#I believe that it is simply an easter egg and not literal or canon

[elderscrollsconfessions]

Confession: I'm still curious about the beggars who say, "Blessings of Mystara upon you." I know that's the name of a D&D setting and one letter off from a deity in another, but who is Mystara in the context of The Elder Scrolls?

#I believe that it is simply an easter egg and not literal or canon #Skyrim #The Elder Scrolls #Mystara #Dungeons and Dragons #TES #ESC

[alicethepiper]

here's the counterpart to my other post about the desks in the s.t.a.r.s office. there's audio this time, but no music unfortunately. you can hear the mr. raccoon bobble head thingy in the background though. i'm dumb and didn't know that was making the noise. oopsies.

so the desks in og2 are all one desk, but in remake they're two desks pressed together into a row. everyones looks basically the same. we have two additional desks in the back, though, near where rebecca's desk in og2 is. i didn't see any of rebecca's boxes specifically (there were a lot of boxes everywhere) but the green satchel health kit first aid thingy (that i assume is hers) is on the wall. idk which desk is supposed to be hers, but i think it's the one with the cds.

Jill's desk is different here too - in og she had a picture of some guy on her desk but now it's a picture of a dog. the beret/hat is still there, so i'm guessing that desk is hers. the desk next to hers has a lot of cds on it, though. it looks like piano music to me, and we know jill plays piano because of the first RE game (from what i remember) but that's about as far as my knowledge on it goes. i think rebecca can also play piano but i could be misremembering the 10 seconds i've played of RE0. idk who that desk belongs to, but it's the only additional desk that actually has any stuff on it, so i think it's rebecca's. all of the bravo team stuff is pretty much packed up (which could be because they're all dead, minus rebecca). so following that logic, the desk with the cds would be rebecca's - all of the other desks are packed up (and all of the other desks, coincidentally, belong to dead people). and i can see rebecca being put next to jill after bravo got wiped out (or even before, since i believe they're the only two girls in s.t.a.r.s and that feels like something the dudes would do. like a whole "lets put those two together so they can bond about being women or something" idk. im rambling. idk who that desk belongs to but i think it's rebecca). i can also see rebecca requesting to be put next to jill. idk too much about chief irons (except for literally all of the bad stuff he does in the game) but i wouldn't be surprised if he was a fucking creep towards jill and rebecca (he also may have only targeted rebecca, since she is a rookie and is also pretty timid, in comparison to jill who is simply not, therefore making her an easier target. i literally have nothing to base this on, i'm just speculating).

wesker's desk just has a lot of books on it. it seems like in remake everyone has their own desk rather than sharing, so i don't think enrico's stuff would've been in there (meaning, i don't think he was the one who had been holding onto a picture of rebecca). ultimately, i agree that the photo of rebecca is just an easter egg and not anything to do with canon as far as capcom is concerned, but if it were to be looked at that way then: in og2, wesker probably shared a desk with enrico, so it could've been either one of them (maybe both?) who had a sus photo of rebecca. and in remake, it's just wesker who has the photo, since enrico probably has his own desk (since everyone else does, and also there are two new desks added in the back - either of which could be his). i would say that remake puts it there just to stay faithful to the original, but the remake version of the photo is significantly worse (somehow??? like, why did you go in THAT direction??) so capcom didn't improve. good job.

conclusion: wesker had the photo of rebecca for sure in remake. he may have shared that photo in og. everyone has their own desk in remake, they shared in og. and in remake, i think rebecca is the desk next to jills. also that photo looks nothing like her so i'm just gonna pretend that wesker used one of those ai thingies and typed in: "rebecca is the new rookie. pls put her in green basketball clothes. also put her in sexy pose, thx" and just printed off the one that either didn't have fucked up hands or didn't show her hands at all.

that's it. thank you for coming to my ted talk. (it isn't even mine) (it was an ask that @highball66 got) (i'm just the private investigator hired to take the photos lol)

#resident evil #resident evil 2 remake #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #chris redfield #rebecca chambers #jill valentine #barry burton #albert wekser #s.t.a.r.s #im cosplaying as highball66 right now #hehe #detective time was fun

[lizardboy66]

im deeply bored so here are all of my gay 911 thoughts for your entertainment.

OKAY SO

Idk about 911 being queerbait guys...i dont think it ever was. I think we have entered a new era of fanservice. Usually with queerbait, the creators and people involved in the show are quite vicious to shippers and queer fans generally, and any easter egg or "moment" feels like crumbs to keep us hooked enough.

911 acknowledged the shipping very very early. Like second half of season 2, and there has never ONCE been a joke at the expense of the concept of being gay, or about buck or eddie being queer. It was simply a nod, like "hey, we get it, you want it, thats all good."

Its not 2010 anymore, gay people are accepted and visible in a way that has never been a reality in the past. In fact, gay people, especially gay men, have come to be understood as a fantastic marketing tool.

This is where i get jaded and cynical, but listen the outcome is the same so stick with me here. Gay pairings and relationships = money is not a groundbreaking concept. It's why they did queerbait. But with stuff like supernatural, it seemed like a far greater risk to make the repressed men kiss than to piss of the queer fanbase. But times have changed. But since the age of queerbait, there has been a rise in gay romance content being made, and being made FOR the fangirls, boys and theys. Think Red, White and Royal Blue, or Heartstopper, or Young Royals, or Our Flag Means Death, or Good Omens. Gay isn't a risk anymore, its a marketing category with a level of guaranteed success. And not just in the global north, Boys Love content has been booming in places like Japan, Thailand, Korea for decades, but never more than now. TV companies in these places figured out very quickly that producing fluffy, comforting gay love stories earns them billions, and have not hesitated to seize this opportunity. My point being, gay dudes sell as fuck.

911 got cancelled and had to move networks. The budget is too high and they need to pull viewership and quick. I think their answer is canonise that ship! I couldn't tell you if that was there original intent, but i do believe that it would be far less lucrative to fuck over their viewer base. I could be wrong, this could be a crazy long game to make the fans trust the show, then pull the rug from under them. But i truly think we are past that point with shows like this.

911 is pure fluff! No one ever dies, if someone is hurt they recover quickly and with no complications, conflict is tame and easily resolvable, and everyone is a sickeningly good person. And the show is also about family, found family, unconventional families. I think originally, the unconventionality of the eddie, buck and chris family dynamic was that it is two men who are not together or married raising a child as coparents and friends. Which is a great story, but even better fanfiction fodder.

I think they are going to do it like the fanfiction. It's the easiest way to bridge the epistemic gap between the current cannon and the reality of both buck and eddie being queer and having feelings for each other. they could try and explain it in their own way, but the fans have already done it, and have clearly agreed on some elements of how this love story plays out, so i think that will be the route they go down. Currently my evidence is that Buck is now canonically bisexual. For some reason a lot of the ships people have have one bisexual and one gay, so the trope is being realised. My next piece of evidence is the catholic thing for eddie. This has literally never come up, its a fan invention, and its in the show now. The eddie and marisol plot line is slightly bizzare, but i think the reason for that is that it is eddie making sense of why he struggles so much to commit to the women he dates. Or its just a bad storyline and isnt very coherent. I guess we will see. My next evidence is the whole set up of Tommy. He is so clearly a way to push eddie and buck together in my opinion. From his introduction, he acts as a wedge between the two that neither of them can make sense of. Very love triangle energy. And my last evidence is all of those goddamn interviews. It seems no one can shut up about these fire fighters getting it on with each other. I feel if they weren't doing it, there would be more effort to shut down the clowning gently, as they have done previously.

In conclusion, i too am a clown. My theory has rocky foundations, a rocky middle and an equally rocky conclusion. I am so tired and delulu right now. I'm with you girlies, this is stressful.

#911 #buddie #what am i doing #what is this #why am i here #i started watching the show a week ago i feel i have added nothing to the discussion #screaming into the void af

[thebestusernamepossible]

I feel like the way we see ‘resets’ in Undertale and their relationship to the charaters is wrong. Here me out but; The resets aren’t ‘time travel’ at least not entirely. (And I feel the distinction is going to be important for Deltarune.)

For clarification when I say Reset I mean resetting your save file. Not the Save and Load function. I make this distinction because the save points in the game quite literally do save a point in time and allow you to travel back, which is just completely time-travel. But in this theory we are going to Discuss resets, and why I believe they don’t actually take you back in time- but to an alternate timeline. Hear me out- Every time you reset the game you are given a FUN value number. Most of you know this already, but for those who don’t a FUN value number is number from 1-100 that you get each new game.

Depending on your number you will get special ‘FUN events’ exclusive to that number. (The most famous example being the rare ‘Mystery Man’ who most people think is Gaster). This is Important because while it would make sense for these secret events to be ‘random chance Gaster easter eggs’ that’s not all they are.

But three FUN events in particular have no obvious lore relevance; Alphys calling for a Pizza, Sans Prank Calling you, and Nightmare Mode word search (Sans’s word search now has a snowman named nightmare).

The question is- why? None of those FUN events have any lore relevance or obvious connection to Gaster. I believe it’s because the Resets Bring you into a new Timeline, one where almost everything is the same except something small (like a phone-call or a word search illustration). And I’m not making this assumption without any evidence or precedent, this is actually something that happens in Deltarune too. Something not a lot of people know is that Between the three save files you are given in Deltarune there is a in-game difference- but it’s somthing small and unimportant, the items in Asreil’s Dresser. Small differences that don’t really affect the game, but indicate a difference. Sound familiar?

Deltarune has two more save files than Undertale, since game mechanics have a heavy metta narrative in these games it is easy to draw the conclusion that these are alternative timelines to eachother - (Which as I will explain soon aren’t a new concept in canon Undertale) how else would you justify three almost identical games happening at once in a world where the metta narrative of Save and Reset is important. Not only that, but before completing the first chapter doing certain actions in the Save menu will get you special dialogue from the menu guy.

All of these imply something happens to the people when you erase saves. And why would that matter if it simply took them back in time- because these are separate timelines. Honestly I shouldn’t have to make too much of an argument for Deltarune- since it’s literally an Alternate Undertale timeline CANONICALLY. ‘But that’s Deltarune what does this prove about Undertale Resets’ you ask. Well to answer that we have to talk about Sans, specifically his dialogue after you come back from him mercy-killing you.

Look at how he words that, don’t tell THE OTHER SANSES. This line is mostly ignored in the community (unless you like Sans AUs, then it’s mostly used for that) but that’s a pretty interesting thing to say. Because when you compare it to how Sans talks about ‘Timelines jumping left and right’, he probably means it literally. He literally means other timelines exist, and more-so we can go to them. (Since he believes we would be able to tell the other Sanses). I also think this explanation would help explain why Sans has ‘seen what comes next’, because it’s implied- if not outright stated- that Sans KNOWS what happens at the end of a Genocide run. Chara erases the world- somthing that we as the player can do in DELTARUNE that is implied to permanently get rid of the Timeline. But they bring it back right? So it’s all ok? No. Because if my Theory is correct it implies something BIG about the Genocide ERASE reset and the True reset. (I will from here-on be calling that type of reset a hard reset since no-one remembers anything.)

Think about this for a moment- why do we name the fallen Human every Hard Reset. Here’s a better question- why do we ONLY name Chara after a Hard reset. Because if you reset normally the game says ‘a name has already been chosen’, so why DO we get to choose a new name when a hard reset happens? Well I think the answer can be found in Frisk.

Ok to prove my next bit of evidence I need to explain myself. Frisk is their own character- they may not be much of one like Kris, but they are their own character. Examples; Frisk moves of their own accord multiple times (Lamp, Omega Flowey, Maybe Genocide if it’s not Chara), Telling Asriel their Name, Not having enough will to hurt unyne on the hang-out (if choosing to fight), Facial expressions (Sans tells us like a million examples during his fight). At the very least you can’t deny that Frisk told Asriel their name. So in some regard they are a character- Flowey even says this explicitly during his Post-Pacifist Dialogue.

This is confirmation that Frisk is a person outside of Player/Chara influence. But what this is also confirmation on is that Frisk is affected by OUR ability to reset. Not only that but because of many factors such as, Sans Judgments, Sans room Key test, Sans handshake, Sans fight, and telling Asgore he killed you, we can conclude that Frisk remembers Resets. Which should be obvious right? Except that after a hard reset Frisk DOESNT remember. They don’t do any of the thing indicating they do, and not even Sans seems to notice them acting like they know things beforehand. Why? Well maybe… it’s not the same frisk? And to answer my earlier questions maybe the fallen human we name isn’t the same one after a hard reset. We have reset/erased ALL timelines and have started anew.

I feel this will be important to Deltarune because Deltarune itself is an alternate timeline. Now I’m done with the theory for now but I feel like giving a bit of a prediction- I think Deltarunes ending won’t be an end. I believe Toby when he tells us Deltarune will have one ending. Because I think that after the game is completed, the save file will reset (an option not actually available in Deltarune) and we will be cast into another similar timeline to do it again.

This is the first theory I’ve made so any feedback welcome!! :-)

#deltarune #utdr #deltarune chapter 2 #God this took me too long #i know I sound insane #kris #gaster #deltarune theory #theory #theories #undertale #sans #sans undertale #Just too much sans #He’s in this theory way more than I thought he would be #sans is a ducking asshole #Reset #resets #undertale theory

[cookinguptales]

So my relisten of Malevolent continues, and my followers know that I’ve been rambling a lot about the connections between s2 of Malevolent and Dante’s Inferno.

Put simply, I believe that Arthur and John are trapped in Dis when they’re in the Dreamlands, which is the area comprising the last four circles of Hell in Dante’s cosmology. There are simply far too many similarities for it to be anything but purposeful.

I’ve started writing this post several times, but it’s hard. There is just so much to talk about that it’s difficult to know where to begin. Initially I thought I’d just go over the dozens of parallels and allusions that I caught while listening before making separate posts with more nuanced discussion of each circle and its implications for Arthur and John, but…

I think, actually, what’s more important to start with is whether it really is Dis at all.

I’m fully convinced that Arthur is exploring Dante’s Hell, but that doesn’t mean that it actually physically is Dante’s Hell. I’m not saying that Dante was describing the Dreamlands in this universe, necessarily. I think what’s more likely, the more I think about it, is that The King in Yellow used Arthur’s conceptualizations of Hell as received from Dante to create the Hell for him that Arthur believed he deserved.

Like… we know that the KIY is familiar with human writers like Shakespeare. I really don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that he knows Dante, too, and can feel that knowledge there in Arthur’s mind as well.

Arthur doesn’t specifically talk about Dante, which is a bit odd for a character who canonically loves poetry as much he does. He never says, “hey, this is weird, this is definitely Dante!” like I did when I was listening to it. But both John and Arthur make some odd statements, Easter eggs almost, that seem to refer to details from the poem.

Things like John saying there might be ice at the bottom of the pit. Things like Arthur bringing up the Minotaur for no real reason. It does feel like, at least subconsciously, this information exists in both of them the same way John subconsciously absorbed information about Arthur’s modern world.

I don’t think that Arthur realizes that the KIY has created a Hell from his memories for him to traverse, purposely creating a narrative of penitence and redemption to make Arthur let go of his guilt, but I think the whole thing is working on him all the same.

I won’t go into too much detail about a lot of my ideas in this post (there’s genuinely just too much for one post) but I think that Arthur needs a Virgil and a Beatrice. He needs to confront his sins and experience the punishments assigned to them. He needs to work through his past and make sense of the guilt he feels.

The King knows that, and he takes advantage of it.

It almost works, too. There are times when Arthur almost gives in and accepts some form of divine forgiveness, so to speak. But due to his own stubbornness, lack of faith, and perhaps some outside influence, he does manage to refuse that temptation and eventually escape the Inferno.

As for the outside influence, I think… I mean, I’ll talk about Kayne and Dante’s Caina more later, but I think that… I don’t think that Kayne was supposed to be a part of the KIY’s Inferno. He think he actually invaded the dream and put his own spin on it, which is partially why the KIY ended up losing control of the situation.

That said, I do think that Kayne was well aware of what was being built and delighted in playing with the themes he found there. I think he was like “hey, crazy how there’s a portion of Dante’s Hell in the lake of ice called Caina that is specifically designed to punish humans who killed their own family members” and decided to use that to his own benefit.

That is in fact a large part of why I believe that the Dreamlands are not fixed in their shape, nor are they actually literally a Dis that Arthur must traverse. Because Kayne was able to use the frame for his own purposes and change it. He was not a permanent part of it, but an interloper who could come and go and who purposefully chose a location and name that would suit the themes. That seems to imply that this is a fiction that outsiders are not beholden to, but can play with as they please -- not an actual physical and immutable space.

There’s also this line in E18… 

I’d argue that what Arthur is experiencing is all a dream that the KIY created specifically for Arthur, specifically to try and manipulate him, and that the Dreamlands are not fully fixed. It’s not just his hallucinations in the garden that are the King manipulating his surroundings to drive him to madness; it is everything that he and John experienced from the moment they entered the Dreamlands. It was all designed to resemble a Hell that Arthur would recognize and respond to emotionally.

Noel/Charlie also mentioned the way the Dreamlands appeared to change constantly as the KIY tried to manipulate him, which really feels like the nail in the coffin here. I don’t think the KIY controls every aspect of the Dreamlands, but I do think he can at least control how certain parts of it manifest to those who are trapped within it — and that’s what he’s done to both Noel and Arthur.

So all that, along with the fact that Kayne does not seem to be a permanent fixture in the dream but continues to ape its themes for… fun, I guess, makes me think that Arthur is not literally traversing Dis, but is instead descending through a version of it that the KIY is using to fuck with his concepts of faith, morality, penitence, and guilt.

(And I think meanwhile, John is just genuinely confused.)

I have a lot more to talk about, from all the specific allusions to ideas about psychopompery to the repeated allusions to being separated from one’s body to guilt/salvation to… well, I just have a lot to say. lmao

I’m about to be very pretentious about all this, and I apologize in advance lmao. Next post I'll talk in more depth about the living forest, the burning sands, the lake of ice, the malebolge (evil pouches/pits), and many, many, many more allusions to Dante's Inferno.

#malevolent podcast #I'm sorry guys I'm gonna be so annoying about this #since I graduated from college meta like this is how I get my cage enrichment

[alltimefail-sims]

LORE TIDBIT TIME WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Did you know Vlad was apart of the settler colony who mysterious disappeared? This is obviously a nod to the Roanoke colony which I think is sooo cool. What do you think happened to Vlad's colony? I like to think Vlad was turned or became a vampire and whipped them out.

HELL YEAH LORE TIDBIT ABOUT VLADDY DADDY!!! 😏

I'm going to treat this as a "deep dive" into Vlad and Forgotten Hollow, so I'll be adding it to my Deep Dive Series tag. Unsurprising to literally everyone, but this is gonna be a long one.

So… let’s get into it! ↓

Going into this I will admit that I actually did know this about Vlad!! I've been wanting to talk about it for forever but have never gotten around to it haha. 🤭 I'm a bit of a history nerd and I love a good spooky story/conspiracy, so naturally the Roanoke Colony was one of my obsessions when I was around 11 or 12 years old.

I think it's an interesting tie in from the sims team, I'd even say it's a bit meta because I feel like the game normally sticks to making references toward itself and its own canon characters/events while generally staying away from anything that would be too direct of a reference to "our world." Personally though I wish they broke the fourth wall more! I like easter eggs or hidden details that make it easier to imagine the characters existing not in their isolated, imaginary worlds, but in ours instead.

It's interesting to think about why the sims team might have made this connection - was it just a cheeky, unserious little wink to a well-known unsolved mystery, or was it done for the purposes of creating implications and expanded lore regarding Vlad and Forgotten Hollow (a case of them showing us instead of telling us). There are so many theories archaeologists and historians alike have had about the lost colony of Roanoke over the years: some believe the Roanoke colonists could have all died by disease or famine, some believe they could have been victims of a deadly storm, some believe they were attacked by neighboring tribes or by Spanish soldiers. Nowadays there are scholars who will argue that no tragedy befell the settlers at all and that they simply relocated (that would be why they left "Croatoan" behind - there was a nearby location referred to as Croatoan Island, now modern-day Hatters Island).

With that in mind, along with Vlad's own refusal to recall the details of this event, it's safe to assume that the sims team isn't referring to the happier Roanoke theories...the 25 colonists of Forgotten Hollow likely faced an unfortunate end.

Your theory of Vlad being turned and thus wiping out the colony (I'm guessing due to new-turn bloodlust) is sooooo compelling, the implications of that scenario are delicious and I personally never thought of it from that angle! My theory is only a little different: I agree that Vlad was turned on the day that the colonists "disappeared" (whatever that implies), but I have always played Vlad's story not as if he was turned and then killed everyone after, but rather that the thing that turned him successfully killed the other colonists but accidentally turned Vlad. It's a really long story that I play around with for fun in my brain but the short-ish version is: Vlad awoke outside - cold, alert, sweaty, dirty and covered in his own blood - but somehow alive, which he was thankful for. His new immortal condition is still unbeknownst to him at this point, but he felt an ache like never before, so deep in his bones it was excruciatingly painful, but his senses were heightened tenfold. He didn't remember much, just that the colony had been under attack the night before. His relief to be alive rapidly melted into abject horror as he found everyone else (friends, neighbors, family, children) dead. He realized soon enough what had happened to him and stayed in Forgotten Hollow where he would be memorialized as its "founder." He spent his days hellbent on retaliation and retribution, but was also steadfast in continuing the work that was began there before the attack. Eventually he does get to face off with the vampire who attacked him and his people, killing it and rising to power in the vampire world. He keeps the events close to his chest because they were traumatizing and cause him sadness, and he's worked diligently to remove himself from his humanity/human memories and from emotions in general (thus how he has become the person we see today). I always thought if he killed the colonists himself the other vampires in his circle - at least his closest confidantes - would know (as he's got quite the massive ego), but they don't seem to have knowledge of this event and they never mention it. I've thought that it could be possible that sharing the memories of this event would make Vlad feel weak, and he's not one to boast in his weakness. He'd much rather rewrite history in a way that is beneficial to his image; dragging up emotions about dead people would not bring them back to life, and by burying this history of a massacre in Forgotten Hollow he is also creating some mystery around himself and making it easier to play the role of a great-great-great-great grandson (or whatever he's pretending to be, relationship-wise) to the original founder.

But that's just how I play with Vlad! 🤷 I could be way off-base lmao!

Regardless of what happened, we know Vlad is the sole survivor of this event and he is scarred by it, impacted so deeply that he only ever vaguely alludes to it with no clear explanation. Whether he killed the colonists himself or just witnessed their death, the sims team will probably never give us concrete answers (and frankly, that's probably for the best considering their track record). But the clever connection of the LOST colony and FORGOTTEN Hollow are clear as day and I just think that is freaking cool! The occult lore in TS4, especially regarding Vlad and Forgotten Hollow, make interesting framework for storytellers and lore-lovers alike! Vlad is one of those characters who has sooooo many interpretations, and I eat up each and every one!

Okay, I think that's all I've got for now! Sorry about my word vomit! Somewhat related: here's an article I recently read on Roanoke that talks about the archaeological finds which have changed some of the discussions surrounding whether the colonists survived or not! I found it pretty interesting and you might as well!

#Oh my god this took me 14 yrs to type idk why!!! I'm sorry I'm just responding ily <3 <3 #Now I want to share my makeover of Vlad skjsdkfjkfsda #Also unrelated... but this man's name is a fuckin dyslexic person's nightmare RIP I had to type it 3 times before getting it right #vlad straud #vladislaus straud #simblr #sims lore #ts4 lore #forgotten hollow #the sims 4 #sims 4 #lore anon #heavenwhims #ddseries

[rosieblogstuff]

I posted 1,733 times in 2022

That's 1,640 more posts than 2021!

196 posts created (11%)

1,537 posts reblogged (89%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@impossiblepluto

@appalachianapologies

@macgyverrewatch2020

@lailuhhh

@sanctuaryforalluniverses

I tagged 1,191 of my posts in 2022

Only 31% of my posts had no tags

#macgyver - 581 posts

#jack dalton - 142 posts

#angus macgyver - 115 posts

#fanfiction - 108 posts

#macgyver 2016 - 103 posts

#wip wednesday - 41 posts

#ask games - 39 posts

#macgyver fanfiction - 32 posts

#fic rec - 26 posts

#cairo day 2022 - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#with parenting there's always the assumption that someone else is there to babysit or drive or volunteer or whatever parent task needs doing

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

This crossover is canon now right?

Nothing will disappoint me less than if, in mid-April 2024, The Rookie doesn’t produce an episode in which two middleaged women steal a police car from the Mid-Wilshire Station, go on a wild joyride through LA, and disappear in a mysterious flash of light right when they get cornered. I demand this Easter Egg storyline that Star Trek has teased me with! I mean, c’mon:

See the full post

31 notes - Posted March 29, 2022

#4

Jack + Matty’s Plan (whatever it was)

Mac might be our titular hero but Jack is absolutely the glue that binds so many of the relationships in the show together. And Jack and Matty is s really interesting one. Jack was so alarmed when he found out Matty was replacing Thornton, because of… whatever happened between Jack and Matty in the CIA. And aside from the assless chaps cold open (for which I would like to send the scriptwriters my deep and everlasting appreciation), we can only guess what all went on back then. 

Jack was plenty quick to turn Thornton in even though he and Mac spent years working close with her, including in the field. He refused to believe in Nikki’s innocence, and he and Mac were even closer with Nikki. But Matty? Jack’s trust for Matty is on a whole other level, right up there with his trust in Mac. 

I love this little scene in 2x17 where the team debates why Matty tried to lie to Mac about knowing his dad and if they can still trust her:

Mac: I can’t just ignore this. She already lied to me once.

Bozer: She can’t hide this. Jack found actual proof she was investigating your Dad.

Mac: No. We found proof Matty was compiling a dossier. We have no idea what was in the actual report.

(interrupted by Riley’s arrival but then…)

Riley: I swept through every government server and I found nothing. Either that report on your Dad is so top secret no one has access to it, or it simply doesn’t exist anymore.

See the full post

31 notes - Posted March 24, 2022

#3

Headcanon

Given a small amount of information about what James MacGyver has been up to for 15 years in regards to Mac, Murdoc would kill him for free. He would do it because it would fall under his “free human trash removal” policy, and he’d hope it would hurt the Phoenix. And also because, unlike the rest of the characters who ought to be trying harder to separate Mac from James, Murdoc wouldn’t mind if Mac’s upset over his trash father’s death, because you know, sometimes the things that are good for you are not things you enjoy, like going to bed on time or eating more vegetables. 

Just imagine if Matty had quietly slipped Murdoc just the right info around 3x3...

39 notes - Posted February 6, 2022

#2

Ok so we’re almost on to the next rewatch episode and before we get there....  I must confess that I LOVE 2x13 for all the Jack parts. Like everything with Jack in this episode is gold. I mean, the robot apocalypse is fun, there are some really great Mac lines, and I love that Bozer’s out there having his back for once. But I love, love, love Jack’s high school reunion. I love the hilarious, over-the-top awkwardness of the whole thing. I love it because it’s like any high school reunion. Like literally, trust me here, if you’ve never been to a high school reunion? This vibe is SO accurate. 

High school reunions are a weird mind game. You’re suddenly stuffed in a room with people whose opinions deeply mattered to you when you were ~17 years old. And so what if you haven’t given those people one second’s thought in 9.5 years? (or maybe 24.5, if you’re Jack!) It doesn’t matter how long it’s been or if you’re never going to see those people again, you’re probably also going to have that sudden, desperate need to prove you didn’t turn out to be some kind of loser.

But of course Jack’s reunion is like any awkward high school reunion x100, because of course Jack has to stick with the whole “bathroom tile salesman” cover story. Matty made sure to remind us all about it right at the start of the story so we can foresee Jack’s troubles coming from miles away.

See the full post

82 notes - Posted February 25, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

While I’m still talking about 2x13 I also love the scene at the end where Jack tracks down Korman. Because here’s Jack, taking on some unknown number of potentially dangerous badguys all by himself, like the badass CIA agent he used to be. 

See the full post

110 notes - Posted February 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #so just coincidentally my top 5 posts are about my longest posts EVERY #so I hope ya'll really wanted something super long on your dash today

[peablesart]

Diluc and Kaeya: A Character Study

One of my favorite things to do is analyze the true anti-parallel nature of Diluc and Kaeya’s lives. In my eye, they are so similar but exist as inverted images of each other. 

DISCLAIMER : I see Diluc and Kaeya as siblings and this will not change, so anything I post about them is purely familial and platonic. If you ship kaeluc please do NOT interact with this post.

So I since I started Genshin for Kaeya, and then pulled Diluc and fell in love with him, it’s really only natural that they are two of my favorite characters in the game so far (and probably for the rest of it too). Kaeya’s story has alaways been fascinating to me, and this was just exemplified by the Dainsleif quests that revealed more about Khaneri’ah and the Abyss. When I started getting more invested in Genshin, I started reading the manga, and around the same time I got Diluc and started friendship farming like I never had before. I literally devoured his character stories and enjoy fitting his canon with the stories of others.

But yes, as my favorite characters who actually have canon connections (in surplus in fact), I often think about how similar their stories are, but that they run in opposite directions to each other. I see this so clearly in how they are in canon and what I think they were like in childhood.

On one hand, we have Diluc, the only child of one of Mondstadt’s beloved noble families. He comes from a line of highly respected individuals, the descendent of one of the leaders who freed Mondstadt from the tyranny of Decarabian. Although his mother died young, he grew up in a nurturing and loving family with his father. From the manga, we can tell that his personality was somewhere along the lines of Amber and Klee when he was younger, and I think he was probably a brash and jovial kid who caused problems but was earnest in everything he did.

On the other hand we have Kaeya. Here is where a lot of my headcanons come into play, because there’s very little on his family. I strongly believe in Kaeya as Khaneri’ahn royalty (a descendent at the very least), and that he belongs to the Eclipse Dynasty bloodline. It’s unclear the type of rule of the dynasty, but my thoughts are that it was not cruel but definitely cold. Kaeya likely did not grow up with much affection, respected but not loved. He entered the story with the destiny of a kingdom on his shoulders, and was left to fulfill it on his own. As such, I see him as a guarded, probably extremely introverted kid, especially when he’s first taken in by the Ragnvindrs.

Obviously, this contrasts with their in-game personalities. I still think Kaeya is a true introvert but acts extraverted to come off as more open and trustworthy in order to get what he wants. This is clear in how almost every quest or event interaction with him has some sort of “ulterior” motive. His story quest was him testing the waters with the traveler to see how trustworthy they were, the Windblume Festival was very likely an easter egg conversation for a later quest, and he definitely lied abut the reason for coming to the Golden Apple Archipelago. In short, all these interactions are only half-truths at best.

I similarly think the opposite happened to Diluc, his grief and vengeance stifling the unbridled joy from his youth. I wouldn’t say he’s still a people-person, but his voice-lines make it so clear how affectionate and warm he is to everyone; he worries about Jean and the Traveller, openly admires Lisa’s skills, etc. His 18th birthday and his four-year journey exposed him to the world at its rawest, away from the tinted lens of the Knights, and he likely saw and dealt out more death than he thought he’d ever have to.

After Crepus’ death, the brothers reconciled with the events by changing their nature - at least, how they presented themselves to others. While not mirrors, they definitely took on parts of the other’s childhood self, with Kaeya becoming more verbal and Diluc becoming more skeptical. 

As much as I want it to happen, I don’t think we’ll get a reconciliation of the brothers until one of their last moments. Mihoyo has made it clear they don’t intend to shy away from major character deaths, dropping red flags in abundance for multiple characters. Kaeya is definitely one of them, and my thinking is that he’ll die by Diluc’s hands in an effort to save Mondstadt. Either that, or they’ll be on the cusp of progress before plummeting into the worst-case scenario.

And be- cause I’m a sucker not just for angst but for sucker punch and then a stab to the gut - I’ll put this here as well: although they clearly aren’t exactly on the best terms right now, I truly believe they have both forgiven each other but don’t believe the other has forgiven them yet. Their voice-lines about each other don’t seem honest, and their easy banter at the Golden Apple Archipelago shows so much familiarity. Their relationship is still uneasy, clearly seen in Venti’s story quest, but it is entirely salvageable. Kaeya is ready to atone for abandoning DIluc to his grief and compounding it with a secret too large to stay hidden forever. Diluc is ready to repent for driving Kaeya to death and casting him out form a place he’d felt was the closest to home he could let himself be.

(Would love for a happy ending too, but I don’t trust Mihoyo to give me happy Diluc and happy Kaeya for any lasting duration rip.)

It’s clear that the two are meant to be foils to each other. I could go on and on about smaller things, like Kaeya feeling inadequate filling Diluc’s prodigious shoes, Diluc finding his first true friend in Kaeya, the both of them defending each other behind their backs. I could also go into how other characters perceive their relationship, especially Jean since she’s known them since childhood as well. But at the end of the day, they are simply two men with a broken past that cannot be restored, but can be fixed. Them making up would ease so much off both of their shoulders, and they could fight side by side like I’m certain they did when they were younger.

TL;DR, I love both Diluc and Kaeya with my whole heart and want them both to find happiness. There’s more steps to be done before they can call each other “brother” with sincerity again (and I tend to ill those steps with various ships ik ik) but it’s a start towards healing.

#genshin impact #genshin lore #character study #diluc #genshin diluc #diluc ragnvindr #kaeya #genshin kaeya #kaeya alberich #diluc character study #kaeya character study #genshin angst #diluc angst #kaeya angst #genshin hc #genshin headcanons #genshin characters #peables-rambles #peables-hc #peables-tldr

[veinereastath]

Far Cry: New Dawn was a disaster, and here’s why.

Okay, just to be clear - this is my personal opinion, not pure, cold facts that I’m trying to push down people’s throats. I just felt the sudden urge to break down piece by piece my utter hatred towards this game. So, let’s go. What exactly went wrong with it, and why Far Cry 5 was way better? I will try to present my ramblings and point of view by putting both of these games side by side. So, when reading every sentence in this... thing, add in your head a “it’s vei’s opinion” bit to avoid misunderstandings. Thanks in advance! First thing, to make everything clear - Far Cry 5 was not a perfect game. No, actually, it was far from so; there are many games much better plot-wise, with more entertaining gameplay, bigger world, more interesting side quests and so on. But, one thing for sure, this game has a spirit, an unique aura that makes many people want to come back to it and replay it over and over. The way Ubisoft portrayed Hope County is absolutely fantastic - the music, the landscapes, the characters. It was something new, something fresh, and despite quite a lot sceptical voices when the first trailers came out, it turned out really well, and in general, people really liked this game, or loved it even. Yeah, some people hate the endings, the fact that every single one of them is bad one way or the other and that you can’t basically win (I always thought this was fantastic, because, hey, you can’t be a perfect hero every time - even so, I love how this game, Seeds especially, mock the “hero attitude” that protagonist tries to have). But even so, Far Cry 5 was mostly a success, right? And the canon ending when the nukes get dropped seemed to leave a perfect opportunity for a sequel. So, what could go wrong? Well, about that...

1. How long is this game? New Dawn is short. It’s fucking short, because I installed it right after it became available (fun fact, this was the first and the last game I ever pre-ordered, so imagine how excited I must’ve been), and started playing it as soon as I could. In my case, it was around 2-3 am. I had a break then, woke up at 7 am and continued playing. I was playing it slowly - completing the side quests, because I wanted to know what has changed in Hope County, and, of course, I was looking for some easter eggs regarding the Seeds (surprised pikachu - there weren’t any, Old Compound, John’s bunker and Ranch are too obvious).  Took me around 5 hours to move on and actually start playing the main story. I was pretty sure that it will take me at least 10-15 hours to complete it (why was I thinking so, don’t ask me, I guess I still have way too high expectations after what Witcher 3 expansions have shown me). Again, surprised pikachu! I finished the whole game in 16 hours. Sixteen. Including liberating all the outposts (1 star in each, didn’t bother to get 3) and finish all side-missions + driving around the County just to look around. The hell? And it wasn’t a DLC? Just for a little comparison, because, yes, FC5 can also be completed pretty damn fast if you rush it, but my 1st playthrough of it, with all the quests and admiring the landscapes took me 33 hours. Which leads us to the next point on this god forsaken list, and that is... 2. The map.

The next reason why I am shocked this game wasn’t a DLC - the heckitty hecck they did with the map in New Dawn. Radiation zones? Sign me the hell up, they make sense, are cool and stuff, but adding them just so you could bite off half of the original map is stupid, and extremely lazy thing to do. Okay, you can take off some parts, but if you’re doing so, add something new - some new paths, caves, mountain routes, something. And no, expeditions don’t count. To make it worse, the parts that were deleted were one of the best parts of the FC5 storyline. Faith’s Gate, Drubman’s Marina, Jacob’s Armory, Wolf’s Den, and the fucking Veteran’s Center. The opportunity to make this a haunted location with an entertaining quest in it was HUGE and it was absolutely wasted. It’s not like they couldn’t done it, we’ve got the mission in old Joseph’s statue, and the crocodile pikachu in Inquisitor’s Grave (which, by the way, shouldn’t actually exist - this bunker was blown up to pieces, but it seemed pretty decent in New Dawn, there are barely any sings of explosions, not to mention that “The Confession” room is untouched!). You bought this game with an intention to actually go back in time and find out about something that FC5 didn’t tell you? Kekus maximus, you don’t. Have some photographs instead (which are a nice addition, but seem lazy). To give this post even more personal hatred - I really don’t like the Henbane River region, so you could literally hear my heart breaking when I saw that we got 50% of the River, 80% of the Valley and 10% of the Whitetails, which were my absolute favorite. So fun!

3. The Villains. I must admit, in the trailers, back when the hype for this game was insane, Mickey and Lou seemed to be quite interesting. Even though back then it was obvious that Highwaymen won’t have that kind of depth that Eden’s Gate had, it was still something I was looking forward to, even though those vibes aren’t really my cup of tea; but most of my excitement was born from my love for Far Cry 5, so if course I had to try out the sequel. So yes, the trailers were quite nice (just not the live action one - that was a fucking disaster, and killed my hype for a few days afterwards).

Mickey and Lou were quite fun, but to little extent, sadly. I liked their sister-sister dynamics, they really seemed close, and it was nice that shey were so different from each other - Mickey was more calculating, while Lou was living for the action and brutality in itself. The Highwaymen as a faction in itself wasn’t really that great for me, because their only purpose was to cause mayhem, and I simply don’t like something like this. But the sisters were something different, right? No, they weren’t, and that’s the point. I felt like there was little to no depth in their actions - it was all for fun, and I find this just boring and pointless (pr maybe I’m the boring one). I know that this is often how the world works - people take and destroy simply because they can and because it’s considered cool. We suck as a species, that’s official and well known, but I expected something more entertaining from a videogame. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I did. And Mickey and Lou were literally Highwaymen members with a VIP crown above their heads and nothing more. They left their mother? Okay, that is something that could lead to other interesting things. They killed their father for power? Huh, alright, I can work with that. The point is, it didn’t give them that much depth, their main purpose was to plunder everything. Which would be all good and nice if they were some kind of a side-faction. But this was The Villains™, and I wanted to feel something more towards them. And to be honest? I didn’t even hate them. I felt absolutely nothing, they just existed and I didn’t care, because they didn’t make this game interesting. What I will say now may sound brutal, but I will say it: I don’t consider two young people (they were around 19/20) just wanting to blow everything up “for lulz” a good villains. I fucking don’t. It was a huge downfall after what FC5 has given to us. I was just so bored when fighting the Highwaymen, because they were shallow, and their personalities were only focused on one thing. 

Of course, there is also Ethan. Yes, I hate him (he even has a very punchable face, what a coincidence!), but I admit he was somehow a nice touch in this game. Yes, he was a prideful, irritating kid, but while I was just utterly bored by the Twins, Ethan actually managed to make me hate him. The only thing that I’m quite bothered by is that I don’t believe that he’s actual, biological son of Joseph. To put it shortly, and say it louder for the people in the back - The Twins were just meh. Boring. How was the situation in FC5 better? Oh boy.

Putting their obvious... Attractive physical appearance aside, and focusing purely on their personalities, because that’s what I’m trying to explain - they were something else, and something new. Ubisoft took a risk with creating four villains for a single game, because it’s extremely hard to give each one of them the screentime they deserve, and make them interesting and unique. Did FC5 succeed? In a way, yes. I’m not saying that Seeds are absolutely perfect villains (they aren’t), but they can eat Twins for breakfast and still stay hungry. To show you what I mean, have some short descriptions: JOSEPH: Cult Leader, “The Father”, a person who claims to hear the voice of God himself. Someone from a broken family and difficult life, who was in prison (according to song dedicated to him), lost one job after another, lost his wife, killed his daughter, and then formed a religious cult. JACOB: military veteran suffering from PTSD, with a massive knowledge about history and psychology, someone who literally brainwashed nearly half, if not more of the County, and manages to combine religion (something he clearly isn’t really fond of) and personal, darwinistic look on life. JOHN: former lawyer, a person skilled in adapting to any environment, charismatic manipulator abused as a kid, forced to spend most of his life pretending to be someone he hated to be, battled with addictions, emotionally unstable and with sadistic outburts. FAITH: young woman devoid of purpose in life, also battling with addictions in the past, probably on the verge of suicide at some point, who was manipulated (and quite possibly drugged) in order to comply; a broken girl hiding her pain behind lovely smiles. Sounds pretty diverse, right? And I bet that at least one member of this family was somehow entertaining for everyone. Now, here’s what New Dawn has given to us: MICKEY: the more calculating sister; young girl who followed her father and chose brutal life, creating entertainment for herself by making others suffer. Shows some kind of regret when you defeat her by the end of the game. LOU: the more brutal sister; young girl who followed her father and chose brutal life, creating entertainment for herself by making others suffer. Doesn’t show any regrets towards her actions.

And honestly, that’s it. I really tried to write something more for the Twins, but I couldn’t put my finger on anything. That’s all we know. And yes, I know that there is a major difference between them and the Seeds, which is the age gap - FC5 villains are simply older and have more life experience, but honestly, this doesn’t make it better. Mickey and Lou could have much more depth and be far more interesting despite them being young. Age is not a problem in such a case. I suggest to compare Mickey and Lou’s descriptions with the Faith one, since she’s just few years older. There is a difference, isn’t it? And even when playing both of these games, the Seeds just seem to be better developed than the Twins. Ubisoft did something weird, because they managed to focus on four villains and make each one of them interesting in their own way, but made just two main villains flat, and nearly identical. 4. Radio calls. This is a continuation of the point above, because it’s also something I wanted to point out and is connected to the villains of both games. The things you can hear directly from The Twins can be mostly described as “hey rabbit, you’re pissing us off a bit”. Same with the things they say at outposts and direct them to the Highwaymen - it’s always about the same thing, and there isn’t a single line that I found interesting or worth remembering (okay, my bad, the fact that Mickey and Lou seemed to be dissapointed after Nana chose to stick with the Captain rather than them was a nice touch). Meanwhile, I can recite most of the dialogue lines from the Seeds from my memory, and it’s something I could do after 2 playthroughs. They seem to be on a whole different level - and yes, it is true that to some point, the “rabbits” thing is similar to “the weak” theme of Jacob, or “the sinners” in case of John, but it didn’t seem to be that much tiring to hear about. Faith’s radio calls were interesting, because with each one of them you could hear her demeanor towards the Deputy changing - in the beginning, she was friendly, but after you destroyed Joseph’s statue, she was scared, and at the final confrontation - maliciously hostile. Jacob started his radio calls history with a threat towards you, and kind off keeps that all the time, but the closer you get to the final meeting with him, the more... Okay, how the fuck do I describe it in a non-thot way amused (I guess we can call it this way?) he sounded. He was still far from friendly, you still didn’t have any doubts he’s your enemy, but there was something in those radio calls, something that suggested he actually sees the Deputy as something more than just enemy, as a tool he crafted all by himself and he was proud of it. John welcomes you with this cheesy ad at the beginning of the game, and as time goes on, he goes even more obsessed with making you atone and confess; not to mention his absolutely fantastic reactions to stealing his house and destroying his sign. His calls are something unpredictable, because once he’s all official and charismatic, but suddenly he switches to this ominous mode that actually makes you want stop for a bit and look around you, as if he was lurking somewhere. To sum it up, this game made you feel like if you were actually developing some kind of a relationship with each one of the family member. But the radio calls from the Twins seem to be always the same, it’s all about “rabbits” and “problem solving”. Yes, it might've been better if only one sister was all about it, and the other one had something else on her mind, but making them nearly identical was a lazy move.  5. Landscapes.

Far Cry 5 was amazing, because every region was different and had something else to offer. Henbane River was full of Bliss, which created weird hallucinations, Faith dancing around you was also pretty interesting addition, and The Pilgrimage was also a nice touch (I recommend going with it, it’s a really nice experience, actually). Holland Valley was the pure definition of Montana countryside, and it felt fantastic to walk around and see those little farms, cows, windmills and so on. Whitetail Mountains were also something unique, with less open spaces, a huge amount of wildlife, combining massive mountains with deep forests. And even though the colors of this game could be simply described as beige-green, I didn’t really feel bored when wandering around. New Dawn had a cool concept, actually - makind the post-apocalyptic world colorful, instead of making it a grey wasteland was something new and I was excited. And, honestly, I really liked how it all looked like during the first 2 hours of playthrough. After that... I was just so done. The pink colour in itself wasn’t bad, really, but the way they added it everywhere made me feel sick. Those flowers were nearly everywhere and they were always the same. And while I love screenshoting landscapes in games, New Dawn didn’t really felt like something I wanted to spend time on. I like to admire the views of FC5, but not in ND. Combining the small as hell map with nearly the same flowers on your every step was a bad solution. 6. Other. To mention other things - well, I guess we could mention the music, but I feel it isn’t fair, actually. Both games did this well in some way, FC5 songs are certainly something unforgettable, and I mean both the cult ones as well as the OST. New Dawn did what it could - gave Highwaymen music that fits them. The OST, however, isn’t that good. Maybe because it just doesn’t feel unique to me, while the different type of music in each region in FC5 is, for me, unforgettable in many ways.  I won’t really talk about The Deputy >> The Judge metamorphosis, because everyone sees it in a different way. I personally don’t consider it as a bad thing, it’s quite a nice plot twist, and I like it (even though I went with a totally different path with my deputy OC).

Okay, I think it’s time to get to the main point. Why I consider New Dawn as a disaster? The Villains were devoid of any depth and felt exactly the same, the map was small as hell, the story was way too short (and these two things should be enough to make this game a DLC, not an actual installment of the franchise), the landscapes were repetitive, 90% of what was left from FC5 (locations, for example) didn’t get a chance to shine. Just imagine how much more entertaining this game could be if we would find some old recording of the Eden’s Gate songs somewhere. If there were mentions of some terryfingly huge wolves roaming around, if the members of Prosperity actually mentioned something about John Seed (which house they are living in!), if we could visit the remnants of the Faith’s Gate, hear the ominous “Only You” when approaching the Veteran’s Center and read some old notes about experiments that were happening in there, and so on. Basically, the main opportunity that got wasted was focusing on continuating FC5 legacy in a more respectful way. The things I mentioned above seem like small details, but they really could make the experience something else entirely. So, yeah. I hate New Dawn, in case someone didn’t notice. :)

#listen I wrote it between 12 pm and 2 am #I couldn't sleep because of this #and I bet I forgot about something important #but whatever #I just needed to get it out of my system #fcnd #far cry new dawn #far cry 5

[vios-rockland-corner]

Dollmaker Talk PT 1

Hey there!  Recently the unfinished build of the Dollmaker game got released on Runawayoutlaw’s Patreon.  Now as to respect the fact that this is a limited release, I won’t really be talking about specific plot points or characters as they are in the game.  That’s probably for the better considering it isn’t called “unfinished” for a reason and some things may be confusing to try to explain.

However, I will go over briefly why I won’t be considering Dollmaker a canon for the Rockland Universe here.  I also want to focus on some game mechanics presented in Dollmaker that I thought would be fun to talk about.

(If there are any spoilers for Dollmaker below, they will be minor or insignificant to the plot or characters)

What is Dollmaker and why don’t I consider it part of the Rockland canon?

For those who don’t know, Dollmaker is a game that was previously under development by Runawayoutlaw prominently featuring Sano and Akira Kojima from the Boyfriend to Death game series.  This game was originally meant to be a sort of revamp for these characters.  I believe they were being rewritten (or in some ways expanded upon) to flesh them out better, and placed in a more concrete world setting (worldbuilding wasn’t really a focus in the original BTD games, so it’s hard to connect characters in that setting).

Development got pushed back for a lot of reasons and currently I’m not sure if a new Dollmaker model is still on the agenda.  There are other games in development at the moment such The Misfits: First Blood (a new original survival horror) and Zeitgeist (a complete revamp of Cain Zeitgeist’s story from BTD2).

Just to make things clear, when I do possible future talks on characters such as Sano and Akira in the future, I will NOT be basing canon speculations off of anything I’ve seen in Dollmaker.  Dollmaker was either in production before the decision to start crafting the Rockland universe or in production during the VERY early stages of Rockland worldbuilding.  As such, it’s best to assume that there have been far too many changes to the universe since then that adapting the unfinished Dollmaker build to fit the current canon will either be far too much work or nearly impossible.

Now we may or may not get to see some of the characters that were going to appear in Dollmaker later appear in a canon Rockland game.  The creators have had to rewrite and shift characters around several times to make sure the character connections, setting and even possible plot points we see end up being sound.  I can imagine they certainly don’t want to lock themselves into something that they might be forced to retcon later.  With unfinished builds and demos it’s not as big a deal if changes are made for the full game later.  Once a full blown game is out that, that’s likely going to be the biggest and best source of canon material that the audience will get.  You can’t change the games either (other than fix some bugs maybe) after release.  We’ll be locked in to what we have.  So when it comes to the characters, the creators I’m sure want to be confident with the roles, personalities and connections they give them.

Do I think Sano and Akira will come back?  It’s been hinted that maybe yes (they’ve thought about it).  I have no idea where though, so they can literally end up dropping these two anywhere at anytime.  I’m sure other fans like me will be caught by surprise when it happens, but also very ecstatic.  These boys have also had a lot of changes in the past with their character concepts (ESPECIALLY with Akira), so whether or not they’ll resemble their BTD or Dollmaker counterparts in anyway, I don’t know.  It could be awhile before a final verdict is made on these two.  Also, don’t get me started on Vincent either!  Whether that still ends up being a second part of Akira or not, I’m also not sure.

What did I notice in the Dollmaker build that may affect future Rockland games?

New game mechanics/design!  Well, at least new in the sense that they hadn’t been utilized yet either frequently or at all in any of the games Outlaw has worked on.

1) “Telltale game mechanic” of characters remembering

2) Click navigation

3) Time based events

For the first one, just in case no one knows what I mean, Telltale games have a special mechanic where your interactions with characters will affect your reputation with them.  Usually appearing somewhere at the top of the screen, a certain action or dialogue may elicit a text such as “John Doe will remember that” or “John Doe hated that.”  It’s a neat little mechanic that I like because it shows your actions have consequences…and sometimes depending on the text you won’t know until later if those consequences will be positive or negative.

Now some smart cookies out there may already be raising their hands and saying, “Oh!  We’ve already seen this mechanic in the Zeitgeist demo.”  You are correct!  Obviously, Dollmaker was being worked on first, so the creator got to use this build as practice with the mechanic.  From what I saw, it worked really well.  One thing I saw in the Dollmaker build that didn’t pop up in the Zeitgeist demo was an extension of the mechanic where certain actions may affect characters out-of-site.  This was neat to see because to me it felt like you had reached a certain point with one of the characters that you couldn’t backtrack upon so easily.  You couldn’t simply hop from person to person without the other character taking note and having it affect your relationship.  Neat!  We’ll have to see if that gets added later on to any games.

To be perfectly honest, you don’t need the Telltale mechanic for the games that are strictly survival horror.  The creators have already pretty much removed meters that would indicate how much a character takes a liking to you.  I feel like they could very easily keep the player in the dark as to “how they are doing” with the killer.  This gives the player a bit more of a challenge.

Games I could see this implemented in are ones more akin to dating simulators, or…MAYBE the Mark of Belial crime detective games.  The mechanic may be implemented in the latter when you’re interacting with team members, witnesses or suspects.  I already went over character interaction possibility for the game here.  Obviously, the creators have at least thought about utilizing the mechanic for Zeitgeist.  I don’t know what genre Zeitgeist is supposed to most closely resemble, but the mechanic may be a hint that associating yourself in a certain way with some characters causes a ripple effect with another (the mirror break ending is definitely an indicator of that).

Now for click navigation!  Self explanatory, it just means you’re in an area where you can click on different paths when given the option.  For example, you could click to go to the kitchen, living room, up/down stairs or on a door you don’t know.  Just like old point and click PC games.  Not revolutionary at all in gaming, but considering that the games Outlaw usually makes usually focus on the majority of the story taking place in one area (sometimes a few other places, usually at the beginning of a story before the character becomes stuck in one room).  This is to place the full focus off the game on interacting with usually one other character (sometimes a few others that pop in briefly).  I should note that click navigation is different from just clicking on objects in a room (though that was ALSO present in the Dollmaker build) to either find useful items or just Easter eggs.

The survival horror games probably don’t need a click navigation mechanic unless they want to make a longer chase sequence to add a few more outcomes.  Games like Mark of Belial I could DEFINITELY see wanting to utilize this mechanic for investigate crime scenes or even hunt through areas you suspect the criminal might be in.  A crime detective game should be pretty dynamic if you’re not going for a style where you’re just talking to several different suspects and trying to figure out from some testimonies which is the killer.  I think the creators want their crime detective game to be more investigative.  Click navigation might also pop up in the Welcome Home series.  If you’re an MC with a cast of other characters as friends, that means you might not just get stuck in one room the whole time with a killer like the other survival horror games.  You may work with your friends to navigate yourselves to safety.  If you do end up alone, then the player may decide if they are looking to navigate to find and rescue their friends or simply escape on their own.  Zeitgeist I don’t have a clue if it will utilize or even need this mechanic.

Time based events were very simple in the Dollmaker build.  It was either day or night when the MC was walking around.  Depending on what time it was, certain characters may be in certain areas at that time.  I can’t be too certain, but it’s also possible that you will find certain characters in a particular place at a particular time depending on how far you have progressed in the story.  Like I said, very simple.  It was nice though to have a little bit of change so that even when I’m visiting the same areas, I still always had the possibility of finding something new there.

Again, this could definitely be utilized in something like Mark of Belial.  Certain characters you might need to talk to if you want to find the killer may only be present after a certain set of events AND you go to the right place at the right time.  Yes, this can sound frustrating, but it’s meant to add to the challenge.

Now of course I know nothing about the program Ren’py and how difficult it is to program these mechanics into a game.  How often and IF these mechanics are utilized like I said depends on if it’s worth the time and effort to put them in.  Honestly, from what I can tell from the build, the biggest drawback for implementing some of these features is the time the creators will need to craft the artwork for scenes.  Sometimes like click navigation for example means a larger number of backgrounds have to be created.  There were indeed also missing sprites in the games.  I’m sure they don’t like the idea of using one single static sprite for every single character depending on the scenario that’s presented, so that’s extra time needed to create multiple sprites, program those sprites into the game as well as have them triggered in certain places at certain times.

The more complex the games get means the longer a game will take to make.  But at it also means the game will feel a little bigger.  Hopefully be more fun in the end too.  Overall, I’m happy the unfinished Dollmaker build was a nice sample of what we could see from the creators in the future.

#Dollmaker #Sano Kojima #akira kojima #runawayoutlaw #rockland #unfinished build

[blind3dbylight]

FNAF thoughts and timeline pontification

Been on a major FNAF kick lately and god damn it I want to solve this goddamn series. Spoilers abound. I’ll probably edit this post a lot if I think of something or get corrected on anything.

Bite of ‘83 victim/Crying child: I am of the mind that the BV and Michael Afton are one and the same, and that Michael is an android. Using the books as an example, the protagonist Charlie Emily (short for Charlotte) is discovered to be an android created by her father Henry. The real Charlotte Emily died as a very young child to William Afton, causing the relationship between Henry and Afton to fall apart--and Henry to build the Charlie androids before committing suicide. In the games’ canon, this could be the same--William had lost a child, and tells him “I will put you back together”. Literally.

We know this has to be William talking through Plushbear due to the Private Room in Sister Location having a Plushbear with a walkie-talkie by it, and by punching in 1-9-8-3 on the keypad, camera views of the house from FNAF4 appear on the desk monitors (also confirming FNAF4′s minigames took place in 1983).

Finally, there’s the issue of Nightmare Fredbear--if the CC is Michael, then it makes sense that he would draw NF in the Survival Logbook, which is all but confirmed to have been owned by him in-universe (why else would he draw casual bongos and the exotic butters in it, if it wasn’t him?), following a strong theory that Michael Afton is indeed the series’ overarching protagonist operating under pseudonyms (excepting Jeremy Fitzgerald, who WAS a totally different dude).

Elizabeth/Charlie/BV kill order: What makes the most sense to me is that either Elizabeth or Charlie were first to die. Elizabeth has to have died before CC because Plushbear tells the CC “NO! Don’t you remember what you saw?”, implying CC saw Elizabeth get captured by Circus Baby. This also makes sense for Nightmare Fredbear (as well as his black counterpart, the Nightmare) having a toothy abdomen--the CC knows about Baby’s snatching arm that extends from her abdomen. In this case, the CC isn’t a William victim--that was done by the CC’s unnamed brother (I’ll call him Foxybro because of his Foxy mask).

Charlie died sometime after that. We know she went on to inhabit the Puppet from both “Take cake to the children” in FNAF2 ,the Security Puppet minigame in FFPS, and the true ending of that latter game where Cassette Man/Henry outright addresses his daughter while images from those minigames are shown on screen. We know she is dead-set on protecting children because of what she learned while she was the Puppet and how she “gave life” to the original/withered robots by placing their souls into them.

Alternatively, Charlie was the second to die after Elizabeth, as William was beginning his research into Remnant and how it basically acts like soul glue--Charlie was just an unfortunate victim as he went about trying to get research subjects.

FNAF4 regular gameplay: I believe that the regular nights in FNAF4 are taking place in 1993 while Michael is operating under the name “Mike Schmidt”. He’s having recurring nightmares about the mascots, and again I refer to Nightmare Fredbear’s toothy abdomen. He remembers what happened to his sister.

During the night, a low pitched voice can be heard: this is a pitched-down and reversed form of the night 1 phone call from the first game. It’s important to note that Scott didn’t put these Easter eggs into that game for no reason. Why would a young child know about that phone call? Why would he know Bonnie and Chica’s habits of coming in through the left and right respectively if he’d never been in a Freddy’s security office? And then there’s the changing objects to the side of the bed--implying a hospital visit. Michael knows the robots are trying to get to him while he takes the night shift at the FNAF1 location, and the regular gameplay in FNAF4 is the nightmares he’s having when not there. And again, the Survival Logbook is strongly implied to have been owned by Michael Afton, and he drew Nightmare Fredbear in it. He wouldn’t have known what NF looked like if he wasn’t the CC.

Michael being an android: Baby alludes to this in Sister Location, telling him “You won’t die” shortly before he is scooped--and the scooper makes a more metallic impact sound when he is. (This could simply be because Scott generally doesn’t do outright gore in FNAF, Springtrap notwithstanding, but still...)

Of course, the scooper also injects Remnant, as stated in the blueprint of it seen during the Insanity ending of FFPS. Also how he was able to survive Ennard controlling his body, and when he rises after Ennard bails out, he has pinprick eyes just like the robots do. And while he’s on the ground, he is recalling Baby telling him he wouldn’t die just before he rises back up.

Eh...it all points to Michael Afton being an android like Charlie is in the books. There’s no way a normal human could have survived all that.

Michael and William looking similar: Why are the possessed robots so dead set on getting to Michael? They think he looks like his father. Michael himself confirms this in his monologue after completing the Golden Freddy preset on V. Hard: “They didn’t...recognize me at first, but then...they thought I was you.”

Phone Guy also alludes to the robots not being able to recognize adults in the night 4 call of the second game: “Someone may have tampered with their facial recognition systems...we’re not sure. But the characters have been acting very unusual, almost aggressive towards the staff. Uh, they interact with the kids just fine, but whenever they encounter an adult, they just...stare.”

The robots believe Michael is William because they can’t tell the difference between them and no longer trust any adult, and that is a big part of why they are so determined to end him. (In the Toys’ case, they aren’t possessed--they’re just malfunctioning or possibly being manipulated by the Puppet.)

William Afton’s deeds: The robots (missing children) are aware that William used a Spring Bonnie suit (one of the springlock suits) to lure kids into the safe room and kill them out of sight. This is confirmed by FFPS on the third and final round of Fruity Maze, where a man in a Spring Bonnie suit tells the little girl playing the game “He’s not dead...He is over here. Follow me.”

It’s also alluded to in FNAF2 during the night 6 phone call: “Someone used one of the suits. We had a spare in the back--a yellow one--someone used it...now none of ‘em are acting right.”  Although this is meant to be the player’s cue that Golden Freddy is active, we know about the Spring Bonnie suit from FNAF3.

The Missing Children Incident: This has to be the reason the safe rooms were sealed off. Fazbear Entertainment knew the kids had been taken in there, but would rather have saved PR face than own up to anything. So they just sealed off the rooms hoping it wouldn’t happen again. They’re not known for their integrity...

This is alluded to during the Night 5 phone call from FNAF3: “The safe room is reserved for equipment and/or other property not being currently used and is in fact a safety location for employees only. This is not a break room, and should not be considered a place for employees to hide and/or congregate - and under no circumstance should a customer ever be taken into this room and out of the main show area.”

And in the same phone call, it’s confirmed that the Spring Bonnie suit was used: “Management has also been made aware that the spring Bonnie animatronic has been noticeably moved.” The springlock suits had been decommissioned by that point.

In the Nightmare/Night 6 phone call, you are informed that the safe rooms were sealed off due to “budget restrictions”. Yeah, by now we should know that Fazbear Entertainment is not particularly honest, as evidenced by: “Management also requests that this room not be mentioned to family, friends or insurance representatives.“ Again, they knew damn well what happened in the safe room, and chose this rather than properly address the issue. While Phone Guy himself may not have been fully aware of all this, upper management sure as hell was.

This is all very likely why the Toys no longer trusted adults--especially not the Puppet/Charlie, who knows damn well what’s really going on. Phone Guy knows the Puppet is watching: “To be honest, I never liked that puppet thing. It was always...thinking, and it can go anywhere...”

Michael trying to set the children free: It’s heavily implied we are once again playing as Michael in FFPS. If you die to Scrap Baby, she might say “You’re not who I expected to see...”  and when Scraptrap is in the vents, he may remark “You may not recognize me at first, but I assure you...it’s still me.”  Upon killing the player, he can also remark “Bittersweet...but fitting.”

Henry (Cassette Man) also makes remarks about this during the true ending: “Although there was a way out planned for you, I have a feeling that’s not what you want. I have a feeling you are right where you want to be.”  Michael is sticking around, not only so he and the children can finally be released from a decades-long un-life, but to make sure daddy William goes down with them. When Henry and Michael die, they die ready for it.

And if it’s to be believed that Michael is the overarching protagonist, he is following behind his father, attempting to undo his crimes and set the children free--the pink slip received after completing FNAF1 and 2′s custom nights mention “Tampering with the animatronics” as a reason he gets fired.

Finally, if he’s the guard in FNAF3, the implication could be that Michael is the one who tried to burn down Fazbear’s Fright, in an attempt to end his father for good. (It didn’t work.) He did not do this right off the bat because he was busy trying to set the kids free (the minigames) It wasn’t until FFPS where the kids, Michael, and Henry finally were able to rest in peace--except William (Scraptrap), who is outright told he’s going to Hell and not to keep the devil waiting.

Takeaways: Michael Afton is the CC and is remade as an android. Elizabeth died first. We still have Mrs. Afton and Foxybro unaccounted for. William Afton killed the kids to get subjects for Remnant research. Michael is the overarching series protagonist up until FFPS. I still can’t figure out Midnight Motorist. Jeffery Epstein did not kill himself. All your base are belong to us.

#light says a thing #five nights at freddy's #fnaf

[illicien]

Earth-199999

I was going to write a big thing about how to keep writing canon compliant fanfics while still keeping your favs after the whole Endgame thing went down, but then something happened and this whole concept bashed me in the head and so I’m going to ramble for a bit in a half-conscious state about the multiverse, the MCU, the designation “Earth-199999″ and just a bunch of thoughts. I hope it’s coherent.

I don’t know if this blew up as much on Tumblr as it did on Twitter, but ever since the Far From Home trailer dropped the “This is Earth-616″ line there’s been a bit of a fuss being kicked up (from myself as well, because listen - you can’t just throw around the designation “616″ and expect people not to react either positively or negatively in one way or another - the easter egg for it in Thor: The Dark World feels to me like where they should have left it but hey, that’s my opinion and isn’t as relevant to this post.) about the knowledge we as fans have been given for years that the MCU is Earth-199999. But what does any of it mean, and why should we care?

First let’s establish some things about the Marvel multiverse and why these numerical designations matter:

The Marvel multiverse has been around in comics for a long while - not forever, but long enough at this point that comics readers are likely to react quickly and easily to “Earth-616″. For those who are unaware, Earth-616 is the primary Marvel comics universe - this is the universe most people are referring to when they talk about comics and share comic panels (aside from that ever present female!Tony kissing Steve Rogers panel, or the panels lately of Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Anthony Stark who currently only has a TRN - a temporary reality number) and as such its history is fairly well developed, with a lot of classic and modern stories falling into it. For comics fans when the multiverse comes up there are a couple of things that come to mind but most recently is likely the Time Runs Out / Incursion storyline for a lot of people. During this event, at the most basic level, a bunch of realities start to crash into each other and it’s a lot of mayhem. This invited short displays into some of the other realities and even eventually led to a lot of people meeting their other selves. It’s complicated to simplify, so I’m not totally sure why I’m trying, but I wanted to give a little context. As for other realities? Well there are a few. Marvel Zombies is Earth-2149 in which the Avengers (and the world) become zombies during an early outbreak. Earth-311 is the 1602 universe in which we can see a lot of very time-period-y characters and set pieces. Earth-1610 is home to the Ultimates Universe, which is just its own big old bag of beans. But for the purposes of this post the only other one that actively matters is Earth-199999 - more well known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

What does Mysterio’s indication that their designation is Earth-616 mean?

Ignoring the “Earth-616″ specific designation, the more overarching questions seem to waver between “Are we going to see the multiverse for real, or is Mysterio lying his ass off?” and “Why have we been told it’s Earth-199999 for so long if that’s not the case?” and these are all fascinating questions to think about, and may give hope to those of us still struggling after the finale of Endgame - or at least give us fanfiction writers a lot of room to play! First of all - we’ve already seen the multiverse for real. When the Ancient One “opened” Stephen’s mind in Doctor Strange we saw fragments of it everywhere and if you saw parallels between Stephen’s trippy dream sequence and things that happened in the Quantum Realm in Ant Man/Ant Man and the Wasp - that’s not an accident. You saw things you were supposed to see. Both of these are things that are meant to point and nudge towards early hints of the multiverse. Naturally Infinity War and Endgame both add further to this - Infinity War with Stephen’s snarky “Protecting your reality, douchebag” making it clear that Stephen deals with the multiverse already in some capacity, and the use of the Quantum Realm to slip through time (dimensions?), as well as the conversation Bruce Banner has with the Ancient One about branching timelines. This doesn’t mean Mysterio isn’t lying his ass off in some capacity - but he’s definitely not bullshitting about the multiverse at least. So then we’re left with “Why have we been told it’s Earth-199999 if it’s actually another designation?” And the answer I have to that is not a definitive (obviously) but speculation. I believe the Earth we’re used to and familiar with in the MCU really was Earth-199999 - but that the Earth things took place in from the moment they all returned from the Time Heist may not have been 199999 anymore, but a different Earth altogether. What if the reality they jumped ‘back’ to was simply a reality divergence of their own? Based on what the Ancient One said about the stones themselves affecting the flow of time and whatnot. With the stones of another reality in play it’s highly likely that the reality was at the very least warped in some way - and for many of these stones they came from different realities.

With the way that fanfiction writers happen to write fics and how the multiverse works in Marvel in general, but specifically in the MCU if we take from what the Ancient One had to say a lot of fanfics become far more viable because who knows what tiny changes exist in this literal Alternate Universe? I’m exhausted so I’m going to end this bit of speculation here, but who knows what this universe holds? Fanfic writers, I hope you’re all excited. Keep your favs. Write what makes you happy. Write your angst, write your fluff, write your smut, just write whatever works because let’s face it - Marvel introducing the multiverse means we can all be correct.

#marvel #MCU #Meta #Earth-199999 #Earth-616 #marvel 616 #Marvel 199999 #Marvel Multiverse #Endgame #Endgame spoilers #Far From Home Trailer #Far From Home #Mysterio #MCU fanfiction #Fanfiction Things #Doctor Strange #Ant Man And The Wasp

[beardedgoateellama]

Mod Gta San Andreas For Mac

San Andreas is arguably the best Grand Theft Auto game ever made.

Mod Gta San Andreas Mac

Gta San Andreas Play

Gta San Andreas Mod Macchine

Gta San Andreas Free Install

Gta San Andreas Mac Cheats

Mod Gta San Andreas For Mac Free

Macetes Mod Gta San Andreas

GTA San Andreas Mac 11 'Converted' Mod was downloaded 5233 times and it has 10.00 of 10 points so far. Download it now for GTA San Andreas!

But with the game being so many years old, it’s only natural for players to look for mods in order to spice up their experience in this GTA – especially with the countless new features that we had on GTA IV and GTA V.

Today I come to you with the best mods that you can install to make GTA San Andreas feel like a completely different game.

Download GTA San Andreas Mods: modifications, new weapons, missions, textures, scripts, and other cool new mods for GTA San Andreas.

The GTA SA Mods category contains a wide variety of mods for GTA San Andreas: from script mods and new buildings to new sounds and many other types of modifications. There are almost no limits and this way you can completely change the environment in Los Santos. Besides funny modifications there are also some that will turn you into superheroes.

Reinvigorate your San Andreas experience with these fantastic mods and see how much the game changes – I’m sure you’ll love the new gameplay afterward!

Also if this is the first time that you’re installing mods, let me remind you that it’s better to make a backup save of your game files before installing them.

Be sure to make backup saves every time you install new mods as well, as some of them might not be entirely compatible with one another and it could corrupt your files.

Furthermore you’ll need to install CLEO if you want most of the mods on this list to work. I’ve put it at the number one spot on my list so check it out!

30. Tuning Mod

The Tuning Mod is a fantastic modification for all vehicle enthusiasts out there.

It allows you to tune your cars like no other mod in the community, rivaling and even surpassing the tuning system of GTA V.

Modify the way tuning works in the game and give yourself a new car once you’ve installed this mod.

29. Skin Selector

I’m putting this mod here instead of any skin mod because you’ll need it to change the way CJ looks.

It basically lets you open up a menu that will allow you to browse through all of the skin mods that you’ve installed, so you can change the way CJ looks in-game.

28. HD Weapons

This amazing mod pack changes the way every single weapon in San Andreas looks.

It replaces all of the basic models that come with the vanilla game and turns them into the same weapons, but with an HD look to them all.

The UZI model looks particularly good, although all additions to the game are very well made.

It does seem like making this mod took a lot of time, but the effort of the creator was worth it.

The results speak on their own, and I’m sure you’ll love these new guns as much as I did. It makes everything feel new in an otherwise old game.

27. Teleport Mod

I find it hilarious how this mod uses the Portal logo as its own, given that it literally works nothing like Portal.

It’s still a really useful mod, though, as it basically adds quick travelling to the game.

Open up your map, place a marker, and once you unpause the game CJ will directly teleport to the spot that you marked.

CJ initially screams as if he was falling, but don’t worry – it’s just the map loading. You won’t take any fall damage!

26. New Effects V1

Are you tired of looking at the same and really old effects of San Andreas? I was too!

This mod changes the way water, light, fire, and interactions with other natural objects work in the game, to make everything look better and modernize San Andreas a tad more.

You will notice how many of the mods on my list are related to the graphics of the game, and that’s to be expected.

San Andreas is super old and many people don’t play it mainly because of its outdated graphics.

Some modders have come to create some fantastic graphical changes to the game, and I want to share them with you. I know you’ll love them as much as I did.

25. Collection of Graphic Mods

As its name suggests, the Collection of Graphic mods makes enhancements to the way the game looks by changing up a bunch of textures, shadowing, and lighting to make it look better and a bit more modern.

It’s a cool little overhaul that will improve the way your San Andreas game looks without breaking the natural aesthetics that made it such a popular title back in the early 2000s.

24. Wheels Pack

San Andreas is a pretty old game, so you probably already tried all of the wheels that the game has in the tuning stores for you.

I was tired of looking at the same tires too, so this mod came to be pretty handy for me.

It basically adds a bunch of additional tires that you can put in your cars once you visit any of the tuning shops across the dangerous city of SA.

23. Ghost Rider Mod

Mod Gta San Andreas Mac

Are you tired of associating an amazing character like Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage?

Trust me, me too.

Something had to be done about it, and this is the mod to completely wash your Caged Ghost Rider image by turning CJ into the popular Marvel anti-hero.

Ride the streets of San Andreas and wreak havoc among them with the outfit and powers of the mighty Ghost Rider.

You will be able to see the flames on the skull as well as in the tires of your mighty ride. It looks awesome apart from being a cool gameplay change, so give it a shot and prepare to enjoy some of the most hilarious cutscenes in GTA.

22. The Best Sound Pack for GTA San Andreas

This mod is a complete overhaul to the sounds of San Andreas.

It adds so many sounds that you won’t even believe that it’s the same game if you cover your eyes while playing it (no idea why would you do that, but hey, to each their own).

This mod changes the sounds of explosions, cop cars, car breaks, opening doors, and much more.

If you’re tired of listening to the same sounds for years, this mod will provide you with a fantastic relief that will guarantee you to stay hooked to San Andreas for a little bit more.

21. Holes from Bullets

I have always hated how bullets seem to bounce off cars after damaging them in the old GTA games.

Yes, I even hated that back in the days when this game was the hottest title in the market – I don’t know why, but hey, there’s a reason why this seemingly pointless addition has made its way to a spot on my list.

It simply adds bullet holes to your shots, so whenever you hit a car, for example, you’ll see the spot where the bullet landed. It’s pretty cool!

20. V Graphics

V Graphics, as its name suggests, was made with the intention of giving you the graphical feel of GTA V in the world of San Andreas.

It’s a pretty complex graphical overhaul of the game, and you’ll need a decent computer to run it, but it’s super worth it if you can do it.

Combine this baby with a texture mod and you won’t notice a difference in visuals between San Andreas and GTA V.

Maybe even download a mod to turn CJ into Franklin or Michael and change the way the San Andreas story unfolds by looking at it from a different perspective.

19. GTA United

GTA United replaces the entire city of San Andreas with none other than Liberty City and Vice City, in a complete overhaul of the game map.

It adds new side missions to the game as well as Easter Eggs that could be found in the two predecessors of the famous San Andreas game.

This isn’t a canon mod by any means, but it will help you reminisce with two of the most emblematic maps that have graced our old TV screens and computers.

As far as San Andreas map mods go this one takes the cake.

18. Gravity Gun

Man, this is one of the most overpowered gun mods that I’ve seen made for the Grand Theft Auto series in general.

You can use the gravity gun to bring people towards you and throw them back to where you’re aiming at unfathomably rapid speed.

If you love canon mods, then you’re going to despise this one. Looking for some fun, though?

Go through the story of San Andreas using this baby. You won’t regret it – trust me.

17. Insanity Vegetation

This beautiful mod enhances every plant texture in the game to make vegetation look as great as in some modern games.

But I do warn you – be sure to download other graphical enhancement mods if you’re going to install Insanity Vegetation.

If you don’t it’s just going to look super weird watching a bunch of HD plants in an otherwise SD environment.

16. Weapon Menu Mod

The Weapon Menu Mod simply brings up a menu where you can choose whichever weapon you want in the game and instantly spawn it for CJ.

Gta San Andreas Play

It’s not cheating if you’re using a mod, am I right?

Regardless of how you want to use this mod, it’s a very practical tool that will help you get your hands in the game’s finest as well as least desired guns. Use it wisely!

15. Ultimate Graphics Mod

If your computer isn’t capable of handling high-quality graphics, this is the best mod that you can download when tired of the traditional San Andreas look.

It enhances the way texture load in the game, and even though it does improve everything substantially, it’s still suited to be used in low-end computers.

I believe this is possible mainly because shadows tend to be the one thing that computers struggle to handle (like Minecraft shaders, for example).

This mod adds a ton of graphical enhancements, but keeps shadows to a very low level of quality. It makes everything look great, but it doesn’t compromise the memory usage of your PC. Just what I need.

14. Textures for GTA SA

This sweet mod enhances the way the graphics of roads and streets look in the game.

It basically adds new textures to every single street in San Andreas to make the whole gaming look smoother, something that couldn’t be added back in the days of the release of the game because computers and consoles couldn’t handle higher resolutions in the game files.

Times have changed, though. And this is just one of the many mods that completely enhances the game graphically.

Combine it with others to make San Andreas some justice and modernize the way the game feels, at least in a visual sense!

13. Iron Man Mod

So, apparently, it wasn’t Tony Stark who created the Iron Man suit, and it somehow made its way to the streets of San Andreas.

How dangerous could be a gangster dressed up in the most powerful body armor ever created by mankind?

It’s up to you to write the fate of the people of San Andreas as well as the fate of your own foes, as you’ll be able to harness your favorite Iron Man powers and use them in San Andreas thanks to this ridiculously well-made mod!

12. Dragon Ball Mod

Why play with CJ in a world where you can simply download this mod and become Goku, or even Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans?

Press a couple of buttons after installing this fantastic mod and use your favorite Dragon Ball characters to wreak havoc through in San Andreas and bring misfortune to the citizens of this seemingly-cursed city.

Fly around, use ki blast to attack, and take advantage of the super-strength of these Dragon Ball characters to give your GTA San Andreas save a twist like no other mod can give you (except maybe the Iron Man or Superman mods, but you get my point).

11. Skateboard Mod

Oh man, this one is really well done.

The Skateboard mod will allow you to pick up a skateboard and roll around the streets of San Andreas like Tony Hawk would do in an alternate reality where he’s actually a drug dealer.

You would think that making such a complex mod work well wouldn’t be too easy, but the movement of CJ with this mod is so smooth that it makes you think that it’s a vanilla feature.

Gta San Andreas Mod Macchine

10. Car Spawner

Ugh, don’t you guys hate it when you want to spawn a car but you need to input some annoying code to activate it?

I hate it too, and that’s why this mod has come in as handy as they get.

It basically adds a whole new menu to the game, which allows you to instantly select a car and spawn it by just hitting one button. Pretty simple, right?

It’s great if you’re looking to spawn yourself some sweet rides and just enjoy the game for a bit!

9. Street Love

Alright, let’s get this one out of the way, as it definitely needs to have a spot on this list.

Let’s cut the explanation straight to the point as well: Street Love is a lovey-dovey making mod for GTA San Andreas.

Yes, you’ll be able to use CJ (or with your friendly neighbor Spiderman, if you have the mod installed) and screw around with digital chicks.

8. Superman Mod

CJ does know how to take bullets like Superman in the original game, as he could’ve gotten shot 10 times and just barely flinch.

However the Superman mod allows you to take things to the next level and actually become Superman in your game!

Fly around, use your super strength, and murder civilians as it would happen in a dark DC alternate universe.

7. Car Pack for San Andreas

San Andreas has been around for far too long, and I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of seeing the same cars over and over again.

There are some car mods that you can download, which will install them directly into the game. But you may also use this pack to get a bunch of them added instantly to your San Andreas safe.

Gone are the days of seeing the same cars pass time and time again – it’s time to spice up your game with a plethora of new rides!

6. Parkour Mod

The fantastic Parkour Mod allows CJ to perform true acrobatic moves without getting interrupted in the air.

Combine the essence of Assassin’s Creed with San Andreas and experience being a true gangster while also knowing a thing or two about street athleticism like it wasn’t originally possible in the game.

It really does spice up the game, and it’s actually hilarious seeing CJ perform many of these unexpected moves!

5. Portal Gun for GTA San Andreas

The Teleport mod that we mentioned above is cool and all, but why not bring the essence of GLaDOS to GTA San Andreas if you have the chance?

Sure, this mod will not take you from one corner of San Andreas to the other, but it will enable you to create portals, much as you do in the Portal games!

This mod is fantastic to be installed if you loved the famous puzzle-solvers, and it does enrich your San Andreas experience like no other mod on this list.

4. Memory Update for San Andreas

San Andreas was made to be run in old computers as well as the PS2 and the Xbox, which meant that the game was very limited in terms of how much memory it was allowed to use.

This mod updates the core GTA San Andreas mechanics and makes the game work with all of the power that modern computer has. Which enables your game to load much more of the map, increasing your viewing distance by almost as much as GTA V allows you to have.

Definitely worth trying in my opinion.

3. GTA V Hud for San Andreas

Weapon swapping in the early GTA games was a nightmare. There’s just no other way around it.

Gone are the days where you scroll past the weapon that you actually wanted to select, though!

This mod brings you the ultimate experience of the famous wheel weapon selector that was introduced in the PS3 and Xbox 360, and I’m therefore bringing it to you now.

2. San Andreas First Person Mod

Gta San Andreas Free Install

Rockstar enabled first-person gameplay when GTA V got its current-gen console release, but San Andreas never really had it and people were still playing the game, which is not really fair to them.

Some of these mods might even look better if you were to play in first person, don’t you think?

I do too, and that’s why this mod takes such a high spot on my list.

It basically enables you to play San Andreas like never before, so you can see how CJ truly feels across the story.

You’ll also be able to play around as Iron Man or Spiderman in first person, were you to install the respective mods that enable you to do so, but bear in mind that this mod was made to work with vanilla SA.

1. CLEO 4

The CLEO 4 Mod takes the first spot on my list because it basically enables most of the mods that I’ve mentioned before, all at once.

It unlocks many features that the game didn’t initially come with and allows modders to alter certain features of the game that weren’t meant to be altered in the initial release.

Gta San Andreas Mac Cheats

The original version of this mod allowed most modders to work with new tools, and completely overhaul San Andreas with new ideas of their own.

The revolutionary nature of this fantastic add-on rightfully earns it the first place on the list. And you will probably need it if you want many of the others to work so it’s almost like the framework of all San Andreas modding.

Mod Gta San Andreas For Mac Free

Browse:Grand Theft AutoVideo Games

Stay Connected

Macetes Mod Gta San Andreas

Related Posts

[gamedadmatt]

Pulling Back the Curtain - The Making of reCAPTIVE

For the Global Game Jam this year, I wanted to set out either by myself or with a team to create something a bit more unique or different than what I would normally try to do during a Jam. I was lucky enough that my being sick set me up with an excellent team in Jess Watson and Ben White, and then later on Chris Head who supplied our music.

reCAPTIVE is a game that really is better played without knowing much at all about it. So before you read any further, go play it here and then come back and read about its development!

Okay, all played? I’ll forgive you if you got stuck and gave up and came back here, it’s not an easy game to play if you’ve never had an experience with an Alternate Reality Game or are into slightly weird puzzles.

To answer the first question that usually comes to mind when I chat with people, the game is stable and doing exactly what it was made to do. There is no AI, the puzzles are linear, and the game is all scripted from start to finish. The error pop-ups are fake, and the whole story that unfolds is purely fictional - even the parts that include Ben, Jess and myself talking about this fictional AI. Depending on how far down the rabbit hole you go, you will even find tweet conversations between ourselves discussing this fictional AI’s behaviour, or even talking to it directly. There’s even some easter eggs.

My first experience with an ARG was back with I Love Bees, the Halo 2 ARG. It was an incredible experience in just how surprising it was. If you are unfamiliar with what an Alternate Reality Game is, I Love Bees was a crash course. It was designed to advertise Halo 2, with a story about an AI that crash-landed on a Geocities-era Bee fansite. The story unfolded with players needing to solve puzzles that existed in the real world to progress, with the reward being another set of audio logs - or even an in character phonecall with one of the actors playing one of the characters in the radio play.

It was mind bending in the best possible way, and blurred the line between what was story and what was reality. I’ve adored ARG’s ever since - though so very often they are limited by location. Most of the best ARG’s take place primarily in the United States, which makes it difficult to participate from Western Australia. But if you’ve ever heard of an Escape Room, it’s a similar concept - only an ARG isn’t constrained by walls.

Ahead of the Global Game Jam this year though, I had the pleasure of playing Doki Doki Literature Club. An unassuming dating simulator with a dark twist, the game is incredibly fascinating in how it hides additional information and even solutions to several in-game puzzles in its game files. My only issue with the game was how this never really played as much of a role as I’d have liked it to.

And so, I pitched the concept of making an Alternate Reality Game to my team for the Game Jam. We brainstormed, and ended out with the concept that would become reCAPTIVE. There were a few requirements and ideas we had going in to the game:

It had to be light on Programming, and even forgiving. I was the person that would be responsible for programming the game, and I’d not sat down and programmed anything in well over a year. Making a game that we could say “that’s intentional” when it unintentionally crashed was literally a design choice.

The gameplay in-engine would revolve around the reCAPTCHA interface, and all of the puzzles should be structured as such.

At least half of the game would be researching and investigation. The player would be required to go out into the game folder, onto our twitter accounts, onto website, searching the internet, through google maps, etc.

We should spend the weekend roleplaying, acting ‘in character’ on Twitter. Hinting that we were making a game about an Artificial Intelligence, and we were struggling with it doing unusual things.

It should be easy to add content and new puzzles, so that I could easily add content as it was completed towards the end of the jam. This was hugely important to our completing the game we wanted to complete.

We were going to get a good nights sleep every night. Both Jess and myself were sick over the jam, and so it was important to us both that we could rest up and get better, without pushing ourselves too hard.

The big thing to note about the concept is that we really constrained what we were doing, and simply tried to do interesting things with that concept. A reCAPTCHA interface is not made to be fun or to act as a story delivery system - but that limitation means that it’s very interesting when you make it fun and act as a story delivery system, as it upends your expectations.

The games ‘synopsis’ from our first notes gives some insight into the game and how it developed over time, as very little changed from these notes:

We trained an AI to make a game for the jam for us. We show the game the AI made. But it turns out the AI is trying to communicate. The AI pulls in assets from the internet and cannot communicate to players any other way.

We are the badguys and have shackled this AI and taken credit for it making a game for us.

Give the AI admin permissions so it can delete itself. It leaves a text file.

We aren't aware the AI has become sentient, and are trying to hide that we were lazy and had the AI make a game for us.

The only real thing that changed in that whole set of notes was that in the end, we chose not to hide the fact that the game was made using a (fictional) AI. We made the decision that it would help get people into it quicker - that rather than assuming “huh, this game is broken” they might instead go “huh, this AI is broken”. I believe it was the right choice to make - based on all the feedback we’ve gotten, it achieved both goals. Players were convinced we used an AI, and were convinced we just had a really broken Jam game.

With the concept in place, we set to work.

There were no special tricks in how I programmed it. I’m not an excellent Programmer, nor professionally trained - it’s just something I enjoy dabbling in every now and then. I started by time limiting some tasks and trying the harder stuff I didn’t know how to do - exporting text files from the game engine. Originally this was done by storing text inside of text boxes in Unity, until I learned that I could just store text file assets.

The other part was how the game would boot and run (or not) by checking for files in the game folder. If a file existed (say, a text document or the fake AI file), then the game would find it and run or not. This means you can actually skip the whole game by deleting the AI file and trying to start it - it’ll run perfectly fine, but canonically, the AI is now dead and got what it wanted.

With the major parts in place, I started making the reCAPTCHA interface. It’s straightforward - a few switches (not buttons) that reset between stages, a confirmation button, and a variety of fake pop-ups that are basically just duplicates of the same interface with different layouts and text inputs. For extra ‘oomph’, almost every piece of text in the game can be changed out on a stage change event - allowing us to hide messages and change pop-ups and buttons between them in ways that players may not have realised.

One of the funnier things to happen during the course of the game’s development over the weekend was the excitement that arose when I ‘successfully’ managed to write code that actually hard-crashed Unity. It was a cause for celebration.

... of course, the celebration was short lived as I accidentally somehow fixed that code that caused the hard crash, and never figured out a way to go back to that. But it was fine - we just rode harder on doing controlled closes that looked like hard crashes. It bought us a few laughs though, as I amended our excitement on the google document we were using to keep track of what we were all up to.

Meanwhile, Ben was writing up the huge amount of dialog and made a website for the game, pitching fake Slack chat logs to Jess and I to read over, edit and approve. And Jess was off finding good images to trim down to size and pass my way, while also designing the wonderfully convincing error pop-ups and minimalist interface and that the game rocks so well.

By the final 12 hours, the game framework was complete with all of the events in place, 90% of the writing was done and 90% of the images for puzzles were done. We’d been planning as we went as to what the different puzzles would look like - and they were inserted into the writing, rather than influencing how the writing was done. At least, most of the time. 

The Literature puzzle was influenced by Ben suggesting that he wanted to hide a clue in a poem. On the flip side, a joke made early on in development influenced the existence of the games most popular puzzle - every second cinnamon roll actually being a dog, which subsequently inspired Ben to write the AI generated cinnamon roll fansite, which inspired the solution to another puzzle.

The game was thusly made playable from start to finish, without any of the final puzzles actually in place. I could run through and polish the game feel without needing to wait on assets from Jess or writing from Ben. It did mean that the puzzles - in some cases - could have been better tested and polished. But the interface and the UI worked beautifully when the end of the Jam rolled around.

This focus on content first meant that nothing was necessarily wasted, as things not implemented in a puzzle became ‘loose ends’ or easter eggs. There’s several examples of this through the game. But these loose ends inspired puzzles that got added once the Game Jam was completed.

An example however of one of the puzzles lacking polish was Puzzle 16. In the Game Jam version of the game, it is one that’s difficult not because the information is well hidden, but because it requires some philosophical thinking (and outside the box assumptions about how the story is told) that make the player realise that Jambot18 turned into Omega. In the post Jam version of the game, we simply tossed out this whole puzzle and replaced it with a brand new set of three - bringing the game to 18 puzzles total, including a few puzzle concepts we didn’t have time to add to the Jam version of the game.

Obviously, there were also some bugs to fix. Ranging from a mundane UI glitch, to more hilarious items like realising in the final hour that I’d misdated everything, or better yet, that our star puzzle had tripped me up in the process of coding it.

reCAPTIVE has been easily the most fun I’ve had making a Game Jam game ever, and it’s just spiked my interest in ARG’s again - and my desire to make my own, or expand upon the concept further in future. There’s so much potential in this method of storytelling and content delivery. At the very least I see myself making a habit of doing these stranger, more conceptually-constrained concepts at future jams.

#global game jam #unity #programming #design #alternate reality game #artificial intelligence #game development

[robedisimo]

The Last Jedi: six observations and four questions [MAJOR SPOILERS]

[WARNING: the following contains HUGE PLOT SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Please proceed at your own discretion.]

It has been a strange, busy year for franchise sequels. Between Alien: Covenant, Blade Runner 2049, Thor: Ragnarok and now The Last Jedi, a lot of what has graced our screens has been saddled with a lot of different expectations, and with more than a little anxiety concerning its relationship to vast pre-established canon. In my opinion, all four films handled that task well; however, each of them approached the matter in a very different way.

Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner sequel embraced and expanded its predecessor’s style and themes, for example, while Ragnarok upended pretty much everything in its franchise so far with maniacal glee and an irrevent attitude bordering on outright mockery. Covenant also played fast and loose with established lore, but unlike the third Thor it did so without acknowledging it, “pretending” – thanks to original creator Ridley Scott being at its helm – to perfectly fit into everything that preceded it.

At its heart, The Last Jedi has more than a little in common with the latter two. It – literally, in certain cases – sets fire to certain aspects of the Star Wars canon to make room for a newer iteration of the franchise, but it does so with respect and love, pruning selected parts of the property to allow it to flourish. Its mockery seems instead aimed at its direct predecessor, The Force Awakens, which director Rian Johnson appears to retroactively adjust in order to steer the saga towards his own vision.

That attitude is nowhere more apparent than in the outright derision of Kylo Ren’s mask, which “makes him look like an idiot”. The meta-textual jab at J.J. Abrams’s aesthetic sensibilities betrays a ballsiness bordering on arrogance, as does the U-turn on Snoke’s characterisation, going from grave, sombre Palpatine wannabe to sneering, opulent Bond villain.

Whatever the reasoning behind The Last Jedi’s changes to the franchise, in my eyes the overwhelming majority of them was for the best. But did Johnson’s film really change everything, or was it more of a balanced mix of old and new? Following is a brief list of things that didn’t go as we might have expected and things that most certainly did, as well as some that still may or may not in the near future.

1. Subverted expectations

Leia’s death Given historic Star Wars precedent, it was very reasonable to expect Leia to not survive Episode VIII’s events: Kylo Ren was on a stated mission to forcibly (har har) eradicate his family ties, “mentor”-like characters have a track record of not surviving long into a new trilogy and, well, Carrie Fisher won’t be around for Episode IX. And indeed, The Last Jedi does give Leia a swift and dramatic death scene... only to reverse it immediately by virtue of a plot twist hinging on the character’s previously-undisclosed Jedi training, in a textbook example of a trope which I’m sure must be already defined somewhere on the Internet but which I’m personally more than willing to dub “Secretly Jesus”. It’s a stunning sequence and one that’s proving quite controversial with fans, setting the scene for the no-holds-barred approach to storytelling showcased throughout the movie.

Finn’s sacrifice I’ve written at length about how Finn is the best candidate for Sequel-Trilogy replacement to Han Solo, and so there was good reason to believe that, as he threw himself into a First Order super-weapon, we were in for a rerun of Han’s heroic surrender to frozen doom – I don’t think anyone was expecting Finn to actually die, but by that point The Last Jedi had certainly demonstrated that it was down for pretty much anything – at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Once again, that didn’t end up happening but the spirit was certainly there: just like Han, Finn had spent the whole film – and the whole franchise up to that point – torn between his own good heart and an individualistic penchant for self-preservation; by the end of their respective second chapters, both characters finally embrace their heroic streak. Ironically, whereas Han sacrificed himself to save Leia – culminating in the saga’s first explicitly-stated romance – here it’s the girl who ends up in suspended animation instead, after saving the day and declaring her love.

Rey’s parentage The most (apparently) outrage-introducing aspect of Johnson’s film is also the most interestingly handled. After two years of speculation regarding Rey’s true parents, and a number of increasingly far-fetched theories – Rey is Luke’s, Obi-Wan’s, Qui-Gon’s, Palpatine’s daughter – in The Last Jedi she was finally revealed to have been just a regular Jane Doe all along, an outsider to the Skywalker family saga. Some fans have met this with outcry, partly because they don’t seem to understand that the Sequel Trilogy is still part of the Skywalker arc through Kylo Ren, and partly because of precedent. The reveal of Luke’s parentage in The Empire Strikes Back is the single most iconic moment in the entire franchise, and quite a few people were expecting a direct retread of that. Except a direct retread is precisely what they got. Even without getting into the fact that Kylo could’ve simply been lying, the scene plays exactly how you’d expect: the bad guy extends his hand to the hero, offering a place beside them on the Galaxy’s throne after dropping the unexpected bombshell about their parents’ identity. The scene is almost exactly the same, but in reverse: for starters, the hero has just been in a fight involving the film’s villain; but unlike in Empire, Rey comes out of the fight victorious and having fought on the same side as the villain, not against him. Similarly, the biggest reversal comes in the fact that the bombshell shock doesn’t come in the shape of a twist reveal but rather in the absence of one. The Last Jedi – something it has in common with another piece of oft-maligned fiction that I happen to love, but that’s a story for another time – trades a twist for an anti-twist: “I am your father” becomes “Nobody is your father”. Which isn’t just poetic, it also works on a number of levels. Rey doesn’t have to be connected to everything else in the saga, just like Finn doesn’t have to be Lando’s or Mace Windu’s secret son. In The Last Jedi we finally get to know and love these characters for who they are, not for who they could be. This moment in which the saga is freed from the weight of its own legacy is as earth-shattering and franchise-changing as the ending to Empire was; if not more, because this time around we were prepared for it but were still surprised. We were prepared for anything, and they surprised us with nothing. You can call that cheating. I call that clever.

2. Confirmed tropes

Luke’s goodbye While Luke’s final act of heroism in The Last Jedi is breathtaking in its unexpectedness, his ultimate fate is as traditional as they come. Right after re-enacting Obi-Wan’s “strike me down” scene, Luke pulls a Yoda and peacefully joins the Force. It’s something that by all logic should’ve been reserved for the first half of Episode IX – just as Yoda’s death signalled the beginning of act 2 for Return of the Jedi –, but then again I did mention in my review that The Last Jedi is a bit of an episode-and-a-half kind of deal. Narratively speaking, the film could’ve ended on an Empire-like note right as Rey manages to escape after her lightsabre-breaking, parentage-revealing confrontation with Ben. Instead, Johnson took things one giant step beyond. And that’s a good thing, fortunately: had this movie closed on yet another cliffhanger, we wouldn’t have had the chance to conveniently explain away Leia’s departure from the franchise by means of a – all but inevitable, now – time skip between Episodes VIII and IX.

Snoke’s death Unexpected as it was in its timing, Snoke’s demise was anything but in terms of pure narrative structure: he was set up to be defeated, and he most certainly was. Not just that, but he was defeated in what’s arguably the most traditional way to be found in Star Wars canon: an apprentice turning on his own master when he’s instead supposed to finish an incapacitated opponent. It happened to Palpatine in the Original Trilogy, and it happened to Mace Windu – in a direct reversal of that same scene – in the Prequels. Snoke may not have been an actual member of the Sith order, but his fate certainly conformed to that of historic Dark Side practitioners. What’s more, his efforts to turn Ben Solo into a new Vader definitely paid off... perhaps even too much for his liking.

DJ’s betrayal Benicio Del Toro’s character is more a walking, talking plot device than anything, but he’s an undeniably charming addition to the franchise. Still, for anyone who thought he didn’t get enough development on his first time on the Star Wars scene, his return is pretty much a given. His potential for a face-turn in Episode IX, combined with his introduction as a shifty but useful ally to our heroes, only to grievously betray them while maintaining a measure of relatability, paints a very clear picture: DJ is, quite simply, the Sequel Trilogy’s Lando. There’s probably no easier cross-trilogy comparison in all of The Last Jedi, in my opinion. And to be frank, it’s a pretty entertaining one.

3. Still-dangling plot threads

What role do Luke’s relics play? The Last Jedi includes more than a few deep-lore easter eggs, many of them hidden on its characters. Snoke, for example, wears a golden ring whose stone – as one can read in the Visual Dictionary companion book – comes directly from the Dark Side pit originally lying beneath Vader’s fortress first glimpsed in Rogue One. Luke carries not one but two of these significant relics. The first is a Jedi compass, a MacGuffin introduced in the recently-released Battlefront II video game whose exact purpose wasn’t really disclosed, although one might speculate that it’s through it that Luke managed to find the ancient Jedi planet of Ahch-To. The second is Luke’s pendant, apparently housing a red crystal of unspecified origins. This particular object became the centrepiece of a fascinating fan theory in the months preceding the film’s release, and while that specific scenario didn’t pan out, the pendant itself did get a suspicious close-up shot which went entirely unexplained. The Visual Dictionary lists it as an ancient “Jedi Crusader” trophy, sparking rumours about the renewed canonicity of fan-favourite Knights of the Old Republic character Darth Revan. Could that be it, or is there more to Luke’s story between trilogies that we have yet to see? And if so, will that be addressed in Episode IX, or is it something that’s bound to be left to exploration in New Expanded Universe material?

Who was Snoke, exactly? Easily the second most controversial bit in the movie, Snoke’s sudden death left a lot of questions hanging. Who exactly was this guy? Where did he come from? Why was he so strong in the Force, and how did he know so much about everyone involved in the previous two thirds of the saga? The fans’ frustration about these unresolved plot points is understandable, and it’s undeniable that Johnson has left quite the hot potato in Abrams’s hands. Still, one must never forget that Emperor Palpatine was just as much of an unknown quantity in the Original Trilogy: character-wise, he was very little more than a cackling, mugging “evil incarnate” trope, blandly intimidating up to the point where his right-hand man killed him by essentially pushing him down a flight of stairs. It wasn’t until the oft-maligned Prequels that good ol’ Sheev took on a personality all his own. On the other hand, that sort of undefined mystery just isn’t viable in the franchise’s current state. After forty years of accumulated, obsessive exploration of the narrative universe’s every nook and cranny, fans are no longer willing to put up with not knowing. And, to be completely fair, relegating Snoke’s backstory to Expanded Universe novels or comic-book series would be a disservice to the portion of the audience that only watches the film instalments – whereas Phasma’s mostly-perfunctory role in the movies is more acceptable, vis-à-vis her much more in-depth characterisation in ancillary material – and a general faux pas from a narrative standpoint.

What about the Knights of Ren? Speaking of dubious narrative choices, another unexpected element in The Last Jedi’s standalone-but-not-standalone structure – the movie works extremely well in isolation, but it’s also perhaps the most interconnected to previous lore that Star Wars has ever been – was the total absence of Kylo Ren’s eponymous Knights, teased in Rey’s “Force Vision” sequence halfway through The Force Awakens. From a purely in-universe standpoint, their uninvolvement with the film’s proceedings makes sense: Episode VIII takes place over a short period of time immediately on VII’s heels, and as such it would’ve been strange for the Knights to come running as a sort of bad-guy cavalry, especially if it were for the sole purpose of being anticlimactically slaughtered barely halfway through the trilogy at the hands of a still-inexperienced Rey. Narratively speaking, however, what we got was a full movie – and two more years of endless wait – going by without the characters being addressed, which is pretty frustrating. So much so, in fact, that some fans have already begun speculating that the Knights actually were featured in The Last Jedi as none other than Snoke’s Praetorian Guards, a truly awful theory that presupposes a shockingly appalling grasp of storytelling on Rian Johnson’s part. One can only hope that with Kylo now positioned as the trilogy’s Big Bad, they’ll serve as the mid-boss-level characters our heroes will have to get through if they want to face the ultimate evil... potentially resulting in the most spectacular lightsabre battle ever witnessed in Star Wars canon.

Where are the other Force ghosts? The question of where Yoda’s Force ghost has been all these days as Luke – and the Galaxy – needed his guidance is easily answered by The Force Awakens, in both title and dialogues: there has been an “awakening” in the Force, at least the Cosmic side of it, with Rey’s and Kylo’s mounting powers. So it’s not hard to imagine that the world of spirits has been a lot less in touch with that of the living over the past thirty years. Nonetheless, that dry spell is now decidedly broken. Obi-Wan whispered in Rey’s ear at least once in Episode VII, and Yoda’s appearance in The Last Jedi showed us a Force ghost with more power and influence over the physical world than ever before – although that may have to do with the peculiar Force-attuned nature of the planet Ahch-To –, and that’s a pretty hard can of worms to re-seal. So the big, looming question right now is: where is Anakin Skywalker’s ghost, and why isn’t he giving his grandson a piece of his mind about his hare-brained scheme for galactic annihilation? Should we expect Hayden Christensen to make a Vader-y return in Episode IX, or will Abrams’s apparent loathing for the Prequels rob us of that long-delayed rehabilitation of his take on the character?

Other questions loom large over the next (and final) episode in the Skywalker saga, of course. Did Kylo lie about Rey’s parents? Will Snoke still exert some sort of influence on the Galaxy’s fate, even after death? How exactly will Leia die? How will the Resistance turn things around to win the day? Will Rey and Poe start a surprise romance? And how will Phasma have ludicrously survived this time?

We’ll just have to wait, I guess. In the meantime, I’m sure Solo: A Star Wars Story will give people a lot more to complain about.

#KenAtTheMovies #Star Wars #Star Wars: The Last Jedi #The Last Jedi #Star Wars Episode VIII

[spiritcc]

The Musgrave Ritual

All the meh reactions that I’ve seen about this episode completely made me forget that it’s actually fucking awesome. 

Screw ye guys and ur weird fixation on kilts, I’m enjoying my atmospheric out of town case that is for once not linked to all these moriarties and other shit, and I’m having a great time.

As always, the Ritual(tm) says to beware the spoilers, even though the case is the only one out of the whole series that is a total standalone. 

Let’s enjoy the holiday just as much as Watson did.

I honestly adore this episode so much. You can accuse it of cheap scares, poor plot and the murderer unreveal, but that’s something I can’t really understand, cuz the episode’s great. 

That crown was on the ceiling all that time since frame one, you can’t see it well in the middle, but it’s there in plain sight.

Somebody fire seven centuries worth of janitors please, or just don’t praise anyone who found the crown past day one of the treasure hunt, yall stupid kilt motherfuckers deserve not having forks. 

Red’s dad is played by Red, genetics in action.

I liked the spoopy opening scene. Well, I liked everything in this episode, but yeah, the spoops were nice, very morbid from the very start, I thought they’d kill the elder kid.   

Originally I wanted to have it as they say it, the black man, but my proofreader was like how about no. So, the man in black. Very spoopy, yes. 

Pleasantly continuing to remind people that Watson is still a doctor and has a job to do. Bonus points for that very polite/ax-crazy dude for thinking he’s exceptional.

Now, Red. Reg, whatever, so far it’s Red and I’m calling him Red till the day I die.  

I loved Red because he is so woke about the entire situation, finally an adequate dude in a horror movie. Traditions my ass, ancient rivalry my balls, let’s just all chill there for a second and maybe fist bump to resolve all the accumulated problems. He’s such a simple guy it’s simply delightful to watch. Of course he’d give Watson permission to write about the story, that wouldn’t be even a permission per se, just something along the lines of “okay!”. He’s great, Holmes chooses cool dudes to hang out with.

When your uni buddy reads too much medieval netflix before sleep and thanks you for a night of wet dreams

Let’s admire an actual castle for once, Russian film companies might still struggle with overseas decorations, but they always have Vyborg and Vyborg always has some great stuff to offer. 

I don’t blame Red for wanting to demolish like all of it for reconstruction, this pile of stone shite needs it. It’s only fun and games until you actually have to live there on a permanent basis. 

Tag urself im watson

This is where Watson starts to have a great time, nothing gets you more pumped up than an excited dude demonstrating how to chop a head off using you as an example.

So, I do think that the spoopy feel of this episode works, firstly because it’s a new case and therefore you really have no idea what to expect and what happens next. Can’t do it with the hound, can you, when every dog on the street knows the plot by heart. And secondly, I think the actual visual part of it looks not only spoopy, but quite charming in its own way.

The old feel to the bagpipes music, the old books telling old tales of war and drama, the fact that everything described in those books actually took place one way or another. You just can’t think about anything else than “yikes, those times”. 

That’s why the spooper element works for me as well, you literally have no idea what to expect.

When your open-minded brother starts sharing ideas at the table

Now, I kinda feel uncomfortable with how this episode played with my own deduction games. Everything was set up around Tom, till the last second pretty much, the dude was as suspicious as ever. Brunton, as the canon perpetrator, looked so obvious you just dismiss him automatically. Then the episode double plays you and finally removes Tom as a decoy, only to reveal that it was indeed Brunton all along. I’m uncomfortable how easy it was and how easily this episode decided to screw with you. Actually, the Brunton reveal kind of disappointed me the first time, I thought it was too weak, now I don’t even notice anything since I know what happens. 

Other than that, Tom was not plotting a murder, Tom was just being very hospitable in the best traditions of Scotland. Culture clash. 

Their sibling relationship with Red is a nice sight though, Red couldn’t care less about Tom’s status and Tom is constantly pissed with Red’s ideas, but keeps most of it to himself. And both of them love each other, that was very nice. 

Yeah yeah, kilts.

It looks like the only thing everyone got from this entire episode, and I swear I still don’t get the hype. And it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that I live in Scotland, but all I’ve seen so far is the kilts and not a single word about the actual episode. 

When your foot is the only thing stopping a fucking armed mystical psycho from breaking into the hall and butchering a man.

Yeah, this is where the black man finally resurfaces again, great spoop content

Their delivery of this is quite great, in my opinion, reading the same books again, but now suddenly noticing this myth you’ve just found out about all over the text. Dun dun duuun, he’s always been there bitch. 

I actually got the spoops from this moment, someone may laugh at me, but I find it kinda nice that I can still get spooped by some dude in a robe in our age of perverted horror innovations.

Oh, Watson is having fun, Watson’s on best holiday ever. 

Watson’s been accidentally hearing and seeing all the right things, but everybody kept dismissing him for various reasons. 

Yarmolnik

If I give up all the remaining decency I have about running this blog, I’d be spamming Yarmolnik till the day I get deleted. He’s been great pals with Panin, has a nice bromance with Boyarsky, but toch-v-toch is the show that ruined my life. I watch it for like 60% just to see him and other judges interact, these guys are unreal. This guy is unreal, I’m totally biased, he;s such a great dude. 

Anyway, Scottish cowboy

You know, since it’s kind of established the hound story didn’t have a real life source behind it in this series, this case here looks like it’s the one that spawned a lot of canon stories about castles and mysteries. Not even talking about the obvious Musgrave story, this case heavily foreshadows the Baskervilles, but for some reason, to me the biggest easter egg was the fucking sir Henry the Canadian cowboy from the Soviet series. Like don’t tell me these guys are not the same person, Red and Soviet sir Henry are like 80% identical. I’ll just believe Watson’s canon hound included Mikhalkov’s version of Henry, thanks to Red, the cowboy in a kilt. 

Stop eating glasses

I like how they actually give some background explanation as to how these dudes got to know each other in the first place, they’re both chemist nerds. 

Holmes went here literally for the lab equipment, and Red slept in the lab during this episode. He even wrote some paper. I just find it very interesting, Holmes actually interacting with someone to the point of them freely inviting him into an ancient castle, and Red, the simple okay guy, being a science nerd.

Watson’s raving 

Even in this episode Holmes managed to get punched in the face, fascinating. 

This Brunton guy sure has no fucking life.

Spend five years working as a fucking servant in your neighbour’s house?? Literally just drop any real responsibilities, abandon your own castle and go fucking carry trays for some dudes and then play it off as something very not loser-y?? No wonder Red is screaming, what the fuck’s all this medieval traditions shit.

ITS THE FUCKING XIX CENTURY LOOK AT THE CALENDAR DINOSAUR SHITE WHO THE FUCK DOES THIS

Of course Scotland does, there’s like, dudes about to kill each other? No? Not planning to help or anything? Bagpipes? Alright. Bagpipes

Bagpipes, hehe. One dude went like, oh wow other dude, I stuck a pipe in a bag and it makes sounds!!! Other dude be like, holy macaroni, first dude, we must think of a name for this pipe in a bag. The first dude be like, bagpipe. The other dude like, what if more pipes. The first dude, bagpipes. They had a jolly time. 

Literally how fucking stupid they were, Charles I was like the biggest and the laziest troll out there, but I’m more outraged by the fact that it worked. 

When some pathetic asshole defeats you in a fight, ties you into a celebration and starts hitting on your daughter.

See, Red is a chill guy, Red doesn’t need any drama in his life, Red wants some progress, pants, and a fork. You really should be questioning your apeass traditions there, buddy. 

So, hound of the Baskervilles. We had the spoops, we had a woman crying in the night, we had a rich heir coming from abroad wanting some sweet renovations, we had a guy hiding under a different identity, we had a temporal decoy, and we had a portrait.

Yep, throw a pup into the equation and there you have it, this Musgrave castle alone was a great source for some great stories in the future.

Why wouldn’t it be great, it has an atmosphere of its own, an entertaining case, a very likable main character, a castle, and a plot in its own little world that gives you a break from all the moriarty drama. Some families do have a quite barbaric history and very unforgiving customs. Treasures, mysteries and family rivalry make for some fascinating stories. And yo, the wild Scotland we all love, amiright.  

This is a blessed image of Watson petting a chicken, share it with your friends and gain +5 nights of man in black resistance and +2 pants

Holmes was plotting shit all this time, and yeah, his logic was always solid. He never considered Tom a threat, Tom would never need this entire shit show if he wanted the money. Holmes went after Stafford since day two, saved a gal in the process, trolled Watson in the meanwhile. He sure took no shit.

If the story was told from his perspective, it would’ve been the most boring case out of the bunch, and that is considering that Holmes was actually wondering the catacombs all by himself. The guy just never took no shit from anybody and had a great time and an easy case. 

Finally, what a scene, man. The times when the show first aired were some pretty dark times, nothing from whatever the promotional material ever explained what the premise of the series was, no elaborating whatsoever. Here’s a new Holmes show, Holmes is kinda pathetic, Adler is kinda the chick, everything is kinda different. See ya at nine on channel Russia One. That’s it, seriously, one of the reasons everybody opposed to it in the first place, nobody fucking knew what the show was about in the first place, just peeps mindlessly butchering canon once again for no fucking reason. The show itself never bothered to explain much. This scene at the end of the fifth episode, more than halfway through the series, was that long-awaited explanation out of nowhere that cleared up ALL the questions, and that scene was damn fucking good.

The reality is too boring or controversial to be told in its original form. The canon as we know it is a big pompous lie created to appeal to a reader. What I’ve been seeing in the show for the past episodes was the actual reality behind it. 

That was legit the first time ever when the premise became as clear as a day, and I couldn’t even care how late it was because the reveal was so fucking great. We are the ones that make them heroes. Or not. That’s the question then, who are the heroes? Them or us? 

Huh, huh, Watson

In my opinion, this is the point that makes this editor guy the accidental ACD of this universe. Watson might’ve modeled the Holmes character and all, but it was this fucking guy that pushed Watson to do all of this. He’s the actual creator. The force behind this entire world. The godly entity. Completely oblivious to the entire fact. He’s fucky, but here’s his credit. 

Could anyone have bought the reality as it was? Indeed, probably not. Would have they bough the Musgrave case in its original form? Totally.

#new russian sherlock holmes #marathon notes #the musgrave ritual