#while implementing the worst parts of either genre

[andromedasummer]

the fire emblem franchise makes it so hard for me to convince people fire emblem games are good and worth playing. i promise. i promise theres good ones. theres so many good ones. please ignore the toothpaste person. please ignore the babyrealms. please.

[tonkigolf]

Serious sam 4 twitter

SERIOUS SAM 4 TWITTER SERIES

Of course, it is unreasonable to expect them to reach the visual fidelity and presentation of modern AAA titles, but there are many issues present that could have been avoided even with the title’s smaller funding. To make it even worse, the cutscenes are just ugly. From Sam’s gravelly voice grumbling about alien douchebags to veteran soldiers mocking a rookie for not making a good enough one-liner, it all is eye-rolling at best and painful at worst. This stems from much of the comedy stemming from old-school banter that feels ripped right out of the worst Duke Nukem scenes. None of the characters in the game seem to be having any fun with one another, so it doesn’t make sense that the player is expected to have any fun with them either. Every character is the but of the joke and everybody involved seems tired of having to run through the motions. Nearly every line throughout the game is received by the other characters with an air of annoyance. However, none of them seem to get along at all. There is a lot of variety in the cast, from super serious military officers to rambling priests and action-hero wannabes. Players control the titular Sam as he teams up with a variety of characters to try and put an end to it once and for all. The narrative takes place on an Earth besieged by alien invaders. In Serious Sam 4, however, cutscenes and character dialogue tend to be more annoying than anything else.

SERIOUS SAM 4 TWITTER SERIES

The series has never wanted to have a serious storyline or to be high art, but previous entries were at least entertaining. However, the most detracting part of Serious Sam 4 is undoubtedly its presentation. Even running in performance mode on Xbox Series X there were also occasional frame drops and screen tearing while the graphical mode was nearly unplayable due to how much it chugged once a high number of enemies appeared. The encounters throughout the game are also tarnished by weird mechanical issues like melee kills only being able to be performed on an enemy’s front. The sounds of their footsteps also curiously sound like the hooves of horses, which doesn’t match their models at all and tends to be distracting. The amount of negative space in their models makes them meld with the backgrounds while their ranged attacks are bulky enough to block the screen and obscure one’s view in an annoying way rather than a challenging one. One in particular that stands out is the Kleer Skeletons. While many of the enemies are well designed with a lot of character and identifiable silhouettes in the chaos of combat, some are very much less so. One big issue comes from the design of enemies. The battles can have a lot of excitement to them, but there are also a number of issues that bog the experience down. There is an impressive variety of enemies and the sheer scale of fights throughout the game is undeniably impressive. Serious Sam 4 implements this formula rather well. As enemies swarm the player they have to cycle through an arsenal of weapons while backpedaling to thin them out and avoid the hail of different projectiles and melee attacks sent their way. The Serious Sam series has always been about over-the-top scale, stereotyped characters, and a tongue-in-cheek tone. While the newest entry has the bones of the series to satisfy longtime fans, the title’s presentation and more janky elements will likely keep them from leaving older releases behind for this new one. Now, Serious Sam 4, developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital, attempts to bring that niche back for another round. The Serious Sam series has long had a niche in the FPS genre that is near all its own.

[belliesandburps]

I just read your Arkham City post. You have interesting thoughts on that game! How do you feel about the boss battles of Arkham overall?

Y'know something, Anon? I was actually eager to do one of those tier list dealios, and you just inspired me to whip one up. Soooo here ya go!

You can see more of a proper rundown below:

In a nutshell, I think City and Origins had, bar none, the best boss fights in the entire series. They're all mostly imaginative, have a wide variety of attack patterns and utilize different strategies for defeating them. Best yet, unlike Asylum, you aren't just fighting the same one monster that resembles Batman villains as much as tanks resembled bosses people wanted in a Batman game. Origins gets extra marks over City because it manages to create proper mano-y-mano showdowns in a way people said was impossible, thanks to the brawler mechanics. Deathstroke and the first showdown with Bane are easily the most badass one-v-one showdowns, while Mr. Freeze is one of the absolute best stealth action bosses in the entire genre.

The rest in Asylum and Knight can be summed up as either unremarkable at best, or dreadfully disappointing or lazy at worst.

For example, I know a LOT of folks loooooved Croc-o's "boss fight" in Arkham Asylum. Problem is, that entire sequence doesn't feel like the boss fight. It feels like the first phase of a larger fight that never happens. Which applies to most of the bosses outside of City and Origins.

And what's sad is, looking back, I'd take even THAT crap over literal one button takedowns for half the quote unquote bosses of Knight.

I have theories for why Knight's bosses were complete garbage compared to City and Origins, namely the age old dilemma of "oh shit, we are WAY behind schedule and implementing this fucking Batmobile ate up so much of our dev time that we went overboard with that we don't have time to give this game any actual bosses. Because Rocksteady knew what they were doing with City. It's not like they just suddenly forgot how to do bosses. After all, we've heard so many stories of this crap happening when games are in development hell.

It's the same reason Electrocutioner was a joke one hit takedown despite being billed as one of the eight main bosses of the game. When the money and dev time ain't there? You gotta cut corners where you can. Hell, Arkham Origins Mobile gave him an actual boss fight which would've been great in the console game. Origins, to me, deserved the full Arkham treatment instead of being the "Portable Ops" of the Arkham series (a spinoff designed just to give players something to chew on before the main event). And like MPO, a big part of why the game was so much copy & paste is because it didn't have an ounce of Rocksteady's budget.

Same with Deadshot, who was just an alteration of Two Face / Harley's predator fight. But the reason I rank Deadshot as great is because his fight is infinitely harder than theirs, and his ricochet attack is a lot trickier to evade, so you actually feel like you have to use stealth to avoid his line of sight. And when it's just you and him, you CAN take him head on, rolling around to avoid his shots, which can feel gratifying and action packed. :P

So yeah! I adored Arkham City's four main bosses, enjoyed its lesser bosses, absolutely loved most of Origins' main bosses, really liked some of its side bosses and at least had fun with its lesser bosses...aaaand minus Poison Ivy and Scarecrow, kind of hated everything Asylum and Knight tried and failed to do with its bosses. (I don't HATE Croc's fight in Asylum or Knight, but the former just doesn't feel like a full boss fight, and Knight doesn't even let you ACTUALLY fight Croc so much as you do jump around him, punching his goons so you can do QTE's to do damage on Croc instead of doing the damage yourself.)

Yeah, I'm a gaming nerd, folks. These are facts. XD

[nerdy-bits]

The Unspoken Rules of Stealth Games

I love stealth games. They are my absolute jam. I’ve been an Assassin’s Creed acolyte from the beginning and Splinter Cell rests firmly atop my list of favorite franchises. The industry isn’t flooded by this genre, but there are a fair number of quality contenders. The Dishonored games are a tour de force, I love the critically mixed Deus Ex prequels deeply, I only play Far Cry with my knife and bow, Ghost Recon is a kind of comfort food, even in Uncharted 4 I avoided combat in favor of being a sneak. In fact, really the only thing I like more than stealth gameplay is cooperative stealth gameplay (though I am a sucker for tactics games). There is just something about clearing a room with a friend, no enemy wise to your presence. Splinter Cell has brilliant co-op. Far Cry is at its best when your crew chooses the silent approach, one friend getting dirty up close with a blade while a ranger picks off sentries, putting arrows between armor plates. 

Most stealth games though, avoid multiplayer completely. I frequently lament that I can’t take out targets as agents 47 and 46. Most of these games, to me, feel like they would be better with a friend. Now a part of that is certainly because most things are better with friends but, secondarily, these games are difficult. Having a friend to help could both ease the game of chess you play in every encounter or allow creators to add differing levels of complexity. 

I could talk about the possibilities for, maybe literally, days. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about. At least not today. If very few stealth franchises build out co-op experiences, a fraction of those games create adversarial multiplayer. Splinter Cell has tried it. Spies vs Mercs, a mode that pitches Splinter Cell agents against NPC-esque mercenaries, leverages darkness and verticality against mercs with flashlights. It’s, as I previously described, brilliant. By pitting factions against each other with different abilities to navigate the gamespace, adhering to the stealth game loop is the only thing that gives the spies an advantage. 

Assassin’s Creed also dabbled in multiplayer. Both PvP and PvE. The latter, while promising, fell victim to the extremely buggy launch of Assassin’s Creed Unity. Network issues, net code issues, strange pop-in, the experience was fractured from the start. The former, PvP variant, was introduced with the release of AC Brotherhood. Across a handful of game modes, and choosing between an impressive lineup of characters, players hunted each other down across crowded maps utilizing a number of distractive, offensive, and defensive abilities. 

The Brotherhood multiplayer was great in the first few weeks, but as time progressed players became savvy to the underlying systems and within months of release the idea of “Stealth” all but disappeared. The reasons, I believe, are perhaps why so many stealth games leave this feature off of the list: Balance and participation.

A few weeks ago Hood: Outlaws and Legends came out and a group of friends and I grabbed it up. At only thirty dollars it was kinda hard not to just grab it and give it a shot. Hood takes place in the Robin Hood universe (mythos?) and tasks players to cooperatively - stealthily - infiltrate an area, track down the Sheriff, pickpocket a vault key from him, and then abscond with the loot in said vault. It’s like Payday with a bow and arrow. 

Pulling off these heists is actually pretty fun. The PvE (versus AI only) mode allows you to dig into the mechanics of the game while working out the kinks in your team communication. Before long we were complimenting well placed shots and perfect dual takedowns as we carved our way to our prize. The formula is solid, if a bit repetitious. The requirements don’t change at all between maps. The location of the vault chest will move around from heist to heist, but that is really it; and after a few rounds we had grown a bit too familiar with the process. The game also randomly chooses the maps in this mode, so we ended up playing two maps in three games, which was a bit of a bummer. Also your XP gain is dramatically limited in this AI centered mode, which pushed us quickly into the game’s core mode: heists against competing human players.

The formula doesn’t really change for this PvPvE mode, save the fact that at the same time you are hunting for the Sheriff, his key, and then the vault, another team is as well. Initially the prospect of this dynamic was interesting, but pretty quickly it devolved.

This was when I realized multiplayer stealth is critically dependent on its players participating in the right way. Now some games incentivize this participation or choose to restrict your abilities altogether. Think AC: Brotherhoods scoring system for kills which took points from you for being loud or conspicuous. Spies vs Mercs restricts teams abilities based on their faction. Mercs literally cannot hide in the dark. Spies will not win a gunfight. 

Hood doesn’t really build any advantage or disadvantages into its gameplay loop. We started our first round of PvPvE and began to sneak around the map the same way we were in the PvE mode. Being seen by guards locks the area you are in down. They close all the gates and begin hunting for you. Against AI this was a paradigm shift. The whole group has to go into ghost mode or just shelter in place until the heightened awareness drips away with the invisible clock. In multiplayer you get notified if your opponents incur a lockdown. This is done presumably to give you a brief jolt of encouragement. Thoughts dart across your mind, “They are locked down, they got caught, we have a few minutes to creep ahead and really gain an advantage. 

Only that wasn’t the case. 

Ryan and I stopped playing the Brotherhood multiplayer a few months in. It was nearly impossible to play the game by its own rules. Shooting a target with your wrist mounted pistol was always the worst way to pull off a kill, but useful if your target just kept evading you. You received a meager serving of points and would move back into the crowd in an attempt to reestablish yourself as an agent of stealth. By the end of the first month people were sprinting across rooftops, shooting down into the crowd, and then running off to do it again. They had discovered that if you ran around on the rooftops it didn’t raise your profile and that picking off a target from a rooftop with a gun, the penalty wouldn’t be enforced unless you killed a second target. First kills in this method would rack around 1800 points, the second kill a measly 300 (the numbers may be way off here, its been years. It’s the proportion that’s important. 

The second kill was the system working, discouraging loud tactics with point penalties. But if you went and hid, let the system time out, and then did it again, you could farm high point value kills in perhaps the least clandestine way possible. Brotherhood became a shooting gallery. It was absolutely untenable. Assassin’s Creed would get away from adversarial multiplayer after Black Flag. I barely returned for Revelations. 

As we were creeping through the bushes in a castle courtyard, our band of merry thieves, we got the first notification that our opponents had triggered an alarm. A wave of relief hit the crew. We’ve got some time. Then the second notification came, then the third, then a fourth. Our relief was subsumed by a revelation: they are just ignoring the stealth altogether. What followed was a painfully reminiscent race to the objectives ignoring area guards altogether (If a gate got dropped each team had a character that could just lift the gate). Our opponents got the key first, found the vault first, and moved the prize first. Each time we got close we were either picked off by a camping Robin, thatching us through the reeds with pinpoint accuracy, or we got bodied by the two melee characters Tooke and John.

Dying, spawning, and running back to the objective is a drag in any game. In a game where you have to make a getaway, every second you have to run back to the last place you saw the objective is a second of distance they get to make. Combat felt clunky and secondary to a stealth system that had been completely abandoned. Knowing that your opponent trips an alarm is incredibly useful, but knowing when they got the key, that they had found the vault, and having a tracker for how far the chest was moving was a bit much. I kept thinking about how much cooler it would have been if we had found the Sheriff only to discover the key was already gone. Imagine coming across a vault that had been looted already, your team scrambling desperately to find out how far their opponents had gotten. 

Still, none of this works players don’t abide by an invisible set of rules, therefore relying on those rules just ends up feeling like a mistake. A private lobby with eight people, all who agree to be stealthy is one thing, hoping that the community at large adopts that mindset is, ever more clearly, dependent on systems. The question is, in an industry that builds to player’s fantasies of power, how do you implement these systems and simultaneously empower players while also guiding their play-style along the path you desire?

How do you penalize running around like Rambo adequately? How do you incentivize stealth to make it the only way players want to engage?

@LubWub ~Caleb

[404fmdtaejin]

famed idol life / career meme

notes: once again, a big mega post because i didn’t want to flood dash with answers. thanks to everyone that sent in!! 

1. what is your favorite single you’ve released?

“solo wise? i’ve only released one solo portal song, which was a self-written song called that’s okay. well, bc forced that one on me when they took pages from my diary — still, my only one solo release, and that’s the favorite since i’m left with no other option. in regards to group? everyone knows, amigo or not — my favorite will always be view. something special about that time, i tell you.”

2. what are your favorite b-sides/non-title tracks you’ve released?

“since i haven’t released any songs by myself other than the one mentioned before, i’d have to go through decipher’s discography. lovesick, odd eye, prism, honesty, stranger, better off — there’s a lot to sift through in the past few years. unfortunately, there’s a point where my interest had started weaning off idol-dom, and you can observe that when i stopped paying attention and interest into what decipher did conceptually after 2016. at least the enjoyment was fun while it lasted.”

3. what is your least favorite song (title track or b-side) you’ve released?

”that’s an easy one. you take any b-side we’ve released in the past few years, and that probably makes the list. the comeback with the b-side shot was awful. that’s probably the worst, in my head. never was a fan of that comeback, now that i think of it — i call it the dark blip of decipher’s early career. perhaps it’s just ambivalence at this point that i have no real strong feelings towards bsides nowadays.”

4. if you could do a duet with anyone in the industry, who would you choose? what do you think of your/your group’s concept?

“i’d want to do a duet with duri — we’ll have a tale of the oldies. the two 1990 liners inside bc’s walls doing a ballad song. though, duri would have to take the high notes on that one seeing as how he’s a power vocalist. there’s rarely times where i’m able to keep in touch or have people around my age, and for that — i’m always grateful when i come across that. we’d manage something interesting given the same age, and the ballad concept.”

5. what do you think of your/your group’s concept?

“decipher doesn’t really stick to a concept, and i suppose our concept has always been to branch into new avenues. there’s good things and bad things about it, obviously. we’re given new things to try, new stylings, and what not. however, we’re also subjected to that risk in case it doesn’t turn out how bc envisioned. to put it short — it’s either a hit or miss.”

6. what is one thing (a concept, a genre, an outfit, etc.) you would least like your company make you do?

“decipher’s novelty in the industry is that we’ve been here so long that we’ve managed a lot of different concepts. from the house pop to retro vibes, even spring ballads in soft tunes — we’ve done it all. the least? i’d say another electronic heavy music where we’re dancing like madmen. i wouldn’t mind a powerful choreography to show i can still ‘hang’, but to the sounds of techno-ish music? i don’t think so. at least, not with my age.”

7. what one thing (concepts, genres, styling, frequency of comebacks, etc.) would you like to change about your current career as an idol?

“i don’t want to comeback so frequently — it seems we’re coming back more frequently than other rookies. it would be nicer to stay back and relax while we let the hoobaes have their time to shine. genres and concepts aren’t really on the top of my list to complain about, though i would enjoy an old throw-back to decipher’s glory days where we’re given something newer. perhaps, that’d be enough to rejuvenate my attitude towards the industry.”

8. if you could be in any idol group, which one would you choose?

“with my age, i don’t think i’d fit any group. perhaps, i could assimilate myself to knight, but the bad boy niche doesn’t really match mine. say, i was a few years younger — then, you’d have me inside charm. i think i’d do a pretty good left and right if you ask me.”

9. if you could say one thing to your ceo, what would it be?

“i respect the business model you form. however, i’m still trying to understand it when applied to me. thirteen years, and i have yet to sit down and have a conversation with you. it’d be nice to have one someday.”

10. if you were auditioning for your company today, what would you perform for your audition, or what would you change from your original audition?

“my audition was so long ago. fourteen, fifteen years now, and that’s nearly half of my life. i wish i could remember parts — but there’s only the snippet of a ballad i sang, probably kim bum soo. all alongside some awkward dancing that bc shaped me up for. i’d probably pick a sung sikyung song instead.”

11. if you could do any special stage, what would it be and who would it be with?

”call it a weird match, but i’d have a set with duri, andy, joohwan, my maknae and jiah. well, those would be the people i’d know well enough to collaborate with, though the outcome might not be as promising as i initially thought. case closed, never make me do a special stage.”

12. what career opportunities would you like to pursue that you’ve yet to, or what achievements would you like to obtain that you’ve yet to?

“maybe a bit of variety? i’m completely happy where i am with acting, though it’d be better if decipher’s comebacks were rarer. however, i’m taking what i can get and variety might be a chance to show the side that doesn’t get shown when i’m playing a role on tv. i’ve heard from some people that i can be funny at times.”

13. if you could become a model or ambassador for any brand, what would you choose?

“as much as i like high fashion, i haven’t done any modeling in regards to brand deals with high fashion. a luxury brand would be nice — i hear prada has changed with the entrance of raf simons. i’ve been into the streetwear look lately after itaewon class, so that would be a current go-to. otherwise, i think i’m happy promoting good feel and credit cards.”

14. if you could be on any variety show, which one (or which type of one) would you want to be on?

“i live alone would be my first pick. only because i’ve decorated my house nicely recently, and haven’t had a chance to show it off to many people as i’m not home as often these days. however, that’d require an off day and i don’t have many of those lately. i think people would be shocked to see what i do when i’m around my house, lounging and rarely moving around.”

15. if you were offered the chance to become a ceo of an entertainment company, new or existing, would you take it? why or why not?

“as much as i’m leader of decipher, i don’t think i could handle leading a company. i wouldn’t want to become a ceo. it distracts from my own schedule, and i’d be too focused on my company rather than the hobbies and interests that appeal to me. sure, i’d make more money — but what’s more money on top of the money i already have? it’s counterproductive and i’d rather do what i like doing.”

16. what changes would you implement if you were the ceo of your company?

“each company runs on a specific pattern of events, and there’s a reason for that. a reason why routine shapes each group, so i wouldn’t necessarily change much. my trainee year was difficult, but it also fostered friendships within the group that i consider irreplaceable. the only change i can think of? maybe getting to know my artists rather than staying far off.”

17. what do you do to relieve the stress of idol life?

“i work out. i run a lot, and go to the gym as cliche as it sounds. but each role requires me to be in top shape, and after all that i’ve found a love for working out each morning. other than that, i like to shop and cook, even walk my dog. normal things any other person does on their day off. by the end of the day? finishing it off with a cold beer becomes my saving peace.”

18. what tips would you give to a trainee about to debut?

”push through it because it’s only a matter of time till debut happens. the trainee years are taken for granted, and you need to learn to treasure those moments. once debut happens, there’s no looking back and you’re constantly on the move — so, you’re better off enjoying now. also, don’t be afraid to approach sunbaes. we’re all in the same boat, been there and done that, so let us help where we can.”

19. what was the hardest part of being a trainee?

“singing while running around the room? i remember running too many laps, out of breath belting a high note. looking back, it was probably the time i thought i was going to end my trainee career right there and run to my parents. other than that? learning to live with others? i’ve lived a blessed life, and i’ve never had to share a room with anyone. that felt like a culture shock.”

20. did you enjoy the lifestyle of a trainee or of a debuted idol more?

“call me weird, but i’d say the trainee life. there was something special about those days, and now i’m so many years in my career and i miss the days crammed in the dorms. i don’t think there’s anything like it. the structure of it, the tears of joy and sadness all into one — every emotion all there. it’s rare moments like those i’ll never get back.”

21. what one song or album by another group or soloist would you have liked to release yourself?

“i’ve heard a lot of songs, but i heard a song recently by a charm member. one of the solo projects of dai, and his song let’s love was something that made me want to release music as well. maybe, it’s just inspiration just at that moment, but the song was something i enjoyed listening to. knight’s tempo was also something that i wish decipher was given, just because there’s a certain spark when it comes to the song.”

22. describe your dream sub-unit (members and concept).

“my dream sub-unit? does that relate to in-group or out of group? for the sake of this question, i’ll keep it in-group to simplify things. i’d like to keep our main vocal, myself and our lead rapper only because the maknae already has his thing in champion — though conceptually, i’m not sure what we’d be able to do. something non-dance related, i’d hope. perhaps, a power house vocal because i know our lead rapper can belt a few notes better than most main vocals of other groups.”

23. out of the following six options, would you rather be allowed to play a major hand in the lyrics, production, choreography, styling, music videos, or concepts you release?

“no lyrics, production or choreography. i’ve never been talented in that market, and maybe that’s why i don’t take part in any of these things. instead, i’d keep to the styling, and music videos — though, i don’t have an artistic eye. perhaps, i’d keep to styling as it lies most with my interests. my members might get bored of wearing the same dress shirts and slacks for each comeback.”

24. which of the two other companies (out of bc, dimensions, and gold star) you are not currently signed under would you rather be an artist in?

“none of the other two. i’ve said it time and time again that i’m loyal to bc — i might complain about it, sure. but in hindsight, i don’t see myself being in any other music company. now, if you had asked me in terms of acting? then, we’d have a different story between namoo, artist and vast.”

25. what is your least favorite part of being an idol?

“there’s no breaks, not for age. there’s little opportunity to cease the past, and continue on a new future. instead, i’m always tethered to the role of an idol, and despite how much i try — they still reel me back in each time for another comeback. on top of that, some songs don’t age well with time — decipher has a few of those. yet, because they’re fan favorites, i have no choice but to dance and sing along as if it’s 2009 again.”

26. what is your favorite part of being an idol?

“ironic, but there’s a lot of opportunities to try new things. i wouldn’t have thought of cf modeling or acting, if it weren’t for the opportunities presented to me. as a result, i’ve found a new enjoyment in an acting career due to the idol life. plus, along the way i meet different people to give me new insight — suppose it keeps me young again.”

27. would you rather be incredibly famous with a terrible reputation and hated by most or be fairly unknown with a good reputation and adored by those who know of you? why?

“i don’t know how to answer this one because being incredibly famous with a terrible reputation is just a cheapened output of your career you’ve built thus far. that would simply become a life unenjoyable, so by default i suppose i’d rather have the latter. fairy unknown with a good reputation because that way, you have a basis to build yourself up.”

28. what moment in your career are you proudest of so far?

“i’d either attribute it to parasite, which did win a lot of accolades not only in the country but out or i’d give it to the recent baeksang nomination for the dramas i was in. i don’t think i’d ever predict the success of stories i had a pleasure of working on. in retrospect, it was nice that so many people were able to relate and get along with the characters i was given the honor of portraying.”

29. what have you learned about yourself and/or society since becoming a celebrity?

“i’m no longer an extrovert. in fact, i’m more of an introvert. i used to think i was an extrovert, and one time i was when i was busy running around getting assimilated to those new faces. however, over the years, my circle’s only run short and i’ve been given little things here and there that make me want to preserve my small circle of people i’ve gotten to know along the way. i don’t like going out and partying, and much rather have a night in with dubu in peace.”

30. what would you like to change about how society views or treats idols?

“it’d be nice to be given more freedom — but isn’t that what everyone wants? i’m talking about stepping into something without facing backlash, or how we’re seen as approachable because we’re public figures. it’d be nice to sit down and have a meal without the thought of dispatch finding who i’m with, or scrutinizing any of my friendships. there should be some level of normalcy given, and i think that’s the least anyone could ask for.”

[loopy777]

You've (famously) done an entire fic where Mai riffs on various shippings, but I'd love to know what your *personal* thoughts on all the different ATLA ships are. Obviously, I know you like Maiko, Maikka, and Sokkla, but how about a bunch of other ships? Like Kataang, or Taang, or Sukka, or Tokka, or Jinko, or Yukka, or Toko, etc.? How about F/F or M/M ships?

“Mai’s Ramblings” is still famous? Huh. I still need to figure out how to get it on AO3.

Anyway, I’m afraid my answers can all probably be summarized as “It’s fine.” I like the ships I like pretty much because the involved characters are my favorites. But I’ll give it a go and see what I can say…

Kataang: These two fit well together, and I think the cartoon does a pretty good job of showing how they have complementary personalities and priorities. If anything, it does too good a job, because there isn’t really any reason to delay them getting together until the finale aside from genre convention. Katara’s “confused” feelings never get an explanation, just a range of possibilities, leaving the fans to try to fill in what seems to be a critical part of the subplot. But when they’re together, they build each other up nicely.

Taang: I like that they have similar heights, and the way they look when they’re Earthbending in unison. Very superficial, I know, but them’s the breaks. After their initial difficulties, I think the cartoon did a good job as showing them as friends, and that can be a good basis for a romance. But I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a single fanfic for this pairing that I liked, and that affects my feelings on the pairing.

Sukka: Here’s another ship I like because I like the characters. Sokka is one of my favorites, I’m fond of Suki for her cool ninja abilities and the depth she could have, and I think they have complementary personalities. I like their storyline in the cartoon (it’s the romantic plotline with the most meat on its bones in the entire cartoon, IMO), with how it combines with both Sokka getting over his sexism and moving on after Yue’s death. It also had the best shippers, back in the glory days of ASN.

Tokka: I prefer this pairing as friends, simply because the romantic fanfics are all just variations on the “Sempai, please notice me!” theme, and I’ve never been into that. The non-romantic stuff for this pairing is all about them being buddies and getting into shenanigans and trolling the other characters and getting in over their heads and- well, all kinds of fun stuff. That said, friendship is a good basis for romance, so I think they could be good as a couple.

Jinko: I’m kind of cool on this one because I don’t think Zuko really had any attraction to Jin, and Jin herself is a fairly generic character. The fun of their date is mostly about seeing Zuko being a dork (making it a much more successful implementation of the same idea behind the Fire Teen antics in “The Beach,” especially with Azula’s subplot there), and I just don’t see Zuko getting that invested in a strange girl at that point in his life/story.

Yukka: I like it as a doomed romance, but I’m a bit biased on this one because the first episodes I watched of Avatar were “Lake Laogai” and “The Earth King,” so I knew that the ‘Suki’ who Sokka is excited to see would win out over Yue. Yue’s death and role are cool, and her conflict between her duty and her feelings are compelling, but I’m more invested in her as a tragic figure than someone who really works for Sokka. She’s his fantasy of his perfect mate, and even if she lived, I think he’d have to eventually realize that he needs someone less reserved. Likewise, I think she appreciates Sokka’s goofy charm and his kindness, but I’m not sure she really likes him for the full range of his character, including his flaws.

Toko: I like the dynamic between Zuko and Toph, but this is another one where I like it without the romantic flavor. However, while it’s another “Notice me, Sempai!” attraction, I think it works a little better than with Sokka because Zuko is a much more oblivious personality. He can completely miss Toph’s attempts to throw herself at him, no matter how blatant, while Sokka would eventually figure things out. But, romantic or just friends, I think this dynamic has good thing going with the way Zuko and Toph have similar parent-issues, but enough contrasts in their issues and situations so that they don’t feel like repeats of each other. They can start with an understanding of each other, while still being able to learn from each other. And I think Toph would fare best if pulled into Zuko’s Fire Lord life, if just because she is good at walking away. Which leads me to…

Zutara: You didn’t ask about it, but I think it merits an opinion. It’s not my favorite Katara ship, but “The Southern Raiders” shows how they can egg each other on in the worst ways, and that can be very interesting. Zuko and Katara also play off each other in high-energy ways, so I can see why it fascinates. But my biggest problem with it is that it supposes that Katara gets subsumed into Royal Fire culture, becoming ‘Fire Lady’ and living her life in service to Zuko’s. Maybe if Zuko doesn’t become Fire Lord, it would be more interesting to me, but no fanfic wants to go that route. I don’t see Katara resisting assimilation in the way Toph would, if just because Katara would take it all seriously, while I can see Toph maintaining a wry detachment even while married to Zuko.

Katoph: Putting Zuko aside, I’m in love with the idea that Katara was nursing a little crush on Toph that helped fuel their rivalry, and her confusion about Aang was caused in part by also having an attraction to Toph that she didn’t realize. I don’t see the pairing working out, if just because Toph is canonically boy-crazy, but I think it would be amusing to see Toph try to let Katara down gently and Katara not having a clue what’s going on.

Kazula: I think these two could have an interesting dynamic, either romantically or not, but I’ve not seen enough to really get a feel for it, and I haven’t gotten around to any of my fic ideas for bouncing them off each other, so I can’t say much about it. But I think they have enough similarities that there’s something that could be done with them.

Ty Zula: I recently did a post on this.

MaiLee: I did a post on this as well.

Zukka: I struggle with this one. Zuko and Sokka have a solid friendship, and as I’ve said, friendship is a good basis for romance. I’ve even written a fic where Sokka is in a three-person marriage with Maiko, But I really do think there’s something more in their Bros friendship, as established by “The Boiling Rock,” than any romance could bring out. A little distance is necessary for the way they keep measuring themselves against the other, and I’d hate to lose that aspect.

Jetko: This is another one where I think the fandom over-estimates Zuko’s interest in the other party (the first being Jinko), but that’s what makes it hilariously fun. Jet as Zuko’s obsessed stalker who develops a kind of romantic fascination with him is practically canon, and Zuko dealing with that in a surly and exasperated way sounds delightful.

Zukaang: I mean, isn’t this one canon? Make Aang a girl, and I don’t think you’d have to alter a single line of dialogue in the cartoon to get the entire audience to see it. The pure hero bringing the angsty anti-villain over to side of the angels is the basis for countless romances, and “The Firebending Masters” shows wonderfully how these two would work as partners. And as the Avatar, Aang wouldn’t get subsumed into Zuko’s life as royalty. Honestly, it’s the second-best Zuko ship after Maiko, and that’s only because Maiko snuck in there with the Childhood Friends bit.

[emisonme]

How shit works.........

OK Guys, let me explain how all this shit REALLY works. When you make the choice to sign a contract with a Record Label, you usually know you are signing away some of your rights, from creative control to image control. Why? Because, once you sign a recording contract, with a Label, you become a Brand. You become the Brand that produces the product, the record Label has agreed to invest in and market.

To market and sell your music, people will mold your PUBLIC image, to your managed Brand, and market you and your music to the demographic, that will consume your brand and genre of music.

The professional team, you hire, Manager, Agent, PR team, etc, are the ones that manage your Brand. They, in conjunction with the marketing and A&R departments of the Labels, will mold your PUBLIC image, that will capture the interest and imagination, of the demographic they will market your product to.

Now, let’s talk about the contracts. First, there isn’t a contract out there, that can’t be re-negotiated, if you have the knowledge, and a good Attorney willing to advocate for you. In fact, with contracts where the albums are optioned, it is general practice for there to be a re-negotiation with each option. Of course, if you don’t have that knowledge, and your management and attorney are advocating for the label, then you are stuck with the contract you signed, originally.

On to the legality of contracts. Not all contracts are legally binding. As I’ve stated before, a minor can’t sign a legal binding contract, even with the consent of the parent. A child can not sign away their legal rights, and a parent can’t sign their child’s legal right’s away.

When a minor signs a contract, it’s what’s called a “voidable” contract. It’s up to the minor, to honor the contract or not. But, there is a caveat. The minor can only opt out of the contract, while still a minor. Once the minor reaches 18, adulthood, it becomes a legal binding contract, and they are legally bound to abide by it.

So, with all the Astroturfers out there trying to convince you that Camila, or any of the girls, had to re-negotiate their contracts when they turned 18, just know they are blowing smoke up your ass. That’s why THEY waited until after June of 2015, to start derailing the 5H train.

Dinah Jane’s 18th birthday, was June 22, 2015. She was the last member of the group, to become an adult. They had to wait, until they were all legally bound to their contracts, to really start implementing the plan. They couldn’t have allowed Camila to release a solo project, and tell the other girls NO, while one of them still had a voidable contract.

That’s why things seemed more happy and free within the group, in 2013, 2014, and part of 2015, because there was still the potential of one of the girls bolting. The worse part, for the Labels, was they could have bolted free and clear. They would not have had to utilize the “Leaving Member Clause”, and they could not have been taken to court for breach of contract. The Labels and Management, had to be a little more lenient, until all the girls were legally bound by their contracts.

What makes a contract legally binding? You have to be 18 or over, you have to be of sound mind, and you have to be a willing participant. You can not form a binding contract, for illegal activities, or through illegal means. (Examples: you can’t contract a drug deal...You can’t force someone to sign a contract, through coercion or blackmail, for those are illegal activities.) It is also ill-advised to give someone an ultimatum, to force them to sign. If you can prove, you were put under “duress” to sign, it will be deemed a void contract.

Of course, the Music Industry uses these illegal means of keeping their artists under control, all the damn time. It’s up to the artist to decide, if what THEY are using against them is worth it, if they want to pursue legal action, or not. That’s one of the reasons why in most, if not all Entertainment Industry contracts, there is a stipulation included, that if you want to fight something or think you have been wronged, you have to go through arbitration instead of litigation . Arbitration is conducted in private, and results can be kept confidential. This is more for the benefit of the Big wigs, than the artists, because we all know when the Industry wants the public to know something, they have no problem “leaking” it. If the Industry wants the public to think something, they have no problem faking shit and "leaking" it.

The next question is, how does all this pertain to PR contracts? You CAN NOT force someone to sign a PR contract. You can NOT force someone to have ANY intimate relations, of any kind, through a contract. That would be, at best harassment or prostitution, at worst assault or rape, ALL ILLEGAL ACTS.

So, how do the Labels or their Managers get Artists to willingly conduct PR stunts, or Agree to sign PR contracts? One of the reasons a celebrity will contract a "public relationships" is so they can keep their private life private. Usually, it is their Manager or A&R who convinces them, this is the best way to handle the situation. There is also, the well known "beards" to hide a celebrities sexuality. A celebrity is convinced, and or manipulated, into thinking a "beard" is the best way to go, to hide their sexuality...Of course, they are also manipulated into thinking, if they are Gay, they better keep their mouths shut. If they are attracted to all genders, that's better. You can come out, you just have to PR up with the opposite sex.

The media sees a private celebrity, as a prime target. If you are keeping everything private, you must have something to hide, therefore, the paps and media will try and discover your secret. If you want to keep your private life private, you give them something else to focus on.

The Paps and the Media, are like a dog. If you give a dog a bone, they are happy. They don't give a shit if it's a fake bone, or a real bone, just as long as it's a bone. The Media don't care if the "relationship" is fake or not, just give them something to photograph, report on, gossip about, and they are happy. If a celebrity goes out of their way, to avoid the media/paps, they will hound your ass until you give them something, or they get something you don't want them to have.

When a celebrity needs to get media attention, for whatever reason, be it a product they are trying to sell, or just to gain some notoriety, they are convinced/manipulated into thinking a PR relationship, again, is the best way to go. Why? Because in actuality, IT IS. Like I've said before, the media will report on a relationship, before they will report on a single/album. They are more than happy, to report on your project after they  gossip about your "private life".

If you have a manager, that has your best interest at heart, they will help you conduct these damn PR stunts in a way that is less stressful on you, and your private life. I've already discussed the types of PR relationship contracts, in a previous post, so not going to rehash that.

So, knowing all that, how were the labels and management able to have so much control over Fifth Harmony? The answer is quite simple. Simon Cowell, and Syco/Sony owned Fifth Harmony. He manufactured the group. He owned the rights to the girls images and the group, through their X-Factor contracts. He owned the Fifth Harmony Brand, and the Trademark. What Simon/Syco/Sony wanted from 5H, they got from 5H. Period!

How was Simon/Syco/Sony able to get 5H management to go along with their plan, and NOT have the girls best interest at heart, like a good manager is supposed to do? That's simple, as well. Syco/Sony made a deal with Front Line Management in 2011, to manage some/all of the X-Factor USA's finalists. Front Line Management was run by Irving Azoff, and two of the managers working with them, was Jared Paul and Janelle Lopez.

So yes, Simon chose 5H's management for them, from the start. They made a deal of who would manage them, and how they would be managed... Unfortunately, the girls had to pay the bastards 15/20% of their earnings, to do the Labels bidding.

In mid 2014, Jared Paul ventured out on his own, bringing Janelle Lopez with him. This is when he created Faculty Productions. How did JP keep the girls as clients? JP was a partner in AGP (Azoff, Geary, Paul) Management. AGP was a division of Front Line Management Group. When JP ventured off on his own, he got to take his clients with him.

It wasn't as simple as just taking them from Front line/AGP to Faculty, though. New company, new contract. JP had to re-sign Fifth Harmony to his new company, Faculty. Since the 5H Partnership was formed by then, this contract would have been negotiated and signed between Faculty and the 5H Partnership.

Fifth Harmony's attorney, didn't exactly have their best interest at heart either. Eric Greenspan was the groups attorney, through the release of their Reflection Album. Eric Greenspan's law firm had a deal with X-Factor, to represent ALL X-Factor contestants.

So, it's pretty easy to see, how the deck was stacked against the girls, from the start. They had absolutely NO ONE from the Music Industry, or associated with the Music Industry, on their side. Everything was arranged, to be most advantageous for Simon/Syco/Sony.

[neuxue]

So I'm reading your CoS reviews and something jumped out - you seem to think that Egwene blackmailing the Aes Sedai into swearing fealty is different from Elaida because there is no Oath Rod involved. But that's what compells Myrelle & Nisao to keep their oath. Also, you seem to think that there is a distinction about obedience, but if she can assign Siuan to be in charge, they ARE being made to obey, not just be loyal.

(2/4) Another issue with Egwene’s Oath of Fealty in CoS. Elaida had convicted rebels swear the Oath in mitigation of their rebellion against the same authority. It was the EXACT rationale used to make Myrelle & Nisao swear, except Egwene just did it for personal advantage, and Nisao herself didn’t even do anything wrong, she was just facing the same sort of unjust Tower justice as Elayne for the secret of the Kin. What should her priority have been, saving Lan or being holier-than-thou with Myrelle? 

(3/4) More Egwene’s Oath: Egwene’s attitude in the whole morning is very contradictory. The night before she was smug about taking control of minor admin stuff from Sheriam and aghast at the idea of anyone blackmailing AS or AS swearing fealty, but in the AM, she’s mad about the papers on her desk & blackmails AS into fealty. Also she’s in the middle of a false flag operation, tricking people into fighting a war they’d never fight if they had the facts. It seems like Egwene is secretly in the wrong 

(4/4) Final issue with Egwene in aCoS, I promise: How did we get from two books of Rand being the priority in Salidar, both in N&E’s motive for going there, then searching for the Bowl, lying to make them think they need Rand, and suddenly it’s all about Egwene’s power? She’s 18 with no qualifications, and for all she’s supposed to make the Tower help the good guys, she gets mad at N&E because SAVING THE WORLD might cause HER problems & condemns Rand for doing what she did except AS actually hurt him.”

For context: Since answering the previous string of asks about Egwene a few days ago, I have received 12 asks, in addition to these, telling me in less civil language about how Egwene is a hypocrite/evil/annoying/the worst and I’m reading her wrong or giving her too much leniency. Just putting that up front in case I sound impatient, because I do value good-faith discussion but the overall tone of my askbox right now is…not so good faith.

And I really don’t mind if people disagree with me on Egwene. That’s fine; you’re entirely within your rights to do so. There are parts of her story and characterisation that are very, very easy to disagree on. That’s okay! They’re supposed to be! She walks pretty close to some lines at various points (like many characters in the series), and whether she steps over those or not is sort of up to you.

But there’s only so much I can respond to on the same topic, especially because it feels like a) I’d just be rehashing things I’ve already said in the liveblog, b) like I said before, it could just keep going because Egwene’s a main character in a 14-book series and there’s a lot of material there to disagree on and c) we clearly do not see eye-to-eye on her character. That’s absolutely fine, but it again contributes to the…lack of enthusiasm I feel about this. 

tl;dr: I like Egwene, and I disagree with some of the specifics you’ve pointed out, but will also acknowledge that she does some things that are morally questionable and arguably hypocritical, and while I don’t have a problem with that in particular, it’s fine if you do.

More on the oaths, the ‘false flag’ operation, and Egwene’s lack of qualifications below.

1: Egwene’s oath

Yeah, this is one where the line between what she does and what Elaida does (and what Rand and Taim and eventually Verin do) is rather fine. I think oaths of fealty, even with the Oath Rod preventing untruths, leave more flexibility, especially to an Aes Sedai, than a very specific Oath of obedience; we see that in how the Aes Sedai sworn to Rand behave. And I think her wording is that they have to treat orders from Siuan as if those orders had come from her: there’s definitely some wiggle room there, if you want to get into technicalities…which I kind of don’t, really. For me, that’s not specifically the point. I also think Elaida’s and Egwene’s respective positions and rationales make enough of a difference that, for me, what Egwene does falls into the category of ‘morally rather shady but in a way I like rather than dislike’.

And most of it comes down to just that: a very subjective liking of this kind of thing. I like watching characters play around in moral grey areas, or struggle with their own pride, or do complicated or questionable things for complicated or questionable reasons. I like when desperate characters, backed into a corner, find a way out that works but isn’t always easy to live with. I like when characters I like find ways to get what they need, and I will absolutely admit that in many cases this is subjective. The more I like the character, and the cleverer their solution, the more likely I am to enjoy it.

Given that…yes, I like seeing Egwene find this solution and implement it. Yes, it’s politically manipulative and at times morally questionable. Yes, I condemn Elaida for something that I see as different but not hugely different. No, I don’t have a list of technicalities that I can use to draw a clear delimiting line and say ‘Egwene is right because X and Y, while Elaida is wrong because Z’. I think Egwene has more justification for what she does, given her position, her options, and her capabilities…but that’s just what I think. It’s messy and ambiguous and there’s a bit of ends justifying the means here, which again I’m kind of…fine with, in fiction, because I like morally sticky situations. If you don’t like those, or you have a line in the sand drawn at a different point than I’ve drawn mine…yes, I can 100% see where you’re coming from, and I’m not going to change your mind, and you’re probably not going to change mine, and that’s fine.

2: Egwene running a false flag operation and tricking people into fighting

They asked. A general. To build. And lead. An army.

Before Egwene even got there.

They started the rebellion. Well, no, Elaida did by leading a coup, and I suppose the Black Ajah by influencing events in that direction and Ishamael by pushing them to do so…

But the Aes Sedai who went to Salidar fought their way out, refused to recognise Elaida’s authority, set up a centre of power and operations outside of and antagonistic to it, and decided to appoint an Amyrlin, and let’s not forget, asked Gareth Bryne to lead an army for them. One of his conditions, which they agreed to, being that they have to see this through. And then they try to get out of that.

She’s tricking them–or rather, manipulating them; I’m not sure it really qualifies as trickery specifically–into actually doing what they have already effectively committed themselves to doing. 

You say ‘if they had all the facts’. What facts don’t they have? Any of them at any point could look at what Egwene’s doing and see where it’s going, but they kind of deliberately don’t. Egwene’s authority, and her motivation for getting them to vote (vote!) to go to war, is a technicality in Tower Law, which they have every reason to know. That they don’t and Egwene does is… kind of their own problem. Also, that they’re surprised at all by the vote of war in the first place is their own problem given, again, that they started a rebellion and hired Gareth Bryne to give them an army.

Does Egwene try to manipulate the political situation? Yes. Does she try to push the Aes Sedai into action when they’d rather sit and talk about acting and actually do nothing? Yes. Is that a false flag operation? No.

3: Egwene is 18 and has no qualifications

3.1: 

Rand al’Thor is 21 and has no qualifications. Perrin is 21 and has no qualifications. Luke bloody Skywalker is 20-ish and has no qualifications. There’s an entire genre out there filled with characters who are young and have no qualifications, by that definition, and Egwene is hardly less qualified for her role than plenty of other WoT characters are for theirs. In real life, that would be more of a problem. In fiction…eh. Depends how well it’s executed, for me. Some people have a higher or lower tolerance for this, and that’s fine. But it’s not remotely specific to Egwene, so I have a hard time taking it seriously.

3.2: 

Is she unqualified? An important point of context here is that this is the apocalypse. Things are falling apart in ways that no one’s really prepared for. The Aes Sedai are broken. This is sort of a theme across the books: the existing powers and systems and authorities are either in denial, or unprepared, or outdated. We can argue all day about the validity of that narrative premise, but that’s how this is set up. It’s how any of the young protagonists end up in power: because, in this ‘nothing is normal and everything is breaking’ world, no one is specifically qualified and those who can’t accept what’s happening are even less so.

Anyway, let’s look at Egwene. She’s trained under Moiraine and Siuan - political experts and also two of the Aes Sedai who have spent the most time preparing for the coming of the Dragon Reborn and the apocalypse. She’s trained under Amys and the Aiel Wise Ones - political experts, though in another culture. She even, arguably, has military experience in that she’s been trained by the Seanchan to be a weapon. She certainly has a great deal of firsthand experience in foreign affairs, having been held by the Seanchan, spent months with the Aiel, and travelled across the continent and interacted or negotiated with various countries’ leaders and governments. She’s familiar with Tower Law (thanks to Siuan), and highly skilled in the use of the One Power. She’s also intimately familiar with a great deal of the shit that has recently hit the fan: she’s a childhood friend of the Dragon Reborn, and has been front and centre at a number of rather key events lately. Also, she’s got good mentors: Siuan and Gareth Bryne, both leaders or former leaders in their own rights, teach her and vouch for her capability.

3.3:

She’s put into the position she’s in precisely because the other Aes Sedai believe her to be too young and unqualified to think or act for herself, and believe they can use her as a figurehead and puppet. They know the things an Amyrlin is and isn’t legally and technically empowered to do (and if they don’t, that’s on them), and they seem to accept the risk they take in appointing her to a position with those powers, trusting that she won’t be able to use them. That they’re wrong about this is their own fault. The lesson here is: don’t put someone in a figurehead role if you’re not prepared for them discovering that they have actual power, and deciding to use it. Look at historical monarchies, and young monarchs, and what happens to their advisers who think ‘I’ve got everything under control’

4. Everything else you’ve mentioned

The rest is subjective enough that trying to argue it would be an exercise in futility, and I feel like that’s not the point here anyway. For instance, “she gets mad at N&E because SAVING THE WORLD might cause HER problems” is…several degrees into interpretation and subjectivity; I disagree that this is what’s happening here, but the framing of this makes it hard to go anywhere productive. Same with “what should her priority have been, saving Lan or being holier-than-thou with Myrelle” - I disagree with the premise of the question itself, so there’s not much I can say.

So I’ll just…leave it there. Nothing’s stopping you from putting together these arguments as a post of your own, but I’m probably done airing them on my blog, given the sheer volume of vitriol I’ve received in response to the last set of asks. 

[rpgmgames]

March’s Featured Game: Abigail Fortune and the Dreams of Azure

DEVELOPER(S): Fusoloid ENGINE: RPG Maker MV GENRE: Adventure, RPG SUMMARY: Abigail Fortune's adventures continue in Paris! As she obtains information about a mysterious treasure called "Azure Dreams", the gentlewoman thief is joined by her old friend, Marguerite "Maria" Montblanc. Together the ladies must discover the true identity of the treasure, find out the truth behind the treasure's owner, and avoid falling permanently into the most wonderful dream...

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! I am Heidi K., also known as Fusoloid. I'm a Finnish university student, and I've been in the RPG Maker community since the early 2010's. I got much more active in following the community after I started developing my own games, however. I love art, studying cultures, and all in all, I'm here to be creative and have a good time!

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Fusoloid: The Abigail Fortune series is, essentially, about the eponymous gentlewoman thief and her many adventures. I was inspired to make a story about a thief after binge-watching the first Lupin III anime series in late 2014, and after playing the demo of an RPGM game called Pumpkin Panic! around the same time, I decided to make it a game series on RPG Maker.

How long did you work on your project? *Fusoloid: I've been working on the AF series as a whole since late 2014. Proper work on Dreams of Azure started in 2017, after the release of the first game in the series, The Scarlet Fairy. Of course, even before that, I had outlined the major plot points and many of the characters, and even made some character sketches, though most of my efforts were focused on The Scarlet Fairy until it was released.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Fusoloid: Lupin III is the obvious biggest inspiration behind the series; major characters like Abigail, Marguerite and the Interpol duo of Cynthia and Neil were inspired by the major characters of Lupin III. Games like Persona 5, the Sly Cooper series and even the Uncharted series have inspired me in one way or another. Of course, I've been inspired by other pixel RPGs too, like The Witch's House, Dreaming Mary, Virgo VS the Zodiac and the LiEat series.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Fusoloid: One thing I've had challenges with Dreams of Azure is the more complex battle system I want to implement. Sometimes effects or features I wanted to include in the battle system weren't possible to implement, either due to the restrictions of the engine/plugin, or the complexity of the coding needed for it. Currently I've changed things so that these effects work differently than what I initially intended, but in a similar fashion.

Did any aspects of your project change over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Fusoloid: The story has probably changed the most out of all other aspects! The initial story was set in France like the current one, but the characters and story progression were completely different. Some time during 2016, I realized that the story wouldn't work as an RPG-style game too well, so I rewrote it to what it is now. Of course, that original story idea isn't completely abandoned yet...

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Fusoloid: I've worked on the series mostly by myself, but I've had some help from a certain friend of mine. She did the playtesting for The Scarlet Fairy, and also proofread and illustrated The Scarlet Emperor spinoff novella for me. I don't have any regrets about working (mostly) alone on the series, but I sometimes think I should learn a bit more about how Javascript works... a bit.

What was the best part of developing the game? *Fusoloid: Writing the story and making the art! I love writing dialogue and just writing down ideas for interactions that could be either funny or entertaining to the player or myself. Making the various character portraits is something I enjoy most about making the game's art, and I love conveying the different characters' personalities with their expressions and reactions.

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Fusoloid: I often play other RPGM games to become inspired or to find new ideas, often times for puzzles and aesthetic stuff. For example, I would play Pocket Mirror or Dreaming Mary to get ideas for the aesthetic of Dreams of Azure's main location, and then play games like Ib or The Witch's House for puzzle ideas. Of course, I don't want to directly rip off anything, and I like doing my own thing and putting in my own twists as well.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Fusoloid: While I do like all of my character in one way or another, my favorite overall character will probably always be Abigail. She's extremely fun to write, and it's interesting to write a character who disguises her true self under a multitude of different personas. However, at the same time, there's the same person at the core of every disguise, and I want to develop that core character with every new entry in the series. And also, I just love charming rogues with a heart of gold... ♥

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Fusoloid: There isn't anything I regret with The Dreams of Azure, but regarding my game development journey in general, I wish I had started with something small instead of jumping straight into a bigger project. The Scarlet Fairy feels really unpolished in retrospect, and had I known more about the engine beforehand, I think I could've probably created much more creative ways of progression, as well as more interesting puzzles.

Do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Fusoloid: Of course! The Abigail Fortune series will certainly continue after Dreams of Azure, and I already have a multitude of ideas on how the series will continue. AF3 will definitely come one day, but there will be a bunch more stuff coming out before that.

With your current project, what do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Fusoloid: The reaction from the fans! I love seeing how people talk about my stuff and what they liked and enjoyed about it. There's also just the incredibly satisfying feeling of being able to complete something and releasing it into the wild.

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Fusoloid: The reaction from the fans, surprisingly. While I love seeing people enjoy my stuff, I'm also extremely terrified of releasing any big project due to my fear of being judged or unjustly critiqued. If it's something big and something I spent a lot of time on, having it be called bad or terrible would be the worst thing I could think of. I think this fear stems from years of bad experiences in my youth... I've done my best to work on this, of course, but I still notice myself getting very nervous.

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Fusoloid: If you're thinking about getting into game developing, start from small projects. These projects don't have to be any longer than 5 minutes, as long as you finish them and learn new things about the engine you're using. Secondly, when you start your first bigger project, WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN. From puzzles to dialogue to how the story advances, write everything down on a document of some kind so you can easily go through the progression of the plot without suffering and having to come up with things on the fly as you're making the game. And thirdly, BACK UP YOUR PROJECT FILES! Save 'em on an external hard drive, send 'em to an online cloud, send 'em to a friend; anything goes as long as your hard work will be preserved in case of disaster!!

Question from last month's featured dev @doc-saturn: What's something you learned while making this game? Is there anything you're trying to learn how to do right now? *Fusoloid: Parallax mapping! I decided to try out parallax mapping for the first time for The Dreams of Azure, and it's a lot of fun! The maps look a lot better than in The Scarlet Fairy, and it's fun to think of set pieces and decorations for the maps. However, making changes into the maps after having completed them can be a bit of a hassle...

We mods would like to thank Fusoloid for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Abigail Fortune and the Dreams of Azureif you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum

[outshinethestars]

That Time with the Anti-Tank Dogs

August, 1941

So, war is shit.  That’s not anything new.  War’s been shit since always, and I’ve always loved it anyways, but I’ve never been deluded about that fact.  War is bloody and a lot of it is boring and it smells awful. I don’t really like to write about the shittiness though.  There were all those kids writing poetry in the last war, a whole genre of books sprouted up about how much war sucks, and I won’t pretend I don’t have All Quiet on the Western Front tucked away in my stash of banned books, but that’s never been my thing.  I don’t write shit down to process. That’s way too… yucky. Emotions. It’s just not my style. My journal is supposed to be filled with awesome, and only awesome. This is about the awesome me , is the thing, not whatever messed up shit happens to be going on, so that later, whenever things are going particularly unawesomely, I can look back at all the stuff I did a hundred years ago and think “Fuck, I’m great”.  But, well, fuck it. I have to write this down.

So, yeah.  I was awesome, obviously.  Totally kicked the Soviets’ butts.  But this isn’t about that. I was fighting in the eastern front, being totally badass, making brilliant strategic decisions, sending my tanks out to destroy the enemy like the good little nazi officer I’m not, when suddenly there’s dogs.

These dogs had obviously never been in a war zone before, and they were terrified, running all over the place.  Four of them, though, were brave enough or disciplined enough or whatever that they managed to do what they were trained for, which was apparently to run underneath our tanks.  And blow up.

What the fuck?

No, seriously?

War’s shit, but it’s sort of predictable shit.  You get used to it after a while. There’s always new ways of killing people, and more horrible ways.  Gas was a bit of a shock but it wasn’t exactly a surprise. But strapping bombs to dogs and making them go kill themselves?  That’s an unexpected sort of terrible.

After the first few dogs blew up, we knew what they were up to, so we did our best to kill them.

I don’t know how it became my job to shoot puppy-dogs in the fucking face.  I know the world’s gone mad, but somehow it always manages to continue to go mad in new and exciting ways.

Well, we managed to kill and capture three of the dogs, despite the Soviets trying their damnedest to keep us from doing exactly that.  Guess they didn’t want us getting our hands on their new “high tech equipment,” but I’m honestly not sure why they bothered. That’s what makes me most angry, I think.  The whole thing was inefficient as fuck. The plan was badly conceived and even more abysmally implemented. Like, if you’re going to train up a bunch of suicide dogs you could at least have the decency to train them well.  What’s the fucking point of sending them out to die for nothing?

But none of that was the worst part.  No, the worst fucking part was this:

So these dogs were scared out of their minds, right?  So obviously they did what any terrified dog would do, they ran back to their masters for protection.

Six of them made it back to the Soviet trenches and exploded.

I’m not ashamed to say that I laughed, because talk about a plan backfireing.

If it weren’t so sad this whole thing would be fucking hilarious.  I know the propaganda people are going to have a field day with it.

But.  Just think about it.  What a way to go, killed by your own dog exploding because of the bomb you put on him.  It’s fucked up, is what it is.

But the very worst part was, obviously those guys knew they couldn’t let their bomb dogs back into their trenches.  So they shot them before they could get close.

Look, I said these dogs weren’t trained real well, they obviously couldn’t handle a real battlefield, but they were definitely trained.  These handlers had spent who knows how many hours with these dogs. Think about it, your dogs so scared and he comes running toward you looking to you for help, eyes brimming full of doggy trust, and you fucking shoot him dead.  I can’t imagine it.

I saw the looks on those poor guys’ faces.  Damn, I can’t stop thinking about it.

I’m glad Germany wasn’t here.

That’s the punchline, isn’t it.  Germany, whose government is committing atrocities that will be remembered and judged for a thousand years if the world is lucky, and I just can’t stop thinking about how glad I am that the kid didn’t have to see a bunch of dogs get shot. In the list of terrible things either of us have done, killing animals should be way down at the bottom.  But somehow we’re twisted enough that it doesn’t FEEL that way, killed humans so many times we’ve gotten used to it.

That’s the thing though, he’s just a kid when it’s all said and done.  A kid that I raised. Looking back you can draw the straight line of his trajectory from where I first scrapped him together into a bleeding kind of whole, and told him to make me proud, to become the greatest nation the world had ever seen at any cost, to now.  He’s not a monster, just young and enthusiastic and mislead and brainwashed. And he’s MY baby brother. At the end of the day, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect him, physically, emotionally, whatever, even fight this stupid war. Even kill dogs and innocents, if that makes me a monster so be it.

The world really has gone to shit.  Germany’s run by a madman, and so is Russia, and God help everyone stuck between us.  Meanwhile, I guess I’ll just try my best to look out for my brother and cry about dead dogs.

[crystal-snowing]

worthy | kim namjoon

summary: no matter what everyone else thought, kim namjoon always knew that you were the one for him.

genre: angst/fluff

a/n: sorry, i haven’t posted in so long !

You have always questioned whether it was possible to be both intelligent and popular in high school, and it seemed that Kim Namjoon was the living answer to your question. Hands down he was one of the most attractive guys in the school, with light brown hair, sparkling brown eyes, and toned body were enough to swoon a majority of the students at the school—both male and female. As if that wasn’t enough, his grade point average was through the roof that it seemed impossible for someone who was that intelligent to even be going to your school. While, BigHit Academy was not necessarily a public school, it was not exactly a private school either. You would assume that private schools would hold their students to higher standards, and yet you have so many classmates that you could use as examples for where the Academy went wrong. But he wasn’t like any of them, instead, he was the epitome of a model student. His grades were stellar, but on top of that he managed to be class president, president of three other clubs at the school, captain of the volleyball and swimming team, and still managed to do some other volunteering work on the side. He was the one that every parent wanted their child to be like, the beautifully perfect high school senior.

In short—Kim Namjoon was both a heartthrob and genius, and your crush for the last four years of high school.

You had transferred from to BigHit Academy in your sophomore year, your parents somehow managing to scrape together enough money in order to afford your tuition for the first year. By no means were you as wealthy as any of the students here, nor did you have the intelligence to pass the exam needed for a scholarship—instead, you were merely a child from a struggling family who wanted to see their son/daughter become something of themselves. They did the best that they could, splurging a bit on makeup or accessories to help you blend in with the rest of the ultra-rich students that attended that school, even buying you a brand new jacket to help keep you warm in the winter.

Upon arriving at the school, you immediately knew that you stuck out like a sore thumb. There was something in the way that everyone in the school seemed to carry themselves, a trait that you, as a new student, were not accustomed to yet. Of course, the school system is not allowed to disclose the financial information or socioeconomic background, but like every school, word somehow always ends up leaking out. That’s when the rumors started. The whispers as you walked quickly down the hall, the sea of students parting as they stood against the lockers and walls—their mouths moving a mile a minute, watching you with their piercing gazes—they were the vultures and you were the prey. And the torment only seemed to escalate from there, for once they stopped being afraid of attacking, did their abuse become incessant. You never could go anywhere inside the school without having an insult or two directed your way, each becoming more vicious than the last. They tormented you for everything, from the fact that your parents were poor, the fact that your grades were poor, your makeup, your appearance, your uniform—absolutely nothing was safe from their scrutiny.

There were times where you often loathed your parents, the people who did their best for you every day in order to send you to that elite school. But during your first year at BigHit Academy you would get into so many fights with them, which stemmed from your “lack of effort in school” and your poor grades, which soon escalated into you ranting about how you never asked to be sent to that school and how you were perfectly happy and fine back in your town’s dingy and under-funded high school. In the end, you always regretted lashing out at them, they have done nothing but support you from day one and this was no way of showing your gratitude.

Which was why, as soon as school was released for the summer, you vowed that you would become a better person, not only for yourself but for your parents as well. On top of maintaining a job at a local cafe, you did your best to study—SATs, ACTs, and APs were constant deadlines that loomed over you, and not only were you determined to pass them (that was simply not enough anymore) you were determined to ace them. And through all of this hard work, you developed a new attitude—a new outlook on life and on yourself. At this point you gave zero fucks to whatever rumors and attitudes other students had towards you at school, all you cared about from now on was making your parents proud, making sure that their hard work was not in vain.

And as you marched into the front doors of your high school, you and everyone around you knew that you were not same person from sophomore year.

Visually there was something about you that changed, perhaps it was the effects of puberty taking effect on your body, as you grew a bit taller and your skin cleared up a bit from last year, or maybe it was the way that you carried yourself—strong, confident, and with a resting stoic expression.  No longer were you at the end of all their jokes and bullying, no, this year you were flourishing—and you made sure that everyone at that damn school knew it as well. You implemented small changes here and there, such as raising your hand and participating in class, joining extracurriculars and clubs, as well as making sure the teacher announced your name every time you received the highest grade in the class. Slowly but surely, you began digging yourself out of the grave that you dug yourself last year, raising your rank from one of the worst in school, to be second best—but even then, that still wasn’t good enough for you.

No, you wanted to be number one, and you were determined to get the spot no matter the cost. But, there was only one thing (or rather person) standing in your way, and his name was Kim Namjoon.

Oh boy, did you have a lot to say about him, but there were only two main points that you needed to address: one, that you might have a massive crush on him and two, that he absolutely despised you. Those two statements were quite an odd combination together, but in your defense you have admired Kim Namjoon ever since the two of you were in middle school and your friend dragged you to the championship volleyball game for the school—the same game that he managed to score the winning spike that the team needed to win the state championship. You were not petty, not only did you like him for his looks and athletic ability, but everything about him just seemed to attract you like a magnet. The two of you have talked a bit with each other, but most of the time you could distinctly remember him inside the school library—long after the rest of the school had closed down for day—hunched over a mountain of textbooks as he printed in his neat handwriting across the pages. You were not sure what it as about this that drew you in, perhaps it was the way the light from the adjacent windows fall on him, or the peaceful look that was displayed across his soft features, or maybe it was the way he stuck his tongue out just a bit as he concentrated on his work.

Whatever it was, you knew that you were whipped for Kim Namjoon, but the only problem was the fact that the two of you lived completely different lifestyles. He was flawless to say the least, perfect grades, perfect face, perfect body—perfect life, which contrasted so sharply from your own. It would be kind of embarrassing for him if anyone found out that you had a crush on him, after all you were a nothing more than a simpleton in comparison to his god-like persona. Even worse, if word got out, not only would it ruin your life, but also his, after all, nobody wants a loser to be crushing on them. This was why you were determined to be best the version of yourself, not only so you could fulfill your parents’ desires of becoming successful in life, but also somehow make yourself worthy of being liked by the one and only Kim Namjoon.

By the time senior year rolled around, you didn’t need to work any harder in order for Kim Namjoon to recognize you—he knew exactly who you were. His closest friends practically knew everything about you, and in all honesty were sick of hearing your name, since everyday at lunch he would practically slam his textbooks down on the table and proceed to rant about how much he absolutely despised you. It was practically beneath him to be fighting for the number one spot in the school against you, and it appalled him to think that you even stood a good chance at beating him in certain subjects. No matter how much Kim Namjoon radiated perfection, he was only human and prone to making mistakes, and this will inevitably cost him the number one spot—a place that you wouldn't mind greedily taking from him. He hated you, despised you—or at least that’s what he told himself, when in reality he couldn't actually bring himself to actually genuinely feel those types of feelings for you. In fact, he remembers you, from before puberty hit you like a fucking freight train, before when you were just ordinary [Y/N] [L/N], someone that he couldn't help but admire from afar.

It was hilarious and if anyone could have seen him back then, they would be hysterical, the Kim Namjoon, afraid and embarrassed to ask someone out—surely that would be the day. And yet everyday you were near he couldn't bring himself to approach you, and deep down he had to admit to himself that he was a coward. He knew about the abuse that you faced day in and day out by your peers, and even a couple of instances where he saw the instances taking place, yet he couldn't force his feet to move as he was rooted to the ground and forced to watch those atrocities unfold in front of him. He always thought you were beautiful, and the insults that were being thrown your way would never diminish that, in fact  he liked to believe that it actually made you even more breathtaking. But, the two of you were two completely different people, and while you may have your own ambitions and goals, he would couldn’t just sit idly by and let you—his pride was too grandiose to allow that to happen.

“Are you just going to keep staring at me all day, or are we actually going to finish this project?” you huffed, your arms crossed against your chest as you shot him a glare.

Which explains his current situation, sitting across you inside of a random cafe as you both discussed the details of your upcoming project together. It had to be his luck that out of the students in his AP Literature class that he had to end up with you as a partner, and the teacher must have truly despised him—since even after all of his pleading for her to change partners, she simply refused his request. She cited the idea this was a match made in heaven and that it would be idiotic to breakup her two best students for this project.

Namjoon merely scoffed, rolling his eyes at your childish behavior, before pulling out his laptop and pushing aside his lukewarm cup of coffee towards the side of the table, before placing his laptop down and opening it.

“You wish, the sooner we get this project over with the better. Now what were you saying about the development Winston Smith’s character?

The second time that you both met the animosity and tension in the air was still at an all time high. This time you both met at the school's library, sitting across from each other which your belongings barely even touching. Talking was kept to a minimum, the two of you too focused on looking preoccupied so that the other would not ask any questions or attempt to make small talk. Ideally, it wasn't the best situation but neither of you were willing to be the bigger person and but all of these negative feelings behind you. Instead you both wanted to play the blame game, shifting it on one another for causing this pent up tension to build, yet you knew it was no one else's fault besides your own.

He told himself that he was merely being practical, after all, how was it possible for anyone to get work done in this type of environment, by pushing aside your things and sitting right next to you, he assumed that this would improve the productivity level between the two of you—after all, the sooner you both finished this project, the better. Yet he never anticipated that something would snap between the two of you, sure, there was banter before—this sort of playful (with harsh undertones) kind of conversation, turned into something more. It took him a while to pinpoint this behavior, a couple more sessions of his leg pressing against yours inside the cafe, or his hand accidentally brushing yours as he reached to grab a paper across the table. The feeling was profound, changing the entire atmosphere around the both of you, and he almost got the feeling that this banter that the two of you exchanged was almost like flirting.

“I get it I’m attractive and all, but I think that presentation needs your attention more than I do,” Namjoon smirked, raising an eyebrow, while you merely scoffed.

“As if I would ever need your attention, I think that coffee must be getting to you because you’re sounding a bit more conceited than usual.”

“Me, conceited? Have you ever heard the things that you say, I swear [F/N] you sure a piece of work.”

“You’re so lucky that I have so much self-control right now, or you would have been slapped a long time ago, Namjoon.”

For the next couple weeks, almost three times a week the two you sat inside the back of the local cafe bickering like an old married couple. And every one of those days for him was insufferable, as kept fighting and retraining himself from wanting to kick you for being so damn annoying. This was the same mantra that he has been telling himself for those couple of weeks, until he came in one day and damn did you piss him off even more than usual that day. It all started after he received his AP Calculus test back learning that he once again lost to you, only scoring the second highest score, and everything seemed to just spiral down from there. During practice, the younger kids had the audacity disrespect him—causing him to become angry and lash out at them. Due to this, he ran late, causing him to become trapped in the rain on his way here and now forcing him to sit here at a table, next to you, while he is soaking wet.

Then when you started bickering with him—he almost lost it. Yet, he knew that he couldn’t say anything without sounding extremely rude and inconsiderate, so he held his tongue. Perhaps it was his exhaustion wearing down on him after a long and stressful day or maybe his need to focus on something in order to keep himself awake through your long explanation of the symbolic references in 1984, but he couldn’t help but notice how adorably kissable your lips looked. The softness of your cupid’s bow, as it softly accentuated the plumpness and fullness of your lips, and he was so close that you that perhaps if he leaned in a bit closer he could almost—

“Are you okay, you look a little flushed?”

Your question snapped him from his thoughts, his eyes soon focusing on your perplexed expression, causing him to jump back in surprise with his chair scraping against the floors of the cafe. His reaction caused you to laugh, the sound tickling his ears and causing his face to feel a bit warm. Those thoughts were invasive, infiltrating his head during completely unnecessary times, and placing him in an awkward position.

Composing himself, he moved his chair closer towards you, laning in until his face was a few centimeters away from yours.

“I’m fine, why are you worried for me? Am I growing on you?”

“No, of course not,” you rolled your eyes before pushing him away from you, “I just don’t need you spreading your bacteria to me, now scoot over a bit, I need some distance between me and your infected ass.”

It wasn’t until much later did he finally reflect on what those possible lingering thoughts could mean, and it was only after hours of endless thinking and pondering did the realization finally dawn on him—my god, he liked you. He liked the way you looked deep in concentration with your tongue peeking slightly through your lips, he liked the way you looked in the sunlight as it radiated off your skin making you look as if you were sparkling, he liked your expression after you finished sassing him, with one of your eyebrows raised, enticing him, egging him on—damn, he was in love with you. He wasn’t sure how it happened, the Kim Namjoon who supposedly everyone in the school had a crush on finally found one person that he felt completed him, and while he was usually calculated about everything that he does, his decision to tell you the next time he saw you was quite impulsive and uncharacteristic of him.

It was day before the project was due, the two of you sitting in that same cafe, you with your tea with cream and sugar sitting next you, while his Americano was left untouched in the corner of the table as you placed finishing touches on the poster aspect of this project while he worked on the powerpoint. Of course, he was barely paying attention to typing, too focused on watching you—some of your hair falling in front of your eyes, as he had the urge to push it out of the way and tuck that strand of hair behind your ear. After feeling his gaze, you looked up and were surprised to find his eyes still not looking away from your face. Already you could feel your neck heating up, as the warmth began to climb up towards your face.

“Look, this is our last day together and if you’re not going to get any work done then you might as well—”

“Go out with me.”

Your lips were parted like a fish, gapping at him as you struggled to comprehend exactly what he said. This couldn’t be real, it had to be some kind of sick and impractical joke, yet as you glanced at his eyes, you could see nothing but sincerity and seriousness engulfing his irises. There was one word that you wanted to scream at him, and you wanted to say it to him over and over again, yet it died in the back of your throat where it belonged. You needed to be practical, and you knew that dating him was perhaps the opposite of that, as you had iterated before, both you and Kim Namjoon lead two completely different lives and two of you would never work out because of this. So you did what you did best—ignore him.

“That’s cute, anyways, I forgot that my parents wanted me home early for dinner tonight, so if that’s all,” you stood up quickly, gathering your belongings as quickly as possible. You knew you needed to get out of there as fast as your legs could carry you, but as you turned your back to him, he grabbed onto your wrist sharply before you could leave.

“Seriously that’s all you have to say to me? I’m giving you my whole heart and all you could say is that’s cute are you kidding me? I want to be with you, [Y/N] not for any other reason than because you make my heart skip whenever your close to me, because my palms get sweaty whenever you’re around, because I want to see you everyday with that breathtaking smile on your face. I don’t care what anyone says about us, if that’s what you’re worried about, they can make up all the rumors and pretend to pass judgement on us, but they don’t know anything,” Namjoon sighed, his hand still holding onto yours.

You couldn’t ignore the hammering of your heart, his loving words leaving you with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Even though you wanted to ignore and deny everything that he said, you knew that his words had weight. He was everything that you wanted and more, and you knew denying this chance would be something that you would regret for the rest of your life—and your done feeling regretful and sorry for yourself.

And you took the plunge.

“One date and we’ll take it from there,” you muttered shyly, the blush back in full force as you watched his face light up by your statement.

Maybe, no matter what anyone thought, you were more than enough for him.

[marshmallow-phd]

The Experiments

Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller, Experiment AU

Pairing: Fem!Reader x Exo (????)

Summary: You were a med school graduate who just wanted to help research cures for the world. Instead, what you got was a dream job at EXO Applied Sciences. That is, until you discover the secrets of Level Sixty-Six and the nine inhabitants that are stored down there….

Warning: none

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I 15 I 16 I 17 I 18 I 19 I 20 I 21 I 22 I 23 I Final

Heeding Luhan’s advice, you implemented an arm’s length away rule with the boys. You just didn’t tell them about it.

Often you would sidestep or inch away while trying not to be noticeable. Unfortunately, you were about as subtle as the town crier. Furrowed eyebrows and confused looks were thrown your way at your actions, but you left them unanswered.

It’d been about four days since your new guest’s arrival. Sehun practically refused to leave Luhan’s side, asking all kinds of questions about the outside world and what it would be like for all of them to live among normal people. Unfortunately, Luhan didn’t have too many answers as he volunteered to stay at the rehabilitation center and help others transition. He often ventured out for small errands or to get fresh air, but he didn’t know what exactly an “ordinary life” consisted of.

To your own dissatisfaction, Luhan didn’t have anymore information on who was ordering and paying for the experimentation of super soldiers than Marcus did. Whoever was in charge of discovering that information was not passing it on to everyone else involved.

It was frustrating. Your life revolved around getting answers. That’s what research was all about: getting answers. But here you were, no real data, no possible hypothesis, no results. You didn’t know where to start.

“Hey, (y/n)?”

Sighing, you lowered your book to find Baekhyun standing at your feet on the other end of the couch in nothing but a towel.

You nearly fell off of your seat. “Holy crap, Baekhyun! What are you doing?”

He pouted. “I was going to take a shower, but there’s no hot water.”

Closing your book after dog-earing the page, you shifted up to a sitting position. “I’m sure it just needs to replenish from the previous shower if you give it some time.”

Shaking his head, Baekhyun held onto the top of his only covering. “I asked around. No one else has taken a shower yet today. I let it run a bit to warm up, but, no matter the setting, it still comes out icy.”

Great. You weren’t exactly handy with home appliances. Back at your apartment, you were on a first name basis with the maintenance man.

“Um,” you scratched the back your head anxiously. “Okay, I’ll go take a look at it.” Maybe if you stared at it long enough it’ll fix itself. What a miracle that would be.

“I’ll help you.”

Chanyeol stepped into the living room, volunteering his time. You hadn’t been alone with him since your almost kiss. It made you nervous. But you couldn’t come up with a valid reason to reject his offer.

“Okay,” you sighed. Standing up, you headed to the stairs to the basement. Chanyeol was close behind, his footsteps heavy against the wooden floor.

You found the water heater easily tucked into the far right corner, kneeled down, and opened up the panel. Everything seemed fine; no wires were obviously loose, nothing appeared to be out of place or non-functioning. You were dumbfounded as to what could be the issue.

Turning to Chanyeol, you huffed. “Any idea?”

He pursed his lips and reached into the open area, moving things around to get a better look.

“Careful,” you cautioned him. He just gave you a look that said “puh-lease”. Blowing air through your pursed lips, you mumbled, “You’re not superman, you know.”

He scoffed. “Please, I’m more like Deadpool.”

“You’re not that funny,” you deadpanned.

A pout formed on his lips, getting a laugh out of you.

He chuckled as well, before shaking his head. “Nothing looks out of place. Granted, I haven’t exactly seen one of these before.”

Running a hand through your hair, you fell back onto your butt, completely giving up. “I think a cold shower would do Baekhyun some good.”

“You have no idea,” Chanyeol snorted, joining you in your new position. His hand was a mere centimeter from yours and you were hyper aware of his body heat so close to yours. The proximity was awkward only to you. Chanyeol seemed to be basking in it.

Turning serious, Chanyeol looked at you. “Do you think that we’ll be here much longer?”

You shrugged. “I have no idea. Luhan is still waiting on the all clear. EXO will be looking for all of us relentlessly. You all are too valuable to them. They’ve put a lot of money and resources into the experiments performed on you guys. I’m just glad that we got you out of there before-”

You stopped, cursing yourself.

“Before they what?”

Shaking your head, you looked away, chewing on your bottom lip.

Chanyeol scooted closer to you, he cupped your jaw and gently forced you to look at him.

“What were they going to do to us?”

Swallowing, you felt water build up in your eyes. The idea of what they were trying to do still made your heart tighten. It was the most inhumane thing you could think of out of all the humiliating things they put the boys through. Should they know what was in store for them? Should you tell him the truth?

Chanyeol’s voice dropped several octaves as he asked, “(y/n), what were they going to do to us?”

You wiped away the tears before they could fall. “The last tests they were running, the last trial phase… was mind control. They were trying to find away to be able to control all of you. I don’t think they got very far in the process.” Trying to even out your breathing, you lied down on your back.

Shifting his weight, Chanyeol hovered over you, a hand resting on either side of your head.

“Thank you,” he whispered, minimising the space between the two of you. “Freedom of the mind was the only thing we had left. Thank you for helping us keep.”

“I couldn’t…,” you paused. “It was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.” You laughed. “I’m the worst therapist.”

Chanyeol frowned. “How so?”

Shrugging, you folded your hands on your stomach, ignoring the lack of room between the two of you. “Real therapists aren’t supposed to get emotionally involved with their patients. I got way too attached to you guys.”

“Maybe you were meant to be?”

Funny. Junmyeon said something very similar. His face filled your mine and you suddenly felt very guilty about the position you were in, though there wasn’t a real reason to be.

“Or maybe life just doesn’t want to give me a break-” You stopped. Break? Shooting up to a sitting position, you shoved Chanyeol away. “Breaker!”

You jumped up, feeling like an idiot. Wasn't the breaker the first thing your maintenance man always checked before moving on down the list of possibilities?

Chanyeol was left confused on the floor while you ran over to the breaker, throwing the panel open.

“Ah-ha!” There it was. The switch labeled “water heater” had somehow been flipped. You pushed it back into the on position A satisfying hum started in the background. You smirked down at the giant. “I think I just fixed it.”

He laughed, getting up onto his feet. “I think you did.”

“Let’s go tell the brat the good news.”

Before you could make it up a few steps, Chanyeol grabbed your wrist, holding you in place. The look in his eyes said it all.

“(y/n)-”

“Chanyeol,” you sighed, stopping him. “I think, for now, we need to focus on getting to safety. Maybe,” you chewed on the inside of your cheek, definitely feeling guilty now as you lied to him, “maybe we can revisit this in the future. Okay?”

Your response disappointed him, but he nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.” Released from his grip, you went up the stairs the rest of the way.

Baekhyun was still sitting on the couch in just a towel, waiting for you.

“You couldn’t at least put on pants in the meantime?” you complained, crossing your arms over your chest.

Baekhyun stood up, laughing. “Too lazy. Did you fix it?”

“I think so,” you replied. “Something tripped the breaker, but I flipped it back so I’d give it a few minutes and then try running the water again.”

He tilted his head to the side. “I don’t understand about half of what you just said, but okay!”

Running out of the living room, he held onto his towel as he bolted up the stairs before anyone else could jumped into the bathroom.

“(y/n)?”

Luhan stepped into the living room, cell phone in hand. Sensing the need for privacy, Chanyeol ducked out of the room. Luhan sent you a knowing look.

“Don’t,” you warned. “Just don’t.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled. Holding the phone out to you, the screen showed a text message made up of a single word: Tuesday.

“What does that mean?” you asked. “Tuesday? What’s happening on Tuesday?”

“That’s when we move out,” he explained.

Your jaw dropped. “Are you serious? We’re finally getting out?”

Luhan grinned. “Yes, we are. The all clear’s been given.”

Doubt started setting in. You knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as it seemed it would be. “Why? Why now?”

The empath just lifted his shoulders and then let them fall. “Your guess is as good as mine. The only thing I can think of is that EXO is looking somewhere else in the country and not looking around the area.”

“Is the headquarters far?” To try and keep your mind off of any bad scenario that could happen, you started picking at a string on your shorts.

“A good distance, but we should make it in less than a day.”

“Good.”

Finishing up the conversation with a promise to get the guys together soon to let them know, you left Luhan and went up to your room. The sound of water hitting tile told you Baekhyun was still in the shower. All the bedroom doors were closed, but you didn’t know where the rest of the group was at.

Shutting the door behind you, you crossed your room to your bed, sitting down on the freshly cleaned comforter. You placed your head in your hands, trying to think of the best way to get everyone out of here safe. The SUV had plenty of gas thanks to the canisters stored in the trunk. The only problem was that you still didn’t know where the headquarters was located.

A soft knock came from your door.

“Come in,” you called out just as softly.

Junmyeon appeared after the door cracked open. He shut it behind him with a quiet click.

“Luhan told me,” he whispered.

You stood up, meeting him halfway. “That’s good. I think everyone will be happy to be out of here. One step closer to true freedom.”

He nodded, not looking at you and hands in his pockets. “What happens once we get there?”

You pulled your eyebrows together, not understanding. “You guys will go through some sessions to teach you about the outside world. You’ll get a fresh identity. You’ll be able to live the life you should have always had.”

Junmyeon shook his head. Removing his hands from his jeans, the fingers of his right hand found yours and held them in his grip. “No, I know that already. I meant,” he let out a hefty sigh. “I meant what happens to you?”

You were shocked. “Me? Well, I’ll get a new identity, too.”

This time he nodded. “And then?”

“And then,” you continued, “Marcus had said that I’d be allowed to stay with you guys. Watch over you. I guess we could all stay close together. Lord knows everyone will need constant help. I can already see Jongdae struggling to use a phone.”

That got a chuckle out of Junmyeon, whose gaze was still locked onto your joined hands. The joyful sound died out and a look of deep thinking took over his features.

“What is it?” you pried.

“Do you think-” he stopped. “Never mind.”

“What is it?” you urged, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

He let go of your hand, bringing his now empty fingers up to your face and cupping your jaw. “Do you think that maybe… you could see yourself… with me? In your future?”

“With you?” you echoed. Your mind was fogging up, slowing down and unable to create coherent thoughts. This was the kind of situation you were trying to avoid. For now, at least. But with him being so open and vulnerable in front of you, so honest, you could help but let it continue on.

Junmyeon nodded. “Yes. I just-” he swallowed. “Ever since you walked into my cell, you’ve given me hope. You are my hope. You make me feel human, fully human. I just want to stay with you, hold you and keep you safe. Do you… feel the same way?”

Your heart was pounding at a thousand miles an hour, bruising your sternum. If you lied to him now or pushed him away, you feared you might lose him for good. There was no denying the electricity you felt with his skin against yours. He calmed you down, made you feel worth something again. From the moment he told you his name in that accursed room, you were a goner.  

“Junmyeon….” You brought your hand up and covered his. “I want that. I want to stay with you.”

A smile grew on his face, big enough to crinkle his eyes and nose. The look was so opposite of the hostile one he’d given you when you first met that you couldn’t help but laugh. He brought up his other hand, trapping your face in his grip. Inch by inch he closed the gap that kept you separated and you closed your eyes.

[pathologickinkmeme]

Kinktober Day 9

For a game with so many characters, is it really a surprise that we’d have an abundance of Gangbang/Orgy prompts? Cause we sure do! Gangbangs, orgies, group sex... any and all configurations (though Daniil Gangbangs are basically a kink meme genre by now...) Check below for prompts!

Mark Immortell/Tragedians, gangbang

What are the tragedians, exactly? Ordinary human actors? Meta-game-constructs? Eldritch abominations? Either way they seem to be following along with Mark's production and I doubt it's because he's paying them well. I just want the tragedians all getting a piece of the director. Maybe it's a team-building exercise, maybe they're sick of his production and take it out on him, maybe this is just what a cast-party looks like. Any level of consent/enjoyment is fine!

+ xeno, abstraction and/or general theatre weirdness

https://pathologickinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/291.html?thread=478499#cmt478499

Daniil/many, gangbang, potential CW for non-con

Daniil at the center of some kind of group sex situation. Could be named characters or just a pack of anonymous people.

I put a c/w in the subject line in case anyone would be interested in going a non-con route, but I have no strong preferences either way

Ideas:

- Utopian gangbang

- Daniil gets grabbed by a gang of muggers and fucked in an alleyway

- Pre-canon university shenanigans feat. Andrey

- Something goes really wrong after the army arrives and Daniil ends up kidnapped by mutineers

https://pathologickinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/291.html?thread=87331#cmt87331

Saburovs/others, gang rape(obvious noncon cw)

In one of the later days, after their power has broken down, Alexander and Katerina get attacked. By who isn't really that important-soldiers, raiders, bandits, former prisoners, angry townspeople-the point is that I want to have them forced to watch each other be gangraped. Lots of degradation and humiliation, focus on the powerlessness, possible futile attempts to comfort each other/take the worst of it so the other doesn't have to.

https://pathologickinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/291.html?thread=284707#cmt284707

Andrey and Daniil University time

Andrey and Daniil being uni acquaintances is a rich field, ripe for the harvest if you ask me.

I especially love it in the context of andrey and Peter being more confident, experienced, and outgoing who and taking Daniil under their wing (and maybe corrupt him)

So how about andrey seeing a fun challenge in the (at the time) prudish and repressed baby gay dankovsky

What if he invites him to an orgy?

SUPER BONUS of he doesn't tell Daniil that it's an orgy and he thinks he's just being dragged into a regular party

Also bonus for initial dubcon on Daniil behalf

Aaand also bonus for involving farkhad

https://pathologickinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/291.html?thread=390691#cmt390691

(CW: noncon) many/daniil, daniil leveraging his experience & accidentally enjoying it

daniil noncon gangbang, you know the drill, EXCEPT: when the noncon starts, Daniil, desperate to convince the people who've caught him that he's better off alive for a little longer (possibly hoping to delay until rescue comes), reluctantly implements his considerable skills in the bedroom. showing off his ability to deepthroat, opening his legs willingly, etc... but unfortunately, while the tactic works great as delay, he finds himself getting aroused. cue the delicious shame and humiliation! up to you if he gets rescued or not. :D

i'm not super picky about who does the noncon, tho I'd be delighted if it were set around Daniil walking into the Abattoir and getting attacked in Classic. if that doesn't tickle your inspiration, any random group is fine... muggers, mutineers, hell, even Executors.

https://pathologickinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/291.html?thread=403747#cmt403747

Artemy/several, rarepair gangbang

It's what he deserves!!!!

Dealer's choice as to who gets to have a go, but I'd prefer the following to be included: Andrey, Block, Victor and Eva.

https://pathologickinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/291.html?thread=406819#cmt406819

(CW: possible non-con) Grief and the Gang(bang)

I simply think Bad Grief should get slammed by his gang members, either consensually (they take care of their leader <3) or otherwise (a parting gift from Barley's faction?)

Either way: consider him covered in bodily fluids and fucked within an inch of his life, pls and thank you

https://pathologickinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/291.html?thread=513059#cmt513059

Utopian orgy!

I want daniil/andrey/maria/eva/peter mostly but feel free to throw vlad jr or mark too if you feel like it

Bonus points for straps and maria topping any of the guys

Extra bonus points if their canon relationships and thoughts on each other are present

https://pathologickinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/291.html?thread=34851#cmt34851

Daniil/Male Characters Gangbang

I wanna see Daniil get wrecked (consensually) by some of the other men (Artemy, Peter, Andrey, Rubin, whoever else you feel like throwing in there). Contrive the situation as you must.

https://pathologickinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/291.html?thread=326947#cmt326947

(CW: Noncon, gangbangs) Daniil/Tragedians/Executors/Mark Immortell

Make Daniil earn his respawn by offering himself to all those working hard behind the scenes. Can involve any combination of the above parings as long as Daniil gets WRECKED by more than one person.

Bonus points for: humiliation, Daniil being taunted about how much he's enjoying himself, and just generally getting weird and meta (as stuff in the theatre tends to get).

https://pathologickinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/291.html?thread=33059#cmt33059

[nitrateglow]

Thoughts on The Last Jedi (spoilers under the “keep reading” line)

I originally wanted to just make a small list of things I liked and did not like about this movie, but I’ve come to realize my feelings are a bit more complicated than I expected. I don’t hate it, nor do I think it is the worst film in the series; however, I am baffled by the arguments that it’s somehow a clever deconstruction of the Hollywood blockbuster formula or finding new ground for SW. If anything, I found it an aimless, poorly paced retread of familiar tropes and ideas with only a few interesting elements to save it from being mediocre.

I’ll start with what I considered all-around good: the acting is excellent across the board. Every actor is game, doing their best and even elevating the material at times. It was a bittersweet experience to see the late Carrie Fisher here and even with her limited screen-time, she brings a great deal of dignity and spunk to the princess/general we know and love. Mark Hamill gives one of his best performances as Luke, communicating worlds of pain and regret with his eyes alone. While he isn’t one of the greatest actors of all time outside of the voice-acting world, he is incredibly effective here. Thankfully, Oscar Isaac gets more to do this time around. And everyone else is on the whole fine, even great at times. I was also impressed with the visuals and editing, which are often breathtaking, especially on the big screen. The casino planet was pretty rad too; I can so see the rich and powerful hanging out in such a place. And—everything else is extremely mixed for me.

This movie reminds me of Attack of the Clones in that it is all over the place tonally. I am all for genre hybrids or movies that can touch on several emotional shades at once, but it is a hard thing to do and this movie isn’t up to that. One minute it’s dead serious and in the grand epic mode, then the next we’re dealing with broad comedy more appropriate for a Marvel film. That juxtaposition felt awkward in the prequels and it feels awkward here.

For all the critics’ talk of this movie breaking new ground, I remained frustrated by the same old rehash of lines and themes from the OT. There’s still the good versus evil, the empire chasing rebels Everything is also rushed beyond belief, which seems like a weird conclusion to draw about a 2 ½ hour movie. Rose is barely developed, despite her potential to be a great character (her romantic feelings for Finn are woefully half-baked; I would say the only thing that even makes you believe she was into him was her slight bout of hero worship in her initial scene with him). Finn doesn’t evolve beyond what he was in TFA. Rey doesn’t change, despite the challenges posed to her ideas about the Force by both Luke and Kylo. Her training with Luke, if you can even call it that, is basically nothing, even less than the crash course Luke got from Yoda in Empire. We’re led to believe Luke has some great development, but that’s yet another thing that has little payoff.

Overall, I am torn on Luke Skywalker’s characterization. On one hand, I believe he would become disillusioned with the Jedi after he lost his nephew to the Dark Side—however, do I believe he would stay on that island after hearing one of his oldest friends was MURDERED by the former student he feels he failed? I’m sorry, I don’t. I know people change as they get older and I know enough cranky old people to see how life can beat you down and make you emotionally exhausted. But the thing about Luke is that he’s stubborn and contrarian; when Yoda and Obi-wan told him to give up on Vader (a Sith who committed WAY worse sins on a much grander scale than Kylo-Ren ever did), he went with his hunch that his father could be redeemed, even though he had only his gut instinct as evidence to go on. I have a hard time believing he wouldn’t try to right the wrong he did to his nephew. Him retreating from the conflict feels as false as the strong-minded and very active Padme losing the will to live at the end of Revenge of the Sith. His death sits even less well with me, since I feel the character had more to do and should have been more active in trying to aid the Resistance and train Rey.

Kylo-Ren is more interesting this time around, more conflicted and morally ambiguous. His temptation to turn to the Light mixed with his savagery is great. His interactions with Rey, which are simultaneously uneasy and charged with sexual tension, are fascinating. And yet, like so much else in this movie, it all goes nowhere. I still have no clue why Kylo is drawn to the Dark Side. With Anakin, it was an outgrowth of growing up as a powerless slave and losing those he loved to war and violence, which makes it clear why the idea of a fascist dictatorship would appeal to him. For Palpatine, it was because he was a greedy psychopath. But Kylo? I have no idea what he feels he’s getting on an emotional level from the Dark Side. What do Snoke and the Dark Side promise him that makes turning evil so tempting? He didn’t hate his parents, however lacking he felt they were. Luke was hard on him, though we learn that’s because the kid was already turning to the Dark Side. So where does it all originate? I have no clue and I think, yeah, it’s not unreasonable for me to understand what motivates one of the major villains of this new trilogy. Because otherwise, it is hard for me to be fully invested in him as a character.

In fact, the whole First Order are just disappointing villains, a second-rate empire. I have no idea how they were able to come to power, not only because it’s never brought up in either this film or TFA, but because these guys are about as competent as the Three Stooges. Hux is a punchline subjected to “yo mamma” jokes and proving himself utterly useless time and again. Phasma is pretty much like Boba Fett: she looks cool and fights well, only to get killed off without ceremony. Snoke is a dumber Voldemort, built up as this clever, evil genius only to be proven even worse at underestimating his employees and enemies than Palpatine! I was never a fan of the character to begin with, finding him bland, but here, he just shows up, cackles evilly, then dies in a rather comical manner. How did he come to power? It has to be more than just his powers; even Palpatine was a politician and he preyed on the Clone Wars’ devastation to convince people to make him Emperor. But Snoke? Nothing.

The pacing was also a huge issue for me. Now, I normally dig slow pacing—but this was excruciating, probably because I felt like the story was going nowhere much of the time. Finn and Rose are wasted, given nothing but a McGuffin side-quest. Every time we cut to them, I just lost so much interest. As for the political “subtext” (if you can call an explicitly socio-political monologue subtext) in the Finn and Rose sub-story, I’ll just say I agree with critic Tim Brayton on the matter:

And this plotline feeds right into the absolutely unforgivably terrible subplot, which is the adventures of Finn (John Boyega) the cowardly ex-storm trooper, and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), the class-conscious engineer, who go on a fetch quest that is every bit as pointless as the whole matter of the military nonsense, only even worse, because it hinges on terrible comedy, bad CGI, and a spectacularly horrible moment when Johnson stops the film in its tracks to provide a ruthlessly on-the-nose lesson about economic inequality and the military-industrial complex, and I hate this all the more for the film's message in this moment being one I passionately agree with - if something has to be artless and awful, better that it not take down a cause I hold dear as part of the collateral damage. And it really is awful; the worst thing in the movie, despite the best intentions of various film critics to defend it (I am sorry, but "has politics I like" is not all it takes to make a movie good. If all you want is for a film to spit your ideology back at you, and it doesn't matter if this is done with any grace or artistry at all, congratulations: you are a Stalinist. I like politics in movies - I love politics in movies - but not every political filmmaker is Sergei Eisenstein, and they should damn well not be treated like they are).

I have no problem with this political/social angle being there; hell, I love the idea of the Rose character and the theme of inspiring the downtrodden (the idea of legends and the power of storytelling really appealed to me, and I loved that last scene with the kids re-enacting the OT story in the stables), but like so much else they feel underwritten and clumsily implemented. It doesn’t help that this side plot feels oddly disconnected from everything else and is far less interesting than Poe or Rey’s stories. And once again, I feel like it accomplished nothing whatsoever, much like the majority of this story.

Now, people might argue the main theme of this movie is about failure and how we must learn from it, thus making this side-plot appropriate. The thing is, I don’t think anyone besides Poe learned much of anything from their mistakes or failures, let alone Finn and Rose. According to writer/director Rian Johnson, one of the big inspirations for this film was the 1964 classic Three Outlaw Samurai, a movie in which the titular heroes become disillusioned with the samurai code and the corruption of the culture in which they live. Concepts such as honor and loyalty become muddied. TLJ is clearly trying to weave a similar theme, with Kylo, Luke, and Ghost!Yoda calling for a new age in which the Jedi and Sith are no more. The problem? Kylo still embraces much of the Sith ideology as much as he claims he’s let go of it (okay, yeah, Abrams claimed he wasn’t a Sith, but that seems more like an in-name only affair given the dynamic between Kylo and Snoke), and Luke, for all his “the Jedi gotta go” lip service, ends his life by triumphantly claiming, “I will not be the last Jedi,” implying he’s passing the torch to Rey. So much for questioning the past.

At the end of the day, the movie left me frustrated and hollow. I’m not very excited to see where they take the story next, because it’s clear they’re going with same-old, same-old, only with vague motivations and no sense of direction. I don’t get what the big point of this new trilogy is. The OT is at its heart about Luke coming of age as a Jedi Knight and redeeming his father. The PT is a tragedy about the fall of both a man and a democracy. The sequels though? I have no clue. I don’t think they go far enough in their attempts to challenge our ideas about the Force or the Jedi, or good and evil. It’s the same old rebels versus tyrants fight, only this time around the villains are more inept than usual and the good guys, for all their failures, don’t appear to learn much of anything.

[goblinmandoestvandfilm]

Horror

In TV and Film I have studied a range of Horror films, some comedy, some straight up heart wrenching, but each appeal to the horror’s narrative genre. The two I will be discussing are Happy Death Day and Don’t Knock Twice, these films are drastically different and both appeal to opposite audiences. In terms of their narrative structure as they follow a 5 faze structure.

This is targeted towards teens to young adults due to the horrific and terrifying nature of the films.

Happy Death Day

This film follows a non-linear story, tells the tale of the protagonist “Tree” who relives the same day due to her murder. The film is littered with plot twists and tries to make the character dislikeable from the very start, this makes the audience feel a strange distaste towards Tree, as she seems like a b*tch. As the film goes on we see the lighter and more frightened side of Tree, this combined with the comedic tones makes this film a lot more fun and lighter on death portion of things.

The visuals in happy death day may not be anything to write home about but it’s simplistic nature helps provide appealing tones to the story, an example of when this occurs is with the car seen. In this scene we see a car get exploded with Tree in the back, this was probably the limit in the film as all other visuals were either plain or boring, such as Tree jumping to her death.

The film’s location takes place on college grounds and because of this is very hyperactive.

The diegetic sound is louder in happy death day as this helps the audience understand what is actually going on, I wouldn't say there is anything special about it as most of the time characters are fighting or at a standstill. However, the nondiegetic sound was implemented quite well, an example of when used well was at Tree’s death, the jack-in-the-box happy birthday song was added over and made louder which helps us the audience anticipate the thrill.

According to Barthes Happy Death Day follows a closed narrative as there is a clear ending, Tree finds out who her killer is. the story follows the Hermeneutic code which means that not all facts are revealed from the start, his is very useful to see as we now that there a secrets being kept from us. Enigma is also used as tension is built through her deaths.

Propp’s theory

Hero=Tree

Villain=Lori

Donor=Carter

Helper=Carter

Princess=Carter

Princess’ father=none

Dispatcher=Carter

False Hero=Teacher and murderer

Most places in Propps theory are failed, this is good as it shows us how Tree rose up to the occasion and found her murderer.

This story uses a lot of plot twists, like the fight scenes, and Red Herrings, the real killer, which leaves the reader going off track a bit and causes a lot of misleading ideas which stir up in the viewer’s mind. This makes for a very compelling story as the odd uplifting tone leaves me thinking if this movie is really a horror film.

Don't Knock Twice

Unlike Happy Death Day, Don’t Knock Twice creates subtle undertones of a gloomy atmosphere, this helps to elevate the mise en scene as we see the surroundings in the opening. Don't knock twice is about a haunting demon who wants remain on our main character because of a framed child napping, which the demon (who is the old lady got blamed for), the thing about don't knock twice is the absence of the mother who put her child into care before these events transpired, it’s this absence of the motherly figure which represents the lack of maternity the daughter has for her mother making the poltergeist like scenes more thrilling.

Don’t Knock Twice portrays a more linear stories and can be related to more recent horrors as they both carry the same tropes.

The visual in don't knock twice were dark and gloomy in a positive sense, they helped portray drama and action, the design of the witch seemed very unnatural but yet humanlike, I will admit it wasn't anything special but it still helped carry the story.

The sound on the other hand was alright and full proof, Don’t Knock Twice is good at portraying its diegetic sound in a way that is mainly used when the characters are engaged in some sort of dialogue, an example being the mother doing her statue making. To add to this, the nondiegetic sound is mainly used between transition and jump scares, i would say the music implemented helps scenes reach climax, I would also say that most of the orchestral music they used helps heighten the tension for the introduction of the demon.

Barthes follows a closed narrative and follows a linear story. The enigma is widely used to build up tension as the monster is a key part of the production. The symbolic code, shows the underlying meanings of the text. these features help make the horror more terrifying and thus makes it a more impactful to watch.

Propp’s theory

Hero=mother and daughter

Villain=the demon and police man

Donor=the mother in some aspects

Helper=Tira

Princess=none

Princess’ father=none

Dispatcher=Chloe

False Hero=demon

Propp’s theory helps us understand roles of the characters in Don’t Knock twice there are absent roles which helps convey the isolation and independence our heroes have.

Don't Knock Twice can relate to McGuffin as there seems to be a set focus to the film as we see the main characters constantly trying to find a way to get out of the mess they are in. An element of Red Herring can also be seen; the orphaned girl looks for clues online but quickly gets debunked by some spiritual customer her mother serves. These minor things help give the story some depth and partial meaning.

Both

To fully compare both “horror” films we should analyse their narrative structure. Firstly, Happy Death Day starts off as appearing as a teenage drama/romantic comedy which quickly takes a turn for the worst when her killer suddenly emerges from under a bride with a happy birthday theme being played from a wind-up toy. The idea of relating horror to children-esc themes makes the horror more exciting, this opening scene is the mise en scene as the lighting low camera angles and over the shoulder shots all contribute to the eerie feel of the scene and make her first death seem a lot more realistic. If we compare this to Don't knock twice we are quickly met with a lot darker themes as the lighting seems dimmer and the overall atmosphere is the complete opposite to that of happy death day, an example being Happy Death Day primarily taking place in the day, while Don’t Knock Twice taking place either indoors or at night, it’s these themes that make these seem like binary opposites. Don’t Knock Twice uses young teen/adult orphans who have a lot of street smarts to represent a rumour of a haunted house, while this is still going on we see the daughters original mother taking custody of her. These mystical and controversial tones help make the opening that more dramatic as we see the way each character feels and reacts to events that have transpired in the past.

After the initial shock in Happy Death Day our main character Tree eventually susses out that she is living the same day twice, while newly met acquaintance Carter eventually finds out, but this is only after a few more deaths, he devises this plan to have Tree to get killed in a range of ways in order to figure out who her murderer really is. This time in production relates to the build-up, problems and events, this is a unique way to relate to narrative structure as it seems most of the action takes place in a same/familiar way, for example Tree waking up in Carter’s room every day, from these similar areas help us the viewer really feel like we now the layout of the college. However, unlike it’s opposite counterpart Don’t Knock Twice uses the same location but different areas to make the viewer seem more scared, giving of this feeling of isolation and mystery. The build-up, problems and events of this film include lots of blood and jump scares, the loss of a best friend/metaphorical brother Danny and the introduction of the demon who wants them dead. It’s the fear of the unknown that makes these scenes so crazy, one moment we see the demon but suddenly it’s gone. Overall to compare these parts of the narrative structure ends in two different but satisfying build up to watch.

Finally the resolution and ending, in Happy Death Day we see an unusual turn from regular structure, that being the murderer framing someone else who also turns out to be a harsh murderer, this plot twist revived the film as it started to get duller and duller similar to Tree, as we were witnessing the recurring themes of the film, after this though we found you the real killer was her roommate who poisoned her cupcake, however the reasoning was a silly lovers quarrel and doesn't relate to the fact that Tree was a horrible person before her deaths, the ending is also odd as its cool she survived but the end confrontation was overboard by a lot, this is clearly evident through how she killed both with over the top action e.g. she literally flung her roommate out of the window and still didn't get arrested for manslaughter? I think it's these moments in this “horror” which clearly went overboard. On the other hand, the resolution and ending of Don’t Knock Twice leaves me with subtle confusion, this film is a horror at its core and its because of this i actually think this film is good, but its plot holes is what lets it down, the plot of the film tries to intertwine all these mythological points which don't translate to film very well. But at the end of the day the acting and various shots at the ending leaves a good atmosphere but leaves something to valued. Overall, both movies lose their track during their initial endings and because of this leaves something to be desired.

Conclusion

Overall Happy Death Day can be seen as a more comedic horror which shies away from what the typical horror can be classed at, the binary opposite to this is Don’t Knock Twice which stays to the typical chains of what a regular horror stand for. If I had to compare these horror films i would say the versatility of both allowed me to grasp and have a better realisation of what horror films are about. This can be beneficial in analysing action next as I will be able to assess what makes a livelier film fun.

[ramajmedia]

11 Things From Die Hard That Haven't Aged Well | ScreenRant

In 1988, Die Hard hit theaters and introduced audiences to the everyman hero John McClane for the first time. Not only did it turn Bruce Willis into one of the most bankable action stars of the decade, but the movie also changed the landscape of action movies forever. Modern action movies owe a lot to Die Hard, and the genre would be very different without it.

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But since it was release during the tail end of the ‘80s, it goes without saying that not everything about McClane’s time in The Nakatomi Plaza aged well. None of these outdated elements can reduce the movie’s status as an action-packed masterpiece, but they do offer new points of view to consider. Here are 10 things from Die Hard that did not age well.

10 The Die Hard Clones

When it first came out, there was nothing like Die Hard in cinemas. So it’s not surprising that every studio wanted its own Die Hard after seeing how much money McClane’s violent Christmas vacation pulled in. This was done by replacing the variable in the simple equation “Die Hard in an X.”

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Some of the most noteworthy knock-offs include: Cliffhanger, Passenger 57, Sudden Death, and Under Siege. The imitation game persists even today, as seen in the disposable Lockout, Olympus has Fallen, and Skyscraper. By no fault of its own, Die Hard itself has become a cliché.

9 The Sequels

The only thing worse than the Die Hard clones are its sequels. While the first two are still enjoyable even if they somewhat diminish the original’s impact and McClane’s everyman status, the fourth and fifth movies tanked the franchise’s reputation beyond repair.

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Live Free or Die Hard was a watered down bore that misunderstood everything that made McClane and Die Hard iconic, while A Good Day to Die Hard was just a horrible waste of time. There are rumors about a sixth installment, though whatever good faith the series once had is now gone following the fifth movie’s abysmal reception.

8 The Director’s Legacy

With Die Hard being only his third movie, director John McTiernan seemed set for cinematic greatness. This would’ve been the case if not for his arrest.

When filming the Rollerball remake, McTiernan hired a private investigator to find some dirt on his producer. This landed him in court, where he was charged for invasion of privacy and perjury. He served a 12-month sentence and was released in 2014 before filing for bankruptcy. McTiernan’s legal problems derailed his career, effectively blacklisting him from Hollywood despite directing classics such as Predator and The Hunt for Red October.

7 Yippee-ki-yay, Motherf****r

Die Hard would be nothing without Willis' gloriously improvised line “Yippee-ki-yay, motherf****r.” McClane’s badass catchphrase is something that’s perfectly ‘80s, but it was an outdated reference even back in 1988.

The phrase hails from old-fashioned Western movies, where cowboys would yell it out loud or sing it over a campfire with some friends. Unless they’re directed by Quentin Tarantino, cowboy movies are generally considered passé or niche today. Most newcomers would associate the words “Yippee-ki-yay” to McClane rather than one of the many cowboys John Wayne portrayed.

6 Hans Gruber

A hallmark of American action movies from the ‘80s is the classy villain, preferably of European descent. Hans Gruber isn’t the first but he may very well be the template for the nefarious European who pulls the strings in these kinds of movies.

Cunning, cultured, and educated, Hans represents the smug elite that the blue-collar hero McClane must bring back to Earth by either punching him or dropping him off a building. Hans isn’t a bad villain by any measure, but copying his style today could date a movie by almost 40 years.

5 Argyle & Theo

There was a time when all African American characters talked in the same hyperactive and exaggerated manner, littering sentences with slang and using curses or slurs as punctuation marks. Die Hard is guilty of implementing this stereotype not once but twice, doing so through McClane’s driver Argyle and Hans’ tech wizard Theo.

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Though both characters have their own moments beyond harmless comic relief, they share the same talkative shtick and job of annoying their bosses. If Die Hard were a radio play, the two would almost be indistinguishable from one another.

4 Richard Thornburg

In ‘80s media starring law enforcement, the press is usually more immoral than the terrorists and mass murderers. The exploitative and self-absorbed TV anchor Richard Thornburg fulfills this role in Die Hard, arguably getting worse in the sequel.

Since Die Hard was made during a culturally conservative time when the idea of law and order was put on a pedestal, it’s unsurprising that investigative journalism – which provides checks and balances – is depicted in such a negative light. Say what you will about the media, but Thornburg’s outdated characterization is both flat and mean-spirited.

3 Holly Gennero

Every ‘80s action hero needs a love interest, and McClane has his ex-wife Holly. As expected of her role, she chides the male lead for being too manly before falling for the same traits later. Long story short, she still needs a man despite her self-proclaimed independence.

While Holly’s role as the mediator between the hostages and terrorists did age well, she doesn’t do much else besides praise McClane when he’s off killing bad guys. Granted she is a hostage but this only reinforces the readings that view her as a glorified damsel in distress.

2 John McClane

Like the cowboys Hans compared him to, McClane is a hero who belongs in a bygone era. The cowboy cop is an obvious male power fantasy, but what’s more interesting are the aged conservative values McClane represents.

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McClane validates older men who refuse to get with the times, scoffing at modernity and solving problems through practical old-school know-how. Additionally, he embodies the heroic father figure who protects his defenseless flock. A patriarch who, curiously, only seems to find purpose in times of crisis. McClane’s example aged so poorly that the only innovation made was giving aggressively protective dads a beard.

1 Al Powell’s Backstory

McClane’s only ally is the unlucky but dutiful cop Al Powell, who feels guilty for shooting a kid after mistaking a toy gun for the real thing. Al’s arc concludes when he pulls the trigger again, getting over his rookie mistake instead of realizing the gravity of killing a child.

While not really Die Hard's fault, Al’s backstory aged the worst because of today's many similar shooting incidents and authorities’ inaction. The case of Tamir Rice from 2014 is the same as the kid in Al’s story but with none of the histronics, as Tamir’s death was tragically senseless.

NEXT: Die Hard: 10 Craziest Action Sequences, Ranked

source https://screenrant.com/things-die-hard-movie-havent-aged-well/