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tenthgrove · 3 years

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Omg imagine la squadra with a teenage teammate 👀 (platonic obvs but I'm 18 and I wonder how they'd act with a team member that's a lot younger than them) cause I hc them as being in their late 20s early 30s ‼️

Okay I love love love this idea! I decided to go for the approach of a younger teenager, someone around 14 or 15 years old, and make them someone who is keen to prove themselves and be respected, but still has all the fears that would be natural for someone in this situation so young, hidden beneath the front they put on.

La Squadra Interacting with a Younger Teammate

Formaggio- The prospect of La Squadra’s next recruit being a kid is actually quite appealing to Formaggio. He doesn’t get much respect from the rest of the team, but he hopes a teenager would be more impressionable, more easy to wow. As soon as the newcomer is through the door Formaggio is already pulling out his cool uncle act. He’s always begging to show them something cool (usually just some random thing he shrunk) or tell them a gruesome story from the job. He totally forgets how naturally weary they’re going to be as someone who recently moved teams. When he finally realises how uncomfortable he makes them, he feels very guiltridden and backs away. But then one day, by pure accident, he makes them laugh. Genuinely. Things ease up a lot after that.

Illuso- Since he isn’t particularly good with kids, Illuso thinks it’s best to just treat them the same as he does any other teammate. This doesn’t go well, their interactions clunky and awkward as the newcomer is unsure how to respond. Eventually, Illuso realises too and decides he’s going to have to change tactic. What do teenagers like? Mischief? While the idea of taking the kid around the mirror world to wreck havoc on the base is tempting, it would not go down well with Risotto once he finds out. What else is there? Gossip? Yes, that could work. When Illuso finds himself alone with the kid with nothing else to talk about, he starts telling them all the dirty secrets he’s collected about his team over the years. There’s nothing age innappropriate, but it’s enough to break down the image the kid has of La Squadra as humorless, intimidating adults. The others soon notice a change in the kid’s behaviour and congratulate Illuso for helping them settle in, however it was he managed to do that. Well, that certainly wasn’t Illuso’s intention, but he’ll take the applause anyway.

Pesci- The arrival of the newcomer marks a big change for Pesci. He’s no longer the youngest of the group, both in age and in experience. While he’s glad to lose the associated teasing, it fills him with a sense of responsibility he isn’t quite ready for. Being the youngest in the group gave him a slight feeling of immunity for all his fuck-ups, both real and percieved, and that’s gone now. Worse, he sees this kid and he sees someone far newer to the game than he is yet somehow still able to face it with more courage than he does. The kid scares him, really. It feels like he is the junior member of the dynamic they have together. Then one day he finds their phone in the front room. He knows the others have a habit of pinching things like this for mean-spirited jokes, so he puts his anxiety regarding the kid on hold to go up to their room and give it back to them. He didn’t expect to find them crying there. He rushes up to them immediately, patting them on the shoulder nervously to offer some comfort. He asks them what’s wrong. “Everything. I’m scared.” At the end of the day, they really are just a child.

Prosciutto- The second-in-command doesn’t have time to mentor the newcomer to the same extent he does with Pesci, but he’ll still keep an eye on them whenever he can. Any of those violent idiots could teach them to kill, but Prosciutto’s going to make sure they learn to carry themselves right as well. For one, they need to get rid of those grungy hoodies and jeans they insist on wearing. He supposes he’ll just have to take them shopping. Overall, he can seem quite harsh on the kid, but he has their best interests at heart. He wouldn’t be paying them any mind at all if he didn’t have faith in them to go far.

Melone- As is only natural with his stand, Melone is good with kids. Teenagers are a different matter, and with little concrete memory of the whirl of heartbreak and emotions that were his own teen years, Melone isn’t as sure of himself as he would like to be. So he takes the experimental method, observes how their reactions to certain interactions in order to figure out the best way of keeping them at ease. It’s overall a good approach, and Melone becomes one of the earlier members of the team who the newcomer opens up to. The only issue is the others. They do not trust him. So, Melone takes it upon himself to prove himself. He makes a point of adjusting his behaviour, abandoning some of his more unsavoury habits for good, and not just in the kid’s present. The others are surprised, but pleasantly so. Melone is thankful to the newcomer for improving his standing with the team in general.

Ghiaccio- He is not happy. He knows about other teams getting actual children dumped on them, but he never thought it would happen to them. It makes him absolutely furious; the last thing this team needs right now is some petulant brat to take care of. Ghiaccio will give them the cold shoulder for a long time. Eventually, it takes Risotto dragging him into his office and point-blank asking what his problem is to make him reconsider. Ghiaccio drags his heels, insists he needs nothing to do with the newcomer, but then Risotto reminds him how young Ghiaccio was when he got trapped in his life. That changes things. That evening, as Risotto watches on silently from the doorway, Ghiaccio approaches the newcomer in the sitting room. “Hey… kid… do you like video games?” he asks uncertainly. The kid perks up, surprised to hear such an offer from Ghiaccio of all people. They accept. Ghiaccio invites them to play with him often after that. Risotto doesn’t need to ask him.

Risotto- Well, this is interesting. Risotto finds the kid hard to deal with because of how much he sees himself in them. They’re pretty much the same age he was when his own life went to hell. Risotto may have trouble facing the newcomer, but he’ll do it anyway for their sake. He wants to do what he can to make their own youth easier than his, if only by a fraction. For them, he’ll let down his walls and be a confidante. He’ll let them be honest about their fears with him, and he’ll comfort them to the best of his ability. He doesn’t want them to end up like him. He doesn’t want them to lose their humanity.

Sorbet and Gelato- “Sorbet, that’s a baby.” “Christ, you’re right.” Sorbet and Gelato may be devoid of sympathy towards a majority of humanity, but they at least have it in them to feel sorry for a kid. Especially a kid dumped into the closest thing the couple has to a family. Truth is, Sorbet and Gelato have long desired a child of their own, but never truly believed the opportunity would present itself. They know taking in a scarred teenager a few years off from adulthood will never truly take the place of a child to call their own, but if this is the closest they can get, they’ll take it. So yeah, congratulations kid, meet your new group assinged fathers. Sorbet is the more realistic of the two, the one who reluctantly accepts the need to prepare the newcomer for mafia life. They develop a dynamic somewhat comparable to Pesci and Prosciutto, with Sorbet becoming the primary mentor for the child when Risotto is too busy. Gelato is the one who really tries to baby the kid, trying to keep them away from their work as much as possible and always fussing over them whenever a mission can’t be avoided. The kid might be reluctant to accept it, but it is what they need. At least once in a while.

#la squadra #jjba golden wind #formaggio #illuso #pesci #prosciutto #melone #ghiaccio #risotto nero #sorbet and gelato

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pony-boy21 · 3 years

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I have been feeling really detached from myself [not a new experience, just not in denial I guess] and have been feeling inhuman is the easiest way to put it. Here are others people experience that is very relatable (I'll bold the ones that I experience quite frequently)

“It feels like your conscious brain has detached and you aren’t attached to your body. Everything goes dull like a filter has been turned on.” — Kate R.

“Feeling like I’m not me. Like I’m looking at someone else’s body and when looking at my hands I can’t grasp that they are in fact a part of me. I could stare at myself in the mirror all day and not feel like they are my eyes looking back.” — Lydia G.

“You feel out of your body, you just feel numb, you feel like an observer… like you’re just watching a movie or a TV show about your life that you don’t have any control over. You just feel like you’re on autopilot. You look in the mirror and see yourself and you just can’t believe it’s you staring back. Everything just feels blank.” — Tayla R.

“When it starts, I can feel the things that make me human start to slip away. I lose all sense of emotion, my mind goes blank, and I feel as though my body does not exist. I go through tasks and actions like a well-programmed robot, and when I speak, it’s without my own tongue. I sound lifeless. Sometimes I scream and panic in the back of my mind, but my body won’t listen.” — Amity L.

“It feels like you are witnessing your own life behind a glass wall, like nobody sees or hears you, but you can see and hear everything very clearly, even clearer than usual actually. You see your body move and you hear your voice talk but you have zero control over what you’re saying or doing, and then you just keep banging on the glass wall hoping someone would notice you’re not really there inside the body.” — Kira H.

“You feel like your body isn’t your own body, it’s something strange and distant as a vehicle you don’t drive.” — Natasha C.

“I once described it to a friend by painting a picture. Imagine you are swimming, it’s kind of dark. You can feel what you are doing and you feel like you. As you continue, you start to see yourself from the perspective of a passerby. You move your hands but it doesn’t feel like you’re moving them, only watching. You can stare at them all you want but the longer you do it the more foreign they become. You feel trapped in this space, like your outside of your body and can’t get back in.” — Venus M.

“Depersonalization for me feels like I’m just now realizing everything around me is life. It’s like I never noticed before. And then like that, I’m lost and I’m not even sure how I actually feel. I feel as if I’m not even here. I’m a shell amongst shells.” — Chanta R.

“It’s like I’m underwater. I move, but I don’t think I wanted to. My body carries me through it’s normal motions, while I try to figure out how to come back and take control.” — Jana W.

“Depersonalization is like another version of myself takes over and handles what I’m anxious about. I suddenly become a happier person. I laugh and joke and I’m confident. Once I’m back in a secure environment, my real self appears and pieces of what happened during that time is lost. I don’t remember what happened.” — Tamasvi G.

“It’s like no longer being connected to your own body. Your mind is so overwhelmed that it just detaches from reality completely. You question whether or not you’re real. Everything about you is unfamiliar. You look at your hands and wonder whose they are. It’s almost like watching a complete stranger go about their business.” — Vanessa L.

“In all honesty, it’s horrifying. It feels like I’m not in control of my body. I feel like I’m playing out events and there is nothing I can really do about it. There’s a slight feeling of numbness. Feeling fully aware of what’s going on, but I can’t do anything to stop it. It’s almost as though I’m playing out a cutscene and I’m just there for the ride. For me, they’re the worst kind of anxiety attack I can have.” — Toby O.

“Feeling like I’m locked in a glass box but the glass is dirty and fogged up so i can only partially see/understand whats going on. I feel really disconnected from everything outside of the box so much so that i start feeling disconnected from myself too because I’m shut in and things don’t make sense. I feel spacey tired and confused and i wonder if I’m actually real. Its like my brain feels disconnected from my body.” — Sarah C.

“You’re awake, but you’re trapped mostly in your head. You think you’re in reality, but a lot of time goes by, and when you feel that sudden sense of, ‘Omg, look what month we’re in already?’ You realize you haven’t really been aware. It’s a nonstop cycle.” — Cady S.

“For me, it feels as though I’m not really in charge of my movements or thoughts. I’m somewhere not quite beside myself, but not fully me. I start to wonder if what’s happening around me is real.” — Jes V.

“Several times in the last couple of years, I have looked in the mirror and legitimately didn’t know who the girl was looking back at me. I couldn’t feel my body. I felt like I was just a void. Scared the crap out of me when I would ‘snap back’ to reality.” — Jessica H.

“Like in one of these movies, being an alien creature just inhabiting a human body and controlling it. A strong Sensation of strangeness and every move feels over-controlled.” — Stefan K.

“[It’s like] floating in a bubble just above my own head, puppeteering my body, clumsily, on strings. My physical sensations are dulled, except sounds, which are weirdly amplified and out of sync. I can think clearly as the me inside the bubble, but not as the me in the body. The me in the body feels distant, far away, like another person. My voice comes out but is strange and far away sounding. Everything is going too fast and too slow at the same time, people and cars loom up suddenly out of nowhere and things like traffic are unpredictable. My perception is oddly skewed making spatial awareness and proprioception difficult. I feel like I am piloting my body by remote control.” — Katy P.

“It’s like I’m standing just behind and a little to the left of myself. I can see and hear only me at the time. Everything else is black and silent. And if I’m in a rage, I can say and do awful things. When I come back, I remember nothing and don’t feel anything about my actions even when told how horrible I was. It wasn’t me who said/did those things.” — Caralyn R.

“I feel like I’m standing off to the side watching myself. But I feel nothing. Empty. No emotions or feelings, nothing. I’m watching people talk to me but I hear nothing. No sound. Everything is muted.” — Sheree S.

“It’s like being an alien inside your own head, but your body is a machine stuck on autopilot so you’re not controlling much of anything. You see everything, but feel nothing. And when you walk past a mirror, you avoid looking because the person you see in the reflection somehow isn’t you. It’s a hollow unrecognizable shell of a thing you remember, but can’t connect with on any level. It’s isolating too, because even if someone else does notice when you’re going through this, there’s no way in hell they could ever truly understand or relate because they haven’t ever been through this themselves.” — Devin L.

“For me it was like I couldn’t focus on anything, like my whole life was a complete blur, like I needed glasses to make it clear again, as though I was there but I wasn’t. The worst thing was that I couldn’t control it. I would look in the mirror and barely recognize the girl looking back at me. You feel unconnected with reality, you just go on auto pilot. It’s really horrible.” — Kerry F.

“It feels like you’re playing a first-person video game. You can sort of control your actions and choose to interact with objects and people, but it’s not actually you doing or experiencing any of it. You’re just watching what happens from behind a screen, completely disconnected.” — Rowan S.

“It’s like the world around me is made of Lego people and the cars are Hot Wheels. It’s like I’m the child who’s in control of how fast the cars move and how the people and trees and houses are all arranged. It’s scary really. Especially because when I finally realize I’m not the one I’m in control. I feel so confused about what happened and what I felt.” — Emmy P.

#pony-boy21 #mental health awareness #depersonalization

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imagineofallkindsxxx · 3 years

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Eternal Flame- Kol Mikaelson 8/?

If You Can't Rely on One Another Who Can You

Summary: 'You never know whats in a persons heart until you truly know them' - Belle French, Once Upon a Time

Singing. Thats all what Alexandra Gilbert has cared about since she was young and all she would care about until she met him.

With Alexandra fighting vampires, werewolves and all between she may do a thing she vowed never to do, fall in love.

And to think it all started with a walk in the woods...

Grams"

Bonnie was in tears and rightfully so. She hasn't seen her grandmother for a year now due to her unfortunate passing unintentionally caused by the Salvatores, learning the real reason of how Grams died from Bonnie was even more heart wrenching and how much sympathy I felt for one of my good friends.

We can't believe our eyes that one of the most loved people in our childhood was right in front of us after death.

"I can't believe you're here!" Bonnie exclaimed crying.

"Now stop crying, we don't have time for tears" definitely Miss Sheila, straight to business no time to wait. She just then seemed to remember that her blonde vampire and boringly normal human friend were still in the room with the two Bennett witches. "Nice to see you two girls again."

"Hi miss Sheila." Caroline greeted while smiling.

"Good to see you again" I told the deceased witch a ghost of a smile on my face. Grams looks back over to Bonnie hopefully going to tell her granddaughter how to stop ghosts appearing out of nowhere and everywhere.

"A fine mess you've made, honey." Sheila told her granddaughter relating to the problem we're having with ghosts "The witches told you there'd be consequences bringing Jeremy back and you did it anyway."

"I didn't have a choice. I love him... I couldn't just let him go." Bonnie defended using her love for my brother as a reason to bring him back to life like any couple in love would do if they had the means.

"I understand. But you cracked open the door to the other side. There's an old witch over here. she took advantage of it. she took advantage of you honey." Grams told bonnie being understanding of how the young witch wished to save her beloved but still warning her of the consequence by being took advantage of an old witch. "When you did that spell to send Vicki Donovan away, she wedged the door wide open, giving a free pass to anybody with unfinished business." oh my days this is beyond not good. What is this witch's game? Her goal seems to be create as much havoc as possible.

"How do you know this?" Bonnie questions her grandmother after all she has been dead, how does she know the scary old witch's plan?

"Witches talk. Even on the other side. Who do you think makes the rules?" She smiles at Bonnie making me give a little smile at the two family members interacting at Grams little joke about witches.

"What does the witch want?" Bonnie questioned wondering the same as me, what's this witch's end game?

"That's Original vampire business, not yours. I don't want any of you getting in the middle of that." she told not only Bonnie but me as well making me confused about how I fit into witch or vampire business. Maybe because I'm getting close with Rebekah? "I'm here because you upset the balance of nature. And it's your duty to set it right. You need to close that door." She told Bonnie focusing her whole attention onto her.

"The witch is drawing power from this side from an old talisman, this talisman is important to the witch and holds supernatural powers. if you destroy the talisman bonnie the door to the other side will close." She informed her granddaughter.

"Talisman? What Talisman?" Bonnie asked the older Bennett.

"The necklace." I said "Elenas necklace could be the talisman." Looking at Grams I assume that my unusual guess was correct.

"Looks like perhaps it has its perks" Sheila said looking impressed with a look in her eye that she knows more than she's letting on. It makes no sense. What perks? It was a guess? But why would I guess Elena's necklace out of everything? I furrowed my eyebrows confused about to ask but before I could she looked back at Bonnie.

"Keep everyone safe my little witch." Giving us time to rush out of the room to get the Elenas necklace to destroy the only thing keeping the ghosts here. Caroline phoned Elena to keep her updated informing her of everything we just earned but as she was doing so mines went also. Unknown number. I answered wondering who could be phoning me.

"Hello?" I greeted hoping it was just a prank caller and not some stalker.

"Alex? is that you?" A familiar voice asked back as if they were still unsure if they had the right number. The sound of their voice nearly made me drop my phone altogether.

"Jenna? You're here! You came through the other side?" I said shocked beyond belief that my aunt who died in a ritual months ago was talking to me through the phone.

"Yeah. I'm really confused right now, Alex. What do I do?" Jenna replied sounding partly scared partly confused.

"Where are you, Jenna?" Wanting the location of my dead aunt so I can speak to her one last time.

"You know that pay phone across from the field me and your mom used to take you and Elena when you were little? There." She informed me making me nod even though she can't see me do so.

"I'll be there in 15 minutes don't move." I instructed her to do while walking over to the girls who were waiting on me in the car. "I love you." Which she replied the same.

Bonnie began to drive away from the creepy witches house towards the center of town quickly trying to find Elena while I asked her to stop at the junction where the field was down.

"What is it, Alex?" She asked obviously in a rush especially if it involves getting rid of her boyfriends dead ex. I shook my head.

"I need to do something don't worry about me. Get to that necklace." I told her being as vague as possible, both her and Caroline looked unsure of whether they should let me go on my own. I reassured them telling them to go and I'll be fine. When they finally drove away, I ran to the payphone about half mile away from the junction.

"Alex!" I heard a yell come from that direction before getting up close and seeing my blonde aunt for the first time in months.

"Jenna!" I embraced my aunt not wanting to let go in case she disappears in a puff of smoke "What are you doing here? How did you not find peace?" I asked in her ear before slowly pulling back from the hug.

"How could I when I had you and your sister to worry about?" she questioned with a slight smile on her face. I cocked my head confused. Sure, Elena gets into trouble, but I stay out of it most of the time, trouble and mischief being more my siblings thing than mines "I can't move on knowing you hate her." She told me making me realize that she was talking about our relationship.

"I don't hate her!" I defended which she gave me a look at like 'you sure about that?' "I dislike her intensely." I admitted which she nodded at "Its cause of the two idiots who dote on her every move that makes me so annoyed at her. And she just can't help but get us all into trouble even if she doesn't mean it. It's just confusing with the Salvatores being there every moment of every day." I told my dead aunt who looked at me like she understood.

"She's your sister, you should have moments when you hate her and her boyfriend. There should be times when you're jealous or annoyed at her. You should have seen me and your mom at your age. The fights about boys, makeup, parties and sneaking out, they were harsh. But at the end of the day, I knew I could go and confined in her about anything and had her as a shoulder to cry on about a boy or a fight with a friend and she would be there." She told me about the past with her mother, I knew how unalike the two were. They were chalk and cheese just like me and Elena. "You need to make up with her, love her, comfort her just like she should do with you. You're sisters." She continued making me think of how maybe I have been a bit harsh on her, I mean she can be annoying and indecisive, but she always tries to help others even when plans backfire.

I looked at my aunt then down at my fingers playing with them feeling bad at how she couldn't move on because of the grudge I held against her which stemmed from the accident. I looked at her then nodded.

"I'll try to" My brown eyes watering up at the sight of my aunt. "I miss you, Jenna. I miss our movie nights, when you'd come and watch my shows, cooking together or attempting to." Making both her and I laugh a bit with tears streaming down my face as well as hers

"I miss you too. And Elena and Jer. I miss Ric. I loved you all so much." I smiled at her declaration before an idea popped into my head. voice recordings. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and tapped on the video section on my camera app.

"What do you want to say to them, and I'll record it. I'll give it to the three of them, make sure your memory stays alive forever." I told her never wanting her to leave but knowing its inevitable. She nodded for me to press play and we recorded three messages for the three most important people in Jennas life.

The sun was beginning to set, and I had a feeling that soon the talisman will be destroyed.

"I love you, Jenna."

"I love you too Alexandra. Please love your sister like I loved mine. You need to have each other because if you can't rely on one another who can you." A great big smile across her face which I mirrored. I gave he the hugest hug I could possibly give before I couldn't feel anything. I was sitting on a broken down wooden bench in the middle of nowhere with high probability of dying yet I still curled into a ball and cried knowing that it was foolish of me to cry after she has been dead for months but the grief of her gave flooding back. my eyes drooping from the tiredness of the day I've had which was not just physically but emotionally draining.

Then all of a sudden, I heard my phone ring making me jump becoming more alert of my surroundings and situation. what idiot would fall asleep on a park bench in the field I essentially grew up on.

I looked to see who was calling and saw the photo of my favorite guitarist, I wiped my face, cleared my throat before answering.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked as cheerily as I could considering the circumstance I was in only a few minutes ago.

"Where are you?" he replied hurriedly "You need to get here now." he urged

"Mark calm down what happened?" I asked hoping it would shed some light on the way he was talking.

"You don't know? Sam's Uncle Toby, the head of the historical society, He's dead." This makes me freeze at the words, my mind going straight to Sam and how heart broken he will be.

"I'll be at Sams place as soon as I can." I told him getting up from the bench walking into the direction of town.

"Good. Hurry." I was about to call a cab, but I saw a pair of headlights coming that direction. I realized it was Bonnie's car. She pulled over when I rand on the middle of the road telling her to stop.

"Alex? What's wrong? Why are you still in the middle of nowhere?" She questioned as I got into the back as my brother was in the passenger seat.

"Later. Do you know where the Fell family live?" she nods slowly starting to move the vehicle "Can you take me there?"

"Sure. What happened to Mr. Fell was horrible." All I could think about was the times he came to the concerts and boasted that 'that bassist is going to be bigger than Paul McCartney' making Sam blush many times.

"Yeah, Mark just called me to let me know. I need to see Sam." Both my brother and his girlfriend? nodded. After about ten minutes Bonnie pulled over in front of Sams house, "Thanks for the ride Bon. Jer, I won't be home tonight. I'll be staying here."

"Yeah, don't worry about it I'll let Elena and Ric know." Jeremy told me while Bonnie waved me off saying it was fine and to go and see Sam. I thanked them both again before exiting her car and rushing to the house.

I knocked in the door three times to see a crying Meredith Fell, Sams cousin answer the door.

"He's in his room with James and Mark." She informed letting me in before I opened my mouth. I smiled as a thanks before rushing into his room to see him crying into James's sweater.

"Sam..." I for once didn't know what to say, he looked up at me, I rushed over and gave him a huge hug which he reciprocated now instead of crying into James's sweater he was crying into my tank top as I felt the wetness of his tears through the fabric but nevertheless hugged him tighter closing my eyes as I try to comfort my best friend on his loss. Feeling the two boys hugging us also creating a huge group hug, I tried to reassure my crying best friend.

"Sh, sh, sh. Everything will be okay." Comforting him hopefully.

But little did I know that the death of Tobias Fell was going to cause much more problems than anticipated.

*************************************************

A/N: Hey readers, hope you enjoyed the chapter and how I incorporated my own little twist about Alex and Elena but don't worry the Salavtore brothers still have to live up to her expectations.

Next chapter your going to see the start of the next episode like the very beginning and Sam will be in it a lot more.

If there are any spelling, grammar mistakes or British slang let me know.

And please like or comment something so I know if I'm doing at least a decent job at writing.

Thanks for reading lovelies xxx

#kol mikaelson imagine #kol mikaelson x you #kol mikaelson x reader #kol mikaelson #kol mikaelson series #the vampire diaries imagines #the vampire diaries #the original imagines #the originals

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theholycovenantrpg · 3 years

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CONGRATULATIONS, EMMA! YOU’VE BEEN ACCEPTED FOR THE ROLE OF DMITRI.

Admin Cas: There’s something so tragic about Dmitri that I love: everything about him is a contradiction. Yet, for all his love and light, he’s also really quite terrifying, and the way you balanced both of those aspects of their character was truly breathtaking, Emma. I thought your reflections on the idea of Dmitri as a sort of wingless angel was especially impressive. In spite of all the things that make them angelic, they can never truly be one with God’s angels. That, after all, is what sets him apart from their brethren; where they are ruination, he is its saving grace. I put this golden prince in your hands without fear that you’ll do wonderful things with him, and I can’t wait to see the directions you’ll go together! Please create and send in your account, review the information on our CHECKLIST, and follow everyone on the FOLLOW LIST. Welcome to the Holy Land!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Emma.

Age | 21+.

Personal Pronouns | She/Her.

Activity Level | I’m able to get a reply or two out at least once daily; depending on length, it could potentially be more or less than.

Timezone | Eastern.

Triggers | REMOVED.

How did you find the group? | LSRPG tag.

Current/Past RP Accounts | I delete my character accounts to create a blank blog for my next character account. I save snippets of threads I adore, so I’m so sorry. RIP - xoxo

IN CHARACTER

there is a swelling storm and i'm caught up in the middle of it all and it takes control of the person that i thought i was the boy i used to know.

CHARACTER

Dmitri , the Horsemen of Conquest

DRAW TO CHARACTER

I’ve never been the type to write a sample for a character before fleshing out the other bits first, but Dmitri’s voice whispered, begging to be explored as soon as I read their biography. The first sample you’ll read below was the initial picture I painted and kept throughout this application because Dmitri resembled that of a poor Icarus, who simply overindulged in something not meant for him to enjoy.

I imagined Dmitri in the seconds after creation gasping at the sights of Heaven, reaching back for white wings — only to be met by their bareback. Shoulders aching for the flight of angels, the purity evident in their veins to be his own, God’s presence given at a moments notice.

Yes — I very clearly drew these small, delicate details from a few lines, but Cas wrote this character in such a way I felt the weight of Dmitri’s needs as if they were my own to be met. The biography held me captive to do whatever would be in my ability to give this character justice for what they were never gifted. I still get butterflies reading over the biography and couldn’t stop what followed.

This application is my confession of love for Dmitri, and I would even offer to say this could be read as a fever dream because isn’t that what God would want? His beloved, lastly mad Horsemen to be written in a state of complete and total euphoria for conquest and recklessness… but more importantly, I hope to show how beautifully flawed this character is to desire to be loved by a dead God, and the journey I would take them on to realize their purpose was never tied to God’s needs.

FUTURE PLOTS

SUMMARY: I’ve written these in a format of progression based on what I think could occur first in-game based off of current connections, and Dmitri’s direct link of being a Horsemen, making it far more likely to push said plot first. Each builds upon the other in a sense of a video game character skill branching system. As in, I’ve written some answers or may propose them in a way, which would directly change a plot below it. Hope this helps explain the mess which is about to occur below!

FUTURE OF THE HORSEMEN

what happens to those who were meant to end a world already destroyed?

Their purpose set forth to them by God has come to no fruition as the world destroyed itself, at least in a way. Each Horsemen dealing with their new identity as a mercenary in their own way, but I can only speak from the perspective of Dmitri. When it comes to them, the Horsemen are family. They came from the same Gos as them, shaped from different moments but important just the same. Their future as a whole could be explored by each Horsemen’s motivation. For Dmitri, the idea of leaving them to go elsewhere seems far-fetched at first; a type of daydream when the cleanup after a job is too heavy to stay focused on. If given a bigger glimpse at something else, something Dmitri could find himself desiring to do, I imagine the Horsemen could find a strain.

FUTURE OF THE HEALING

what is the purpose of being one of healing if you watched the wounds be inflicted?

Building upon a strain forming within the Horsemen, Dmitri would first need to experience something so terrifyingly out of character for them to do, which could trigger a wave of events to follow. The concept of using their healing ability seems to be the “fun” direction as this golden boy not being able to save someone caught in the crossfires would be an angst ridden thread to experience. I want to shape his tenderness in a way to correlate with his healing. Dmitri’s process of healing someone is something I haven’t ventured much into yet — but I imagine the sight of it to be something beautiful, almost too beautiful to fully understand what you’re looking at. This light bringer among those who only bring darkness is the difference enough to push the first plot and this one forward.

FUTURE OF THE LOVED AND WORSHIPPED

what does one do with love and praise when all they expected was hate?

Imagine the first time someone witnessed Dmitri healing a mortal. Who was it? What occurred? No one who lives now among the mortals knows, yet their growing affection towards him makes me feel as if he’s gotten his own personal tale passed between them. Here in this new found love among men, I think Dmitri sees what he’s always wanted out of life, rather existence. It’ll be such a wild ride of secret trips to different parts of the world to see if he finds this love and praise everywhere. He’d be drunk over this, but there also comes the dark side of being given something kept from you for so long. Yes, I would love for this beautiful, precious Horsemen to ride happily off into the sunset… but there’s definitely some trauma left from God. Here within this, I find Dmitri’s breaking point could take place and all of the above could shatter.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | yes — given a month’s notice and option to decline? i feel as if the answer would be different depending on how they were to die and character development, if this makes sense.

IN DEPTH

but there is a lightin the dark, and i feel its warmth

in my hands and my heart why can't i hold on?

CHARACTER MOTIVATION

It’s unknown at first- their motivation. Perhaps, God always intended the existence of those who were meant to cause the end of the world to possess no motivation. Life to them, the Horsemen, was simply a story already written down in the stars, yet Dmitri walked out into the New World with the story finished and no part to play in it. Purgatory had warped their glowing essence, satisfying God’s need to prevent prayers said to Conquest over the God of Creation.

Yet motivations can still be rather fickle when they were never intended for you. Dmitri’s creation came from the infinite love God felt for man, yet they were never meant to have this (this being love) as their backbone. No, they were to indulge their fellow Horsemens’ wrath by mending the blows they were destined to cause. Their gift, their healing, their voice. All things given by God to serve a purpose not their own. Somewhere between all of the havoc and chaos of this world, there had to come a time where Dmitri sought to figure it out.

Their motivation laid rotting within the crevices of darkness and filth they called home all these centuries. Purgatory did it’s job more so than God could have ever intended because Dmitri struggled with purpose outside of God’s. Sunshine filled his veins in a way the darkness fed off of and merely left the Horsemen of Conquest bare. So walking out of, rather escaping from, Purgatory to Dmitri awakened this desire for answers. With the death of God, Dmitri discovered their rebirth into something rather ungodly as he wanted to become everything God never intended on him to be: loved.

From this death, Dmitri has discovered a solace with mortals he’d never found with the fellow Horsemen as there’s something to be said in regards to being made last. He didn’t resemble the others completely as he felt a mirror to man more so than his Horsemen. I imagine actions and motivation for him to be teetering currently as his own questions in the regards of ‘what’s next?’ as having a calling as a mercenary never sat well with him. He wants to be loved in a way God had left unspoken between them over the possibility of competition.

SUMMARY: Throughout interactions and inner thoughts expressed throughout this roleplay, I would love to dive into the future plots tying into Dmitri’s motivations above with the balance of being deemed as loved or worshipped. Dmitri needs to be loved, yet I think if it ever rocked towards him being worshipped, it’d be a nice little shift of what truly motivates him. Overall, I find my motivating factor to be Dmitri’s voice and relationships with the Horsemen due to my overall understanding of how much he truly values them. Yes, he’s always wanted more for himself, but there’s always going to be the glimpses of why he is among their ranks. He isn’t pure as the angels or as mischievous as the demons, but I find Dmitri’s complexities something of value as a character in a world without restraints.

IN-CHARACTER PARA SAMPLES

i. DREAMS AND THE HEREAFTER

‘Icarus, my son — your wings are too brittle for the warmth of light. Now, I shall watch you burn with the rest.’ Or was the name spoken across the lips of God dmitri? Did he curve the appetite of man’s undeserving love of their creator by existing? Were his screams - for more - not enough to make the tear from God’s eye a regret?

‘But father, I shall fly with you. We can escape together. No mortal shall ever have to look upon our faces again. We can finally be--’ Scorned brow silenced all of his pleas, bringing the truth to the forefront. Dmitri dreamed before the tear was ever caught and molded into the literal form of his being. They knew of themself from the perspective of God’s eye and convinced themself of something which wasn’t there. ‘Am I never to be free of this burden then? Am I to suffer?’

They painted a world where they crawled from the depths of Purgatory, where their strength came from the purity of man, where God Himself welcomed Dmitri back into Heaven as if he’d never gone. In this recurring dream, God would realize the mistake to tuck away his most prized creation.

The final Horsemen did not deserve the caverns of impermeable darkness Purgatory supplied them because somewhere in the infinite of his existence, he truly believed himself to bare wings.

‘Suffer? Suffer! You are the brilliance of life; my creation. Do you wish to know what I plan to do with you? Follow me, Conquest. Your domain awaits.’

Their eyes open with horror, memories of a man - rather a god who loved him less. A god who created him by mistake. An outstretched arm from active slumber finds its way back onto their chest, an unsteady rise and fall of breaths lost. His own torment from sleep a self-given punishment as he allowed himself to fall into the corners of his own mind. The hidden doors which locked memories long forgotten as he believed himself to be more than he was.

God regretted shedding a tear for out came the brightest of shadows, the technicolor snake of dispute in the form of a golden angel. They were truly no closer than their brethren to bearing wings, but if one deserved them, Dmitri would declare themself so.

Instead of wings, however, cascading down their back, you would find a seeping hole of nothing; a hollowed out mine of what could have become of them. It is the wickedness they hide beneath enchanting smiles, minor suggestions, and lack of resolve which will keep their back bare. Denial being a sort of game which they’ve mastered over the years.

Once, one might have spotted the prospect of gold, sinless existence within them, but they were not created like the other angels, the other horsemen, the other fallen. They were made as the result of emotion, and one knew what followed closely with emotions — mistakes or rather the sins of man.

They were the rotten cavities created over years of divulging in sweets, buried in the crevices of newborn teeth who hadn’t the taste of sugar.

And in their devastation, Dmitri destined themself to find the answers which God withheld from them.

ii. DENIAL IN THE FORM OF SINFUL BEAUTY

“You’re late — again.” A simple nod towards either Nerissa or Viktoria felt enough to find his place among his family, his fellow Horsemen.

One thumb found its way to his temple before releasing a heavy sigh. “Dreams haunt me recently.

“You mean nightmares.” Nerissa could never resist correcting him over something so miniscule as words, yet this simple exchange caused a growing irritation to sprout wings and turn into complete rage.

His temples tensed, nostrils flared with fingernails already cutting at the skin of his palm. “You honestly think I’m mortal enough to switch the meaning of two words, War?” Tongue pressed against the back of their teeth, Dmitri allowed their body to sink into their assigned chair, of sorts. Each had a place within the others home as if each home belonged to all four of them collectively.

“Someone woke up feeling out of place again.” Always Ryuk with a quick word before letting the storm brew on.

“It’s the dreams — I wake up in horror over...” Their eyes, washed in an array of gold, scanned the softness of their palms, the lack of scars on their flesh, the harrowing displacement of havoc in their words, and the deficiency of darkness their fellow Horsemen possessed. “...for it is the dream I can never grasp.”

With the unblemished palm, he wiped away at both of their eyes, trying to remove the hints of sleep behind them. More importantly, he wanted more than anything to remove any attempt of truth being proven by Nerissa’s words.

Harsh snarled laughter came from the corner of their domain, mocking their spiral for something less than what it was. To Dmitri, they saw these dreams as something more of an awakening, uncovering their last moments with God.

“What is the point of man if not to suffer, dear Dmitri?”

“But I am no man!” Fists shattered the monotony of the discussion, calling in the last ounce of sanity any of them could take as they stood from the table. “I am no god.” The once golden irises, which mirrored the glory of the sun’s warmth, now mimicked the lava spewing from a devastating volcano. “I am Conquest, and I shall suffer no more!”

Here in the brilliant, pure light of their anger, their risen voice, the very might of their denial gave birth to something else.

A soft chuckle from the other side of the room destroyed any build up between the others as Viktoria waltzed over to them.

“He’s not wrong… None of us are man, so none of us shall suffer.” Viktoria’s hand draped over theirs with a tenderness they’d only felt from the mortals, but it was enough to show Dmitri the horsemen had the ability to give him what he wanted.

#accepted #accepted: dmitri

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miumiu-chan · 4 years

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Miyase Go STORY 1 Chapter 12-5

Subbed video: STORY-1 12-5

-Home / Entrance-

——4 o’clock in the afternoon.

I brought Miyase-san to my original home for the first time.

[MIYASE]: “Pardon my intrusion.”

[REI]: “Come on in. Ah, here are slippers, too.”

[MIYASE]: “Thank you.”

[MIYASE]: “......This address, I actually already knew it, but”

[MIYASE]: “It really is in the neighborhood to the Kujo House.”

[REI]: “Right.”

[REI]: “——Ah, the other day, when I crossed the intersection in front of the convenience store, I saw that white child-like cat.”

[REI]: “I’m sure it’s the cat’s turf.”

[MIYASE]: “The cat......that’s great. It’s doing fine.”

[MIYASE]: “I was worried because it didn't come to the garden at all recently.”

[REI]: “If I see it next time, I'll take a picture.”

[MIYASE]: “Mn, I want to see it. Next time.”

While exchanging silly conversations, we headed to the balcony.

Going out of the room during bright hours, wasn’t just to avoid the tension of being alone in a closed space.

-Home / Balcony-

[MIYASE]: “......Aa, it’s true. You really did do your best to repair it.”

[MIYASE]: “The flowers look happy.”

I was so relieved to hear Miyase-san’s words when he saw the group planting.

When Kagetsugumi broke into my investigation apartment.

The room was devastated, and even the group planting on the balcony was thoroughly messed up.

The flowers that Miyase-san bloomed in that one pot were destroyed.

[REI]: (The princess lilac and the sweet pea.)

[REI]: (The almeria, the loberia, the sweet alyssum. And also the ficus pumila.)

After the case was settled, I returned safely to the investigation apartment and immediately bought a new pot.

And then I did as much repair as I could.

But——...

[REI]: “The princess lilac was especially trampled, and the flowers had almost withered or were scattered.”

[MIYASE]: “It’s okay.”

Next to Miyase-san, who crouched down slowly before group planting, I also sat down.

[MIYASE]: “Look here. Some side buds are starting to appear.”

[REI]: “Side buds......Ah, you’re right.”

[MIYASE]: “The flowers that had bloomed so far have definitely withered, but”

[MIYASE]: “The stems and leaves are holding out.”

[MIYASE]: “That’s why I'm sure that the beautiful flowers will bloom in the next flowering season and make Rei-san smile.”

[REI]: (The flowers will bloom again. I see......thank goodness.)

[REI]: “Miyase-san, you said it before, right?”

[REI]: “Even if the flowers die, it's not over.”

[MIYASE]: “Yes, it’ll be okay.”

[MIYASE]: “......I can't lie to Rei-san anymore.”

The moment when those reliable words made my face smile broadly,

The last princess lilac flower, which was barely staying on the stem, fell off.

[MIYASE]: “——Or, is what I say, but it’s no good.”

[REI]: “Eh”

[MIYASE]: “I'm very dishonest towards Rei-san.”

[REI]: (Dishonest......?)

My heart began to be noisy.

I also felt it when we were riding the merry-go-round.

I felt like something was wrong. I felt like I was missing something.

Like the flowerless princess lilac? Like the moonless sky?

——At that warehouse, the moment Miyase-san said “I can't kill” Kujo-san,

The moment he declared, "All the friends here are my family,”

I thought I could believe in this person completely.

I felt that I could decipher Miyase-san’s lies and truths.

[REI]: (But......right now, Miyase-san)

He wasn’t lying but, it didn’t feel like he was telling the truth.

[REI]: “Dishonest, what do you mean?”

I unintentionally stared at him with a strong gaze.

[MIYASE]: “......It means just what it means.”

[REI]: “......H”

My hand was held.

With a weak force as if feeling for whether he could touch.

Miyase-san, who narrowed his eyes, eventually entwined his fingers deeply and quietly approached with his face.

[MIYASE]: “Rei-san.”

[REI]: (Ah, a kiss——...)

[BOY]: “Uoh! There’s an erotic couple over there~!”

[REI]: “E-Erotic......!?”

[MIYASE]: “Aahaha”

[GIRL]: “I'm sorry for bothering you!”

[GIRL]: “Jeez~ Stupid Takeshi-kun! Let’s hurry and go home!”

[BOY]: “Uwah-, don’t pull~!”

The smiling elementary school duo ran away while swinging their calligraphy bags.

[MIYASE]: “Those kids seemed like good friends last time, too.”

[REI]: “This is also close to the investigation apartment......haha.”

The wind that brought the spring evening blew, and the lingering of the attempted kiss was taken away.

[MIYASE]: “......The sun is about to set.”

[MIYASE]: “It won’t be good to get cold, so shall we head back inside?”

That was equal to Miyase-san already leaving this place.

He said from the beginning that he wouldn't stay long.

-Home / Entrance-

The end of the fun date was at the familiar front door of my home.

[MIYASE]: “Then......thank you for today.”

[MIYASE]: “It was really, truly fun.”

I didn’t want to part yet.

Was it because there were still traces of the discomfort I felt on the balcony earlier?

I felt like I shouldn’t send Miyase-san home as it is.

[REI]: “Um-“

[MIYASE]: “Yes?”

[REI]: “Ah-......Ah, please wait a minute!”

[MIYASE]: “......?”

I knew it was a waste of time, but I picked up that thing and went back to the front door.

[REI]: “This, I thought I wouldn’t be able to return it.”

[MIYASE]: “The apron......”

[REI]: “I properly took it out for cleaning, so”

[MIYASE]: “That apron is already Rei-san’s.”

[REI]: “Eh, but......is that okay?”

[MIYASE]: “Please, take good care of it.”

[MIYASE]: “——No, it’s okay if you throw it away.”

[REI]: “Throw it away......”

[MIYASE]: “Well then, Rei-san.”

[MIYASE]: “Goodbye.”

[REI]: “-......Please wait!”

I impulsively grabbed Miyase-san's hand, who had quickly turned his back.

——The next moment.

[MIYASE]: “Nh......”

[REI]: “!”

In contrast, my arm was grabbed and pulled strongly.

Staggering, I ended up deeply buried in Miyase-san’s chest.

[REI]: “U-Um......-“

[MIYASE]: “I’ve said a lot of terrible things to Rei-san.”

[MIYASE]: “I even forcibly kissed you.”

[MIYASE]: “I've also put your life at risk......”

[MIYASE]: “I’m so sorry.”

I couldn’t see his face.

But the voice I heard seemed to sound a little hoarse and very pained.

[MIYASE]: “Towards you......Towards Izumi Rei-san”

[MIYASE]: “-............I,”

[MIYASE]: “........................”

[REI]: “......Miyase-san?”

[MIYASE]: “......I hope Rei-san will always be happy.”

[MIYASE]: “And that you will always be smiling, I......”

[MIYASE]: “I think that, from the bottom of my heart.”

Immediately after I thought our bodies separated, I saw Miyase-san's back disappearing behind the door.

[REI]: “Ah......-“

When I tried to chase after, I noticed.

A necklace around my neck.

The white clover that Miyase-san bought at the spring festival.

Touching the cool resin, I hurriedly opened the door.

[REI]: (He’s already gone......)

-Home / Living-

When I returned to the room, I saw myself sighing in the mirror.

[REI]: “It’s a cute necklace......”

He bought another of the same one, but......it was a matching set, wasn’t it?

And the fact that he gave me this necklace——...

Was it okay to recognize that a new relationship between Miyase-san and I had begun?

[REI]: (......But, what were the words he stopped himself from saying earlier?)

[REI]: (What kind of face was Miyase-san making......?)

I couldn't see it.

The strength of his hug was strong, but I felt somehow that it was weak.

[REI]: (......For some reason, I feel restless.)

Not being able to sit still, I looked over at the balcony.

The group planting came into my sight.

Miyase-san made it, then it broke once, and I tried my best to repair it myself.

[REI]: “Ah, that’s right.”

What I took out of my work bag was the language of flowers pocket dictionary.

Right now, I was curious about the language of flowers for the group planting.

[REI]: (When we planted it, Miyase-san checked it......)

I might have wanted to trace those gentle memories to dispel this mysterious anxiety.

I flipped through the pages.

MIYASE]: “Lobelia is “Chastity and Humility”.”

[REI]: (Eh......”Malevolence” is also written.)

[MIYASE]: “......Almeria is “Compassion and Empathy”.”

[REI]: ““Sympathy”......”

[MIYASE]: “Sweet pea......seems to be “Departure”.”

[REI]: “............“Separation”.”

Thump, my heart began to rampage violently inside my chest.

No. There was no need to think in an unpleasant direction.

Miyase-san must have been trying to be careful and didn't say the meanings that had negative images.

————But.

[RULONG]: “Little Flower should have understood it from the Hanafuda game earlier.”

[RULONG]: “In Go-chan’s case, not just the cards in his hand, even the set couldn’t properly be seen.”

[RULONG]: “What do you think? I wonder if Little Flower can see through the meaning of the set that Go-chan made.”

[RULONG]: “Rather, Go-chan, you didn’t want to win, right?”

[MIYASE]: “For me, these cards I took are the completed sets.”

[REI]: (Miyase-san’s completed sets......)

He had all the irises of May and the willows of November.

I turned the pages of the language of flowers dictionary with a feeling that I felt like I was going to stop breathing.

[REI]: (If I remember correctly, Miyase-san said that the May cards were Japanese irises.)

[REI]: “Ja......Ja, here it is! The language of flowers is——“

[REI]: ““Happiness is yours”......?”

What was Miyase-san really thinking when he played that Koi-Koi game?

[REI]: “Willow is——...”

“Mourning” “Sorrow of Love”

And also......

[REI]: “———“Freedom”?”

I didn’t know. The meaning of this set.

Looking for hints, I recalled all the interactions, conversations, and facial expressions I had with Miyase-san.

I was impatient and my hand slipped, and the language of flowers dictionary fell.

When I picked it up in a hurry, I found a beautiful photo of a rose on the page that had opened by chance.

I saw the sentence “The feelings put into gifting rose flowers”, and there was a description of the meanings according to the amount.

[REI]: “Ah!”

[MIYASE]: “Recently, I......really liked the meaning of giving 999 roses.”

[REI]: “999 roses is......”

“I will fall in love with you no matter how many times I am reborn.”

[REI]: “............Even if you are reborn?”

[MIYASE]: “Even if a flower withers, it creates seeds, takes root in the ground, and blooms again.”

[MIYASE]: “......But if humans die without leaving anything, then it is all over.”

[MIYASE]: “I learned that my target of revenge was not the Kujo Family......not Soma-san, but only Kujo Soichiro.”

[MIYASE]: “That man’s ill will should be completely erased.”

[MIYASE]: “After everything was settled, I wanted you to forget about someone like me and be happy.”

[REI]: “Miyase-san————...?”

-Residential Area-

I ran out of the apartment feeling like I wasn’t alive.

Before I knew it, the sky covered with colored clouds spurred my turmoil.

[RULONG]: “Little Flower.”

[REI]: “Rulong-san!?”

[RULONG]: “That state means, you’ve come to realize the meaning of Go-chan’s set?”

[REI]: “Does Miyase-san......-, plan to die!”

It was too painful just to put it in words, and tears came up.

[RULONG]: “Why do you think Go-chan will die?”

[REI]: “He intends to give “freedom”! To Kujo-san!”

[REI]: “If he’s gone, everything left by Kujo Soichiro will disappear from this world......-“

He thinks happiness belongs to the people left behind.

[REI]: “That is the end of Miyase-san's revenge, isn’t it!?”

[RULONG]: “You’re more than I expected.”

[REI]: “Why didn’t you tell me sooner!”

[RULONG]: “Even if I told Little Flower and you tried to persuade Go-chan, Go-chan's will wouldn't change.”

[REI]: “——!”

[RULONG]: “Even if he obtained that true family with Kujo Soma.”

[RULONG]: “Even if Little Flower said “I’ll be together with you”.”

[RULONG]: “Go-chan didn't change his will to die.”

[REI]: “No way......-“

[RULONG]: “Where do you think Go-chan is about to die?”

[REI]: “——The secret room.”

Before I thought about it, a scene came to my mind and it came out of my mouth.

[RULONG]: “Bingo.”

[RULONG]: “If you really understand Go-chan, the Little Flower right now might be able to stop him.”

[RULONG]: “Because not just me, Go-chan also gave that hint only to Little Flower.”

[REI]: “Hint......”

[RULONG]: “Now that Licorice has marked Go-chan, they can forcibly stop his suicide.”

[RULONG]: “But, that would have no meaning.”

[RULONG]: “Go-chan would definitely try to die again.”

[RULONG]: “That's why, Little Flower, I’m asking you, please. Don't let Go-chan die.”

[KUJO]: “I also want to ask that of you.”

[REI]: “Kujo-san!?”

He who suddenly appeared, in his hand was——...A white clover necklace the same as mine.

[REI]: “That......!”

[KUJO]: “It was in a vase in my room.”

[KUJO]: “Kirishima accidentally knocked it down and noticed it.”

The four-leaf clover of happiness for the people you wanted to wear it.

[REI]: (The other one wasn’t for himself, he was going to give it to Kujo-san!)

[KUJO]: “I apologize for asking you to take on such a heavy role.”

[KUJO]: “——But, I want you to keep Go in this world.”

[REI]: “-......Such a, such a situation, why......-“

Finally, the tears overflowed.

[REI]: (I have to stop Miyase-san right now......!)

What if you can’t stop him?

[REI]: (I definitely don't want you to die......!)

Even though you don't know how to keep him from dying?

[REI]: (I don’t know, but———!)

It was all already messed up.

Like the trampled princess lilac.

[REI]: “Miyase-san's will couldn’t be changed even by his two family members.”

At the end of my turmoil, weak words spilled out.

[REI]: “So someone like me, an existence who just met Miyase-san by coincidence——“

[RULONG]: “It was fate.”

[REI]: “Eh......”

[RULONG]: “The encounter between Little Flower and Go-chan was fate.”

[REI]: “!”

[RULONG]: “To be honest, I hate the idea of “You can't resist fate”.”

[RULONG]: “But, Go-chan probably thinks that.”

[RULONG]: “That because the painful reality that has fallen upon him until now and to die was destined, so it can’t be helped.”

[MIYASE]: “It was as if “fate” was telling me that I should definitely complete my revenge.”

[KUJO]: “Go......”

[RULONG]: “If Go-chan wants to be a fate advocate”

[RULONG]: “Then I want to say that Go-chan fortunately meeting Little Flower and saving his life is fate.”

[RULONG]: “That it wasn’t anything like coincidence. It's just wordplay, though.”

[REI]: “Fate......”

[RULONG]: “And this, I’ll give it to Little Flower.”

Rulong-san presented a read paperback book.

[REI]: ““Kokin Wakashū”......?”

[KUJO]: “! That’s......”

[RULONG]: “The seeds in people’s hearts grow into the countless leaves of words——That was me and Go-chan’s secret phrase.”

[RULONG]: “Little Flower has seeds buried in your heart, don’t you?”

[REI]: “Seeds......”

[KUJO]: “......I see. You mean that you want her to convey to Go the feelings she has right now.”

[KUJO]: “I want him to think of living.”

[KUJO]: “Please......”

Kujo-san bowed deeply.

Rulong-san stared at me with strong eyes.

[REI]: (Miyase-san is............an idiot.)

There were so many people here who wished for Miyase-san's future.

Their feelings———...and my feelings.

I won’t let you die.

Definitely.

[REI]: “Either of you, please lend me a car!”

#stand my heroes #sutamai #miyase go #translations

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renzywenzy · 4 years

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Joker Review

*Disclaimer* I held off posting this review until Phoenix won the Oscar. I promised myself that if he hadn’t won, I would have just left this in the drafts forever. That’s how much faith I had in this man and now here is my critique of my favorite film of 2019.

I have a tattoo on my right arm. The tattoo is actually the Batman logo but altered. One half of the logo is normal but the other half is made up of red “HAHAHAHA’s” all over. There’s a reason why the dynamic between these two is my favorite of all-time. It’s two different interpretations of insanity colliding in an eternal battle. It’s two iconic, well-written, captivating characters having epic confrontations.

Needless to say, I love the characters of Batman and The Joker. I grew up on them and they have played a huge part of my life. My ideologies, my way of thinking, my perception of the world, my behavior in private and in public have been directly and/or indirectly impacted by these two characters.

Any film or any form of media that have these two, separate or together, is already met with my high expectations. So obviously, my expectations for this film were through the roof. If this film was nothing short of great, I would have been really angry.

I would have been the first to say how disappointed I was, I would have been the first to say that Joaquin Phoenix should never play The Joker again, I would have been the first to say that Todd Philips should stick to raunchy comedies and stay away from the character as far as possible....but that’s not the case here.

I’m singing a different tune. A tune that I’m gonna be letting everyone hear with every chance I get. A tune that I’m gonna be playing in my head whenever I dance on the street.

Ladies and gentlemen... please welcome Joker.

The Tragedy

First of all, I’ll begin with some faults that I found in the film. Not a whole lot but I have to get these out of the way so that I can end the review with high points.

1.) The origin story we didn’t want but the one we got anyway

Now when I talk about origin story, I don’t mean Joker’s. I mean Batman’s. I’m really sorry to say but I am getting absolutely sick of seeing THAT scene.

I have to point out that it felt like this scene was rushed. It wasn’t shot as well as the other scenes. Every other scene in Joker felt like there was a beautiful story behind it. As if there was a creative progress going through the minds of the people in the scene and off the camera but this scene felt rushed and was treated like an afterthought.

I must admit, of all the films that showed Bruce’s parents in the alley, this one might be one of the weakest I’ve seen in a while. Even that piece of garbage Batman V. Superman had a slightly better way of showing that scene. If you’re going to show us a scene that’s been overly done since the beginning of Batman films, you gotta add a little more flavor and cinematic flair to it. Sad to say that for a film that was shot so well, this scene stuck out like a sore thumb.

2.) A little too much dancing and a few too many ribs

As it says in the point, there’s a little too much there. Don’t get me wrong, I love most of his dance scenes but there’s maybe 1 or 2 too many. I personally would have kept the first dance scene when accidentally shoots a gun, the one after his first kill, the one with his mother, and all the dance scenes once he completely transforms. These particular dance scenes were showing us a slow evolution and allowed to see how his mind was slowly changing. But there were a few dance scenes that didn’t really do that and instead was just kind of there. For example, the few dance scenes where he’s half-naked can be taken out completely and it wouldn’t make a difference.

And speaking of him being half-naked. I understand the film wants us to see how weak he his and in some scenes, it wants to show you the literal scars he got from society. However in some of these scenes, it gets a little distracting. The first scene where he’s half naked and trying to adjust his shoe is just perfect because for one, you don’t know really know what he’s doing at first so it leaves you wondering for a few seconds and two, you get to see how much his frail body struggles with something so simple.

But then you have a few scenes where he’s unnecessary shirtless like the one where he’s smoking and watching TV. It seemed needless for him to be shirtless for this scene because the main point of it was his reaction towards what was being shown on TV. Again, it’s no problem to show us how skinny and weak he looks but it has to be the point or a point of a scene or else it’s just distracting.

Small gripes but I had to find some criticisms for the film. But now that that’s out of the way, let’s put a smile on that face (I know they’re not the same. Just be like Joe and Chill).

The Comedy

1.) Romero, Nicholson, Ledger, Hamill, and now...

...Phoenix

There have been numerous people who have played the Joker with each actor adding their own twist to the Clown Prince of Crime. Romero embodied the camp and goofiness of the Silver Age iteration, Nicholson provided a more laid-back and mafia-esque performance, Ledger portrayed him as a true anarchist who “wants to watch the world burn”, and the legendary Hamill basically performed multiple layers of Joker’s persona for his 20+ years as the character and is THE definitive voice (and laugh) of The Joker.

Joaquin Phoenix joins this hall of fame (or infamy) by giving us a closer, more in-depth look at the mentally ill, physically battered, and emotionally abandoned man behind the smile.

I honestly can’t give this guy the praise he really deserves but I’ll do my best. My lord...this man blew me away like I was a talk-show host. Powerhouse performance doesn’t even begin to describe his acting.

This film, as well-made as it was, wouldn’t have worked nearly as well had it not been for its main star. This film hinged on how well Mr. Phoenix played the titular character and he absolutely delivered.

The film had a tough job in its hands: portray how a man was slowly dissenting into madness to the point that he lets the madness in and indulges in it. It was going to be a deliberately slow process that required an actor who can be significantly subtle enough to convey to the audience how a character is evolving but taking small steps to do so. Phoenix did that with flying colors.

If you look at the first scene where we’re introduced to Arthur, it’s clearly not the same Arthur when the film reaches its ending. We went from a man who walks with a slouch and a noticeable stiffness to a man who vigorously dances in the streets without a care in the world.

Don’t get it twisted, though. Phoenix didn’t play two different people nor did he play a man who takes a sudden huge leap in his personality. He played a person who displays slight changes to his psyche in each scene and these small changes eventually pile up. Arthur was meant to be a man who was layered like an onion and Phoenix’s performance mirrored that perfectly.

Is he the best Joker? I can’t say that. Each Joker I’ve been introduced to, while having a different spin, is ultimately the Joker at his peak or even at the twilight of his criminal life. This is the first time where I’ve witnessed a Joker who is still truly staring out. And no, Nicholson doesn’t count because Jack Napier was an established criminal way before he became the Joker. So I’m not too sure yet where to rank Phoenix’s actual full-blown Joker as it doesn’t last long however excellent it was AND a huge factor for me when it comes to ranking Jokers is the interactions with Batman. There was no Joker and Batman clash here. Only Arthur and Bruce. As it stands, Phoenix’s spot on the all-time Joker list may not be the highest but in terms of pure acting, he may very well be #1.

I know this sentiment has been repeated multiple times but I do honestly believe Phoenix deserved the Oscar here or at least a nod.

2.) Familiar punchline, fresh set-up

For any Batman/Joker fan, you’ve probably heard of this following quote:

“If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice.”

It’s an iconic quote and one that you will hear in almost any review of this film but there is a good reason for it. The line encapsulates one of the best things about The Joker: the mystery of his origins.

As mysterious as the character is, it’s hard to keep The Joker interesting these days. He is the most over-exposed Batman villain of all time and quite possibly the most over-exposed villain in fiction period. Comic books, video games, tv shows, live-action movies. The Joker has been in EVERYTHING. Like his heroic counterpart, the Joker has been exposed too much to the point that there’s really not a lot of fresh things you can do with him.

The last time any media brought something refreshing to The Joker was in Telltale’s Batman video game where you meet a man named “John Doe” who’s still looking for himself and finding out which path in life he wants to take. In the game, whatever John becomes is based on your actions. That was in 2017.

The last time before that was in 2011′s Flashpoint where Martha Wayne became The Joker in an alternate timeline where Bruce dies in the alley. Even though this version of the Joker had a clear backstory and no mysterious origin, it was still fresh because of the sheer novelty of seeing Bruce Wayne’s mother as The Joker and his father as Batman.

So there are stretches of time where there’s nothing new and exciting for The Joker character but I’m happy to say that this film does breathe new life into the character.

The filmmakers understood how this specific character should be handled and they did it in ways that are plausible. His abusive but vague childhood and his delusions help in keeping the film from being straightforward.

Let me give some examples. In the scene where Arthur steals his mother’s files in the Asylum, it’s said that he was adopted by Penny and that he was abused by one of her boyfriends.

Some people I’ve talked to believe that it was Thomas Wayne who put Penny in the Asylum and forged adoption papers. Some people even say that it was Thomas Wayne who abused them when Arthur was a child. Some people say that it’s true and Arthur really was adopted.

We don’t know these things definitively and that’s the best part. It’s whatever you want it to be. Multiple choice.

I personally want to believe that Arthur really was adopted because that just adds another air of mystery to him. If he was then we don’t know his actual birth name or who is real parents are.

All in all, even though the evolution of Arthur into The Joker remains the ultimate goal, the film lets you make up your own path into how he got there. It’s handled beautifully and the script is clearly made with a lot of knowledge of and love for the character.

3. A problem tackled with grace

I just wanted to point how well this film handles the issue of mental health and illness. This topic will forever be relevant and is an issue that’s been tackled in media before. Some handled it terribly, some handled it bad, some handled it ok, some handled it well. And then there’s Joker that handles it amazingly.

As someone who sees mental illness on a regular basis, it was so sublime how accurate this film was. The image of a decaying mind and one that descends further and further down is so powerful in this film and it just never half-asses it and I loved that.

My girlfriend is a nurse and she interacts with mentally ill people far more than I ever will and she praised it more because everything she saw from Arthur is something that she has personally had to deal with in her patients. I asked her if there was even one inaccurate and she said “No” because everything was completely plausible and has actually happened in real life on multiple occasions. Delusions of grandeur, uncontrollable ticks (like a laugh), murderous tendency, self-harm, stalking, hallucinating, you name it and most likely, this film shows it.

Not only is Arthur’s mental illness accurate but what makes it better and why I praise it is how others deal with him. It’s scary how much it mirrors reality. Some people may know how to interact with him while others just get annoyed with him. Even those who are accepting of mentally ill people can still have be irritated with them when they come in contact with them.

Arthur is beaten not just because he’s mentally ill but because he just looks like a weak man who can be pushed around. People don’t care if he’s sick, they’ll kick his ass or make fun of him regardless and in some cases, they’ll have even more incentive when they learn he has mental problems which is sadly similar to the world we live in today.

Joker is arguably the best adaption of mental illness for this decade (I say arguably because Bojack Horseman is up there) and I can’t believe that the director of the Hangover films got it right and speaking of which...

4. He directed what??

Todd Philips, the man behind the Hangover trilogy, Starsky and Hutch (2004), and Old School directed this film. Imagine late 2018 and you just heard who the director was and you search for the films he directed prior. Did you honestly believe, in your heart of hearts, he was going to pull this off?

Don’t get me wrong, comedic talents have proven to excel in other genres. Jordan Peele is a great example of that but that doesn’t necessarily apply to every comedian...However, it applied to Mr. Philips.

His direction, his vision, his execution was top-notch and I have to apologize to this man because I honestly doubted him when I initially heard about it. I knew Phoenix was going to do well and I thought that the film would just rely solely on his performance but no. Todd Philips deserves a lot of credit here. Yes, he takes some ideas and cues from Scorsese (not a bad inspiration by the way) but he handles the psychological aspect in his own style.

In terms of performers, this was close to a one-man show as you can get but Philips’ contributions behind-the-scenes should to be given as much appreciation. Phoenix was the master painter and Philips gave him the tools.

Honestly, if Philips wants to direct more dramatic and heavier films akin to this, I’m all for it. If he wants to stick around and maybe direct some more DC films, I am definitely on board. In this time of uncertainty towards DC films, Philips gave me hope. Yes, I know this film isn’t part of the DCEU but if they want to create more films in the Elseworld universe, Philips should still be part of it in some way.

5. The sound of laughter

I’m not going to lie. I rarely appreciate film scores. While I do believe they enhance a film’s quality, I’m not actively seeking it out unless it truly stands out. The only scores I truly remember and appreciate is the opening score for Star Wars, the Superman score, the main score for Indiana Jones, the Back to The Future action sequence score, Danny Elfman’s Batman score, and all of the scores from The Godfather films.

By the way I realized the first three examples I gave all sound similar but it makes sense since John Williams made them all.

So out of the hundreds (possibly thousands) of films I’ve seen, these are the only scores I can truly remember and now we add one more to the list: the dark and beautiful score by Hildur Guðnadóttir.

She absolutely gave me a much better understanding of how music can not only enhance a scene but be worked around it. Apparently, the music was made first and Todd Philips would shoot scenes with the score playing in the background so that he can craft scenes based on which part of the score he was listening to. This is the first time something like this has ever happened in the filmmaking process and it absolutely worked wonders. No wonder why each scene tied in so beautifully to a specific part of the score.

Hildur has made it and I hope to hear more of her work in future projects.

6. To a bright future (hopefully)...

This section is more of a call to action than a positive point for the film. That being said, Joker’s success has opened up many possibilities for DC films moving forward.

Let’s be honest here. The recent attempt of DC keeping up with Marvel in terms of films has not been great. DC is Marvel’s biggest competitor but when you just look purely at movie success, you wouldn’t think that.

That’s because Marvel started something solid over a decade ago and is currently having the biggest and most epic film franchise today and, quite possible, of all time.

DC tried (and is still trying) to do the same but it has been a roller-coaster with some enjoyable ups (Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, Shazam) and terrible downs (Batman V. Superman, Justice League, Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey).

Now with the huge commercial and critical success of this film, Warner Bros. need to take advantage of this while they have the chance. Joker is a film that is set in its own universe and not a part of the bigger DCEU and this could be DC’s way of being as successful as Marvel. Elseworld stories. Detective Comics was the first to put huge emphasis on a multiverse in their comics and I believe it’s time to bring that to the films.

They’ve already implemented a multiverse with the television shows but now is the time to let the silver screen experience this.

Unlike Disney, Warner Bros. has the movie rights to ALL of the DC characters. All of them. From heavyweights like Superman and Batman to less popular characters like Question and Red Tornado. They need to make use of that advantage because there are plenty of characters who have not had successful film ventures yet. Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Batgirl, Constantine (sorry Keanu) Lobo, Zatanna, Static Shock, Booster Gold (a personal favorite) and so many more. Give these characters a chance. They can shine in their own standalone movie that doesn’t have to do with the DCEU. However, if you want to put all of them in the same universe, you’ll need visionary writers capable of that.

Consider this my call to action for Warner Bros. because I’m admittedly more of a DC fan than a Marvel. Don’t get me wrong, I love both franchises but DC was my first so I am biased towards them. I’m happy that Marvel has continuous success but it also makes me melancholic because it makes me question why DC can’t experience the same.

Only time will tell if DC can keep this up because right now, they’re doing well overall but even if they ultimately never catch up, they can be proud of this one.

Overall...

I love this film and its portrayal of an iconic character. They took an overused and overexposed character and somehow made him fresh again without taking away what made him so popular in the first place.

Todd Philips had a vision and he took it to a level that I didn’t think he was capable of. Joaquin Phoenix just absolutely killed with a performance that’s going to be remembered forever.

As I write this review, talks of a sequel have already begun. I’m honestly not sure if they can do outdo themselves. My expectations will be even higher but they are most certainly welcome to exceed them again.

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onceuponmystory · 4 years

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I Have Finally Found Peace With The Rise of Skywalker

And it's all thanks to my crazy, wonderful, just-as-obsessed-with-Star-Wars-as-I-am best friends.

But before I tell you how we did it, I have to give you guys two rather important warnings concerning this post.

First and foremost, please beware that there will be MAJOR SPOILERS for The Rise of Skywalker in this post. If you haven't seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, and don't say I didn't warn you.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, this post is quite critical of the movie. I examine in detail everything I thought was bad about The Rise of Skywalker, and give my opinion on how it could have been done better.

But that doesn't mean this is a negative post - in fact, I hope to achieve quite the opposite. With the help of my friends, I realised that the best way to make your peace with The Rise of Skywalker is to talk through it and play Teacher With A Red Pen on the parts you didn't like.

I have to warn you that I tend to get a little carried away playing Teacher With A Red Pen. There's just so much to say about this movie... But if you're up to reading an insanely long post, I really think it'll be worth your while.

Now, since this is a free era, we are all entitled to our own opinions, and this is mine. You are perfectly welcome to disagree with me, just please do it politely. And with that out of the way, let's jump right in, shall we?

First Things First: Ben Solo's Death

I think one of the biggest WHY??? moments in the entire movie was Ben Solo's sacrifice and death. I'll say it now - I hated that twist, absolutely hated it. And not just because I'm a huge fan of Reylo, either.

To start, it's predictable, the exact mirror of the Darth Vader sacrifice/death scene from Return of the Jedi. And while it worked for Darth Vader, doing it again with Ben was not only cliché and repetitive, but also a slap in the face to the character.

Because Ben Solo deserved better. He really, really did.

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was from the start a very conflicted character - the son of two of the galaxy's greatest heroes, and the nephew of the last Jedi, manipulated from birth by Emperor Palpatine. Yes, he did terrible things, but he also had terrible things done to him. At the very least, he deserved the chance to atone for some of those terrible things.

While we're talking about slaps in the face, Ben dying made the deaths of Han, Luke and Leia mean so much less. All three of those people gave their lives so that their son (nephew, in Luke's case) would turn back to the light. Especially Leia - she literally used the last of her energy to reach out to her son and turn him back. Killing Ben off makes her sacrifice almost meaningless - didn't she die so he would be able to live a better life?

And my last point about the Massive Unfairness of Ben's Death has to do with Rey. She and Ben love each other, don't they? They are literally described as "two of us who are one" - which is about as close as we're going to get to soulmates in Star Wars. With Ben's death, Rey lost half of who she is - not to mention the man she loved.

George Lucas once said, and I quote, that "I have always hated that in movies, when you go along and one of the main characters gets killed. This is a fairytale. You want everybody to live happily ever after and nothing bad happens to anybody."

So yes, maybe it's not the most perfect of arguments, but this is Star Wars. And after all these years of love and admiration, we all deserve that happy ending.

And While We're At It: Ben Deserved A Proper Redemption Arc

I know I've just spent a long time ranting about why Ben deserved better, but I'm not quite done yet. Because yes, Ben absolutely deserved better - and most of all, he deserved a proper redemption.

Now, I don't know how many of you have seen Avatar The Last Airbender, but that show contains a prime example of a really good redemption arc. It's not simple, and it's not at all easy, but it's worth it.

In ATLA, Fire Prince Zuko starts off as the villain of the series, but ends up seeing that the way he was raised was wrong. He decides to make amends by joining his former enemy, Avatar Aang, and helping him save the world.

But what makes it really good is that it's not easy for Zuko. He struggles, he genuinely does, and he has to really work to earn the trust of the people who used to be his enemies. And time-consuming and difficult as it was, it ultimately ended up being worth it a thousand times over.

That, my friends, is a redemption arc. It takes time, and work, and real atonement. More than anything, I wanted to see that for Ben. I wanted him to struggle, and be distrusted, and hate himself, because that is the only way he can really redeem himself - by rising above all that and saying, "I was wrong, I'm sorry, and I'll take whatever punishment you want to give me, because I really want to change."

Death is taking the easy way out - in fact, it's lazy writing. Ben didn't have to die - his whole story, which is already so defined by struggle and conflict, would have been far more meaningful if he had had a final struggle, this time to prove that he really had changed.

Unfortunately, the writers chose to take the cliché easy way out, killing off the character instead of giving him a much deeper, more meaningful ending.

If there was one thing - just one thing - I could change about The Rise of Skywalker, it would be that. I would give Ben the chance to properly redeem himself, because he really, truly deserves it.

Moving On: Rose Tico

With the Ben arc out of the way, I can move on to the next biggest issue I had with The Rise of Skywalker - and that's the horrible sidelining of one of my favourite characters from The Last Jedi, Rose Tico.

Now, I get that not everyone liked Rose's character - and that's fine. But there was no reason - none at all - for basically removing Rose, who played quite a significant role in The Last Jedi, from the new movie. Additionally, given all the racist and sexist harassment that Kelly Marie Tran suffered at the hands of malcontent fans, cutting Rose from the film almost seems like caving to those trolls.

And that is not acceptable. If you let a bully have his way, stopping him becomes near impossible. So even if it was just to show the trolls that bullying will not get you what you want, Rose Tico deserved a bigger role.

What bigger role, you may ask? Many people have said, and I grudgingly agree, that there wasn't really space for Rose to go along on the whole wayfinder quest. All right, fine. But sidelining her completely is not the right course of action. If you can't take her along on the main quest, then give her a significant sub-plot, for example joining Lando to call for aid for the Resistance.

Remember, Rose Tico was the person who turned Finn from an ex-stormtrooper more than ready to desert the Resistance into a loyal fighter for the cause he believes in - to such an extent that he was willing to sacrifice his own life for the survival of the Resistance. If there's anyone who could give the galaxy enough hope again to send help to the Resistance, it's Rose Tico.

Oh, and some more Finnrose would have been nice. You don't have to agree with me - I know many of you don't - but you have to admit that Finn and Rose definitely had some sort of a bond forged in The Last Jedi, even if it was just a platonic one. Basically ignoring that like they did in The Rise of Skywalker is just bad writing.

So I'm not saying that Rose needed to be the main star of the show - that would have been unrealistic, after all. But I do think, and I will stand by this opinion no matter what, that Rose deserved a lot better than what she got.

And On That Track: Jannah Was An Unnecessary Character

Don't get me wrong, I love Naomi Ackie, and I appreciate that Star Wars is trying to incorporate a more diverse cast. But despite it all, I just couldn't bring myself to like Jannah's character, or see why she was actually necessary.

See, if you take out Jannah, nothing much changes. Yes, it was nice for Finn to have someone to talk and relate to, but it wasn't necessary. We already know that Finn was a stormtrooper, just like we already know he left it behind him.

Also, Finn already had a female character he had a significant bond to - none other than Rose Tico from my previous rant. Why force in an all-new potential love interest at the last minute when you already have one with far more development? Not only could Rose have conceivably replaced Jannah in pretty much every scene, she also has a lot more development and history with Finn than Jannah does, which would have made their interactions that much more meaningful.

And as for the attack on Pryde's Destroyer with the Orbaks (and no, I didn't know that's what those cow things were called, either, until I Googled it a few seconds ago) - that was a nice touch, but there's a simple way it could have been much better. Instead of introducing an all-new character and cow things with a name no-one knew unless they looked it up on Wookieepedia, bring back the fathiers from Canto Bight and that little Force-sensitive kid with the broom from The Last Jedi.

At this point, some of you may be wondering why I'm not attacking Zorii Bliss as well - isn't she also a brand-new character with very little real development? The answer to that is yes, she is, but she gives Poe Dameron some much-needed backstory. If you cut Zorii, Poe has no significant backstory, which means that she was actually important to the plot. (Also, Keri Russell is awesome, and has stunning eyes. Enough said.)

So I'm sorry, Naomi Ackie, but I really wish that Jannah <i>wasn't</i> in The Rise of Skywalker. She's just there for too short to have any real development, and I'd rather use the time I gain from cutting her to focus on Rose and the actual plot.

While I'm Talking About The Plot: What On Earth Happened? Is Star Wars A Video Game, Now?

Ah, yes. Another big issue with The Rise of Skywalker is its rather disappointing lack of actual plot.

I'm sure some of you are frowning quite heavily at me right now, so let me backtrack a little and explain.

Upon first watching, The Rise of Skywalker seems like quite a good movie, really. (Except the ending, of course - but We Do Not Talk About The Ending.) It's only when you re-watch the movie that you realise that there is, in fact, very little really significant plot there.

To put it simply, a large part of the movie is a group of characters going to a Place to find a Thing that will help them find another Thing that will take them to another Place where they will save the world. Does this sound like a video game to anyone?

The thing with this kind of plot is that it works well the first time, when you don't know what's going to happen, and when the lack of plot can be hidden by dramatic explosions and cool fight scenes. Oh, and flying stormtroopers.

This is Star Wars, so there just has to be some explosions, as well as a quest of some kind. I don't deny that. But when said quest and explosions fill the story to such a degree that they become the plot, you're in cinematic trouble.

This is pretty much proven when you re-watch The Rise of Skywalker. Where the heroic quest and explosions and jetpack-sporting stormtroopers had you at the edge of your seat last time, now that you know what's coming, you start to see that very little actually happens in these scenes. Sure, they look cool, but they don't really affect the overall movement of the story in a significant way.

And that's a problem, given that most of the movie consists of scenes like these, or exposition. There are precious few scenes in which two or more characters have meaningful development in a way that will continue to affect them and the plot. This, unfortunately, means that the movie falls flat a bit when you watch it for the second time.

How would I change this?

Well, for starters, I would focus less on the actual hunt for the dagger and the wayfinder and whatever and more on the characters. How do they feel? Why do they feel it? And most importantly, how does this affect what happens to the rest of the characters and the plot?

Also, like I said before, more attention has to be given to a) Ben's redemption and b) an interesting sub-plot for Rose. And you know what? The lightsaber fight scenes could have been a lot cooler, as well.

Some More Complaining About The Plot: This Time, It's Plot Holes

Where to start, where to start. All movies have a plot hole of some kind, it's only natural, but The Rise of Skywalker is simply riddled with them.

Of course, this can be attributed to the lack of plot as explained in the previous rant. Since there is so little time spent actually developing the plot, it just stands to reason that said plot isn't the most watertight.

It's sort of spectacular, though, how quickly the first plot hole pops up. It must be just five minutes into the script - you guessed it, on Exegol.

Not only was the Emperor's resurrection never properly explained, but we also have about a thousand creepy Sith guys who are just suddenly there when needed for plot purposes. Who are they? Where did they come from? How did we not know about them before?

The Rise of Skywalker doesn't even try to answer any of these questions. It just gets glossed over in a classic example of How To Write A Glaring Plot Hole.

And while we're talking about Palpatine, let's take a look at his lackey-in-chief, Allegiant General Pryde, who oh-so-dramatically declares that he serves Palpatine "as I served you in the old wars."

Wait a minute. The old wars? As in the Return of the Jedi wars? Well then why on earth haven't we heard of Pryde before?

Sure, maybe he wasn't a major enough character to show in the original trilogy. But if he was such a faithful servant of Palpatine's, shouldn't he at least have made some kind of cameo in The Last Jedi or The Force Awakens? That would also have been some nice foreshadowing for the Emperor's return.

Also, when and how did Rey fix Anakin's lightsaber? As I recall, at the end of The Last Jedi, it snapped in half. But when we skip to Rey in The Rise of Skywalker, it's perfectly whole again, with not a hint of explanation on the horizon.

Yes, maybe this isn't the biggest plot hole, but it's annoying. At least just have someone mention in passing "Oh well done Rey, you finished fixing the lightsaber" so it's not quite so out of the blue.

And there's more. When Rey and Kylo have their big fight on Kef Bir, Rey quite clearly takes Kylo's TIE fighter. Since the Falcon most definitely did not stop by for him, how did Ben get off Kef Bir?

This is never explained. He just pitches up on Exegol, and immediately starts fighting the Knights of Ren so you forget about wondering how he got there in the first place.

Can I just say the Knights of Ren were a disappointment? I was hoping for a lot more... anything, actually. They did pretty much nothing except look menacing for the entirety of the movie, unless you count getting thoroughly beaten by Ben on Exegol.

I've probably missed another plot hole or seven, but I think I've had enough for the moment. You can only pull faces for so long, after all. I'm moving on.

Last Thing: Too Much Fan Service

Picking up from where I left off - bad plot - I'll start by breaking a few hearts and saying that I thought Chewie should have died.

Wait, wait, don't run away screaming "Traitor!" like that! Dead Chewie would have been absolutely heart-breaking, I know, but it would have made for a really good plot point.

Rey thought she killed Chewie, and that quite understandably broke her heart. But then she finds out, oh no, wait, he's actually alive, there was another transport in the desert, ha ha, don't worry, fans.

While that satisfies fans, looking at it critically, it would have been better to really kill Chewie. Very sad, yes, but better.

Let me explain. If Rey killed Chewie, really killed him, she would have been devastated. Being Rey, she probably would have isolated herself so she wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone else. She would have grieved, and her friends would have had to really work to comfort her and get her to trust herself again. This experience would have left Rey that much sadder and wiser, but stronger because of it.

This can be summed up quite simply: sad moments make the happy moments mean that much more.

But unfortunately for Rey's character development, Chewie is not really dead. The fans might be happy that they didn't lose a beloved character, but what they don't realise is that they lost a significant character progression instead.

And, sadly, this is not the only spot where the movie indulges its fans rather than a deeper plot.

For example, Rey buries Luke and Leia's lightsabers on Tattooine, and we fans get a warm tingly feeling in our stomachs because yay, we've come full circle.

But have we?

Tattooine holds nothing but bad memories for the Skywalker twins - Luke spent his entire life trying to get off the planet, and that homestead holds only bad memories for him. Easy as it is to forget, the last time Luke saw that homestead was when his aunt and uncle had been brutally murdered there. I somehow can't imagine that's where he would want his lightsaber buried - that's the equivalent of burying Harry Potter's wand at Number Four Privet Drive, for crying out loud.

The same can be said for Leia. Her one experience of Tattooine was the infamous gold bikini scene with Jabba the Hutt - totally the place where she'd want to have her lightsaber, her legacy, buried, hmm?

My conclusion is that the "hopeful and uplifting" Tattooine ending scene is really only that way if you don't think too hard about it. Pure fan service, in other words.

Which is sad, if you consider the ending we could have had. We could have had Rey burying the lightsabers on Naboo, because that's where her grandfather came from, to symbolise that she really was leaving the past behind.

And if you have to be fan service-y, at least do it in the right way. Give Rey and Ben their happy ending, because as George Lucas puts it, having the boy and the girl walk into the sunset hand-in-hand adds ten million to the box office. (And a sunset across Naboo's seas would look very pretty, wouldn't it?)

In Conclusion: TROS Being So Bad Is Actually A Good Thing, Because Now We Get To Fix It The Way We Want

Take a moment to consider that. If The Rise of Skywalker was so bad that we no longer consider it canon, well, that means we can invent our own canon, doesn't it?

This is how I made my peace with The Rise of Skywalker - by accepting that the movie Disney gave us needed some severe changes, and applying them in my head. You won't believe how much better I feel now that I have "my" version of The Rise of Skywalker accepted as canon in my head.

That's my message to you all: if TROS has upset you as much as it did me, don't try to deny it to yourself. Gather a group of good friends around you and have a The Rise of Skywalker fix-it session, and talk it out until you've made the movie into what you want to see.

We are the fans, my friends, and we deserve the movie that we want to see. So get out there and make it for yourselves!

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jobethreviews-blog · 5 years

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Black Mirror, Season 5 Episode 1: Striking Vipers

Black Mirror is a show that’s known for leaving its viewers open-mouthed and thinking, “Holy shit”. Each episode explores the worst of humanity, be it anything from our darkest desires to our tendency to be complicit, and it investigates how technology could make it worse– and how it already is.

I went into the fifth season expecting no less than the high stakes content that Black Mirror has been producing for the past four seasons. And at first, I wasn’t disappointed. Striking Vipers (also, is this title the double entendre I think it is?) depicts Danny, a man clearly discontent with married life despite his love for his wife, Theo. The episode begins with Danny pretending to be meeting Theo, his girlfriend at the time, for the first time in a bar. Her warmth with a stranger who flirts with her, versus the frigidity of the way she and Danny address each other and how dissatisfied they seem in one another’s presence, ends up being important for later. He comments on how she enjoys roleplay, foreshadowing the events of the episode and how they both enjoy being people other than themselves.

This is when we’re introduced to Karl, Danny and Theo’s roommate. Personally, I immediately picked up on the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sexual tension between the two, apparent in Karl’s constant casual touching and in their somewhat sexual tussle on the couch (also foreshadowing). Danny leaves Theo alone in bed, to go play video games with Karl. Karl declares to Danny that his character, Roxette, who he apparently plays as every round, is going to “fuck his head off”. This is all indicative of their relationship later in the episode.

This is followed by an eleven year time jump. We see Danny as an bored and dissatisfied husband, clearly uncomfortable with small talk and checking out a woman at his child’s birthday party when she bends over. Karl, on the other hand, is the manifestation of temptation for Danny– he has everything Danny wants, from his body to his sex life. The difference in his interaction with Karl from the last time we saw them together is evident, refusing to even hug him. This episode leaves room for the audience to take this as some kind of internalized homophobia, at least at the beginning. It is continuously emphasized that Danny and Theo’s lives revolve around routine, everything from scheduled sex to reading the same book to their son at night.

Later that night, Danny sits down to play the VR game that Karl bought for him as a present– Striking Vipers X– and gets a request to play from Karl. Karl plays as Roxette once again, and Danny plays as his usual character, Lance. Karl is shown to enjoy sex most when he’s in a woman’s body. At one point, he even waxes lyrical about how much better experiences are in a woman’s body. This raises the question of how we explore our gender in digital spaces, and it gets the audience wondering if there’s something more to Karl in that respect. There was certainly room to explore that, but the show never touches on it again. Striking Vipers does this often; it brings to light important and interesting questions, and then never addresses them beyond initial mention.

Karl kisses Danny while they are in avatar form, and this freaks the latter out. He spends multiple scenes after the fact looking lost and confused, as he presumably tries to puzzle through his feelings about it. One of this episode’s weaknesses is in how much they leave unsaid. While Black Mirror often leaves things up to interpretation, the episode in particular feels superficial due to lack of insight into the characters’ true emotions. Eventually, Danny can’t resist it anymore and he plays the game once again, and this time he and Karl’s avatars end up having sex. After the fact, Karl makes a joke about them being gay now, and Danny states that it didn’t “feel like a gay thing”.

I assumed, from all of this, that the episode was going to explore sexuality and gender in the digital world and how we use the internet as a facet to explore our desires, as well as how technology has blurred the lines of cheating in a relationship. I also thought that it was meant to prompt discussion on how technology has lead us to desire technological intimacy over actual physical intimacy, and how that will inevitably harm our ability to maintain healthy relationships.

Danny and Karl both seem to be representative of what the other desires. Karl seemed to long for the kind of stability and routine that Danny loathes so much, and Danny envies Karl’s freedom. Therefore, their affair becomes an outlet for them in many ways. They continue to meet up on the game for several months. In this time, we see Danny begin to prefer sex with Karl’s avatar over sex with his own wife, and we watch as he withdraws from his family, even forgetting his wedding anniversary. At the same time, we see Karl unable to be intimate with other people.

It all comes to a head when Danny and Theo go out to dinner for their anniversary. Theo gets to the bar before Danny, and is approached by a young man who asks to buy her a drink. This scene parallels the opening scene, and reminds the viewers that Theo’s desire to break free of routine is just as prevalent as Danny’s. She ultimately turns the man down, though she seems reluctant, and sits down to dinner with Danny.

They converse about about how bored they are with their lives, and she questions him about whether he is having an affair. He is clearly guilt-ridden, but insists that nothing is happening. One may wonder– if it doesn’t mean anything, if he really does see it as just two avatars fucking, why is he so guilty? Earlier in the day, we see him agonize over whether to say “Sorry x” or just “Sorry” in an apologetic text to Karl. I assumed that this meant Danny was coming to terms with his feelings.

He decides to go cold turkey on the game, which he relays to a clearly distraught Karl. Karl tries every excuse to get Danny to continue their relationship, but Danny cuts him off from his life. The story jumps to seven months later, and we see that Karl’s life has fallen apart– his apartment is a mess, he’s implied to be an alcoholic, and he’s lonely. Theo invites him to dinner, much to Danny’s chagrin.

A painfully awkward and tense dinner ensues. When Theo goes to get dessert, Danny and Karl are left alone. Danny is furious at Karl for coming over, which once again makes us ask– if it didn’t mean anything, why does Danny have such a problem with it?

Karl proceeds to tell Danny that nothing lives up to the sex their virtual selves have together. He mentions having sex with other players, as the same character, as different characters, but it wasn’t the same. Nothing compared to what he and Danny had between them. I was convinced that at this point, the episode was telling us that Karl had feelings for Danny.

He tells Danny to meet him in the game that night for one last fuck. Danny, although he grapples with the decision, ultimately and expectedly does so. After they finish, Karl (as Roxette), says “I love you”, leaving Danny angry and stunned. When Karl says that he must feel it too, Danny doesn’t deny it. He tells Karl to meet him at the club they used to frequent together, and once there, he tells him that they should kiss and see if they have real feelings for each other. I thought, “oh, this is it! it’s commentary on our formation of relationships through the internet! it’ll make a statement how technology has helped make love conditional or something!!” The two kiss. And then, Karl says that he felt “not a damn thing.” Danny replies in kind, and then Karl continues to say that he can’t possibly forget what they had together. This is followed by a completely random and unnecessary fistfight.

What?

It made no sense to me. It felt like a giant “no homo”, and completely out of left field. The episode repeatedly dips its toes in making a point about sexuality and gender and how they intertwine with technology, but it pulls back every time.

Eventually Danny and Theo come to a “hall pass”-esque agreement, that on Danny’s birthday he can have sex with Karl in the game, and she can go out and pick up a partner. They even go as far as to show Karl excitedly getting ready, the day marked on his calendar. This further suggests that he feels something for Danny, but they don’t let him admit it.

In the end, Striking Vipers was full of unused potential– it raised interesting questions that would have made the episode poignant, had those questions actually been explored. Instead, they were so focused on showing us how technology causes us to disrupt the fragile status quo, that they didn’t give us enough of how it affects the characters in the episode. There’s no emotional depth, no insight into these characters’ feelings beyond what they tell each other and no shown communication. The episode feels bland, and devoid of meaning by the end. Even the conversation where Theo and Danny presumably came to their arrangement is left out, leaving the audience unsatisfied and without much closure. There were so many paths they could have taken this concept, but they just didn’t. Anything that could prompt the audience to truly think about how technology affects how we relate to each other was abandoned in favour of hammering home how technology interferes with a white-picket-fence life, a narrative that’s been run into the ground at this point.

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doomonfilm · 5 years

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Review : Black Mirror - Bandersnatch (2018)

From day one, Charlie Brooker and the team behind Black Mirror have pushed the boundaries of what science fiction storytelling can be in the modern era. Once Netflix jumped aboard, the budget and possibilities expanded vastly, and fans were left wondering what the future of the series held in store. Rumors of a groundbreaking new season started to hit the circuit in 2018, but all of that subsided late in the year as word of a movie begin to spread. Many of us were excited, but I am not sure if anyone was ready for the interactive experience that is Black Mirror : Bandersnatch.

Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead) is a young programmer with visions of turning Bandersnatch, a book written by author (and killer) Jerome F. Davies (Jeff Minter), into a videogame where the user makes choices to move through the story. Stefan presents the game to Tuckersoft boss Mohan Thakur (Asim Chaudhry) and famed programmer Colin Ritman (Will Poulter), who offer him the chance to finish the game for Tuckersoft and have it released to the masses. Stefan accepts the challenge, much to the behest of his father Peter Butler (Craig Parkinson). As Stefan spirals deeper and deeper into the stress that surrounds him and the game, his mental state begins to fracture. He visits Dr. Haynes (Alice Lowe), which provides awakenings to his feelings about his father in light of his mother’s death, as well as medication that he takes to keep his mental state together. As the deadline fast approaches, however, the pressure begins to get to Stefan, causing a series of choices and events that bring a world of grisly and ghastly possibilities.

The way that the illusion of control is celebrated within a film based on the entire principle of giving viewers choices is fascinating. On top of that, we are dealing with a meta-narrative within a meta-narrative, as we are watching a video game programmer who feels as if they are being controlled create a game about choices based on a book where readers make choices to navigate the narrative. The subtext of medication and psychoactive drugs as control devices creates a sense of paranoia and an unsure nature that makes both Stefan and the viewer equally lost. On the surface, it appears as if the majority of the choices lead to one inevitable conclusion with a few revisions, but I imagine that if you stray far enough off track without derailing the story, other strange endings will emerge.

That illusion bleeds into the realm of choice equally, with most every aspect of the narrative tainted by false choice systems or choice-based regrets. The story of Stefan’s mother’s death not only cripples him emotionally and poisons his relationship with his father, the reality of the event being put into question puts him over the edge. The dreams and flashbacks initially seem like indicators, as Colin mentions briefly, but upon further reflection, they come off more like skewed justifications for horrible actions. The entire narrative seems to loop back around to a handful of key points, and these serve as the splinter points for things to shift direction.

The stark colors not only work as emotional cues, but they blend together as if they are slightly programmed, blending the line between reality and programming quite well. The choice system that Netflix gives works well, with the pauses built into the performances for viewers to make selections masked as seamlessly as possible. There are easter eggs abound throughout the film that further blur the chronology of events with the Black Mirror canon. For such a lofty concept, the writing is sharp and connects together throughout, sometimes even breaking narrative structure altogether to force viewers to choose between difficult extremes. The option to dig around amongst endings upon conclusion of your viewing session is cool, but the system lends itself to repeat viewings with gaps of time spacing them out.

The world is peppered with a number of individuals, but a handful of performances in particular stand out for this particular project. Fionn Whitehead’s measured reluctance, troubled spirit and eventual fractured emotional state are all portrayed confidently and assuredly, many of those beats shifted within the space of a scene. Will Poulter and his offbeat nature work well in contrast, as you’re never quite sure how aware he is of the overall meta-situation. Asim Chaudhry takes what could have easily been a trope of a character and injects it with just enough personality to make him equal parts endearing and sleazy. Craig Parkinson hits all the proper beats of a concerned father who has no idea how their kid truly resents them, and even plays into the twist-tone that is briefly presented in one of Stefan’s dreams. Alice Lowe invokes the spirit of a therapist quite well, to the point where you slightly forget she is an actor. Appearances by Tallulah Haddon, Alan Asaad, Jonathan Aris and Jeff Minter also stand out.

I very much look forward to watching this one a few times over in hopes of not only seeing if I can decipher a pattern, but uncover some of the crazier endings I’ve heard of. As a one-off idea, Black Mirror has a bonafide hit on their hands with this one.

#ChiefDoomsday #DOOMonFILM #CharlieBrooker #DavidSlade #BlackMirror #Bandersnatch #FionnWhitehead #WillPoulter #AsimChaudhry #CraigParkinson #AliceLowe #TallulahHaddon #LauraEvelyn #CatrionaKnox #JonathanAris #PaulBradley #AlanAsaad #SuzanneBurden #JeffMinter

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hennythejetsmith · 5 years

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Window Part One

Water raced down the glass as the storm ensued. I likened the drops to stars as I peered through the window toward the sky. A reflection of heaven in the form of her tears as I created my own constellations. This four-sided room repelled summer’s petrichor; it was the first rain of the season. The rain drummed ever so slightly on the pane as if it waited for Miles Davis’ trumpet to accompany the lulling rhythm; where were the aristocrats & lovers of jazz to slow dance the night away. Ironically, Jim Hall’s Concierto De Aranjuez played on in the background & I cherished the lasting memory of her I had; a lone orchid catty-corner the looking glass aka my escape. A crack of the window was okay for fresh air every so often, but I preferred her fragrance, he flower that is. As if it were the rose & I were the beast, the glow mustn’t ever die out, even as she went on to love another. I still love her y’know? Of course, I’d never muster the strength to mutter out a single indication of such for wallowing in this unrequited torment truly is a pastime of mine.

The lavender futon held many a soul captive that fell victim to its underappreciated comfort. Through a torrential downpour, you could see a young man, maybe in his early 20s, rise into view & disappear into what looked like a college kid’s dorm or contemporary minimalist coffee shop. From ground level, you could vaguely see strung up lightbulbs, thumbtacked polaroid photos, & what looked like an unfinished canvas. The neighbors knew little of this “millennial,” though he subscribed to ideal of unsubscribing to labels. Placing citizens in categories based on their birthyear may work for some on a literal level, but the soul itself, transcends the confines of any linear time period. A quick gander outside & he turned his back as he vanished from eyesight of any bystander. A quiet little suburban area is where he’d come home to rest at night. He never really uttered much but a “hello, how are you?” to those that lived aside him. If you were quiet enough, the keys of a piano would faintly soothe the mind & relieve you of the bustle of real life between the drywall that separated the humble town home from the others.

“My hair is a mess,” a quiet thought to myself staring at the looking glass. The bronze & gold finish around the mirror is a bit tacky; I could’ve done without this.

He shrugged his shoulders in complacency & carried on.

Vivacious, just as it was when she first brought you in here, my love. Just like her, beauty unparallel. I imagine right now, she has nestled up under her sill as her rosy lips are kissed ever so gently by summer’s breeze. How am I to compete as nature nurtures her very being? A love affair where I quietly, yet graciously, am on the outside as the third wheel.

His mind rarely took the time to be sit by itself, even as he did externally. The image of she & he had internally been etched onto his consciousness’s wallpaper.

The inkwell seems to be refilling, where have my pen & notebook ran off to? They too, in some sort of flirtatious dalliance & I am nothing but the conduit for their interaction; not that it bothers me.

He reached for a string to lower the shutters in his room. A sense of intimacy was needed that the world could not witness, according to him at least. The surrounding periwinkle paint provided a calm as a neon “Good Vibes” shone light juxtaposed the outer gloomy sky blocking out the moon. The clean-cut young adult reached to the right of his futon alongside the right wall of his room & grabbed a green notebook. “CVS” adorned on the bottom right of the pad really did not mean much alone but intertwined with the midnight trips for juice & snacks, his heart would skip a beat as his eyes skirted across the cover. It truly was the simple things that would get him. He really loved her. He flipped open to a random page with a ball point pen resting on the coiled bounds of the book. One last stare at the orchid that rest in the corner of his room & his lids covered his eyes. Reaching for his pen, he seemed to be in some sort of trance, becoming a body chattel for some higher being as words begun to scribble across the college-ruled paper.

Your silence is deafening.

Am I to be at fault

For knowing not that to gift you with my heart

Would leave me in joyous ruin?

An endless current; yet presentably stoic. No one shall ever know of the affinity I have for you still. Deceit is my greatest weapon & these pages remain privy to myself only. Short & sweet this time I see; reminiscent to the inevitable beginning & end of our fiery passion.

_______________________________________________

Coins clink together, sirens ring non-stop, lights flicker on & off like some rave, but all I see is her flowing cinnamon hair & feel the soft touch of her hand. She told me she had always wanted to play Ms. Pac-Man in a genuine arcade, but never had the chance. I cannot seem to remember her name, but the crescent inked on the back of her neck, Luna could be a moniker until my memory decides to refresh itself. I have doomed myself to be labeled some male chauvinist pig objectifying her for the night. Fuck, I must think of somethi-

“Hey, so are you ready to lose?”

“I really do not think you know what you are getting yourself into Luna. Sorry, I saw the tattoo on the back of your neck & couldn’t help it. I hope you do not take offense.”

“Oh, no. It’s okay.” Whew, dodged one bullet, now to remem-

“My name, by the way, is Ana. That was your last chance to forget.”

Despite the fluorescent bulbs incessant flashing, my eyes are fixated on you Ana. Subtle, yet sent straight to my spine; forget your name, never again will I.

“How did you know?”

As Ana chuckles, she responds,

“Because you just told me.” She laughs again & proceeds past the row to what seems to be an endless amount of ski ball tables. With all the calamity surrounding us, all I could hear was the sound of her voice. Softly fluttering atop my ear drums akin to the late great Amy Winehouse.

“Really a shame what has to happen here. You sure you don’t want to hop in the Jurassic Park game? That’ll be fairer considering I haven’t played that since my Chuck E. Cheese days.” No response as we traverse the litter of children & adolescence. I can hear the chains rattling from the basketball games in the corner; I watch the tickets fall out of the Whack-A-Mole; I wonder how many tries before that bonus tickets slot is hit on that one game all the kids want to play. 500 tickets for the bonus is pretty good, I’m sure someone will be lucky enough.

There was no line for the Ms. Pac-Man placed in the back corner. Most kids were more concerned not with the classics but winning the prizes behind the counter. Playstation 4s & the new Xboxes were for the top ticket getters alongside the motor scooter that seemed to have been collecting dust for quite some time. It was a bit smoky in Kat’s 24-hour arcade. Marijuana smoke was a lot less bothersome to her than tobacco though. Whenever she smelt a hint of cigarette, the lights came on & the games shut down until the culprit was found & removed hastily. Some nights, she closed early because no one wanted to come forward. She made sure the kids were out by 9 o’clock pm, some snuck around after, because she knew that grown folks too, loved to play video games to escape the endless cycles that left so many of her regulars entrapped. Their cynicism & vitriol toward their very own lives brought tears to her eyes every so often. So, she decided to invest in giving others a chance to relive their childhoods. Kat always sat in the back on her wooden stool next to the NBA JAM, her favorite. You wouldn’t know that she was a huge Orlando magic fan living up north in the Big Apple. Always a chip on her shoulder from the “what if” with Shaq & Penny. Tonight, was no different; she was sitting in the back, watching highlights from their golden era as a couple zoomed right by headed straight for Ms. Pac-Man. For a second, she was distracted due to how young they looked.

“Hmph, at least some of these ‘millennials’ know a little bit about nothing,” she thought to herself as she refocused back to “The Youtube.”

I really underestimated her. All I hear is waka-waka-waka-waka; all I see are intermissions & level design changes; & I feel that I am about to lose! Maintaining composure is key, but she has not lost a single life & now a random assortment of fruits is dispersing through maze openings like an opened pack of Runts. She has absolute control of the screen & it’s as if she flows effortlessly with the ghosts; she is one with Ms. Pac-Man.

“It’s your turn. You don’t have to be astonished anymore. I tried to warn you, but you didn’t want to listen. Sol.”

She slid to the side as it was my turn. No way that I take an early loss. She’s at about 43,000 already before my first go around.

“Sol?”

“Well, it would only be right to call you Sol, considering you named me Luna. Or are you unaware of the moon’s opposite Shawn?”

“I mean, it seems you haven’t forgotten my name.”

“It would be rude to do so. We all can’t be you, now can we?”

Is she being serious? Or is this a sarcastic barrage to distract me fro-well that is the end of my turn.

“Well played. Ana.”

She smiled in a snark manner. Who are you & what is this fluttery feeling in my stomach?

_______________________________________________

“To play into a stalemate is the goal here. I am at a severe disadvantage right now,” Shawn thought to himself as he eyed the dual-colored board. Erratic sleep patterns would leave him in states of melancholy that were relieved with doses of chess: mano y mano. His opponent, usually visible not to the naked eye, unless a photographer had photoshopped a still image of himself imposed on the wall. Each piece calculated & moved while simultaneously calculating how many moves would no longer stall his inner peace before sunrise. The shadows on his wall were not envious as they watched with morose endurance. They murmured amongst themselves questioning if she were to ever return, but not even the remnants of her no longer played on the periwinkle walls in his sleep. Piece after piece was removed from the board as the stars laid down to rest. His eyes never wavered until 2 Kings remained atop the wooden square. The moon peaked through the blinders, shed a tear, & blew a kiss before she too, disappeared in the morning. Sometimes, she kept an eye on him & the sun was a bit jealous of their connection. He did not know what the moon saw in Shawn. The megastar’s bitterness brought forth a chilly June day. A purple windbreaker & sweat shorts were enough to combat back. A bit unusual, but no deterrence as Shawn strolled past the emerald green lawns & lush trees; much the same to some family-oriented television sitcom. Shawn was unaware that a smile crept up on his face, but the neighbors took notice & waved as he quickened his pace down the side walk. Blue jays harmonized in the air above him as he eyed butterflies frolic through the air & he suddenly stopped in his tracks…

_______________________________________________

Melted together where the colors of the carnival as Shawn felt Ana clinch onto his arm & the body-sized tiger that came between them as the teacup frantically span the three into a muzzy state of joy.

“You two look like a real-time version of Calvin & Hobbs. Carmen & Hobbs is what I’ll call you two.”

Shawn had gotten a little more comfortable with Ana after a few dates. She scornfully stared a hole into his forehead.

“You still haven’t gotten over that Ms. Pac-Man beating have you? It’s okay, one day the shattered ego you have will finally be content. Until that day, I will starve that small little man that screams inside of your mind until it is victory you concede & you melt into the putty I envision you to mold you into the sculpted man I truly desire. Right now, this is just the waiting game. You were distracted too easily to converse when we were in the heat of war. Your loss.”

Her tongue was paint, or acid, her choice. He, simply, was a blank canvas for her liking at this very moment.

“Maybe, its more so that you’ve chosen to indulge a bit too deeply in the appetizer that I handfed you with the victory I allowed you to have. Whose to say your victory wasn’t fixed?”

“All speculation. Of course, this type of allegation you would lean on to save face. Very Tim Donaghy of you Shawn. I’m disappointed.”

“I mean, since that point, your victories have become few & far between. Even that night, pinball, clear-cut win in my column. Air Hockey was a 7-0 skunk. Basketball wasn’t even a challenge. Donaghy? Really?”

“See how two of those three play to your advantage, with maybe the exception of air hockey because the table is even, but your physical strength gives you an advantage when you decide that my whole became a target & your…whatever they are called, because an AK-47 as you fired the puck with no restraint? How does fried victory taste? Hopefully as nutritious as a microwavable patty covered in barbecue sauce people clamor on about.”

“Doesn’t matter its value, because in that moment it tastes so fucking good, I care not for the bigger picture there, but enjoying the RIGHT NOW!”

The two had not noticed that all eyes in the carnival had locked onto their jawing match. That did not matter now, Ana’s curly brown & auburn hair had become vibrant & through her glasses, he glared directly into her darkened eyes & she too, was magnetized by his. Tension in the air was still as many were frozen, not knowing what was next. A vein in his neck pulsated as sweat trickled down her brow. Both, instantaneously after realizing what this was, scurried off to the closest blackened corridor. They found an absent alley by a Ferris Wheel ridden by many. Ana dropped her Hobbs in withered grass & turned her back to the wall as Shawn gripped her hip & both their full lips met in passion. Onlookers cheered from the skyline as they snapped back to reality, simmering their immature fervor.

“Really? Our first kiss comes from your antagonistic… never mind. You wi… oh wait, you won’t get me that easily.”

“I’ve already won,” she responded. “The moment I led you through Kat’s doors. I felt it. That doesn’t matter now, shut up & kiss me.”

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shirouuryuuzaki · 3 years

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Crucible: the science behind why watching others playing video games has become so popular

Amazon has moved into the amazingly monetarily compensating universe of pc gaming by delivering its underlying title, Pot. A group based action shooter, it means to contending industry monsters like Fortnite. What makes the computer game particular is that it was created to be as amusing to see all things considered to play. This is on the grounds that it was delivered with the organization's video gaming live-real time stage Jerk at the top of the priority list.

Jerk was acquired by Amazon in 2014. It has really come to be the huge stage for players around the planet to parade their capacities just as get gigantic fanbases, likewise matching YouTube. In 2019, it acquired 17.5 million normal everyday people just as more noteworthy than 600 billion mins of ongoing interaction were seen.

It is straightforward why it is pleasant to battle your technique all through anecdotal terrains however somewhat complex why numerous people have a great time seeing another person do it. Nonetheless, the reasons they do are not as of not long ago killed from their own personal ongoing interaction.

Mimicry

The thinking behind the extending ubiquity of simply seeing others mess around can be situated in the wonder of mirror neurons. These are expert psyche cells that seem to assume some part in a creature's capacity to look like.

There is boosting proof that children use reflect neurons to reproduce and furthermore discover outward appearances, and to emulate sounds. The idea is that when we see, for example, an outward appearance for the absolute first time, reflect neurons fire in our psyches giving us a guide of precisely how to duplicate that identical demeanor by means of the neural connects to our countenances.

There is similarly some proof of mirror neurons' association in territories like empathy. These mirror nerve cells appear at add to a brain framework that guides us associate what we see in others to our own encounters.

This could be vital to understanding why many are headed to watch others mess around. At the point when we are seeing the movement being gushed to our presentations, it would be these circuits that fire up and cause us truly to feel the highs and furthermore the lows, as though it were us playing. This kind of simple mental support is moreover seen with onlookers of standard donning exercises, like football.

Understanding from appreciating

Various Jerk crowds see so they can improve their aptitude and upgrade their own personal playing experience. This was found in an exploration considering the practices of Jerk clients especially. People announced that they would see gamers playing to uncover new techniques for ongoing interaction and furthermore to find exactly how great explicit computer games are before buying them. That second factor recommends that Jerk makes an awesome publicizing and promoting framework.

What's much more, the examination study tracked down that social components were likewise significant drivers for using the help. The considerably more hrs that an individual spends seeing computer game streams, the better the opportunities for them to interface with other similar members of the on the web region.

Be that as it may, the best spark for utilizing the arrangement, by a wide margin, was found to be the arrival of strain. Guests looked to utilize the framework for evasion just as redirection from their everyday lives. This was situated to be a huge driver behind the assortment of individual streams that are gotten to at a time.

It appears to be likely, from that point forward, that we are not simply hard-wired to value seeing others play, especially on the off chance that we mess around ourselves, yet in like manner genuinely headed to consider gushing to be as a technique for fulfilling our enlightening, social and furthermore idealist requests. This sensation delivers an interest that Jerk is very much positioned to supply.

Because of this, it appears to be an observable and all-regular activity to start making games that make compelling spilling of play to crowds less muddled, as remains constant with the suitably called Pot. These are the segments from which video gaming legends will absolutely be made.

#video games

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perfectirishgifts · 3 years

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5 ‘Star Trek’ Actors Are Out LGBTQ, But How Many Are Nerds? This Guy!

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/5-star-trek-actors-are-out-lgbtq-but-how-many-are-nerds-this-guy/

5 ‘Star Trek’ Actors Are Out LGBTQ, But How Many Are Nerds? This Guy!

Actor Anthony Rapp plays Paul Stamets in the Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 episode Terra Firma, Part … [] 1

Note: For fans who have not yet seen this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery, there are spoilers ahead.

“I don’t think it’s a secret, I’ve been a nerd,” said actor Anthony Rapp. “I’ve been very outspoken about that.”

He has. but don’t just take his word for it. Check out the Star Trek: Discovery star’s Twitter feed: Rapp tweets ratings for science fiction and fantasy novels, and most recently: Dungeons and Dragons games with stars of the show and their friends.

That’s of course in addition to Rapp’s tweets promoting social justice, LGBTQ equality and his pro-mask pandemic posts. The Illinois native engages with his fans on a daily basis, and interacts with them about everything from civil rights to politics and theater, and when appropriate, he gets personal.

But when it comes right down to it, Rapp is a nerd. And he’s not alone:

Anthony Rapp as Lt. Commander Paul Stamets and Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber of the CBS All Access … [] series, Star Trek: Discovery.

That’s a parody of perhaps the most well-known song from Rent. Rapp starred in the original production on Broadway in 1996 as Mark Cohen, alongside his current co-star Wilson Cruz, who played the part of Angel in the touring production. Together, they play the science fiction franchise’s first regularly appearing gay couple aboard the U.S.S. Discovery, serving aboard a 23rd century starship that in this third season has flown 930 years into the future.

In our present day, the veteran actor of stage and screen — known also for roles in the films A Beautiful Mind and Adventures in Babysitting — is in Toronto, Canada, where he is filming season four of the CBS All Access streamed series. He took a break Wednesday evening to talk about being a nerd, his castmates, his thoughts on acting and LGBTQ representation in Star Trek.

This interview was edited for clarity and space limitations. Scroll down to watch the video of the full interview. Note: if you have not yet viewed this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Terra Firma Part 1, there are spoilers aplenty ahead!

Dawn Ennis: The mirror universe is back!

Anthony Rapp: Yes!

Ennis: How long ago was it you filmed this?

Rapp: Oh, my goodness. Sometime, maybe about a year ago? I want to say, -ish, give or take.

Ennis: The wonders of Hollywood. Your character, Stamets, in the alternate universe, in the Mirror Universe, has a devious plot. Do you remember anything about the idea that you would have what every actor lives for, a glorious death scene?

Michelle Yeoh stars as Empress Georgiou in the Star Trek: Discovery episode, Terra Firma, Part 1

Rapp: Well, it’s not just a glorious death scene, but it’s a glorious death scene at the hands of Michelle Yeoh. You know, when I was first cast in this show, about three and a half, four years ago, one of the first things that was shared with me was that Michelle Yeoh was going to be a part of it. And my jaw just dropped because, I mean, she’s a legend. And you always hear that you shouldn’t meet your heroes because they’ll so often disappoint you. And it’s the exact opposite with Michelle. She is a consummate human being, in every way.

I didn’t get a lot of chances to work opposite her with her directly as part of the show, but we hung out and our cast is very close. We do social things together. And she was always fantastic to talk to and be with.

But to finally get to play opposite her a couple of times over the last season and a half, and then to get killed by her, that’s the sort of “pinch-me” moment that if you’d asked me, when I first saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I would have looked at you like you were speaking in tongues, because it would have seemed so unlikely that anything like that would ever come my way.

I don’t remember exactly how many times we did the shot. There were a couple of different shots, but one of the main shots was me creeping up behind her, and then she quickly turns and stabs me in the throat. She did that perfectly every time; the knife was incredibly, perfectly situated exactly at the right angle to my throat.

She has an otherworldly gift at such things. We are so lucky to be graced by her.

Ennis: You have a theatrical background which plays into this particular episode in which you are the the narrator of a big production. And I imagine that you must weekly call upon your theatrical skills, because acting on the small screen is not small.

Rapp: I think other actors have said something like this, that acting on a show like Star Trek is in some ways at times like acting in Shakespeare or a period piece, where the language can be really heightened. Like when you’re in Hamlet, you’re talking to a ghost; When you’re in Star Trek, you’re talking to an alien.

Some of our training comes from inhabiting any kind of fantastical realm or world, or you’re doing Midsummer Night’s Dream, or the Scottish play, and then also having the heavy lift of of technical language, or language that I would never utter in my normal life.

I think a lot of actors who grow up only doing film and television sometimes can feel a little nervous about taking big risks, because there’s this notion that when you’re on film, things have to be small, quiet. I think in Trek, people like Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, they had tremendous theatrical backgrounds. Brent Spiner, too, and that that absolutely served them incredibly well.

Left to right: Brent Spiner, William Shatner and Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy with William … [] Shatner.

Ennis: You stand on the shoulders of giants, that’s for sure. Now, you and Wilson Cruz, you play partners on the show, and now you each have a death scene that you can compare notes. And of course, they’ll be fans who say, ‘”Oh, they’re killing off the gays again!” Any thoughts on those two things?

Rapp: Well, I think A., in the Mirror Universe, who knows what anyone is? I think everyone’s a little bit pansexual, probably. And B., Yeah, not to give any more spoilers away, but you know this version of the Mirror Universe we’re seeing is also in some ways a mirror of the mirror.

So it’s not canon in quite the same way as what we saw in season one. It’s another peeling back of the curtain, and the layers of of these mirrors. But back in season one, Stamets was a part of the plot to overthrow Georgiou. So this is just the natural extension of that.

Blu del Barrio plays Adira on Star Trek: Discovery

Ennis: Those you follow you and Wilson on social media have seen that people are starting to call Wilson the Space Papi and you the Space Dad to Blu del Barrio’s character, to Adira. Not being a parent yourself, is that a stretch?

Rapp: Well, I’ve been a parent to pets and animals my whole life. I’m not equating Blu with a pet or an animal. But, you know, from the first day of meeting Blu, I was there for their very first day that they ever set foot on a professional film or television set. Jonathan Frakes was directing the episode, their first scene on camera, when I confront them at the foot of the ladder: “What are you doing up there?”

Ennis: No pressure or anything.

Rapp: And, you know, but Jonathan and I would be watching them work. They’re so incredible, already and with no experience in this arena, in training and acting experience.

Having been on a set for the first time when I was 15: It’s a little weird. And then there’s all kinds of strange things happening. It’s easily intimidating and strange and bizarre, and you have to absorb a lot. They just hit it right out of the park right away. and came at it with such incredible grounded and human energy. So I fell in love with Blu right then and there. Then I just naturally gravitated toward being a kind of, I don’t know, mentor, protective big older brother, dad, kind of thing. That felt very natural to me, personally. That was something that was very easy to “live into,” because I felt that so naturally anyway.

Anthony Rapp as Lt. Commander Paul Stamets and Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber of the CBS All Access … [] series, Star Trek: Discovery.

Ennis: As a pioneer in Star Trek, in terms of being an out gay man, playing a gay character, in a relationship with another man, do you see that the unfolding of having non-binary characters like Adira and a trans character, even in a ghostly version, how does that make you feel in terms of the craft and and our community?

Rapp: I think it’s long overdue. I’ve said things like this with you before, probably as we’ve talked over the years: There were times when people within the world of creating Trek were agitating for these kinds of characters to be a part of the fabric, off screen and on screen, but there was resistance from networks or whatever. So, it just took too long, frankly.

Blu del Barrio, left, with Ian Alexander in the Star Trek: Discovery episode, “Forget Me Not”

But the fact that it has come about makes it feel earned. I just feel incredibly lucky and proud that Wilson and I first were entrusted with carrying that mantle. Then, Tig Notaro coming on board, now, of course, Blu and Ian [Alexander].

Blu and Ian are quintessential Gen Z kids, and I am going to say “kids” with total affection and respect. They’re really young, but they’re so much a part of this younger generation which truly is willing to break down all kinds of barriers, and just shake things up in the most grounded way.

Recognizing that all of these different facets of identity and expression and being deserved to be seen, and all light needs to be shining everywhere, at all times. I’m sure that there are aspects of it that sometimes might be a little overwhelming or intimidating, but they are so up for it, and so ready to to carry that that mantle.

Ennis: When I spoke to Tig, they reminded me that her character had lost her wife in the battle of the binary stars. And she addressed a question from a fan about whether the knocking of heads between your characters was carried through into real life. And she said, “I certainly hope not!” She said, “I think that we get along just great.”

Rapp: Yes, I love Tig. I was first was introduced to her with the piece that she’d done when she was first diagnosed with cancer.

Commander Jett Reno, played by actor, podcaster and comedian Tig Notaro, left, with Lt. Commander … [] Paul Stamets, portrayed by actor Anthony Rapp, appearing in the ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ third season episode, ‘Die Trying’ on CBS All Access.

I wasn’t warned what it was about. And my mom passed away from cancer, but just like immediately, I was just so taken by it. And some of the things I was so taken by was her honesty, authenticity, and also humor in the face of it, but just her willingness to be totally authentically herself, and share every aspect of it.

That’s something that I really strive to do with my life. So when I heard that she would be part of the show, I crossed my fingers, this is one of my heroes: “I hope she’s as cool as she seems!” And she absolutely was. We’ve had we’ve got a complete blast. And I really love when she’s on set, and I wish she could be on set more often.

Ennis: What’s next for you? I know you’re so busy shooting the next season of Discovery, but what other projects do you have going on? Anything on the horizon?

Rapp: There’s a sort of small scale thing. I got invited by Swapna Krishna, who’s a writer. She’s written for my SyFy Wire, I believe, and other outlets. She invited me to contribute a story to an anthology that she’s editing called Sword Stone Table, in which writers are taking the Arthurian legends and doing spins on them. That would make them multicultural, LGBTQ, finding ways to adapt some aspect of the legend. Any aspect. That was the only brief: the Arthurian legends, find some way to adapt it to a story you want to tell. I’m incredibly honored to do that and I worked really hard on a story that I’m proud of. It turned out pretty well, I think. And so that’s going to be coming out sometime in the spring or summer.

But not now. We’re very much in the thick of season four production right now in Toronto.

Ennis: Thank you for taking time away from that. Please extend to everybody in the Star Trek: Discovery family, our eternal thanks. I know this seems like I’m blowing gas up your tailpipe, but y’all have brought back Star Trek, real Star Trek, and made us all excited again.

Rapp: Thank you. It’s an honor.

Watch a video of the full interview with Anthony Rapp, in which he discusses playing Dungeons and Dragons, the real Paul Stamets, more thoughts on acting and advice for beginners as well as those hoping to do so professionally.

12/11 Wilson Cruz was inaccurately listed as starring in the original production of Rent on Broadway, but first appeared in a touring company production. Wilson Jermaine Heredia originated the role of Angel and won a Tony Award for his portrayal.

From Diversity & Inclusion in Perfectirishgifts

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coolgreatwebsite · 6 years

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Cool Games I Finished In 2017 (In No Real Order)

Civilization The year is nearing its end, so that means it’s once again time for one of these. 2017 has been rough for pretty much everyone, but even divorced from the state of the world this was unquestionably the worst year of my life. 2017 was a goddamn nightmare where nearly everything went wrong for me in the most major way possible. Consequently I didn’t get to do as much writing as I would have liked, and I ended up playing fewer games with almost all of them being 2017 releases. But! The video games were very fun!! So it all cancels out!!! Everything’s okay!!!! Here’s a bunch of cool games I experienced for the first time in 2017.

Dandy Dungeon: Legend of Brave Yamada (iOS, 2017)

Dandy Dungeon is weird as hell, which makes sense given that it was made by a lot of people who originally worked on games like Chulip and Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland. It’s a free-to-play phone game that’s sort of a cross between a puzzle game and a dungeon crawler. Guide your semi-nude hero Yamada to the exit of the 5x5 dungeon grid in a single line, trying to touch every tile along the way, gathering treasure and beating up enemies to level up. Solving the floors and making the perfect line is satisfying, the story and enemies are all very strange, and there's a ton of content. The free-to-play monetization isn’t too obtrusive either, you can either buy straight up convenience features like unlimited energy and a mid-dungeon item storage system or buy rice balls that can be used as gacha entries or continues if you die in a dungeon and don’t want to give up your treasure. I felt 100% okay with giving the weirdos who made this game money. The same people put out another game this year, Million Onion Hotel, and I barely put any time into it because I just kept playing Dandy Dungeon. I’m very much looking forward to really playing that whenever the hell I finally burn out on this.

Yakuza 0 (PlayStation 4, 2017)

Yakuza 0 is a hell of a game, and a hell of an introduction to the Yakuza series for anyone who hasn’t played it. Set in 1988, the game follows series mainstays Kiryu and Majima as they deal with the events that made them who they are in the games to follow. While I ended up still liking Yakuza 5 more if only for the sheer scope and variety of it, Yakuza 0 is very easily the second best game in the series. It has one of the most straightforward, coherent and engaging narratives out of all of them, it pulls off its setting so well that it made me sort of nostalgic for an era I wasn’t even alive for, and the localization/writing is unquestionably the best the series has had. Almost every single sidequest is funny or memorable in some way and I just can’t say that about the rest of the games. It’s not flawless. The combat unsurprisingly pulls very heavily from Yakuza 5 but with multiple fighting styles for Kiryu and Majima taking the place of multiple characters, and I mostly found myself just sticking with one style for each of them. Beast and Breaker were just too good. The story, while mostly good as previously stated, does have its stumbling points. Some characters and events definitely aren’t given enough breathing room, mostly on the Majima side of things, and weirdly enough the game holds back on having Kiryu and Majima interact for the most part. Overall though, Yakuza 0 is a fantastic encapsulation of why I love this series so damn much and the absolute best jumping on point a newcomer could ask for. Plus Space Harrier is in it! Every game is better when you can also play Space Harrier.

NieR: Automata (PlayStation 4, 2017)

I feel like every year I do one of these lists there’s a game where I start off by saying “This game is good, but”. NieR: Automata is this year’s game. NieR: Automata is a good game, but I did not have the fervent, visceral reaction to it that most other people seem to have had, and my feelings are muddied even further by the lingering feeling that I SHOULD have. I love the first NieR. It’s one of my favorite games of all time. I love PlatinumGames. They’re one of my favorite developers of all time. Yet I came away from Automata somewhat... I don’t know if it’s disappointed. I guess “left wanting” might be a more accurate description? Again, don’t get me wrong here, this is a good game. There’s a lot to like in NieR: Automata. It’s a wild ride, but for me that’s... kind of it? The game shuttles you from crazy setpiece to crazy setpiece, but the second I stopped to think about anything that happened in any sort of detail it all just got real murky. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters, outside two exceptions, and one of those is a character from the first game that I already loved. NieR: Automata’s storytelling is much more reliant and focused on its themes and imagery than anything that really actually happens during the course of the story, and I’ve never been a huge fan of narratives like that. I need a strong connection to characters and events and places, and whereas the first NieR had that by the truckload, Automata super doesn’t. There’s also the part where a lot of what Automata does, I feel the original game did better. Automata’s music is good, but NieR’s is better. The multiple playthrough system feels like it’s just tacked on because the first game did it, where in the original it was absolutely vital to that game’s story. Same goes for the choice you make in the final ending. The most I can say as far as improvements go is that the combat, while about as mindless, certainly looks better and overall the sidequests are less tedious and grindy. It’s been a very weird experience seeing the huge, widespread positive reaction to this game essentially mirror my feelings on the first game while I’m just sort of left to grumble about how the first game did all that better under my breath. Not that I’m not glad it got a positive reception! It’s great that this game has been such a success and that so many people have finally had their Yoko Taro Moment™. Like I’ve gone out of my way to state multiple times: the game is still good. There’s some wild shit to see in NieR: Automata, and while it didn’t leave a positive lasting impression on me, I very much had a good time with it in the moment.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Switch, 2017)

I thought I was done with open world games. I had pretty much decided I was two years ago. I was so tired of the checklists, the boring traversal, the endless swaths of fucking nothing between mission A and mission B, the heaps of useless collectible garbage littering the ground trying to trick you into thinking you’re doing something. I was perfectly content with never playing an open world game again, and when Nintendo started promoting the new Zelda with that familiar Bethesda-esque “go any direction, climb any mountain” rhetoric and showed you climbing towers to reveal the map, I for all intents and purposes checked the fuck out. I didn’t care that it was Zelda, I didn’t care that it was Nintendo, I was just fucking done with all of that... I thought. The more time went on, the more impressions got out, and the more impressions got out, the more of my individual sticking points seemed to have been addressed. Yeah, you climb towers, but all that does is fill in the topography of the map. You don’t get flooded with a million activity and collectible icons, it’s up to you to scope out what looks interesting. And most importantly, while the landmass is large, there’s always something around the corner. I decided to get Breath of the Wild along with my Switch and I’m so glad I did. If I hadn’t been whittled down by pre-release chatter I would have missed out on one of the best games I’ve ever played. It’s like Nintendo explicitly set out to fix every problem I had with open world games. The way the systems in the world interact with each other, how much of a joy it is to explore and traverse the terrain, and the fact that there really IS always something to find make for a breathtaking game. If you go in any direction, you’ll trip over dozens of neat things to do and see. If you climb any mountain, there’s a good chance there will be something waiting for you at the top (and along the way), from a simple Korok seed puzzle to a full-blown shrine dungeon. The game gives you no truly firm direction once you leave the tutorial area, so it really is up to you to explore and find what you want. You can even run straight for the final boss if you want! The traditional Zelda-style puzzles are all super smart and satisfying to solve. I even liked the Divine Beast dungeons and boss fights, which I feel like I’m in the minority about. I finally took on Ganon after about 100 hours of playing the game and I hadn’t been so sad that a game was over since I beat Persona 3. Breath of the Wild is just an incredible, once in a lifetime game. I can’t wait to do it all again next year when I do another playthrough with all the DLC.

Persona 5 (PlayStation 4, 2017)

Persona 3 will likely always be nearest and dearest to my heart, but Persona 5 is objectively the best Persona game. They’ve polished the Persona formula to such a perfect mirror sheen in this one and I’ve never seen a game so consistently and effortlessly ooze such a concentrated amount of liquid capital-“S” Style before. The plot doesn’t intimately revolve around the cast to the degree Persona 4′s does, but they’ve made another charming band of anime teens nonetheless. They’ve either restored or re-worked nearly every mechanical aspect that was dropped between Persona 3 and 4. The soundtrack is incredible, there’s actually a decent amount of non-party S-Links again, the end of the game sticks the landing in a way Persona 4 very much does not... I could keep going. Persona 5 just plain rules. It’s the only game in the series where (even though I haven’t yet) I’ve actually wanted to jump in and do a New Game+ run.

Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap (Nintendo Switch, 2017)

As I may have mentioned in a certain other article from this year, I have had very little love for Wonder Boy over the years. That changed a bit when I decided to try out Monster World IV a few years ago, and I think I’m officially a Wonder Boy Liker after playing The Dragon’s Trap. A remake of Wonder Boy 3 for the Master System, Dragon’s Trap is essentially just an extremely pretty coat of paint on a very early Metroidvania sort of game, but it’s remarkable how well the core gameplay holds up. You start as a human and very early on you’re transformed into a dragon, and you explore the world until you reach a boss which, upon being defeated, transforms you into a mouse. Your mouse form has the ability to enter narrow spaces and stick to certain walls, which allows you to reach new areas, bosses and transformations. Defeated enemies drop coins that you can use to purchase new weapons and armor from shops hidden across the world. It’s fairly simple, but I think that’s the reason it’s still so enjoyable today. The controls are tight and responsive and it doesn’t really date itself in too many ways. They went to great lengths to recreate the original game, down to being able to swap between the remade and classic graphics and music with a button press. Old passwords from the original game even work in the remake. The new art and music are beautiful and the game is the perfect length to not overstay its welcome. You can tell the people who made this really love the original game, and they absolutely did right by it.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (PlayStation 4, 2017)

I never in a million years expected to like Resident Evil 7 as much as I did. I played the demo back when it came out and thought it was okay, and I mainly got the full game so I could play something on my PSVR. It’s kind of crazy how, after so many years of Resident Evil stumbling, Capcom managed to just get everything back on track just like that. They made Resident Evil tense and scary again. The VR is insanely effective but even playing through on a regular ol’ TV, which I did multiple times after my initial VR playthrough, they manage to capture a really good, persistent sense of dread. For most of the game, anyway. The last third definitely slips a bit too far back into action game territory, and while it’s still enjoyable it’s definitely weaker than what came before. I beat this for the first time right before the next game on the list came out, and even while super deep into that I couldn’t stop thinking about Resident Evil 7. I really need to go back and play all the DLC.

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch, 2017)

2017 was Nintendo’s year. They released my favorite console in a good long while with the Switch, launched it with one of the greatest games of all time, and closed out the year with another incredible game in Super Mario Odyssey. Mario Odyssey has finally dethroned Mario 64 as my favorite 3D exploration Mario game. It’s like Breath of the Wild in that there’s something to find in every nook and cranny, but condensed down into multiple, more tightly designed areas. It’s an absolute joy to play. I 100%ed the game and not once in the 50-ish hours that took did I get tired of controlling Mario. The movement options all flow together so naturally and complement the spaces you explore so well. Landing a long jump > hat throw > dive > hat bounce > dive combo across a huge gap was the most satisfying thing in the world to pull off even as I grabbed the very last power moon. The variety of the worlds and challenges and things to capture kept me in a constant state of excitement about what was coming up next, and the game is consistently charming in both weird new ways and a couple of very effective nostalgic ones. My only real complaints are that I think it’s maybe the easiest Mario game ever made, and I wish more of the platforming challenges were baked into the worlds proper instead of cordoned off into their own little challenge rooms, but basically everything else about the game manages to make those minor somehow. Mario Odyssey is distilled happiness in video game form, and the world needs more of that.

Sonic Mania (PlayStation 4, 2017)

Ohhhh myyyyy Goddddddddddddd Sonic Mania. I cannot fucking believe how awesome Sonic Mania is. I love the Genesis Sonic games so fucking much and while I like Sonic Adventure 1 despite itself, there hasn’t been a good Sonic game since Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The Genesis games always were and will always be great fucking video games, despite what internet fuckboys say because Sonic’s an easy target to dunk on. I’ll take Sonic 3 & Knuckles over Super Mario World any day of the fucking week. Fight me. I’ll cut you. With Sonic Mania, there is FINALLY, fucking TWENTY-THREE GODDAMN YEARS LATER, a legitimately great Sonic The Hedgehog game again, and I’m stunned. I was INSANELY skeptical about this game from the minute it was announced until basically the moment I played it. Yeah, they brought in people from the hacking and fan-game community to work on this one instead of letting Sonic Team touch it, but I’m close enough to those communities to know that that on its own is NOT enough to guarantee the game would be good. Yeah, Taxman and Stealth made an extremely good replica of the Sonic 1-3&K engine, but they absolutely did not have the design chops to tackle anything but ports successfully. That new version of Hidden Palace they added into the iOS port of Sonic 2 was a complete trash fire. Thankfully they linked up with PagodaWest Games, a company made up of a lot of the non-insane elements behind the old Sonic 2 HD project, who as it turns out very much did have the design chops. Together they made something incredible. It obviously controls perfectly given the engine, but the levels are so fun and well-crafted. The classic levels manage to mix in so many different elements from other levels that didn’t quite make it in the game on top of there being weird twists on those on TOP of all the completely new elements, and the brand new levels are lavish with all sorts of super fun new gimmicks and details. The game looks fucking gorgeous, going for a sort of “what if they had made a 2D Sonic for the Saturn” look that it pulls off great, even going so far as to render the special stages in low-poly 3D. The music is P-H-E-N-O-M-E-N-A-L, sounding like a lost ‘90s Japanese arrange CD but without all the bad aspects that usually come with those. There’s so many dumb, great little details for hardcore classic Sonic and Sega fans littered throughout the game. They managed to fucking combine Oil Ocean and Sandopolis, my least favorite zone from Sonic 2 and one of the worst zones in the entire SERIES, and have me come away from it not hating it. It’s masterful. It’s beautiful. It’s right up there with Sonic 3 & Knuckles for best in the series. Nothing this year made me so genuinely, personally delighted. Sonic Mania was made just for me and I love it and I want another one with all original levels as soon as possible. Please let these people make video games for me forever.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Nintendo Switch, 2017)

The original Xenoblade is one of my favorite RPGs of the last generation. Then they released Xenoblade Chronicles X for the Wii U and broke my goddamn heart. They tossed out nearly everything I loved about the first game in favor of haphazardly dumping as many disjointed game mechanics as they could on top of bland open world exploration and needlessly grindy progression. It was such a hard swerve that by the time they had gotten around to announcing a proper Xenoblade 2 for the Switch I had basically abandoned all hope of it being a game I’d like. But for some reason, I still decided to give Monolithsoft one last shot. And I’m glad I did! While not quite as cohesive and instantly-endearing as the original, they definitely righted the ship. There’s a bunch of weird mechanics, but in the good Xenoblade 1 way where they mete them all out at an appropriate pace and explain them and they all fit together. The cast of characters is likable, the music is great, the gameplay is engaging all the way through. They managed to pull it off, and I’m back on board for a potential Xenoblade 3.

These games were also cool, I just had less words to say about them: Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch, 2017): Splatoon is great. Splatoon 2 is more of that. The new weapons are fun, the new maps are cool, Salmon Run is the most fun I’ve ever had with a horde mode. I played it for like 100 hours already. Not too much else to say! Play Splatoon 2! Hitman (PlayStation 4, 2016): Hitman is an amazing sandbox. Whether I was following along with the authored ways to kill my targets, doing things my own way or trying to get out of a situation that went completely south, Hitman constantly surprised me with the variety of things I could do and options I could take advantage of. And there’s so damn much content to do it all in. DDRMAX, DDRMAX2 & Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (PlayStation 2, 2002, 2003 & 2004): This doesn’t really teeeechnically fit on this list but I would be remiss not to bring up my rekindled love affair with DDR this year. My very good friend who I am very appreciative towards at all times Geoff generously gifted me an old Cobalt Flux dance pad back in like June and I have been playing DDR again ever since and it’s still great. I can clear some songs on heavy now. Thanks Geoff. Glittermitten Grove (Steam, 2016): A very normal game about fairies, and not about shaving. Tekken 7 (PlayStation 4, 2017): Tekken 7 is the first Tekken game I’ve cared about in like a decade. I couldn’t really tell you exactly why, to be honest, but the fact of the matter is that Tekken 7 is very fun to play and I highly recommend it. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PlayStation 4, 2017): I think the gameplay of this is worse than the first game, but everything else is stronger. Hopefully they fix it up and make a game that’s great all around next time. Gundam Versus (PlayStation 4, 2017): Gundam Versus is basically a team based Virtual On. I had a lot of fun with an old version of the game at various events I went to throughout the year and I had a lot of fun with this one even though I didn’t play it nearly as much as I wanted to. Clowning on people with Guntank in 1v1 is probably the hardest I laughed all year.

And that’s it! That’s 2017! It’s done! Good riddance! Thank you all again for bothering to read my video game words. If you need me, I’ll be training to deliver many extremely savage elbow drops to 2018 until it gives me what I want.

#article #year wrapup

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hectoryvze547-blog · 4 years

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The 10 Scariest Things About Gta 5 Money Free Rp

Shark cards in GTA online are a means of getting additional in-game funds when you need it. Now because the release of Grand Theft Auto V video game the rising cost of living graph of the Los Santos city is on the increase and also things have definitely become a lot more pricey than they went to the moment of the launch of the game. Applications and also mods for video games boost player interaction, lower create and churn content that you as a developer do not have to produce yourself, giving your players additional value on top of your own core item. These cards are mosting likely to load your account with instant GTA 5 money and also give you the freedom of costs on your favorite GTA 5 products without grinding the same goal repeatedly.

In this thorough post, we will share a functioning link of GTA V online money hack which can be conveniently downloaded and install totally cost-free. Most likely to the Friends" tab in the GTA Online food selection as well as click on the buddy aiding you out and click on Spectate Gamer (BETA)".

Cheat codes are just half the enjoyable in GTA 5. Learn the art of making GTA 5 money from our GTA 5 Money Hack and Guide. However the code gets on the funds, thus, the video game does not exist, besides the cheats will instantly be handicapped as quickly as you start off the mission, as well as will certainly not run if you activate them throughout the objective.

Shark cards are the in-game microtransactions, which indicate you can buy the in-game GTA Money, by spending several of your real money. Opportunistic competitors wait like vultures to steal funds from players coming off Jobs with complete pockets. It was around 2009 when they altered their strategy and developed an AddOn development policy encouraging developers around the world to build many wonderful devices for WoW-- this time with official support and clear red lines not to be gone across, to the joy of gamers anywhere.

For even more great pointers, tricks as well as hacks on GTA 5 and GTA Online do go to the area on GTA 5 on our internet site. Get the brand-new ATM MACHINE BLANK CARD that can hack any ATM as well as withdraw money from any account. By this meaning we can recognize that cheat codes are used by video game gamers to alter just how the game behaves in order to make the video game a lot more fun for them.

Click the download button listed below to set up GTA 5 money hack, if the download process hasn't begun yet then try to freshen this page and try once more. The airport terminal is a lot much more safe in GTA 5 Online than in the solitary player game, a single strategy to get to the flight terminal is to rise the stairs to the Flight School as well as hop over the wall.

This video game mirrors every little thing like a genuine word in which gamers can make use of dynamites and weapons to combat their Opponents or might make use of cars to stroll easily worldwide. Download the GTA V Online Hacks by clicking on the download button listed below and also you will be rerouted.

These video games aren't going to give you a solitary robux but will most definitely waste you time. From LEAVEMEALONE to MEDICINE all the cheats are preferred among the gamers of GTA video games. And also whilst most individuals most likely to work or seek various other ethical methods of earning money online. IFruit, the video game's brand-new telephone, can be used to break images and submit them to Superstar Gamings Social Club to share with the GTA community.

If you get a whale Shark Card, a whopping 3 as well as a fifty percent millions GTA Online Money is what you will get. The problem has actually been with players in GTA 5's on the web earth, a multiplayer variation of the game's fictional Los Santos county where gamers wander the streets collectively, absolutely free to race their autos or kill other gamers.

In order to spawn a helicopter in GTA 5 game on PC the cheat that you require to enter is BUZZOFF. 100% undetectable GTA V Online Money Cheat, obtaining any kind of amount of money is straightforward as downloading and install the hack, loading Linuxwallonie it, after that going into the amount of money you 'd such as collection and also joining GTA V Online.

After this choose the GTA 5 The path will certainly be C: \ Program Documents (x86)\ Superstar Games or C: \ Program Documents (x86)\ Heavy steam \ steamapps \ usual \ Grand Theft Auto V. However, with this online money hack, you can take pleasure in following attributes of this video game. Grand Theft Auto On the net is a consistent, open world on the web multiplayer computer game produced by Superstar North and published by Rockstar Games.

Developers are afraid that any access they grant 3rd party developers might result in hacks, cheats or various other unauthorized products hurting non-modded gamer experience, specifically in multiplayer setups. That is truly the primary advantage of this GTA 5 Hack Device, you can access and hack the GTA 5 Funds in any kind of device that have the internet browser on it.

The a great deal even more funds you invest, the far much better the return, and also if the supply does badly, simply pack up your coming before conserve and you will certainly have all the money you attached no any reprecussions. We likewise have credit cards for online shopping, we offer the bank card details to our interested customers globally including the charge card you need any type of various other cyber hacking services, we are here for you any time any day.

You have a much better possibility of obtaining gamers more affordable than they normally are at around twelve o'clock at night as around this time around gamer count decline significantly. When you commence off in GTA Online the 1st lorry you take will certainly become your irreversible flight, at least till you have obtained a bit much more money to toss at purchasing as well as storing autos, so it pays to select carefully.

Grand Theft Auto On the net is a persistent, open world online multiplayer video game developed by Rockstar North as well as released by Superstar Games. 61-65: One week is the best time as much as which you ought to hold these gamers. Below, gamers who have deceived the game's mechanics to build up large sums of funds are removed of their assets and forced to cool their heels an even though, divided from most of gamers for up to months each time.

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