 Mexican Tour, which didn’t include this gag. Hamburg is based on the 1985 Sydney production, which was Broadway-based, and also didn’t include this gag. The London version didn’t include the gag on its closing night (from what I can tell. The bootleg isn’t good quality.)

So, this gag probably originated into Vienna and was then inherited by Paris and Zurich. Zurich, Zurich’s Misto in particular, has a connection to Broadway. Most likely, the Broadway production didn’t include this gag at first, but when Lindsay Chambers, a Zurich Misto, moved on to play the role on Broadway, he brought the gag with him.

This would explain who Buenos Aires includes the gag when Mexico doesn’t. In 1991, Chambers hadn’t yet been cast as Mistoffelees anywhere. But, by 1993, when the Buenos Aires production started, Chambers was playing Misto on Broadway. Though Buenos Aires was mainly following Mexico, changing Broadway trends might’ve led to some changes being made to Misto’s character to match. Buenos Aires Misto does seem to be played a bit younger than his Mexican counterpart, which was another Zurich element Chambers probably brought to Broadway.

As for 1998, Jacob Brent, who played Misto there, was Chambers’ understudy and his version of the character is similar to Chambers’ because of that. Brent probably brought the gag to 1998, and since the gag works well on film, where Misto’s facial expressions can be in close-up, the team decided to add that in.

Then there’s the US Tour. US Tour V started after the Broadway version ended and mostly stuck to whatever the Broadway production was like when it closed. The Chambers/Brent version of Misto was probably kept to the end of that production, and the tour kept that characterization. It was basically the Official Broadway Misto Characterization by that point. And the gag in Gumbie Cat was part of that.

No purely London-based show used this gag. Brent played Misto in London after 1998, but there’s no surviving footage of this. If that gag ever was included in London, it most likely didn’t stick. Even if I’m wrong in my interpretation of the 2002 footage, later London-based productions (UK Tour, German Tent Tour, Moscow) don’t use this gag. Misto’s role in Gumbie Cat is a bit different in those productions and the gag doesn’t fit there.

So, how did all of this happen in the first place? Where did Vienna get this from?

Well, Vienna was in many ways a compromise between London and Broadway, which were both very early in their runs. Vienna’s Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer put the Broadway melody into London’s context, for example. In London, at first, Misto sang lead in Gumbie Cat. This wasn’t changed until over a decade later. On Broadway, that singing role was given to Munkustrap. Vienna went in this direction, but a gag about Misto being the center of attention at the beginning of the number might’ve been a nod to the London version. Vienna was the third replica production, which means that before they came in, the number of replicas where Misto sang Gumbie cat and replicas where Munk sang it was a 50/50 split. It took a minute for Munk and Misto to figure out which one of the them would be singing this time.

Another factor is that Vienna Misto is completely mute. Up until this point, both London and Broadway had large singing roles for Misto, so this was a major change. One of the things that changed was how Misto was introduced to the audience. Singing Mistos usually sing The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball. This calls attention to Misto. He’ll be important later, so we want the audience to pay attention to him. This also served as an Establishing Character Moment. In London, it showed that Misto and Munk were both the narrators. Each one took half of the number. On Broadway, this was Misto being theatrical and putting himself in the spotlight, because he’s Like That.

But, Mute Misto needs a different Establishing Character Moment. In Vienna, this gag showed that, though he didn’t sing, Misto lived for the spotlight just like earlier versions did. When Paris aged the character down, it became more about Misto wanting to prove himself or trying to help, though different versions imply different motivations.

Singing has something to do with this. When Misto is mute, he has fewer opportunities to blatantly attract the spotlight. This element of his character has to be downplayed. It often seems like the Mute Mistos of Paris and Zurich want to be Singing Mistos but can’t. They try to get into the spotlight, but have no idea what to do when they get there.

From the way Zurich Misto responds to realizing that Munk isn’t singing about him, he seems like he just got confused. Though he didn’t sing the Invitation, he still danced with Victoria and was part of this opening act. He helped Munkustrap and now he’s right by his side, looking for acknowledgement. It’s not his turn, so he doesn’t get that acknowledgement. He thought this would go differently and his response is confusion rather than embarrassment. Instead of living for the spotlight, Zurich Misto wants to help and he wants the important people in the tribe to acknowledge him.

1998 Misto sings the Invitation. He’s been established as enjoying the spotlight. So, at the beginning of Gumbie Cat, he tries to stay in the spotlight. While Zurich Misto assumed Munk would acknowledge him for being a helper, 1998 Misto, according to Jacob Brent, who has described this bit in detail, assumed that because he’s a magical prodigy, it was only natural that he’d become the center of attention immediately.

Basically:

Mute Misto + Gumbie Gag= “Didn’t I do a good job? Why are you ignoring me?”

Singing Misto + Gumbie Gag= “Bitch I’m fabulous! Now you’re gonna sing about how great I am, right?”

So, though the gag was made as an Establishing Character Moment for Mute Misto, a Singing Misto version was created. The implication is that Mute Misto has low self-esteem and seeks validation, while Singing Misto aware of how special he is, proud of it, and wants others to acknowledge it.

So, there’s a lot to be said about a few seconds of content.

[whentheynameyoujoy]

So the ATLA Movie Is... Good, Actually?

Just kidding, of course it’s not, it’s so bad it sucked the paint off my walls. But after ten years of people pointing out its glaring flaws, why would anyone bother talking about this garbage heap if not to go the other direction? So here’s a very brief and very superficial list of things the movie does get kinda... not atrociously wrong.

And they won’t be fake hipster pokes, like “It’s fun to laugh at”, “The Rifftrax for this is OK”, or “Kudos to the actress for managing to say we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs with a straight face”.

(though now that I mentioned it, it is fun to laugh at, the Rifftrax for this is OK, and massive props indeed.)

Rasta Iroh

Yes, I know it’s not exactly the aesthetic of the real Iroh or that it makes no cultural sense for him to sport this do when no one else in the racebended Indian “OMFG what were you thinking Shyamalan” Nation does but goddamn, long-haired dudes are my one mortal weakness and I will ogle the hell out of him.

Jesus is that a man bun I see that’s it mum I’ve been deaded

Yue’s hair

No.

Now we’re talking. Yue’s hair turned white when the Moon spirit gave her life, so it makes sense for it to go black again when she sacrifices herself to revive the koi fish. It’s a neat detail I find myself expecting whenever I rewatch the scene in the show. Yes, I realize it’d be a pointless hassle to animate since she, unlike in the movie, immediately goes on to become the Moon herself but still. I like.

The Blue Spirit’s mop

Zuko, hun, what’s with the dance-off?

First of all, I want to imagine that Zuko the Theatre Nerd was about to leave his ship with just the mask like in the show but then stuck his head into the cleaning cupboard and went, “Yeah, more coverage might be good, even though it do seem mighty fried to shit”.

Which makes me giggle. I like to giggle.

And secondly, the hair’s movement is what makes the static mess of the Blue Spirit’s solo fight scene appear at least bit more dynamic because God knows the cinematography isn’t doing it.

Any particular reason why it’s at the edge of the action, shot all boring-like?

Now, I get why circular shots would be reserved for Aang while he’s in the practice area and then used once the two join forces. What I don’t get is why Aang’s part of the action scene has a defined visual style while Zuko’s delegated to a few stationary wide shots from afar as though he’s a tertiary goon, meaning that when the time comes to combine the respective pieces of cinema language and visually convey collaboration, there’s not really much to combine.

But as long as Zuko is stuck in this static mess, it’s that awesome disaster on his head flopping about that draws the eye, helping me understand that something even is going on over there.

It also prevents me from paying much attention to how the extras are mostly just staying put and a lot of the hits don’t land, so that’s good.

The music slaps

James Newton Howard is too good for this.

Pls ignore that the word “gods” is used in the ATLA universe

I can’t be the only one who constantly uses this piece to daydream about writing specific fanfic scenes instead of, you know, actually sitting down and writing them. It’s just so good at communicating a sense of sorrow while speaking of rebirth that I find myself getting misty-eyed whenever I listen to it. Unfailingly, the soundtrack as a whole manages to break through the mile-thick crust of horrible acting, confusing writing, and uninspired cinematography and make me feel things. And considering how everything on screen is working against it, that’s no small feat.

Imagine what a powerful experience it would be if the score was used in service of an actual movie.

Dev Patel

No wonder since he’s the only one in the film occupying that crucial intersection between “is a good actor” and “was given something to work with”. It also doesn’t hurt that he breaks with the trend of actors starring in martial arts flicks despite never having done any martial art.

And all EIP-jokes about “stiff and humorless” aside, he’s a pretty decent Zuko considering how abridged this version of the character is. A while ago, I remember hearing a reviewer say that with his comedic chops, Patel should have been cast as Sokka. And on one hand, yes, god, absolutely, I need to see that asap. But on the other? He captures all layers of Book 1!Zuko, the desperate obsession, rage, and self-loathing, and at the same time gives you a peek at the soft momma’s boy dork that’s buried underneath. For Christ sakes, he exudes intensity and ambivalence even when acting against an emotionless hunk of wood that’s giving him nothing in return.

Oh, and I guess there’s a tree in the frame.

Ba dum tss

What can I say, the guy’s good.

Showing vs telling

OK, so this movie is all tell and no show, except for one single moment. And it’s the exact moment where the original goes in the other direction in terms of how information is conveyed.

See, I never liked this. The revelation is preceded by Iroh giving advice to Zuko who scolds him for nagging. Iroh then apologizes, moves in to say the line above, and is interrupted by Zuko who seems rather uncomfortable with Iroh laying his feelings out like this. And once they’re out, Zuko verbally confirms that he knew already and Iroh didn’t need to bother.

All this extraneous information and pussyfooting ends up weakening what should be a profound scene that reveals to us, the viewers, how deep the relationship between these two in fact runs.

Compare to the movie where Dadroh acts like a parent by fussing and worrying, with Sonion needing a single look to tell him and us that he understands what it’s all really about.

It’s genuinely efficient and just good.

No Cataang

Fine, a bit mean-girl bitchy from me since I only start minding the ship in Book 3. And probably unintentional on the part of the creators since there are moments where I think they’re trying to set the romance up? There’s a, well, an attempt to recreate the famous introductory shot of fateful meaningful destiny of meaningness, there’s some slight note of saving each other’s bacon going on, I’m pretty sure they’re the only ones in the film who smile, and oh, right, Katara’s shoved into her post-canon useless role where she doesn’t ever do anything, and is all about Aang right from the get go.

Yes, I will blame the “executive producers” because a) I’m incredibly petty, and b) it’s perfectly in line with their vision of the character so why the hell not.

Hilariously, none of it reads on screen because the actors are just... yeah. These poor kids are struggling so much with delivering their own lines and portraying their own characters they don’t seem to have any strength left to create something between them. To be fair, the bare-bones shot-reverse shot style of their scenes doesn’t exactly lend itself to the idea they occupy the same universe, let alone are friends or each other’s crushes.

And I enjoy this immensely because it allows me to forget the depressing horror show Katara’s life turns into post ATLA.

Yes Zutara

I need to delve into this because it’s fucking hilarious. So in a movie which fails to establish the original’s central romance so spectacularly that if Aang got lost in a crowd I don’t believe Katara would notice, SomEOnE thought it’d be a good idea to add an utterly unnecessary non-canon moment where Zuko for some reason feels the need to pause his character-defining hunt for the Avatar which otherwise has him ignore everything and snap at everyone, and explain his central conflict to an unconscious peasant he doesn’t know, complete with gently pushing the hair from the pretty girl’s the soulmate’s the Water Tribe Ambassador’s the Fire Lady’s the love of his life’s her face away, AFTER his uncle nagged him twice to find a girl and settle down.

I just wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page and this is what we really saw.

Celibate Avatars

I have no idea why the decision was made, if TPTB thought expecting viewers to understand the story through the lens of Buddhism would be too much, or if the “executive producers” already worked their retconny magic. What I do know, however, is that there’s a big shift in worldbuilding and Aang’s struggle with his role as the Avatar stops being a personal conflict defined by a) his grief for Air Nomads, b) his notion of being robbed of the loved ones in his life, and c) the selfish attachment to Katara he confuses with true love. Instead, what he has a difficulty to accept is apparently a general notion of who Avatars are supposed to be, i.e. a fantasy version of Catholic monks, no family and worldly relations, period.

I guess either someone understood the original’s portrayal of de/attachment as “hermit no freaky”, or thought the audience would so why not go there outright.

Now, do I like this on its own? No, God no, it makes the world infinitely poorer and changes the story from an exploration of ideas which aren’t all that ingrained in the West, to a cliché tropester about a Catholic priest going Protestant so that he could be with a girl.

At least I assume that’s where they were going to take this eventually.

I mean, I think the direction was “look conflicted, this isn’t the final stage of your journey”?

But consider this—the show went there, it built on the concepts of Eastern philosophy and touched upon the ideas of spiritual awakening, only to swerve in the end and strongly imply they’re bullshit and Aang should have never wasted his time with them.

So honestly, I much prefer scanty worldbuilding to an insulting retcon by a damn rock.

Multiracial Air Nomads

Probably the most substantial “no hint of irony” point on this list and a genuinely good addition to the universe’s worldbuilding.

See, the notion of the elemental nations being perfectly separate and never mingling before Sozin has always been sketchy but it’s especially ridiculous in the case of airbenders. It never made sense to me for all airbenders to be Air Nomads and for all Air Nomads to be monks and for all monks to be chilling at the temples all the time to facilitate a quick everyone-dies genocide should an imperialistic warlord ever decide to commit one.

Because committing everyone to a single way of life at a handful of places kinda goes against the central philosophy behind airbending. Like the freedom and nomadism part.

Instead, there should be more variety to the airbending culture, with some staying at the temples as monks, hermits, and teachers while others live as nomads, travelling the world and creating more airbenders, with the resulting children in turn being influenced by the non-airbending cultures they grew up in.

And thus, not only should airbenders not be modeled after a single culture to create a one-size-fits-all lifestyle, but they should have the most diverse and dynamic culture out of the four nations.

And it’d be precisely this diversity which would pave way for an eventual reveal that some of them survived, that their complete extermination is impossible.

Because they’re everywhere.

You know.

Like air.

[phoebehalliwell]

I’m so glad you like Bianca. She is underestimated As for Bianca and Chris they had little screen time in the show, however I can see some parallels between them and Piper and Leo. For example, both, Leo and Bianca were very protective of their respectful loved once and ready to risk everything for them. Do you think Chris and Bianca could really be destined for each other?

ooh interesting to draw parallels between chris & bianca and piper & leo, especially considering both of them are going against the rules of their organization (leo against the whitelighter & bianca presumably sent to kill chris but choosing not to therefore betraying the phoenix). as far as “are chris and bianca destined for each other?” i think (and i do plan on writing this scene in my fic somewhere but its so far off i’m just telling you) if chris and bianca met and had a relationship in the altered/true timeline and also knew of their relationship in the dark future, and you asked them whether or not they were destined for each other, chris would say yes and bianca would say no

chris i think really believes in fate & destiny & soulmates as these have been elements that have surrounded him growing up. i think he takes the fact that in both timelines, they have been brought together in circumstances that should not result in love, yet have fallen in love both times, clearly speaks for something, and, in his mind, means theirs fates are intertwined (y’know the i’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, i’d find you and I’d choose you shtick) (this is also why for me at least i think it’s incredibly important that neither chris not bianca knows about their relationship in the dark future until they have already fallen in love with one another because knowing in some alternate universe you were in love engaged and they sacrificed their life for you when you guys barely have a relationship in your current universe,,,, it makes things to cloudy. i think, especially with both of their characters, who are more of the guarded, brand themselves as emotionally unavailable types, an organic growth of a relationship completely separate from any expectations is really important. if they both go in trying to make it something it’s not at that point, Especially bc we never saw them fall in love in the dark timeline, it’s just,,,, i don’t like it)

from bianca’s point of view, i don’t think she would call it destiny. less of the world has something great etched out for me and more what about the nobodies and the nothings, the invisible girls? we learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. we learn to wring magic from the ordinary. that was how you survived when you weren’t chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. when the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway. haha read the grishaverse books plz because bianca really wasn’t raised in an environment where they believe in fate and destiny. they’re whole shtick is that the world wanted them dead but they refused to died. coupled with their abject amorality, i think bianca’s belief of fate, destiny, karma, & justice don’t resemble chris’s remotely. i think she thinks that if there genuinely was some higher power punishing the wicked for evil deeds, she would have never made it this far. she’s seen enough evil out there to know there’s no cosmic defender out there rooting for good and punishing the wicked, that’s just a lie people tell themselves. because of that, i think her view of her relationship with chris is that it was made with intent. in fact, she kinds hates the idea of them being “destined” bc that implies there’s a path she was always going to follow, a cosmic map she can’t really be shaken from, and that’s not what she considers their relationship to be at all. while the fact that in both cases they really shouldn’t have fallen in love is only further evidence for chris that it is fate, for bianca it’s further evidence it isn’t. everything they did to move them closer together was a choice. the way they fell in love was through conscious action. if there was a ready string secretly tying them together, they wouldn’t be put in situations that make it inherently difficult to fall in love. but they were, and they ignored it, and they fought, and they fell in love with each other. the universe didn’t make that happen. they did.

now my personal perspective gets a little more meta: we really don’t know that much about bianca in canon. what they gave us was so many different facets and layers i truly don’t know if the writers realized what a complex character they were making. she’s also the only real, concrete relationship we saw from chris. there was his one charge he hooked up with and there was the vague implication of something going on with that valkyrie, but those can all be chalked up to his whorish tendencies. with bianca, it was established they were in love. so, naturally, if you were to write a continuation of charmed, i think a really great way to call back is to bring back bianca, an established canonical love interest for him, especially if in your writings he has memories of the dark future. the show itself does harp a lot on destiny and fate and soulmates, and bringing chris and bianca together again would pay homage to the attitude of the original. it’s because of this, from my point of view, in my writings, yeah, they are destined. but other people in their next gen fics might chose the ignore that plotline as a whole and build an entirely new endgame love interest for chris. i don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. but for me, personally, i would much rather bring bianca into my writings than forge a new character (also bc i love bianca and i love the idea of the phoenix and the morally gray love interest and the this that and the other)

[jcmorgenstern]

@superohclair oh god okay please know these are all just incoherent ramblings so like, idk, please feel free to add on or ignore me if im just wildly off base but this is a bad summary of what ive been thinking about and also my first titans/batman meta?? (also, hi!)

okay so for the disclaimer round: I am not an actual cultural studies major, nor do I have an extensive background in looking at the police/military industrial complex in media. also my comics knowledge is pretty shaky and im a big noob(I recently got into titans, and before that was pretty ignorant of the dceu besides batman) so I’ll kind of focus in on the show and stuff im more familiar with and apologize in advance?. basically im just a semi-educated idiot with Opinions, anyone with more knowledge/expertise please jump in! this is literally just the bullshit I spat out incoherently off the top of my head. did i mention im a comics noob? because im a comics noob.

so on a general level, I think we can all agree that batman as a cultural force is somewhat on the conservative side, if not simply due to its age and commercial positioning in American culture. there are a lot of challenges and nuances to that and it’s definitely expanding and changing as DC tries to position itself in the way that will...make the most money, but all you have to do is take a gander through the different iterations of the stories in the comics and it’ll smack you in the fucking face. like compare the first iteration of Jason keeping kids out of drugs to the titans version and you’ve got to at least chuckle. at the end of the day, this is a story about a (white male) billionaire who fights crime.

to be fair, I’d argue the romanticization of the police isn’t as aggressive as it could be—they are most often presented as corrupt and incompetent. However, considering the main cop characters depicted like Jim Gordon, the guys in Gotham (it’s been a while since I saw it, sorry) are often the romanticized “good few” (and often or almost always white cis/het men), that’s on pretty shaky ground. I don’t have the background in the comics strong enough to make specific arguments, so I’ll cede the point to someone who does and disagrees, but having recently watched a show that deals excellently with police incompetence, racism, and brutality (7 Seconds on Netflix), I feel at the very least something is deeply missing. like, analysis of race wrt police brutality in any aspect at all whatsoever.

I think it can be compellingly read that batman does heavily play into the military/police industrial complex due to its takes on violence—just play the Arkham games for more than an hour and you’ll know what I mean. to be a little less vague, even though batman as a franchise valorizes “psychiatric treatment” and “nonviolence,” the entire game seems pretty aware it characterizes treatment as a madhouse and nonviolence as breaking someone’s back or neck magically without killing them because you’re a “good guy.” while it is definitely subversive that the franchise even considers these elements at all, they don’t always do a fantastic job living up to them.

and then when you consider the fetishization of tools of violence both in canon and in the fandom, it gets worse. same with prisons—if anything it dehumanizes people in prisons even more than like, cop shows in general, which is pretty impressive(ly bad). like there’s just no nuance afforded and arkham is generally glamorized. the fact that one of the inmates is a crocodile assassin, I will admit, does not help. im not really sure how to mitigate that when, again, one of the inmates is a crocodile assassin, but I think my point still stands. fuck you, killer croc. (im just kidding unfuck him or whatever)

not to take this on a Jason Todd tangent but I was thinking about it this afternoon and again when thinking about that cop scene again and in many ways he does serve as a challenge to both batman’s ideology as well as the ideology of the franchise in general. his depiction is always a bit of a sticking point and it’s always fascinating to me to see how any given adaptation handles it. like Jason’s “”street”” origin has become inseparable from his characterization as an angry, brash, violent kid, and that in itself reflects a whole host of cultural stereotypes that I might argue occasionally/often dip into racialized tropes (like just imagine if he wasn’t white, ok). red hood (a play on robin hood and the outlaws, as I just realized...today) is in my exposure/experience mostly depicted as a villain, but he challenges batman’s no-kill philosophy both on an ethical and practical level. every time the joker escapes he kills a whole score more of innocent people, let alone the other rogues—is it truly ethical to let him live or avoid killing him for the cost of one life and let others die?

moreover, batman’s ““blind”” faith in the justice system (prisons, publicly-funded asylum prisons, courts) is conveniently elided—the story usually ends when he drops bad guy of the day off at arkham or ties up the bad guys and lets the police come etc etc. part of this is obviously bc car chases are more cinematic than dry court procedurals, but there is an alternate universe where bruce wayne never becomes batman and instead advocates for the arkham warden to be replaced with someone competent and the system overhauled, or in programs encouraging a more diverse and educated police force, or even into social welfare programs. (I am vaguely aware this is sometimes/often part of canon, but I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s the main focus. and again, I get it’s not nearly as cinematic).

overall, I think the most frustrating thing about the batman franchise or at least what I’ve seen or read of it is that while it does attempt to deal with corruption and injustice at all levels of the criminal justice system/government, it does so either by treating it as “just how life is” or having Dick or Jim Gordon or whoever the fuckjust wipe it out by “eliminating the dirty cops,” completely ignoring the non-fantasy ways these problems are dealt with in real life. it just isn’t realistic. instead of putting restrictions on police violence or educating cops on how to use their weapons or putting work into eradicating the culture of racism and prejudice or god basically anything it’s just all cinematized into the “good few” triumphing over the bad...somehow. its always unsatisfying and ultimately feels like lip service to me, personally.

this also dovetails with the very frustrating way mental health/”insanity” or “madness” is dealt with in canon, very typical of mainstream fiction. like for example:“madness is like gravity, all it takes is a little push.” yikes, if by ‘push’ you mean significant life stressors, genetic load, and environemntal influences,  then sure. challenge any dudebro joker fanboy to explain exactly what combination of DSM disorders the joker has to explain his “””insanity””” and see what happens. (these are, in fact, my plans for this Friday evening. im a hit at parties).

anyway I do really want to wax poetic about that cop scene in 1x06 so im gonna do just that! honestly when I first saw that I immediately sat up like I’d sat on a fucking tack, my cultural studies senses were tingling. the whole “fuck batman” ethos of the show had already been interesting to me, esp in s1, when bruce was basically standing in for the baby boomers and dick being our millennial/GenX hero. I do think dick was explicitly intended to appeal to a millennial audience and embody the millennial ethos. By that logic, the tension between dick and Jason immediately struck me as allegorical (Jason constantly commenting on dick being old, outdated, using slang dick doesn’t understand and generally being full of youthful obnoxious fistbumping energy).

Even if subconsciously on the part of the writers, jason’s over-aggressive energy can be read as a commentary on genZ—seen by mainstream millennial/GenX audiences as taking things too far. Like, the cops in 1x06 could have been Nick Zucco’s hired men or idk pretty much anyone, yet they explicitly chose cops and even had Jason explain why he deliberately went after them for being cops so dick (cop) could judge him for it. his rationale? he was beaten up by cops on the street, so he’s returning the favor. he doesn’t have the focused “righteous” rage of batman or dick/nightwing towards valid targets, he just has rage at the world and specifically the system—framed here as unacceptable or fanatical. as if like, dressing up like a bat and punching people at night is, um, totally normal and uncontroversial.

on a slightly wider scope, the show seems to internally struggle with its own progressive ethos—on the one hand, they hire the wildly talented chellah man, but on the other hand they will likely kill him off soon. or they cast anna diop, drawing wrath from the loudly racist underbelly of fandom, but sideline her. perhaps it’s a genuine struggle, perhaps they simply don’t want to alienate the bigots in the fanbase, but the issue of cops stuck out to me when I was watching as an social issue where they explicitly came down on one side over the other. jason’s characterization is, I admit and appreciate, still nuanced, but I’d argue that’s literally just bc he’s a white guy and a fan favorite. cast an actor of color as Jason and see how fast fandom and the writer’s room turns on him.

anyway i don’t really have the place to speak about what an explicitly nonwhite!cop!dick grayson would look like, but I do think it would be a fascinating and exciting place to start in exploring and correcting the kind of vague and nebulous complaints i raise above. (edit: i should have made more clear, i mean in the show, which hasn’t dealt with dick’s heritage afaik). also, there’s something to be said about the cop vs detective thing but I don’t really have the brain juice or expertise to say it? anyway if you got this far i hope it was at least interesting and again pls jump in id love to hear other people’s takes!!

tldr i took two (2) cultural studies classes and have Opinions

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters 3x14, A Kiss From a Rose -- Review

Alright, so Shadowhunters 3x14, A Kiss From a Rose, let’s talk about it. I’m finally buckling down and writing this review. I’m sorry for always being super late on these reviews, but this show is just so damn boring. It’s really difficult to just sit in front of my computer these days and talk about this show because there’s nothing I really want to talk about. Everything that I could possibly say about these episodes, I’ve already said a hundred times before in previous reviews. Shadowhunters has never been a “good” show, but at the very least, it was always somewhat interesting and so bad that it’s enjoyable to watch in an ironic sense so once upon a time, I legitimately enjoyed reviewing the show. But all of season 3 (including A and what we’ve seen of B) has just been so boring and directionless, it’s become a real chore to actually review this show. Dare I say it, I think I’m enjoying Lega-Trash far more than I’m enjoying this show currently and that’s saying something considering Legacies makes me feel like I’m dying whenever I watch it. But, I made a promise to you all as well as myself that I would see this show to the end, so here I am.

I would like to preface this review with saying that I am NOT a huge supporter of this show. I do enjoy certain elements of it but I’m not what would be classified as a devoted fan. For me, Shadowhunters is not a good show and I do get very critical of the show in my reviews. Honestly, for me, I watch the show because 1) I’m too curious not to and 2) I find that this show can be so bad its funny and that’s how I reap enjoyment out of it. I am not at all invested in this show or its characters anymore. I’m just watching to see what happens. If you’re a die hard fan and you lash out at everyone who has a different opinion than you, you might want to skip these…I’m just saying. My reviews may not be for you. If you do decide to be a total troll, well then pay attention to the below disclaimer.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you’re the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that’s on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that’s the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I’m not telling YOU how to think and feel. I’m telling you what I, quirky and socially awkward me, think and feel. So please, lets discuss with dignity and respect. If I’m critical about this show, it’s only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters, I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It’s great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to point out the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do like the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my fondness for the books. I don’t really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as the changes are good, it makes sense, and it doesn’t create plot holes within the confines of the world the show has created. My problems with this show are problems I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the books and movie.

3x14, A Kiss From a Rose was…surprise, surprise…super boring. Seriously, it’s beginning to feel like this entire season is filler. This show continues to astound me in its talent for having too much going on but yet nothing also happens at the same time. I must’ve fast-forwarded probably about 70% of the episode because I was just so completely bored. I don’t understand it. There’s so much plot, the show is operating on a deadline but they continue to use filler episodes. It boggles my mind. In fact, I’m actually beginning to wonder just how far in advance the show might’ve known they were going to be cancelled because it feels like no one is trying this season. The writing is bad, the directing is bad, a lot of the acting is very bland and uninspiring, I’m beginning to think that the production staff, at least, had known about the cancellation most likely after 2B and before 3A. Like, if I had never watched Shadowhunters before, never read the books and an episode of season 3 (whether it be 3A or 3B) was my first introduction to the franchise, I would’ve written this show off no questions asked. Whereas if my first introduction to the show was an episode from season 1 or season 2, I still would’ve thought the show was bad but I also might’ve found myself slightly intrigued. The show, while being so completely bad, does have its moments of intrigue where I can tolerate it and there is none of that thus far in season 3, it’s just really bland, boring writing.

More Directionless Incesty Stuff…Yay

We unfortunately continue this story line of Jonathon being super attracted to Clary (for some reason, again, it’s beyond me on why everyone and their mother loves show!Clary in all of her Mary Sue glory, but whatever). I was originally excited for seeing this story line being switched up with Clary getting Jace’s story line from the books but the show is approaching this all wrong. It shouldn’t be about Clary sympathizing with Jonathon, it should be about Clary understanding him and seeing a bit of herself in Jonathon and questioning her motivations and if she can really justify her own actions as any better than how Jonathon justifies his own actions. It doesn’t mean she forgives him, it just means she gains an understanding of him as well as herself. It’s something that I’ve mentioned before in previous episodes that when really analyzing Clary as a character and what motivates her, she’s really not all that different from her father. The only thing that separates them are their ideals. In fact, I’d wager that without Jocelyn, Clary could probably have turned out exactly like Valentine. I think Clary has more in common with Valentine than she does with Jocelyn. At her very core, I actually don’t believe Clary’s this inherently good and pure person. She’s selfish and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get the things she wants and without Jocelyn kind of curbing those instincts into a sense of social justice values, she could easily have gone the opposite direction. And that version of Clary is a fascinating character…it’s too bad the show doesn’t think so, they keep on wanting to depict her as this pure and perfect and innocent little flower who can do no wrong and deserves zero consequences for her actions and that’s what makes her boring and dull.

But this story line does nothing for Clary or Jonathon for that matter. Jonathon just continuing to have these romantic feelings towards his sister with very little development towards it just further showcases the show depicting him as this “evil” guy. He’s evil so of course he desires his sister in a sexual manner. And this certainly does nothing for Clary as a character. All we’re seeing is Jonathon manipulating Clary and taking advantage of her and her gaining feelings of sympathy towards him, it’s completely unnecessary and gross.

I was also bothered by just how long it took before Clary realized that it was actually Jonathon she was on a date with and not Jace. I mean, the whole part where Jonathon is making excuses for himself, it really doesn’t say very nice things about Jace, don’t you think? So the fact that she just accepted what he was saying as the truth while wearing Jace’s face really paints a very jaded picture of how she sees Jace. So again, it leaves you with the question of, “why on earth is Clace a thing?” They clearly don’t understand anything about each other. Or at least she has zero understanding of Jace as a person. 

It was an interesting move for the show to give Jace’s City of Lost Souls story line to Clary in the show but thus far, the show isn’t doing a very good job of executing it. And I still wish that since we’re going for a role reversal here, that it should’ve been a complete role reversal and instead of Jonathon being super obsessed with Clary like he is in the books, it’s actually Jace he’s super obsessed with. As I’ve said before, if you’re going to do a role reversal, you might as well go all the way.

But the date in the ice skating ring was a little cute so I’ll give the show that. I didn’t hate that scene. And early in the episode when the seelie is pretending to be Clary for Jonathon and she blows it by saying something Clary would never say and Jonathon blames the seelie for it, I really like that the seelie points out that it’s not her fault that the script she was given sucks. By no means do I believe this show is that self-aware, but I found enjoyment in choosing to think that there’s a possibility that the writers are making fun of themselves a little bit with that line. As I’ve always said with this show, their dialogue is atrocious and this show is actually known for it’s bad dialogue so I enjoyed that line.

The Return of Magnus’s Magic…Sort Of

So apparently warlocks giving each other magic via magic transfusion is a thing, I guess. Awfully convenient though, right? Something we’ve never seen as part of this world in the show before. But whatever. Magnus goes to Lorenzo and in exchange for Magnus giving up his apartment, Lorenzo agrees to perform this magic transfusion on Magnus. It’s nice to know that this whole plot point of Magnus losing his magic and having to find a way to live without it was a complete waste of time. Although, at least it looks like there’s consequences for it so we’ll see, I guess but I’m not holding my breath that this is somehow going to further develop Magnus in any sort of way other than put him in a victim position once again. Seriously, I’m so sick of this guy always being put in a victim capacity. I’m sick of always being told I need to feel sorry for this guy and that being the entire development of his character. An anon came to me last week talking about how Magnus is basically the Bonnie Bennett of Shadowhunters and to a certain extent I can agree with that but I would never compare the awesomeness that is Bonnie to show!Magnus. Bonnie may have been a victim a lot but she always grew every time she lost and we don’t ever get that with Magnus. There was this inherent strength about her and we never had to be told that. But this show goes way out of its way to tell us how strong of a person Magnus is. If you develop a well-written character, you don’t have to do that. The one time show!Magnus became legitimately interesting to me was the set of flashbacks we got in the first episode of 3B where we got a glimpse of the darker parts of his past and I’m just like, “where’s that guy? I want to see that guy.”

But anyway, there’s was some sort of Lara Croft Tomb Raider shit going on with the Magnus and Alec plot point where they’re trying to find the sword Jonathon is looking for but it’s ultimately pointless, they don’t find it. And we also get a really cringey scene where Alec threatens Lorenzo for being mean to Magnus and dare I say it…expecting payment for what he gave Magnus, I know, a real shock that when you make a deal for something, you should actually have to give up something. And what you give up should have a similar importance to what you’re being given. In general, that’s how payment typically works. But whatever, again, Magnus needs to always be the victim so of course this is what happens. I don’t mind so much that Alec threatened Lorenzo…I do however mind that he’s using the power he has as a head of the Institute to threaten Lorenzo, to me, that was a little uncalled for. Sure what Lorenzo did was distasteful but it’s hardly something where Lorenzo should be threatened by Clave punishment. I’m not saying Alec shouldn’t have threatened him, I understand why Alec did it, I just wish it wasn’t Alec using the power he was given as a leader to threaten him. Threaten Lorenzo individual-to-individual, that kind of thing, but don’t use your privilege for it, that’s distasteful and frankly really showcases how incredibly racist this show actually is. And it also shows a double standard. It’s not cool to use your political power to lord over downworlders but yet it’s okay to use that power to lord over downworlders you don’t like? How very progressive and woke of you, Shadowhunters.

But maybe with Magnus getting his magic back, we’ll have the conversation we were supposed to have in 3A where Malec actually deals with the immortality issue instead of sweeping it underneath the rug where they sweep all their other conflicts.

Jordan’s Underserved Redemption in Maia’s Eyes

I really dislike how Maia’s forgiveness of Jordan went down in this episode. This is something that definitely shouldn’t have happened immediately after Maia saw her entire pack get slaughtered and then have her claustrophobia triggered and oh yeah, Jordan is also dying in front of her. That’s sensory overload right there and it does nothing for her as a character. Really, how the show has been executing this whole Maia Becoming Alpha does nothing for her character. What’s the point of Maia going through this character arc of her feeling weak and defenseless and finally gaining the confidence to be strong if there isn’t a pack left that enabled her to become that being? It all feels just really pointless.

Oh, and I guess Simon and Luke did something this episode. It wasn’t much and really the episode could’ve gone without them and it wouldn’t have made that much of a difference. They find Maia and Jordan...and Luke gets arrested. I don’t know why Luke is so obsessed with giving the wolves the funeral rights immediately after their deaths when that’s never been the case before but whatever. I guess we must continue on this whole plot line of the NYPD cop plot line Luke has been on since Season 1 despite it always 100% being a complete waste of screen time.

There you have it. My review of Shadowhunters 3x14, A Kiss From a Rose. It was boring and another filler that really continues to worry me about the rest of the season. So far, 3B has had 0 direction, 0 character arcing and it’s just been a really dull experience. And what they’re doing does absolutely nothing for the characters. I’d give this episode a C+. It’s nothing special. It’s bleh. I guess I’ll hope for better when I watch the newest Shadowhunters episode today.

[ruffsficstuffplace]

The Viridian Vanguard (Part 13)

Note: I’ve been rereading Keeper to get a handle of where I am in this story, and I realize that Winter spoke of the escape plans and doubting being able to escape the Valley twice, and she said it in this story like she hadn’t already been doubtful of it, and spoke it here like it was for the first time. God, I really need to keep a timeline of conversations and important beats, I think.

I probably won’t, but still. Anyway, here’s the next chapter, seeing as last week was the end of AWRD.

Bee came to visit later that evening, bearing news of the Terrace’s clean-up efforts so far. Most of the minutiae was downloaded straight to Penny’s databanks with a Fae version of a data storage crystal, while Bee told Weiss and Winter a summarized account.

“… So, with the Water Quadrant indefinitely closed until further notice, and Primal Aeilana also either completely occupied with the clean-up, and with her joining the expedition for supplies and components leaving this week, we’ll all be training under the other Primals at their Quadrants for the time being.

“Generally speaking, our class will be split up into small, 2-3 folk groups, scheduled on different days of the week, in different Quadrants at once. The actual training sessions will be supervised by the Primals, or their own chosen representatives, and we won’t be required to interact or join up with any of their original students, unless it’s specifically for cross-element training.”

Bee looked up from the holo with her notes. “So, any questions, concerns, or objections?”

“Nothing from me,” Weiss said, “I’m just happy I don’t need to meet a new group of folks I might accidentally kill with my magic...”

“Just one question on my part: if I’m already considered part of Primal Aeilana’s class as you and Weiss are, does this mean I’m exempted from the initiation rite, even after she returns and the Quadrant is reopened?” Winter asked through the can.

“Yes, you can skip it,” Bee replied. “The Evoking Altar is very low on the master list of repairs and replacements, and Primal Aeilana is not willing to wait for however long it takes for it to get the greenlight, more so fixed.”

“Oh, thank Piper...”

“I wouldn’t be too relaxed if I were you, though: Primal Aeilana will figure out an alternative rite, and she’s probably already asking around for ideas as we speak.”

“Trust me, my only concern is avoiding facing a realized representation of my fear of the Keepers.” Winter replied. “Otherwise, I am good for whatever ridiculously dangerous and/or ill-advised stunt she wants me to do.”

Bee smiled, and said, “Just a bit of friendly advice: never say that in front of Primal Aeilana.”

“Duly noted.”

“And with that out of the way, it’s time for the last item on my list,” Bee said as she turned to Weiss. “Weiss, seeing as your coat, mask, gauntlet, and focus have severely damaged, and Maker Abner has just informed us today that he has no definite time frame on when he can finish repairs and upgrades, you’ll be lent stock set in the meanwhile, the same standardized gear used in the Pits.

“However, since it’s not nearly as good at controlling your power as your original gear, you’ll also be wearing a magical inhibitor for a while.”

Weiss nodded. “What does it look like?”

“There are actually very many variations of the design, but what you will likely be wearing is this,” Penny said, before projecting a holo with a picture of the device alone, and being worn on by a model.

“… Are you seriously telling me I’m going to be wearing a cone of shame?!”

“The element-proof cone will likely be considered optional, so you will only really be wearing the main body of the collar, if with additional accessories,” Penny explained.

“And what will those look like?” Weiss asked, annoyed.

Penny showed her.

“Okay, now you have got to be fucking kidding me!” Weiss snapped. “That can’t be it! That can’t possibly be it!” she wavered for a moment, and turned to Bee. “Is it…?”

“It is,” she said gravely.

“Motherfuck...” Weiss growled.

“What does it look like?” Winter asked.

“I believe the closest objects you are familiar with would be mittens and socks, similar to those worn by infants, except larger.”

Winter paused for a moment, before she sniggered.

Weiss scowled at the can.

“Sorry.”

“I would like to clarify that it’s only about a 30-27% chance that the menders will decide you require such accessories!” Penny said.

“Thanks,” Weiss grumbled, before she turned to Bee. “Anything else?”

“The same deal applies to Penny’s new body, but she’s got a loaner, too,” Bee said. “It should be arriving by the time you wake up tomorrow morning, actually! So, any questions, concerns, or objections?”

No one had any, they bid Bee farewell, and she left.

“So, after all this time, looks like we’ll finally be able to go to school together, in the same classes, huh, Weiss?” Winter said.

“And we’ll both be much older than our peers, delayed by several years, and stick out like two sore thumbs, especially since neither of us can speak fluent Actaeon yet,” Weiss added flatly.

“Yes, that’s true, but I think we should really focus on the bright side of all this, Weiss: there’s no more having to worry about Father’s ideas and opinions about the path our education and lives are supposed to take; the curriculum, classes, and projects here are going to be infinitely more interesting than anything we’ve ever had; and the skills and qualifications we can get from the Terrace are going to go a long way to improving our lives here in the Valley.”

Weiss nodded, and paused for a moment. “Hey Winter? Can we at least try and go to the Terrace on the same days and at the same time, even if we’re in different groups and at different quadrants?” Weiss asked.

“Of course, Weiss!” Winter replied. “As much as I can help it, I’ll be there right by your side. Besides, you could use the extra help if you get the cone and the mittens.”

Weiss scowled. “Oh, fuck you, Winter...”

“I love you too, Weiss, goodnight.”

“Night.” Weiss said, before Penny pulled the can out of the barrier and “hung up.”

Weiss was quiet for a moment, before she turned to Penny, and asked, “Hey Penny? When we get back to training at the Weaver’s Terrace, do you think anyone’s going to hate and/or be afraid of me because of everything that’s happened…?”

“I will be frank: there is a very high possibility of them holding very negative opinions of you, but I sincerely doubt that many of them will go through the effort and the consequences of publicly airing said opinions, especially towards you personally. Aside from the fact that you are the Keeper’s mate, the weavers strongly encourage good relations among the members of their Order: if they cannot achieve harmonious cooperation, then they should at least strive for peaceful coexistence.”

“Heh,” Weiss smiled, “seems like Feroki hasn’t gotten that part yet, has he?”

“It certainly seems that way!” Penny chirped. “Though, to be fair, he still has yet to mature into an adult, nor advance to the Adept level.”

Weiss nodded. “Thanks for that, Penny, good night,” she said, before she closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

“You are welcome, Weiss, and good night also,” Penny said, before she went into standby mode.

The next morning, Weiss was woken up by a mender, informing her that Penny was to be taken away to be installed into her loaner body, and that Weiss was to start her special physical therapy that day.

“What exactly are they going to do to me?” Weiss asked as the barrier around her bed was taken down, and she was carefully loaded into a wheelchair.

“I have been given any exact details, nor do I have time to explain all the possibilities, but I can assure you it is most definitely going to be incredibly thorough considering your condition!” Penny said as she was taken away, before she was too far away for her voice to be heard.

“What exactly are they going to do to me?” Weiss said as she looked up at the menders accompanying her.

<Sorry, Nivian no speak,> said one as he pointed at himself and his companion. <Mender in charge can, tell you when you get there.>

<Thank you,> Weiss said, before she was wheeled out of the ward and down one of the hospital’s many halls, wondering what sort of fresh hell the Valley had in store for her now...

Fifteen minutes later…

Weiss lay naked and stomach-down on a blanket on top of a flat slab of rock, completely limp and relaxed as a therapy mender massaged her, while carefully working in a series of oils, balms, and lotions into her skin. Lines of ice blue magic and many other colours glowed all over her body, flowing and moving along with the mender’s hands or on invisible paths; rippling and spreading out over her skin; or pooled up and stagnant in some places, until something forced them to flow again or dispelled them entirely.

The lights were low and warm; a bowl of incense, herbs, and oils burned beside Weiss and produced a sweet, relaxing smoke; the wall of enchanted air gently swirling around them kept all the other scents and sounds around them out, the temperature at just the right range for Weiss’ comfort.

<How are you feeling, Weaver Schnee?> her mender asked.

Weiss gave an incoherent, burbling sound of pleasure and satisfaction.

The mender giggled. <I would take that as a ‘I am feeling quite well, thank you.’>

The rest of her treatment proceeded like a luxurious spa day: more specific treatments for her hands and feet that happened to include a manicure-pedicure; a facial with some mildly hallucinogenic (but incredibly pleasant) aromatherapy involved; a stroll through the hospital’s vibrant and expansive garden to get some sun, fresh air, and enjoy the greenery; until it ended with a special breakfast outdoors, along with some tonics and medication.

What parts of the menu and items on her prescription that were less than pleasant to take were vastly outnumbered by the ones Weiss happily took her sweet time savouring. She largely ignored the other patients around her and they did the same, until Jaune happened to be as set down on the free space beside her.

“Morning, Jaune!” Weiss chipred, figuratively and literally glowing from the leftover traces of mana dancing on her skin. “Fruit? I don’t know what it is yet, but it’s certainly fresh and delicious!” she said, extending her plate filled with bite-sized, artfully cut chunks.

“I’ll pass...” Jaune moaned, slouching over the table with his arms resting on it.

“Still reeling from your head injury?” Weiss asked sympathetically.

“No, well, kinda, but it’s not really—“ Jaune sighed, took a deep breath, then said, “I just got back from a really intense massage...”

“You did? I can’t imagine why you look so down right now, mine was incredible!” Weiss said, before she popped another bite into her mouth.

“Eh, I think it’s because we’re different, uh, what is it, ‘alignments’ or something?” Jaune replied. “They said that since I was earth, and because I apparently wasn’t massaged enough or properly for a few years, they said they needed to use a really firm hand.”

Weiss swallowed, and asked, “How firm are we talking about exactly...?”

Twenty minutes earlier...

Jaune screamed as an incredibly large and muscular therapy mender-weaver slowly ran his massive hands over Jaune’s body, magical ripples glowing on his skin, shaking him like a miniature, localized earthquake. “Ilias, so much tension! So many knots! So many disrupted flows!” his mender bellowed over Jaune’s whimpering. “No wonder your body is in such poor condition, Mr. Arc!”

Jaune burst into a fresh round of tears. “Please, make it stop!”

“We will, we will!” the mender said as he started to move into more powerful kneading, intenser pulses of earth magic. “Trust me, Mr. Arc: by the time you’re out of this hospital, you will feel like a new man!” he continued as he grabbed one of Jaune’s legs, and gently bent it.

“AAAGH!”

“You will find all your old pains and aches have disappeared, especially those you never knew were there!” he began to slowly stretch it out again.

“AAA-HAAAH-HAAAH…!”

“Then, then you will see the true peaks of your power, the true capabilities of your body!”

Jaune’s mender exploded into boisterous laughter as Jaune quietly sobbed and whimpered.

“… Yeah, that does sound a LOT more unpleasant than what I went through...” Weiss said quietly. “Did it work, at least?”

“Yeah...” Jaune falling forward and letting his head hit the table. “Still gonna be sore for a while, though...”

“There, there, Jaune: I predict a high chance that your condition will begin to rapidly improve in the near future, both physically and in general,” Penny said as she came up to them.

Weiss turned to her, and gasped, her eyes widening. “Penny! You’re back! And oh my gosh, you look so adorable!”

Penny giggled as she flew in front of them, her core was now housed in a human-style flying drone with part of her original ears and tail attached, the custom covering making her look like a round, soft, flying mouse plushie with brilliant green eyes. “Maker Abner thought it necessary that my loaner body look as aesthetically pleasing, nonthreatening, and friendly as possible.”

“Well I certainly approve,” Weiss said. “Can I touch you?”

“Go right ahead,” Penny said, “this body was designed for it.”

“Thanks!” Weiss said as she reached out and started touching Penny. “Oh, wow, did this cover come from the Plushie Palace?”

“Yes it did!” Penny repiled. “Almost 100% Viridian Valley Sheep Wool, with some necessary additives! And speaking of the Palace, a representative from them actually wishes to see you quite urgently.”

“Why the rush?” Weiss asked as she pulled her hand back.

“It’s about the terms of repayment for your loan to them, from their buying your debt from the Trader’s Guild and returning your collateral, Winter’s Eluna Plushie.” Penny replied.

“Oh, that, right!” Weiss said, nodding. “I completely forgot about it, so much has happened since then… anyway, can it really not wait? I’m really enjoying myself right now...” she said, gesturing to her breakfast.

“I can understand the sentiment, Weiss, and under other circumstances, I would have encouraged the Palace to please return on another, more convenient date for you, but it really would be prudent to assess this matter as soon as possible.”

“Is it really that serious?” Weiss asked, her body’s glow fading slightly.

“Well, I don’t mean to alarm you, Weiss, but if we don’t come up with a solid plan to make the first payment within the next two weeks, and all future payments after that, there is a very high chance we will default, and have to face legal and economic repercussions that will effectively render us bankrupt for the next five-ten years.”

Weiss blinked. “… I’m sorry, say what again…?”

[sowingseedsandshootinghoops]

Life as Inspiration for Art: Charles Dickens

Note on the text: I used Fred Kaplan’s biography of Charles Dickens, entitled Dickens: A Biography, as published in 1988 by John Hopkins University Press. 

Artists are fascinating people, and it is always interesting, in my opinion, to “look under the hood” and see what drives them. So to have the opportunity to do this with Dickens who is, in my opinion, one of the greatest novelists ever, was to great for me to ignore. One of the most interesting parts of this biography was who Kaplan was able to show just how Dickens managed to integrate his life into his work. For Dickens, his life was the greatest source of inspiration. It’s where he was able to get the inspiration that he needed in order to give his novels the power that made them the transcendent pieces of art that they are now. 

Freud, in his acceptance of the Goethe Prize in 1930, said that “the goal of biography is to bring a grand figure nearer to us: ‘It is unavoidable that [the more we learn] about a great man’s life, [the more] we shall hear about occasions on which he has done no better than we [have done]” (Preface). The more we learn about great men, the more we realize that at the end of the day they were just that: men. 

Dickens’ life was no better, no richer, than anyone else’s, yet he was able to use it to fuel his art in the most beautiful ways. In fact, by all accounts Dickens’ life, especially his childhood, was completely unremarkable in its ordinariness: 

He had not been cast by his family [in] in role of the [preeminent] writer, let alone genius, of his age. ‘None of us guessed at it’, his father said, ‘and when we heard that he had become a reporter, my brother in law Barrow, [as well as] other relations, anticipated a failure.’ No one had seen harbingers of distinction. At school he was [seen simply] as bright and responsive with a retentive memory.

In that way, Dickens was no different than any other artist at any other time in history including our own. Nobody could anticipate that he would become who he became anymore than we could predict now who is destined to become the next Dickens. 

Yet Dickens’ life, ordinary as it was, spilled over into various parts of his art. Stories such as The Broker’s Man and The Pawnbroker’s Shop, which were both published at the beginning of his career, were simply lightly fictionalized versions of his own childhood. Even the main character of another early story, A Passage in the Life of Watkins Tottle, is, like Charles’ father John Dickens, “jailed for debt in a prison just like Marshallsea” prison where John Dickens was imprisoned (65). Charles grew up in circumstances that are, unfortunately, not unlike those which many people today still experience. His father was in and out of prison for most of Charles’ life starting from when Charles was 10. At age 12 Charles was forced to drop out of school and work for 10 hours a day in a boot factory in order to help make ends meet. The strenuous working conditions that he experienced as a child were another element of his life that appeared in many of his stories from Oliver Twist to Hard Times. 

Every part of Charles’ life made it into his art. No one was safe. He even parodied his best friend, John Fowler, continuously throughout his career, specifically in the characters of Dowler from the Pickwick Papers and Podsnap from Our Mutual Friend which were, respectively, the first and the last novels he ever wrote. Even another boy, a co worker in the boot factory, who he did not particularly care about, made it into one of his novels. Dickens’ job at the factory was to create a label out of paper and attach it to the boots with a string. One of the boys who showed him a useful trick for attaching the string to the boot was named Bob Fagin and became the namesake of the character in Oliver Twist. 

Throughout his whole creative life, Dickens found ways in inject his life into his work and in doing so was able to give his work the richness for which he celebrated even today. In a letter written in 1846, he details just how important his daily life is to his creative process: “I can’t express how much I want city streets. It seems as if they [supply] something to my brain which it cannot bear. . . to lose. The toil and labor of writing day after day without that magic lantern is IMMENSE [emphasis in the original]. My figures seem to stagnate without them”(208). Dickens used every part of his life, boring and ordinary as it was, to enrich his art with the power and life that it needed. 

Above and beyond the quality of the novels themselves. I hope that this aspect of Dickens’ life and creative process can continue to influence artists today. Dickens stands as a reminder to all artists that their lives, boring and ordinary as they are, are packed with all of the inspiration that they could ever need. I hope that he inspires todays artists to use their own lives to invigorate their work in the same way that he did. It is this way, along with the novels themselves, that Dickens can continue to inspire the next generation of writers and artists to pick up their instruments and create new art that speaks to people of our generation and beyond.

[entergamingxp]

Forgotten Stories is an Amazing Skyrim Mod, and You Should Play It

May 26, 2020 1:00 PM EST

Sometimes, you find a mod that defies expectations and becomes a worthy game in its own right. Enderal: Forgotten Stories is one such mod.

Enderal: Forgotten Stories is a total conversion mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Developed by a dedicated team of German modders by the name of SureAI, the first version of Enderal was released back in 2016. The updated Forgotten Stories expansion from 2019 saw a number of additions to quests and content, as well as a standalone release on Steam. It’s the definitive and complete version of the tale, and is worth playing again if you’ve only dabbled in the original previously.

This mod completely replaces the landmass and setting of Skyrim with an original one, and overhauls most of the gameplay systems as well. Skyrim’s general DNA is still inevitably present in movement and systems, but the way it works is wholly redone. It is less the freeform “do whatever you want” simulator that Skyrim quickly becomes; Enderal is instead a focused, story-driven RPG with a splash of open-world content that better utilizes the space. There’s less reliance on scaling enemies, and more on not reaching into areas beyond your means, as the story will nudge you there when you’re ready.

That story, world, the characters contained within, and the full span of Enderal’s adventure? Those are so fantastically realized that it feels disingenuous to call Enderal a mere mod. It easily transcends the boundaries of Skyrim, overcoming many of the gameplay issues and lacking elements of its source material. Having finished it recently, I now find myself thinking of Enderal not as just a Skyrim mod, nor even its own standalone game and RPG.

I now think of Enderal: Forgotten Stories as one of the best video games I’ve ever played.

Since Enderal hasn’t left my mind for long since completing it, I feel that it’s important to I write this down and share it. I want to talk a bit about Enderal’s design and gameplay systems. I’ll cover a little about the story and characters (in non-spoiler terms), as well as how emotionally devastating its ending is. And finally, I’ll briefly touch on the many ways it shines a light on all of Skyrim’s greatest weaknesses. I’ve come to develop a more negative view of Bethesda’s most recent mainline Elder Scrolls foray, and Enderal has helped me put all of that into words.

In the interim, I urge you to go and check out Enderal: Forgotten Stories at your earliest convenience if any of this has sounded slightly appealing to you. It’s comprehensive enough to have its own standalone Steam page and installer, with many Skyrim mods that are considered “mandatory” baked into it already. In fact, it’s comprehensive enough to have its own mods also! Go there now, pick it up, and see for yourself. This is something special, and the SureAI team deserves the attention and spotlight.

Skyrim: New Vegas

Enderal takes absolutely no time in laying its cards on the table for you. The opening scene is a gorgeous, sun-baked vista of a lush garden near sunset. It’s idyllic, pushing the graphics of both the base game and the included ENBoost and graphical mods to the max. It’s also very clearly wrong, with something uncanny about the whole scene lurking just below the surface. A quick glance around the place will see that uncertainty grow, with the culmination of that scene making it crystal clear. I won’t spoil specifics; once again, I urge you to check it out, and the introduction alone should demonstrate that you’re in for a ride.

More cutscenes and important setup will follow, including character creation. The first area or two play out like a tutorial, helpful both for newcomers and those familiar with the workings of Skyrim. All throughout, the placing of story elements and themes has begun, and seeing that all eventually culminate more than makes up for its “slow” start. More importantly, you’ll get through the first scripted dungeon and be greeted by a sun-swept vista not unlike the one from the intro. This game is utterly gorgeous. The continent of Enderal beckons forth.

Mechanically, the game might be a little bit off-putting for Skyrim veterans. That’s not to say it isn’t good; Enderal simply does away with the learn-by-doing skill system for something more focused. Killing creatures and completing quests give experience, and experience thresholds grant you a level-up. You’ll choose health, magicka, or stamina and get a selection of points with which to invest into specific skills. You can’t just plug these points straight into your skills, though.

“It feels disingenuous to call Enderal a mere mod.”

Memory points are your big talent/perk purchases, which are applied through a much fancier in-game version of the Skyrim perks. It’s not just opening a menu and clicking a constellation: here, you meditate to reach a bizarre shrine in your mind, where physical stones reflecting the perk trees are represented to interact with. In addition to the passive powers here, you’ll unlock talents which function like dragon Shouts. These have individual cooldowns rather than global ones though, so mixing and matching them in combat is far more useful than Skyrim‘s counterparts.

For general skill levels, you need to acquire and study a learning book of the appropriate skill and quality. Doing so increases that skill by 1. Want to get One-Handed from 15 to 16? You’ll have to scavenge or buy a One-Handed learning book of the apprentice difficulty. To get beyond 25, you’ll need an adept book, and so on. Skills have been split between learning and crafting, with the latter being less directly tied into combat trees (Alchemy, Enchanting, Lockpicking and such).

This means that you cannot master everything in a single playthrough like you might in Skyrim. Builds become important, and swapping to a new combat style on a whim requires some investment. This would probably not go down well in Skyrim; open exploration carries that game, and diversity in one’s playstyle can alleviate a sense of repetition after long sessions. Enderal wants you to think about your build and develop a roleplay attachment to your avatar, instead. As you’ll see from the heavier story focus, that becomes increasingly clear as you play.

Experience also becomes a premium resource. Enderal isn’t as large as Skyrim, but it’s far more curated. Leveled lists and scaling rewards are barely a factor here, and bandits won’t suddenly find late-game armor. Completing side quests and exploring where you can now helps you progress your build. Given that the game can be pretty difficult in the early hours, that’s a good mindset to embrace. Exploring is a good idea, right up until you cross a boundary you probably shouldn’t have and get completely murdered.

“Enderal feels to Skyrim as Fallout: New Vegas did to Fallout 3.”

There’s further incentives for exploring carefully as well, with rare pickups that can grant bonus experience or even permanently increase your carry capacity. Set items now exist and are quite powerful when combined, and rare crafting schematics or learning books are scattered across the land. The fact that everything feels hand-designed instead of just generated en masse helps the world seem more real. Thus, when the plight of the story starts to ramp up and affect the continent I’d grown attached to, I felt it all the more from seeing it myself.

Still, even with all the benefits for exploring, Enderal is a comparatively more linear game than its source. Modern Elder Scrolls games are happy to let you wander off the beaten path for a hundred hours and ignore the main story entirely. That’s not at all encouraged for Enderal; in fact, unlike Skyrim, you are seriously missing out if you don’t engage with the main quest. Major biomes of Enderal’s landmass are gated off by the challenge they represent. You can go there and try to survive, but generally the main story will introduce you to it once you’ve progressed far enough to be ready.

In this way, Enderal feels to Skyrim as Fallout: New Vegas did to Fallout 3. Obsidian’s Fallout foray was more linear and focused than its predecessor’s open-world jaunt around post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C.; wandering too far would get you torn apart by Deathclaws. This lack of freedom was exchanged for much sharper writing, a better plot, and more narrative options and choice. Enderal feels as if it’s done much the same to Skyrim, and given how fantastic the story and characters are, it’s a trade I’d make a million times over.

The Adventures of Jespar (featuring the Player Character)

Leaving the tutorial dungeon brings you to a secluded valley within Enderal proper. There’s a few treasures and hidden secrets to be found there, but eventually you will have to follow the path that leads beyond. That one path will see you encounter a couple of apothecary NPCs, who explain a little more about the world you’re in.

Attempting to leave will see you overcome with Arcane Fever; this is both a story point, and one of Enderal’s new gameplay mechanics. It functions similarly to Fallout’s radiation, increasing when exposed to magically dense areas. Most importantly, Arcane Fever is exacerbated by using magical healing and potions. No longer can you just open your inventory and chug twenty potions to heal up, as this’ll quickly raise your Fever. Get too high and you’ll start having negative side effects, and at 100% you die outright. Food items don’t heal much in combat either, but out of combat? You’ll get a satiated buff that will regenerate your health over time, so you still want to stay fed. It’s a clever little way of balancing Enderal’s combat and making it less absurd than Skyrim.

Nonetheless, you find out about this system shortly after the apothecary conversation ends. It’s here that you’ll meet Jespar Dal’Varek, one of the major NPCs of the game. He leads you into the main story quest for Enderal, but he’ll also take the time to chat you with if you want to ask questions. By the end of that first segment of the game, I was ready to follow him anywhere. Jespar is one of the more well-written and constructed NPC companions I’ve had the pleasure of encountering in video games. He’s a very easy-going sort and it’s clear why they introduce you to him first, but the cynical and anti-idealist side of him comes to the fore if you start asking.

In fact, there will be side quests and conversations entirely focused on getting to know some of the side characters better. These were usually highlights in my playthrough, which should give you an indication of the quality of these characters. In Jespar’s case, this is further strengthened by such fantastic voice acting that you’d almost forget this was a free mod. In fact, his voice actor Ben Britton has springboarded into the industry off his work here. Small wonder that Jespar is the focus character in the writer’s spin-off novel (the audiobook is also voiced by Ben).

“By the end of that first segment of the game, I was ready to follow Jespar anywhere.”

Jespar might be the first and most prominent, but he is far from the only character worth remembering in Enderal. Throughout the main quest lines, you’ll be introduced to a slew of primary characters, many of which have just as much depth as him. The interactions of these characters both with you and each other really sell the narrative being told, and it was very easy to grow attached to them (or to loathe them, as the situation demands).

I cannot stress how strong the writing for Enderal truly is. It’s not just the characters either; the entire game world is incredibly well designed and presented. The continent is built on a religious caste-based society with heavy stratification, and you’ll have the opportunity to investigate and interact with each level of it. You’ll argue the pros and cons of religiosity, discuss the nature of life, death and reality, or dive into a magic system which literally plucks aspects from alternate timelines in order to function. Whether through its world-building, characters, or overall narrative, I found myself hopelessly drawn in by Enderal and wanted more.

All throughout, the main quest runs through the bulk of the continent and takes you to appropriately leveled zones when the time comes. Each arc of the quest finds new ways to introduce spectacle, to develop the characters, and to ramp up the stakes and scope of the plot. There’s sections that are presented with better tension and horror than most horror games can manage. New difficulties will arise, characters will be hurt or even killed, and victories will be tempered with losses. Before I knew it, I’d been playing for over a hundred hours and had fully cleared the map; that’s something I’d never care to bother with in Skyrim.

Very quickly, you’ll realize just how big the implications of the story are, and this will continue without letting up until the conclusion of the game. And that conclusion is something else. There’s a sense of uncertainty and tension throughout the entire story, and neither the characters nor the player are ever quite sure that what they’re doing is the correct answer. Like everything else, this will build up to a finale that was so brilliantly handled and emotionally charged that I was reeling for days afterwards.

Finding the right words to describe it all without delving into spoilers is a difficult task. Much as I’d love to do so and start gushing in fantastic detail, that’s not the point of this editorial. Besides, it’s really something that I would rather people experience firsthand. Suffice it to say that Enderal’s writing and story is excellent, with quality that holds true until the very end. I expect that I’ll be thinking of some of the climactic moments for a long time to come. It really is that fantastic a tale.

“This will build up to a finale that was so brilliantly handled and emotionally charged that I was reeling for days afterwards.”

I have to take a moment to credit the sound, also. Enderal: Forgotten Stories might be a free mod, but it has an excellent and fully original soundtrack composed by Marvin Kopp. It’s so strong that I’ve been using it as background music while writing this piece, and will probably do so for future writing sessions. It also is fully voice acted, with absolutely fantastic voice direction. Not every actor is as professional as another, and there’s a couple of outliers that really hurt to listen to in the cities and side quests. But the primary cast deliver some fantastic performances, and most seem to have at least one scene that catapulted them from good to exceptional. All of the sound really helps carry the narrative that much further into greatness.

It’s not without flaw, of course. The pacing is generally good, but there is one quest near the end of the game that comes across as quite rushed. An important detail for the plot is revealed, and then immediately an NPC blurts ahead three steps in rapid succession. It was such a sudden guess about what was happening that it felt like random speculation, yet it was completely accurate. I suspect this was to get things in position for the finale without compromising that sequence, so it’s forgivable. Even so, the good far outweighs what little bad I could muster. Enderal is a story worth experiencing, and I’m genuinely glad I did so.

The Post-Enderal Lens on Elder Scrolls

It’s probably quite obvious at this point, so let’s address the elephant in the room: I don’t particularly like Skyrim.

That statement is usually enough to tank a game writer’s credibility given its reputation and scores, but hear me out. It wasn’t a case where I hated the game on purpose and refused to touch it from there. Skyrim took up a good hundred hours of my time, and even more once mods (besides Enderal) entered the scene. I completed the main quest and all the major faction quests, played through the DLC, and tried numerous different builds. There was a fun enough experience to be had, but I won’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy my time with it.

The problems that I have with Skyrim emerged only after time and reflection. My first Elder Scrolls game was Morrowind, and it is still possibly my absolute favorite game ever. Skyrim was unlikely to live up to that completely, but it still falls short in almost every metric. I replayed Morrowind in full a few months ago, and I only came away from that slow, ancient game loving it even more than previously. Nostalgia is not what pushes that game ahead of its follow ups in my eyes: it’s the richly detailed and exotic world, the flexible design, and the many guilds and factions to dive into that make Morrowind so strong. We will probably never get another game quite like it.

When I think back to Skyrim, I don’t think of any of that. I think of going off on random adventures and losing myself in the wilderness for a few hours. I’ll accumulate gear, get stronger, tick off increasingly more quest markers from my list, and just continue going through the motions. Bethesda’s approach nowadays seems less about making high quality content, and instead making more content. Whenever Skyrim has the opportunity to provide depth or meaning, it comes away lacking. The gameplay is more action than RPG when compared to its predecessors, but the mechanics are lackluster and simplistic.

Most don’t even seem to bother with Skyrim‘s main quest, though I pushed through and completed it. Still, barely any aspect of it really stands out in my mind or impressed me. By contrast, the main questline in Morrowind is the highlight; so too is the main quest line in Enderal. So many moments of Skyrim that could’ve been something more end up feeling like yet another item crossed off the list. I could go back now and still probably play it for tens of hours if I wanted, and I’d probably enjoy it. But if I wanted depth, I’d only find an ocean-sized puddle. For all its vaunted freedom to play it as you want, that’s all Skyrim can ever offer you, no matter what else you might desire from it.

Enderal: Forgotten Stories felt incredibly refreshing to me as a result. It took all the potential of Skyrim’s size, condensed it into a large but focused story, amped up the presentation and mechanics, and proceeded to deliver one of the best experiences I’ve had from any RPG I’ve played. If ever there was a game that nearly elicited the same sense of wonder I got from Morrowind, it would be Enderal, not Skyrim.

Morrowind isn’t the only titan of RPGs I’ve had the pleasure of playing recently, either. In the last year, I’ve sought to play or replay many of the titans of PC RPGs. I grew up with the likes of Baldur’s Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment, and I revisited them recently with fondness. Contemporary RPGs like NieR: Automata, The Witcher 3, and even Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers all have stirred strong responses in me. Yet even amongst all these heavy hitters, Enderal left such an imprint on me that it absolutely deserves to be discussed and compared alongside them.

“If ever there was a game that nearly elicited the same sense of wonder I got from Morrowind, it would be Enderal, not Skyrim.”

The Elder Scrolls 6 is a long ways off, and the last few showings of Bethesda’s games have been less than spectacular. I have no real anticipation for what’s to come from them. When you consider what a German modding team managed to make with that framework and deliver it for free, it just cements that feeling all the more. Instead of looking to that distant horizon, I’m instead prepping to go back and visit SureAI’s earlier works. Enderal isn’t their first game; they made a similar mod for Oblivion called Nehrim, set in the same world and apparently of equal quality. Nehrim is getting its own stand-alone Steam release in June, and there is no game I’m looking forward to more than it right now.

If you happen to like RPGs, I heartily urge you to go check out Enderal: Forgotten Stories. Regardless of whether or not you think highly of Skyrim, there’s a really incredible experience here that is a worthy game in its own right. You don’t even need to install Skyrim to run it, just own it. Even if you have to buy the unlisted original edition of Skyrim to play, since it doesn’t run on the Special Edition, you should still consider it. Believe me when I say that it’s worth it.

May 26, 2020 1:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/05/forgotten-stories-is-an-amazing-skyrim-mod-and-you-should-play-it/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=forgotten-stories-is-an-amazing-skyrim-mod-and-you-should-play-it

[mariawnuk76]

Discover Quite Best Skin Creme For Men: All Natural Products For Gents

Muscle Building Tips That You Can Try

One that is general type of supplement is protein. Your muscles are damaged and torn down just a little when you life, so builders prefer to ingest protein in order to within the muscle larger as it repairs itself. Your muscles are made-up of protein, and need to provide it to a body to take care of strength and muscle complete. When a heavy weight is repeatedly lifted in one way, substance is to cause tears inside the muscles utilised. This is why protein supplements are absolutely essential for many body architects. There are a lot different types of protein supplements you can take: soy and whey are typically the most popular.

In 2006, I started experiencing adrenal failure. After many years of constantly pushing my body system to the limits, everything caught a whole lot me. Keep in mind that adrenal fatigue didn’t happen over dark. it happened over many numerous non-stop working and pushing myself to your limits. As both versions I wore like a badge of honor. http://satyamediagroup.com/sale/untoxin/ I take fish oil to combat arthritis at my wrists then one of my ankles. The ceaseless swelling and irritation is a major concern, especially since I’m relatively young in order to suffering from arthritis there isn’t anything would prefer to prevent plenty of future problems as it can be.

I can be assured you have in all probability heard video million times that „Breakfast is the most Important Meal of the Day”. Why have you heard this so extremely? It is the truth. Look at it like this, the dish is the same as fuel that you would put onto your auto. With out any fuel our cars aren’t going for running. Ok, come back with me, we are not talking about fuel for the reason that main subject this amount of time. LOL! You see when will not want to eat a pretty good hearty breakfast; your brain will imagine you are starving. Desires to give an a dangerous thing if are generally dieting! Once your brain lets you know that you hungry, merely might take an an eating spree with taste 1 candy bar council. So, take the time and enjoy a good healthy breakfast! http://satyamediagroup.com/sale/derminax/

Get rid of fast food, sugary drinks like sodas and state of mind. Avoid alcohol and substitute all these with water and drink. You can also take some supplements to assist in your fat efforts. You can get a free trial of an Acai Berry supplement or another type to assist you boost your metabolism as well as obtain rid of unwanted toxic.

Although supplements are sometimes referred to as the „Magic Pills”, do not rely around the weight loss and diet pills to do all job for you have to. Whether we like it or not, if really almost want reduce the extra pounds, all of us still was required to sacrifice a tad and alter basic lifestyle elements like maintaining essential diet and sticking for exercise package. Weight loss and diet pills optimizes the response of the decline regimen. Keep in mind solely perform miracle — contrary about what others may say.

Needless to say, nutrients ensure the complete digestion of carbohydrates, fat, and proteins, is necessary in order to prevent stomach discomforts, such as bloating, experience of fullness, constipation, and looseness of the. At the same time, it also keeps the colon simple. And if there is one thing you absolutely have in order to prevent it is really a clogged large intestine. Besides it not being a good indication of correct digestive system, it can result in more health problems that can be debilitating and fatal in many cases. Colon cancer can in fact result from the clogged colon.

So look I know this goes against the general recommendation, horrifying than understand when sceptical even so it works. I put this to test and lost 35 pounds of fat and got ripped the 1st time in my life, eating absolutely whatever I wanted. One of the most general type of supplement is protein. Your muscles are damaged and torn down a little when you life, so builders prefer to ingest protein in order to get the muscle larger as it repairs by. Your muscles are made-up of protein, that means you need to supply it to any body sustain strength and muscle volume. When a heavy weight is repeatedly lifted in one way, substance is to result in tears in the muscles utilised. This is why protein supplements are imperative for many body designers. There are a lot numerous types of protein supplements you can take: soy and whey are the most common.

In order to lose weight and most importantly, aid it off, you need to comprehend that you would like commitment on your part. It is really simple. There needs to be more calories going out than calories going in, in order to win the battle against the size. Think of it as a reverse checking account. With your money, you want more money coming in than going out, proper? Well, not so with food. You should also in what is called „calorie deficit” in order to shed fat and lose unwanted lbs.

For argument’s sake, let’s say you ignore these side effects of Acaielite supplements and continue taking them consistently. You lose weight and your metabolism increases. It seems like heaven, until people stop making the pills. Anyone then realize your body goes back the in an identical way it did before you took the supplement vitamin supplements.

The more I pushed the more my body pushed away. Suddenly, getting from the bed regarding morning was a chore. We have spent for a few hours I would personally be exhausted ready to go back to bed. I was feeling hopeless, tired and lacked internal motivation. My head would feel foggy or hazy throughout the day. Many of the decisions I made still did not come during a place of clarity, but a host to complacency. I selected the path of least resistance to get what to be able to get done done. This lead to costly problems. Hiring and hanging on to staff members that were stealing, buying unwisely and entering into long term contracts i didn’t understand, and making impulsive decisions, without seeking advice from trusted advisors.

http://satyamediagroup.com/sale/metadrol/ One – avoid bad fat inside your diet. The saturated fat and trans fats found largely in red meat, whole milk dairy, coconut and palm oils, nearly all processed foods and Crisco are killers. These unhealthy fats lead to high cholesterol, blood pressure levels and heart related illnesses by clogging the leading to tinnitus. As much as you can, eliminate saturated and trans fats from your daily diet. It will significantly get rid of your risk of cardiovascular infection.

For me, exercise alone was just about all that I desired. The question was still in the trunk of my thoughts – what number of calories can i eat reduce weight? Planning to spend had track down a quality weight losing program to supplement my exercise behavior. This meant I had to back again to my original dilemma, how do you know which one to choose?

Our first lifting-specific supplement is the one which has been well-received, Natural Testosterone Booster-style. This product came to be as a natural alternative to steroids which so many have heard about. Interestingly, other effects of a product are an development of libido and regulation of moods in addition to more muscle rate of growth. Non-natural steroids tend to be illegal are usually frowned upon by professional sports clubs. Always be guaranteed to have a talk your doctor before taking any kind of supplement provider.

Dedicate period for be quite busy. An exercise routine is needed to go hand at your fingertips with your weight-loss dietary. Just like any other basic activity like eating, grooming, brushing your teeth, exercising is really a definite requirement.

source http://rss1.autospa-zch.pl/2019/04/13/discover-quite-best-skin-creme-for-men-all-natural-products-for-gents/

[hellofastestnewsfan]

Imagine a Twilight Zone episode that goes something like this: An individual regularly takes to the internet in the hopes of making himself heard, railing against everything from the “hatefulness” of Democrats to the degradation of modern society. All he wants is an audience. But then the hapless individual complains on Twitter that the new CBS All Access reboot of The Twilight Zone is yet another beloved cultural property that’s been ruined by leftist cultural warriors. Finally, his wish has come true: He goes viral, and is subsequently roasted by journalists and internet celebrities and comedians with millions of followers. He’s dragged so mercilessly, in fact, that the individual eventually has to set his profile to private—depriving himself of the one outlet he had for communicating with the world.

Versions of this scenario did actually happen recently, as disgruntled viewers responding to new episodes of The Twilight Zone found themselves given short shrift for expressing dismay that the update, produced by Jordan Peele and Simon Kinberg, is too “political.” The Twilight Zone, of course, has always had something to say about the state of the world—not since the time of Jesus himself have center-left parables with clear moral lessons been so efficiently disseminated. Rod Serling devised the concept for the show precisely because 1950s network producers were so skittish about overt political messages in the wake of McCarthyism. On television in 1956, Serling later wrote in his book Patterns, “to say a single thing germane to the current political scene was absolutely prohibited.”

Sci-fi, though, was a different story. By wrapping his ideas in allegory, Serling could scotch the censors and say exactly what he wanted about totalitarianism, mass hysteria, prejudice, selfishness, conspiracy theorists, hate. Each episode of The Twilight Zone had a distinct message enunciated in Serling’s narration, making the moral of the story clear for even the most careless viewer. In “The Obsolete Man” (1961), a fable about a librarian in a futuristic state that has outlawed books, Serling observes how the “iron rule” of dictatorships is that “logic is an enemy and truth is a menace.” In “The Brain Center at Whipple’s” (1964), a story about a factory owner who replaces all his employees with technology, only to suffer the same fate, Serling notes that “there are many bromides applicable here: ‘too much of a good thing,’ ‘tiger by the tail,’ ‘as you sow so shall you reap.’” The Twilight Zone is essentially Aesop with a 20th-century imagination. It’s also timeless.

Oddly enough, these morals are missing from the new series, which features an on-camera Peele in Serling’s role. So is the element of grim justice that both The Twilight Zone and its modern heir, Black Mirror, have always held at their core—the kind of karmic inevitability that sees an SS captain subjected to the same torture he meted out to prisoners, or a woman sentenced to endure the fear and violence of an angry mob after committing a horrendous crime herself. Serling’s The Twilight Zone is defined by its twists, but not a single thing happens in the new series that you won’t be able to predict, at least from the four episodes made available for review. This isn’t really a reboot; it doesn’t even qualify as fan fiction. With the exception of one superior episode, “Replay,” it’s hard to conceive that an artist as prodigiously talented and thoughtful as Peele is creatively involved at all.

I attempted to decipher the messages that the first four episodes might be trying to convey, but only ended up stumped. The premiere installment, available for CBS All Access subscribers, is titled “The Comedian,” and stars Kumail Nanjiani as a stand-up, Samir, whose politically charged routine keeps bombing with audiences. (Which, really? This is the era of John Oliver eviscerations and Hasan Minhaj and Nanette.) After one especially disastrous set, Samir randomly encounters an elusive comedy great (played by Tracy Morgan), who tells him the secret to success: He has to put more of his personal life into his act. “The audience don’t care what you think,” Morgan’s character says. “They care about you.”

Samir tries riffing on new subjects—his dog, his nephew, his high-school bullies. There is, of course, a cost to those he brings into his act, and the more successful Samir gets, the more he ends up losing. Certain themes that recur in the episode seem ripe for picking at: whether comedy counts as art, how comedians can offer insight into the human condition, whether comedy is about making people laugh first and foremost. But they’re left floating in the ether, while Samir goes through a series of superficial realizations about his own grandiosity and the Faustian bargain of fame. The question of what we’re supposed to take away from his story is a perplexing one. Is it that putting your personal life into your art is bad? (Because if so, I say again, Nanette.) Is this an elaborate rant about contemporary audiences being too shallow for insightful truths? Because that’s not what Serling thought.

This particular reboot has another problem, something that bedevils virtually every streaming show: Its episodes are way too long. Serling’s The Twilight Zone tied its stories up neatly within 30 minutes, including space for commercials. The brevity of the format dispensed with extraneous waffling—there was no time, for example, to show a comedian delivering the same joke about the Second Amendment five separate times. But there was space for a surprising amount of world-building (Serling’s narration did a lot of work here), and for a tidy one-act play that zips along. “The Comedian,” by contrast, is 54 minutes long. (It’s worth remembering that in 1963, The Twilight Zone’s running time was stretched to 60 minutes, but after one season the change was swiftly reversed.)

“A Traveler,” another new episode that runs longer than 50 minutes, suffers more from this extended storytelling time than most, given that its twist is apparent from the minute a mysterious man in a suit (Steven Yeun) appears in a remote Alaskan prison cell on Christmas Eve. The questions of who this man is, where he came from, and what he wants should be the most urgent issues underpinning the episode. But because the story devolves into a series of yawning subplots—a police deputy’s (Marika Sila) odd relationship with her brother, her antagonism toward her narcissistic boss (Greg Kinnear)—there’s very little tension surrounding the newcomer, who identifies only as A. Traveler. Yeun (Burning) is magnetic as the enigmatic interloper, and the episode has intriguing subtext about colonizers and the colonized that seems to beg for more overt allegorizing. But Peele’s closing narration, the part that’s supposed to explain to viewers how to interpret what they’ve just seen, is opaque. (“There’s no difference between myth and mistruth” means nothing no matter how you slice it.)

The best of the four new episodes, “Replay,” functions so well because it incorporates tension into its setup. Nina (Sanaa Lathan), is taking her son, Dorian (Damson Idris), to college, a fictional HBCU called Tennyson. Dorian wants to be a filmmaker and to inspire people with the stories he puts into the world. But it’s the camera Nina wields, an old-fashioned camcorder, that seems to have profound power after she discovers she can use it to rewind time.

This is the kind of slightly hokey, completely implausible, suspend-your-disbelief scenario that The Twilight Zone has always aced. It’s easy to imagine, say, a character played by Burgess Meredith discovering a clock with similar qualities in a 1960s-era episode, and then trying (and failing) to go back to his glory days, imparting a valuable be-careful-what-you-wish for message about nostalgia along the way. But in “Replay,” the camera itself isn’t the point so much as what Nina uses it for. Throughout the episode, she’s plagued by a racist highway cop, Officer Lasky (Glenn Fleshler), who poses grave danger to Dorian, and no matter how she tries to escape or placate him, there he is. “He keeps pulling us over, again and again and again,” a desperate Nina says in one scene, “no matter what route we take, how nice or mean we are … There’s nothing I can do.”

The episode is so powerful because it forces audiences to feel the frustration and fear that Nina feels, but also the inevitability of antagonists like this one. No matter how hard Nina tries to get Lasky to see her as a person, to buy him a slice of apple pie and tell him about how proud she is of her son and how much he means to her, Lasky can’t be swayed. Fleshler communicates his impotent rage, his petty tyranny over a stretch of highway, his racism. In Nina’s hands, the magical camcorder feels like a device that might help her escape what Lasky represents, but it turns out to be less powerful than something else she’s been ignoring. Cameras, the episode makes clear in one of its most resonant moments, aren’t enough.

“Replay” shows what a modern Twilight Zone could really be, offering the kind of sociopolitical analysis Serling excelled at, but without the folksiness of 1950s television. For the most part, though, the new series feels like anthology storytelling by the numbers, more concerned with Easter eggs and recurring themes (“Lasky” is also the name of a street in “The Comedian,” and the number 1015 repeats across episodes) than with trying to emulate what the original show did so well—making audiences see the world with more clarity.

“Nightmare at 30,000 Feet,” a dismal episode starring Adam Scott, is the worst of the four, a clunky, cutesy “what if” story about a magazine journalist on a flight to Tel Aviv. The story is loosely inspired by a vintage Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner, in which a man recovering from a nervous breakdown sees a gremlin on the wing of his commercial plane. Scott’s character, Justin Sanderson, is similarly recovering from PTSD after reporting in war zones, but when he takes his seat on the plane, he finds a mysterious audio device in the seat pocket in front of him. It plays him a podcast, seemingly from the future, that investigates the mystery of how the flight Sanderson is on ended in tragedy.

Forget the corniness of a podcast that portends the future, or the improbability of a world in which magazine journalists fly first class. The episode has no tension, no investment in any of the characters. You might be less curious about how the plane actually goes down than in how the producers managed to nail the production of the fake podcast itself—the smug, omniscient narrator and the clinky background music. But more damaging is how totally unclear it is what the episode is supposed to do. Serling’s original episode interrogated preconceived ideas about anxiety and mental confusion; his central character has no credibility because he’s suffered a nervous breakdown, and seems to fear being crazy even more than he fears actually being right about the gremlin. The new “Nightmare” has none of this subtext. “In his final moments, Justin Sanderson made the case that he did everything he could to avert disaster,” Peele opines. “But in the end, he was an investigative reporter unwilling to investigate himself, until it was too late.” Bromide salad. Cliché. Fin. What’s strangest of all about the reboot is its defiant lack of darkness, its unwillingness to even scratch at the human psyche. This could be a possible response to the fact that Black Mirror already exists, and that its creator, Charlie Brooker, had The Twilight Zone at the forefront of his mind when he created it. The new Twilight Zone isn’t frightened of what technology is doing to us, as Black Mirror is, nor is it particularly concerned with Serling’s great preoccupation—how humanity has always found ways to torture itself. It has none of the indelible eeriness or the subconscious probings of Us, Peele’s most recent film, which is itself inspired by a Twilight Zone episode. Nothing feels sinister. Everything feels safe. In a world so weird that it’s frequently likened to a bad computer simulation, this Twilight Zone is blandness stretched into an hour-long format, storytelling that feels oddly neutered before it even begins.

from The Atlantic https://ift.tt/2WM8EUF