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snoopdoodle · 3 years

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Hello, Snoop :] Can I have a M! reader that is like the "Main Creative Big Builder" of the SMP. Like helped build the "Pandora's Vault" [ + redstone], "Las Nevadas", and ect. But only Wilbur, Dream (+ Sam), and Big Q know about reader because reader usually builds when no one is on other people [Bench trio, Phil, ect.] Mid-Lore stream, when C! Philza, Bench Trio, & Sam go to visit Dream and the redstone for the vault is mess up so they have to get Reader on the SMP to fix it. Anarchy :]

i think its concerning how I listened to "true crime in America" while writing this wholesome write :,)

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[Name] to the rescue!

platonic!benchtrio x male!reader, platonic!philza x male!reader, platonic!awesamdude x male!reader

pronouns: he/him

summary: pandoras vault? broken? not for long, call for [name]!

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You were known as one of the “gods'' on the server. It was due to you rarely being mentioned, but also having so many landmarks, like in the prison, the main builds of L’manburg, and a few helpful builds in Las Nevadas, like the casino. You also did a bit of redstone early on in Eret’s castle as a surprise. It was funny to see his reaction, as he was shocked to find a secret room in one of the main rooms in the castle. Your “godly-ness” was just operator powers and somehow, not being seen by anyone on the SMP so far….. Besides Sam and Dream.

The main people who mentioned you lore wise were dream and Wilbur. Dream had mentioned you after he used his revival book. It was strange for everyone else, but the rest of the viewers and the people on the SMP thought that it was just lore that they hadn’t read. Maybe, it could have been some surprise improv that he had thought of a couple minutes before. But anyway, the one time you had been seen by anyone, was a bit funny, to dream at least. You had tried so hard to stay as this “god” that was just a myth to the SMP, but of course, nothing can stay the same.

Phil, Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo were walking to the prison. Tommy was taking shallow breaths, trying to stay in character. Sam had messaged the lot earlier, saying how some of the restone had been broken for some reason, and he had struggled to fix it, but he tried his best. Tubbo’s character turned to Tommy and gave him a little punch, causing Tommy to give a shriek. “What was that for, man?!” he yelled, his voice booming with annoyance and hints of fear to stay in character. Tubbo and Phil gave a laugh as Ranboo stayed silent to be in character.

“Hey, don’t be sweaty about this man. It… It’s just a small visit to a “homeless man” as Technoblade would say. We got this!” Tubbo spoke, shakily, but cheerful. Ranboo gave a sigh and looked over to Phil. “Hey Phil,” He started, causing Phil to look over to him. “D-Do you think everything will be ok? Like after this..? We know what happened with Tommy before…” He spoke, staying in character as best he could. But really, he was more concerned with the fact that the Prison was down. The question and reasoning cause Tommy, Tubbo, and Phil to stop and stare at him.

“Wow mam, way to stay positive.” Tommy huffed in annoyance. Phil stifled a laugh and Tubbo gave a “pft” to the comment. They all continued walking, getting closer to the Prison block by block. They stared into the nether portal at the front gate as soon as they got there. The men froze. Phil took charge and walked into the portal, leading Ranboo, Tommy, and Tubbo to do the same. Tubbo and Ranboo ogled at the prison, having never seen it before. Tommy scoffed at their awe, and Phil gave a huff trying to be content with their bullshit.

“Welcome to the prison. I’ll need you to sign these books,” Sam spoke as a greeting, not caring about the rudeness and tiredness in his voice. Tubbo and Ranboo were taken back in surprise at how well he was in character. Philza was the first to walk up to Sam and grab a book. Tommy was next, due to being closer, then Ranboo, the Tubbo. They all grabbed the books and signed their names, walking back to Sam. He walked off, causing the others to follow. Sam pulled a lever on the wall, hoping it would work. His hands were sweaty as he didn’t know how much redstone was broken.

“Wait a second…” He mumbled to the group, walking over to another lever. He flicked it, and this time it worked. “Damnit,” He spoke, realizing he’d have to call someone, that someone being you, on your off day. “Everything ok, Sam?” Ranboo spoke in a hushed voice. In reality, he was trying not to laugh, but he had to stay in character. He was determined not to break. Sam sighed, “Well, now I have to call him,” Phil gave a confused face to his camera, not processing the situation. “Who?” He spoke, asking the question everyone was asking, whether they were viewers or the others in the call.

“You know the.. ‘God’ of the server? Yeah, It’s him,” Sam spoke, and you could hear the dialing of a phone. The ringing of the phone started and then stopped, prompting everyone to be quiet and listen in. “Hello? You need something, I was sleeping,” You spoke, your tired morning voice shocking everyone. “For someone who's asleep, you answered pretty fast,” Sam retorted, and you could hear the giggle of others in the call. You gave a scoff. “Har, Har… anyway, you need something?” You spoke, viewers swooning for you even more.

“Yeah, some of the redstone in the prison broke and I need you to fix it. I tried earlier, but it didn’t work,” Same spoke, sort of revealing that you worked on the prison, you had the ability to be on the server, and that Sam knew how to contact you. The other men in the call just had shocked faces for the fact that they didn’t know about you, and had been given no hints about who you were. Tommy jumped to the DreamSMP discord server and scrolled through the list of people. He was shocked to find a name that he had never seen before with the “admin” and the “builder” roll.

“Wait-wait-wait!” Tommy started after hearing the call end. He assumed you would be opening your computer and hopping on to help with the server. “Was this the guy who helped build L’manburg while everyone was offline? W-Who even is this guy?” He said the last part with a laugh. At this time, you had joined the voice call, and you decided to put in your 2 cents of lore. “Well… I guess you could say that I’m god,” You spoke, your voice still sounding drowsy as one thing came up in the server’s chat.

[Your Username] has joined the game

Others didn’t know who you were and thought you were a hacker, immediately going to the other’s streams to find out. Some even went to Dream himself to tell him that there was a hacker on the server. Dream ended up sending a server-wide ping out to say that no, you weren’t a hacker, and no, he wouldn’t kick or ban you. You ended up becoming a part of pure lore. The main part was that you were a god, the God of Redstone and creation, and you were known to be summoned by certain people. Your lore became so used that you ended up being in even more lore streams and creating friendships with other people outside of streaming. You're really glad that the redstone broke that day.

#male reader #platonic bench trio #tommyinnit #x male reader #platonic philza x reader #platonic!ranboo #platonic tubbo #platonic tommyinnit #ranboo #awesamdude #platonic awesamdude #dreamsmp #dream smp #male!reader

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pandoraborn · 3 years

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Characters: Captain Puffy, Tommyinnit Word count: 1510 words Content: death, ghost!Tommy, mentions of abuse, closure, peace

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As she wanders the ruins of L’Manburg, Puffy stops at every landmark. Even now, there’s wood smoldering, as if unwilling to put out the flames of destruction Dream had caused. She knows now it was Dream, she can understand more what he’d done behind the scenes when no one else was paying attention.

She’s not sure why she’s here or what she’s looking for. There’s nothing here but a few broken chests with cracked and splintered remains of what Tommy used to own. Puffy could try to salvage anything that’s left, but that would also go against the whole purpose of turning this place into a monument.

She leans against the large tower not too far away. This must be the one Tommy jumped off of before running to Techno’s. It’s easy enough to guess that’s what happened, what with Tubbo rushing back in tears to announce Tommy’s death, before sweeping everything under the rug. God, she can’t imagine how he’s feeling now.

Tears spring to her eyes as he pulls away from the tower. It’s pointless to dwell on everything negative here, it’s pointless to even be here. Puffy knows she’s only here to assuage her own guilt over letting Tommy remain in exile, even though she’d tried her best to help him cope.

“I wouldn’t feel too guilty if I were you.”

Puffy almost wants to chalk that up to a hallucination. She wants to pinch herself and tell herself this is a dream, but when she turns toward the water, the ghostly form of Tommy is sitting there, letting his bare feet dangle.

He looks like he did before exile: a healthy teenager with no wear and tear. He’s sitting, with one leg drawn up to his chest and resting his arms on that knee. In his hands is some of Wilbur’s blue, and Tommy’s got a grin on his face.

Most notable is the lack of grey pigment in his skin. He’s very clearly a ghost, but he doesn’t actually look like one.

“Tommy?” Puffy feels like the air had been knocked out of her. “You’re... you’re here?”

“Yeah, isn’t it weird?” He laughs as he tosses blue at her feet. His eyes are shining a bright blue, brighter than they had been in life. “One minute I’m screaming for Sam to let me out, and the next minute I’m sat here, contemplating everything. I’ve come to the conclusion that it sucks.”

Puffy remains silent as she bends down at the knee, gently grabbing at the blue. Trembling fingers grasp at it as she straightens back up, staring at the small object. The silence drags on for too long, so she opts to sit down next to him.

“Tommy-”

“You know, I never understood why Ghostbur kept throwing blue at everyone,” Tommy interrupts. “I thought it was just something he did, y’know? He was weird like that, but I was just so happy to have him around that I accepted it as one of his many annoying quirks. But now I think I understand more. It’s easy to let things go if you don’t have to think about them. I can just take this shit, fill it with my own shit and trauma and whatever, toss it out and move on. It’s like it’s physically gone.”

“You remember?” Puffy watches him through her peripheral vision. He’s manifesting more...whatever it is, watching as it turns to blue. He hands her another one. “Wilbur didn’t remember.”

“I wanted to remember. I wouldn’t be as awesome if I was some fake happy version of myself, would I?”

She has to admit that he’s right.

“Look, I see it all over your face Puffy. I just wanted to tell you to stop feeling guilty, alright? You didn’t do it. You couldn’t have prevented it.”

Tears fill her vision. “It was my job to protect you. You were a child, Tommy. I should have done more for you.”

“I wouldn’t have let you in, you know. You or Sam or anyone who wanted to help. I was responsible for me, I didn’t want anyone’s pity.” He tosses a blue into the water. Puffy watches it slip below the surface. “It’s why Sam Nook was created. If Sam had tried to help directly I would have pushed him away. You don’t have to feel so guilty.”

“But we do, Tommy. We do feel guilty, we do feel responsible. You might feel like it was just you against the world, but we did care.”

“I know. I’m glad you cared; that was more than enough for me. Sometimes that’s all I want from anyone, is just to know.” He offers her a more gentle grin. It’s so Tommy, but it’s also something far wiser than he should have to be. As if he knows what’s waiting for him on the other side.

“Are you going to be around, like Ghostbur?”

“Nah. I’m not giving that green bastard a chance to toy with me. You know he’s going to, so I’m going to take my L and move on with Wilbur. He’s waiting for me, you know.”

Fresh tears spring to her eyes. The idea that Tommy doesn’t want to stick around feels hollow, but she can understand his logic there, too. “So we’ll never see you again?”

“Puffy.” Tommy sighs as he presses a hand to her shoulder. He uses her as stability while getting to his feet. “Sometimes people don’t come back after death, y’know. Schlatt and Wilbur did, but sometimes they just don’t. I don’t have any unfinished business. Mine was bringing Wilbur back, but since I’m not around anymore, there’s really no point to it, is there?”

“Yeah, but your friends-”

“-don’t need me as much as they think they do.” There’s another one of his bright smiles. “This isn’t a sad ending, Pussy. What was it you were saying yesterday? This is a new age, isn’t it? You and Sam, you two are going to lead them somewhere new. Build a statue in my honor, alright? Make it the coolest statue ever. Bigger than anyone else, so the world will know how big of a man I am.”

Puffy laughs. Not just at his words, but his purposeful use of the name ‘Pussy’. Even now, he’s resorting to being obnoxious and crude, and she knows she’s going to miss it. “Tommy, you were the best of all of us.”

“Nah.” He snorts and shakes his head. “Do me one last favor, will you?”

“If it’s to beat up Dream, I’ll gladly take that on.”

“Okay, well two favors then.” Tommy’s eyes twinkle with amusement. “Give some blue to Tubbo, will you?” He offers her a few pieces, which she takes carefully, treating them like something extremely fragile, which they are.

“Any message you want me to pass to him?”

“Yeah: ‘it’ll be okay’.”

“That’s it?” Puffy lifts an eyebrow. “No ‘I love you’, no ‘you’ll carry on my legacy’, anything like that?”

“Puffy, Tubbo doesn’t need messages like that. He’s not that deep.” Tommy rolls his eyes. “No, just that it’ll be okay. He’ll be okay without me, he’ll be okay being Tubbo. He’s got Snowchester and shit, he’ll be okay.”

Puffy nods. “I’ll give him the blue and the message then, Tommy. Are you off?”

“Yeah. I can already hear Wilbur screaming at me and calling me a child. I’ve got to go punch his stupid face in, because I’m a big man and I can take him, even dead.”

Puffy laughs at that. Even with tears streaming down her cheeks, she feels a new sort of joy. “Tommy, can I hug you goodbye?”

No words are exchanged here, Tommy silently complies. He feels warm, so she wraps her arms firmly around him, holding him close. The hug is doing wonders; it’s like every inch of sadness is being pulled out of her, like he’s trying his best to help. When he finally pulls away, Puffy still feels light.

“It’ll be okay, Puffy,” Tommy says. He drops more blue at her feet. “Don’t let shit get you down too much, alright? You’re Captain Puffy, and you know better than anyone what needs to be done. But also don’t hesitate to ask for help when you need it.”

With that, he’s gone. Disappeared into some beyond, or afterlife, or wherever he’s going. Puffy doesn’t necessarily know where that might be, but knowing he’s with Wilbur in the end has her feeling better.

Bending down, she picks up the last of the blue. She wonders if when they all die, they’ll end up with blue, but that’s a fleeting thought as she puts it all in her backpack.

He’s right, it is a new age. She’s not going to let him down by wallowing in misery, not when she has a whole server to clean up. Marching toward the portal, Puffy wears a smile on her face. She’s got a new pep in her step, and she’s not going to let anyone take that away from her.

Not this time.

#mcyt #mcyt fanfiction #dream smp #dream smp fanfic #spoilers #spoilers fic #death tw #ghost!tommyinnit #tommyinnit #captain puffy #c!tommy #c!puffy #peace #closure #abuse mention #bittersweet #long post #miishae writes

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angeloncewas · 3 years

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I think I'm so willing to buy into the theory that Ranboo did actually work with Dream because it makes sense to me.

(+ because I like it, but let's focus on the stuff with backing)

Some relevant things about Ranboo's character:

He has memory issues

He values home. He values stability

He abhors the concept of "sides" to an unnatural degree; any sort of unity against anything is a problem to him

He has no attachment to places (see: his speech about homes and dirt shacks, his attitude toward the destruction of L'manberg)

Dream's proclamation was that he wanted "one big happy family," right? Now, the reality of his purpose is debatable, but that's what he's been telling people. It's also nearly exactly what Ranboo wants - a lack of sides, people simply being people and having conflicts and friendships and whatever else within their own boundaries, not out of alignment with a faction.

Surrounding this whole debate is the theoretical actions Ranboo has helped Dream with. The big thing being the destruction of the Community House. When it was discovered, everyone was devastated. It's a landmark of the SMP, the oldest building on the server. Who would do such a terrible thing?

Ranboo. Not because he's destructive, but because by his own pre-established morals, he would've been willing.

Ranboo would not care to keep the Community House safe because it's just a place. Just like he saw L'manberg as a pointless structure, a piece of land once home to a drug van and full of mistakes, the Community House is just bricks and stone.

Not only that, but it has even less theoretical sentimental value to Ranboo than L'manberg did because Ranboo did actually live in L'manberg. It housed him, whether he thought of it as home or not. The Community House has never been anything other than a place to pass through on the way to the Nether, why would he have any qualms about destroying it?

"But Ranboo knew that Dream was bad from Tommy's letters during exile! He would've never worked with him."

Possibly, but I see this and I raise you two points:

The nature of Tommy's letters.

Ranboo knows, to some extent, how bad of a time Tommy had in exile. He knows that Tommy was suffering, that things were cold and lonely and terrible. What he doesn't know is why.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Tommy's letters didn't say "Hey Ranboo, Dream is emotionally manipulating me and exploding my stuff every day." They were vague and went from funny to increasingly more distressed. Ranboo knows that exile was bad for Tommy, he doesn't know that Dream made it worse.

The memory thing.

Ranboo's memory issues work a bit sporadically, but from what he's said, he remembers things that have large emotional impact and forgets things under extreme stress. Exchanging letters with Tommy wouldn't really fit into either of these categories. If anything, it would lean toward the latter - Tommy is hurting and he's powerless to help, someone is tampering with their letters, stuff's going on in L'manberg - I wouldn't be surprised if a large portion of this time period is gone from Ranboo's memory.

"But Ranboo has always said that Dream having power like he does is a bad idea! There was even that sign in the panic room."

Ranboo, upon realizing that not picking a side was picking a side, chose to do so anyway. And then chose to leave with Phil and Techno, the very people who had just destroyed his house.

Ranboo seems to understand that people do what they need to under duress. That sometimes you compromise your moral code for whatever's most important. Like how he believed L'manberg deserved to be destroyed, but didn't want to betray Tubbo and effectively sided against Niki and Fundy in making sure that didn't happen.

So how do you convince a half-enderman with a poor memory and a surprisingly strong set of beliefs that you're not the enemy? By explaining that all of your actions, all your ploys for power and the need for control you have, are for the greater good.

Why would Ranboo believe it? Because he wasn't there at the start of the SMP.

I don't know how the lore of the world is handled with it being Minecraft but also the confines of their reality, but it's made pretty clear that newcomers are just that: new. Ranboo came from some other place in a time after Wilbur. In a time much, much after L’manberg's start.

This means that Dream could've told him about everything that came before.

About a time when there were no sides. When everyone just lived on the server and built homes and had silly spats and payed back debts most of the time. About a time before governments and large-scale conflicts and established countries with walls. A time when home was everyone involved, instead of divided plots of land.

Dream says to Ranboo, I can make that happen again. I just need your help.

And Ranboo agrees. Because that's all he's ever wanted.

#dream smp #ranboo #dreamwastaken #dsmp #angel analyzes

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the-desolated-quill · 5 years

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‘But They’re Covered In Nipples’: The Story Of Destroy All Humans - Quill’s Scribbles

Another E3 has come and gone. There was some good announcements. Square Enix unveiled their Avengers game, Keanu Reeves came on stage to give us the release date of Cyberpunk 2077, Ubisoft are making another Watch Dogs set in London, and... um... what else happened?

Oh yeah!

DESTROY ALL HUMANS IS BACK!!!!!!

Yes, the cult classic Destroy All Humans is returning next year, developed by THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games. This was quite possibly the nicest surprise I’ve ever had. When the teaser trailer came up on my YouTube recommendations, I practically screamed the house down. It’s a level of excitement I felt when 20th Century Fox announced they were finally making a Deadpool movie.

Yeah. That excited.

Destroy All Humans was my favourite video game series growing up. I played the first two games non-stop on my PS2 and I even bought a Nintendo Wii and PS3 just so I could play Big Willy Unleashed and Path Of The Furon (yeah, we’ll get to them). Unfortunately, while the series was reasonably successful, it never quite broke through into the mainstream, and it ended up having a very short lifespan, making it one of the most underrated franchises of all time.

So, to mark the return of Crypto and Pox, I thought I’d take a retrospective look at the series as a whole. Analysing each game in the franchise and talking about what made them so good, whilst also looking at how it faded into obscurity and how THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games can hopefully avoid this fate with their remake.

Radioactive, Exploding, Zombie Cows

The first Destroy All Humans was developed by THQ and Pandemic Studios (the latter probably most famous for making the original Star Wars Battlefront games. You know? The good ones that weren’t overloaded with loot boxes and microtransactions) and was released in 2005 on the PS2 and Xbox. You play as a Furon warrior called Cryptosporidium 137, or Crypto for short, who is tasked with harvesting the brains of humans in order to extract pure Furon DNA from them. His leader Orthopox 13, or Pox, explains that the Furons are at risk of cloning themselves into extinction as they are unable to reproduce naturally due to a lack of genitalia and the DNA in their cloning banks are starting to degrade. Fortunately the Furons visited prehistoric Earth on their way back from destroying the Martians and took the opportunity to ‘let off some steam’ with the natives. As a result, humans possess a strand of Furon DNA that can hopefully restore the Furons’ reproductive organs. Unfortunately a secret government organisation called Majestic (a sort of cross between Project Blue Book and the Men in Black) have caught wind of the Furon invasion due to Crypto 136 crash landing in Roswell 10 years earlier. So Crypto 137 will have to be extra cautious in his quest to take over Earth.

The game was released four years after Grand Theft Auto III, which had completely revolutionised gaming with its open world sandbox. As a result, other companies were attempting their own open worlds and putting their own spin on them. While Destroy All Humans didn’t quite have the same scale as GTA, it made up for it with quality over quantity. The game offered six small open world areas for players to have fun in and its central premise was utterly captivating. After countless games where you had to fight alien invaders, Destroy All Humans allowed you to play as the alien invader.

Pandemic Studios completely embraced the alien invasion premise, giving the player a vast number of weapons and abilities to wreak havoc on planet Earth. You had access to weapons like the Zap O Matic, Disintegrator Ray and Anal Probe (no, really, there’s actually a gun called the Anal Probe and it’s as funny as it sounds) as well as mental abilities such as Psychokinesis, Hypnotism and the Cortex Scan, which allowed you to read the thoughts of humans and was also used to help maintain your Holoblob disguise in stealth missions. And if that isn’t cool enough, you also get your own flying saucer, which you can use to destroy buildings and landmarks. The game gave you a lot of freedom, essentially dropping you in a small destructible playground and telling you to go and enjoy yourself.

But the thing I loved most about the first game was the writing. The plot itself is actually pretty good with plenty of twists and turns as the military and Majestic become more and more desperate to stop you. And the humour, my God the humour! Honestly Destroy All Humans remains to this day one of the funniest games I’ve ever played. It’s use of satirical humour and 50s pop culture references never failed to make me chuckle. There was one moment that I’ll always remember where I scanned the mind of a police officer and it revealed that he was thinking about forming the Village People. If only he could find a cowboy, an Indian and a construction worker.

The game’s main source of comedy mostly came from poking fun at the culture and attitudes of the time period. 1950s America was of course gripped by ‘the Red Scare,’ which the game mocks frequently as we see Majestic and the US government try desperately to cover up alien activity by blaming the death and destruction on communists, to the point where it just gets more and more absurd. At the end of each mission, a newspaper headline is shown, often blaming recent events on freak weather or communist propaganda. Yes, that should explain perfectly why people’s heads are exploding and why the cows are glowing green. It’s all perfectly normal. No aliens here. What’s that? A little green man in a flying saucer is blowing up ice cream trucks? Damn you commies!

The game also pokes fun at 50s sci-fi B movies, often parodying and lampshading the tropes and gimmicks one would expect in a low budget sci-fi flick. For example, the game ends with you fighting a giant robot that houses the President’s brain. It’s fully aware of how ridiculous and stupid it all is and clearly revels in it. Killer robots, mind control, radioactive animals, mad scientists and secret government conspiracies galore. Destroy All Humans is very much a love letter to cheesy sci-fi.

But by far the biggest draw was the main characters. Crypto and Pox. They’re both such funny, wonderfully realised and likeable characters. Pox is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz, who you may remember from Invader Zim, and he gives the character a maniacal glee. I honestly could listen to his rants all day. He’s the quintessential evil genius. Crypto meanwhile is voiced by J. Grant Albrecht, who gives the character a Jack Nicholson-esque voice. Unlike Pox, Crypto is crass, crude and craves destruction, which often puts him at odds with Pox, who favours more subtle styles of invasion such as mind control. The two characters often bicker and squabble, which never fails to be entertaining, and yet there is an underlying respect and fondness for each other that helps ground the relationship. It’s the perfect double act.

Destroy All Humans was a good game, but does it still hold up? Well there are a few issues. Controls can be a bit clunky at times and missions can often get repetitive. Destroy x number of farmers. Collect x amount of DNA. That kind of thing. Also, annoyingly, there’s no checkpoints, which means if you die or fail the mission, you’re automatically sent back to the Furon Mothership and you have to start the mission all over again. But the writing, humour and entertainment value more than make up for it.

Hot Monkey Love

While the first game wasn’t what you’d call a hit, it was successful enough for THQ to commission a sequel. Destroy All Humans 2 was released in 2006 on PS2 and Xbox, just one year after the first game, and this time Crypto was going international.

Set in the 1960s, ten years after the events of the first game, the KGB in Russia learn about the Furon’s takeover of America and plan a counterattack. They nuke the Furon Mothership, killing Pox, and try to assassinate Crypto 138, who is posing as the President of the United States. The assassination fails and Pox’s mind is able to survive in hologram form. The two then embark on a global adventure, seeking revenge against the KGB and uncovering a massive conspiracy that puts the entire Furon invasion at risk.

Destroy All Humans 2 is an ambitious sequel that increases its scope from the first game. No longer confined to America, we see Crypto terrorise San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Russia and even the Moon. Our arsenal of weapons are also expanded. The original weapons from the first game return as well as some all new ones such as the Disclocator, which fires a purple disc at a human or vehicle and sends them flying around the map, the Burrow Beast, which summons a Tremors-esque space worm to cause carnage, and Meteor Strike, which I think speaks for itself. We also get a few new mental abilities such as Transmogrify, which allows you to turn objects into ammo, and Free Love, which causes everyone in the general vicinity to start dancing, allowing you to make a quick getaway while they’re distracted. The saucer too has some extra features, including a cloaking device and the ability to drain vehicles of health using your Abducto Beam.

This sequel pretty much takes everything that worked from the first game whilst tweaking the things that didn’t. The GTA style Alert system got a complete overhaul. If you want to raise or lower the Alert level, all you have to do is bodysnatch a cop or a soldier and make a call using a police box (you can also make prank calls from them, which is good for a giggle). Holoblobbing has been replaced with Bodysnatching, which works so much better and it does away with the annoying Concentration meter, so you can PK cars and humans to your heart’s content. There’s also a lot more stuff to do now. There are numerous collectables such as Alien Artefacts, which unlocks the Burrow Beast weapon, and FuroTech Cells, which are your main currency that can be used to upgrade your health and weapons. Missions have greater variety than in the first game. There’s a lot more side missions, including Odd Jobs and my personal favourites the Cult of Arkvoodle missions, where Crypto brainwashes humans to worship the Furon God Arkvoodle of the Sacred Crotch.

As you can tell, the humour is still just as wacky and ridiculous as ever. Destroy All Humans 2 lampoons and ridicules the 60s mercilessly, taking aim at the Cold War and the hippie counterculture movement. It also pokes fun at 60s sci-fi films, spy films and Japanese movies like Godzilla. In fact there’s a boss fight that involves you fighting a Godzilla-esque monster and it’s honestly the best boss fight in the series. It regains health by destroying buildings, so you have to destroy them first before you can kill the monster. It’s a great premise.

Story-wise, Destroy All Humans 2 is a worthy successor, raising the stakes and expanding the lore. We’re introduced to the Blisk, the Martians that were presumed extinct by the Furons millions of years ago. It’s a brilliant conflict and ostensibly allows the developers to make commentaries on America and Russia at the time using the Furons and the Blisk respectively as stand-ins. Crypto and Pox are well written, funny and likeable as ever and we’re also introduced to an assortment of new characters, including the Russian spy Natalya and MI6 agent Ponsomby (voiced by none other than Anthony Head from Buffy). The game is engaging and rewarding, but it crucially never takes itself too seriously. For example there’s one instance in Tokyo where Crypto learns about the battle between the White and Black Ninjas and he guesses that the conflict started because of the cliche student betraying his master type origin, but it turns out that both groups of ninjas were originally Grey, but then they ran out of grey fabric and disagreed over which colour they should be instead. There’s so many great comedic moments like that and they pretty much hit bullseyes every time.

That being said, there was one aspect of the game I didn’t like and that was the crude sex jokes. Crypto 138 is the first clone to have pure Furon DNA, which means he now has genitalia. As a result, this new incarnation of Crypto is far more randy than 137 was in the first game. This mostly takes the form of Crypto constantly trying to hit on Natalya, despite her showing no sexual interest, which I personally found pretty gross. Worse still, the game ends with Crypto cloning Natalya and ‘making a few adjustments’ so she will consent to have sex with him. The word ‘creepy’ doesn’t begin to cover how I felt about this. If THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games ever decide to remake the second game, I really hope they consider rethinking that ending because... Jesus!

On the whole, Destroy All Humans 2 was a brilliant sequel. It was also sadly the last Destroy All Humans game to be developed by Pandemic Studios before they were bought by EA and eventually shut down in 2009. Unfortunately this would have a severe impact on the future of the series going forward.

Limp Willy

The next game in the series was a spinoff for the Nintendo Wii, released in early 2008 and developed by Locomotive Games. A PS2 version was also planned, but was scrapped due to budget cuts (remember this. It’ll become relevant later).

Destroy All Humans: Big Willy Unleashed was... underwhelming, to say the least. Set in the 1970s, six years after the second game, Crypto and Pox have opened a fast food restaurant called Big Willy as a way of disposing of the corpses left behind during Crypto’s missions. However a rival fast food chain, run by Colonel Kluckin’, is stealing their business and socialite Patty Wurst is threatening to expose Big Willy (smirk). So it’s up to Crypto to protect Pox’s Big Willy (haha) and maintain their cover on Earth.

Now you’re probably thinking this sounds quite tame compared to the previous two games, and yeah, it is. But it’s a spinoff, so I can understand to a certain extent. However there are a few narrative discrepancies. The big one being Crypto has retired from being the President. No explanation given as to why and we have no idea what Crypto is doing instead. When we first see him, he’s watching TV. He doesn’t even know Big Willy exists until Pox brings it up. So what’s going on exactly? Are they still trying to invade Earth or have they gone native? Also, compared to the grand conspiracy stories of the previous games, Crypto protecting a fast food restaurant sounds a little beneath him.

Gameplay is virtually unchanged from the previous game. There’s some new guns such as Ball Lightning and the Zombie Gun, but nothing special. The biggest addition is Big Willy, the restaurant mascot that’s actually a Furon battle mech in disguise. It’s... fine. Not that much different from the Saucer really. We also get some new locations. Harbor City, Fairfield in Kentucky, Fantasy Atoll (a weak parody of Fantasy Island) and Vietmahl (a painfully obvious homage to Vietnam). None of these locations are particularly interesting however. There’s also a multiplayer mode, which... exists.

Honestly the game as a whole is just lacklustre. The story just isn’t as good as the first two games and the humour doesn’t have the same wit or intelligence. Most of the comedy surrounds the fact that Pox has called his restaurant Big Willy and isn’t entirely aware of the double entendre, which admittedly is funny for the first few missions, but by the time you’ve finished Harbor City and move on to Fairfield, the joke gets old real fast. There’s less of an effort to actually satirise the culture or films of the time, instead merely making 70s pop culture references without ever actually doing anything with it. It’s like the Family Guy school of comedy. Take Fantasy Atoll for instance. A pisstake of Fantasy Island, but instead of Mr. Roarke and Tatoo, we get Mr. Pork and Ratpoo. That’s the level of humour we’re talking about here.

What’s worse is that J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horwitz don’t return as Crypto and Pox. Sean Donnellan and Darryl Kurylo voice the characters instead and it’s just not the same. It doesn’t feel like Crypto and Pox. So from the very first cutscene, we’re already off on the wrong foot.

And then there’s a bunch of other stuff that I find really questionable. The most obvious being the revelation that Colonel Kluckin’ makes his chicken wings from the corpses of the Vietmahl (Vietnam) war, which just seems in very bad taste to me. If there is a satirical point being made here, I can’t find it for the life of me. There’s also some side missions where Crypto finds out that he and Natalya have a son, which goes absolutely nowhere and doesn’t feel like something that should be in a Destroy All Humans game.

Overall, Big Willy Unleashed was a massive dud meant to tide us over until Destroy All Humans 3 came out later in the year. Honestly the one aspect of it I thought had potential was the side missions involving Crypto and Pox being assessed by a Furon Efficiency Expert called Toxoplasma Gondii. Considering what happened in the second game, including the destruction of the Furon Mothership, the return of the Blisk and the Furon operation on Earth being jeoprodised, this could have been a great premise for a sequel.

Instead what we got was...

Disco Inferno

Oh boy. Where do I begin?

Path Of The Furon was developed by THQ and Sandblast Games and released in December 2008 on the Xbox 360 in North America. The PS3 version was cancelled because Sandblast (and Locomotive Games) was closed down before development was finished due to THQ’s financial problems at the time. However the PS3 version was released in Europe and Australia, so either THQ got another studio to complete it or, more likely, they just released it in a broken, buggy state.

Fans really didn’t like this game, myself included, but before we go tearing it a new one, lets look at the few positives the game has. First off, J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horwitz return to voice Crypto and Pox, which is great. As a result, the original chemistry is back and they help salvage the game when the writing fails to deliver. There are a few cool new weapons, like the Black Hole Gun and the Venus Human Trap, which creates a giant man eating plant. The Saucer’s weapons have been tweaked, so now they affect the environment as well as destroy buildings. So if you fire your Death Ray at the ground, for example, you can create scorch marks. PK now has its own dedicated button, which means you can pick up and throw objects whilst using your guns simultaneously. There’s also the titular ‘Path Of Enlightenment,’ which upgrades your mental abilities significantly as well as allowing you to freeze time.

That’s the good stuff. The bad stuff is... pretty much everything else.

The humour is, again, quite poor. Rather than satirising 70s culture, the game continues to make references to 70s films like The Godfather and Star Wars, but not actually doing anything with them. Just making the reference. The writing as a whole is quite substandard as the plot pretty much recycles the plots of Destroy All Humans 2 and Big Willy Unleashed, except instead of the Big Willy restaurant, it’s the Space Dust casino and instead of the Blisk, it’s Nexosporidium warriors, who are basically Furon cyborgs. Things do threaten to get a bit interesting when Crypto and Pox discover someone has been manufacturing synthetic Furon DNA, but nothing ever really comes of it. Instead the game focuses mainly on the Master.

Ah yes. The Master.

In an attempt to recapture the magic of the second game, Path Of The Furon tries to spoof kung-fu movies just like how DAH 2 spoofed spy films. Unfortunately this leads us to a slew of unfunny gags, cultural appropriation and some of the worst racial stereotyping I think I’ve ever seen. The Master is a Furon who crashed on Earth a hundred years ago and embroiled himself in Eastern culture, enhancing his PK abilities. This is what he looks like:

YYYYeah.

Oh and if that’s not awkward enough, he also speaks in an over the top ‘ah so’ accent. It’s incredibly cringeworthy and made me want to crawl out of my body and hide in the darkest corner I could possibly find. How anyone involved in this game’s development could look at this deeply racist and downright embarrassing excuse for a character and think this was okay, I don’t know.

And before anyone tries to excuse it by saying that he has been living in China for a hundred years, so he’s bound to pick a few things up, please note that Nolan North is in this game playing the Furon Emperor Meningitis, who also has an over the top ‘ah so’ accent. Now I suppose some could argue that the game is satirising how Asian people were portrayed at the time, but if that’s what the game is going for, they’ve failed miserably. See, the problem with that argument is that replicating something doesn’t count as satire. By recreating over the top racist caricatures, you’re not making fun of them. If anything you’re just reinforcing them. The first game’s satire of the Red Scare worked so much better than this because there was an actual point behind it. It comments on how paranoid the people of the 50s were at the time by using Majestic to exploit the threat of communism in order to cover up alien activity, and everyone willingly buys into it because of that sheer paranoia. Now yes, admittedly the humour in Destroy All Humans isn’t the most sophisticated in the world, but it used to be a LOT better than this. Not only do I find the racial stereotyping in this game deeply offensive, it’s also frankly beneath this franchise. And it’s not just limited to the Chinese either. The final act takes us to the Furon homeworld (which was pretty underwhelming after four games worth of buildup) and we meet another Furon called Endometriosis whose only characteristics are that he has an Italian accent and wears a beret. It’s these broad strokes and general laziness that makes this game such a disappointing experience.

Path Of The Furon is subpar in every way imaginable. The writing, the humour, the gameplay and even the graphics. The first two games looked so much better than this and they were on older consoles from the previous generation. It’s shocking.

It’s hard to blame Sandblast Games for this considering they were shut down before development was finished. It was THQ’s mismanagement and financial woes that killed off this franchise and indeed themselves. The company went bankrupt in 2012 and their various IPs were sold off to other studios, with Nordic Games buying the lions’ share, including Destroy All Humans, which briefly reignited hopes that we might get another game, but that seemed unlikely considering the franchise has never exactly been a mainstream success. There was even talks of doing an animated sitcom based on the games for Fox, to be written by the same guy who did King Of The Hill, but that never went anywhere.

No. It seemed like Destroy All Humans was gone for good and fans reluctantly made peace with that. It was fun while it lasted, but perhaps it was time to move on.

Oh The Furonity!

I’m not going to lie. I was pretty sure we were never going to see Destroy All Humans return. Not just because of its lack of mainstream appeal, but also because game development studios and publishers in recent years have become more and more reluctant to make single player, mid-tier games. Instead pivoting toward massive triple A releases and ‘live services’. So it came as a rather pleasant surprise when Nordic Games, now named THQ Nordic, released Darksiders III in 2018, a sequel to a series of games that were also not very mainstream but still had a significant cult following. This briefly reignited a small flicker of hope within me that maybe, just maybe, we might see our favourite Furon return.

And as you already know, I got my wish. A new Destroy All Humans game will be released next year by THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games.

So what can this remake learn from the franchise’s past? Well thankfully the writing and voice acting is going to remain the same, so story, characterisation and humour won’t be an issue. They’re also incorporating elements from the sequels such as Transmogrify from Destroy All Humans 2 and giving PK its own button like in Path Of The Furon. There’s also a few new additions that I’m excited about such as the ability to dodge and strafe using the jetpack. That should make combat much more exciting and dynamic. I know a few people have a problem with the new cartoony designs of the humans and the world, but I honestly don’t mind. In fact I think it suits the tone and setting quite well. Hopefully people will eventually get used to it. The big question mark hovering over all this is whether they’re planning to remake the other games in the series. I for one would love to see a remake of the second game. As for Big Willy Unleashed and Path Of The Furon, I think it’s best to leave them firmly in the past. The big dream would be to see Crypto and Pox have further adventures together beyond the first two games. Hopefully even have enough sequels to get the characters to the present day. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future brings. My only word of advice for them would be to never forget what made the first two games so good and so beloved. Big Willy Unleashed and Path Of The Furon lost their way, as its writing and humour grew lazier and lazier. If we are fortunate enough to get more games, the developers will need to remember what it was about the first game that made it so special and build off of it.

This is a second chance. Not a lot of franchises get this. Don’t waste it. Here’s hoping the remake will provide the definitive Destroy All Humans experience and that it will gain the success it deserves.

#destroy all humans #pandemic studios #locomotive games #sandblast games #thq #video games #quill's scribbles

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niansue · 6 years

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How I Learned How to Draw The Human Body

This is just my take on how I learn how to construct the body. I’m still learning everyday so please take this advice with a grain of salt since these are just my opinions and thoughts. The advice is not listed in any particular order it’s more just what I do whenever I feel like it. That being said the advice/activities help and correlate with each other so doing them should help you no matter what order you do them in.

First off make a folder on your computer for anatomy refs/tips so you don’t have to look them up constantly. Keep it to the images and tutorials that you think help you the most. This has saved me so much time. Make sure to keep things organized, so in the anatomy folder have folders for like photo refs, leg anatomy, torso anatomy, etc. however you wanna organize it.

Helpful Resources I use are at the bottom of this post

Study the Form of the Muscles and Body Shape as a Whole

- Now when I say this I don't mean ya gotta know all the names to the muscles, although that doesn’t hurt to know. Get yourself some ref photos like below and get familiar with what the muscles look like in a general sense and how they connect to each other. Make sure to just focus on the big forms at first so you don’t get overwhelmed by the details.

P.S. Pinterest is a great place for finding art refs and I have a great link for one in the resource section ;3

- Start simple and just look at the muscles in groups. For example, I group by legs, arms, front torso, and back torso. With the torso just keep in mind that the front and back connect to each other whenever studying it.

- Now I don’t do this for like too long since the other activities are a lot more fun and interactive but this is just like a helpful thing to do to refresh your mind on anatomy and to also build up your anatomy folder.

- Main reason to do this is so when you watch videos of other artists showing how they draw the body you’ll hopefully understand why they make the choices they do. It’ll also help you to see the connections as to how the body interacts with itself which that in turn will help you find the natural rhythms of the body.

Figure Drawing

- There’s plenty of Youtube videos about this topic that could explain it better but my favorites are by Sycra (great art videos in general) and Proko (lots of in-depth videos about anatomy for artists).

- The biggest thing that helped me from this was gesture drawing. You wanna be able to get the energy of the entire pose in simple lines. I would draw small for this since it’s easier to draw a whole body this way and also you’ll be able to do many of them quickly. A simple session would be to try to get the gesture of a pose in under 30 secs. The time is short cause it trains you to focus really hard in a short amount of time which is helpful for speed and saving time. Really I can not emphasize how important gesture is! It’s what adds life and energy to the pose and without it, no matter how good the anatomy is, it’ll appear stiff and lifeless. Another reason why gesture drawing is great is it helps to find the rhythms of the body. Finding out how the body naturally curves and learning to emphasize it is super helpful.

- Learning the proportions and landmarks of the body this way is also helpful because no matter how diverse a body is the proportions of it aren’t that different. Like how our elbows will almost always be around the middle of our waist or how the wrist, when it’s at our side, starts near the crotch area.

- Remember when doing figure drawing you’re drawing the pose not the person so don’t worry about details. Also think in 3D!

Draw Guidelines Over Real Photos

- I recommend doing this traditionally with either magazines or print out pictures from the internet cause, and this might be just me, I feel like I retain information better when I draw traditionally rather than digitally. That being said if you wanna do it digitally go ahead since it’s definitely easier to just upload photos and go over it! I do it too sometimes and while I still like doing it traditionally it might be different for you so experiment with it.

- When I say guidelines I mean make up your own guidelines as to how to construct the body. Really look at the forms of the body in their most simplistic form and shape. Do you like making the torso a bean then do it on a bunch of bodies and see how the shape changes forms with different poses. You can incorporate the guidelines of artists that you like as a start. Remember that guidelines are about what suits you best so experiment with all sorts of constructions. Each guideline you make should have a purpose though.

- When doing this remember you aren’t tracing the picture you’re constructing it’s form out of guides. I suggest after you go over an image you then draw it again on another piece of paper so then you don't have the photo under it to guide you anymore and you have to go on your own guidelines. After that it’s just a rinse and repeat.

(quick example but hopefully it shows what I mean)

- Start with simple poses like a person standing. It’s easier to tackle how to draw a full body when the pose is straightforward and simple. Once you get used to how to construct the body that’s when drawing it in different poses gets fun!

- Know that this process is always growing and changing. My guidelines have changed since the first time I drew them so no worries if your guidelines morph and/or change depending on different poses and body types.

Study Artists

- Now I know a lot of artists would probably disagree on this since we’re all growing and only learning anatomy from someone’s art alone will hurt you. However, If you study the anatomy basics before then hopefully you won’t get bad anatomy habits and will be able to instead study how a certain artist draws the human body the way they do and why it looks so appealing.

- I think this is important because a lot of the time I see plenty of artists drawing the human body in such unique and interesting ways that I never would have thought of doing if I just looked at real life photos. Artists show great ways to exaggerate the body in very appealing ways and studying why and how they do so can be super helpful.

- This is kind of how style comes out too since you’ll obviously gravitate more towards artists whose art you enjoy hence you’ll then take influence from them.

- For example I like studying artists that draw porn/nsfw that I enjoy since drawing good porn takes a great deal of anatomy knowledge and the ability to draw the body in appealing ways in such difficult poses is quite a feat so I respect a lot of those artists. Also it’s fairly easy to tell when something is wrong in this kind of art so I learn what not to do fairly quickly. You don’t have to study artists that draw nsfw stuff if you don't want to tho it’s just what I like to do sometimes.

Understand that you’re always learning and being patient and kind with yourself is a must~<3 Also remember that your eyes are always growing so while art that you made in the past might be ugly to you now know that not everyone has your eyes so they could still be seeing the image as the great piece you once thought it was. Lastly, remember that we’re all in this together and if you ever feel frustrated or down about your art know that we all experience this and that you are not alone. There will be tough bumps in the road but at the end of the day you’ll get through them~

Resources:

These are the sites I love for help with anatomy and other stuff so I hope they help you as much as they help me~

Coquis Cafe: This site has lots of figure drawing reference photos and they also have a Youtube for figure drawing sessions which I would recommend.

SenshiStock(DeviantArt): Another great site for photo references.

0033 (Artist on Pixiv): I love their art and breakdowns of anatomy. It is in Japanese but the images still help.

Character Design References on Pinterest: The boards on this site are amazing and there’s so many different kinds of references you can find. Definitely the biggest and one of the most helpful resources I use.

#art tutorial #art advice #anatomy #process #holy shit #I'm tired #so if some things don't make sense #then feel free to message me any questions #cause I did not proofread that much ;;=v=)#fjdkslafd #this was to answer a question I got on insta #but then it escalated #lol #quite the long read #so if you read the whole thing #kudos to you

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missnmikaelson-main · 5 years

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Letters to Juliet - 10. I Have a Good Feeling About This

Summary: Elena and Stefan are headed off to Verona to meet the suppliers for his new restaurant. Once there Elena falls in with the secretaries of Juliet who answers letters written to the fictional character. Elena finds a letter in Juliet’s house that has been there for 25 years. She decides that she simply has to reply. A few days later a man shows up to berate her.

Pairing: Elena x Stefan, Elena x Elijah

Disclaimer: I don’t own TVD, TO, or Letters to Juliet

1. Fact Checker 12/1/18 2. Sweet Elena 12/8/18 3. The Secretaries of Juliet 12/15/18 4. The Most Amazing Day 12/22/18 5. She's Come to Find Her Ansel 12/29/18 6. A Story Worth Telling 1/5/19 7. The First Ansel 1/12/19 8. How Many 1/19/19 9. Life is the Messy Bits 1/26/19 10. I have a good feeling about this 2/2/19 11. My Greatest Fear 2/9/19 12. I'm Sorry 2/16/19 13. Don't Make My Mistakes 2/13/19 14. Unfinished 3/2/19 15. What If 3/9/19 16. Epilogue 3/16/19

Elena glanced up from her notebook when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Her eyes caught sight of Elijah. She returned to her writing only to look up when he sat in an armchair across from her.

“Mother’s not feeling well,” he placed his elbows on his knees and leaned towards her.

“What is it?” Elena immediately shut her notebook and leaned a little closer. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” he shook his head.

“Should we call a doctor?” Elena was already looking for the concierage.

“No,” he sat back slightly, “best just to let her rest awhile.”

“I shouldn’t have pushed her,” Elena worried her bottom lip and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“It’s not your fault,” he chuckled. “She made up her mind the moment that letter arrived; I doubt even the royal guard could have stopped her from coming here.”

“But if I hadn’t come back…”

“If you hadn’t come back,” Elijah cut her off with a disarming smile, “I would have been denied the pleasure of spending a day in your glorious company while I showed you the sights of Siena.”

A smile spread across her face.

“You know,” she leaned forward and looked at him through her long eyelashes, “you can be quite charming when you want to be.”

“Don’t let it fool you,” his smile turned to a smirk. “I’m a complete rogue, really.”

++++

Elena sat beside Elijah in the front seat as he drove through the Tuscan countryside. She smiled softly at the rolling hills before turning to watch him.

“So…” her smile was teasing, “… what’s your story Elijah?”

“Not worth telling really,” he shrugged. He smirked at her from the corner of his eye. “Certainly not worth writing about.”

Elena shifted so her knees were angled towards him. “Can’t I just be curious?”

“You can be whatever you want,” he turned onto a different road that went downhill.

“Okay,” she relented before changing tactics, “how does a guy your age come to live with his mother.”

“She actually lives with me,” his smile was slight.

“That makes all the difference,” she rolled her eyes playfully.

“It does actually,” he nodded slowly. It would have been rather embarrassing for a grown man to live with his mother.

“So, how does the rest of your family fit in? I heard mention of a brother…”

“Niklaus lives in central London,” he glanced at her, “Kol and Rebekah are at Uni, and Finn moved to Ireland with his wife Sage years ago.”

“Is that everyone?” She laughed when she realized how big his family was.

“My youngest brother and father were killed in a car crash ten years ago.”

Elena’s laughter died in her throat. She could do nothing but stare at him with an open mouth; no sound escaped her throat.

“They were hit head on by a tourist driving on the wrong side of the road; an American tourist.” He reached over and gently closed her jaw with his fingertips. He waited a moment beat before continuing. “I’ve had ambiguous feelings towards anything American ever since.”

“Understandable,” Elena whispered.

Elijah smirked and tried to ease the tension that had settled over the car. “It could also have something to do with my cynicism, and pessimism and general lack of faith in true love lasting forever. Not a great believer in happy endings I’m afraid.”

“Oh… Elijah…” she spoke quietly.

“Mother stepped in and took me under her wing. She turned me from the angry, bereft and shockingly unpleasant young man into the superb specimen of screwed-up manhood you see before you.” He laughed nervously.

Elena’s eyes glittered as she laid her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry.”

Elijah glanced down at her hand and gently raised his eyebrows to mock her. Elena quickly withdrew her hand. “I owe everything to that woman. She looked after me when no one else would.”

“And now it’s your turn,” she nodded in understanding.

“Right… she…” his voice crackled with emotion. He cleared his throat and smiled at her. “I’m sorry. It was a momentary slip; it won’t happen again.”

Elena smiled at the stiff upper lip he showed her.

He’s so English. She turned to the window to spare him any more embarrassment.

++++

They stopped in a small town a half hour later. Elijah parked the car and led Elena through the medieval gates.

When she craned her neck back Elena counted thirteen medieval towers standing proudly against the brilliant blue sky. She allowed Elijah to guide her through the narrow streets as he explained the history of the town.

Later, Elijah put the hood of the convertible down to drive through the countryside. Elena saw the flaw in the plan a moment after he sped up on the old highway. Her hair whipped around her face wildly; she laughed when she couldn’t see anything. Elena attempted to tie her long brown hair in a knot on top of her head while Elijah smiled.

Elijah stopped the car outside a cathedral. They walked the perimeter of the building before he made her stop so he could take her picture. A moment later she had coaxed him into posing for one with her. He held the camera in front of them and took a picture of them both. Elena couldn’t help but think they looked good together.

++++

Later they walked through an old square to the three hundred foot Mangia Bell Tower. He somehow talked her into walking the four hundred steps to the top.

“Come on, Elena!”

Elena gasped for breath. She looked up to see Elijah shouting down to her from the top of the tower with a smug smile and a raised brow.

“I’m coming,” she laughed breathlessly and staggered up the remaining stairs. She collapsed against the column and grinned up at him. “I made it.”

“So you did,” Elijah laughed and snapped a picture of her.

“You may have to carry me down,” she teased when he lifted the camera to take a picture of them. Her comment had him turning to face her when he pressed the shutter. This resulted in a still life of them looking into each-other’s eyes while laughing. Elena decided it might just be her favorite picture from the day.

She bit her lip and turned to take in the breathtaking view of the ancient city of Siena. The limited space meant that Elijah stood very close to her as he pointed out different landmarks in the city.

In the end she was able to make it back down on her own; after all, going down was a lot easier than going up.

++++

Elijah and Elena spent the day exploring the city. When she passed the Fountain of Joy she smiled brightly; she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much fun. Elijah knew a lot about the city, but he still acted the tourist with her. For the first time in a long time she was enjoying herself.

++++

Elena sat outside a bustling café. She looked to the door when Elijah appeared with two of the largest ice cream cones that she had ever seen.

She smirked when he handed her one of the cones and sat across from her at the round table. “Are we feeling a little indulgent today?”

“That’s the thing,” he grinned, “they’re calorie free. Clever people the Italians.”

“No way,” Elena narrowed her eyes at the cone in her hand as Elijah started to eat his. His tongue darted out to catch the dripping treat before it could reach his hand.

“Yes way,” he smirked, “thousands of calories free with every mouthful.”

Elena laughed, “That was really bad.”

“I thought it was rather funny,” he raised his eyebrows and gave her the most accusing look he could muster, “you’ve no sense of humour.”

Elena smirked evilly before reaching up to shove his ice cream cone in his face. Elijah slowly removed the cone to reveal his ice cream covered face; she was briefly reminded of her dream and something else coating his mouth. The stony look on his face and the slightly hurt look in his eyes made her laugh.

“That was funny.”

Elijah used a napkin to clean away the sticky mess.

“It’s a good thing I’m a gentleman,” he cleared his throat and looked up into her laughing eyes, “otherwise I might be tempted into some sort of juvenile revenge.”

“I’m eternally grateful for that,” Elena’s leaned across the table and smiled. She made sure to hold her ice cream away from him just in case.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence while they ate. Elena looked at him when they were halfway done.

“I had a great time today,” she hummed, “it was nice doing the tourist thing with somebody, so thank you.” She spent a moment studying his smile. “What’s the real reason you’re so against your mother being here?”

His smile turned into a smirk. “Every good story needs an antagonist, right?”

“There’s something else going on in that head of yours,” she shook her own head from side to side and rested her elbows on the table. “Are you jealous?”

“Of an old man I’ve never met? No.”

“What is it then?” She tilted her head and watched the emotions dance in his eyes. “Are you afraid you’ll lose her?”

“Something like that,” he shrugged. They went back to eating in silence.

“Okay…” he sighed, “… truthfully? I feel like if we find him, and mother decides that leaving him all those years ago was the biggest mistake of her life… what does that say about me and my family? Doesn’t it make my life a bit of a sham? If they were really meant to be it’s like we’re second best.”

“You know that’s not true,” she insisted.

“Maybe,” he agreed, “but it feels true.”

Elena watched him carefully as she tried to work through what he had said. She understood where he was coming from. She startled when he leant across the table and peered into her eyes with the most serious look on his face.

“You’ve got something on your….”

He reached out to push the remains of her ice cream cone into her nose. Elena shrieked at the cold sensation. Elijah didn’t settle for simply shoving the ice cream into her face, he also made sure he rubbed some across her cheeks and chin.

Elijah snickered before lifting a napkin to gently wipe the ice cream from her face. Elena shivered when he moved the cloth over her lips. His hand lingered on her cheek when he finished cleaning her off.

They both jumped when their cell phones started to ring. Simultaneously they pulled them out and checked the screen.

“Hayley.”

“Stefan.”

They both tucked their phones away without answering. Elijah looked at her curiously.

“You didn’t answer,” he smirked, “very naughty.” Is there trouble in paradise?

“Neither did you,” she mirrored his smirk before resting her elbow on the table. The surface was so small that the action had her arms brushing his hands.

“Ah,” he lifted one finger and pointed it at her, “but I have a good excuse. She’s a tiresome, self-centered neurotic. She’s mad. Madder than a mad cow,” he chuckled. “Your Stefan on the other hand is a dashingly handsome chef about to become a New York culinary sensation… it sounds like anything any girl could ever want.”

Elena felt her lips twist into a small smile as she shrugged. “I suppose he is…” the smile dropped from her face. Her eyes fell to the table top as she murmured softly, “what if I’m not just any girl?”

Elijah felt emotion flare in his chest. He offered her his most diplomatic smile; he knew better than to answer that question. Even though he had a good idea of what he wanted to say.

++++

Dusk had settled over the hotel when Elijah parked the car. He came around to open her door and they walked in silence towards the entrance.

“Elena…”

She stopped ten feet from the door and turned to face him. She was surprised to see him shuffle from foot to foot.

“I just wanted to say… about today… uh… what I mean is…” he rubbed the back of his neck when she pressed her lips together to supress her smile.

“Me too,” she smiled and turned around to walk inside.

Elijah watched the sway of her hips for a moment before he followed her inside. They walked past the bar and stopped on the other side. They gave each other a sideways glance before stepping back into the room to gaze in astonishment at the bar.

Esther sat sipping a rather large cocktail. She looked perfectly fine as she sat and laughed with the bartender.

“Feeling better?” Elijah cocked an eyebrow.

“Right as rain, dear,” Esther smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“Good…” Elijah trailed off.

Esther smiled sweetly at both of them. “How was your day? Did you two get along alright without me?”

Elena and Elijah shared a knowing look when they realized what Esther had done. Matching smiles bloomed on their faces.

Tag List: @rissyrapp20

#elena gilbert #elijah mikaelson #elena x elijah #esther mikaelson #fanfic #letters to juliet fic #tvd #to

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skycrystal23 · 6 years

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Just Domestic Things

Summary: A few months after the revolution Kara and Luther learn to integrate into normal domestic life. They experience things like first jobs, first vacations, first parent teacher interviews. Alice also gains a large family of brothers, aunt’s, uncles, and even a grandfather figure when they head to Detroit on vacation. They all fall into the routine of domestic things.

Characters: Kara, Luther, Alice, Markus and co, Connor, Hank, RK900 {Nines}, Gavin Reed

Words: 3 000 {approx.}

Warnings: None just pure fluff!

Canada was safe.

It was everything Kara had imagined for her and her little family. For the first month they stayed with Rose’s brother in Ontario, he and wife were so kind. Alice even made friends with his daughter. All good things came to an end when Rose found them a place to stay, a small apartment in a tall building in a neighbouring town. There were things the three of them had to figure out for themselves now. She and Luther had quite the discussion whether to send Alice to school or not. After all, she wasn’t human and androids were still very much illegal in this country.

There was the worry that Alice didn’t physically age and she couldn’t stay in the same grade forever. Maybe teachers or other parents would recognize them when they would pick her up from class? It was very distressing just thinking about it. Luther managed to lower her stress levels with his low voice and kind words. They would discuss the issue of schooling once they were fully moved in. The move wasn’t long as they didn’t own much; mostly they brought with them the clothes on their backs.

They finally crossed the schooling bridge.

The two parents, Alice considered Luther just as much as a father as Kara was her mother, mutually decided that schooling would be the best for Alice. At least until the year was up. Alice started school in September and the two waved her off with tears in their eyes at the bus stop. She would have to take the bus to and from school until they could purchase a car. Luther was the first to get a job as a bouncer at a local club. It was a pretty low level job and he was a big intimidating guy, who wouldn’t hire him? At this point Luther was willing to take any job he could get, unfortunately he would have to leave in the evening and work all night.

Kara was the next to snag a job working as a secretary in a large tech company. The job was fairly easy she was basically a glorified babysitter for the office. Kara quickly made friends with a few of the workers and Luther would sometimes have to force her to go out and hang out with said friends. She had a framed picture of Alice on her desk and a few of her drawn pictures hung up on the small corkboard she had. Everyone asked if she had a special someone in her life. Every time she would look away and let out a nervous laugh, and maybe she would think of Luther a little. Everyone’s jaws dropped when Luther showed up at the office with lunch for Kara one day – she left her lunch at home that morning.

Everyone in the office watched to see where he’d go and to their surprise their sweet mom-friend of the office jumped up and walked over to the giant. “You forgot your lunch at home Kara, I thought I’d drop it off.” Kara would have the biggest smile on her face. These two were so in love everyone could see it. This would be the talk of the office for weeks. Kara wouldn’t hear the end of it. In the end she lied and said he was her husband. After all, they had to keep their facade that they were a human family up.

Parent teacher interviews were nerve-wracking.

Luther was a paranoid father the entire time. Before they could even leave he kept asking if his outfit was ‘daddish’ enough. Kara helped him dress giving him some black pants and a floral button-up to wear. The shirt was Alice’s idea, she thought he looked great. There were so many parents there. It was hard to keep track of Alice as she kept running off whenever she saw one of her friends. Out of nervousness Luther ended up taking a hold of Kara’s hand, they walked around holding hands for the rest of the night. Alice’s teacher had nothing but compliments for their daughter which only made them more proud.

In the end they managed to plan several play dates for Alice and her friends and even received a few invitations for upcoming birthday parties that Alice was invited to. The bus ride home was quiet and comfortable. Alice was busy sitting across from them looking out the window; Luther grabbed her hand again and gave it a firm squeeze. It would be a lie to say that Kara’s face didn’t turn bright blue. By the time they were home they sent Alice to bed and Luther left for work. Kara made sure to read Alice a book before heading to her own room.

Androids didn’t require sleep but they could mimic sleep by going into stasis mode. Her internal clock would have her awake by seven in the morning to wake Alice up to get ready for school. Luther would arrive home just as she was leaving for work. For a long time her and Luther would be stuck in limbo with their feelings. They both did like each other but at the same time Alice was still their number one priority. Alice talked Luther into it and he eventually asked Kara out on a real date.

Vacations were so necessary.

Once they got a car, which took a lot of saving, the first thing they did was take a weeklong vacation. Alice was pulled from school and they drove out to the border. It was a long drive and they stopped at many landmarks along the way (Alice has a bunch of knick-knacks and post cards in her room now). They went back to pay Detroit a well needed visit. After all, the revolution ended eleven months ago now. A lot has changed since they fled to Canada. The three of them paid Rose and Adam a visit and stayed at their farm house for the night. Rose was so thrilled to hear how the three of them were doing.

While in Detroit they replenished their Thirium levels. Kara insisted that they pay a visit to Markus to thank him for his help. Apparently Markus lived in a mansion? This mansion was huge. Markus was happy to see them and glad to know that they weren’t dead. Alice got to paint with Markus, have Josh teach her about history, go to the park with Simon, and North taught her some self-defense. Markus almost shut down when Alice called him Uncle Markus. North and Kara got along surprisingly well. The four core members of Jericho were honestly like an extended family. Okay so maybe their little family was expanding?

They went for walks in Detroit’s parks while on vacation, Alice loved the outdoors. Honestly the two of them couldn’t be happier to see their daughter so excited and full of smiles. Luther and Kara almost exploded with stress when Alice was suddenly pinned down by a rather large dog. The owner came running over yelling and Kara almost stopped functioning for the second time when she saw that it was Connor. The RK800 pulled the dog off of Alice and offered the little girl a hand. It took him less than a second to realize who they were and gave them a very timid smile. He remembers how he almost got them killed back when he was just a machine. An older man came jogging up to them, he was very obviously human.

It turns out his name is Hank Anderson and he’s a police Lieutenant at the DPD. “So, you’re the people Connor here told me about.” He’s rather rough around the edges but a real softie once you warm up to him.

“Can we go play at the park?” Alice is jumping up and down and pointing to the nearby playground.

Kara notices how she’s pointing to Connor as well. She’s rather apprehensive to let her go and play with the same android that was hunting them down nearly a year ago. Nonetheless, Kara can never say no so she goes to the park with them. Hank and Luther sit on a bench nearby and talk about ‘dad things’. Kara and Connor take turns pushing Alice on the swing. The two are quite quiet. Kara is normally a forgiving person and although Connor has apologized before she is still wary around the ex-deviant-hunter. She’s startled when she hears his voice inside her head. They’ve been living around humans for so long she forgot that they could make mental connections.

The RK800 starts apologizing profusely and although he was smiling on the outside his shaky voice in the connection gave away his guilt. “I’m sorry too Connor.” From her lengthy time being a mother she realizes how everyone makes mistakes and not everyone can control what they’re doing. All is forgiven and Connor becomes a sort of older brother to Alice. The two of them were running around with Sumo for the rest of the afternoon. Kara had to suppress her laughter whenever she heard Hank make a sarcastic comment. Hank is definitely a grumpy grandpa.

On their last day of vacation in Detroit they meet up with Markus and company in the morning to say their goodbyes. All four of them shower Alice in gifts to take home with her. Uncle Markus gives her some paint, Uncle Josh gifts a book, Uncle Simon gives her a camera, and Auntie North gives Alice some brass knuckles. Kara and Luther were mildly horrified by the last gift. Their next stop was the police precinct; Alice had two drawings she wanted to give Connor and Hank. They mistake RK900 for Connor. He looks so similar to Connor yet so different. The more they look at him the more different they realize he is from Connor.

His name is Nines and his partner is quite the character. Everyone in the precinct has to double-take because Gavin Reed is actually so soft when it comes to children. Alice is quite fond of Gavin to Luther and Kara’s dismay. Connor and Hank find them soon enough once they realize what all the other officers are looking at. “Alright Reed step away from the kid before you scare her to death and take your ken doll with you.” Hank waves the detective away who looks about ready to hurl an insult. Gavin is surprisingly respectful to Kara, he maybe or maybe not intimidated by her boyfriend, which confuses everyone else.

Alice presents her drawings to Connor and Hank who graciously accept them. Connor treats this crayon drawing as if it were a piece from Van Goghs gallery. Nines is much more quiet than Connor, more perceptive and judging. His gaze is harsh when aimed at everyone else but it’s much softer when he’s speaking to Alice. The small android asks if Connor is Nines’ older brother and Connor is quick to say that he is. So now Alice has two older brother figures? Alice drags Nines and Connor off to do some drawing in the kid’s area of the precinct. “So, when’s the wedding?” Hank asks.

Luther and Kara just about shut down from embarrassment. Were they going to get married, did they need to? The visit to the precinct is short lived when they get a call about a homicide. Alice is sad to leave her new extended family but excited to tell her friends all about her vacation. The drive back across the border has all three of their stress levels raised to significant levels; at least they aren’t conducting temperature checks anymore. They make it home and the next day Alice is back in school. For show and tell she talks about her trip to Detroit and talks about her family. At the next parent teacher interview Luther and Kara have to talk about their large family that they hadn’t previously mentioned before.

Alice is always video chatting with her brothers. Alice wants to be a detective just like them when she’s older. Kara and Luther are saddened by this; sometimes Alice forgets that she won’t grow older like her friends. Her parents just want her to be like any other kid. Summer holiday starts and Alice is sad that she won’t see her friends. The two parents did some research on how fast children age and grow and decide that Alice can head into the next grade. Alice has a sleepover with some of her friends, Luther is everyone’s dad. Swimming is fun and Alice enjoys it. The three of them get good use out of the community swimming pool downstairs.

They just love seeing how happy Alice is.

Seven months after the revolution and androids are still forbidden in Canada. They are constantly worrying for Alice’s safety. If she were to get injured they wouldn’t know what to do. Before school starts again they take another trip to Detroit to see the family. A lot of pictures are taken while there. Connor and Nines offer to watch Alice while Luther takes Kara out for another date night. The RK twins are chaotic babysitters. Also, Gavin and Nines are closer than originally thought so Alice officially calls him Uncle Gavin. The detective threatens to disassemble both Connor and Nines if they breathe a word about this to the precinct.

Luther takes Kara to an art gallery because he knows how much she loves art. Their whole apartment is covered head to toe in paintings, photography, and anything she finds artistic. The two of them really love each other so it isn’t surprising when Luther gets down on one knee and proposes. Of course, Kara is a sobbing mess as she accepts the ring. She didn’t expect to be so happy. She gives Luther the most passionate kiss ever and she doesn’t care whose watching. They don’t have much money so the ring is a simple silver wedding band. Kara notices how Luther’s name is engraved on the inside of the ring in cursive letters.

They’re smiling like idiots when they show up to Gavin Reed’s apartment (Nines is a temporary guest living there). Their smiles disappear when they see Alice standing on top of a coffee table residing over her ‘kingdom’. Said kingdom was made up of Connor, Nines, Uncle Gavin, and Uncle Gavin’s four cats. How did their little family grow so much? Alice’s eyes lit up when she saw her parents, she nearly fell off the coffee table and onto her bottom from how fast as was going. Luther caught her when she jumped at him and held her close. “Hello Alice, did you have fun?” The girl was quick to nod her head. The two RK units and the detective stood and looked to their feet, all three of the mildly embarrassed.

Once they got over their initial embarrassment Connor and Nines were quick to find the silver ring on Kara’s finger. Everyone was happy for them, no one more than Alice though. Nines even cracked a smile and after elbowing Gavin in the side the human detective muttered congratulations. This new information spread like wildfire through their family. Kara and Luther could only guess that Connor told Markus who in turn told Simon, North, and Josh. A little celebration was held at Markus’s home for the two engaged androids.

Familial gatherings.

They needed to do more of those.

Kara didn’t know what to do with all of this attention on her. Luther was quiet; all the boys made him feel a part of the group. Everyone asked when the wedding was. The two of them had yet to decide. It would most likely be small a wedding. They could only afford so much at this time. After the get together they embarked back on their drive to Canada. Everything went back into their usual routine once they arrived back home. Alice was happy to be back and headed to her bedroom to put herself into a well-needed stasis mode. Luther turned the television on which had been left on the Jazz music station, he may or may not have picked up a fondness for that type of music after hanging out with Hank.

Perhaps he even grabbed Kara’s hand after hearing the enchanting music and pulled her to the middle of the living room. Through whispered words he may have even asked her to dance with him. Kisses planted to her forehead, the swaying of their hips, and the sparkle in their gaze when they looked at each other – this was love. Screw everyone who ever said androids couldn’t love. The two didn’t see the little android with her camera taking a few pictures of her parents swaying together. In the morning Kara would be standing in front of the mirror in their shared room fixing her blue blazer for work. “You look perfect Kara, you’ll always look perfect.” Her face turned blue whenever he would compliment her.

Each day they were learning more and more about themselves and about how to be a family. They wouldn’t ever be normal and they knew that. But little things like going to work, assisting Alice with homework (although she didn’t need help), heading on vacation to visit family, going to school functions, and waking out of stasis in a comforting embrace – yeah, those were just domestic things.

A/N: I would love to write more about this, please do send me prompts for this family. I’d really love to write about their wedding which I’ll probably do next. Anyways, my ask box is always open and I’m always happy to take writing requests!

#detroit: become human #detroit become human #DBH #dbh fanfic #dbh kara #dbh alice #dbh luther #dbh luther x kara #literally every core person in dbh is in this

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neuxue · 6 years

Text

Wheel of Time liveblogging: The Gathering Storm ch 27

Mat takes luck out for a night on the town

Chapter 27: The Tipsy Gelding

Oh great, it’s a Mat chapter. Hang on, I’ve definitely got some enthusiasm lying around here somewhere…

At least Aludra, Amathera, and Egeanin hadn’t insisted on coming. This group was too big as it was.

Right, well in that case, I’m going to stay behind with Aludra because that’s where all the fun is.

Dramatic irony just isn’t something Sanderson uses much – at least, not as a characterisation tool – and it makes everything feel awkward and stilted.

Thom’s still reading Moiraine’s letter because he forgot to bring any other books with him to keep him entertained. That’s what Kindle is for, Thom.

If Moiraine was still alive…Light, what would that mean? How would Rand react?

That sure is the question, isn’t it? If the first name on his List can be erased, if the List itself is broken…the Wheel of Time turns, and in an endless cycle of death and rebirth are any of those named in the list truly gone?

But at the same time, Rand’s grasp on everything is so tenuous right now, and he’s just killed Semirhage and threatened to kill Cadsuane, and learning that his List is flawed (and therefore not a solid foundation or anchor) could just as easily break him further as help him find his way back, at this point.

That’s when you know your hero has been brought to his darkest hour, I suppose: when even good things could easily just send him spiralling further. When it feels like he’s a glass sculpture hanging by threads of spiderweb, and any movement or change at all could send it crashing down.

But…he also couldn’t let Thom go alone. There was an inevitability to it. As if a part of Mat had known all along that he had to go back and face those creatures again. They’d gotten the better of him twice now, and the Eelfinn had tied strings around his brain with those memories in his head. He had a debt to settle with them, that was for certain.

The second half of that is fine, but the first…inevitability is just not a concept I associate with Mat. Or rather, it’s not something I see Mat thinking about himself. He pulls at the strings of his fate so stubbornly, and manages a tone of denial even in his acceptance of things that he has finally acknowledged he maybe can’t quite run from.

Something more like…

But Thom had said he was going with or without Mat, and Mat was not about to let the old man run off and get himself killed. Besides, he suspected those snaky and foxy folk were just waiting for another chance to get their hands on Matrim Cauthon. They’d gotten the better of him twice now – he cursed himself for ever setting foot in that doorway; this was what came of meddling with ter’angreal– and the Eelfinn had tied strings around his brain with those memories in his head. Well, he was not playing their game anymore. He had a debt to settle with them, and that was for certain.

Essentially something that plays a bit more with his ‘I’ll do it because I want to, not because you tell me to’ attitude towards fate, ta’veren, or really anyone telling him to do something, or even nudging him in a particular direction. The fact that he usually ends up going anyway is, of course, entirely unrelated, nothing to do with that, definitely nothing to do with ta’veren…etc.

He’d probably be tempted to ride in and save one of the Forsaken themselves if they were trapped there.

Again, a little too direct for Mat. This is the sort of thing you’d see Kaladin thinking, and on him it would work with that kind of wry self-awareness, but with Mat it’s just a shade too self-aware.

“We need to reach Caemlyn if possible, though maybe we’ll stop at Four Kings on the way.”

That would be potentially entertaining, given it was one of the first towns he and Rand fucked up. Just to see a character return to the same place, some absurd number of levels later.

Sanderson also slips into present tense more than Jordan did; we get things like:

Moiraine trapped, being tortured or who knows what.

It’s not wrong; that’s one of those weird syntactic grey areas where you can kind of go either way, but it stands out because as far as I remember, Jordan pretty much always went with past.

Why did [Thom] care so much? What was Moiraine to him but another Aes Sedai, one of those who had cost the life of Thom’s nephew?

Trust me, Mat, we’re all wondering the same thing. The whole Moiraine/Thom thing, like so many of the other romantic pairings, relies heavily on foreshadowing rather than on actual relationship building. Sure, as a reader you can see it coming, but there’s no actual buildup to it. There’s what, one scene featuring the two of them alone, having a conversation?

But my general exasperation with much of the romance in WoT is hardly new, so I’ll just move on.

(Like Moiraine should)

(I mean what?)

At least Mat remembers Rand playing the flute; I’m not even sure Rand does anymore.

Colours swirled in Mat’s head, resolving to an image of Rand, sitting alone in a room by himself.

People who are alone are usually by themselves, yes.

Okay sorry, I will try to stop nitpicking. Maybe it’s just to emphasise how entirely alone Rand is. Yep, that’s definitely it, let’s go with that. (Then again, he has an entire party in his head. He’s never alone, but he’s always isolated).

Rand had one hand to his forehead as if trying to squeeze away the pain of a headache.

Or the pain of two lifetimes and a breaking world, but sure.

His other was…

That arm ended in a stump. The first time Mat had seen that – a few weeks back – it had shocked him. How had Rand lost the hand? The man barely seemed alive, propped up like that, unmoving. Though his lips did seem to be moving, mumbling or muttering. Light! Mat thought. Burn you, what are you doing to yourself?

Oh Rand. You don’t want to know the answer to that question, Mat. And you’re not far off the mark thinking that Rand barely seems alive. He’s falling apart, literally and figuratively, just trying to drag himself and the rest of the world with him to the end and no further. And there’s so little left of him, of Rand al’Thor; there’s too much of himself that he’s let go or has torn away or pushed away or had taken from him, and even the boundaries he’s set for himself and the anchors he’s been trying to hold to are failing, and what is there left, now, besides force of will and sheer Power?

Sure, Rand was a friend. But Mat didn’t mean to be there when Rand went insane and killed everyone he knew.

In The Great Hunt, that kind of thinking seemed rather harsh. Now, with what Rand has done and become and where he’s standing…

“Ah, Rand,” Thom said. “That boy could have made a life for himself as a gleeman, I warrant. Maybe even a proper bard, if he’d started when he was younger.”

This reminds me of when Herid Fel, not really knowing who Rand was, insisted he’d be an excellent student. These brief, soft moments of almost-lament for what could have been. But Rand’s life is not his own; he belongs, as Moiraine said, to the Pattern and to history, and instead of student or gleeman or farmer he became a weapon.

And we see what that’s done to him. The question, then, is whether there’s a way for him to still find a balance there, to choose in truth what was chosen for him.

The banter that follows between Mat and Thom is back to being awkward and stilted, and even Mat’s syntax is just…off. Mat doesn’t say ‘Here now’ and ‘Rand and I did right well for ourselves’.

“Burn you, none of that!” Mat said, pointing at him. “Rand practically sleptwith that harp. Wouldn’t think of selling it, even when we were so hungry we’d have gnawed on our own boots if we hadn’t needed them to get to the next town.”

This is Mat’s loyalty. He’ll complain about Rand aloud and in his thoughts, and go on about how he wants to be nowhere near the guy…but he’ll also defend him to the last, when it comes down to it. Even when it’s something relatively minor like this. It’s the almost sibling-like ‘no one insults you/hurts you but me’, and he doesn’t even realise he’s doing it. Which is a fairly central aspect of Mat’s character.

“We can’t go back, Mat. The Wheel has turned, for better or worse. And it will keep on turning, as lights die and forests dim, storms call and skies break. Turn it will. The Wheel is not hope, and the Wheel does not care, the Wheel simply is. But so long as it turns, folk may hope, folk may care.”

It’s not Mat that needs to hear this – it’s Rand. This is what he has lost: this sense of purpose and of hope and of the reason why he’s trying. Everything for him is too…final, too fixed. It’s all focused on one end, and he has forgotten or lost sight of the fact that the very end he’s fighting for is an end in which there is no ending. He focuses on his List and on those he has killed, rather than remembering that they will be reborn so long as there is a future. He focuses on absolute necessity and shatters all restraints and crosses all thresholds and has lost all thought of second chances or redemption.

It’s a pretty speech, and it suits Thom. He has these moments of poetic wisdom from time to time.

“That has the sound of a song about it, Thom.”

“Aye,” Thom said, almost with a sigh. “An old one, forgotten by most. […] This road is old, Mat. Ancient. Probably was here before the Breaking. Landmarks like this have a tendency to find their way into songs and stories. I think this area is what was once called the Splintered Hills. If that’s true, then we’re in what was once Coremanda, right near the Eagle’s Reaches. I bet you if we climbed a few of those taller hills, we’d find old fortifications.”

“And what does that have to do with Doreille?” Mat asked, uncomfortably. She’d been Queen of Aridhol.

“She visited here,” Thom said. “Penned several of her finest poems in the Eagle’s Reaches.”

Burn me, Mat thought. I remember.

I kind of love this exchange. The contrast here, between one who has made a life of finding and knowing old songs and stories, collecting forgotten pieces of history and putting them back together, singing of what has been lost to time, and one who remembers it. It’s a clever contrast of perspectives, as if they’re looking at the same thing from completely opposite ends of time. Or as if one is describing a photograph while the other is looking at its negative.

Really I’m just here for anything at all that goes deeper into the implications of Mat’s memory dump.

Mat hadn’t felt the pull of the ruby dagger in a very long time. He was nearly beginning to forget what it had been like to be tied to it, if it was possible to forget such a thing. But sometimes he remembered that ruby, red like his own blood. And the old lust, the old desire, would seep into him again…

…interesting.

I haven’t thought of the ruby dagger in relation to Mat in quite a while either, to be honest. Huh. So that’s still in play. Good to know…

This whole next section of dialogue feels off, and I feel like I’m once again being unnecessarily critical and negative about the writing but Mat’s chapters really are standing out as…um…less than excellent. To the point where it’s actually hard to ignore; it keeps pulling me out of the story.

“Besides, somebody needs to be here to watch, then put this all to song, someday.”

I like this side of Thom. It’s the natural extension of what he was talking about previously, with the long-forgotten songs about long-forgotten history. He tells stories of the past, remembers these events through the songs and legends that they have become…but that means he also knows the nature of stories; he can look at the present and see a glimpse of what it will look like when it is distant past, when it too is just a story. So he’s a link in the chain, telling the stories of those that came before him, and watching and waiting and preparing to set down the stories that will be told by those who come after. He has some view to the concept of The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memory that becomes legend. Legend fades to myth…

And now we’re back to trying-too-hard awkward banter between Mat and Talmanes.

Part of the problem here is that it’s a bit like a game of telephone, in that your perception and interpretation of the information you’re receiving changes how you then present it. If you think Mat is funny, when you sit down to write him the result is very much going to be coloured by your own sense of humour. And it will be more difficult for you to notice that anything is amiss, because hey, he’s funny. You repeated the word you heard. It just…isn’t the word that was said.

“People expect a gleeman to bring information, so we pull it out and brush it off for display – but much of the ‘news’ we tell is just another batch of stories, in many cases less true than the ballads from a thousand years ago.”

So…fake news?

But that’s been a theme of the story all along – the nature of stories themselves, and the way rumour and truth and story intermingle and change across distance and time, and how it’s never possible to have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Blah Olver stuff blah etc.

Sorry, I just…really do not care about Olver. I tried. For maybe a second or two. But fictional children are very much not my thing, 99% of the time.

(The 1% is Lyra, in case you were wondering).

“At least this [town] doesn’t seem likely to vanish on us…”

Don’t jinx it, Talmanes.

“You have the look of a lord about you,” the man said, approaching Mat.

“He’s a pr—” Talmanes began before Mat cut him off hastily.

“I suppose I do at that,” Mat said

Nothing like calling him a prince to get him to finally answer to Lord, I suppose.

Unless Talmanes was just going to say ‘PR disaster’, in which case I really can’t blame him.

Alright, opening bets on what’s wrong withthistown. Outsiders need to be out by nightfall? The inns are compensated? There’s definitely something going on here, and it’s probably not a surprise party.

The dice are rolling in Mat’s head.

Every time this happens, I hear ~dice are rolling, the knives are out~from Evita and I mean it’s not really wrong but brain, why?

Mat’s found the hipster inn: too cool to have something so passé as a sign on the front.

[The coin chest] carried Mat’s personal stash: he wouldn’t risk the Band’s wages on gambling.

Is it really a risk when you have probability bound and gagged in your basement?

I miss Talmanes, and I’m not sure how Nalesean ended up in Talmanes’s body – was he a Forsaken in disguise?

Why did people here wear clothing that was once so nice, yet now torn and patched?

Once is an observation, twice is foreshadowing, three is imminent disaster.

And Mat’s flashing gold. Time for the show. Everyone got your knives ready?

There was only one dicer in the game, with the crowd of onlookers betting against or for his tosses.

Ah, so it’s the financial crisis.

Last time he won every toss until the last, and the loss was the true luck. Now, he’s starting with losses…

Talmanes placed a hand on his arm. “No offence, Mat,” the man said in a quiet voice. “But maybe you should stop. Everyone has an off night. Let’s finish our drinks and go buy what supplies we can before night falls.”

I feel like Talmanes would be quicker on the uptake here. He’s Cairhienin after all, and no stranger to strategy and manipulation.

Part of what’s bothering me about Talmanes is that, while he was still in a ‘sidekick’ role when Jordan was writing, he still felt like his own character, with his own thoughts and aims and purpose. Here, though, he plays more the role of sounding board. He’s just there for Mat to bounce off of – to ask the obvious questions so that they can be answered (by Mat) for the reader, or to set Mat up for one-liners. He feels flat, where once he felt like he had quite a bit of depth, even if we only saw glimpses of him.

“This is what I wanted.”

Talmanes raised an eyebrow, lowering his mug.

Mat said, “I can lose when I want to, if it’s for the best.”

“How can losing be for the best?” Talmanes asked, watching the men argue about how to divide Mat’s gold.

“Wait.”

It’s a lesson Mat has learned, and I do enjoy the way it’s played with: this idea that sometimes you can win by losing, and sometimes what looks like a win can be more dangerous than a loss. For one thing, it suits him. The gambler, the trickster – he would be the one to turn a loss into a win, to see opportunity in what at first glance looks like failure. It suits his strange luck. And it also feels like something that could very easily be extended to his other aspect. Losing small to win big is not a bad skill for a general, strategist, or even tactician to have, and I very much hope that’s where this is going. The band’s motto is It’s time to toss the dice, after all; gambling and games and battles and strategy are all very much intertwined in Mat’s story.

I have to question one thing, though. He says he can lose when he wants to. Does it really work like that? Has he actually achieved some measure of conscious control here? His luck does to some extent respond to his specific needs, but is it working on a more meta level or does his own specific concept of what he needs have an effect? Or is it more a case of…knowing his luck better, and knowing the rules it operates under, and understanding the situation? I could buy that, I suppose; he has come to understand it a great deal more than he once did, when he was searching for inns in a Tairen storm.

Mat made sure to win a few tosses – just as he had to lose a bit when spending a night winning.

It’s something that frustrates me about the authorship switch and my own reaction to it: I keep questioning things like this, when if it were Jordan writing I would just assume I had been mistaken in my understanding or assumptions before. But as it is, I look at something like this and think ‘but is that reallyhow it works?’ So I can’t help but wonder if this is Sanderson just taking a cool trick and running with it like he does in his own worlds and magic systems – something that works well there, because that’s almost built into the systems themselves and thus becomes a key part of characters and worldbuilding – or is this actually something Mat can do?

And I don’t want to be second-guessing things like that; after all, Jordan had some inconsistencies of his own, and no doubt changed his mind on events or rules or whatnot at various points. But c’est la vie.

Mat’s still losing money like there’s no tomorrow, but Talmanes has moved on to all the foreshadowing and has concluded that something is rotten in the state of Hinderstap.

To which Mat more or less replies ‘nah, we’re fine. Now hold my beer and watch this!’

Which everyone knows is always a sign of nothing but great things to come.

The mayor wants them to go, Mat wants to bring in a chest full of gold, and I am immediately suspicious of any large wooden boxes that ostensibly hold coin for the purposes of playing to people’s greed to make them forget about their surroundings. Ahem.

Just…make sure no dragons end up in the box and we should be fine.

One last throw, everyone’s all in with gold and turnips, and this is an excellent method of grocery shopping. I’ll have to try it sometime.

“We don’t bend the rules here,” the mayor said. “The price is too high.”

For some reason – okay, the reason being because it’s Mat and he has a holiday booked in the near future to the lovely Tower of Ghenjei – this puts me in mind of Snakes and Foxes, and how the only way to win is to break the rules. Between that and ‘what was asked is given; the price is paid’, it’s a fun little contrast. Likely unintentional, but still rather perfect.

Desperate, he pulled open the top of the chest again, revealing the gold coins inside.

The lesson here is that greed always gets you what you want.

“I see what you’re doing,” the mayor said to Mat. He didn’t seem to be in a rush to gather anything.

Mat turned towards him, questioningly.

“I won’t have you cheating us with a miracle win at the end of the evening.”

Is it really cheating if you’re just doing unspeakable things to statistics? Probability did consent, as far as I can tell…

“I suspect that if we search you, we’ll find a couple of sets of dice hidden on your person.”

Nah, just knives.

“It’s a fine scheme, dressing like a lord, loading dice so they make you lose instead of win. Never heard of a man bold enough to throw away gold like that on fake dice.”

The mayor isn’t really wrong, even. It’s just that Mat doesn’t need weighted dice because the Pattern weights them for him.

I feel like the mayor making the throw for him kind of defeats the purpose of the game. At least, if you’re betting on it and have any shred of superstition and/or belief in the abstract concept of luck. From a purely statistical standpoint, of course, it doesn’t much matter. But from the perspective of the townsfolk gambling? Seems like they might have an issue with that.

Mat stuck out his hand for a shake, but the mayor turned away, holding the dice in his hand. “No,” he said. “You’ll get no chance to swap these dice, traveller.”

I kind of like this guy. His conclusions are not unreasonable, given what he would have been able to observe, and he’s sticking to his guns. Besides, he’s not telling Mat that the throw can’t be made, or tossing him in prison without evidence or anything; he’s just doing his level best to make sure nothing interferes with good old probability. I just like seeing random side characters showing a spine like this, even when confronted with A Protagonist. It makes them feel a little more real, a little more like they have their own aims and agency in the world, and thus makes the world feel more nuanced and true.

Barlden demanded that the chest remain open so that it couldn’t be switched.

Or filled with a dragon when no one’s looking. Not a bad call – this guy really is trying to cover all his bases.

Blood and bloody ashes, the man was a stickler for his rules! Well, Mat would show him, and all of them. He’d show them…

Show them what? That he couldn’t be beaten? What did that prove?

Ego has no place in grocery shopping.

I’m not doing anything wrong, he thought. I’ve got to feed my men, don’t I? These men are betting fair, and I’m betting fair. No loaded dice. No cheating. Except his luck. Well, his luck was his own – just as every man’s luck was his own.

Is it though? This much at least is more or less true to Mat’s mentality and also his particular method of denial: he knows full well he’s ta’verenbut he dances around it here. And he once almost killed a man for suggesting that he had ‘the Dark One’s own luck’. Autonomy and agency are important to Mat, and he doesn’t like giving them up or accepting that they can be superceded by forces he doesn’t completely understand. And so his luck is his, as far as he sees it.

Except the fact that he has to rationalise it to himself means he does know, on some level, that it’s not that simple. (Or that ‘luck’ as an actual phenomenon doesn’t exist, and is simply the human mind’s general failure to truly understand probability on an intuitive level, seeking instead to find pattern in chaos and coincidence, but that’s…one for another day).

There is definitely something wrong here, and there are far too many mentions of how close the sun is to the horizon for that curfew to be a random rule. What the fuck happens at sundown?

“We can go, then?” Talmanes asked.

“No,” Mat said. “We’re staying.”

And the dice stopped rattling in his head.

Well if there was any doubt left that Something Is Up, that did away with it.

It would be so disconcerting, to have something like that in your head. Because Mat’s not wrong; it’s not exactly useful in the sense that there’s not much you can do with the knowledge that something important or fateful is coming. The dice in his head give no indication of what or when or where or why, or whether it’s positive or negative, or anything.

No, it’s just an alarm bell set to ‘plot point incoming’ and if you think about it too hard, that’s a rather terrifying fourth-wall intrusion in the wrong direction. It’s something in your head telling you ‘you are part of a story, and something is about to happen’ or ‘you are part of a story, and the decision you just made is going to have an impact’ and yikes, do not want.

Groceries are loaded, tension is rapidly climbing, and Mat just wants the dice to be thrown already because shit’s getting weird. Having an indicator of narrative importance in your head would do that, yeah.

It’s a winning toss that doesn’t feel like a win at all; it does nothing at all to lessen the tension in the air and they’ve taken too long and the mayor is shouting at them to leave. This chapter has done an interesting thing in playing with the notions of winning and losing; we’ve seen it before in Maderin, and now it’s being extended further. Losing tosses in a lighthearted, almost carefree atmosphere contrasted with this winning toss amidst growing anxiousness and a sense of wrongness, and no release or catharsis at the point of victory. Losing is winning, and winning outright is…not what it seems.

“Now, see, I told you, Talmanes. Nothing to be worried about at all.” And that’s when the screaming began.

So it is a surprise party!

Next (TGS ch 28) Previous (TGS ch 26)

#absurdly long Mat chapters: my favourite #/sarcasm font #Wheel of Time #neuxue liveblogs WoT #The Gathering Storm

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bnrobertson1 · 3 years

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EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Death Stranding* is a wowing mind-fuck of an experience, surreal and mundane and draining and invigorating. Unafraid to constantly show you Norman Reedus’ bare ass while pontificating on the nature of modern existence, the game is unlike any before it, a venerable nightmare for marketing people and gamers expecting something more tried-and-true.

Choose a Caption!: “I intend to help all of humanity through these apocalyptic times. But first, a peek of me bottom for the ladies.” -OR- Reedus Rump: Kojima’s Metal Gear-esque Weapon to Appeal to Women.

Death Stranding is also the host to the best piece of product placement in recent memory. The product? Monster mahfucking Energy** drink, a (demonic?) elixir that boosts main character Sam’s stamina when consumed- a life-giving tonic with only 160g of sugar. You don’t drink water in the game, you drink Monster. Hell yes. For a game about wandering the wreckage of a nuclear-ish event, it’s a masterful touch, eloquently capturing our need as humans to technologically improve everything (yes, even the liquid responsible for life), a destructive compulsion that is the vertebrae and driver of the game’s narrative. Many in the press find this shameless money-grab to be tasteless, but the fact Coca-Cola (a corporation!) undoubtedly paid millions to get it so prominently in the game only speaks to its preposterous-yet-probable presence. It’s probably too subtle to be a Kojima-nod to the futuristic satire of Idiocracy, but Monster Energy will undoubtedly go down as the real world’s Brawndo (just without the electrolytes).

*More Thoughts on Death Stranding (BEWARE NON-SENSICAL SPOILERS): God Bless Hideo Kojima, the man goes for it. Arguably video game’s most beloved auteur and inarguably the one who most wants to be referred to as “Kubrikickian” and/or “enigmatic,” the mastermind behind the beloved Metal Gear games proves incapable of working small or with gloves with his Death Stranding, leaving both fingerprints all throughout and editors’ calls unreturned. Hours-long cut scenes waxing philosophical about technology’s dooming yet liberating role in our future? Check. 4th wall breaking, star-fucking pop culture references? Check. Singular gameplay whose laborious nature quite soundly proves larger points about things ranging from literary theory to the gig economy? Check. Check. Check.

But between the preposterous acronyms, convoluted packing systems, and Conan O’ Brien cameos, there glimmers dots of genius. Those willing to wade through the oft- incomprehensible industrial-military-complex babble are rewarded with “Holy Shit” moments, those boundary and/or sense exploding things of which Kojima is King. Death Stranding is no different, and although the game never reaches the heights of the Metal Gear games, there are specific parts that unleashed that goosebump wave of awesomeness. The bolo gun that wraps up your enemies instead of killing them, your ability to hog tie the unsuspecting with an elastic strand, the focus on oil and blood as the life force of all things- these are but some of the elements of the game that really work, dripping into the game at just the rate where you keep interested but not overwhelmed.

But the best moment in the game is in a cut-scene where your baby companion (did I mention Kojima is weird?) literally stops bullets with its mind to save you. Now, the prior sentence shouldn’t make sense, and probably doesn’t. But the real nonsensical thing is just how powerful it hit. In a game about loneliness and the brutal nature of existence, this self-less act is totally unexpected but gives you the real feeling that someone has got your back (even if it proves to be a futile gesture). It’s effect was reminiscent of similar film sequences. After about 15-months of Covid I would say the point was comforting in a way I was not anticipating whatsoever.

Being the only one of my friends insane enough to finish the game’s deliberate but nonetheless grotesquely overlong runtime (60+ hours of fetch quests!), my fellow Metal Gear fans have asked: is it worth playing? To which I really don’t know the answer. It’s absolutely bold and tries to tell a tale that could only be told in the video game medium, but then again, video games aren’t particularly great ways of telling stories. At points it felt like its design was made to be played in the pandemic: it’s time-consuming, meditative, and at times utterly mind-numbing. At its peaks, the game is reminiscent of Grandaddy’s The Sophtware Slump, another generally somber post-technological tale, albeit with less alcoholic robots and more characters named things like Die-Hardman. It’s not nearly as *fun* as other AAA titles, but then again the diametrically different approach of Doom Eternal didn’t inspire a couple thousand words.

**I can’t remember my first cigarette, beer, or kiss but I do remember the first time I had a Monster Energy drink. Due to some mental, emotional, and physical deficiencies, I was unable to fly for about 6 months- just the thought of driving to the airport turned my anxiety- and palm sweat- on like a firehose. But knowing this fear was simply incompatible with modern life, I gave myself a building block of a goal- make a flight from my then-home of Austin to somewhere close enough that I could rent a car and drive home. I chose Dallas because I had an incentive: to see obscure musical group Nine Inch Nails*** performing at one of the Metroplex’s many arenas.

Getting on the plane took some assistance- specifically in the form of about 2 grams of Alprazolam. The barbiturate calm pressed the right buttons beautifully, having me giggling about clouds as opposed to obsessing about how we were in a speeding steel cylinder 7 miles above the surface of the earth. But when we landed in Dallas about 30 minutes later, the ease evolved into a potent sleepiness. Which is fine if you’re headed to a hotel, or virtually anywhere else in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but not so much when you’re about to see an Industrial concert with 8,000 other people not exactly known for their chill. Plodding along, I finally made it to the concert, hoping to order a Red Bull as big as its namesake to get me out of blah bliss and into banging. The venue only sold Coke products, so in my apathetic exhaustion, I decided to order a Monster, an energy drink to that point I identified with redneck culture and thus avoided. Finding the whole thing pretty funny- and strongly buzzing off the fact that I had somehow faced my fear and gotten on an airplane- I figured there was probably no better place on earth to try a tall boy Monster Energy Drink Zero Sugar than FUCKING DALLAS, ie, the Monster Energy Drink of America.

The flavor I ordered was in a white can and poured out looked like some sort of large sea mammal had just bricked into a cup. Disgusted but not discouraged, I grabbed the glowing goblet like it was the reins of a dragon and took it by its mighty wing, by which I mean swig. Surprisingly tasty, I thought. Not the Pepsi-fied version of Red Bull I was fearing. The house lights then were dimmed, indicating it was game time. I wisely bought another Monster and went into the show, thinking 32 oz of liquid electricity was exactly what I needed to match Reznor’s energy.

You’re goddamn right I took a picture of my first Monster!

Whatever chemistry was going on in my body was probably bad, because it felt awesome. Even though Nine Inch Nails had performed a majority of my favorite stuff the night before (their first of two nights in Dallas), the concert was as engrossing as was hoped- the loudness and lights simultaneously pummeling and transcendent. While it goes without saying that it wasn’t for everyone, the entire 3-hour ride back to Austin I was laughing like a maniac, having won a small battle (flying) and getting a big reward for my efforts (NIN). So, when anybody asks me what the ludicrously huge can of white can of energy drink I’m proudly, obnoxiously enjoying tastes like I am genuine when I tell them: “Carbonated Capri-Sun. And Courage.”

*** I had been scared of NIN growing up too, specifically the video for “Closer” which made my 10 year old guts squirm like worms with its hanging meat and imagery that was confusingly gory yet sexual. I also went to a conservative all-boys school where wearing NIN stuff was rarely allowed, and when it was you’d be shamed by one of the change-petrified cliques that ran the place. My position softened a bit after the landmark Johnny Cash cover of “Hurt,” but what confirmed my fandom was when I heard “The Hand that Feeds” on a Chicago strip-club sound system- since then, they have soundtracked much of my life. Lesson: There lies wisdom in Strip Clubs.

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onestowatch · 7 years

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An Interview With Hippo Campus: The People’s Band

There are certain bands that are meant to be heard live. You are meant to hear the lead singer’s sarcastic quips, meant to see the guitarist’s and bassist’s mid-song guitar duel, meant to feel the lyricism of the songs invade your mind, and ultimately, meant to sit back and listen to some damn good music while it all plays out before your eyes. Indie pop-rock band Hippo Campus is one of those bands, and believe us, they are well on their way to headlining major stages across the globe.

Self-described as a band “that people really connect with,” Hippo Campus is comprised of four 21-22 year olds: vocalist Jake Luppen, guitarist Nathan Stockar, bassist Zach Sutton, and drummer Whistler Allen. They’ve amassed a strong following over the past three years by dropping a few EPs and hitting the road with bands like Walk the Moon and Saint Motel.

On March 1, they released their debut album, Landmark. The record is chock-full of catchy tunes that are reminiscent of the band’s signature progressive, sunny sound. Hippo Campus has spent most of 2017traveling for their very own headline tour in support of the new release, but have since postponed shows due to lead singer Jake Luppen’s case of the flu.

I spoke to Luppen hours before they took the stage in Washington D.C. to discuss their new album, why everyone is so wrapped up in their age, and how they’d like to be perceived as a band of the people.

Ones To Watch: Congratulations on your first album! How does it feel to finally have it out now?

Jake Luppen: It feels awesome. Obviously, we’ve been working on it for a long time. The whole process took 8 months so it feels good to finally have it in the world. It’s definitely a little bit weird to have something you’ve been so close to for so long be available for everybody to listen to, and to gain their own experiences from, but I think overall it’s a really great feeling.

OTW: Let’s go back to the beginning--you guys met at a fine arts high school. Were you in two separate bands at the time?

JL: Yes, Zach and I were in a band called Blatant Youth and Nathan and Whistler were in a band called Northern, and we used to play shows together in high school.

OTW: When did you guys form Hippo Campus? Were you still in high school?

JL: Yes, we were still in high school. I think it was the beginning of senior year when we technically formed in secret actually. [Laughs]. We didn’t really want the other members of the other bands to know because we weren’t sure if it was gonna be a real thing or not, but Nathan and I throughout junior year had been jamming on and off for a while.

OTW: That’s a little scandalous! [Laughs].

JL: I know, it was scandalous. It was terrible when the other bands found out. They found out in the worst way possible, or at least Zach and I’s band did.

OTW: Oh no! What happened?

JL: Zach left his Facebook open, and we had a Facebook group. The other guys from Blatant Youth saw it, and they were pretty upset with us for not telling them about it.

OTW: So you guys formed your senior year. When did you start to gain recognition for your music?

JL: That wasn’t until probably about halfway through my freshman year in college. The local radio station sort of caught on to what we were doing, and they started spinning us, and that’s kind of how we gained some traction in Minnesota. We played a few college gigs too. We were in this one battle of the bands, which we finished second in actually. [Laughs]. But it was mainly the local stations that kind of got us some local attention.

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OTW: It’s really difficult to make the decision of choosing to pursue your dreams over your education. What had to happen for you to ultimately leave school?

JL: I was attending the University of Minnesota. I went there for a year and a half, and Zach went there for half a year. Basically we got our first tour offer and I was sitting in a philosophy class, and I remember opening my e-mail and our manager sent over the first tour offer.

I texted my mom, and I was like, “I like college but I think that I need to pursue this. I think I need to leave and try out touring and stuff.” It all went over pretty well.

OTW:: Let’s talk about the songwriting on the album--it’s really well done. It feels very intricate and thought out. What’s your favorite song lyrically?

JL: I think “Vacation” is probably my favorite song lyrically on the record.

It’s kind of the most raw and the most real. It’s honestly the least thought out, I would say...those were pretty much kind of the first words I wrote. It directly deals with the struggle to write the record and maintain relationships within the band while writing this record, because it really tested all of us. I think it’s just kind of an informative song--you can hear a lot about the record, and the way it was made in the song.

OTW: Is there a particular topic that you like writing about or that you’re drawn to?

JL: I think it varies. It’s all about what you’ve experienced, and what’s honest at the time. I think with this record, obviously we had two years of touring experience after having never done that before. It made that pretty easy to write about on this record. We kind of undertook writing about some social themes, especially with people our age and the way social media influences us.

That’s another thing we had to immerse ourselves in, is this world of social media--and as an artist, whether we want to or not. We have to engage our fans at this level. So that was definitely something interesting to write about--this world we are kind of forced to be in when we don’t necessarily want to be in it.

OTW: Does anyone else write lyrics as well?

HC: Yeah, Nathan will write lyrics with me.

OTW: The album feel very cohesive but then you have two writers, which can bring up different thoughts and views. How do you maintain that cohesiveness?

JL: We usually split it up song to song, so you can point to a song, like “Monsoon,” Nathan would write the majority of the lyrics to that one. But “Vacation,” I wrote majority of the lyrics to that one, as well as “Way It Goes.” It’s just like that but there’s usually maybe a line or two where one of us will serve as an editor or something like that. It allows things to feel cohesive, but it allows you to have some sort of editor or moderator, and someone to bounce ideas off of which has been helpful. This is the first band where we’ve both kind of done that in, and it’s been nice.

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OTW: I saw you perform at SXSW, and there’s a natural chemistry between you guys and the audience. Has it always been that way, or is that something that has progressed?

JL: I think the live shows have always been our bread and butter. It’s been the thing that keeps people coming back to us.

I feel like it’s kind of hard to understand what we’re doing unless you’ve seen it live because it’s kind of a different experience. You see a lot of bands that don’t look like they’re having fun when they’re performing, and it just makes it taxing to listen to. A show should be a fucking good time. I mean obviously you should be able to play and be able to perform everything, but you should just be fucking having fun. That’s what people are there for. It’s always been important to us--to have a good time at the end of the day.

OTW: How do you cope with that, specifically as the frontman? Are you an extrovert or an introvert, and how does that translate on stage?

HC: Honestly, I think I’m more of an introvert. I think in my personal life I don’t really have that frontman persona--I really don’t like being the center of attention.If someone had just met us at a party, they’d probably think Nathan or Zach is the lead singer because they’re louder, and I guess they can deal with attention probably better than I can. I can recognize that I can do it onstage--it’s weird. It’s like playing a character. I sort of like play a version of myself.

Photo: Hippo Campus Facebook Page

OTW: That’s why I asked because I feel like you have this alter ego thing going on onstage, and it works really well.

JL: Nice, yeah totally. You kind of have to do that. It’s good to have that separation because otherwise your head could start getting fucked with pretty easily if you don’t have a divide. If you carry this artificial reality that is the stage offstage, shit can start getting super weird. It’s kind of nice to have the divide. I think it’s that for all of us. We have a sort of divide between our offstage and onstage persona.

OTW: Is there any advice or tips that have helped you guys when performing live?

JL: I like the one that goes, instead of talking a lot at our shows, just shut the fuck up and play. I think there’s something nice about that. It’s fun to engage people, but at the same level, sometimes it’s nice to just have the show be entirely about the music, and not be about any single one of us saying weird things. It’s about being thankful to be there and saying that, but I think it’s good advice to just fucking play music. You don’t always have to fill any sort of awkward space with talking. It’s alright to just be present, and hang out and have a good show.

Photo: Connor Siedow

OTW: You guys have played shows with a lot of really cool bands like Modest Mouse, Walk the Moon, and Saint Motel. If you could tour with anyone, who would it be?

JL: For me personally, I’d love to tour with The Shins. I fucking love The Shins. They’re one of my favorite bands. A tour with Death Cab for Cutie would be pretty amazing. Obviously the big ones like Radiohead. They would be an amazing band to play with. Sylvan Esso. We’ve only hung out with them once, but it would be cool to tour with them at some point.

OTW: You guys are playing a lot of festivals this year, including Bonnaroo, FPSF, and Lollapalooza. What’s the highlight of that lineup this year?

JL: I think they’re all going to be pretty awesome. One of my favorite shows we’ve ever done was at Lolla two years ago, so I’m very much looking forward to coming back again. Bonnaroo should be awesome too. It’s our first time. It’s our first time at FPSF too, but I’m really looking forward to Lollapalooza. I think that that should be fucking awesome.

OTW: What do you think sets Hippo Campus apart from other indie bands?

JL: It’s hard to answer this question without sounding egotistical. We occupy this weird space right now. I really want to have a good answer to this question because it’d be good for people to hear it, because it’s like alternative people pigeonhole us as an indie band, and indie people pigeonhole us as alternative. I think inherently we want to be an indie band, or inherently we’d want to be like a press band, but I think that what we’re doing resonates with people, as opposed to like publications or tastemakers or anything.

We’ve gotten some good press, you know, but I think what makes us different than a lot of indie bands is that it’s just resonating with real human beings on a different level than I’ve seen. If you went to our shows, you wouldn’t expect there to be that many people there, enough people who are deeply affected by it.

I guess what makes us different is I feel like we’re a people’s band. We’re not a press band, and we’re not really a radio band. We’re just kind of a band that people really connect with, and I’m fucking proud to be that because that’s what is most important.

Hopefully I didn’t sound too much like a dick. [Laughs].

youtube

OTW: No way, that was awesome. I think you summed that up really well. Is there anything now that has to happen for you guys to feel like, “We’ve made it”?

JL: I don’t think we’ll ever feel like that. I think we’re all pretty hungry individuals, so it seems like things are constantly growing, but nothing is really ever good enough to settle on, and I hope that’s something we all maintain. It’s important to not get comfortable. It’s very easy to get comfortable in this business at a certain level but I think it’s a goal to always grow and to always push and stuff because we can always do better. I think we’ve tapped into like 30 or 40% of the potential that we have writing and performing. I feel like there’s a lot of room left to grow.

OTW: A lot of people tend to emphasize your age. Do you think starting out young limited you guys in any way?

JL: Not really--if anything it benefited us. I guess it limited us in the way that every article will start off with, “Fresh out of high school, youngsters..they have a sound way beyond their years.” If I had a nickel for every time that we had “a sound way beyond our years,” I would be quite rich. It’s beneficial in the way it gives us an excuse at times. People are like “Oh well, they’re growing,” which is fucking true. We have to remind ourselves of that. I’m happy people want to write about us, but if we never had another article that started with “local youngsters” or whatever, I would be very happy with that.

OTW: Well shit, that was my headline!

JL: Fuck! [Laughs].

OTW: Who are three artists on your Ones To Watch list?

JL: This band called Whitney are pretty new. They’ve kind of come up as like press darlings. I’m really excited to see what they do in the future. I think there’s a lot of room to grow, and I think they’re a really cool band.

There’s a band from Minnesota called Remo Drive who I will always shout out. It’s like emo rock or punk. Emo revival is the right genre now. Anthony Fantano blogged about them and brought up a few of their music videos that have over 200k views now and shit, so I think they deserve more attention now than what they’re getting in kind of the local music scene, as far as like radio and press and stuff. I think that they’re gonna fucking blow up.

This band called Happy Children is another band too that I think is gonna do really well. They’re great homies, and Whistler actually produced their EP. So shout out Happy Children. Shout out Remo Drive. Shout out Whitney.

3 notes · View notes

serena-inverse · 7 years

Text

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Darkside of Dimensions reaction

I will not call this a review- it’s more a KEYSLAM OF FEELINGS that I need to get off my fangirl chest while I’m still super hyped from the screening!

Cut for spoilers!

Okay so- first of all going to the screening was fun. As I’m waiting in the queue to get my ticket (while trying to discreetly look around and see if any YGO cosplayers came along) there’s a group of 3 teenage boys behind me and I catch some of their conversation.

“Dude- I can’t see the movie listed? Do you think they’re not showing it?”

“No man, it’s just too ‘indie’ so there not bothering to put it on the board. It’ll be on, trust me, I check before we came.”

At this point I’m internally going !!!! because maybe they’re going to see Yugi on the big screen too??? And then one of them adds really nervously-

“Oh man, what if they say we need like, a kid with us to go see it? What if we’re too old for a YGO cartoon?”

And I’m just smiling and trying not to laugh because you poor thing- I am 10 years older then you and going to see this movie by myself. You will be fine. I nearly said something but in the end decided against it because I didn’t want to embarrass them. XD

And then their was the lovely experience of buying my ticket! I was kinda internally bracing myself, paranoid that I was going to get ‘looks’ from the person on the desk? (ah social anxiety, always popping up right when I don’t want you). In fact I found myself talking to a girl about my age, who BEAMED when she heard what I was going to see, and gushed that she REALLY wanted to see it today too but she had to work! She even made a point of telling me that I should make sure to get my goody bag when I enter the film (I had no idea they were giving away freebies) and hoped I enjoyed myself!

So yes, that was lovely! (btw- in the end no YGO cosplayers were spotted- I was sad)

Now ONTO THE FILM ITSELF- my thoughts.

I LOVED the ‘going to school’ scene. The characterisations were so on point. Joey’s wild bike ride into school is exactly the sort of thing I could see him doing, and I loved how Tristan grabbed onto his bike at the last second and helped him turn it so they could JUST make it through the gates in time. Those two love to give each other a hard time but they are also just RIDICULOUSLY in-synch when it comes to the crunch.

Yugi still walking to school with Tea but now being shy about meeting her at his house was C-U-T-E.

Oh look at Bakura, still dealing with the fangirls.

That scene of the five friends talking about their dreams on the school roof was ADORABLE. I love how they’re all so supportive of each other. Bless these children.

Joey cannot be separated from his duel disk- god these kids are too cute.

‘I can’t believe you got it confiscated for polishing it during class’ ‘I don’t know- it took guts to do it during our maths final’ omg Joey you did not.

‘I know that guys been in our class all year- but what’s his name?’ Guys forget his name just look at his hair and you know he’s going to be a main character.

JOEY GOT HIS DUEL DISK BACK! *throws confetti*

Very sweet moment of Yugi missing Atem and supportive friends being considerate about it and telling him it’s okay. ;A;

JOEY LEAPING THE FREAKING BRIDGE TO HELP SOMEONE HE BARELY KNOWS FROM 5 BULLIES. THIS IS WHY I LOVE THIS GOLDEN RETRIEVER. #EVERYONE NEEDS A FRIEND LIKE JOEY.

DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THE KAIBA CORB CONSTRUCTION SIGN HAD A CHIBI BLUE-EYES WEARING A LITTLE HARD HAT??

Oh look the kid with main-character hair can make people vanish and summon a freaky army of glowy eyed demon children.

Kaiba is just being so EXTRA throughout this whole movie and I LOVE IT.

Kaiba is battling Atem and I’m immediately calling that this is one of his holograms.

CALLED IT

‘Even his perfectly coifed hair- that was the hardest part’ *PRIDESHIPPING*

Okay but Kaiba crunching his water bottle and immediately demanding that the person who created it is to be fired because ‘no KC product should be so flimsy’ I just- SDFDSFDSDFS

Aww look, Joey’s letting Tristan fix his precious duel disk- he really does trust him.

DUKE. SHOWED. UP. \0/

NOW. WHERE. IS MAI?

.........The dog mascot turned out to be Joey doing a part time job. OF COURSE IT WAS. WHAT IS IT WITH THIS SERIES AND PUTTING JOEY IN A DOG SUIT?? (I cannot speak I keep referring to him as a golden retriever)

SETO HAS HIS BLUE EYES JET. *ticks that off on the YGO movie bingo card* Also Mokuba is adorable- have I mentioned this yet? Because he is.

...........Did Seto just get hit with magic strong enough to warp/destroy dimensions and just SHRUG IT OFF.

I’m dying- this is the most powerful magic in the world and Seto just swatted it away like BITCH DON’T TOUCH THIS. Diva’s face is priceless.

I mean I know his new super duel disk was supposed to be doing something too but...come on we all know it was all just Seto’s willpower/ego right?

MORE DUELING.

.......Seto’s strategy seems to be SUMMON MORE DRAGONS.

Seriously how many OP’D versions of blue eyes does this man now have in his deck?

THE THOUGHT OF LOSING AND NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE ATEM AGAIN WAS ENOUGH TO LET HIM SUMMON A FREAKING GOD FROM THE OTHER SIDE. #HE HAS IT SO BAD #THIS MOVIE COULD BE A PRIDESHIPPING FIC

Lets give it up for Seto ‘I need alone time to deal with this puzzle so I’m gonna build a FREAKING SPACE STATION you can only reach by SPACE ELEVATOR’ Kaiba. #King of being EXTRA.

More mystical/tragic backstory stuff keeps being revealed about Diva and his sister/their family. I really wish I could say I cared but I...really didn’t? I felt so indifferent about Diva and his plight. I just wanted to get back to Yugi, the gang, and the Kaiba brothers.

BABY BAKURA IN A FLASHBACK NOTHING COULD BE BETTER THEN-

I TAKE IT BACK WE NOW HAVE BABY YAMI-BAKURA IN A FLASHBACK. THIS IS THE BEST LOOK AT THE TINY HOMICIDAL SOCIOPATH GO.

I just noticed Joey’s duel disk is SIGNED slay me.

Joey’s trapped in a memory world that’s disintegrating around him. I’m so betting that a ‘friendship’ memory turns out to be so strong it’s ‘unbreakable’ and saves him.

IT. WAS. A. MEMORY. OF. YUGI/ATEM.

I really wanted Yugi/Atem to like hold out a hand and pull Joey to safety though?? I mean the dramatic posing was ACE don’t get me wrong but I wanted hand holding.

Personally I read this scene as Atem taking advantage of the fact Joey was between the living and the dead (dying?) to reach out and give him a nudge in the right direction. It gave me so many feels but I REALLY WISH HE’D HELD OUT HIS HAND AND WE’D GOT TO SEE JOEY GRASPING IT AND ATEM PULLING HIM UP.

JOEY THANKED YUGI MY HEART

.........Did Kaiba just shoot down a jet WITH A PERSON INSIDE IT with his blue eyes???

I didn’t read that wrong right?? THERE WAS A PERSON IN THAT JET AND SETO BLEW IT UP. I DIDN’T SEE A PARACHUTE.

*squints* ...Did Seto set that jet up to crash just so he could shoot it down directly over his stadium with his dragon and show off how AWESOME his new system is?

................okay then I guess the movie is just glossing over that.

omg. Kaiba’s speech.

I can’t.

‘I’ve never settled fro mediocrity and neither should you’

‘this world is poorly designed. If someone from my company had made it I’d fire them’ I’M DYING

YUGI BEING A BAWSE DAYUM.

I just noticed all the kids in the crowd cosplaying as duel monsters. That’s adorable.

DUELING.

Kaiba and Yugi dueling yay!!

Seriously how many OP’d version of blue eyes does Kaiba have?

I LOVE THE NEW DARK MAGICIAN GIRLS.

‘You’re fighting me with fruit?’ (all the audience laughed)

‘....You really don’t like dragons do you?’ (more laughter)

I get the feeling the voice actors really enjoyed themselves making this movie XD

Yugi tries to gently show Kaiba (Kaiba who at my current count has: ripped up an ancient landmark, invented a new duelling system, kidnapped a teenager, held a tournament and built a SPACE STATION and millennium puzzle solving robot just to see Atem) that, sorry buddy Atem is really-super gone.

Kaiba immediately REJECTS THIS. #he really REALLY has it bad.

MORE DUELING.

Diva + Ring = Much badness.

See I couldn’t see Atem coming back from the dead just for a rematch with Kaiba (sorry Kaiba) but ‘the world is ending’? Yeah, that seems serious enough.

‘I believe in ....the heart of the cards.’ MY HEART.

HE’S BACK!!!!!

..........He’s not going to say anything is he.

HE’S SERIOUSLY NOT GOING TO SAY A SINGLE THING??

I mean, I get it, this is all supposed to show that Yugi is now the main character and stands on his own but but but but BUT-!!!

AT LEAST LET THEM HIGH FIVE.

;A;

‘He’s fine, he wishes us will’ these hedgehog babies are so close they can communicate so much with just a nod #puzzleshipping

‘You had your bond with him, and I had mine’ #BACK TO PRIDESHIPPING

Everyone’s graduating and growing, yay!!

.........Except Kaiba. What is Kaiba doing?

omg.

Omg.

He is not.

He is NOT doing what I think he’s-

*INCOHERANT SCREAMING*

And those are my thoughts!

#yu-gi-oh!#the darkside of dimensions #yugioh

12 notes · View notes

sheminecrafts · 5 years

Text

Minecraft Earth makes the whole real world your very own blocky realm

When your game tops 100 million players, your thoughts naturally turn to doubling that number. That’s the case with the creators, or rather stewards, of Minecraft at Microsoft, where the game has become a product category unto itself. And now it is making its biggest leap yet — to a real-world augmented reality game in the vein of Pokémon GO, called Minecraft Earth.

Announced today but not playable until summer (on iOS and Android) or later, MCE (as I’ll call it) is full-on Minecraft, reimagined to be mobile and AR-first. So what is it? As executive producer Jesse Merriam put it succinctly: “Everywhere you go, you see Minecraft. And everywhere you go, you can play Minecraft.”

Yes, yes — but what is it? Less succinctly put, MCE is like other real-world-based AR games in that it lets you travel around a virtual version of your area, collecting items and participating in mini-games. Where it’s unlike other such games is that it’s built on top of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, meaning it’s not some offshoot or mobile cash-in; this is straight-up Minecraft, with all the blocks, monsters and redstone switches you desire, but in AR format. You collect stuff so you can build with it and share your tiny, blocky worlds with friends.

That introduces some fun opportunities and a few non-trivial limitations. Let’s run down what MCE looks like — verbally, at least, as Microsoft is being exceedingly stingy with real in-game assets.

There’s a map, of course

Because it’s Minecraft Earth, you’ll inhabit a special Minecraftified version of the real world, just as Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite put a layer atop existing streets and landmarks.

The look is blocky to be sure, but not so far off the normal look that you won’t recognize it. It uses OpenStreetMaps data, including annotated and inferred information about districts, private property, safe and unsafe places and so on — which will be important later.

The fantasy map is filled with things to tap on, unsurprisingly called tappables. These can be a number of things: resources in the form of treasure chests, mobs and adventures.

Chests are filled with blocks, naturally, adding to your reserves of cobblestone, brick and so on, all the different varieties appearing with appropriate rarity.

Mobs are animals like those you might normally run across in the Minecraft wilderness: pigs, chickens, squid and so on. You snag them like items, and they too have rarities, and not just cosmetic ones. The team highlighted a favorite of theirs, the muddy pig, which when placed down will stop at nothing to get to mud and never wants to leave, or a cave chicken that lays mushrooms instead of eggs. Yes, you can breed them.

Last are adventures, which are tiny AR instances that let you collect a resource, fight some monsters and so on. For example you might find a crack in the ground that, when mined, vomits forth a volume of lava you’ll have to get away from, and then inside the resulting cave are some skeletons guarding a treasure chest. The team said they’re designing a huge number of these encounters.

Importantly, all these things — chests, mobs and encounters — are shared between friends. If I see a chest, you see a chest — and the chest will have the same items. And in an AR encounter, all nearby players are brought in, and can contribute and collect the reward in shared fashion.

And it’s in these AR experiences and the “build plates” you’re doing it all for that the game really shines.

The AR part

“If you want to play Minecraft Earth without AR, you have to turn it off,” said Torfi Olafsson, the game’s director. This is not AR-optional, as with Niantic’s games. This is AR-native, and for good and ill the only way you can really play is by using your phone as a window into another world. Fortunately it works really well.

First, though, let me explain the whole build plate thing. You may have been wondering how these collectibles and mini-games amount to Minecraft. They don’t — they’re just the raw materials for it.

Whenever you feel like it, you can bring out what the team calls a build plate, which is a special item, a flat square that you virtually put down somewhere in the real world — on a surface like the table or floor, for instance — and it transforms into a small, but totally functional, Minecraft world.

In this little world you can build whatever you want, or dig into the ground, build an inverted palace for your cave chickens or create a paradise for your mud-loving pigs — whatever you want. Like Minecraft itself, each build plate is completely open-ended. Well, perhaps that’s the wrong phrase — they’re actually quite closely bounded, as the world only exists out to the edge of the plate. But they’re certainly yours to play with however you want.

Notably all the usual Minecraft rules are present — this isn’t Minecraft Lite, just a small game world. Water and lava flow how they should, blocks have all the qualities they should and mobs all act as they normally would.

The magic part comes when you find that you can instantly convert your build plate from miniature to life-size. Now the castle you’ve been building on the table is three stories tall in the park. Your pigs regard you silently as you walk through the halls and admire the care and attention to detail with which you no doubt assembled them. It really is a trip.

It doesn’t really look like this but, you get the idea

In the demo, I played with a few other members of the press; we got to experience a couple of build plates and adventures at life-size (technically actually 3/4 life size — the 1 block to 1 meter scale turned out to be a little daunting in testing). It was absolute chaos, really, everyone placing blocks and destroying them and flooding the area and putting down chickens. But it totally worked.

The system uses Microsoft’s new Azure Spatial Anchor system, which quickly and continuously fixed our locations in virtual space. It updated remarkably quickly, with no lag, showing the location and orientation of the other players in real time. Meanwhile the game world itself was rock-solid in space, smooth to enter and explore, and rarely bugging out (and that only in understandable circumstances). That’s great news considering how heavily the game leans on the multiplayer experience.

The team said they’d tested up to 10 players at once in an AR instance, and while there’s technically no limit, there’s sort of a physical limit in how many people can fit in the small space allocated to an adventure or around a tabletop. Don’t expect any giant 64-player raids, but do expect to take down hordes of spiders with three or four friends.

Pick(ax)ing their battles

In choosing to make the game the way they’ve made it, the team naturally created certain limitations and risks. You Wouldn’t want, for example, an adventure icon to pop up in the middle of the highway.

For exactly that reason the team spent a lot of work making the map metadata extremely robust. Adventures won’t spawn in areas like private residences or yards, though of course simple collectibles might. But because you’re able to reach things up to 70 meters away, it’s unlikely you’ll have to knock on someone’s door and say there’s a cave chicken in their pool and you’d like to touch it, please.

Furthermore adventures will not spawn in areas like streets or difficult to reach areas. The team said they worked very hard making it possible for the engine to recognize places that are not only publicly accessible, but safe and easy to access. Think sidewalks and parks.

Niantic’s Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is a sorcerous smorgasbord for the Pokémon GO generation

Another limitation is that, as an AR game, you move around the real world. But in Minecraft, verticality is an important part of the gameplay. Unfortunately, the simple truth is that in the real world you can’t climb virtual stairs or descend into a virtual cave. You as a player exist on a 2D plane, and can interact with but not visit places above and below that plane. (An exception of course is on a build plate, where in miniature you can fly around it freely by moving your phone.)

That’s a shame for people who can’t move around easily, though you can pick up and rotate the build plate to access different sides. Weapons and tools also have infinite range, eliminating a potential barrier to fun and accessibility.

What will keep people playing?

In Pokémon GO, there’s the drive to catch ’em all. In Wizards Unite, you’ll want to advance the story and your skills. What’s the draw with Minecraft Earth? Well, what’s the draw in Minecraft? You can build stuff. And now you can build stuff in AR on your phone.

The game isn’t narrative-driven, and although there is some (unspecified) character progression, for the most part the focus is on just having fun doing and making stuff in Minecraft. Like a set of LEGO blocks, a build plate and your persistent inventory simply make for a lively sandbox.

Admittedly that doesn’t sound like it carries the same addictive draw of Pokémon, but the truth is Minecraft kind of breaks the rules like that. Millions of people play this game all the time just to make stuff and show that stuff to other people. Although you’ll be limited in how you can share to start, there will surely be ways to explore popular builds in the future.

And how will it make money? The team basically punted on that question — they’re fortunately in a position where they don’t have to worry about that yet. Minecraft is one of the biggest games of all time and a big money-maker — it’s probably worth the cost just to keep people engaged with the world and community.

MCE seems to me like a delightful thing, but one that must be appreciated on its own merits. A lack of screenshots and gameplay video isn’t doing a lot to help you here, I admit. Trust me when I say it looks great, plays well and seems fundamentally like a good time for all ages.

A few other stray facts I picked up:

Regions will roll out gradually, but it will be available in all the same languages as Vanilla at launch

Yes, there will be skins (and they’ll carry over from your existing account)

There will be different sizes and types of build plates

There’s crafting, but no 3×3 crafting grid (?!)

You can report griefers and so on, but the way the game is structured it shouldn’t be an issue

The AR engine creates and uses a point cloud but doesn’t, like, take pictures of your bedroom

Content is added to the map dynamically, and there will be hot spots but emptier areas will fill up if you’re there

It leverages AR Core and AR Kit, naturally

The HoloLens version of Minecraft we saw a while back is a predecessor “more spiritually than technically”

Adventures that could be scary to kids have a special sign

“Friends” can steal blocks from your build plate if you’re playing together (or donate them)

Sound fun? Sign up for the beta here.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://tcrn.ch/2VP2LKx via IFTTT

#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

0 notes

technicalsolutions88 · 5 years

Link

When your game tops a hundred million players, your thoughts naturally turn to doubling that number. That’s the case with the creators, or rather stewards, of Minecraft at Microsoft, where the game has become a product category unto itself. And now it is making its biggest leap yet — to a real-world augmented reality game in the vein of Pokemon GO, called Minecraft Earth.

Yes, yes — but what is it? Less succinctly put, MCE is like other real-world based AR games in that it lets you travel around a virtual version of your area, collecting items and participating in mini-games. Where it’s unlike other such games is that it’s built on top of Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, meaning it’s not some offshoot or mobile cash-in; this is straight-up Minecraft, with all the blocks, monsters, and redstone switches you desire, but in AR format. You collect stuff so you can build with it and share your tiny, blocky worlds with friends.

That introduces some fun opportunities and a few non-trivial limitations. Let’s run down what MCE looks like — verbally, at least, since Microsoft is being exceedingly stingy with real in-game assets.

There’s a map, of course

Because it’s Minecraft Earth, you’ll inhabit a special Minecraftified version of the real world, just as Pokemon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite put a layer atop existing streets and landmarks.

The look is blocky to be sure but not so far off the normal look that you won’t recognize it. It uses OpenStreetMaps data, including annotated and inferred information about districts, private property, safe and unsafe places, and so on — which will be important later.

The fantasy map is filled with things to tap on, unsurprisingly called tappables. These can be a number of things: resources in the form of treasure chests, mobs, and adventures.

Chests are filled with blocks, naturally, adding to your reserves of cobblestone, brick, and so on, all the different varieties appearing with appropriate rarity.

Mobs are animals like those you might normally run across in the Minecraft wilderness: pigs, chickens, squid, and so on. You snag them like items, and they too have rarities, and not just cosmetic ones. The team highlighted a favorite of theirs, the muddy pig, which when placed down will stop at nothing to get to mud and never wants to leave, or a cave chicken that lays mushrooms instead of eggs. Yes, you can breed them.

Last are adventures, which are tiny AR instances that let you collect a resource, fight some monsters, and so on. For example you might find a crack in the ground that, when mined, vomits forth a volume of lava you’ll have to get away from, and then inside the resulting cave are some skeletons guarding a treasure chest. The team said they’re designing a huge number of these encounters.

Importantly, all these things, chests, mobs, and encounters, are shared between friends. If I see a chest, you see a chest — and the chest will have the same items. And in an AR encounter, all nearby players are brought in, and can contribute and collect the reward in shared fashion.

And it’s in these AR experiences and the “build plates” you’re doing it all for that the game really shines.

The AR part

In this little world you can build whatever you want, or dig into the ground, build an inverted palace for your cave chickens or create a paradise for your mud-loving pigs — whatever you want. Like Minecraft itself, each build plate is completely open-ended. Well, perhaps that’s the wrong phrase — they’re actually quite closely bounded, since the world only exists out to the edge of the plate. But they’re certainly yours to play with however you want.

It doesn’t really look like this but you get the idea.

In the demo, I played with a few other members of the press, we got to experience a couple build plates and adventures at life-size (technically actually 3/4 life size — the 1 block to 1 meter scale turned out to be a little daunting in testing). It was absolute chaos, really, everyone placing blocks and destroying them and flooding the area and putting down chickens. But it totally worked.

Pick(ax)ing their battles

Niantic’s Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is a sorcerous smorgasbord for the Pokémon GO generation

Another limitation is that, as an AR game, you move around the real world. But in Minecraft verticality is an important part of the gameplay. Unfortunately the simple truth is that in the real world you can’t climb virtual stairs or descend into a virtual cave. You as a player exist on a 2D plane, and can interact with but not visit places above and below that plane. (An exception of course is on a build plate, where in miniature you can fly around it freely by moving your phone).

What will keep people playing?

In Pokemon GO, there’s the drive to catch ’em all. In Wizards Unite, you’ll want to advance the story and your skills. What’s the draw with Minecraft Earth? Well, what’s the draw in Minecraft? You can build stuff. And now you can build stuff in AR on your phone.

Admittedly that doesn’t sound like it carries the same addictive draw of Pokemon, but the truth is Minecraft kind of breaks the rules like that. Millions of people play this game all the time just to make stuff and show that stuff to other people. Although you’ll be limited in how you can share to start, there will surely be ways to explore popular builds in the future.

MCE seems to me like a delightful thing but one that must be appreciated on its own merits. A lack of screenshots and gameplay video isn’t doing a lot to help you here, I admit. Trust me when I say it looks great, plays well, and seems fundamentally like a good time for all ages.

A few other stray facts I picked up:

Regions will roll out gradually but it will be available in all the same languages as Vanilla at launch

Yes, there will be skins (and they’ll carry over from your existing account)

There will be different sizes and types of build plates

There’s crafting, but no 3×3 crafting grid (?!)

You can report griefers and so on, but the way the game is structured it should be an issue

The AR engine creates and uses a point cloud but doesn’t like take pictures of your bedroom

Content is added to the map dynamically, and there will be hot spots but emptier areas will fill up if you’re there

It leverages AR Core and AR Kit, naturally

The Hololens version of Minecraft we saw a while back is a predecessor “more spiritually than technically”

Adventures that could be scary to kids have a special sign

“Friends” can steal blocks from your build plate if you’re playing together (or donate them)

Sound fun? Sign up for the beta here.

from Mobile – TechCrunch https://tcrn.ch/2VP2LKx ORIGINAL CONTENT FROM: https://techcrunch.com/

#Technical Solutions #SEO #Online Earning #Youtube Marketing #Android Developer

0 notes

ramvanfam · 6 years

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Rhode Warriors: RI>NC

This is what road warriors look like. These are the faces of four people who just took a 650 mile journey from Portsmouth, RI to Corolla, NC and turned it into an 18 hour day of fun and adventure.

We had the car all packed, woke the kids up at 4am, threw them in the car, said one last goodbye to Minka (the cat), and headed on our way. The excitement and anticipation had been building for weeks. Willa and Huxley even got to miss the last four (snow make up) days of school for this trip. All the cousins on the Meabon side were going to be together for a whole week of fun at the beach. But first, we had to get there. Cody’s fortune cookie the day before we left read “Sometimes the object of the journey is not the end, but the journey itself.” Challenge accepted.

We watched the sky begin to brighten and talked about our first big milestone of the trip - making it to NYC. Driving interstate 95 through Connecticut is so monotonous and long, but by leaving super early, we at least avoided the usual traffic. We were thinking the kids might go back to sleep, but they were much too excited. I’d packed them surprise bags of all kinds of new activities and books, and their Nonna brought over some treats for the road too. There was no chance they were going to fall asleep voluntarily.

NYC is always cool to see, but especially when you know it means you are leaving New England and diverting from the route driven hundreds of times back to Dillsburg, PA. Here is where we got to go on some new roads that we had seen on the maps when planning out our route earlier in the week.

The good old fashioned AAA maps were a perfect way to get Willa and Huxley excited about what we could see and do along the way. They started to anticipate the journey too, instead of only having the “are we there yet” mentality. This made the drive so much more fun for the adults in the car too. On one of the first gas stops, we encountered a taste of how the south really is different. There was a Golden Corral attached to the gas station convenience store. It was Sunday morning at 10:30 and the line waiting to get in was backing up well into the shop and filled with all sorts of interesting characters. It took me a minute to remember it was Father’s Day and these people were out to Father’s Day brunch at a buffet attached to a gas station. The world is filled with all sorts of people.

We veered off the beaten path somewhere around Delaware, and began coming across some of the towns and waterways we passed through when Cody and I sailed Vixi from Massachusetts to Annapolis, back before these kids were even a glimmer in our eyes. We had fun telling them stories of our adventures, and I think they had fun imagining we even had lives before they were born. When we got to Elkton, DE, we passed by a baseball game about to start. It was a great time to stop for a break.

As we were sitting in the bleachers watching a bunch of men play a peaceful Sunday baseball game, we heard screaming coming from across the street. One of the player’s wives had locked her keys in the car with her small child still in the car seat. It was about 90 degrees and panic soon ensued. If you’ve never watched a man try to break his own car window with a metal bat to save his child on Father’s Day, consider yourself lucky. The situation was so intense, I wasn’t sure if we should leave or stay to make sure the kid made it out okay. In the end, it took a few minutes and some sort of special weighted bat, but the front window shattered and the little girl came out totally fine, aside from being slightly traumatized. I never knew how strong car window glass is. We took this as our cue to be on our way.

We took our packed to the gills Ram Van and stayed on the back roads for a while longer until we got to Easton, MD. It’s a cute little town with some restaurants and shops. We got a Father’s Day lunch at the Banning Tavern, which had good local food, lots of beers on tap, and was attached to the small town movie theater.

As we were heading back to the highways, we spotted the coolest playground ever. We had to stop and get some energy out. If there’s one thing I’ve learned while adventuring in unknown places, it’s always stop at the playgrounds!

As we got further south, a certain feeling came over me. It wasn’t quite nostalgia, wasn’t quite excitement, wasn’t anything I could come up with a name for. It was just a comfortable, quiet contentment. I love where I live, but I had someone once tell me I “had the south in me”. That comment stuck with me. I can’t put my finger on what it is, but before I even said anything, Cody noticed a change in my body language; I was more relaxed. Maybe it’s landscapes like the one in the next picture, and wide open green farmland.

Anyway, we had to start making some distance to our next milestone landmark, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. This in itself had been such a source of anticipation for the kids. I mean, we were going to drive underwater! It was so fun to watch their excitement build. We still had a ways to go, so we passed the time with some of our favorite kids podcasts, Wow in the World, Story Pirates, and This Podcast Has Fleas. Finally, we could see the bridge, tunnel, bridge, tunnel, bridge (as Cody had taken to calling it) in the distance.

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Once we crossed over into Virginia Beach, we still had 100 miles to go. The stir craziness was beginning to set in - I was glad I saved a couple tricks and treats for this last section. We broke out the candy necklaces and toys from Nonna and started our round robin of everyone choosing a song, which usually entertains for an hour or so. Before we knew it, we were rolling our windows down, crossing the Wright Memorial Bridge and officially entering the Outer Banks. It was all smooth sailing from here!

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What a day! We arrived at 8:30 pm to a big family Father’s Day dinner with 17 people full of love - the whole Meabon side, including my grandma. We were still full of energy and ready for a week of fun!

And this guy - one of our favorite things to do as a family is to let Cody lead us on adventures in the Ram Van. This Father’s Day was the ultimate show. We had a whole day on the road with him at the wheel, and it could not have been more fun. When given the choice, always take the trip - do it for the end, but do it for the journey too. There are little gems of life waiting around every turn.

#ramvanfam #ramvan #chesapeakebaybridgetunnel #outerbanks #corolla

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canvaswolfdoll · 6 years

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CanvasWatches: The Marvel Cinematic Universe

That’s right, I am reviewing the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe in a single, definitive essay! Why would I, a single, brave and foolhardy man dare tackle such a task?

Because I can’t actually be bothered to write about most of the films individually.

The usual reason I write these reviews is to shine a light on media that lacks a wide appeal and does something interesting with its storytelling. I want to write stories, and studying the works of others is a good way to do that.

Now, I like the Marvel Cinematic Universe quite a lot. There somethings I’d like to be done a little differently, and I do dislike how it’s becoming increasingly locked with continuity so you have to pretty much watch the whole thing as a 19-part film series, but it executes on its promises.

Point is, I watched Avengers: Infinity War after dedicating a significant amount of time catching up on the films.

I also realized that by ranking the films, you can get a good approximation on a person’s narrative preferences.

So I’ll give a quick blurb on the films before listing them.

So enough forwarding, let’s go through these films. Spoilers, obviously.

To be fair, there’s a rift part way through. I started my catch-up with The Winter Soldier, so it’s been years since I watched anything before that. I’ll mark the rift and preemptively admit that early films may deserve better than I give.

Iron Man

The film that started it all, much to everyone’s excitement. It’s probably the most conventional superhero film of the series, but it did it’s job very well.

The Incredible Hulk

The most forgettable film. Very little carried over from it, to the point that it might as well no longer be canon.

Iron Man 2

Starts putting the work into actually building the MCU, but the story itself is one of the weakest.

Thor

I actually really liked Thor. Seems to usually be considered one of the lesser films, but I liked the fish out of water narrative, Thor himself is very charismatic, and Loki remains one of the MCU’s better written villains.

It also begins to establish that Thor has the potential for strong comedy. Just takes them a while to finally realize the potential.

Really, my biggest gripe is the ‘Norse Magic is just highly advanced technology’ angle that poisoned magic for so long. I like fantasy, and I really like how Superhero universes throw genres into a blender to make a colorful Speculative Fiction smoothie. Let magic be magic!

Captain America: The First Avenger

The subtitle’s a bit egregious, but this is my favorite of the phase one films. Good period piece, good hero, and the Red Skull is a level of pulpy villain I want more of.

The Avengers

So I seem to be one of the few who think this film was just okay. A landmark of shared universe films, yes, but I found the story wanting. Just a bunch of set up to fight aliens in New York, but nothing I feel I could sink my teeth into. It’s fine.

Iron Man 3

Another unexciting film. Tony Stark keeps learning the same ‘be a better person’ lesson, and I’m tired of it.

The Mandarin Twist was killer, though. The sort of playing with lore the series needs to take advantage of. The films are… let’s call it a dusty slate. There’s a lot of toys to play with, and expectations for how to use them, but it’s a chance to take a deep breath and streamline things. Incidentally, racism is a great topic to iron out while we’re here.

Thor: The Dark World

Yeah, not even I can defend this one. I liked the set designs. But Christopher Eccleston is wasted.[1] The plot was muddy. Jane Foster[2] twisted the knife in the corpse of Asgard Magic.

I actually did want to give this movie a rewatch, but it wasn’t checked in to the library when I started the undertaking, and I recalled it being unimpressive in the theaters. Good opening fight scene, though.

The Rift (Oooh, scary)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Not one of my favorites. Winter Soldier seems to be very well regarded, but both times I watched it, I found myself bored. It takes itself way too seriously for a Comic Book Movie, and it's very heavy on action scenes built around gun firing and punching that I don't enjoy.

The plot is built on a relatively subdued premise, questioning political corruption and monitoring the citizenry. There's also no grandiose villain.

Winter of Soldier fails to feel larger than life, and besides affirming Steve Rogers’ dedication to Bucky, it doesn't feel like it left much of an impact on the universe. So it falls short on my personal list.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Ah, finally, the movies are cutting loose. About time.

Guardians of the Galaxy is fun. Can't we just have fun? Yes. And we should.

Actual color design, fresh and exciting cast, fantastical setting, and actually making the bland villain work by having Ronan be essentially a force of nature instead of a person.

Also a soundtrack so distinctive it’s a calling card as good as Captain America’s shield. And it stands on its own legs, while all the previous films pretty much used the mounting lore as scaffolding.

And it’s just fun. It makes me smile and want to watch it again soon after watching.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Sigh.

So, first viewing I couldn’t maintain focus. Second viewing, I could focus on Ultron’s scenes through the second act before it all goes blurry.

There’s too many characters. I’m not sure I can even give any reasonable summary of the plot. A bunch of dull, shakey cam fight scenes, the entire cast taken to their blandest characterization, and just… ugh.

Also, Ultron is supposed to be a Pym creation. He looks like a bug. This makes no sense.

The worst part is later films keep referring to the events of Age of Ultron like anyone could comprehend what happened.

I’m even putting it below The Dark World, because that one at least had some interesting visual and notable scenes.

Ant-Man

A superhero heist film.

Goofy characters and witty dialogue.

Fight scenes I enjoy.

I really like Ant-Man. It’s a good origin film, the heroes are all the right sort of dingy white to make them likeable and interesting.

And it finally helped me realize what I want from combat: visual clarity, inventive choreography, and originality.[3] Because of the gimmick of shrinking and growing, the camera needs to actually frame the scenes to show off scale. And playing with scale also makes the fights interesting, since you never fully know what will come into play and how.

Also, I just enjoy heist films. The more ridiculous the better.

Captain America: Civil War

Sorry, but I’m on team ‘This is Avengers 2.5’. But, in that light, still notably better than previous team up movies.

Yes, it’s mostly about Captain America and Iron Man, but just about everyone who appears gets their narratives progressed somewhat, the plot is clear once we get past discussing the Accords (which themselves are boring).

The only complaint I have is I feel they fired this particular plot a bit early. From my layman understanding of the original comics, one of the main thrusts of the Civil War was oversight, yes, but also maintaining secret identities, which, if they let the roster build up some (including more secret identities)[4] it would be much more easy to follow than ‘We can’t let what happened in Age of Ultron happen again!’ Because no one knows what happened in that movie.

Also, big points for not killing the Bad Guy. It should be a low bar, but I personally hate the tradition of villains dying for their crimes. It’s overdone, and limits the talent pool for later stories.

Doctor Strange

I liked this movie, but also don’t know if I have much to say. They’re finally letting Magic be Magic, which I am 100% down with. An element of Dark magic not being evil magic[5]

The bad guys were forgettable. The Good Guys fun. I’m waiting to see more, but there’s a lot of good will built up.

Should’ve cast more Asian actors, though.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

‘Well, you love the first one, does the second one exceed it?’

No. But that’s fine. There’s a few clumsy attempts to recapture lightning that don’t pan out, but it’s not particularly hindered by it. The absurdity and joyous joke-cracking continued, and the pathos that was introduced was earned.

It’s a good movie, a worthy successor to the first, but doesn’t quite beat the original on my personal list.

Spider-Man Homecoming

Title’s kind of on the nose, isn’t it Marvel?

Fun fact, I haven’t seen any of the Andrew Garfield films as my stance was ‘I’m voting with my wallet, and I want Spidey in the MCU.’ Now that that happened, the two The Amazing Spider-Man movies don’t matter anyways!

Tom Holland is perfect for the role, both in the suit and out as he manages to capture awkward youth at a level never before seen. The plot’s interesting (even though the big twist was spoiled for me),[6] the movie drips with charm, and it’s fun to see Marvel’s big money maker fight DC’s![7]

Homecoming does perpetuate the conflict with poor communication (Happy’s indifference is narratively justified, Iron Man’s not), but they also let the villain live at the end, so I guess it cancels out?

Good movie. I recommend it.

Thor: Ragnarok

I’m… okay with this film?

So the creative team finally figure out comedy is Thor’s strength and leaned into it, which I, of course, love. But the story also feels unfocused. Is it about Thor versus his family? Oh, wait, now he’s on an alien world in a coliseum. But there’s just one fight before he easily escapes. Hulk’s back, and Hulk himself is an actual character! But Hulk and Banner don’t have much effect on the plot once away from the Grand Master. And suddenly we’re back to the Asgard stuff.

Narratively, it works, but the stuff with Grand Master felt more like a diversion than actual meat. Still, they’ve shifted the tone of Thor films to that of Guardians of the Galaxy so I’m not upset.

Excited for whatever’s next, but Ragnarok didn’t pump me up like most people.

Still, hopefully the Earth-based movies catch on and lighten up.

Black Panther

I liked it, but also feel underqualified to discuss it. Saw it in theaters, so that was fun!

Lot of villain killing, though, which is a shame since Klaue was oddly affable. I want way more than we got of him!

There’s a lot of good storytelling through design and minor actions (I particularly love how Killmonger snapped his spear in half to make a shortspear). They did a good job of carefully modulating the mood with well placed jokes (especially with M’Baku, who took such joy in messing with unexpected guests).

It’s a good film for a hero that I don’t know much about, and I’m interested for more.

Avengers: Infinity War

Ah, finally, the big moment! Did they stick the landing?

Yes! Then they took another jump, so I’m waiting to see if they can finish the gymnastic routine.

At the very least, Infinity War has vastly exceeded the previous Avenger films. The universe is bigger now, and everyone’s involved and I could follow every plot point! So big applause for that.

I’ve got a couple nitpicks, of course. I wish they stuck with Thanos’s original motivation[8] just to continue to embrace the absurdities of comic storylines. The whole ‘we need to cut all populations in half’ doesn’t stand up to any thought (populations repleniish, you could’ve doubled resources, heck, turn it into a Long Earth situation, you stupid purple Homer Simpson).

But all the praise is (currently) right. It’s a good movie.

Admittedly, the scenes actually taking place on Earth weren’t as compelling as Thanos’s quest, Thor’s mission, or the Guardians meeting Tony Stark’s team, but that’s just a summary of the whole franchise. I enjoy it more when they go high concept and have fun.

They could’ve chosen the deaths better. It’s a mix of unfair (all but one of my Guardians had to go!?), and overly obvious with impermanence (Spider-Man can’t stay dead, Sony will riot).

Also, didn’t really feel much like a war.

The List

Final Standings from worst to best(based on my personal impressions)

The Incredible Hulk Avengers: Age of Ultron Thor: The Dark World Iron Man 2 Iron Man 3 Captain America: The Winter Soldier The Avengers Iron Man 1 Thor Captain America: Civil War Doctor Strange Black Panther Captain America: the First Avenger Thor: Ragnarok Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Spider-Man Homecoming Ant-Man Guardians of the Galaxy

Now, you may be asking ‘Where’s Infinity War?’

That’s a fair question. I’m holding off on ranking it because it’s obviously a Part One. Its story is currently incomplete, and there’s also the chance the next film will sour the first. It happens. But as it stands, it’d be Top 5, easy.

So, what can we divine about me from this ranking? I enjoy fun and high concepts. The more gritty and ‘real’ you try to make your story, or repeatedly spinning your wheels is a detriment. I’m also very much a character-first guy.

Maybe there’s something else you can interpret. Feel free to send me any feedback you’ve got. I enjoy thinking about my entertainment.

As for what’s coming up in the MCU? Well, the next film is a sequel to Ant-Man, my second favorite film, so that’s exciting. We’ve also got Captain Marvel, a character I know next to nothing about, which really excites me. It’ll be fun to get introduced to completely new lore, without my nerdy foreknowledge questioning choices.

Then there’s Infinity War part 2 (or whatever they’re going to call it). Now, personally, I want Thanos to be defeated by Squirrel Girl because I am a massive nerd. But I know that won’t happen. But Part One built up good faith the first two Avenger film squandered, so I’m anticipating it.

All in all, feels like the movies are moving into a good direction. I’m still trepidatious about the inter-film lore getting too entangled, but solving the Thanos situation is a good point to back off and just focus on telling good individual stories.

At least until they can bring in Dr. Doom. No one else would dare follow Thanos except DOOM!

Thanks for reading. Feel free to send me questions and comments, check out my various other works, and support my patreon. Help fund the extended Canvas Universe.

Kataal kataal.

[1] Not that he ever seems to like the jobs he takes. [2] Who also clearly wants a divorce from this franchise. She hasn’t been relevant… ever, really. [3] The final battle of Guardians of the Galaxy adds ‘clear goals’ to the list. Baddies want to touch the ground, good guys need to prevent that. Defined endstates. [4] My stance on this tropes has always been ‘Keep secret from the general public, but tell your dang Aunt, Peter.’ [5] I don’t talk about it much, but it’s one of my lesser irks. Why can’t Darkness be good, or at least a true neutral force. Night time’s nice. [6] Thanks Reddit. [7] Micheal Keaton’s great. [8] Let Thanos be in love with Death, you cowards!

#CanvasWatches #mcu #marvel #CanvasReviews

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