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yourclownpal · 3 years

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A comprehensive list of all my Ghost au's

this post will be talking about all of the ghost au's ive created or co-created including talking about ghost au's from old fandom's that i am no longer in. if you want to ask about any of my au's my ask box and dm's are always open this includes the hermitcraft au but keep it to a minimum please also if any of the creator's of the characters have said that they arent comfortable with what im making ( with proof ofc) i will edit or delete what is needed to fit in the boundaries also another thing this is a long post if you just want the art go under the cut! this post will discuss how each au works and basic plot stuff about them the fandoms in this post are hermitcraft, epithet erased, and dsmp okay first things first-

my hermitcraft au (what a pity)-

On my old tumblr account I made a few posts about it along with a fanfic which never got finished due to me not wanting to interact with the fandom any more due to personal reasons and also I'm not very good at writing imo but I think I'm ready to talk about it again. Just keep in mind i will most likely not talk about this fandom ever again at least not on here again for personal preference : -) it was about season 6 Grian since he was who i was hyperfixating on at the time, being haunted by the ghosts of Sam and Taurtis, both of them from the old roleplay series' Yandere High School, and Tokyo Soul, and taurtis from Grians old-ish smp Evo. Since I never finished the fanfiction nobody but me and close friends ever got to hear the full story i had planned but now you will i guess. It was mainly just grian stressing about Sam and Taurtis being ghosts and him worrying about being crazy, though he would still join the hippies during the area 77 war he would be significantly more stressed especially when finding out that Sam and Taurtis have been possessing his body during the night, he’s more worried about Sam though because of his track record back in the other servers( yhs and ts) it was going to be that Sam (although death isn't permanent) would go on a killing spree in Grians body which would cause the area 77 guys to put him in the facility to see what's going on with him, and it didn't get further then that. My favorite part of this au much like all of my au’s were the design elements i had for it which i'll have under the cut with the other designs. Now for a rundown of how the ghost physics work in this world, in typical ghost fashion Sam and Taurtis were not able to touch or move anything, but they were able to interact with Grian, him being the only person who could see/hear/or touch them. Their only super natural abilities is being able to possess Grian.

Okay! Time for my Epithet Erased au!: Unlike what a pity this one doesn't have a name or a fanfic to go with it as said before i'm not exactly a writer but i have talked about it a bit before on this account along with posting the designs and general concept but i'll go more in depth here! As said in my original post this au was a co-creation with my best friend and sibling @brocolibean so go check bun out ^^ Unlike ‘What a Pity’ it was more lighthearted and comedy centric because it dealt with a bit more and also the original show is a comedy. This au didn't include the character’s epithets so they are all humans. This will also include talking about house each ghost died so if your uncomfortable hearing about that you might want to skip the ghosts portion Just like the original post I'll separate the story summary into 3 parts with intervals in between to talk about the ghosts. First we have the Banzai boys part of the story. Giovanni, Spike, Dark Star, Crusher, Flame Thrower, Car Crash, and Ben all decide to move into a house together so they could all easily split the rent since its close to their collage, the house, which they get for cheap, is aa very old house with sketchy history. But it's a huge house for cheap so they don't complain they encounter the ghosts very early on living in the house and they swear to figure out how they died so they can get their memory back! The ghosts, Molly, Sylvie, Trixie, and Pheonica have no memory! All they know is that there are ghosts! They are connected to the property of this house but if you where to get something- like perhaps a stone from the property the ghost is still technically attached to it therefore the ghost can go with you anywhere Speaking of- -Phoenicia Fleecity is one of the last ghosts to show herself, her body is found in the overgrown garden flowers growing over her skeleton, she is from the victorian era making her the oldest out of the ghosts though he death is the most mysterious -Molly Blindeff is the first ghost the group meets her decomposed body is found buried in the floorboards of the living room, found when gio decided that the house needed renovation and taking matters into his own hands, she died via blunt force trauma i will not be going into detail here because i'm still thinking of doing something with this au she died in the early 2000’s -Sylvester Ashling is the second ghost to show himself though he didn't want to, his body was found in the bottom of the pond in the backyard of the house in the garden. His body while it was decomposing and falling apart was still intact, bloated from drowning. Again i wont go into detail but this wasn't an accident time of death is unknown -Trixie Roughhouse is the third person to show themselves to the Banzai Blasters she is found in the bushes in the backyard her face disfigured from some sort of explosion unlike the others it seems like it was purely an accident, like sylvie their time of death is unknown Mera Salamin is the collages part time librarian nicknamed “the library witch” she started seeing her ghost after obtaining a neck bow with a blue pendant from a pawnshop she got it cause it was pretty and didn't expect a himbo to come along with it -Indus Tarbella is a ghost who is attached to the pendant and bow Mera wear it used to be his own until he was decapitated wearing it through he was properly buried he has no troublesome memories about what happened even after seeing his body he’s just happy to be with Mera Percival King is a security guard at the college and one of the best at that, she wields a story she got from a pawn shop as its her preferred weapon she takes her job very seriously -Ramsey and Zora both died by the same sword while fighting neither remember who wielded the sword, even after death they hate each other and hate being bound together even more Everyone ends up meeting and finding out they all have ghost hijinks ensue. The way ghosts work in this world is a bit strange I'll admit but it's one of my favorites. The ghosts can interact with the human world(menma style) but

they can only talk to the others who can see them (the Banzai Blasters, mera and percy) and the ghosts can interact with each other ghosts in this au attach themselves to an item or property that has someway to do with their death, the kids in the property, Indus it's the bow, and the sword duo is well, the sword Percy carries. As alluded to from before Gio and the rest of the boys end up carrying a bit of the property with them in the form of friendship bracelets four for each of them which makes 28 different bracelets so the kids can decide who to follow around for the day.i talked about how percy and Mera’s items work enough but i would like to mention that Indus does most of the heavy lifting around the library but becaus enoone else can see indus they assume she’s magical, the glowing pendant doesn't help.

The last two au’s i want to talk about are both dream smp au’s

though i've never talked about them online until now, again thanks to @brocolibean for letting me brain vomit my way through these au’s and helping me out with things i love them please check him out I'll be honest i'm so scared of this fandom so i'm afraid to talk about my au’s please be nice to me Also this is all roleplay and fiction!<3 The first one i'll talking about is the dsmp ghost hunters au Sam runs a company where groups of people hunt ghosts for money! Those groups being Phil, Technoblade, Wilbur,Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo Dream, George, Sapnap, Quackity, Karl Bad, ant, Skeppy, and Puffy There’s most likely more but there the only people i can think of at this moment The only canonical ghost being Schlatt This au doesn't have a proper story perse it's more about gags and stuff about the different character fighting over ghosts for money but the story stuff i do have- Sbi family dynamic is real here you can rejoice, Phil adopts Tubbo after his dad (Schlatt) kicks the bucket and fucking dies , Tubbo befriend’s Ranboo some mysterious teen who just desperately needs a job so he- and the rest of the Minecraft family help him get one- though they find out Ranboo isnt as human as he was made out to be and he finds out he’s this worlds version of angels called ender’s and he’s there to protect Tubbo and Tommy which explains why the more violent ghosts start being less violent at the arrival of Ranboo joining their team. Bad isn't human either being a demon his entire group know’s plus quackity. Quackity found out but squirting him with holy water through a water gun but don't worry he promised not to tell anyone; -) Bad and Ranboo know about each other because they see each other as their true forms The minecraft fam found out about Schlatt being a ghost through Tommy- despite Tubbo telling him not to- telling them from calling up and paying for them to investigate their own house saying “technically i didn't tell them” they ended up not getting rid of Schlatt though I'm not going to talk about how the ghosts here work because it's not super important to the plot

The second au is another ghost au where the main characters are ghosts themselves,

like the others its mainly lighthearted and comedic with dark attributes The plot surrounds the sbi family moving into a new house and Tommy finding out it's being haunted by two ghost’s. Those ghosts being Tubbo and Ranboo This au isn't fully figured out but I know that he found out he was haunted by sending a selfie to someone(possibly Drista and Purpled? Since there are only other minors who were part of the dsmp lore? But ultimately idk) and them being like “yo i didn't know you had friends” and him being like “?????” Tubbo died from a boiler exploding and Ranboo died from drowning (which are apparently my two favorite deaths) this also doesn't have an official story? It was just an excuse to make ghost designs with a bit of a story without the commitment As said before it's a sbi au but also a Dadschlatt au cuz I like Dadschlatt au’s. The main story bits i have are background stuff for Tubbo and Ranboo which ill elaborate now The house was originally meant to be just a summer home because it had a large lake in the backyard Ranboo’s family would go there often but that doesn't mean his family liked him very much because of his heterochromia, Vitiligo, and his height his family thought he was strayed from god and drowned him Tubbo died during sleep while Schlatt wasn't home either out drinking or just at work he came home to the house being partially blown up and his son nowhere to be seen he calls Puffy out of fear and she calls the cops. He moves away and most likely starts drinking a bit more. The house gets rebuilt and now the sbi live there hijinks ensue! The ghosts in this au work in a simpler manor only Tommy can see them unless a photo is taken but even then they are blurred, they can float and go through walls and their ability to touch things is limited Ranboo’s memory is worse then Tubbo’s but Tubbo’s isn’t much better.

below the cut will be designs and stuff be safe pal's- there will be minor/cartoony blood-

rip me exposing my old art on this account also i'm ripping these from my fucking amino account that i don't use but still have the password too

gonna do the original what a pity drawins first them ill show a more recent rendition because i hate the old drawings

these are the old drawins i hate them

then,,, i just drew them,,,,, fuck these guys/j

thses are the old sprite edits of these four! trixies design is the only one that really changed

the ded;-; i couldnt fit him on the page

there he is! ft indus and very much alive mera(who i cant figure out how to FUCKING DRAW-)

gay's get wilbur'd/j

they lookin for ghosts

the whole fmaily is here but its quality is shit

these bitches dead! good for them,,, good for them,,,,,,/j/rp

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elizabethrobertajones · 3 years

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SPN deserves flak for handling sensitive topics irresponsibly, especially since it has a teenage audience. Castiel confessed that he's suicidal in season 8 (written by dabb!), the brothers were in a toxic codependency, Sam was sexually harassed by lucifer, a little kid -Jack- was driven to self-harm/suicide. and none of those issues were addressed or solved in 15 years. instead, the message was that people with troubled pasts could only "be forgiven" if they sacrificed their lives (Jack) or died

Yeeeeaaaah that’s something it was always getting criticism for consistently as it went along as a case- by-case basis of the treatment... There were some woke episodes later on with the newer writers which did handle some subject better but honestly usually in a motw way with side characters proving better examples to the Winchesters’ messed up coping.

I guess one thing that I was leaning on a bit was that if it was all going somewhere that the resolution would be okay because the writing was aware that they did have these issues. For example, Carver era was really heavy on the codependency stuff but it was painting it in such a bad light that it was beyond romanticising it in any sense and the message seemed to be that the writing wanted them to heal. I personally think this was healed a fair amount over Dabb era along the way... But the finale as far as I can tell let Sam move on with his life and break the cycle or whatever, but also was so wildly unsatisfying on every front it probably would have been HEALTHIER for the fucker to go straight to Hell and petition Rowena for giving her an eternity of foot rubs in exchange for Dean back. Just so he could be like “what the hell what that, you nearly married that BLURRY WOMAN? What’s WRONG WITH YOU”

(I don’t know the fine details on this death scene to know or care how the Sam and Dean relationship wrapped up because it was clearly garbage and in my head they’re both still happy and alive and have a normal freaking relationship :P)

In any case, I know so much was carried by these characters that, to be serious for a moment, I don’t know if they ever could have lifted the whole weight of what we needed them to be, even in an ideal end. But I do know that by giving the show such a shaky resolution, especially with bringing Cas back off screen and not giving any real closure and telegraphed final scenes with anyone - i mean even the love confession and empty yeeting feel like Dean’s supposed to have another moment with him later and it doesn’t feel death scene-y enough to me because of the complete lack of closure the confession gives it by opening the new possibility moments before death - vast amounts of character work which could have HELPED bring some of these things to a conclusion just never showed up, it seems.

Like, Sam’s Blurry Life With The Blurry Wife seems like an even worse state than his season 7-8 hiatus time with Amelia because at least she had a FACE and BACKSTORY and LINES ON SCREEN. At least she and Sam talked through their issues and related to each other and they had a reasonable reason for it not working out and they got to see what they both needed from each other at the time and what they couldn’t get from each other moving forwards.

Even ignoring that Sam got the perfect endgame with Eileen, a Generic Blurry Wife ending for him is such garbage because so much of his bad coping is bound up in his hiding and running away... Just because Dean once waxed poetic about wanting Sam to grow old and boring and live a normal life doesn’t mean it’s what his character was best suited to or what he would really have been comfortable with long-term, especially when as far as I can tell Dean dies and he just up and abandons his hunting life and goes to be normal. If for garbage reasons you were ditching Eileen a happy ending for Sam would still probably involve a hunting-connected life, even if it was a montage showing him holed up in the Bunker being the new Bobby while nothing else changed and Dean was having bad drinks with the original Bobby in Heaven. Like just that one change would make Sam’s journey make sense that he stopped running away and accepted who he was and that the trauma shaped him but didn’t break him, and that he had moved beyond the harmful relationships with women who he valued for their normality, who he then told nothing about his life, bottled up his trauma and dismissed his past and then lived a sliver of existence right on the edge of sanity and coping. Blurry Wife might have the benefit that theoretically the cosmic nonsense is over and Sam might not be called back to that battlefield but the toll on Sam’s life from his history can’t just... disappear overnight. Literally his entire mental health arc which was based on his trauma and addressing it and overcoming it, and how Sam learns who he is beneath it and how it has made him uniquely Sam and stronger for it is all washed away.

And that of all the examples you mentioned is like the only one I can talk about with any coherence without devolving into screaming about how better endings were owed all around. If the characters are denied meaningful narrative closure than everything they’ve carried with them, from just the way a plot will feel resolved or not, to all the stuff we reflect onto them about our own issues that we see in theirs, ends up dumped to the side and it leaves painful holes.

I don’t think a better ending in terms of just wrapping up the show as it seemed to be on track to, until it abruptly wasn’t in the finale, would have ever fixed all of it or meant enough to some of us when it comes to things we’ve carried alongside the characters for a long time. Like I doubt even a full canon Destiel ending by their pen could have addressed ALL the issues we put on Dean and Cas and in our explorations in fic and meta and headcanon and crackposts and whatever else, feel like they’d need to talk out or resolve to be fully content on screen with each other. But there sure were things that could have been done with a few meaningful lines here and there and obviously Cas visually on screen with Dean at the ending that would have made things easier, or provided the paths to seeing these things resolved in our ongoing imaginings.

A lot of the finale pain seems to be the abrupt wall that the story just STOPS like that and so much of this is all left hanging and we’re all feeling the pain of many things that we forgave the story for along the way because there was a trust in the way storytelling works that we’d get that catharsis and closure at the end, and that all the painful stories we were told were being told for that reason. Like, the main reason to write painful stuff and dark themes is to explore it and look right at the horrible stuff, but then to find ways to bring it back down and let some of it go. And most of why I’m refusing to watch the end of the show is simply because it sounds like none of what any of us wanted to get out of it actually happened and there were NO paths to get these things we needed out of it. And at which point many of the terrible things that happened along the way now feel uncomfortable in a way that it’s torture porn without any relief or reason for doing it. The feeling is so universal and the descriptions of that last episode so laughably bad on that front that it’s the main reason I don’t want to watch it. Like, I can get a better sense of satisfaction bitching about how it should have ended than I’d get watching it so why would I do that? :P

Anyway. Guess you got me ranting but this really is something I think in hindsight that might make rewatches really awful way back into the show just because you’ll be watching something and realise that for all the character is going through, they’re not going to get a resolution that actually would do anything to make any meaningful comment at all on what they’re going through. So now you’re just watching them suffer for the hell of it? Idk, this fear haunts me >.>

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noxyfied · 3 years

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This, is Noxy/Noxyfied/Nox. This is the character I identify as online, and I want to tell you my story with this adorable Arctic Fox because it is one heck of a tale from not so long ago

Things did begin rough at the beginning of my persona’s history. I honestly can’t recall how I came up with it, only how I inserted my love for something and went with it.

From the early years of 2017 to 2019 I was all paper and pencil. Ah yes traditional art was my big thing for a couple of years during that era of 2013 to 2020. I had a time where I wrote stories about characters I made, and not much. No fan art, no nothing, I wanted to stick to my own original ideas at first before I took the step to do something that I did not own; it was a weird mindset I know, I couldn’t hold myself to want to be original and develop to be good enough to draw other things.

It took me some time to develop, hell even to this day I still am unsure of my own skills but I enjoyed trying new things. I don’t reject much criticism even if it comes harsh it still lingers in my head when received anyway. I needed someone to identify as online, a persona who I would have an identity through as I was moving forward on this hopeful career I want to make with my art.

Idea #1 draw my own self accurate to how I look

Scratch that...

Nononono, I am too bad at showing my face, even at that I don’t like myself.

So I had to come up with something else, 2019 was ending with my skills rising up to something neat. I had Fire alpaca and a wacom cheap tablet which I used time to time back then, and with how I moved foward I said “why not, lets draw a glaceon.

Not bad, not bad. I do enjoy anthropomorphic animals, and for a anthro Glaceon it wasn't so bad. Even back then I did not enjoy much of this picture but the idea sparked. I did roleplay around online a lot as a Glaceon. People always had referred to me as a Glaceon when talking, because furry friends tend to be like that and I don’t mind. It had definitely sparked the idea of identifying as one for my persona.

I had a hard time how I would draw this character, a more personalized Glaceon with my own flare of the art style I carry should be nice, should I make it tall? short? anthro? feral? the questions rose up. Even more as time passed, took some time unsure of it, Unluckily I had a Glaceon FURsona, not a persona. (Yes those were two separate things as I carried 7 fursonas as individual characters in their own stories).

But soon one day in class, my artsy self was bored and it just sparked.

This is it! yes! I love it! something about this just clicked for some reason, it was like nothing I had seen before I could not look away at it, this was it.

After class I went home and played some games. The idea was there but man am I tired. Things did go slow, but not for long as of January, the classes I took gave me the ability to better understand this Adobe Photoshop, an amazing tool for editing pictures but also... To draw?!? I have heard of using Photoshop to draw but was amazed to have the ability using such program. During my time 2019 I would doodle around on Photoshop in my school or at home (thanks to the campus giving me a cheaper prize to use it for assignments) Not bad, not bad, the program was for sure something nice to use. Look! I even drew my Fursonas there too, ain’t that nice

2019 was something for sure. It had just begun making 2020 quite the year as I took my wacom tablet, opened Photoshop, and on January there it was.

Oh how cute! I felt so proud of myself, firealpaca was nothing like how clean and pretty Photoshop was, I was amazed at this ability.

“I made this?” that would be what I ask myself everyday. Time to time I would, and still, look at my phone to my drawings and remember what I used to make some pieces, I will not forget how I used thick outlines with the line too from photoshop, added some depth on the eyes. But most importantly, I had a persona, and I introduced it

My friends loved it, I could not believe I am starting to do the shift, my days of traditional art were at a halt. Not at a complete stop since I do use traditional art for a few other things of course, this was just my main focus now.

This little creature was everything to me, cute, easy to make, helped me throughout a few months as I practiced with my digital art.

I also perfected it’s look, but something looked rather familiar about it. Could not put my finger to it, so I went on drawing it.

that was a few exceptions where I shifted the proportions for “it”

“It” “it” what was this thing supposed to be, I myself was unsure how to identify myself with this persona. Male? no, female? no. The issue was there, who am I really inside, who was my persona gonna be.

I still cannot tell you exactly what my persona was for the longest time. I at times felt lost and confused with my identity, it did not help that 2020 did its mumbo jumbo and a pandemic happened, it was a lot of time on my own at home just questioning really who I had been for the longest time. Classes were minimal so my free time was big around April and May.

I was always unsure of who I was exactly, through my early years late 2000′s I had in me that my body was uncomfortable for looking the way it did, 2010′s went silent but there was something in me I did not understand. why did I feel this way, why do I feel as I am not happy with who I am, and who I identify with.

This persona was the wake up call to who I really wanted to be. I saw it in me that I knew being a male was the main issue in me feeling unhappy. Throughout my life I did not enjoy masculinity as much as other kids, yeah I had some boy traits but it was rather minimal, I enjoyed other things more. I enjoyed a lot of things about being female it was something I had never seen before. as hard or confusing things tend to be from me to explain, its a rather hard thing for myself to explain. But that how it felt “confusing” I researched and looked for things and to my conclusion I had come to be, I come to identify as a MtF trans.

I felt relieved in me of it and I already enjoyed my days more after from it. The only issue is “who do I tell..?” I was timid to tell this to anyone, friends or even family. Especially family, those I come to admit they will never be told of what my decision was because of how hard headed they are. It is a tragic story to tell since most families are such closed minded people of rejecting others.

“My friends tho, my friends? I would feel bad if I told them” that was the mindset I had for a while before admitting to them time to time, one by one. This was a chapter in my life that had changed me early 2020′s but I felt a lot of joy in me to be who I wanted to be, I no longer took anyone else's guidance for controlling who I am, I just went with my own flow.

My persona was.... more comically confused, it could be either so I just left it how my mood wanted it to go for when drawing it. So, things went well, in 2019 with the money I got I found myself enjoying a lot of second handed games, with a game coming real soon that had me pumped for I had to get a console I wanted for so long

A PS4 for the the Final fantasy 7 Remake, I was so pumped waiting for the game, I got a used PS4 for it and even bought couple other games for it to get to know the console: Final fantasy 15, destiny, and later on this Persona 5 game a lot of people talked about. Hmm ok, well lets try it out and oh me oh my, a few days later:

The art style captivated me, can you tell I went all out to trying anything with my persona? I cannot believe I was my own guinea pig for these sorts.

Going around some friends and they will tell you that I used this pfp quite a lot back then, as well as updating it with a new oc I had come up with

A tale in due time will be told about this gal.

well, it was set and forth that this was me, my persona, this glaceon was who I was. People loved it, my friends really liked it, and I had a blast having this first pure year of digital art only. Meeting new friends, and admiring their art. Having old friends come back, and even losing a few others on the way. During the time of june, to July I was rapid about drawing my persona in many ways, short, tall, anthro, feral

even metallic.

But there come some time I did not grew tired of. But a little worried that I had to rely on a franchise for my own identity, of course there is nothing wrong for those doing it. But reflecting on myself, back then when I wanted this art career to happen, I wanted to go all out letting out my imagination with my own creations. I had to make the decision, it was time to move on...

...To a new art program and new drawing tablet

No, it wasn’t that. I had to branch out from this Glaceon, but keep my identity, my legacy of this persona in check, but with a new coat of paint of course. did not take a long time before choosing that I had to use a real life animal as inspiration for this change. Something at least close to it, ah yes of course! the inspiration of the Glaceon was an arctic fox, well those are some good stepping stones to begin with so what happened one day is that I began sketching, not before saying good bye to this old self that helped me begin. It was weird, this is me but it was old me?

Tested the new Brushes from this amazing program called Clip studio paint, and I gotta say I love the program. Sincerely the best choice I made to leave Photoshop for this.

At last, this is it. the new Me!

Familiar looking isn’t it,baby steps we can say.

I cannot blame the people for calling my new persona a “Glaceon-alike”

I headed to the right direction stepping away from it, but it was hard to let go

new program, new tablet, new me. the later half of 2020 went onto a lot of changes with myself, the chibi small version did not make me happy to make anymore, I was losing the touch and with the few comments I got of looking like a “powerpuff girl look a like” did set me off to do a drastic change I am thankful to do. This new me had some weird phases, don’t we all tho?

where else to brainstorm than back to the traditional old ways. Now, you may see this and ask what was I thinking when making this. the order of when i started and finish goes as: Top right: ok what if it was feral, nah nah scratch. Top left: Can I still make it cute with a round face and features I had from before? ew no! that looks scary Bottom right: lets make it more natural and wow hey! yes yes yes! this looks hundred times better. Bottom left: It is time I go all out and make it humanoid, it was how I found myself enjoying drawing most things but still did some anthropomorphic things. I was just not the best of it.

Back to digital and.... Amazing, I really out did myself this time, lets go for it, lets keep going with this

I even got a cool sword too!

My practice continued from here, the second half was great and fun. New persona got me in a place where I was happy with and through October and December I was having a blast with the more possibilities with it. I went on to practice with even more suggestive things after a life drawing class I took, proportions mattered to me and with this new persona I went out to make more better looking proportions that were attractive and stylish.

This persona was great, and I managed to make so much of it. even Drawing the more suggestive stuff had left me with an answer for this persona. Just make it gender fluid, my selection for this character being male or female made me so tired I did not know why I just made it gender fluid since the beginning. My mood swings for this character, and I can’t resist drawing it either way. Was I finished? of course not, this persona still had some work around to do. The hair became a pain to make to keeping up with consistently.

2020 ended, with a year of exciting new things coming for this new year. I went through quite a lot in my life and my art career took a shaken with this new digital life style, my persona became the identity I saw myself through, something im happy with drawing to represent Me.

That isn’t to say that I gave up on drawing Me Me.

I drew who I hope to be, and will use this from time to time, nothing fancy but something.

It has been a year already since I began identifying myself with this persona from last year from now. ever since I sketched that doodle in class, it has been a happy trip through memory lane writing it and I am happy how things turned out. 2021 is what I hope to be as good as 2020 was (by that I mean drawing only of course) In 2021 one more change was made that had made me just as happy to continue on with.

I got more hair! as crazy as it is yes. More hair, and a different front style has been to this day what I been using.

I even made a discord emoji for all the warm hugs to have with my fursona!

and my first ever animation I have ever done before!!

I am always experimenting new things, and i’m proud to be an artists to go out there and leave my art out there to be noticed by anyone. The love and appreciation friends and others leave me are the best thing I could ask. I look foward to see what is up ahead, for me, my career, and Noxy.

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forestwater87 · 4 years

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Every episode of Camp Camp ranked: A very (non)objective list

It's well past the time of year when Season 5 of Camp Camp would've dropped. I fully understand and support it not coming out; the crew's health and safety are much more important than a comfort show.

However . . . man, would it be nice to have some comfort right now.

So I'm reliving the entire series! I've been known to share with the world a whole bunch of Spicy Hot Takes, but I've never really sat down and talked about my feelings about the show as a whole.

And what's the best way to do that? Well, just ask Jenny Nicholson: a numbered list! That is, here's the series ranked from worst episode to best, because I want to get the negativity out of the way early and focus on everything I love (and because people enjoy complaining, so let’s frontload all that).

The takes will be hot. The feelings will be intense. The post, I'm assuming, will be largely unread.

Let's do it!

Oh and duh, there are spoilers. I tried to keep it pretty chill, but you’ll want to have watched the whole show or just not care about spoilers before going forward.

Also slashes in the middle of “naughty words” are meant to prevent this from being kept out of the main tags. Who knows if it’ll work? I don’t.

60. Who Peed the Lake? (Season 4, epis/sode 3)

Ah, good ol' Pi/ss Lake (or as @hopefullypessimistic84 calls it because she's funnier than any of us will ever be, “Pis/s Fe/tish Dot Com”). Terrible, one of the few I’d consider nigh unwatchable. I actually kind of love this episode for being such great shorthand for "the absolute worst one."

Who signed off on an entire episode centered around Sherlock Holmes meets a bad om/o joke? Give me names and addresses: I just want to talk.

59. Reigny Day (Season 1, episode 6)

And nobody was surprised.

I'll admit I'm more willing to defend this episode than many people, but it's not . . . like, good. It seemed okay when there were only 11 other episodes to compare it to, but now that there have been so many bangers, this comes across as extremely weak.

And let’s just say the Na/zi jokes hit a lot differently in 2020 than they did in the summer of 2016.

I’m overall happy with the direction the showrunners have moved Dolph’s character in, and I can’t totally blame them for using a kind of humor that was fairly common in the pre-Trump era, but yikes, this has aged like milk. And it wasn’t even very funny at the time, so it aged like milk that was already pretty bad to begin with.

58. Squirrel Camp (Season 4, episode 10)

This is a dumb one.

Not much else to say; it’s just kinda stupid and lame.

57. Fashion Victims (Season 4, episode 13)

I love Sasha, but this is filler. Which isn’t in itself a bad thing -- I have a couple episodes near the top that could reasonably be called filler, and a valid argument could easily be made that “filler episodes” don’t actually exist in a show with no plot -- but as much as I adore the Flower Scouts and enjoy the handful of good moments we get in this episode . . . who cares? Does anyone really give a sh/it about anything that happens here? Does anyone get their life from this one?

I didn’t think so.

56. Foreign Exchange Campers (Season 3, episode 3)

I know, I know, your Russian waifu came from this episode. Why do you think it’s so low on this list?

Okay, for real: this is . . . fine. It’s fine. It’s fine? I’m not mad at it, it just feels tonally incongruous and not very memorable beyond the fact that the fandom got really weird and kinda gross about Vera. But the episode itself? There’s some cute stuff with Neil and Nikki being jealous, but for the most part it’s a big hunk of white bread with some super mild white cheese that’s kinda soggy from sitting in a bag for too long and getting all condensation-y.

That is to say: it’s fine.

ETA: Space Kid does say “fu/ck.” I can’t decide if that’s a point in the episode’s favor or against it.

This is the last of what I’d call the “bad” episodes. Everything after this ranges from mediocre to mind-blowingly amazing. But whatever our failing tier of Camp Camp episodes is, it stops right about here.

Onto the good stuff!

55. Night of the Living Ill (Season 2 Halloween episode)

I keep switching this with “Eggs Benefits,” which probably means they should be tied. But whatever, this is my list and I am in charge and I’ve finally decided, after like 5 changes, that I like this one a little bit less.

It’s a fun Romero parody with nothing I’d call bad. Really this one’s only so low on the list because I think it’s kinda icky, and looking at those green snotty faces makes me queasy. If you think this is a bad reason to put it near the bottom of the list, then make your own post.

54. Cameron Campbell Can't Handle the Truth Serum (Season 4, episode 11)

I . . . don’t remember this at all. I initially had it a bit higher because I tend to love things with Campbell in them, but then I realized that nothing about this episode stuck in my brain even a little bit.

Oh, this is the “Dolph has autism” episode that made everyone either extremely happy or really mad? Okay. I guess that’s the most remarkable thing about it. Neato.

Cam, I love you, but this was just not the best use of your sleazy charm.

53. Eggs Benefits (Season 2, episode 9)

This is one of those episodes with enough cute moments and good ideas to save it from being totally unmemorable, and I mostly enjoy rewatching. Platypus being a mom is a fabulous idea, and pairing the campers the way they did was mostly really interesting and fun.

The Preston-Nurf stuff takes it down several pretty significant notches, though. It’s what the kids would call problematic, and while I normally enjoy how the show doesn’t skew away from darker themes and jokes, it didn’t really fit either of their characters and just . . . isn’t fun to watch. It’s not especially funny, it’s not especially tragic, it’s just uncomfortable.

52. Camp Campbell Wants YOU! (Season 1, episode 0)

Honestly, this would be a lot higher if it was a full-length episode. It’s funny.

The next 5 or so episodes fall under the “cute but not very memorable” umbrella:

51. Nikki's Last Day on Earth (Season 3, episode 4)

I love the ensemble episodes, so this was always going to score higher than any of the single-character “meh” eps. I didn’t see the twist coming, though I know a lot of other fans did. Textbook example of “cute but not very memorable” -- the Platonic ideal of that concept.

50. The Candy Kingpin (Season 3, episode 9)

A clever idea that plays on Max’s worst characteristics and then calls him out for them, while also giving Dolph some much-needed character development. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like it really picks up until the last third of the episode, leaving the rest just kind of sitting there.

49. Campfire Tales (Season 4, episode 13)

Who doesn’t love campfire stories?

That’s all I got. They’re campfire stories.

ETA: OH SH/IT THIS ONE HAS THAT REALLY SCARY STORY! Where David’s all like . . . Slenderman’d. Fu/ck, I didn’t remember that until I was writing out my thoughts for #35 or so. That definitely elevates it, but I’m too tired to try and re-decide where this should go, so just tie it with “New Adventure!”

48. New Adventure! (Season 4, episode 4)

New trio! Focusing on these 3 was a definite risk, and I think it really paid off. While the “plot” itself isn’t anything special, there are a handful of really great side gags (hi, Dirty Kevin!!!!) and it’s fun to see these three interact. They all get some nice character beats. It’s a good time.

47. Something Fishy (Season 3, episode 8)

This might’ve hit me harder if I’d actually seen The Shape of Water, but the send-up works fine without having more than the seen-the-trailer level of understanding. Gwen dresses pretty, which I love; Max sucks, which I also love. What drags this one down is mostly feeling like the surreal aspects of the comedy go a bit too far into the “what the fu/ck am I looking at?” territory without really . . . making an actual joke beyond “look! Wacky!"

Why is David at the opera with a bird? Why??

46. City Survival (Season 3, episode 11)

Literally do not remember a single thing about this episode except David getting mugged and being called a “homeless twi/nk.” That should probably rank it lower on the list, but David being a fluttery mother hen saves it for me -- as does the fact that it leads directly into one of my favorite episodes, and the single best story arc of the series.

Next set of episodes is what I’m going to arbitrarily call “okay! but like the good kind of okay, not the bad kind.”

45. Bonjour Bonquisha (Season 2, episode 7)

Max and Sasha masterminding a scheme is really fun; their dynamic is great (though it won’t be fully realized until Season 4), and heartbroken David is so tragically cute it actually makes my heart explode out of my chest.

Also I can’t resist a good “3 kids in a trench coat” gag.

44. Anti-Social Network (Season 2, episode 2)

Neil is very relatable and I don’t have much else to say about this one. It’s fun to see an episode that more heavily focuses on our nerdy science boy, and Max and Neil teaming up to save Nikki was really charming and sweet and set my Makkiel ship out to sea.

43. A Camp Camp Christmas, or Whatever (Season 2 holiday episode)

Why does this episode have a musical number? It’s not good.

Okay, that was mean. This is fun and cute and Gwen wears a pretty purple sweatshirt and Space Kid gives her a present and it’s really sweet. But that musical number is an instant fast-forward for me, sorry.

42. Preston Goodplay's Good Play (Season 4, episode 7)

We get some Preston character development! Awesome!

It’s done in a really trippy and surreal way that totally fits his character and heightens the drama of the episode! Awesome!

David has an apparently-tragic history of being a French mime! Not a good call!

Next tier: Some good sh/it! (Tbh, these could all be put in just about any order; they might as well be one massive tie.)

41. Cookin' Cookies (Season 2, episode 11)

I love the Flower Scouts. I love Dirty Kevin. I love the idea of accidentally starting a dru/g empire. Another weird, borderline experimental one focusing on side characters, and I think it works better than “New Adventure!” because the scale of the melodrama is just so over-the-top.

The fact that this is in the bottom 20 but I have nothing but good things to say about it illustrates how dang good this show is. It’s only getting better from here, folks!

40. Romeo & Juliet II: Love Resurrected (Season 1, episode 7)

Preston is a terrible playwright. This makes sense, because he’s like 11, but he’s the kind of hilariously bad I wish I’d been as a preteen, because his play is absolutely bonkers. Max fucking with David is great, Tabii vs. Bonquisha is great, Bonquisha in general is a giant amazonian goddess and I want to be swept up into her giant arms. Neil is . . . a robot, for some reason?

So much fun!

39. Camp Cool Kidz (Season 1, episode 4)

I don’t love Ered’s characterization in this one, but there are a lot of wacky hijinks in this episode that I think make it really enjoyable. Max’s wide-eyed revolutionary naïveté is a fun change from his usual dour pessimism, and Nikki’s loyalty to Ered is both very gay and very charming. Plus we get to learn a bit more about how the camp operates (and fails to operate), and it’s a nice way to better establish the campsite as its own setting.

(Definitely think “Cool” should’ve been spelled with a K though. But whatever, I don’t write for the show.)

38. Scout's Dishonor (Season 1, episode 3)

The birth of Neeancy! The introduction of the Flower and Wood Scouts! Neil saying “cu/nt” -- one of the first and only truly shocking uses of profanity in the entire show! ZUKO!

I don’t know if my fondness for this one is rooted mostly in nostalgia or if it was actually really fun, but I enjoyed the he/ll out of it. Not as highly-rated as some other episodes mostly because it doesn’t really do anything, character or story-wise, but not every episode needs to be a massive game-changer that drowns us in feels. Sometimes it’s enough to have a fun romp, and this is very that.

37. Ered Gets Her Cool Back (Season 3, episode 2)

Awww, Ered. I have a soft spot for her, because I love the archetype of a spoiled bit/ch clearly still figuring out how to be a person and have friends. You really get the sense of her as a teenager trying to sort her shi/t out in this episode, which I would love to see more of. Her interactions with Nerris are top-tier, and I like that it’s a continuation of how her character’s been softening since Season 1 into this kind of big-sister figure.

Also, all the female campers in this show are lesbians. I do not make the rules.

36. Attack of the Nurfs (Season 4, episode 2)

I feel like this is a pretty underrated episode. But then again, I feel like Nurf is a pretty underrated character, so maybe that’s just my own personal bias.

I really enjoyed all the different iterations of Nurf, and I think Blaine did a killer job giving each one its own personality and life. It’s a fun episode that plays hard with cartoon physics (a 3D printer printing people! I love it!) and has a surprisingly moving ending.

At least, that’s what I think. Most other people seem to find this one pretty forgettable. Again: make your own da/mn list. I liked it.

35. Mascot (Season 1, episode 2)

This entire episode is memorable for so many things, but a few of my favorites:

David is established as kind of a di/ck.

Platypus arrives and kicks all the as/s.

Quartermaster is the best.

Nerris, Harrison, and Space Kid all get little moments to show off how cute they are.

Neil and Nikki bonding.

This:

34. Quest to Sleepy Peak Peak (Season 2, episode 3)

I love watching Nerris and Harrison bicker, and Neil and Nikki fit really well into their group. It reminds me of being a kid, and of playing Dungeons & Dragons (as an adult, because I’m so cool), and of summer . . . which is a really good thing for this show. There are a lot of funny one-liners, and it’s just a good dang time.

33. Quartermaster Appreciation Day (Season 2, episode 6)

I don’t think this one is all that well-loved, but I thought it was funny. There are literally zero important plot or character moments, but it made me laugh a lot, and that’s all I need a Camp Camp episode to do.

I love QM, and the more we learn about him, the more confused and disturbed we end up being. What a fu/cking champion.

32. Arrival of the Torso Takers (Season 3 Halloween episode)

I lowkey hated this one when it came out, because I knew the Daniel stans were going to be exhausting. And they kind of were? But looking back, it’s a great way to reintroduce this motherfu/cker. He’s a lot scarier than he was the last time around -- but also less competent, which is a great way to kick him in the proverbial ba/lls -- and while I wish it had a lot more Gwen in it, it’s a clever and creative Halloween episode.

31. Operation: Charlie Tango Foxtrot (Season 3, episode 10)

Charlie . . . Tango . . . Foxtrot . . . CTF . . . OH! Capture the Flag! I never got that before. Oh, that’s neat. I love this show.

Listen, every time the writers decide to take a risk and do something bizarre and creative, I’m going to be here for it at least a little bit. An entire episode told from the POV of the Woodscouts, explaining how hard they failed in all directions? A great gag where everyone in Petrol’s story talks in grunts? The return of Jermy Fartz?! Fantastic.

30. Panicked Room (Season 4, episode 16)

Listen. I’m a sucker for my trash grandpa; anything Campbell-centric is probably going to be pretty good (except #54), because he’s just one of the most consistently funny and engaging characters. Good times are had whenever this terrible man is on the screen, and giving him a romantic backstory? A tragic romantic backstory full of mistakes and emotional damage?? One where he waited 17 YEARS for the love of his life???

We have no choice but to stan.

29. Party Pooper (Season 4, episode 15)

I’m so predictable. If you put Gwen in something, I will be happy. If you make an entire episode about how Gwen is under-appreciated and overworked and just trying to do her best despite the circumstances, I will dedicate my firstborn child to you.

Anyway, this episode is really sweet, and I liked the unexpected direction the writers took her relationship with her dad. He seems like a nice guy, they seem like they have a nice relationship, and . . . well, an episode about how hard it is to be an adult millennial hit pretty hard. Plus this was just a really pretty episode -- and not just because Gwen was in so much of it! Seriously, that night sky was a thing of beauty.

Also if you say a fuc/king word about Max and that godda/mn dog I will choke you out with your own intestines. Few things are more hilariously, annoyingly ironic than the fact that the entire fandom ignored and failed to appreciate Gwen . . . in the episode all about how everyone ignores and fails to appreciate Gwen.

28. Culture Day (Season 3 holiday episode)

Now, would it be arrogant to point out that I had the idea for a Culture/Heritage Day back in September 2018? Yes, especially since I don’t think the writers ever read fanfiction and it has literally nothing to do with this episode. Will that stop me? He/ll no it will not! I am a creature of ego! Read my stuff!

Anyway, this is a really fun look at Neil’s background, personality, and relationships. Max looking out for him is just . . . oh my god, I cannot, I’ve written like 30 of these and my brain is starting to melt, but these two are so cute. I love arrogant Neil, and I love protective Max, and I love QM and Gwen fuc/king over the Flower Scouts to save the day. Everything about this episode is lovely.

27. Cameron Campbell the Camp Campbell Camper (Season 3, episode 7)

This should not be ranked so high (even if these are all essentially tied). This is a dumb episode based on a really, really dumb premise.

But . . . I don’t know what to tell you. “Samboy Kidwell,” Max realizing he and Campbell are disturbingly similar and not liking what his future could look like, David’s “I’m not mad, I’m disappointed” face . . . this episode happens to hit all of my favorite things. It had a really good balance of heavy-handed moralizing and goofs, it was part of the most graceful lead-up into a finale the show has ever had, and I’m just all about it.

Excellent job, Samboy. Count Olaf would be proud of your disguise.

There ends the “some good sh/it” tier. We’re starting to get into the really excellent stuff now!

26. Parents' Day (Season 2, episode 12)

I know. You want this to be higher. I hear you.

Honestly I’m kind of shocked it’s this high; it’s my least favorite of the season finales so far, and I had to push past a lot of prejudice to actually rank this where I think it deserves to be, as opposed to somewhere in the like mid-40s. Mostly because it gave fuel to the raging inferno of “Max has terrible parents and David should adopt him” headcanons, which I’ve detailed my problems with extensively in the past (in a post that, statistically speaking, none of you have read).

But, trying to be objective: is this episode actually any good?

Well . . . yeah, it really is.

So much work was put into giving each of the campers families that make sense with their characters and bounce absurdly well off of them, ranging from wholesome and adorable (Nerris’s family) to quietly tragic (Harrison’s parents), and they’re all designed so well; they’re fun to look at and fun to watch interact with the kids and each other. (The only exception is Dolph’s dad, who is both kinda lame and misattributes the cause of the weird Na/zi thing because it did not come from Germany, I assure you. But things with Dolph are always a little off, and I don’t really know how you would give him a backstory that actually works with the character, so they were caught between a rock and a hard place there.)

The drama of David having to choose between the man he considers his father and the camp he considers his home is really touching, and him and Gwen choosing to take a sad camper out to get pizza instead of covering for their boss’s a/ss is such a beautiful moment for both of them that I can’t really blame the fandom for losing their mind over it. Campbell’s arrest leading into the arcs of the next two seasons was great as well, and the finale left us all with this weird sense of foreboding because we didn’t know what was going to happen next; it was the only finale that actually ended on something close to a cliffhanger, while still being satisfying enough to keep us all from melting down.

Plus, it’s funny. Carl and Candy are really funny and the idea of Neil and Nikki’s parents boning is funny in a horrible way. The joke about Quartersister is funny. It’s a good episode.

Should this be higher? Maybe, but I can’t bring myself to put it above the rest of these episodes. Again: make your own list.

25. Mind Freakers (Season 1, episode 10)

The episode that launched a thousand ships. Assuming those ships are all Harrison/Neil, anyway.

It’s hard to talk about these Season 1 episodes because they feel so classic. Like, what is there to say? You’ve all seen it a couple dozen times; I’ve seen it a couple dozen times. Harrison is a di/ck, Neil is possibly an even bigger di/ck, and magic may or may not be real. (Though spoilers for literally every season: yes, magic is definitely real.) It’s so much fun watching these two smug as/sholes snipe at each other in an almost literal playground hair-pulling way that could very easily be read as flirtation.

And the fandom did most certainly read it that way, at least for a little while.

24. Gwen Gets a Job (Season 2, episode 8)

It’s Gwen. What, was I supposed to not put it this high?

This was the first Gwen-centric episode, and it absolutely slaps. She’s pushed to the breaking point and responds by being a cold-hearted BAMF, and it got her some pretty significant hate from fans but I don’t give a fu/ck, I loved it. We got to see her all dolled up, and then we got to see her all disheveled, and both of those looks were gorgeous. David gives her a tiny fragment of the love and validation she deserves (I don’t know if this is when gwenvid started taking off -- I think it wasn’t really until “Parents’ Day,” or even Season 3 -- but I ate that s/hit up).

Also, again: job hunting post-2008. It’s a bad time, y’all. Camp Camp gets it.

23. Follow the Leader (Season 4, episode 6)

Yeah, I was kind of surprised at how high this landed, too. I guess I’m just a sucker for unlikely companionships, and these three have a great chemistry. The combination of competitiveness, sass, and reluctant admiration make their interactions a lot of fun. Their motivation of doing petty errands for Campbell for the sake of getting at the Box of Illegal Contraband is a great framework too, with high enough stakes to justify all sorts of wacky shenanigans without causing actual anxiety.

I want to see these characters forced to spend more time together. Please, RT, make that happen.

22. Escape from Camp Campbell (Season 1, episode 1)

In terms of numbers, this feels so low, but considering everything from about #45 on is ranked as at least decent, this is actually a pretty high rating. There are 21 episodes I’d call better than this, but these decisions were all pretty painful.

This introduces us to everyone! The main trio, the counselors, Mr. Campbell; we get a snapshot of the major personalities running around the camp, the major points of conflict (Max vs. David, primarily), the major building blocks of future episodes, setting, and relationships . . .

Again, I don’t know how much of my love for this episode is nostalgia -- there’s a lot of squeeing at familiar faces and gags; this is the first time David gets hit by a bus!!! -- but it was a fun and funny introduction to a series that’s ended up being so important to me, and I’m so grateful this wonderful, quirky little show with its wonderful and quirky little premiere.

Of all the episodes, I really can’t look at this one objectively. It’s too important.

21. The Fun-Raiser (Season 3, episode 1)

David and Gwen scheming is my ki/nk. They very rarely scheme together, but every single time their teamwork makes the dream work (or, more frequently, makes the dream fail horribly and have disastrous consequences) my soul flies out of my body and takes to the stars, where I write another 500 first chapters to gwenvid fanfics I’ll probably never finish.

This is a great follow-up to “Parents’ Day,” where we immediately see the consequences of the previous season finale and what happens when the one adult in the camp disappears. Mr. Campbell was a terrible adult, true, but at least he was smart enough not to steal QM’s hook. Like . . . whose plan was this? It was so bad. These two are hilariously incompetent sometimes -- often when their bad ideas are feeding off of each other, actually, a la this and “Space Camp Was a Hoax” -- and watching them frantically try and keep all their balls in the air is so great.

The ending is satisfying, too; a bit graphic, in keeping with a show that tends to keep the violence limited to periodic spurts of bloodshed 1-2 times a season and mostly pretty mild the rest of the time, but between Max stepping up and fixing everything while still being his shi/tty self to our dear dumba/ss counselors getting their dumb as/ses handed to them (deservedly so, if we’re being honest) . . . it’s such a great note to begin a new season on.

20. Journey to Spooky Island (Season 1, episode 5)

A classic.

We get to meet our spooky boy Jasper, we get to watch the comedy trio play off each other and continue to sketch out the general contours of their friendship, and we get to see the Quartermaster with a big purple dil/do for a hand. What’s not to love?

19. The Butterfinger Effect (Season 4, episode 17)

CONTROVERSIAL HOT TAKES! GET YOUR CONTROVERSIAL HOT TAKES HERE!

I’ve already gone into some pretty intense detail about why I think this one is actually really good and carries the theme of embracing change that everything about Season 4 was centered around, but none of y’all read that so here it is in short: this episode is super funny, almost all of the campers’ transformations work really well as extensions of their characters while still being strange and surprising, and the fact that Nurf creates all of these problems by trying to solve them is deliciously fun to watch in a karmic sort of way.

Or maybe it’s just because any Nurf-centric episode is going to rank pretty highly for me. That is also possible.

18. Space Camp Was a Hoax (Season 2, episode 10)

Our camp counselors being bad people: it’s my drug of choice.

We get Space Kid tripping balls in what might be one of the funniest sequences in the show, the entire camp coming together to try and pull off the stupidest, most impossible task (and kinda maybe almost nailing it???), and once again the fun of watching Gwen and David scramble to keep from getting caught in their boss’s shit/ty lies is so great. And Lindsay’s voice acting is absolutely killer, even more so than usual.

17. Jermy Fartz (Season 2, episode 4)

I get the sense this might be a somewhat controversial one.

I’ve written before about why I think this episode is a lot of fun, but it mostly boils down to two things: watching the campers try (and fail) to be nice to the most bully-able person on the entire planet, and the essential likeableness of Jermy.

No, really.

I think a lot of people were put off by Jermy’s general grossness, because . . . my god is he disgusting, but he’s also polite and good-natured, and seems totally self aware of how difficult he is to be around, without letting it make him depressed. He’s cheerful in a weirdly downbeat way that’s impossible to understand until you see him in action. He’s so matter-of-fact about his own awfulness in a way that I found entirely endearing. I don’t think I’d want him at my camp, either, but get that kid to a good dermatologist and gastroenterologist, teach him some basic hygiene and social skills, and you’ll have quite a little gentleman there.

I do however find it hilarious that apparently David got the type of tree wrong when making fun of Jermy. Not only is that a great moment for reveling in David being an as/shole, but he didn’t even have the right wood. F/ucking idiot. I love him so much.

These last ones are my favorites! (Well, duh, that’s how this whole ranking thing works.) Maybe not perfect, but just really good and with limitless rewatch value.

16. St. Campbell's Day (Season 4 holiday episode)

They Grinch’d Camp Camp. Those brilliant bast/ards, they really pulled it off.

Ignoring the fact that David is truly frightening-looking for most of the episode, this is a great bookend to Season 4, following up on the theme established in the first episode about how David is a flawed and selfish human being despite trying his best not to be.

This is another one I was surprised to find so high on the list, but the more I thought about it the more I realizes how good it is. David being a jerk is always one of my favorite storylines, and the fact that the trouble comes from him trusting Mr. Campbell too little instead of too much is a nice twist on the usual formula. Gwen coming to help him out despite a blistering hangover gave me aggressive shipping feels, yes, obviously.

Between a lot of really funny little gags like QM’s failed satanic ritual and the genuinely touching moral about the importance of spending time with the people you love, it’s just a really lovely episode that gets just the right amount of maudlin for the holiday season.

15. Jasper Dies at the End (Season 2, episode 5)

I kept switching this and “Dial M for Jasper”; it was a really difficult decision to make, figuring out where these two belonged. I think in the end, while the John Dies at the End reference was very, very good, this one loses me a little bit by being told from David’s perspective. Now, normally the more David is in an episode the more I’ll be likely to love it (see my #1 for proof of that), but his blinders when it comes to the camp and Mr. Campbell result in a really funny story, but one without the same emotional heft as hearing about what happened from Jasper’s point of view.

That doesn’t mean it’s not perfect for what it needs to be: each Jasper episode builds on the previous ones, and having the same intensity of “Dial M for Jasper,” where we learn how he died and how his relationship with David fell apart, would be weird and heavy at this point. In Season 1 we just found out he’s a ghost (and eagle-eyed viewers realized he’d been a camper with David); in Season 2 we find out how David views their friendship and time at camp; and in Season 3 we get Jasper’s perspective. It’s an absolutely wonderful raising of the stakes (for lack of a better term), but the one that packs more of an emotional punch is going to rank a bit higher than the one that’s mostly just for laughs.

That being said: there are plenty of laughs in this one. Everyone -- Griffin, Miles, Travis, the animators -- nailed this one, and it gets funnier every time I watch it.

14. Camporee (Season 1, episode 11)

AKA the episode where Forest realized she was in love with Gwen.

What a great idea for an episode, seriously. Every coming-of-age story has a talent show or a competition or a big game -- something where the kiddos can show off their improved skills and teamwork to beat their bullies or whatever. And this show has both kinds of bullies: the popular girly girls and the violent muscleheads. What a great moment to pull everyone together and show how friendship can help us accomplish anything!

Except . . . of course that’s not what happens. Of course they’re absolute garbage, and of course teamwork isn’t the answer. Gwen is the perfect foil for David here, being the anti-teamwork, anti-Camp-Campbell adult who can perfectly and effortlessly undermine David’s relentless optimism. David wants so badly for his campers to live in the same coming-of-age summer movie he did as a child, and their staunch refusal to do that leads to a really heartbreaking closer to the episode, as well as lead into the next one. Everything about this, from the challenges to the setup to Gwen shouting “we are winning this FUC/KING trophy!” is just gold.

13. David Gets Hard (Season 1, episode 9)

We have David. We have Nurf. We have Gwen. We have Max trying to be helpful in the shi/ttiest way possible.

We have all the makings of a da/mn good episode. And they deliver. Not a very emotionally intense or moving one, but so, so funny.

12. Dial M for Jasper (Season 3, episode 5)

This isn’t the fate any of us expected for Jasper, and it’s not the fate of a lot of people wanted. But godda/mn it, it worked. The constant bait-and-switch the episode keeps playing with, where you keep waiting for something really dramatic and tragic to happen . . . and then the reality is that Jasper died because Mr. Campbell was stupid and careless, and it was all just a horribly sad accident.

It’s anticlimactic, but in a way that suits the series, both as a comedic counterpoint to all the hype throughout the episode and as a way to establish that Cameron Campbell is a bad man first and foremost through selfishness and laziness, not Daniel-esque sinister evil. Jasper’s death was totally avoidable and totally Campbell’s fault, and while that’s sad, it also adds a weird sort of lightness to the episode. David didn’t do something terrible to kill his best friend, Jasper didn’t kill himself, and without having actively chosen to murder a child (well, not this time), the door remains open for fans accepting Campbell’s later pseudo-redemption. It was just an accident, and Jasper was “haunting” David to tell him that he was sorry for how their friendship ended. That’s really sweet, actually.

I think it’s the best way this reveal could’ve gone, and I’m so impressed with how they pulled it all off.

11. Into Town (Season 1, episode 8)

This might actually be the only flawless episode in the entire show. I mean, I call a lot of them flawless, and I mean that on an emotional level -- “I love this so much I cannot see anything wrong with it” -- but this one is a masterpiece of storytelling. All the technical jumbo I’m bad at, like planting and payoff and tension and all of that, is just perfect.

I feel like this is the kind of claim that needs to be backed up with a long-as/s essay full of citations and video clips and references to, like, Joseph Campbell or something, but this is my 49th entry in the list so I am not going to be doing that. Besides, I don’t think my English degree qualifies me to critique film/animation; I don’t even entirely know half the terms I’ve used to compliment this episode. Someone else please explain why this is such a good one.

10. The Quarter-Moon Convergence (Season 4, episode 5)

I’ve mentioned in other entries that the weird, surreal humor sometimes doesn’t work; it feels too much like being odd for its own sake, and sometimes gets so distracted in being surreal that it forgets to include anything funny or meaningful.

This . . . is not one of those.

Putting Harrison and QM together is a stroke of genius; the two of them are literally the most magical beings in the entire show, and using them as the conveyance for this great Lovecraftian horror-comedy was such a good idea. I don’t know if we’ll ever see these two interact in another episode -- honestly, this felt a bit like lightning in a bottle, and I have a hard time imagining what could possibly bring them together again -- but if this is the only episode we get, it is such a fantastic one.

Harrison makes a really good everyman, despite his powers; he’s just the right amount of confident and insecure to pull off that wide-eyed apprentice to QM’s grizzled wise mentor. (The fact that QM is objectively a terrible mentor is beside the point.) I still don’t entirely know what the two of them accomplished, but it feels baffling and momentous, with the perfect amount of gravity to make things extremely tense all the way through to the end.

Also, I guess God is an octopus? That’s kinda cool. I like octopuses.

9. Camp Corp. (Season 3, episode 12)

Another unpopular opinion? Oh ho ho, I am so contrary! I am Not Like Other Fans! I am the Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way, refusing to have the same opinions of all you prepz.

I know this wasn’t the most well-loved episode, but I think it did a really great job tying together story threads woven throughout Season 3: Max’s selfishness leading to him hurting other people, his growing realization that he cares about his friends and the camp itself, the parallels between him and Mr. Campbell (and the fact that they both get this redemption moment in the finale).

This is the most Max-centric season, focusing on his flaws and character growth, and they pulled it off in a really organic way that felt faithful to his character, touching without being too maudlin. The fact that his feelings about the camp are echoed in Gwen, Neil and Nikki, the other campers, and even Mr. Campbell drives home how important the camp -- and David -- are to this strange little family.

Each season, Max reluctantly becomes a better person, without changing the fundamental core of who he is. That’s a really hard putt for the writers and Michael, and I’m blown away every finale by how they so consistently nail it.

8. Time Crapsules (Season 4, episode 18)

Gwen-centric? Check.

Max learning how to be a better person while still being the bratty kid we know and love? Check.

Looks at one of the most under-appreciated character dynamics in the entire show (i.e., Max and Gwen)? Checkity check-check-check.

I don’t really have much to say about this one, which I should: it was considered a pretty serious letdown to a lot of fans, and I’m not sure how to explain why I loved it so much.

Comparing Max from “The Order of the Sparrow” to Max from this episode is wild. It’s not like 2 different characters: they’re still very obviously the same cynical, self-absorbed 10-year-old trying to survive summer camp. But he’s become a more considerate friend and decent version of that kid, and it’s great to watch. The moment where he and Gwen go too far and immediately regret snapping at each other is still painful (on my god, the VAs in this show, they’re so talented), Nikki and Neil both get nice subplots about how they’re also growing up, and the ending is fuc/king hilarious, perfectly breaking the tension from Campbell’s speech, which is both beautifully done and important to hear, especially if you’re in a period of uncomfortable transition (like, say, in your late 20s, or living through about 5 different national and global catastrophes).

And okay, I found that speech on the wiki for this episode and it made me deeply emotional, so here:

Here's the thing: you've got to take your failures and make something out of them. Take Camp Campbell for instance: a lot of poor decisions went into making this place what it is today. Sure, somewhere along the line it maybe strayed from its path, not living up to the camp it wanted to be. At some point, the camp realized that the camp would never reach the end of its path until it was ready or until it gave up. So, if the camp wanted to keep embezzling money and dealing with foreign powers, so be it! But, at some point, it didn't anymore. I never saw this coming, but I'm starting to think this camp is the best it's ever been.

If this is the last episode of Camp Camp we ever get -- and for at least a little while, it looks like it’s going to be -- I can’t think of a sweeter, funnier, and more lovely bittersweet note for this show to go out on.

7. The Lake Lilac Summer Social (Season 3, episode 6)

And again: No one was surprised.

This is the longest non-finale episode of the show, and it uses that time perfectly. Rather than having some big emotional moments and character arcs -- which are great, don’t get me wrong -- the writers use the extended time to build a series of shenanigans as complicated as Gwen’s matchmaking web, and watching her try to set up a series of dominos (with David, for once, being the responsible, level-headed one) is almost as satisfying as the catastrophic results.

Neil and Snake steal this episode, even from someone as in love with Gwen as I am, and for an episode that’s largely about making fun of shippers, there hasn’t been one that launched nearly as many ships as this. Neil/Snake? Tabii/Erin? Max/Nikki? GWENVID?! It’s all here, and I am here for it.

It was also fun to get a traditional episode setup in a very non-traditional show. I assume this means the beach and/or hot springs episode is forthcoming. (No, Pis/s Lake doesn’t count. Obviously it doesn’t count.)

6. Keep the Change (Season 4, episode 1)

Again, this is an episode I’ve said a lot about in the past -- and I was pretty uncharitable toward Season 3, which in retrospect was very unse/xy of me -- but I stand by a lot of my opinions then: this is a fu/cking great episode.

David is an as/shole, Max is an as/shole, Campbell is an as/shole. No one escapes the as/sholery. David schemes, Max catches him in the scheme, Campbell gets drunk and kind of gay . . . I’m 54 entries into this list and I don’t have much to say anymore: it’s just really good and fun and I love it.

5. Camp Loser Says What? (Season 4, episode 9)

This is another one I kind of hated when it came out, and again for fandom-related and personal-grudge reasons.

Fu/cking Daniel. That motherfu/cker. He shows up for 12 minutes and Tumblr bursts into flames. Every single time.

However, it’s really hard not to love this one. Daniel-as-Trump is a clever but subtle -- I mean, for this show’s definition of subtle -- allegory, and it’s amazing how much this slimy freak and the Woodscouts slot into it. David is a bise/xual disaster with the absolute worst taste in men, Dirty Kevin and Daniel are onscreen together for all of 2.5 seconds and the kevdan shippers lost their minds, and Xemug looks like Megamind for some weird reason.

My only minor complaint is that the ending is a bit anticlimactic, but it plays on Daniel’s stupidity and the value of teamwork, so it’s a very small nitpick in an episode that mostly works like gangbusters.

4. Cult Camp (Season 2, episode 1)

Duh. There’s a really good song and we’re introduced to a charismatic, sinister, and totally dumba/ss villain. What’s not to like?

I don’t think I even need to say anything about this episode. Season 2 started off the summer by throwing a lit firecracker directly at the viewer’s face, and ignoring the fact that we as a fandom proceeded to eat each other, it’s impossible not to get caught up in the episode’s wild energy.

And dude, that song. Fabulous. Fu/ck Daniel, but thank god he’s around to be such a prickly little pri/ck.

Now for the top 3: Literally perfect, wouldn’t change a single solitary thing.

3. After Hours (Season 4, episode 8)

I’m not sure anyone loved this episode as much as me. But this is my list, and I will put this up at the top if I want to and you cannot stop me.

It’s much easier in a lot of ways to talk about the episodes I hated than the ones I love this much. What do I say besides “literally everything about this fills me with joy and my life is better because it exists”? I don’t know. The counselors are my favorite characters, and between Gwen and QM having the weirdest bonding experience, Gwen getting to meet up with people who care about her silly fanfiction, Mr. Campbell being the trash grandpa of my dreams, David getting in way over his head . . . it’s the episode I always wanted, and they made it work so well.

Also, I just discovered that “Gwen Isn’t Your Mother So Stop Asking Her to Rinse Your Dishes” is an actual song and I am overwhelmed with delight. Here, I’m embedding it as well as linking because it’s so good:

youtube

God. This show. What the fu/ck even is up with this amazing, weird-as/s show.

2. The Order of the Sparrow (Season 1, episode 12)

Duh.

The entire first season is a great time (except “Reigny Day”), but it’s a pretty low-stakes kind of great time. There isn’t much in terms of emotional depth until the very end of “Camporee,” despite some hints at darker themes in one-off jokes and quick asides, so this episode comes a bit out of left field, tonally speaking.

But that’s not a bug, it’s a feature; if the show had been this overtly emotional from the outset, this finale wouldn’t hit as hard, and the rest of the season wouldn’t be as funny.

This manages to serve as a capstone to the conflict of the first season, building on episodes like “Into Town” and “Escape from Camp Campbell” in a way that feels totally natural for both David and Max’s characters while revealing new sides of them. It works because it’s so unexpected, but it doesn’t come across as incongruous with their personalities. It’s the first and only time David swears in all 4 seasons, and that line -- I don’t even need to say it, you know exactly what I’m talking about -- still gives me chills.

Also, Gwen sings the camp theme song. Impossible not to cherish.

1. The Forest (Season 4, episode 12)

I’m not sure if this one is a surprise or not. It might be the obvious first place, or it might be a bit of an oddball for some people.

I had a really hard time choosing between this and “The Order of the Sparrow”; I switched their places half a dozen times, and the difference in quality between the two is razor-thin. I think part of that is because it accomplishes a lot of what “Order of the Sparrow” does: puts David in a situation where he’s pushed to his absolute emotional and physical capacity, crushes every shred of hope he has left, and sees what he’s actually made of when you strip everything away. It’s much more dramatic this time around, but it’s the same basic concept.

And just like in the Season 1 finale, what we see is a man who’s determined to do good even when he isn’t rewarded for it, even when he’s actively punished for it. Who wants to love nature, and life, and make the world a better place -- despite his faults, his selfishness and thoughtlessness and anger, David proves that he is fundamentally kind. He’s not nearly as deludedly optimistic as he seems; he just refuses to stop trying.

Because somebody fuc/king has to.

I’ll admit, some of what puts this one in first place is that I’m a sucker for whump, and David really goes through the ringer. However, I also think it’s important to acknowledge the risk Joe Nicolosi took with writing this episode: it’s all centered around a single character, it’s darker and more viscerally bloody than any other episode in the show’s history, the art is focused on these grand sweeping backgrounds that must’ve taken forever to paint, and there’s very little talking in a show that runs 99% on clever dialogue. This could have so easily backfired -- and for some fans it did -- but it was brave and beautiful and breathtaking.

I’ve actually only watched this in full once. It’s really hard to get through; it’s just so intense and even disturbing. But if there’s one episode I'll remember for the rest of my life, even when I’m 80 years old and haven’t seen the show in years, it’ll be “The Forest.”

It’s funny how such a sharp departure from the format and style of the rest of the show somehow manages to perfectly capture the heart of it. Talk about a fuc/king achievement.

So what have we learned?

I don’t entirely know what the purpose of this whole exercise was. I think it was mostly to get myself a nice Camp Camp fix that came from something other than slogging through 20 different fanfic WIPs, and to remind myself of what a strange and fun ride the last 4 summers have been.

I also wanted to take a moment to acknowledge what Camp Camp means to me. This show has been hugely important to me on a personal level: I met two of my best friends through this fandom, and I’ve never been more connected to a community or readers than I have with CC. I know I bi/tch about this fandom a lot, but it’s a big extended internet family, and I’m so happy to be a part of it. Going through all these episodes, getting the chance to ramble about the things I liked and the things I didn’t, was a great way to reconnect with a series and community that I love.

So . . . what have we learned?

1. Season 4 was all over the place.

Some of this has to be due to the sheer volume of episodes, but when I sat down and organized everything into tiers:

There isn’t a single category Season 4 doesn’t have at least one episode in. I was surprised to see how high a lot of them ended up; it really was the best and worst of the show so far.

For the fun of it, I decided to give a number to each placement -- 60 points for the #1 episode, 59 for #2, etc. -- and see how each season broke down. Because that’s that kind of thing I think is worthwhile, apparently. And . . .

2. Seasons 1 and 4 are really good, actually.

Well, I don’t think anyone’s surprised to see how well Season 1 stacked up; it was amazing. But I was surprised to see how much I ended up enjoying Seasons 3 and 4, when if you’d asked me before this little project, I would’ve said they were the most underwhelming. Maybe I messed up the numbers a bit -- I’m no mathmagician -- but not only are they all really close, but Season 4 was one of my favorites.

3. This entire show is really good, actually.

One thing that really struck me when I put it all together visually is how most of the episodes sit in the “good,” “really good,” or “amazing” categories. The amount of episodes that are memorable, fun, and/or emotionally resonant is crazy. I don’t now how many other tiny cult-hit web series can say the same, honestly, and all of the writers, animators, directors/producers/other people whose jobs I don’t really understand, and voice actors should be commended for their outstanding talent and hard work.

4. Thank you, Camp Camp.

It was a real pleasure to relive all of these episodes again and think about what they meant to me. It won’t be the last time I sit down and watch this show -- and it certainly won’t be the end of my being a shrieking fangirl over it -- but with this break, where we have to get through a blazing, extremely difficult summer without a new season to fawn over, it’s nice to stop and appreciate what a precious gem of a show this is.

I hope everyone involved with Rooster Teeth is taking a much-deserved rest and prioritizing their health and well-being. Thank you for creating something truly special, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

#campcamp #camp camp roosterteeth #thank you RT Animation for giving me my life these past 4 years #cc david #cc max #cc gwen #i'm not tagging all the characters #campcamp masterpost #i really hope this doesn't get hidden from the tags but #guys this was a super intense labor of love please check it out #but also reading it is also a super intense labor so i get it if you don't XD

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zaph1337 · 3 years

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Monster Hunter Rating 37: Red Khezu, the Charging Wyvern

TRIGGER WARNING: BLOOD

I don’t normally talk about the monster’s qualities in the introduction, but I have to here to make sure that no one’s gonna get hurt because of this. This is a monster that’s veiny and blood red, and combined with Khezu’s design, it’s pretty disturbing. The weapons, however, are probably worse, as they have a cracked, fleshy aesthetic that looks like it could start bleeding at any moment, and I’ll put the trigger warning a second time once we get to talking about them in case it slips someone’s mind. Might seem overkill, but with a situation like this, you can’t be too careful, which is also why I’m gonna put this review under a “Read More” so anyone who doesn’t want to see it doesn’t get an eyeful while trying to scroll past it. Now, let’s talk about Red Khezu proper, shall we?

(How it appears in Monster Hunter Freedom 1)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter 4)

Appearance: See what I mean? This thing’s made to look like it had its skin ripped off, which is not a look you want to have unless your intention is to scar someone or their children for life. The MHF1 render conveys the skinned appearance better than the MH4 one, in my opinion, because it’s a deep red, like the kind you’d see in gore in PlayStation era games. The MH4 render reminds me more of a particularly red worm or lamprey...well, until you get to the body. Then it looks like someone plucked a chicken and painted it red. It probably looks more visceral in-game.

I think I prefer the standard Khezu design, to be honest. The pale complexion combined with everything else gives me Silent Hill vibes, and even though I haven’t played any of the games, I’ve watched videos on them, and I appreciate all they’ve done for the horror genre. Red Khezu, on the other hand, doesn’t give me that same impression, and I don’t know of any horror series’ I’m interested in where such a vibrant red on a fleshy-looking monster is part of the aesthetic. Still, it does its job well. 7/10.

Behavior/Lore: So, here’s something interesting: Red Khezu aren’t a subspecies. They’re what Khezu are supposed to be like; the Khezu everyone views as being “normal” are actually albinos who likely only got more populous than the red ones because they spend most of their time in caves, where anything that would want them dead likely wouldn’t be relying on visual cues to hunt anyways. That said, both types of Khezu leave caves to eat non-cave dwelling monsters and, surprisingly, mushrooms, which Red Khezu have been seen feeding on in the Swamp region. Unfortunately for them, being so fatty means that once they leave their cave, they put themselves at risk, ‘cause a lot of monsters want to eat them, including the Rath pair.

For some reason, Red Khezu are much more aggressive than the albino variety, and they even have increased muscle mass, which allows them to not only visit cold regions (which white Khezu can already do), but even stay in them during the winter months (which white Khezu can’t do). I don’t know why albino Khezu aren’t like this, ‘cause I can’t see how albinism would affect your muscle growth and temperament, but I don’t make the monsters, I just critique them.

I’m really glad that this is more interesting than “Khezu+.” The fact that Red Khezu aren’t a true subspecies is a neat idea, and considering that the Ecology page on the common Khezu doesn’t mention any omnivorous tendencies, it’s likely that Red Khezu even have a different diet than their pale cousins, which is something that I don’t think the previous G monsters had. While making them more aggressive than albino Khezu is to be expected at this point, it doesn’t take away from anything, so I’m not going to gripe about it. When you combine all of this with the qualities they likely share with albino Khezu, you get an interesting counterpart for what was already an interesting monster. 8/10.

Abilities: If you thought that keeping warm was the main benefit of having more muscle mass than a common Khezu, I have to question your educational history; Red Khezu are physically stronger than the albino variety, and their electrical organs are superior as well. Not only are their electric attacks stronger, they can also use electricity to incapacitate prey in ways common Khezu can’t. Also, their skin seems to be very elastic, as Red Khezu can stretch their necks out much farther than their pale brethren can. I think more needs to be stretchier than just the skin, but whatever. As a final note, for some reason they’re immune to fire, but this apparently comes at the cost of being weak to water.

Red Khezu do what I wish more subspecies’ do, which is take the basic abilities of their weaker forms and mix them up, not just make them more powerful. The new ways they can manipulate electricity and the extended reach of their more elastic necks likely make battles with them stand out more than the ones you have with some other G monsters. 7/10.

Equipment: Like I said at the beginning, TRIGGER WARNING FOR BLOOD. These weapons look just plain nasty, which, while potentially being part of their appeal to some people, will likely make others very queasy or worse. I’ll start with the least disgusting one, the Hunting Horn called the Blood Horn:

“Red Hunting Horn made from wrapped Red Khezu hide. Its color is very unsettling...” The color is unsettling? Not the fact that it literally has a mouth? Okay, in all fairness, the color of the wraps makes it more gruesome than the Khezu Horn, which just looks like it’s covered in bandages; these look like bandages that were soaked in something, and they were probably white before they were applied. Make of that little observation what you will. Now, here’s where things start getting nasty--this Long Sword from MHO:

...I can’t say I know what that implement is, but I do know that the Red Khezu skin is wrapped around it in a very unsettling way; until I saw the little bit of metal that was exposed at the sword’s base, I thought that those spikes were independently attached to the flesh instead of being the teeth of a full blade. And speaking of unsettling, the sheathe looks like it’s bleeding. That comparison to cracked flesh I drew earlier makes more sense now, don’t it? I’ve got one more weapon to show you guys, and it’s probably the nastiest one of the bunch: the Red Khezu Sword and Shield from MHO. If you’re already uncomfortable after looking at the above weapons, you might wanna scroll past this:

The reasons I find this the most gruesome of the weapons I’ve shown are A: the “sword” is a surgeon’s saw, which adds to the whole “twisted hospital” vibe that Silent Hill likes to use, and B: the shield literally has the Red Khezu’s “face” stretched over it, and the mouth is...what are those black things holding the mouth shut? They’re not sewing lines, ‘cause they’re way too big. Wait, the way the two on the left are angled, it looks like they’re 3D and not flat--are those things made of metal, like the shield? ‘Cause there are a few implications for that, and they’re all unpleasant. Moving on to the armor, the only renders the wiki had are the men’s sets from MHO. Here’s the Blademaster set:

This isn’t as vibrant of a red as Red Khezu normally are, but it does look like raw meat or exposed flesh, so that’s...cool? The fact that there’s nothing obscuring or darkening the face like in other games with Khezu armor makes it look kind of silly, though; it’s like a fleshy raincoat, which is equally parts disgusting and hard to take seriously. As for the Gunner set, it’s very different from the Khezu R Armor I showed off in the Khezu review:

To be fair, this does look a lot like the normal Khezu Gunner armor, so expecting it to look like the R Gunner armor is silly. There are a couple of neat things here--the arm guard has a spine embedded in it, and the right arm has a glove with claws (or at least long nails)--but for the most part this doesn’t stand out too much to me. It does look like someone cooked the meat for a few minutes, though, so it’s probably not violating any health codes.

Honestly, I prefer the standard Khezu equipment to this, but that’s mostly because there’s much more of it than Red Khezu equipment. Plus, outside of the ones from MHO, the weapons the devs recolored for Red Khezu don’t really look that unnerving. The red’s a bit too vibrant, so it doesn’t really fit the filthy hospital aesthetic that made Khezu weapons so eerie, and the armor looks gross, sure, but that’s all it has. Still, the MHO weapons are their own kind of disturbing, but the fact that the majority of Red Khezu weapons are in a game that most people don’t even consider a real MH game is depressing. 6/10.

Final Thoughts and Tally: After sifting through so many monsters that did so little, it’s nice to get something that stands out like this. Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer normal Khezu over red ones, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like Red Khezu at all; I just think that the albino ones have more going for them. 7/10.

#tw: blood #Monster Hunter #Monster Hunter rating #zaph1337

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shortskirtsandsarcasm · 3 years

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My Best Reads of 2020 (Part 2)

In mid-2020 I made a blog post of the best books I read in the year up until then, and now it is time for part 2 of my best 2020 reads. My final book count was 201, and you can find the full list of titles here and here as well as any statistics you want here. The titles in this post will appear in alphabetical order.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

This was a re-read for me. I read this series for the first time in middle school when I was 12/13 and was absolutely enamored of the real and fantasy settings in Victorian London. It was the first young adult thing I read, with the possible exception of Twilight (deep regret) and Meg Cabot’s The Boy Next Door (time for a re-read). I was worried that the story and characters would not hold up, reading it as an adult (like Twilight!) but I regret my doubts. It was just as perfect as I remembered.

Gemma Doyle is a sarcastic sixteen-year-old eager to grow up in a harsh world for women but has not thought much about what “growing up” will mean (both in the real world and in the fantasy world she discovers) until her mother dies suddenly and mysteriously and she is spirited from India where she has spent most of her life, to England to attend a stuffy girls’ boarding school, where she makes unlikely friends with the most popular girls and a poor outcast.

Even though she lives in the Victorian era and also a magical universe, many of her teenage experiences are very relatable. Friends, boys, romance, her relationship with her parents, and dealing with addiction, abuse, and The Patriarchy™. I am excited to re-read the rest of the series this year.

I will also take this opportunity to shout-out Bray’s other series, The Diviners! The fourth book came out this year and I loved it, just like I have loved every single other book Libba Bray has ever written. Maybe when I am done with my Gemma Doyle Trilogy series re-read I will re-read all of the Diviners books (especially because they have Gemma Doyle Easter eggs). I will make sure to rave about them to you all over again.

Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi

My first graphic novel! I saw the movie when it came out in 2011 in an arthouse theater in NorCal and I have not been able to find it online anywhere since then. Please let me know if you find it somewhere.

This 84-page book is a sad and beautiful tale of Nasser Ali Khan who has decided to take to his bed and wait for death since his beloved violin has been destroyed. There is a main timeline and flashbacks throughout Nasser’s history showing how his violin became his reason to live, and how it got destroyed.

Where the movie has many hilariously funny moments, the book does not. It is purely devastating. The artwork is gorgeous and evocative and even though the story is sad, in my mind it does not bog the reader down in sadness.

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

Reading this memoir was extremely tough, but of course important and worth it. Miller’s recollection of her assault and the physical and emotional toll it took on her is devastating to read, especially as it parallels many scenarios other women have found themselves in. Despite the dark subject matter, it was encouraging to see Miller’s resilience and healing process.

I immediately followed this book with She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, also an important book on rape and sexual assault and therefore also dark. I would absolutely recommend this book as well, but learn from my mistake and read at least one light fun thing in between them.

Scenes of a Graphic Nature by Caroline O’Donoghue

I have already reviewed this year (which you can find here) so I will only say that I loved it when I read it, but more importantly, it has stuck with me. I have thought about this book at least once a week since I have read it. I have thought about Satan, the dog a lot, but most of all I have thought of Charlie and Laura’s evolving friendship.

I am so excited for Caroline O’Donoghue’s newest book, All Our Hidden Gifts, out this year and I was bitterly disappointed to hear that the release date has been pushed back until July (though understandably). For more on my love of my fellow Caroline, you can read my original review of Scenes of a Graphic Nature.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

I find myself comparing every other book about a young woman finding her way in the world to this book. It made me uncomfortable and self-reflective, and it was highly entertaining at the same time. You can read my original review here.

Reid’s writing style is exceptionally readable and funny in places. This was an amazing debut and I hope Reid publishes a new book soon for my greedy bookworm soul.

The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker

I have very recently extolled the virtues of The Golem and the Djinni, but here I am again, recommending this delightful tale. The central friendship is relatable, yet unlikely and unprecedented (at least in all the literature I have read) and the prose is atmospheric and transportive. I am a huge fan of magical realism, and this story satisfied my cravings.

Something I did not mention in my previous review is the deftly written descriptive prose. My favorites were the scenes of Chava working in the bakery, focusing on kneading bread dough and shaping pastries. Chava’s inner monologue while dealing with customers and their private thoughts and desires was also a touch I appreciated. Maybe I have not read enough books with a mind-reader protagonist, but Chava’s type of clairvoyance felt fresh to me.

The Witches are Coming by Lindy West

Lindy West is a gift. I listened to the audiobook, which she reads herself, and was absolutely crying with laughter. Her writing style is accessible and her analogies are perfect. I wish I had her talent to distill the world’s cruel injustices so deftly and accurately.

My favorite essay was “Ted Bundy is not Hot, Are You High?” As much as I love the true crime genre, I do have a gripe with the thirst people seem to have for Bundy. Why? First of all, he looks like an average man from the ’70s who is off-duty from his day-job making balloon animals at the county fair. Second, anyone who perpetrates vicious and brazen gendered violence is immediately not attractive. West expresses this much better than I ever could, and with the added bonus of humor.

For more media on the [American] fascination with white men serial killers, I would recommend the podcast You’re Wrong About, specifically the episodes on “alpha males,” Kitty Genovese, and Jeffrey Dahmer.

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ahandfulofpetals · 3 years

Photo

10.03.2019 | Winter Date

Sylvae, L : they/them

Tristen, R : he/him

When I first started writing, Aurian (not pictured) was the main character, and Tristen and Sylvae were side characters in a convoluted period-drama plot that spanned about 70 pages of creative writing before I deleted the file. The more I wrote, the more I cared about these two instead, so now Sylvae is the main character in a modern fantasy story about diasporic feelings and natural gods.

In my earlier sketches (like these), you'll see the different costumery I had for them because of that period drama setting. I remember dropping it because I didn't want to draw horses or carriages or stately homes, I didn't care to research those eras or history or lines of monarchs, and one thing I hated was the general difficulty of communication. Everything I wrote could've been solved in one phone call. I missed phones. I kept thinking about them discovering memes and hanging out at boba shops, getting sugarcane water, eating roti canai. So I thought 'hey, why aren't they Asian? I can literally write my own experiences', launched them into the 21st Century, and so here they are: personalities the same, backgrounds somewhat similar, but everything else completely changed.

Sylvae's design came out of my head and onto paper, and with a few tweaks, they were done. Tristen was much tougher. I didn't really know what I wanted him to look like beyond having black hair. And a beard. Which I then scrapped because I couldn't figure out how to draw it back then. Should I have practised more? Absolutely. Did I? Absolutely not. So now he's smooth. Then I had a very strong phase of only listening to Billie Eilish, and Ocean Eyes ended up being the song I could not let go. With teals and dark greys and rich blues, Tristen swirled into existence. His palette is based on the ocean, on winter, and on night-time; he is a design foil to Auri in that sense. In earlier pieces you will see he has blue eyes, but over time I came to loathe the trope of tan or dark skin + blue eyes. How many times has it happened! It brought up memories of when I used to despair reading and watching stories as a kid, of Asian characters with blue eyes and the descriptions being so much more charming because of that feature. It may be my biggest design regret - because how could I not see what I was doing, when I hated the thing myself? Needless to say I scrapped the blue the minute I realised. I was worried it would be jarring as I'd already made drawn several comics by then, but whether or not anyone noticed, it's never been questioned, and I'm glad. I love my brown eyes, and I hope you all love Tristen's brown eyes too.

I remember making this piece before I had worked out everyone's pronouns, and I was so worried Sylvae would read 'too feminine'. I think I was having the same gender worries at the same time - What defines us as men or women? What does non-binary mean to me, personally? What does it mean to not feel defined either way but not feel dysphoric all the time? - and I remember constantly questioning whether makeup and nail polish and hair longer than their neck were all too much, and they wouldn't read as any part masculine anymore. I remember people seeing Sylvae and saying 'she...' and I would feel pretty uncomfortable, even though I hadn't tagged the pronouns in at this point. Of course looking back a year now, it seems silly that I was anxious over something so small, but it did make me hesitate to share such things. I still feel worried if I draw Sylvae in anything feminine, like somehow I'm 'choosing' one way, but that's some internalised BS, isn't it?

In terms of the piece, I thought it was fitting that Tristen’s date ideas would fall around nightly walks along the beach. Sylvae's plantlike tendences are not the biggest fan of salt water, nor sand, nor the cold air, but they do enjoy Tristen's company, so they're not exactly unhappy about the outings either.

#oc #date #lgbt #slice of life #romance #ocean #beach #tristen #sylvae

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foreverformula1 · 3 years

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How much would I like to work for each F1 team:

Mercedes

9/10-Anything

Well payed for any position I have whether I am a driver or not, I can take home all driver trophies so it’s ‘fun’ even if I get 2th behind Lewis(frustrating too) and don’t forget that they are currently 2th-3th on the social media standing on WTF1 ,it has a good team overall.

RedBull

8/10-Anything else

Well payed for any position I have whether I am a driver or not, the team looks fine overall except for the principal and others ‘in power’ like Helmut Marko or head engineers,basically anyone who has a power over the drivers. Anyway, I would have to think a bit before getting one of the leading positions next to Helmut or Chrisian Horner since they are pretentious and Horner made fun of Gasly on Drive to Survive.

6/10-Driver

The officials get to have fun interviews,meetings and experiences but they’re treated horribly(and that’s why I don’t give them 7/10 + because of the fact that the drivers don’t get to keep the original trophies).

10/10-stunts only

I would LOVE being the stunt driver way more than being the official driver,like I already mentioned before,they officials obviously still do more experiences but the stunts are the most exciting part of the team that drivers did only some times, so I’d say 10/10 as an official stunt driver(they don’t seem to have an official one but I’d try to be that one anyway) also,it’s not as demanding in time as an official driver contract. Here’s the link of what I am talking about.

youtube

Renault

9/10(driver)

?/10(other)

I don’t have any information about how much non drivers get paid and I don’t have enough videos of the rest of the team but until now every driver seemed satisfied to be with that team and the interviews are nice. Anyway the mechanics haven’t had the best first impression from me since they also made fun of Grosjean on ‘Drive to Survive’. Anyway,now that it’s becoming ‘Alpine’, the car and colours already motivate me even more.

McLaren

6/10-Driver

McLaren is one of those teams who keeps their drivers’ trophies and even though they have a successful history, it’s not successful enough for me to become their driver with that condition. Anyway, some say that one of the reasons why Lewis left that team is because of the trophies,indeed he only has his first one from his days with McLaren. Although they seem to often have fun experiences.

9/10-Other

They also seem to have fun in their own way and I really liked the video of McLaren about how their staff’s maintained their mental health during quarantine. I don’t know if they are payed enough or not though,but I have seen that they travel in groups:They have a private jet for the rest of the staff only and a private bus so I guess that even if they are payed averagely,they don’t have to spend money on transportation which is pretty much expensive if you are not one of the main figure of the team. Anyway the mechanics and principal haven’t had the best first impression from me since they also made fun of Grosjean on ‘Drive to Survive’ (yes,them too).

Racing Point

3/10-Driver

After what’s happening this year, I would just feel a little bit under pressured,hoping not to loose my seat especially after what Perez has done for the team. They don’t seem to have as much fun or experiences as others and I wouldn’t feel 100% comfortable to work for a team that has ‘stolen’ another team’s engine. There’s also the whole drama of the unreported Covid case. Basically,there are too many controversies caused by the leaders that have you in in social media and tabloids as one of the possible main faces. If you asked me last year, I wouldn’t have decided such a low mark.

5/10-Other

I guess that they are payed averagely or enough at least from what I have seen happening in Drive to Survive, I also heard that if it wasn’t for Perez ,half of the team would have been dismissed because of the lack of money. I think that they are simply OK now that they have money coming in. I don’t know much from the team overall but they are dominating the social media team standings (on WTF1 on YouTube). But like on the driver’s case,it isn’t amazing working for a controversial team,even when you are not the face of it. Just earing this and that about your team makes you want to part away. Especially if you are one of the mechanics who had to build the car,you’d just feel insecure about the whole copycat thing. There’s also the fact that the mechanics made fun of Grosjean and Sainz for crashing on ‘Drive To Survive’.

Ferrari

8/10-Driver

Because each one of them has their own particular experience which can go from very well to simply good: Even when you don’t leave as the most satisfied driver,your time there has been memorable and it’s literally a honour being associated with the first and most successful (not anymore...) team ever,which also has most fans out of all teams. Ferrari also has a thing for traditions and strikes back at whoever talks badly about them,so I would have to pay attention to what I say but that’s not a problem for me since I am a private person and I don’t talk much. Many fun/media experiences guaranteed whether it’s for Ferrari’s social media presence or not. A lot of money for sure,not only from Ferrari but from the sponsors too. Be aware that getting famous has a lot of cons too,especially during this digital era that has a lot of haters and misunderstandings. But if you are a calm and cautious driver,everything should be fine. But on the other side,Ferrari has ‘ruined’ many drivers in past (that’s what most people say,I believe that even if they weren’t as fortunate,like I already said,they had benefits from it).

10/10-Other

In Ferrari even mechanics are well paid and if we are talking about 2020 I’d say that it’s ever better being with Ferrari since I am Italian,although they don’t have races in Rome. Saying that you work with Ferrari even if you have a small role will always put a good impression in everybody.

Alpha Tauri

9/10-Anything

Another Italian based team,so it’s a good preference for me. The whole team seems good for now. They also have some interesting experiences but not many.Though now that they are with RedBull, I don’t know if the drivers get to keep their trophies.

Alfa Romeo

8/10-Anything

The last Italian team,like I said, I have a slight preference for them in terms of comfortabiliy.The environment seems overall fine and they had to have something to convince Kimi to move from Ferrari OR he wanted to keep being in the business but had small problems in Ferrari want convinced him to move away. Whatever happened he seems happier than when he was during his Ferrari days and remember that’s he’s being paid A LOT LESS than before(37 millions from 2014-2017 to 8 millions in 2020). I just hope that they can succeed in future.

Haas

6/10-Driver and leaders

Even thought it was fun hearing Gunter Steiner on Drive To Survive with his accent, I am anti profane and I couldn’t tolerate being around him all the time as a driver or other big image of the sport. They don’t have many any experience and that’s makes the team a little boring.

7/10-Other

I like that the team does its own thing and it’s sad that this year’s car starts good but the farer you go,the worse it gets. Good team so far. But I didn’t feel comfortable when they laughed at Gunter’s joke on Grosjean at the gathering,still,maybe they felt obligated. Here’s what I am referring about regarding the car:

youtube

Williams

8/10-Anything

It must be sad being the very last team,especially when you’ve had such a successful past. Not to talk about how the whenever they are on points ,something happens .🥺 But all these years they seem to have a good environment. And as in 2020,they showed me that they ALL have at least a little bit of happy sometimes,on and off YouTube and they are currently 2/3 on the Social media team standings on WTF1. Speaking of,I like how they laugh at their condition. The drivers are fairly paid and maybe the rest of the team too but it’s sad that they don’t even gain points,so they probably haven’t seen additional money for years.

Percentages from bottom to top:

Racing Point-160

Haas-260

RedBull-280 (non classified stunt position)

McLaren-300

Williams-320

Alfa Romeo-320

Renault-360 (to revise because there’s almost no information about the rest of the team)

Final 3,tie lineup adjusted from least to top pick.

Alpha Tauri-360

Still under RedBull leaders. I am not sure about that but they may or may not keep my trophies because it’s what RB does. May be obligated to give space to rookies or RB drivers and move to RB or another team.

Mercedes -360

Fun experiences but not fun enough for me.

Ferrari-360

Actual fun experiences. I can stay close to home.

My thoughts on this:

Honestly I didn’t expect to give McLaren such a low mark , they’re a good team overall but it’s off, same for Haas but I kind of expected it on them.

Pay attention:

Every team worker except drivers, gets paid a certain amount of extra money depending on how much they score after each race. For example Mercedes P1 and P13 ,they gain 5 thousands each for the P1 an 0 for the P12. Another example is Ferrari P2 and P3,they gain 3 thousands each for the P2+ 1 thousand each for the P3. It’s called Prize Money and it’s given from CVC,not the team. Drivers don’t get it because they already have the amount of it decided on the contract with the team.

When I say ‘fun’ experiences, I don’t mean that they all have to have fun all the times. I mean that people or enjoying their time on work and being productive and proud at the end of their day. Not everything that is fun means people laughing, I went trought this: People thought that I hated my time there just because I wasn’t joining and unconditionally enjoying them all the times and that mindset made them annoying and annoyed by me so I didn’t feel wanted anymore and felt even more uncomfortable than before. That’s why McLaren had 9/10 on ‘Other’: The fact that they talked about mental health made them more likable as a team because it’s not blind or unresponsive towards their crew’s state. I hope that they learned from when they made fun of Grosjean on DTS. RB drivers and engineers also have interesting experiences but considering but considering the other cons I didn’t rank them higher on ‘Driver’.

#f1 #formula one #formula 1 #mine #opinions #mercedesamgf1 #aston martin red bull racing #redbull racing #ferrarif1 #renault f1 team #racing point #mclaren f1 #alpha tauri #alfa romeo #haas f1 team #williams racing #williams f1

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fabulousquel · 5 years

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GreedFall: Tips + My Review

So I picked up this game out of curiosity because I’m currently working on an RPG style historical fantasy that draws inspiration from a similar time period. I wanted to see how someone else handled the ‘flintlock’ genre and told a story with elements of this era. I am in no means a pro game reviewer but I completed the entire game yesterday and I have a lot I want to say.

There are some spoilers in this, so if you’d like to avoid reading them, don’t read the "Story” section.

Tips:

Do your companion quests early and as soon as they pop up. There are some incredible lore bits and development of your character as well as your companions within them. Also if you sideline a companion for too long, they might leave your party in ways that might surprise or unsurprise you.

Certain dialog options will give you more quest content. For example, you’ve caught a criminal and you are given the choice to kill them on the spot, or capture them for trial. If you kill them, your quest line ends there. If you decide to trial them, another quest line opens up and you get a lot more flavor.

You can essentially just follow the main quest line if you want to speed-finish the game, but you lose a lot of context and additional dialog options if you do so. You will also wind up fighting the final boss at a much lower level, thus making the fight harder, but not impossible. They may have made this an option for people coming back wanting a challenge or to try a different build. But in my opinion, they should’ve made the side quests a mandatory thing because it’s a huge disservice to the context of the main story without them.

Don’t forget to give your companions gear upgrades- especially if you’re playing on more challenging modes.

If you want to avoid bloodshed and sneak into a camp, make sure you put on a chest piece of that faction.

Put some skill points into Stasis no matter what build you roll with.

The Soundtrack:

It’s amazing. The snare drums going off in combat sequences create a very distinct and powerful mood. The zone music is very well orchestrated. It’s now up on spotify as well!

Combat & Talents:

Of the RPGs I’ve played, this most reminded me of a combination of Red Dead Redemption, Final Fantasy with the option to semi-turn style with spells & traps, and a very versatile talent tree system that is really...fun. It’s the first time in a while that I felt I could make an effective solid build and playstyle around what I wanted to do most. Combat takes getting used to but I set up my keybinds to be a lot like ESO and I adapted very quickly. I went shortsword / gun tactical and it was immensely satisfying.

The Story:

[SPOILS AHEAD]

The difference between historical fiction and historical fantasy is that a historical fantasy does not seek to retell history accurately, but rather take inspiration from it. How heavy this inspiration goes varies from story to story. This is how I approached interpreting the story, even in its very realistic parts. As I played through, there were several themes that became very clear to me. Keep in mind that I played through the game with De Sarde taking the Neutral Good alignment choice in most dialog options.

The Elephant in the Room: Colonialism. This is one of the big criticisms I see with the game, and truth be told, it is a point of criticism for myself. The game treats the colonizing factions exactly like colonizers of real history, and it’s a subject that still rightfully touches nerves. One faction seeks to profit, another nation seeks to convert, and another seeks to experiment on. While there are subgroups of these factions that are more extreme than their leadership- the leadership seems complacent about it until condemning evidence is brought up. While extremely problematic this is, it is very true to what has happened in history surrounding colonialism, and places you in one uncomfortable situation after another in a frighteningly realistic way. It makes your decisions as De Sarde in some instances painful but it can be satisfying to see how your actions affect justice in these matters.

Some critics have said that De Sarde’s choices do not always condemn truly objectionable events enough. I agree that more depth could have been added. But in my playthrough, De Sarde’s role starts out as a truly neutral party looking for truths, and they gradually became more adamant on stances as the game progressed. By the end, my De Sarde was about to 1v1 Theleme, and drag out the Bridge Alliance governor. So I am unsure if this is a perspective coming from those who haven’t completed the game in its entirety with all side quests which influence reputations more & seem to flesh out more dialog options.

Humanity Has a Sickness This was written both physically and metaphorically in how humans are as susceptible to committing atrocities as they are to growing ill. Throughout the story as De Sarde, you play almost a detective in uncovering the truth about the people you were raised to believe were benevolent. De Sarde does not take these accusations of corruption lightly, but they also treat it very seriously. Piece by piece, De Sarde learns more about each factions true intentions, and the lies, corruption and greed that intertwine. But at the same time, the story attempts to reveal the potential for all people to ‘do better’ and change- and some of this is seen when you use De Sarde’s charisma + intuition dialog options. This theme especially became clear in the arc when De Sarde finally gets to speak to the god of the island, En on mil Frichtimen, who expresses to him that the malicor (sickness) is a result of them poisoning their own land with their lack of care or concern for it. En on mil Frichtimen urges that the colonists need to listen and learn from the Islanders’ ways if they wish to heal the sickness.

Where to Draw the Line at “For The Greater Good” I feel like this is a theme that crops up with any story involving Utopian ideas. GreedFall does a good job of backing up each faction’s actions with their point of view, whether it is morally misguided or not. This truly emphasizes the human element in the mix, underlining that no perspective comes without its flaws. As De Sarde, one thing you are constantly faced with as a detective is defining a line of where something has gone too far. It is sobering and somewhat frustrating to watch factions step over a line that could have easily remained morally sound. But it is also equally satisfying to see how much influence you can have in swaying others to make a different choice. This theme becomes the summit of De Sarde’s character progression when he is forced to make the choice of taking your dear cousin, Constantin, out of power, or joining him. And when you’ve done all the side quests there are in the game, the decision becomes far more meaningful than this just being the final boss fight.

This theme also seems to come full circle by the end of Petrus’s quest line, when you discover your true origin- how your mother was kidnapped from the island in a rash attempt to bring a healer to the continent. This realization that everything you’ve known has been a lie and kept secret from you...all for the “greater good”.

Things I Liked:

I appreciated how much love and care went into the worldbuilding- especially with the native Islanders. From what I understand, a linguist was hired to write a language for them that was a mash-up of Flemish, Breton, Gaelic and Irish. I appreciated that they brought forth inspiration from the Gauls and Celtic nations of the Iron Age in Western Europe before they were subjected to Christian Missionary activity.

The art & atmosphere was amazing. While there are a few clipping issues with hair, even big AAA games have them. The level of detail put into the game art wise is just very visually pleasing.

The devs did a good job in making a fantasy world that was LGBTQ+ friendly, and giving us diverse character customization. Anyone from any faction had a diverse set of features.

Things I am Critical of:

While I understand that there is a point of growth to watch De Sarde go from neutral to invested in a cause, I really do think they should have been given less complacent responses earlier in the game. I understand limitations but I don’t think it helped with handling colonialism in a truly neutral way.

I wish you could start the game as someone from a faction of your choice, rather than only the Merchant Congregation, especially considering how your origin is written.

IT’S DEPRESSING. A lot of the game is depressing... which maybe makes all the little things you do that shine some shred of goodness still in humanity all the brighter. But it definitely hurt my soul in places and back to point #1, I wish I could have been more aggressive with De Sarde earlier in the game.

Recycled assets: there were quite a few of them- mostly noticeable with buildings in the main cities, which is probably what marks the difference between an AAA game and a more independent studio.

Potential Triggers:

There’s a lot of heavy subjects in this game including religious abuse, manipulation, some body horror (though it’s not super grotesque), one instance of suicide that I know of, xenophobia, and general violence.

Features I Wish it Had:

You can’t ‘jump’...but you don’t really need to. I still wish I could though.

For all this beautiful scenery, I wish they gave us better screenshot taking options.

Different fights for the different Coin Arenas and a meta achievement for completing all of them.

I wish I could play it with friends.

More armor options!

I wish the companions had better and more in-depth romance options. They fall a little flat in diversity of personalities.

Final Thoughts:

I personally enjoy diving into stories that we should be morally critical of, and I like it for what it reveals in the best and worst of humanity. Colonialism has done and continues to do irreversible damage to peace and prosperity among people and nations in real life. Spiders picked a topic that nearly everyone has been affected by in one way or another and it’s understandably a heated subject. Some folks do not want to dive into such deep subjects, just as there’s some stories I cannot stomach comfortably. So I respect and understand that.

Overall, GreedFall exceeded my expectations but there’s definitely some hiccups. It’s a fun game if you’re into a detective-style RPG, political intrigue, history, and interested in exploring this sort of setting. While I think the story could have been written better in places, I was satisfied with the outcomes I triggered, even if that satisfaction took a very slow build up to. It left me feeling hopeful? That perhaps people still have a chance at treating each other better than they do.

#greedfall #review #just thoughts #big post

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worryinglyinnocent · 5 years

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Fic: Time in our Hands (2/?)

Summary: Temporal Detective First Class Aiden Gold has been working tirelessly to keep the timeline unaltered for as long as he can remember. He’s been chasing time bandit Lacey French for almost as long, but she always seems to slip through his fingers.

Until the day when his commanding officer tells him to bring Lacey in at all costs. The world itself is under threat, and Gold will need Lacey’s expertise to make sure that history happens as it should, and to prevent a catastrophe in the future…

Written for the A Monthly Rumbelling moodboard prompt, available here.

Rated: T

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[One] [AO3]

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Time in our Hands

Two

Although Lacey had never intended to see the inside of the BTI headquarters, she couldn’t deny that it was extremely impressive, and all she had seen of it so far was the capsule bay. As she and Gold stepped out of the transporter, a technician ran over with an armful of tubes and cables and began plugging them in all around the door. An amber light began to flash above them, the words solar recharge spelled out in stark black lettering.

Gold had taken off at a brisk pace towards the capsule bay exit, but Lacey hung back a little, wanting to explore a little more and not knowing whether she would get the chance later.

She knew that something was up. It wasn’t just that Gold seemed more determined to catch her than he usually was, because tenacity appeared to be that man’s middle name and whilst she thoroughly enjoyed the game of cat and mouse that she’d been playing with him for years now, she certainly couldn’t afford to become complacent. There had been several near misses in the past, nearer than Lacey would ever like to admit, and she had to be wary. Gold kept her on her toes almost as much as she kept him on his.

No, it wasn’t just Gold that clued her in to something being wrong. Just before she’d set off on the excursion to Greece, her transport bracelet had been acting glitchy. Given the amount of personalisation that had gone into the thing in order to tailor it for her particular brand of work, she knew that whatever was happening, and whenever along the timeline it might be happening, it involved her personal time signature. Something devastating was happening, or had happened, or about to happen, and Lacey was involved in some way. Whether it was in the nominal present, the distant past, or the far future, she didn’t know, but she expected that the time cops, sorry, the Bureau of Temporal Investigation, would tell her soon. Lacey didn’t like glitches. She liked things to go as smoothly as possible.

“We haven’t got all day, Miss French,” Gold snapped from the exit. Lacey took a final look around at the name plates next to each of the capsules. A. Gold, TD 1st Class. J. Milliner, TD 1st Class. J. Rogers, TD 2nd Class. Fa M., TD 2nd Class.

“So, you’ve all got personal capsules then?” she asked, catching up to Gold as they left the capsule bay. It was one of a series of long banks of them, all showing designations for different departments and teams. “Lucky for some.”

Gold shrugged. “We can use any capsule available, but there’s recalibration involved. It’s like driving a car; when you get in someone else’s you have to adjust the seat and the headrest and the mirrors. In your own, that’s already set up.”

“Yeah, well, some of us only have these.” Lacey tapped her bracelet, still rendered null by the time lock cuff. It wasn’t uncomfortably tight on her wrist, but it was nonetheless obnoxiously present, and she knew that she wouldn’t be getting it off in a hurry. She tried not to panic. Ever since beginning her adventures through time, Lacey had never yet been in a situation that she couldn’t wink out of in a moment’s notice, and now she had willingly put herself into one.

They continued to walk through the headquarters, and Lacey was embarrassed to admit to herself just how fascinating she found the experience. There were people dressed in costumes from all over the world and all over the timeline; there didn't seem to be a single nation or era that was not represented. Everyone was bustling here and there and everywhere, and she wondered if they'd arrived in the middle of some kind of catastrophe. No-one seemed to be paying her and Gold any mind, which she thought interesting considering that she'd been wanted by the BTI for years now, and here she was, in a detective's custody.

Gold glanced back at her and gave a little smirk. "Don't worry. Half of these agents are working on the big crime family rings. You're small change in comparison. They probably don't even know your name."

Although by no means convinced of her own fame, Lacey was still a little bit put out to learn that her reputation did not precede her, especially when she'd spent so long building it up.

"You're infamous in my department though," Gold added. He waved her through a doorway marked Petty Temporal Displacement Investigations. Captain: C. Mallory.

"Well, I suppose that's something." Lacey came through the door. It was clear that this department wasn't as high-flying as the others that they'd walked through to get here. Gold peered around a partition in one corner of the bullpen, and out of curiosity, Lacey followed him. A young woman wearing outlandishly huge goggles was looking through a magnifying glass at something under a microscope. Nothing like getting a close-up. She was humming to herself, and it took Gold several attempts to get her attention.

"Tilly. Tilly!"

She jerked her head up and removed the goggles.

"Mr G, you're back!" She jumped up from her desk and threw her arms around Gold exuberantly. To Lacey's surprise, he accepted the hug without question. When Tilly finally released him, her eyes slid over to Lacey and widened before a huge grin spread over her face.

"Welcome to the Bureau," she said. "We've heard all about you."

Gold just rolled his eyes and handed her the safe that all Lacey's carefully and meticulously stolen loot was in. "There's an Aladdin's Cave of goodies for you and Margot to date and replace in there," he said. "Pick-up date's on the lid."

Tilly rushed back to her desk to get to work, and Lacey really wasn't quite sure what to make of the wink that the other woman gave her.

"Cap's in her office, Aiden," someone called as they came into the main bullpen. "Go straight in."

Gold paused at what was obviously his desk and emptied some detritus out of his suit pockets. Lacey felt a little awkward just hanging around, but at least it gave her time to look around. The man who'd hailed them was giving her an amused look. Apparently Gold hadn't been kidding when he'd talked about her infamy. Eventually he leaned over and held out a hand.

"Jefferson Milliner, Temporal Detective First Class, and may I say that it is an absolute honour to meet the woman who's been driving my esteemed colleague spare for the past few years. It really has been most entertaining to watch, so I must thank you for livening up my days."

He was completely in earnest, and Lacey couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It felt so strange to be here; she was out of her depth although she'd never dream of letting anyone know that. The technology that the Bureau used, even in Gold's little department here, was so much more advanced than the things she was used to working with. She was trying not to regret the decision to let Gold catch her, telling herself that she needed to find out what the glitch in her transporter was about before she could get back to work. That said, since she had just got herself arrested, she probably wasn't going to be allowed to get back to work any time soon. The one thing that kept her going was the thought that the Bureau needed her. Surely something could be worked out in terms of immunity, and if she was still being dealt with by the petty crimes unit, then it wasn't like her exploits were incredibly serious.

"Jeff, stop it," Gold muttered, before turning to Lacey. "Come on. Time to meet the Captain."

Although Lacey had never usually been scared of law enforcement agents before, she could say without a shadow of a doubt that if she was going to be scared of one of them, it would be Captain Cara Mallory. She was an imposing presence, perfectly at home in her domain, and Lacey received the distinct impression of a dragon watching over its hoard.

"Come in and sit down," she said as Gold and Lacey entered her office, looking up from the paperwork covering every inch of her desk and surveying her detective and his charge sagely.

"Miss French. You've certainly led us a merry dance over the years. I'm glad that you've decided to co-operate with us on this occasion." Despite the severe tone in her words, there was something in the captain's eyes that Lacey could tell was respect. Mallory knew that Lacey had made the choice to be taken in - no offence to Gold's efforts to capture her.

"What's going on, Mal?" Gold asked. Lacey raised an eyebrow. So, he didn't know why he'd had to bring her in any more than she knew why everything had started glitching. He'd played that close to his chest, and she had to hand it to him, she'd never have known that he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Ever since he'd started chasing her back in Greece, Gold had exuded an air of confidence in his mission, even if it was an exasperated one.

"We have a delicate timeline situation on our hands," Mallory said. "I apologise for the secrecy but when something of this calibre occurs, information is on a need to know basis to preserve the timeline as far as we can."

"I think we need to know now, Mal."

The captain opened her desk drawer and took out a small, dirty metal disk. "I take it you recognise this, Gold?"

Closer inspection showed it to be a pocket-watch, rather worse for wear, the glass across its face cracked and its hands stopped. Sure, it had been through the wars a bit, but Lacey couldn't see anything special about it. Glancing over at Gold, she saw that his reaction was far more extreme. He'd gone very pale, and his hands were shaking as he reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and took out an identical - although clean and still ticking - pocket-watch.

"This is impossible," he muttered.

"You know what this means, of course."

Gold nodded, and Lacey raised her hand.

"Excuse the dumb time bandit in the corner, but what does this mean?"

Gold placed the two watches on the desk and slid them across to Lacey. "The same object cannot exist twice in the same time. If it does, like this one does, it means a time loop has been created."

"Ok, even I know that time loops are bad news." Time was meant to move forward in a linear direction, but with all the travel backwards and forwards that went on, sometimes it managed to loop itself around. Lacey picked up the two watches, comparing them closely. The serial numbers on the back were the same; it was indeed the same object existing twice in the same time.

"Time loops are the Bureau's worst nightmare," Mallory said, her voice chillingly matter of fact. "Once we discover one, we have to make sure it follows through to its conclusion or else we end up with a separate timeline. So far, we have managed to avoid such a catastrophe and all our loops have been resolved with the minimum of disruption." She turned her piercing eyes on Lacey. "This is where you come in, Miss French." She took the damaged watch back, and Gold tucked his clean one back into his jacket.

"Before we get into that," Gold began, "would you mind telling me just how you ended up with my emergency time-out transport, which definitely looks like it's been used in an emergency?"

"It, and the person carrying it, who was not you, before you ask, we don't have two of you running around the Bureau, landed in my office approximately six real-time hours ago." Mallory carefully opened the shattered casing around the watch and pointed out the numbers below the twisted hands. "This is the date and place on which it was used."

The numbers just about managed to read 10,006 BCE, and some shaky co-ordinates.

Gold swore under his breath. "Bloody hell, Mal, that's the Fall of Atlantis."

Lacey's heart leaped to her mouth and began beating painfully there. Atlantis was time-locked legend, with most bandits not even believing that it existed. Lacey had wanted to get there and have a snoop around ever since she'd bartered for her first transport bracelet and begun her travels along the timeline, but it was the one place that she could never seem to land in. She'd almost given up hoping for it, and now Gold and Mallory were talking about it as if it was a perfectly normal, everyday place.

"Come with me." Mal stood and began to lead the way out of her office. "We don't know how much time we have before the loop becomes unstable. I already have the lockout crew working on a window to send you back to Atlantis, and you'll need to go as soon as it's open."

Overwhelmed with all the information that she'd been given over the last few minutes, as well as by the overarching knowledge that she was going to Atlantis, every self-respecting time bandit's dream, Lacey followed on after the two detectives as they moved through the Bureau towards what revealed itself as the medical bay. They stopped outside a room where a young woman was lying comatose.

"The DNA daters have confirmed her identity as Princess Kida of Atlantis," Mallory said. "She arrived here via the emergency time-out six hours ago and told me that I needed to send you two back to the Fall to find her there as soon as I could. Apparently, the fate of the world is at stake. She couldn't say very much before she passed out from the time lag, but there was something about rescuing an artefact that was crucial to prevent the apocalypse."

Lacey gulped. Closing a time loop and stopping Armageddon. No pressure for a petty thief, then.

#rumbelle fic #rumbelle #golden lace #Lacey French #Mr Gold #Fic: Time in our Hands

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scifrey · 5 years

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My Very Spoilery Endgame Review - What I Liked, What Annoyed Me, and Two Questions I Am Left With

I was very satisfied and enjoyed it very much. The theater burst into applause in several instances and it was great to celebrate the end of an era with fellow fans.

Now for the spoilery critiques and praise.

My favorite moments were:

Thor reconciling his self-image and self-worth with his mother

“I’m still worthy.”

Loki escaping and (hopefully) living in at least one timeline - because if Steve went back to “trim the branches” then this means he returned the Tesseract to 1970. Which means the branch where Loki snagged the Tesseract and was not imprisoned on Asgard may have endured*.

Ken Jeong’s cameo.

Stan Lee’s cameo.

Banner coming to terms with who and what he is and living comfortably with the Hulk.

Basically everyone really leaning into the self-love and self-value by the end of the film.

“That is America’s Ass”.

“I could do this all day.” “Yeah, I know.”

“How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

“Ha! I knew it!”

“I am Iron Man.”

Scott finding Cassie alive.

Wong’s exasperated reply to Strange’s “Is that everyone?”

Nebula’s redemption. This is a princess (as Squidward calls Thanos “sire”) who saves her own damn self.

How the thing that gave the game away to Thanos was actually really clever and well executed; this wasn’t a “heroes are just stupid this one time” (like how Quill screwed the pooch in Infinity War when they had the damn glove). It was something that I genuinely hadn’t thought of, and I assume no one, not even Nebula, would have thought of. It worked. And it worked well.

All the ladies supporting Carol in the final battle - which was awesome but also felt a bit like the moment was added only so the Russos could check it off a “don’t piss off the feminists” list.

How the final battle set it up well for the next phase - I liked how the Glove Relay was from an OG Avenger (Hawkeye) to the new Avengers - Black Panther, Spider-man, and Captain Marvel.

“I love you 3000″.

Falcon!Cap - finally! Yay!

The sound of the armor that started it all being forged as the endcap of the credits.

However.

I wish Bucky and Steve had also had a meaningful moment at the end, like Steve and Sam, something that made it clear that even though Steve was older now, he was no less Bucky’s best pal.

I'm very, very annoyed that they Fridged Natasha. I mean, I get it. Someone had to die. And we all knew Hawkeye was going to go back to his family, so it wouldn’t be him. And I do love how they did the death, how Nat and Clint fought with one another to the be the one to make the sacrifice. And her death would have been especially cheap if Bruce had just Snapped her Back. I get it.

And if there wasn’t a long history of Fridging female character to ensure the male ones have enough Man-Pain to have a character arc and impetus to be a hero, then you know what? This would have been a really moving sacrifice. It would have really worked.

But there is. And in light of that, it’s left me... itchy. Uncomfortable. Because in the context of the film alone it was a great death. But in the context of the history of comic book narratives, it sucked.

Also, what does this mean for the Black Widow movie? Will it actually be a prequel? Will it be Budapest? And if it is Budapest, will they use the same actors, or cast new, younger ones?

I also don't understand the narrative reason why they had to make so many fat jokes around Thor.

I mean, yeah, it makes sense he was depressed and stopped taking care of his heath, and self-medicated with booze and food. This was a strong and meaningful narrative and I really liked that he was given the opportunity to mourn, to question his purpose, to become more than just muscles and a hammer in terms of character construction. That he could grieve and struggle, and be filled with crippling regret that kept him indoors and hiding, and filled self-loathing.

As a character choice it made sense. And I liked that he was still a powerful warrior while chubby, and that he didn’t magically become slim again when he suited up. It was wonderful to see him be no less powerful, dangerous, dedicated, and no less kick ass while sporting a keg instead of a sixpack.

But they leaned awfully hard on that “fat joke” button and by the time Rhodey said “Cheez Whiz?” I was over it. Its got tedious and frankly a bit insulting.

Teasing someone for suffering because he lost literally everyone he loved is not cool. The jokes fell flat, for good reason. They were cruel.

And when the Russos announced that they had included the MCU's first openly gay character I was hoping that it would be a main character, not some rando dude in a talk therapy meeting. I wanted Bucky and Sam to confess feelings, or Bucky to Steve even if Steve couldn’t return them, or Valkyrie to at least have a wife in New Asgard, or something.

But TBH it didn't surprise me that they made it some nameless dude in group support. Like J.K. Rowling, the Russos are happy to queerbait but too cowardly to commit, and they always have been. I’d be annoyed but it’s not worth the energy.

At least when the guy mentioned his boyfriend it was a “no big deal” mention, and nobody made a “are you cool with this, Cap?” thing to really point out that ooooo, this dude is queer.

But those are my only gripes. The rest of it was thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying.

Especially all the little call backs. The "I am Iron Man" and “I could do this all day” stuff - it felt like little gifts to the fandom.

However, I have two questions.

1) When people were Snapped Back, were they Snapped to their previous exact geographical location? Because if so, what about people who had been in transit? Did people who were Snapped Away while in a plane just... appear mid-sky and plummet to their deaths? Were people on spaceships Snapped Back into the void of cold space? We saw in Infinity War that helicopters crashed into city streets - the pilot, that means, was Snapped Away. When that pilot came back, where did he come back? Did Bruce think to Snap them all into safe places? (I mean, I assume the Stones accounted for Spacial Drift and the location of planets in orbit... maybe it accounted for people who would have Snapped Back into deadly situations?)

2) I do love that Steve and Peggy got their life together At that point Pegs would have been like... at least 10 years older than Steve? Maybe 15? What would her neighbors think of Sugar Momma Peggy Carter and her Very Much Younger (Looking) Husband?

Did she introduce him to anyone? Did they have neighborhood BBQs? At that point everyone would have known who Captain America/Steve Rogers was so did no one recognize him? What did they say? (Did we get Beardy Steve back???) They had kids, canonically, so was Steve able to attend their T-BAll games and school plays?

One assumes that Sugar Baby Steve would have been the House Husband, because Pegs was running Shield and Steve was out of the game. He’d never be able to show his face at SHIELD because Howard would recognize him, and so would Arnim Zola, so HYDRA would have known that Captain America survived and I imagine they would have given anything to get him into the Chair.

It makes me think that Sugar Baby House Husband Steve would have been very isolated and possibly lonely. Maybe he had a few neighbor friends, but can you image how torturous it must have been to live so privately? To know that Bucky was out there suffering and being tortured and brainwashed and that he couldn’t do anything about it? He couldn’t go save his best pal?

That Peggy could never bring him to the SHIELD Christmas party, to visit her new baby godson Anthony, never attend anything with him.

And it makes me think Steve had to vanish from her life right when his earlier self entered it so like... as soon as she started getting sick enough with Alzheimer's he had to leave.

Because that’s when younger Steve came into her life, and started visiting her in the nursing home.

But he had to abandon her when she needed him most, and that is very tragic. How did Steve reconcile that with himself? Especially with returning to a future where she was dead and his friends were alive and he didn’t need to be the Secret Sugar Baby House Husband any more?

All in all, it was very enjoyable and I will watch it again.

And I look forward to the FanFic.

* This means that Loki in that branch also likely did not participate in the battle against the Dark Elves. His character growth in that moment was likely delayed, but I believe he ultimately would have processed his extreme confusion, self-loathing, and hatred of his betrayal by his “family” Thor enough to join forces with him against the destruction of the universe when it mattered. Perhaps having the extra time to do so might have even served him better. I don’t know if this means Odin chose to die and Hela was released, thus triggering the destruction of Asgard. I don’t know what this would have meant for Ragnarock - possibly with Odin as the King when he died the defenses would have been better (though I argue the culture and peace of Asgard thrived under Loki, especially with his dismantling of the Empire and the valuing of the Arts) and they would have saved Asgard or at least not lost so many.

And if Asgard had not survived, perhaps in this version something different may have happened, and Loki wouldn’t on the survivor ship. Perhaps he was on a different ship. Perhaps he wasn’t present for the battle at all and in a completely different part of the universe.

If he was elsewhere this means

a) The Asgardian survivors would have lived because Thanos wouldn’t have targeted the ship, and Thor would have been less self-loathing.

b) When Thanos found Loki with the Tesseract in this branch, it’s likely Loki was able to ingratiate himself to Thanos and gave the Stone to him without Thor there to tip his hand toward an immediate betrayal murder attempt. I subscribe to the theory that Loki was just as mind-controlled during The Avengers and the Battle of New York as Barton (though I wouldn’t call Loki totally innocent in everything) and that he had been suffering from extreme mental health issues following his unsuccessful attempted suicide. In this case, he would be willing to play the long game to get his revenge on his abuser Thanos. Then, later, hopefully, he joins Thor’s side to save the universe against Thanos (as he did against the Dark Elves)- betraying Thanos and perhaps stopping the Snap before it happened in that timeline. Or if not stopping the Snap, perhaps being a part of the new Avengers if he survived it, or joining in the final battle if he was Snapped Away.

Anyway - I have lots of Loki Thoughts. Feel free to adopt any Plot Bunnies this may have generated in reading this.

#Avengers: Endgame #Review #spoilters #Endgame #Avengers #Storytelling #Loki #Endgame Loki #head cannon #theories #loki theory

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jolivira · 5 years

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season 11 ranking!

Jodie Whittaker is freaking fantastic, let me just get that out of the way. Thirteen is becoming one of my favorite doctors easily.

Spoilers bellow! Don't read if you haven't watched all 11 episodes of season 11! Well, you can read if you don't care about that stuff, just a warning =D

I like all the main characters but (just like many people have pointed out) I don't think the three companions shouldn't have been introduced at the same time. Or actually, they shouldn't have become companions at the same time. The TARDIS was too crowded and we didn't get a lot of focus on the Doctor herself because of it.

IN MY OPINION, I believe it would have worked best if we had met Yaz, Ryan, Graham and Grace in episode 1, then only Yaz ends up on space with the Doctor (episode 2) and they travel together for maybe 3 or 4 episodes. That way we get to know her and flesh out her character and start setting up thasmin and the sexual tension between those ladies.

Then have Ryan, Graham, Grace and Tim Shaw show up again (set up for the finale) and THEN Grace dies. Imagine how much more impact that would've had on us, how deeper it would have felt.

Later the Doctor invites Graham (who is running away from the empty house) and Ryan (who is learning to accept Graham) and from there develop their relationship.

Just some alternate ideas.....

Now.... to the episode ranking!

11- Tsuranga Conundrum

It's not that bad, I was just feeling uncomfortable the whole way, probably because it's hospitals and also pregnancy. We also should have had more backstory about that general! She seems awesome. And if her brother knew how to pilot the ship why didn't he do it from the start? Oh but I loved that initial scene where the Doctor is kind of dazed and selfishly tries to mess up the ship to go back and the medic in charge argues with her. I liked that.

10- Arachnids in the UK

Little bit too boring. It's a DW episode, I wanted giant alien spiders! Also missed opportunity to learn more about Yaz's family or just her character in general (thanks for creating thasmin though!) And we already got one donald trump no need to create another.

9- The Ghost Monument

I liked it just didn't feel it was that memorable compared to the others. I liked the idea of an intergalactic race and that fun stuff, though! Also new TARDIS, I just love the Doctor talking to her ship in general.

8- The Battle of Ranakoor Av Kolos

Horrible name for a planet but Jodie shined here, perfectly captured the Doctor's essence. The Ux are a really fun (actually really tragic) concept, I hope they return sometime! There were some frustrating parts for me but the good stuff balanced it out. Also a companion disagreeing and going against the Doctor? My jam. And it was so funny when Graham shot him and shouted "it was just the foot! Doesnt count!"

7- The Women Who fell to Earth

I'm just a sucker for post regeneration stories. And this one in special, everything was so new and fresh and exciting! But Jodie's accent (all of their's to be honest) is so strong that it shocked me the first time I watched it. English is not my first language so I needed subtitles, couldn't understand anything! Hahaha

6- Resolution

This reminded me of the episode "dalek" from season 1. I love me a full blown out dalek attack with ships and thousands of those little shits but honestly? Just one dalek can cause so much harm, that's why they are so scary. Also the closest we got to dark 13! I loved the scene where she confronts it face to face. This episode also finally showed the TARDIS interior properly! For all the other episodes it almost felt....smaller on the inside. The panels and buttons were also lacking, in this one they really made it look incredible! But again, the TARDIS was too crowded. Why introduce two new characters added to Ryan's dad? Didn't really like how Ryan forgave him at all in the end either :/

5- Witchfinders

The Doctor could go anywhere in time because he was a white brittish male, I liked seeing her getting frustrated about it a little but never actually regretting being a woman you know? The alien stuff in the end was pretty bad and the king was acting really creepy with Ryan, didn't like that at all. But yes! If anyone would be a witch in there it would be the Doctor. Also that hat, kudos for the hat

4- Kerblam!

Pretty fun! It honestly reminded me a lot of Tennant's era, I'm not sure why though..... Clever episode with interesting charcaters. OOOH! I also have a theory that before trading with Graham, the Doctor was placed in cleaning and stuff right? That's because the system knew Charlie was the problem so she was sent to work with him.

3- Rosa

I love how the civil rights movement is symbolized by Rosa and not MLK, although he has a great appearance in it! I am glad that there was no speech to inspire Rosa to protest, none of the characters told her about her impact on the future or how she needed to do this. It all came from her. Oh and important to see how Graham and the Doctor felt to be on the other side, on the ""evil"" side of history, being white during apartheid and having to act accordingly. I feel that's also important. I missed more talking between Ryan and Yaz about their experiences but oh well, nothing's perfect...

2- Demons of the Punjab

Teaching parts of history we don't hear much about! Yes!! And the only reason I have it second and not first place because I felt the Doctor and Yaz didn't properly... react? I mean, no tears and no talking about what just happened? They followed her nan and saw Prem die, knowing they could have easily stopped it. It's some heavy stuff, also the reason why he died. But I LOVE how the aliens aren't actually the villains, the doctor got it wrong, it happens. And she immediately apologized and thanked them. Beautiful.

1- It Takes You Away

The setting, the acting, the plot. I loved it start to finish. I even got emotional with the whole writing on the wall thing (assume her dad is dead, take care of her, etc). And eventually when the dad got back and read it, realizing how stupid he was. It portrayed a really messed up relationship between father and daughter, but also showed us the doctor can't fix something like that. I would have made the conversation with the frog (the solitract) deeper and to make more sense? It didn't feel earned when it allowed her to go back to her own dimension. They needed to have talked for longer but I understand the episode has a time limit.

And that's all! Thanks for reading and feel free to comment with your thoughts, whether you agree or not. See you in 2020 with more! *me sobing in the background*

#doctor who #resolution #dw spoilers #jolivira #rambles #my thoughts #my opinion #episodes ranking #13th Doctor #thirteenth doctor #dw #I haven't rewatched the series yet so this might change

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dweemeister · 6 years

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The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Sometimes the best comedies are not the ones that you laugh the hardest over. In George Cukor’s The Philadelphia Story, the film’s situational wit leaves pleasant aftertastes from scenes – comedic and otherwise – that draw an unsuspecting viewer in, making them care about the central characters (who live comfortably in socioeconomic settings few experience) in unexpected ways. Constant belly laughs are not what one will get from this movie, but instead middling chuckles and smiles realizing the ridiculousness of the plot, the sincerity in what the movie wishes to say. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and based on the stage play of the same name by Philip Barry, The Philadelphia Story is one of the great comedies from classic Hollywood – in no small part due to its source material and adaptation, but most importantly its three central performances.

As the daughter of a Philadelphian socialite family, Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn; labeled “box office poison” by the Independent Theatre Owners of America after the financial failure of the now-beloved Bringing Up Baby and other films) is engaged to the fabulously wealthy, but uptight and overly content coal baron George Kitteridge (John Howard). Tracy divorced her first husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) two years ago for not meeting her lofty standards. But Dexter is about to make a surprise reappearance in Tracy’s life, as he is acting as a family liaison between the Lord family to Spy magazine reporter Macaulay “Mike” Connor (James Stewart) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Ruth Hussey). Mike and Liz are there to cover Tracy’s wedding – part of an elaborate blackmail scheming involving the magazine’s publisher (Henry Daniell) and the Lord patriarch’s (John Halliday) brush with adultery. As the hours pass, Tracy begins to question whether she is marrying George for the right reasons, all while finding herself attracted to Mike and pondering whether her standards were indeed too inflexible for Dexter.

Despite Hepburn being an unwanted commodity among Hollywood executives, she still exerted significant influence in choosing George Cukor as director and Donald Ogden Stewart as screenwriter. Hepburn even chose her co-stars, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. This arrangement was made possible because Hepburn – through Howard Hughes – held the rights to the original stage play, selling them to MGM’s Louis B. Mayer at a discount of $250,000. The discount came with stipulations: that Hepburn have final say in the film’s producer (Joseph L. Mankiewicz... the man responsible for the scene’s opening minutes that involve a broken golf club and a facial shove less invidious than James Cagney’s), director, screenwriter, and cast. Female Hollywood moguls were more common in the silent era, and here was Hepburn making decisions as one, albeit for only one film.

These decisions result in an outstanding ensemble performance, particularly from the leads. It is difficult to talk about each performance in isolation, given the richness of Donald Ogden Stewart’s dialogue and how each lead has a different approach to another. For Hepburn, the snootiness that must come with having an obscene amount of money is broken quickly once Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Ruth Hussey arrive. She is a forceful personality, who believes she knows what she wants, then arriving – upon further reflection made impossible by John Howard’s character – to conclusions that make her question not only what she wants, but what she needs (surprise, surprise... these things are distinct!). Screwball circumstance has dissolved pretense. In her vulnerability, she grows and comes to greater understanding. Hepburn’s exchanges with Grant are irresistible. Though the two are not as funny here as in Bringing Up Baby, the scenario and their characters in this film are less (using a word from my Bringing Up Baby review) “airheaded”; the proportion of loving overtures here is reversed (Hepburn piled on a vast majority of the romantic flirting in Baby; Grant is more restrained here but it is he who talks of his love most). There is a sense of loss that defines both Grant and (eventually) Hepburn – especially the former. Grant plays Dexter as a wiseass here for a job and resolution. He argues with Hepburn, but never does it devolve to fighting. Love is not safe, states Dexter. Few actors other than Cary Grant could argue with a fellow romantic lead, roll their eyes during dialogue, and make arguments funny without being demeaning.

Jimmy Stewart and Ruth Hussey have an understated chemistry that gradually reveals itself. Stewart, lucky he, is charmed off his feet by the entire lead cast – and yes, that includes Grant in one of the rare instances he makes someone of the same gender starstruck (not sexually, of course, because one couldn’t do that in a ‘40s movie... if you’re a romantic fanfiction writer, this movie is for you!). Some of Stewart’s interactions with Grant seem borderline flirtatious, threatening to overshadow a hilarious off-screen swimming quasi-tryst that occurs in the film’s final third. For Jimmy Stewart, this would be one of the last times playing a youthful romantic lead – a type of role he would dabble less frequently in after returning from his wartime Air Force service. On the sidelines according to film’s billing but not in the film’s functions, Ruth Hussey – as Liz – seems to be the only one who has everything figured out. Liz is The Philadelphia Story’s most neglected character in the film’s love pentagon, and Hussey portrays the character as being the least uncomfortable in this complicated emotional puzzle playing out in swanky surroundings. But just because Liz is neglected by the characters does not mean she is inessential. She prevents The Philadelphia Story from lifting off to flights of comical and narrative fancy – grounding the film for those who do not see themselves in any of the other main characters. Just as an actor need not be sensational to be effective, Liz demonstrates that love need not be sensational either.

Joseph Ruttenberg’s (1940′s Waterloo Bridge, 1944′s Gaslight) cinematography lends sensuality to the nighttime scenes. His camera moves slowly, gracefully through the interior of the Lord household and its grounds. Soft lighting is used once, in a moment of intoxication and innocence that seems like genuine romance at that given time. Cedric Gibbons’ (MGM’s premier art director) work, as it almost always is, is stellar. But technical achievements aside, it is the strength of the writing that powers The Philadelphia Story.

Certain readings of the film criticize The Philadelphia Story as undermining Tracy – her agency and desires – as soon as Dexter makes his entrance. Take these lines between Tracy and George:

GEORGE: You're like some marvelous, distant, well, queen, I guess. You're so cool and fine and always so much your own. There's a kind of beautiful purity about you, Tracy, like, like a statue. TRACY: George... GEORGE: Oh, it's grand, Tracy. It's what everybody feels about you. It's what I first worshipped you for from afar. TRACY: George, listen – GEORGE: First, now and always. Only from a little nearer now, eh, darling? TRACY: I... I don't want to be worshipped. I want to be loved.

The introspection Tracy delves into forms the heart of The Philadelphia Story – not Tracy’s father and his infidelities, not the precocious, farcical comedy from Tracy’s teenager sister Dinah (Virginia Weidler). In this introspection she never abandons her independence, sophistication, or ferocity. Donald Ogden Stewart’s verbose, uncharacteristically (for a screwball comedy) long screenplay allows time to better understand the masculine chaos revolving around her. Being with George – suffocating her with his worshipping ways – has prevented her from understanding her past and (to reiterate an above point) the difference between what she wants and what she needs. She is not settling nor bending to anyone else’s demands, all while realizing love is never zero-sum. It requires generosity of spirit, a commitment to understanding. What Tracy undergoes is not sacrifice, but personal growth.

While negotiating with Katharine Hepburn for his appearance in this film, Cary Grant demanded that he receive top billing for this film. Hepburn acquiesced, but Grant’s intentions were more honorable than you might think. His entire $137,000 salary (a hefty wage in 1940... ~$2.47 million in 2018′s USD) was donated to the British War Relief Fund. A charming rascal though Grant might have been on-camera, his motivations to appear in The Philadelphia Story were always honorable. And with The Philadelphia Story, Katharine Hepburn – defying MGM’s expectations and proving her former employers at RKO wrong – delivered a critical and popular hit. Her negative reputation was behind her, with the Time Magazine review reading: “Come on back, Katie, all is forgiven.” An MGM contract awaited. So did one of the most lauded acting careers in Hollywood history.

For those reading to this final paragraph and are still skeptical of The Philadelphia Story, I offer a personal note. Being an ardent fan of Turner Classic Movies (TCM), The Philadelphia Story makes frequent appearances on TCM’s schedule – given the size of TCM’s library, “frequent” means three to six times a year). Having heard so much praise for the film and being high on my watchlist, this was one of those handful of movies I had been putting off for years. The timing of my first viewing has inspired mixed feelings: I’m glad I waited, into my mid-twenties (because I would’ve dismissed this as saccharine ten years ago), but I also wish I had known how much I needed this film earlier. There’s that word again, “need”. This is a shining example of the best of Old Hollywood’s approach to romantic comedies – nothing cruel or insulting in its humor. It may not be the funniest comedy either, but comedies are more than just inspiring laughter. Step away from your expectations. From there, you, like Tracy, might just be able to see those less visible things than mean the most.

My rating: 10/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. The Philadelphia Story is the one hundred and forty-fifth film I have rated a ten on imdb.

#The Philadelphia Story #George Cukor #Cary Grant #Katharine Hepburn #James Stewart #Ruth Hussey #John Howard #Roland Young #John Halliday #Mary Nash #Virginia Weidler #Henry Daniell #Donald Ogden Stewart #Philip Barry #Joseph L. Mankiewicz #Joseph Ruttenberg #Cedric Gibbons #TCM #My Movie Odyssey

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