#also some frames had to be cut for timing which is sad but at least i had too many instead of too little and didnt have to draw more

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Illusion

You know, It's really sad how this is a Lila episode, and she somehow isn't the most annoying character to come out of it.

Let's get into the fifth episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Illusion

We start off with a news broadcast where several people are interviewed about the recent developments this season. There's an attempt made to show differing perspectives, but while half are recurring characters who are confident Ladybug and Cat Noir will beat Monarch (Xavier, Mr. Damocles, and Alec), the other half are antagonistic characters who either blame Ladybug for everything going wrong or are too stupid to care about the bigger picture (XY, Chloe, and Bob Roth).

This is one of the overarching problems with the show, its refusal to show any nuance in its arguments. We already know how easy it is for the writers to blame Marinette for things whenever there's a conflict, but whenever there's an argument where both sides make interesting points, the opposing side is almost always represented by an antagonist or jerk who frames their view in either a condescending or idiotic way so it's easy for the viewer to brush them off, and the same can be applied to their side of the argument as well. Hell, it's already happened twice this season with Lila and Chloe (Multiplication, Determination). It just comes across like the show is pretending to act like its conflict is deeper without actually showing any real nuance with it. I get that some arguments aren't morally gray, but if you're trying to discuss Ladybug's past failures, put more effort into showing how the people of Paris would see something like this without knowing the full context.

Also, this is a minor thing, but I actually like how when we see Alec on the talk show, he's wearing a wig like the one he had in “Wishmaker”, and has the same positive outlook on life he had at the end of that episode. For a show that usually plays loosey-goosey with its continuity, it's surprising to see the writers actually acknowledge the character growth of someone as insignificant as Alec.

Congratulations, Miraculous Ladybug. You managed to give a very minor side character a consistent arc. Now if only you could put the same amount of effort into writing your main cast.

We cut to Adrien's room where, shock of all shocks, he isn't exactly a fan of his image being used for a high-tech ring without his consent. He storms off to see his father, but it turns out that Gabriel is experimenting with the idea of not being such a terrible father for once. He's making breakfast, saying that Adrien can call him “Dad” now, and even admits that he's been very neglectful towards his son ever since Emilie “disappeared”. Yeah, he's cooking breakfast in his white suit and haircut that makes him look like a grandpa for some reason, but hey, at least the kitchen isn't on fire.

Of course, Gabriel still isn't really good at comforting his son, as seen with his response to Adrien's concerns about Alliance.

Adrien: Speaking of which, Dad, I'm not really comfortable with having my face on all these rings. That's actually why I didn't want to be a model anymore, to avoid that. Do you understand?

Gabriel: Of course, I understand, my son. But that's the point; it's just an image, it's not you! And since this image frees you from your obligations, we, the Agrestes, are able to spend more time together. But if you'd rather everything went back to the way it was before, just say the word.

Adrien: You're probably right.

Gabriel: You'll see, my son. Alliance will bring us closer.

“I know you're concerned about me using your image for something that I could have hired literally anyone else for, but if you would rather go back to being a model on a strict schedule, just say the word.”

Father of the year, ladies and gentlemen.

We get a decent interaction between Marinette and Alya where they discuss ways that Monarch could be giving Miraculous to his Akumas, unaware of what the Alliance rings do. Alya comes up with an interesting hypothesis that Monarch is using the Dog Miraculous to swipe them back, and honestly, that sounds like a much better plan than “develop a cutting-edge AI ring and hope whoever I akumatize had enough money to buy one”. I like this bit, as it shows the two thinking of ways to stop Monarch beyond beating whatever Akuma he sends out next. It honestly could have been a really interesting story arc to see Marinette, Cat Noir, and Alya learn more about how Monarch is using the new Miraculous he got instead of having us know what he's doing already.

After class ends, Nino talks to Adrien about an underground resistance he's forming with his friends, deciding to give each member a condiment-themed title.

Alya: What's up with the sauces?

Nino: What's up is Ladybug and Cat Noir don't have us to help them anymore.

Alya: (nervously) Um... uh... what do you mean, “us”?

Nino: Well, us, you Rena Rouge, me Carapace! (Alya kicks Nino's leg underneath the table) Ouch! What's the big deal? We can tell Marinette and Adrien we used to be superheroes. It's not like we have any Miraculous that Monarch could steal from us. The only ones who need to protect their secret identities are Ladybug and Cat Noir, not us. And anyway, I already told Adrien about Carapace.

Adrien: (chuckles nervously)

Marinette: Adrien knew?! Alya, did you know that he knew?!

Alya: What, no, I swear I didn't know at all! (kicks Nino's leg again)

Nino: Ow! Come on! He's my best bud, I can tell him stuff! You and Marinette tell each other stuff, don't you?

Alya and Marinette: No we don't!

Yeah, remember how shocking it was for Nino to reveal that he and Alya were Rena Rouge and Carapace to Adrien in “Rocketear”, and how we thought this reveal would play into something big like the Season 4 finale, possibly splintering the trust several characters had with each other? This is what it culminates in. Wasn't waiting over a year since that plotpoint was established totally worth it for that gag that once again ignores the secret identity rule?

Also, just because you don't have a Miraculous, it doesn't mean Monarch can't target you like he did last season (Optigami, Sentibubbler), you dumbass.

For the first time in God knows how long, Lila actually becomes relevant when she asks to sit with the four, only to be rebuffed by Marinette and Nino. Using some more condiments and food as props, Nino explains his plan.

Nino: We're gonna film an akumatization.

Alya: And how are you, Comrade Ketchup, gonna be in the know when and where this akumatization takes place?

Nino: Easy, Comrade Beurre Maître d'Hôtel. I'm gonna make it happen.

Yep, this is the plot of the episode, people. Nino's going to try and get someone akumatized. Now I know what you're all obviously thinking: Isn't this cruel?

Adrien: Isn't that cruel?

Alya: Totally! To make someone suffer just to discover Monarch's technique? Super cruel!

Nino: No, it's not! You forget Ladybug always fixes everything in the end with her magic ladybugs! The akumatized victims forget what happened to them.

Oh yeah, this is totally ethical, you guys. Who cares about the emotional trauma an Akuma victim would go through, much less any civilians endangered by their rampage?

To make things even better, guess who Nino wants to get akumatized?

Okay, putting aside what we, the audience, already know about Gabriel that Nino doesn't, why would he think pissing off one of the most influential fashion designers in the city of Paris is a good idea? He says he's targeting him because it's easy to do so during parent-teacher conferences, but why not target someone else who has been akumatized more often than him, like Xavier/Mr. Pigeon? I don't think the idea of a more morally gray plan to stop Monarch is a bad one, it's just that this plan is so stupid, and the writers only go over the ethical implications, and that said plan is so ludicrous, Nino is basically asking for a restraining order.

While Adrien and Marinette agree to Nino's plan, Alya only hesitantly goes along with it, but unbeknownst to any of them, Lila was overhearing their conversation, so she goes to tell Gabriel what they're doing. During the conferences, Marinette barges in and pretends to trip and drop some pizza onto Gabriel's clothes, and I'm going to assume that either the pizza was cold of Gabriel is really good at keeping a cool head because there's no way taking a hot pizza to the chest wouldn't hurt like hell. Adrien and Alya come in with more food, and we get the one funny joke of the episode with Alya half-assing her performance as the half-heartedly throws some cake onto Gabriel's suit. Pretty funny how Nino is conveniently the only one who isn't taking the risk by attacking Gabriel in front of his teacher by filming the whole thing, isn't it?

Gabriel has had enough and does a 180, planning to take Adrien out of school and somehow, Marinette blames herself for going along with the plan... even though she was the only one to not approve of it, while Adrien and Alya did, and even then, the latter two were very hesitant. It turns out this was all part of Gabriel's plan, as we see him transform into Monarch as soon as he gets to his lair and uses Trixx's power to create a Mirage of his civilian form, having a breakdown so dramatic, I'm surprised he didn't end it by saying, “YOU ARE TEARING ME APART, MARINETTE!”.

The illusion of Gabriel turns into the Collector again, and now he supposedly has the Horse Miraculous' Voyage as a power. Adrien and Marinette transform into Cat Noir and Ladybug respectively, and try to fend off the “Akuma”. Back in Monarch's lair, we learn that he somehow has the ability to unify with five different Miraculous at once, choosing to do so with the Bee, Mouse, Horse, and Rooster Miraculous. Why is he able to do this now?

Monarch uses Voyage and heads to the sewers, activating Venom before using Multiplication to create eight smaller clones of himself, finally using Sublimination to give the copies the power of invisibility. Strange, wouldn't wanting to be invisible count as a wish? While looking for “the Collector”, Ladybug uses her Lucky Charm, getting a bag of shredded cheese. The two chase after the illusion, only to fall through a Voyage portal into the sewers, where Cat Noir is almost immediately stunned by one of the clones. Hey, it took five whole episodes this season for him to be incapacitated by an Akuma to pointlessly raise the stakes this time! It's a new record! Ladybug throws the cheese to reveal the clones, who are then chased off by some nearby rats.

Monarch goes back to his normal form, and after a small pep talk, the illusion pretends to reject the Akuma entirely before falling into the water. The real Gabriel detransforms and then pretends to have gotten out. So Gabriel tricked the heroes with his foolproof plan... except for the fact that Ladybug and Cat Noir should have recognized the use of Venom, the hidden clones of the Collector when the video Nino got only said he had the Horse Miraculous' power, the akuma somehow purifying itself when Ladybug still needed to de-evilize it in “Rocketear” and “Penalteam”, the fact that Gabriel should be soaking wet from falling into the water, and the—okay, you all know where this is going.

Meanwhile, Nino sees the footage of the illusion and sees what he believes to be the way Monarch gave the Collector the Horse Miraculous' powers. Nino then apologizes to Gabriel for attacking him, Gabriel forgives him, and Nino invites him into the Resistance, with a bunch of new members. The final scene reveals that in addition to Nino, Alya, Marinette, Adrien, and Gabriel, the Resistance now has Max, Kim, Rose, Juleka, Ivan, Mylene, and to Marinette's horror, Lila. Also, there's a post-credits scene where Gabriel explains what he did to Tomoe when literally everyone watching was able to figure it out.

Okay, so let's summarize. The first mission for Nino's resistance involved assaulting a private civilian, was easily discovered before it could even be implemented, was just as easily foiled by an illusion, now Monarch and one of his allies have infiltrated the alliance as moles, and Nino isn't even aware that his plan was a colossal failure. This resistance isn't exactly going to be like the Rebel Alliance, is it?

Yeah, this episode sucked. It's easily the worst one so far in my opinion. There were a handful of decent moments and ideas here, but my God, the story was just terrible. Morally gray subject or not, it's hard to get behind the heroes when they try to intentionally piss someone off for a plan that the audience knows is going to fail, especially a plan as stupid as Nino's. This episode features Nino at his most obnoxious and unlike Alya, Marinette, and especially Adrien, he doesn't even feel bad for what he did to Gabriel when it ended up being (as far as we know) completely pointless. It feels like the writers wanted to gloss over the ethics of Nino's plan by making Gabriel the victim, because if it was anyone else, it would have made him look like a colossal prick. The fact that he learns nothing and thinks his moronic scheme was a success really doesn't help.

The other characters thankfully weren't as bad. It seemed like the writers were trying to show some self-awareness by having Alya, Marinette, and Adrien object to the plan in one way or another, but it never really went much other than them begrudgingly going along with it, much less calling him out for his actions. At the same time, they all got some decent moments, like Alya and Marinette's discussion about Monarch and Adrien struggling to convey his feelings about the Alliance rings to Gabriel.

It's also kind of weird that it took us about five episode into the season for Lila to finally be relevant again after she did absolutely nothing for the last three episodes of Season 4 and the first four episodes of this season. It was only three and a half years since “Ladybug”, the last major Lila episode premiered, right? But hey, at least the writers didn't overindulge in the dumb Lila lies like her other episodes, and was used more as an informant to kick off Gabriel's counter to Nino's plan.

Putting aside how terrible Nino's plan was, Gabriel's plan still had a lot of problems to it. Like I already mentioned, it's a little strange that Ladybug and Cat Noir never talk about the tiny clones they fought, or the fact that Cat Noir was stung by Venom. I can kind of suspend my disbelief by saying Ladybug was too focused on the battle to think, but why the hell didn't Cat Noir say anything? You would think after working alongside Queen Bee and Vesperia, he would recognize what being stung by Venom must look like. Yeah, Ladybug and Cat Noir didn't know Monarch can now use more powers for some reason, but it still really bothers me, because they should know the Collector can't multiply himself. It's also strange that he made his trick so hard to find when you would think it would be more obvious to see

But overall, this one was just a chore to get through. It feels like the writers saw how much some people didn't like Nino in “Rocketear”, and were like, “You call THAT character assassination?” And speaking of...

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... NINO

Was there ever any doubt? The dude talked about his identity in a public place, nonchalantly blew him and his girlfriend's cover when he had no reason to for his Resistance, tried to get his best friend's dad akumatized while not caring about any potential damage, showed no remorse for what he did when his plan blew up in his face, tried to tell Ladybug and Cat Noir about what he learned while they were fighting the Collector, and all that was for a plan that didn't even work because the intel was discovered with ease, to say nothing about how he unintentionally let two enemies into his own Resistance. I've seen a lot of stupid decisions in this show, but never have I seen a single episode where a character makes screw-up after screw-up and doesn't even realize how much of a colossal moron he's being. With the past five episodes I covered and awarded Biggest Idiot Awards to (Ladybug, Alya, Xuppu, Mr. Damocles, and Luka), it was more them not seeing the bigger picture. Here, Nino is honestly trying to help Ladybug and Cat Noir, yet he failed at his job in every way.

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #adrien agreste #cat noir #chat noir #gabriel agreste #hawkmoth #hawk moth #monarch #monarch miraculous #the collector #nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #chloe bourgeois #xy #bob roth #alec cataldi #mr damocles #xavier ramier #Youtube

[brilla-brilla-estrellita]

Crafting Wings

I finally remembered today that tumblr is a blog, and that in addition to whatever fandom nonsense I reblog, I can also post bloggy things on it. Obvious, right?

I am making a set of dragon wings for an event coming up in mid-June. They are of course inspired by Simon Snow and will be red dragon wings (though the pattern I bought from them is technically for a wyvern). I'm hoping that posting progress updates here will help me stick to it and actually get it done in time. I'm breaking it down into teeny tiny easy peasy steps and only looking at the very next step to try to keep the overwhelm and executive dysfunction at bay. This is likely to lead me down a path of "If I'd thought about it earlier, I could have..." But you know what? I always end up there anyway.

So first, I spent a long long long long long (long long long...) time trying to decide how to make these wings. I really wanted articulated wings, bonus if I could move them without obviously pushing or pulling or something. But looking at how people had made that happen was overwhelming. They require so much time and skill and I am prone to procrastination and crying and quitting when I mess up. I finally settled on this DIY Mechanical Wing kit by Chimera Wings. That would give me the frame for the wings, but they also have a sewing pattern (with printed AND video instructions) to make the covers for them!

This is what the contents of the kit looked like when I got it:

And this is the completed build! I almost didn't post this because I don't like the way I look, but you know what? Fuck that. I built something cool (using very simple, easy-to-follow instructions, sure) and I don't want to have to find a better fancier more flattering way to film that, so. I'm getting over it.

You can tell that I kinda struggle with the wing on my right side. I clearly need to stretch my arms out before wearing these. Truly. I tried it after I stretched and it's no big deal. Or maybe I'll add some sort of pulley after all. (HAH. Like I'll have time for that.)

Otherwise, the kit and wings are fantastic. It was so easy to put together and they feel very cool to wear. I should probably go write them a review...

I didn't actually takes pics of the next step, but I printed out the pattern on regular 8.5x11 paper and taped it together. It... was not very well done, but I'm hoping I got it close enough to not have messed up the pattern dimensions. After taping and then cutting out the completed pattern, I could move on to working with actual fabric!

I'm making a mock-up out of old sheets first because I have never once done any sewing project successfully the first time. I decided to mock-up only one wing instead of both, so this will surely be my downfall when I move onto the real deal.

The next two pictures are the front and back pieces for a single wing. I decided to cut them separately instead of at the same time by folding the fabric in half because every time I do more than one layer at a time, at least one of the layers comes out real fucked up. I blame being a lefty in a right-handed world. Scissors are of the devil.

The next step was to make buttonholes that are actually strap holes. I have a little baby basic machine, and it has some limitations. I discovered one of these limitations during my buttonhole test runs. As you can see, the machine-provided "buttonhole" stitches are just... lacking. I messed with a screw that controls the length of these stitches, but for some reason it can only be used to balance out the stitch lengths, not make them overall longer or shorter. I have no control for generally change stitch length. I only have the options presented to me on my stitch chooser knob. Alas, I have less than optimal buttonholes.

Pictured above: (Left) One very sad buttonhole test. (Right) A second buttonhole test in which one side is almost respectable and the other should be ashamed to call itself a buttonhole stitch.

Finally, I gave up and balanced the stitch lengths and just went with it. When I do the real deal, I will likely go use my friend's much fancier machine. For the mock-up, this is sufficient. The next three pictures show, with increasing zoom and blurriness, the completed buttonholes.

I am intentionally using very bright, contrasting thread so that when I inevitably fuck up, I can hopefully see the point of fuck up more clearly so as to rectify it on my next attempt.

And that brings us up to speed! Next Step: Pin the pieces together. That's it. That's the whole step. How many days will it take to overcome executive dysfunction and do it? Only time will tell.

As long as I can remember to update regularly, future posts should be quite short.

#yes #i also read butthole every single time #it is an unfortunate word #chimera wings #articulated wings #simon snow #dragon wings #diy craft #sewing #cosplay #i know i'm missing some very obvious tags here

[falseroar]

Murder on the Warfstache Express

Part 6: Room by Room

((Abe starts his search of the other rooms on the train, looking for clues or even a motive in the murder, with Wilford tagging along to "help."

Link to the previous chapter, Part 5: Buddy System and one for the series masterlist.))

There were still windows in the doors between the cars, so to keep anyone from the lounge car noticing the intrusion, Abe turned down the light of his lantern and motioned for Wilford to keep to one side of the car as, starting at the rooms at the far end and making their way toward the front of the train, they unlocked and entered one room after the other.

The very first compartment they went in to clearly belonged to Benjamin. It was absolutely pristine, somehow cleaner than Abe’s room had been when he first entered it yesterday, the bed so neatly made that the corners looked sharp enough to cut a finger on while the pillow’s case had been smoothed so completely that it was impossible to believe a hair so much as a head had come into contact with it recently.

There was also the framed portrait of an all too familiar man dressed in red hanging on the wall, his once friendly smile now appearing cocky and mocking without ever reaching the dark eyes above it.

“Did he take that from the house?” Abe asked, before realizing who he was talking to.

There was no answer, and when Abe looked at Wilford he saw the man who used to be the Colonel staring at the portrait, his lips a tight line as though being pressed into place to keep them from curving one way or another, his eyes too bright and crinkled around the edges, leaving it impossible to tell if the expression there was happy, sad, or some mixture of both.

And then, suddenly and without warning, Wilford broke eye contact with the painting and looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. “Yikes! Old Benji isn’t one for letting loose, is he?”

For a moment, Abe considered pressing the man further, forcing him to confront what he had done instead of once again changing the subject, to keep hammering until that happy-go-lucky façade broke and he finally, finally faced reality and all the pain that came with it.

Instead, he said, “Guess that’s why he needs these, huh?” and reached for the bottle of pills tucked inside of the small black bag sitting on the luggage rack above the bed. He’d only noticed them because the not quite completely closed zipper on the bag stood out like a sore thumb when everything else in the room had been so carefully kept.

“Oh, it’s empty,” Abe said, the silence when he shook the bottle confirming the statement. “Sleeping pills, and strong stuff too.”

“Clearly not strong enough,” Wilford said, kicking the foot of the untouched bed. “Anything else good in that bag?”

Abe was too focused on the bottle’s label to stop Wilford from rifling through Benjamin’s clothes, which included a worrying amount of pressed white gloves.

Not only was the dose high, but based on the date it was filled and the amount that was supposed to be in the bottle, there was no way Benjamin could have gone through the whole thing already. At least not if he was a fan of ever waking up again.

Abe, weighing the empty bottle in his hand, stuck it in a jacket pocket and asked Wilford, “What the hell are you doing?”

Wilford froze, a pair of white gloves on either ear.

“…Well, I think it’s fairly obvious, now that you mention it.”

Abe yanked the gloves off and took the bag back while he was at it, stuffing everything back inside in a way that would have sent Benjamin into hysterics if he were there to see it before tossing it back up onto the luggage rack.

Seeing it up there, another thought occurred to Abe. The bag not being completely closed suggested the former butler had been in a hurry when he stuck the pill bottle in there, obviously hoping it wouldn’t be found. Something that could have easily happened when everyone went back to their rooms before going to the lounge car, except there had been enough time to not rush it.

Unless…

Abe looked back down at the pristinely-made bed and nearly face palmed as he finished the thought aloud.

“Unless he was more worried about making up his bed. The man was more worried we’d see his unmade bed than learn about whatever drugs he’s taking.”

“Think there’s something hidden in there?” Wilford asked, and before Abe could stop him the man did a full body flop on the bed where he stared up at the luggage rack overhead for a moment before declaring, “Nope, just a normal bed.”

“Get off of there!”

By the time Abe was done doing a more thorough search among the sheets and blankets, careful to check under the mattress and in the pillowcase, the once perfectly made train bed now looked like a disheveled mess with nothing to show for it.

“Huh. Guess he really did just want to clean things up in here,” Abe said.

He and Wilford looked at each other, at the tangled ball of sheets, and without discussing it further left the room to move on to the next compartment.

Although Abe did pause at the door and, considering that maybe it wouldn't be good for his health if he allowed Wilford to continue trashing every room they investigated in the name of searching for clues, said, "You stay out here, got it?"

"Excuse you? Do I need to remind you of the buddy system that you suggested?"

"Only because I didn't think it would apply to me," Abe blurted out. "Okay, look, it's still technically the buddy system if you're watching my back, right? Which you would be doing if you wait out in the hall and warn me if you spot anyone coming."

They stared at each other for a moment until Wilford said, "Be honest now, do you really think this is going to work?"

"Nope, but you're still staying out here and out of my way," Abe answered, pulling open the door and walking into the compartment before Wilford could protest.

A compartment that was a little more occupied than it should have been, as Abe realized after the light from his lantern fell on the shape lying on the bed that suddenly sat up with a shout.

“What do you think you’re doing in here?!” bellowed the chef, leaping up with a knife somehow already in his hand.

“Whoa, easy, easy!” Abe yelled, hands up. “Everyone is supposed to be in the lounge car—have you really been sleeping through everything going on?”

“Depends,” Chef said, still keeping his knife trained on Abe, who couldn't help but notice the lack of backup coming from his "buddy" out in the hall despite all the shouting. “What’s been going on?”

“Oh, just that the power’s out, the train’s stuck in the snow, and, oh yeah, there’s been a murder!”

At Abe’s words, both he and the chef looked up and around as if expecting something to happen at the word, a habit impossible to shake no matter how much time passed.

The chef shrugged and lowered his knife slightly as he said, “Well, easy enough to sleep through when none of that’s got a thing to do with me. You got a problem with the food, you call me, otherwise I couldn’t care less.”

He paused and added, “Also, that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing, sneaking in here when you think I’m somewhere else. What, you think I had something to do with that dick getting murdered?”

“Everyone’s a suspect,” Abe said and the chef scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Look, just tell me what you’ve been doing since dinner last night.”

“You mean that fantastic dinner that I slaved over, then spent hours cleaning up after while you snoozed away in the lounge car?” the chef asked, and when the detective reacted to that he said, “Oh yeah, I saw you snoring away in there after I was done cleaning up. As far as I saw, you were the only one still hanging around outside of their room when I turned in here for the night, and here I slept until you had to go and wake me up.”

“What time was this?” Abe asked and the chef shrugged.

“I don’t know, man, maybe ten or something? I work myself to the bone cooking and cleaning up, then I gotta get some sleep so I can get up at the crack of dawn and do it all again for breakfast. This train really needs two or three of me to be doing full dining service, but instead they’re going around cutting corners and getting rid of as many workers as they can. Says it’s because we’re not getting as many ticket sales as we used to, but who wants to pay twice as much to ride for half the service as it used to be? Least I wasn’t stupid enough to agree to do someone else’s job on top of mine, like those other guys.”

He grumbled to himself a bit at that, and Abe let him get it out before bringing him back to the subject by asking, “So you didn’t see anyone else in the lounge car or hanging around in the hallway of the passenger car last night. Did anyone pass through the kitchen at any point?”

The chef snorted. “Are you kidding? I’m not about to let anyone go walking through my kitchen, getting in my way and messing everything up. Besides, there’s no point in going through there. Nothing on the other side of the kitchen car except the mail car, and that’s locked up tight to keep anyone from digging around where they shouldn’t.”

“The mail car is locked?” Abe supposed that shouldn’t have been too surprising, considering there was probably valuable enough stuff getting mailed from one place to the other, or at least personal enough the company had to provide some proof they could keep it safe. “And did you hear anyone moving around last night, or see anything out of the ordinary?”

“I didn’t even notice the train stopping,” the chef pointed out. “Once I’m out, I’m out, I don’t mess around with that tossing and turning and going to look and see what other people are doing in the middle of the night nonsense.”

Abe didn’t see why the chef had to give him that kind of look when he said that, but then he had clearly been asleep when he walked in.

“One more thing before we go, you said you don’t like anyone else in your kitchen.”

“Like? No, no, it’s just not a thing you should go around doing if you value your health,” the chef said, his smile even more worrying with the light from the lantern underneath it.

“…Right. But you let that woman, Dorene Whitacre, come in and bake a batch of cookies during your busiest time of the day?”

“Look, unlike you, my momma taught me how to treat a lady,” the chef countered before breaking into a grin. “Plus, that lady knows some saucy stories that’d make even you blush. Add in giving me her recipe for those cookies and I don’t have to waste my time making dessert for the rest of you? Even you can figure that one out, ‘detective.’”

Abe felt the air quotes were unnecessary, but any answer at all from the chef that didn’t involve getting stabbed felt like a win at this point.

“But again, you really shouldn’t be staying in here by yourself,” Abe said to the chef. “There’s a murderer somewhere on this train.”

“You mean someone who can get through my locked door and do me in while I’m just trying to get some beauty sleep?” the chef asked, his glare pointed enough to make Abe shift the master key behind his back like that helped. He sighed and said, “Whatever, man, not like I can go to sleep now anyways. Benjamin will probably be here any minute to put me to work if everyone else is already awake.”

The chef’s shoulders slumped as he followed Abe out of the room, where he continued through the connecting doors of the two cars walking like a defeated man even though he would have been the first to start a fight if anyone else even suggested fixing something for themselves in his absence.

Abe’s eyes followed the chef through the small windows, and he swore he saw the man stop short just inside the lounge car as though surprised to see everyone there before strong-arming Benjamin out of the way, no doubt dead set on getting back to his kitchen or to the bar in the back of the car.

Still, the chef’s presence would be enough of a distraction that Abe felt safe enough continuing his search of the other compartments.

Not that he had to spend much time on the next few, as they all proved to be empty. Either Peter didn’t have a room with the other staff or he hadn’t bothered to put anything in it, because every room Abe checked was empty until he reached his own.

Or rather, Happy’s room, until they switched compartments after dinner.

“You’re checking your own room?” Wilford asked, leaning on the wall next to him.

“I believe in being thorough.”

That, and he maybe lost track of compartment numbers in the semidarkness and had already started to unlock the door before Wilford said anything, so it was a bit late to back out now. Still, it didn’t hurt to go over everything again in case the agent left anything behind during the swap.

Abe went through the sheets and blankets on the bed and then flipped the whole thing up, turning it back into a seat. Nothing, just as there was nothing in the private bathroom, and nothing in the luggage rack except his own bag which the detective pulled down and set on the floor so that he could raise his lantern higher, hoping the light would magically reveal some missed clue.

“Not to judge or anything, I know these things happen to the best of us, but your bag appears to be…leaking a little,” Wilford said, stepping back and twisting his foot around to look at what he had just stepped in.

"What happened to waiting outside?" Abe asked.

"And miss my chance to step in something interesting? I think not!"

In the lanternlight, the black sole of his white shoe glistened wetly, and when Wilford ran his fingertip over the substance and help it up, it was covered in a dark, viscous red.

Abe set his lantern down and opened the bag, pulling out and tossing aside spare clothes, notepads and pens, a spare gun holster, a flask he had forgotten was even there, and enough packs of cigarettes to make Wilford whistle before he found the culprit at the bottom of the bag.

It was a small glass bottle that hadn’t been closed properly, what remained of its dark red contents sloshing around as he pulled it out and stared at the label.

“Do not put that in your mouth,” Abe said, and behind him Wilford froze, his fingertip already dangerously close to his lips.

Wilford scoffed and wiped his hand on his pants, leaving a red smear in its wake. “Oh, come now, like I would just go around tasting random liquids I find on the bottom of my shoe.”

Abe ignored him as he sniffed the contents of the bottle before gagging and coughing, his eyes streaming so much he had trouble closing it properly. “Yeah, this is—ugh, that was such a bad idea—poison. As in high grade, illegal to buy for any reason in your country of choice, lethal stuff, not just your average cyanide or antifreeze.”

Wilford nodded in understanding. “In case you need to spice up your coffee in the morning.”

“Wh—no! What part of ‘lethal’ do you not understand?!” Abe looked back down at the bottle in his hands and said, “I’ve only heard of the stuff though, never come across it in the field. And I definitely never packed it in my bag. Someone planted this here, knowing once we found the body everyone’s rooms would be searched. Either they were hoping to frame me, or hide the evidence.”

“Or both,” Wilford offered helpfully. “And now your fingerprints are all over it too!”

Abe nearly dropped the bottle before he realized that would just make things worse.

“…Great,” Abe muttered. “But when did they plant this in my room?”

He wished he could narrow it down, but he was out cold in the lounge car for hours after dinner, and even when he got back to his compartment someone could have easily entered and left with him being none the wiser. Plus he went up front with Benjamin after the train stopped, which would have given enough time to anyone willing to brave going around the train in the dark, and that was assuming they didn’t already have a light source of their own handy.

In other words, anyone could have planted the poison in his bag at any time.

Abe groaned and tried to focus on the upside. It was still a clue, even if it was found in the worst place possible.

“This stuff you have to ingest for it to take full effect,” Abe said, and when Wilford continued to smile at him cluelessly, “Meaning breathing in the fumes or skin contact isn’t enough to kill anyone, lucky for you. And me. Point is, we’ve only had the one meal on this trip so far, and then there’s the bar in the lounge car. If Happy was poisoned after he got on this train, it was likely in one of those two places.”

He paused, remembering the incident in Richard Moneybags’ room. This wasn’t the same stuff as Abe had found in Richard’s private stash, but two poisoning attempts in one day was a bit too much of a coincidence to ignore.

Had Happy gone to Richard’s room to share drinks after dinner? Possible, if the agent had agreed to protect Richard from his would-be assassin, although surely the man wouldn’t have been stupid enough to trust anything else in his private bar after finding one bottle already tampered with.

Actually, no, Abe was completely willing to believe Richard was just that stupid, but as he was still kicking around that seemed less likely.

Abe took a second to look in Wilford’s room but seeing nothing there and the poison still on his mind he moved straight on to Richard’s room. He didn't even bother telling Wilford to wait in the hall, mostly because he suspected the man would just choose whichever option would cause him more trouble either way.

“Ah, Stańczyk, you old rascal,” Wilford said, immediately drawn to the jester painting hanging on the wall. He inspected the painting closely and nodded to himself, then seeing Abe’s stare felt compelled to say with a wink, “Stepped out a few times with an art aficionado—you tend to pick a few things up along the way.”

“And yet you can’t remember what year it is.”

“Well when has that ever mattered? Always one year after another around here if you’re going around keeping track of it.” Wilford disregarded the notion with a flap of his hand, his attention drawn to the objects on Richard’s shelves. “Oooh, now look at this!”

“Don’t break anything,” Abe said, and as an afterthought, “And don’t drink the booze. At least one bottle had already been poisoned yesterday afternoon, so who knows if any of it’s safe.”

“Crying shame,” Wilford declared, picking up one of said bottles and tossing it aside without a second thought. “Man’s got terrible taste in liquor. Art’s not half bad though, take this freaky-deaky looking statue here—oops!”

Abe winced, but the sound he expected when the honeycomb-like sculpture, falling as though caught in slow-motion, hit the carpeted floor didn’t come. There was no thump, just a weak little rasp and bounce as though the heavy-looking sculpture weighed nothing at all.

Which it didn’t, as Abe learned when Wilford picked it up again and tossed it to him. The detective caught the “sculpture” easily with one hand and stared at it.

“Paper mâché?”

This close to the lantern, it was obvious the once-gleaming honey-colored statue he had noticed earlier was not smooth metal but a paper facade plastered over a wire frame or something equally light—easy enough to miss in the dark or at a distance.

“But when I saw this earlier, it was definitely the real deal, or at least not made out of paper,” Abe said aloud. He clearly remembered the light reflecting off of the metal surface, and the neat, regular arrangement of holes had real, disturbing depth to them, they didn’t need spots of black paint to sell the illusion. “What about the other stuff on the shelf, are they real?”

Wilford examined each item in turn, picking up the porcelain mask and shuddering before setting it down carefully, then tasting the twisted statuette in the next alcove and smacking his lips like a connoisseur before shrugging. “Yep, that one’s definitely haunted, but the rest of it’s just clever knockoffs to look like the real thing.”

“Forgeries?”

“Sure, I guess. Good ones too, nothing as bad as that one you’re holding. Kind of like those animal hides he’s got all over the place—believe you me, I’ve come face to face with a big cat or two, and that thing on the couch didn’t come from any of them.”

Abe tossed the fake up and down, its minimal weight making each catch dissatisfying. He tossed it back to Wilford and said, “Put it back where you found it for now.”

The detective continued his search around the room, but nothing else stood out—or rather, the abundance of things in the room made it difficult to know what belonged there and what didn’t. At the very least, Abe didn’t find a convenient murder weapon or confession note.

You know, just for once, Abe would have loved to find something like that. Just a nice little confession, signed, sealed, and delivered to wrap up a case all nice and neat.

Okay, he did get one of those once, but he’d have preferred one that didn’t lead to yet another dead partner and a confrontation on the roof in the middle of a thunderstorm, him and the murderer fighting for their lives on slippery tiles where one misstep meant a long fall with a short, sharp stop at the end.

Wilford snapped his fingers in Abe’s face. “Hellooo? No time for flashbacks, we’ve still got a story going on over here.”

He waved his hand and the detective pushed him away with a growl. “Knock it off. Come on, there’s nothing more to see here, let’s go check out that weasel Mack’s room.”

“There’s a weasel on board this train?!”

Suddenly Abe was very grateful to have found that flask he'd packed.

((End of Part 6. Thanks for reading!

Wilford: bad at keeping guard, very good at shooing away unrelated flashbacks. Surprisingly decent at art evaluation, if he would just stop licking things.

Link to Part 7: Incriminating Investigating.

Tag list: @silver-owl413@asteriuszenith@withjust-a-bite@blackaquokat@catgirlwarrior @neverisadork @luna1350 @oh-so-creepy @95fangirl @a-bit-dapper @randomartdudette @cactipresident @hotcocoachia @purple-star-eyes @shyinspiredartist @avispate @autumnrambles @authorracheljoy @liafoxyfox @hidinginmybochard))

#markiplier #fanfiction #wkm detective #wilford warfstache #wkm chef #murder on the warfstache express #wilford has very good taste in art #sometimes he's just a little too literal with it though

[cherrymoonvol6]

i was rewatching TTT for uhhh, [redacted] fanfic reasons :) and i am yet again annoyed by huntlow framing that has like, no resolution at all.

after luz and hunter find each other in the bathroom at the beginning of the episode and they talk about the secrets they’re keeping, there’s a pointed cut framing only amity and willow:

and then, while staring at them, luz says: “we’ll tell them, when we’re ready.” the implication being that these two will have pointed reactions to the discoveries that 1) luz helped belos and 2) hunter is a grimwalker, for amity and willow respectively.

and like, sure, that’s what happens with luz, right?

even before the main plot kicks off, there’s a precedent of luz hiding stuff from or straight up lying to amity. of course, this is all justified within luz’s mental state and she takes every chance to open up (at least a little) to amity and deepen their bond as a result. by this time, the tally is at three with the collector reveal.

beyond the moment where everyone in the main group gets access to this information at the same time, there’s a scene setting up how luz feels that amity’s disappointment is imminent (lucy’s betrayal in the azura movie). and sure enough, once the fight is over, the show goes through luz’s biggest fear in this scenario.

and after all of luz’s paranoia the “twist” is that obviously amity doesn’t blame her - it’s the rational outcome of the scenario that luz can’t internalize because of all her guilt and trauma. so amity explains why she’ll stay loyal to her (since luz is fighting against belos) and hunter seems to find some peace for his years of gaslighting and abuse by telling luz that belos tricked them and it’s not their fault.

so like, setup and payoff 101, yadda yadda. well done TOH. what just doesn’t pay off at all is willow’s involvement in the grimwalker reveal.

sure enough, she has the biggest reaction when luz mentions it during TTT:

but it rings so hollow since she’s not the first to come to that conclusion. it’s gus.

tbh i think this is an underrated gus moment... how he also follows in the guilt-ridden emotions at the center of almost everyone in the main cast (luz, camila, willow, hunter and belos) by bringing back his trusting issues. he clearly thinks this is a choice he would’ve been able to make if he wasn’t so scared of putting himself out and making important decisions, given his past experiences doing so.

it also follows on the foreshadowing of gus learning that secret on the fight against belos during king’s tide.

like, even if willow initiates the moment that triggers hunter’s grief process from anger to sadness, it’s gus who ends up having a bonding moment with hunter. which is why it’s completely baffling that by the end of the episode hunter and willow summon a romantic pseudo-relationship out of fucking nowhere.

and like, i wouldn’t be saying any of this stuff if the show had only added gus to that scene. legit, only gus was needed in that frame. he’s even sat at the table two seconds after that bathroom scene ends.

maybe you consider the nature of this post to be very nitpicky, and i get why. but, in my eyes, this is just the ongoing trend of TOH doing nothing to deepen hunter and willow’s relationship beyond only stating that they’ll become a couple soon - and the only time hunter and willow had a real conversation before FTF was when she still thought he was “caleb”.

as it stands, the first scene only works to point out that huntlow is canon. which is also the entire extent that the show is willing to do for them.

#long post #toh #anti huntlow #i've said this before and i'll say it again: i do not blame james somerton's read on hunter/gus one bit lol

[kingfisherprince]

you bet I'm sending you a ⭐ for the fanfic asks :-)

well, i hope you don't mind me using this as an excuse to continue talking about the second fic in the series. once again horribly long, once again under the cut, once again i am talking too much.

i. intro

this one originally began life as 'blood stains when you fall' but that was… slightly too melodramatic, and didn’t really fit. but i had no clue what other kind of stains you could incur from hardcourts. eventually i decided, okay, the paint isn’t totally dry, you can get blue stains. great, top-notch reasoning there.

from the start, there’s something different - it’s novak’s pov. and this is for a number of reasons. hardcourts, of course, are his territory, and based on the original plan of big 3 surfaces plus side fedal, he would be next. but more than that, i am an absolute sucker for pov outsider fics, so. this was inevitable.

ii. Afterwards, he watches Rafa drop to the ground, exhausted, maybe-grinning, maybe-crying, damp hair falling into his face; when he gets to his feet Novak pulls him in for a hug, and doesn’t let go until he has to.

this was a really difficult line for me, believe it or not. and that’s because for the longest time, i didn’t think i was going to carry over the “afterwards” from pt 1. i thought i would come up with a new passage of time motif and weave that throughout this story, but that was really, really difficult. when i gave up and chose to use this again, it kickstarted my progress on the fic.

this starts at uso ‘10, which is an interesting place because i mean. we all know about novak’s 2011 season, but right before that, he’s still reasonably friendly with rafa. and that’s the angle we’re coming at this whole thing from - a deteriorating friendship alongside a relationship that needs fixing.

iii. Novak doesn’t really believe in the idea of next time. 

once again, something i didn’t expect to become important - or at least, not in the way that it did. i wrote this line intending to set up strongly for the ideas of “next times” and certainty, and i did that - but it also set up an even stronger theme, which is “belief.”

iv. It’s something like certainty. 

this is maybe the only true character study out of the fics in this series; it really focuses on novak’s outlook and the way that changes throughout the 2011 season as he wins, and keeps on winning. because he did, at some point, doubt himself here, and then he won this slam and it only went uphill.

so what kind of effect does that have on this character, a guy who doesn’t really believe in guarantees or tomorrows? how does that change him, how does he stay the same? these are just very interesting questions, and i didn’t know i was answering them until far later in this fic.

v. Here is a lie, and one most people think is true…[]

i added the reprise of “here is a lie” about… i’d say halfway through the writing of this fic. i was toying around with the idea, but having already carried over the “afterwards” motif, i didn’t know about this one. then i tested it out here and it just fit perfectly.

this section is an absolute ball of contradictions, which is probably fair, because novak is nothing if not contradictory. belief really solidified as a major theme around this point, so we have a guy who believes in everything and nothing, who is really struggling to know what to believe when his past tells him one thing, and his success tells him another.

even though i pulled the same structure of truths and lies here, they ended up saying something much different than in the first fic. whereas in that one it mattered what was true and what wasn’t, here it’s just a framing device for something that matters more: what you believe to be true or not.

vi. Afterwards, something settles in his chest; it feels a lot like certainty.

and then certainty comes back, the idea that as he keeps winning more, he gets more sure of his place in tennis. even though this is outsider pov of fedal's Sad Era, a lot of how it starts is novak's attention being split between that and his own life, because it's 2011 and everything is changing. 

at this point i feel like i could talk for a few million years about the first half of this fic, the pure introspection part, and never get to the second bit, which is the one with fedal.

vii. It’s unbelievable.

belief, again. i don't think i quite realized how repetitive some of these elements are until i did this commentary. the repetition makes it stronger, of course, ties it together more closely, but there was more variation on the anaphora in pt 1 for sure. that's probably a huge part of the reason i don't like this one as much.

but this line does have significance; until now, it's been all about how success leads to belief, but at the same time so much success almost defies belief, rises you up so high that all you know to do is fall into it, but someone like this novak - wary, wire-edged - stays on the edges of that belief instead.

viii. Here is the truth one more time: Novak Djokovic believes in everything, some days - but even on those days, he has never believed in such a thing as forever.

okay, this is it! i swear, this is the last thing before we actually talk about the interesting parts of this fic. the truth refrain comes back, but as is the case through most of this second part, it doesn't give us much of an answer.

this line in particular is my attempt at reckoning with novak as we know him, his contradictions and oddities and beliefs and disbeliefs and the fact that, despite everything, he is still my favourite player. it is, in many ways, a self-justification.

ix. Rafa has the same look in his eyes that he’d had for all of two years ago, half-wrecked with pain and near heartbreak, and back then he’d refused to say a word about it, and Novak had thought it was just his knees, but he’s starting to think maybe it was something else too, even back then.

alternatively: the paragraph where novak gets a Clue. he can be… very dense, which is why he didn't figure this out at any point in the preceding four years, and also gets easily caught up in his own life, which is why the fic takes such a long span of time. 

but at the end of the day, he really does care because he just wants everyone to go back to being happy. it's a contradictory sort of motivation, but he's a contradictory sort of person. something like that; i don't think i explained this very well.

x. Love, maybe, and people. And tennis, always.

this is where, after far too long, the belief motif gets broken down. a lot of things change, but these are the things that haven't changed in an entire lifetime, and never will. that's what you can really, truly believe in, always, and it won't let you down. 

as soon as i wrote this, i began to work off this as the fundamental essence of the belief motif, and changed it as needed in the sections i pulled it into.

xi.  it doesn’t even matter that Rafa won’t look him in the eye because he’s done it, he’s won Wimbledon. 

in between the themes of belief and actually reaching your dreams and the complexities of love and people being people, it’s important to remember this: a friendship, falling apart.

it makes me sad, it really does. there's almost an air of unrequited love to it. i didn't love writing this aspect of the fic because of that, but, well. it needed to be done, y'know?

xii. "Fuck you," is Roger's first response…[]

so finally, a literal year after he first notices that something is off, novak finds out. this seems sort of contrary to the way i wrote him - do everything now, because you don't know if you'll get any kind of tomorrow - but really, it just means this was pretty low on his priority list. now he's won just about everything, so he has time to ask.

this also highlights the difference in the way roger and rafa reacted after the mess that was the first fic ending. rafa got sad, and then got injured, and then got sadder. roger got sad, and then he got angry, and he stays angry through the time of this conversation. 

xiii. Afterwards, Novak thinks if he doesn't find out now, he might never get the chance.

didn't i just say he doesn't feel the "no tomorrows” pressure when it comes to talking about this? so why is this line there? there wouldn't be any reason for him to worry about this normally. but he's just beaten rafa for the nth time in a row, and remember: a friendship, fraying, almost worn away completely by this point. if he doesn't find out now, he might not have enough of it left to try again.

xiv. “So,” he says as they walk into the locker room…[]

my favourite scene in the entire fic, and maybe the entire series, is also the first one i wrote. i was having a tricky time with writer's block, but i forced myself to start this conversation, and then i just kept going. 

one of the most difficult things about the anaphora and motif-heavy style that this is written in is that i have no space for my sense of humour. so i pretty much poured the entire thing into this scene, and i love how it turned out. the best one-liner is definitely the "love advice at 40-15.” i'm also pretty fond of the line that got used as the fic summary. 

special thanks to @boockaroo for giving me dozens of spanish insults to choose from. i was originally going to just use one, but then they were so good that i added a couple more.

xv. The thing about sadness is this…[]

it's easy to say: rafa is sad. he's been sad since before the beginning of this fic, and continues to be sad part way through the next one. and, because he's not built for this kind of sadness, that becomes really obvious.

i'm more interested in this, though: who are the people that are built for sadness? i implied an answer, but i want to know what y'all think. that's really what this section is about.

xvi. Do not meddle in the affairs of your rivals wizards, for they are not at all subtle and none of your business quick to anger.

was this me panicking upon realising i didn't have strikethrough text for this fic, and adding one at the last possible minute? oh, absolutely. do i still like this line? yes, because it's lord of the rings.

xvii. final scene

unique among the final scenes because of two things: it's over a phone, and it doesn't take place on the court. although it does take place before a hardcourt tournament final (miami 2012, which novak and andy played in reality. it was more convenient for me this way.)

this is a lot more typical of my writing style, this kind of character interaction, banter, nonsense, people solving problems by talking to each other. that's why all the final scenes are conversations. that, and i like to think i have a good handle on voices, which lets me give weight to the dialogue without it feeling ooc.

as one relationship is getting counseling - roger and rafa's, courtesy novak - the other one, rafole's friendship, finally finishes falling apart. i don't think i intended for the perpendicular storylines to be there when i started out, but it heightens both themes.

i brought back most of the most important lines as parentheses in this one, even if i hadn't previously established them as motifs. that change in method is something i took through into pt 3.

xviii. Afterwards…[]

there are a couple of really important "afterwards" in this section, which is why i highlighted the entire section, and not just one part. first, there's the one where rafa says he's going to try - he looks in pain, because this is the point when his knees are starting to flare up, but he's also happy. it's a juxtaposition of pain, which happens a lot more in pt 3.

the other important one is the very last line. it completes what i think is the binding thread of the fic, which is an outside view of a relationship, and a friendship falling apart. by saying novak "thinks they'll figure it out" he's removing himself from the equation of rafa&roger, and accepting the end of a friendship. 

this is the end of his viewpoint, and of his involvement in the story. at the same time, by separating him from the other two, it does justice to the fact that this is also very much his fic.

xix. random stuff

this fic defied all my best attempts at finding music, so i will just say that its soundtrack is silence. but if you listen to anything with this, make it "don't" by eAeon.

xx. final thoughts

this part was. a lot.

it took the longest time, because writer's block hit me hard through all parts of it. it's my least favourite, because of how repetitive it seems at times, without ever reaching poetic prose. it was the one i was most uncertain about, because novak is… controversial at best. 

i thought a lot about not posting it, just keeping the series to two parts. i thought, even after i finished it, about deleting the whole thing. it felt self-indulgent and unnecessary.

but now it is what it is. i probably won't look back at this one as much as i will the others, but i'm proud. not really of it, but of myself, for overcoming all of that and still writing, in my eyes, a decent fic.

so, yeah. that was blue stains.

#fisherkings fic #tennis rpf #fedal #and a lot of #novak djokovic #the right questions #series: stained in your colours #fic: blue stains when you fall

[cjgladback]

We have wings as of last week! And as of today they seem to work, after I had to reduce the range of the scotch yoke a bit to keep this fairly balanced shape without clipping through the horns. And while I was at it, we let the back legs do less of a high step and got that leggier shape I was wanting for them. I think all the major shapes are final now, just have to punch a few more holes for all the dowels since I decided to make it disassemble-worthy, and reduce the width of that yoke's lower slot now that it's on a smaller wheel.

Also, while the every-tenth-frame animation was rendering I did some real paper math (well, reusable paper at least) to check my assumptions that the wheel that's twice as tall will take twice as long to rotate. And almost said it wouldn't! Remember kids, math is dangerous and little mistakes can make you doubt relationships you intuited until you find the issue. Always let your calculator think for you and everything will be okay. (Or, y'know, your basic multiplication skills will erode until you make tons of mistakes like this. Pros and cons.)

Image descriptions got long again so they're under the cut, along with the gif of how our first proportions moved:

[ID: First image is a sequence of 3D renders of a work in progress mechanical dragon toy in orange, showing it gain a hinged tail, large head, and wings before the sizes of its wheels and the slots in a piece on its side adjust and a low frame rate animation begins, showing the way the wheel rotation will move the limbs. The front and back legs are articulated to "walk" with the wheel movement, the front leg on a small wheel causing it to move about 50% faster than the back. There is another set of wheels between the two, twice as large as the front set. This wheel raises the slotted piece with its rotation using a peg in the wheel through a horizontal slot while it's guided up two dowels through vertical slots. The wing rests on the top of this piece is pushed upward, rotating on its hinge in the middle of the back. Everything is mirrored on the far side of the dragon.

Second image is a page of handwritten algebra in green ink on an unlined six-ring notebook page. It starts with the equation for a circumference, C = 2 (pi) r, and asks the question "if (given three radius measurements) and we travel one centimeter, how much does each wheel rotate?" R sub 1 is 3cm, R sub 2 is 4.5cm, and R sub 3 is 6cm -- so R sub 3 is double R sub 1. Hand-multiplication follows, with the answer for C sub 1 now having a note with "oops" and the digit 4 written over the mistaken second decimal 0. A longer note reads, "if I'm dumb and just used the diameter for each instead of the radius...each should just be the result (times) 0.5." The results cut in half are written down. C sub 1 is missing the second decimal place it would have with the corrected numbers from the first multiplication, now with a note "wait!" pointing to it. "So rotation in degrees should be a ratio between travel & C." This note is expressed as an equation, delta over C is equal to X over 360 degrees. 360 delta degrees over C is equal to X. Given delta is equal to 1cm, there follow three solutions for X using each of the circumferences found, then X sub 3 is multiplied by two. Initially that result had a second decimal place of 1 where X sub 1 had 9. To the side is an non-equation X sub 1 is not equal to 2 X sub 3, with a sad face. Written vertically is the formula X is equal to 360 delta degrees over diameter pi; this is simplified to the approximation X is equal to 114.59156 times delta degrees over diameter. Changes in the diameter should be inversely proportional to changes in X. The first solution for X sub 1 is lined through with an arrow to one with the corrected circumference value, which matches 2 X sub 3. The earlier non-equation is crossed out as well; the equation X sub 1 is equal to X sub 3 is followed by an exclamation point and a smiley face.

End ID]

[ID: Animated gif of the dragon toy in a brown matcap, wings and legs moving with the wheels. The wheels are not spinning at a constant rate because their rotation mode hasn't been set to Axis Angle yet, the back "knee" joint raises to higher than the middle back, and the middle of the front arches of the wings travel into the middle of their respective sides' horn by the top of their rotation. End ID]

#dragon roll #cj gladback #wip animation #3d wip #blender #dragon #toy

[kitchfit]

Year in Review: Books Pt 2

Rounding out the rest of my reading list. It's a short list, overall. One of my new years resolutions is definitely to carve more time out for reading, which may cut into my future bildeo bame time. Oh well! That's probably a good thing.

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

I hesitate to criticize the content of an autobiography, especially one as open and honest as this one. I listened to this through the audio book narrated by McCurdy herself, and she gives a great performance through the line reading. Almost as if she was a classically trained actor! Still, I wonder if her reading may have compensated for the quality of some of the prose, and I might not have gotten through it if I were reading it myself.

The title sounds a bit callous to those who haven't experienced child abuse, like myself, but I understand it's a common enough sentiment from those who have, and you come to understand her perspective. It's not a statement made from a place of malice, but one of acceptance that her life has improved without her abuser present, no matter the complicated feelings. The book is also not wholly about her relationship with her mother, covering her experience with bulimia, anorexia, the toxic environments of Hollywood, though her mother is at the center of all of it. It's also not a complete bummer! McCurdy injects a lot of humor throughout the book and covers some of the fun moments she's had in her career. Which is expected in a memoir, I suppose.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

This book is as fantastic as it is ridiculous. The story opens on our protagonist, Arthur, protesting the bureaucratic destruction of his home for the construction of a highway through the area, before he is whisked away by a bisexual alien hitchhiker just in time for Earth itself to be demolished by bureaucratic aliens to build an intergalactic highway. Every plot development acts as both comedy and world building. They nearly survive execution by giving shitty criticism to alien poetry. The president of the universe got his position as a practical joke. A whale is created by a cosmic RNG manipulation machine, and has an inner monologue on the nature of its life just before it explodes and dies.

The outside universe is chaotic and incredulous, and the excitement of wanting to explore that universe through the lens of a hitchhiker almost overwrites Arthur's existential dread on the destruction of his home world. While the book can handle moments of genuine drama, it never goes long before that drama is overshadowed by a joke, or perhaps the drama is itself the joke. This might be annoying to some, but Adams' writing style is slow fluid you don't really have time to be annoyed. It's a short book, and I'm excited to read the next one in the series, if SOME people would return it to the LIBRARY ON TIME. They probably have by now.

The Storyteller by Dave Grohl

I only recently became a Foo Fighters fan, introduced to the album "In Your Honor" by a friend in early 2022, which I immediately listened to ad nauseum until my sister noticed and got me the CD for my car. Thank You Sister! I was sad to hear about the passing of Taylor Hawkins only a couple weeks after I learned who he was. I already knew Grohl had lost a lot of people in his life. But his book is not about grief, at least, not exclusively. Like the title suggests, this memoir is full of stories! And Dave Grohl is, indeed, a good Storyteller.

The book follows his life in a reasonably sequential order, though framed through the lens of a father looking back on his life as he raises his two daughters. It covers his musical influences, his time in Scream and Nirvana, the creation of Foo Fighters. If you like anything from that scene, this book is a good time. It does get a bit name-droppy towards the end. But like. This guy is friends with Paul McCartney! Composer and performer of the classic song "Temporary Secretary," and nothing else! Who wouldn't bring that up at every opportunity?

The book always flashes back to the "present," where his eldest, Violet Maye, is following in her father's footsteps as a musician, which I now realize I've never heard. Give a second.

...

She's alright! Sounds a bit like those "Foo Fighter" guys.

Beowulf translated by Maria Dahvana Headley

This is something I had previously read for college, but the translation we read was focused on accuracy for the original text, and I felt it was a bit buried under flowery language that would tickle under the balls of an academic, but hard to parse for a casual reader. That's not to say that Headley isn't an academic, but her translation focuses largely on readability in a modern context rather than textual accuracy, and for the first time I actually enjoyed Beowulf rather than just understood it.

For the uninformed, Beowulf is what 9th century monks used to read since they didn't have Dragon Ball. It follows the title character Beowulf as he heroically challenges three monsters (some bitch named Grendal, Grendal's hot mom, and a dragon) for the safety of the Geats and his own people, but moreso for the glory and spoils of the win, and the love of fighting. The story is always told in past tense, and Headley goes the extra mile of telling it from the perspective of a dudebro who relays the tale to his other bros. I truly think this is the version that would most resonate with my generation, but it probably won't get shown off in college classrooms for using phrases like "dude, they were fucked," and "#Blessed."

The Two Towers by Jolkien Rolkien Rolkien Tolkien

This is the second entry in my very slow read-through of Lord of the Rings. I have been called a fake nerd for not having read these books. And they were right for calling me that! I only have the distinguished and highly regarded appearance of a nerd, and that needs to be corrected! One book a year, apparently. I read Fellowship last year, and while I enjoyed the second half of that book a great deal, damn can Jolkien describe a hill. A significant portion of book one was dedicated to the hobbits journey to Rivendale and singing songs of old Middle Earth legends, which are probably more enjoyable on re-reads. Book two has much better pacing, imo.

Immediately, you are set into the action of a fractured narrative. Pipin and Merry are missing, Frodo and Sam left the fellowship to go on their own fruity adventure, Boromir is dead, and Aragorn, Gimli, and Orlando Bloom are left to figure out what exactly the fuck happened to everyone. I like how each storyline is told. From what I remember in the movies, everything is interspersed with each other, but in the book you have to follow everyone separately, creating a genuine sense of mystery that slowly unravels itself. Frodo isn't even in the book until halfway through!

Each storyline also introduces a new, fun element of Middle Earth that makes the world feel much more developed than in Fellowship or even the Hobbit. I fucking love Ents. And big spider... Frodo's relationship with Gollum is also fascinating; his desire to save this gross little freak working as a reflection of his feelings about himself. Will someone try to help me if I end up like that? Will my friends still love me? It's a very real possibility as he carries this curse, and by proxy makes me love Samwise that much more, since we know from his narrative perspective that yes, he will love and try to help Frodo no matter the circumstance. Even if the current little freak is getting on his last nerve.

The Shining by Stephen King

I've not read a ton of what I'd classify as "horror," outside of short form fiction, but apparently I love to write about it, so I wanted to take a look at the predominant Horror Guy from the 80s times. I love the movie that spawned from this, and knew that Stephen King hated it for some reason, and now I think I know why! The movie is definitely its own beast, and I think I may write a separate blurb for it if I ever rewatch it in the near future, so I'll refrain from too many comparisons.

The story follows a boy with psychic powers, and a haunted house that eats boys with psychic powers. The Torrances are a very loving family, or they would like to be, but their dynamic is plagued with generational trauma and the father's, Jack's, alcoholism. They are put in charge of the Overlook Hotel, which has to be maintained over the winter lest it be torn to pieces in the Colorado mountains. Why don't the owners hire more than one family to take care of this big ass hotel? They're a bunch of cheapskates!

I would love to make an entire deconstruction on Jack Torrance. He's a man who's been unbelievably shitty to his family and the people around him, saw the monstrousness in himself and desperately tried to back peddle. It is the Overlook, this entity that breaths within the hotel, that uses that darkness to carve him out from the inside and use him as a puppet to threaten his loved ones. It actually fails at first, Jack's love of his wife and son beating back the ugly thoughts the hotel plagues his mind with, and thus it had to get him drunk to make any real headway, force him to relapse into the man he wanted to overcome.

The mystery of the Overlook's origin is compelling. It clearly lures people with "the Shining" into itself to devour and maintain itself, but where does it's monstrosity come from? Was it always there? Or was it the violence and racism of its previous owners that left such a strong imprint that created such an entity? King's answer would probably be a mix of both, but that last interpretation makes the ending much more poignant to me. A monster that victimizes people who shine created by monsters who victimized women and people of color, ultimately overcome and destroyed by a black man with psychic powers, a housewife, and a little kid. Maybe that's too generous an interpretation for a book written by a white dude in the 70s, but I don't give a shit. Night of the living dead author and all that.

And that ends my reading list! I don't really expect too many to read any of this, let alone all of it, but if you did, thank you! This is not only to share what I've read this year, but also to go back and appreciate what it was I read, so it doesn't become a vague tear in the tapestry of memory. Wow that sounded pretentious as hell! I hope I made these books sound at least a bit interesting for you, because they're all genuinely good reads! And if you have a book you think I might like, please let me know! I'm always looking for new books to get halfway through and never finish.

#book reviews #reviews #i'm glad my mom died #jennette mccurdy #the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy #douglas adams #bookblr #the storyteller #dave grohl #foo fighters #violet maye grohl #beowulf #maria dahvana headley #the two towers #jrr tolkien #lotr #lord of the rings #the shining #stephen king #books #my post

[rathologic]

sorry if you've discussed this in detail b4 but I'm curious how you feel about marble nest as a game/text especially compared to P2...

I don't have a ton of thoughts on it really! I think it's frustrating that the "all a dream" nature of The Marble Nest makes it hard to connect into any discussion of how it reflects on "real" p2 - its being subjective to Dankovsky is kind of an excuse to retcon any of the game. its 2019 (bundled) release was a huge downgrade; beyond cutting out a lot of content including the House of Death quest, rats, and the "break marat's neck with your bare hands" cutscene, and making the lighting/shaders homogeneous with release p2's shaders, its addition of the stamina bar turns walking around from a necessity of motion where the player didn't need to worry about their speed into a pointless stamina management minigame that constantly diverts the player's attention. just visually and ludologically 1.5 stars worse and yet IPL asks you to pay for that version & also the 2016 one isn't downloadable anymore. 👎

I enjoy the focus on townsfolk/unnamed NPCs over the People list (and am excited to see this continue in the upcoming route), especially the portrayal of the major characters as chess pieces implying that they're seen in a strategic-manipulation kind of way, and how the same treatment extends to the NPCs you interact with in order to get the true ending. in short, the way that having to select specific actions and get specific endings for plot threads overrules the Bachelor's personal will and his care for people in the pursuit of "winning" / the truth, in the same way that his tooltip thoughts about the adherents are secondary to their roles and usage in the game he's been playing... very characteristic of him :-)

tmn is 95% of all characterization we have for p2 Georgiy so as a note, I love Georgiy's writing in the marble nest, he's awful but he's one of the only p2 characters who has a defined philosophy and will actually explain it to the player and attempt to achieve his own goals at your expense. it's literally not georgiy's fault that haruspex route copied his deal for its OWN antagonist. similarly, Aspity's great in it it's nice that she got to have a character and express her view of death at some point before being flattened into a mother figure for the haruspex. eva comes pre-fridged in this one so we don't get to see the hole generated by her absence, only how sad the bachelor feels walking past her house, which could've been at least mentioned in the cathedral part but my theory is the writers just didn't know what they wanted to do with her yet. other notes:

the graveman is one of the best and coolest game design features they could've added & fixes tmn's most annoying aspect in a way that adheres to the bachelor's constant themes about time

the meta aspect of being a video game played by the player is handled much more cleanly IMO by the time loop than by 2's theater play framing

even with unlimited sprint, walking is The weak point - while it's mitigated a little by having so much wandering NPC dialogue and frequent event changes, it's a lot of time and attention spent without even the reward of (having a use for) trash pickups, and I think the district's sound design could've been improved to add variety. boats fix this in the haruspex route

the graphics and mechanics don't take precedence over the narrative content / dialogue so it feels way more solid and put-together. including how every piece ultimately fits together... the use of limited characters and physical space works to ensure that each conversation brings in something unique :-)

AND the kids have a high measure of control over the game situation & ability to speak for themselves, as it were. & it even connects to and ultimately explains a piece of lore (the nuts) and introduces characters (marat and dora) beyond the bounds of what 1 had established, without breaking anything fundamental

in general I think it was excellent as a demo, pretty good as a game in the pathologic franchise, and definitely a worthy use of (checks notes) 8.15 gigabytes of hard drive capacity. and the important thing is that it's fun

#tmn #tmn spoilers #asks #anonymous #daniil dankovsky #<- it's 1 paragraph more than I usually post about him so.

[unfortunately-a-fangirl]

Since you asked several I got another

What piece of art has made you cry the hardest?

Ended up being a really long one. Rest is below the cut, but I don't really cry all too much. It's really hard for me, I don't know why, but it is annoying. For most of these it's to the verge of tears, though Everything, Everywhere, All at Once got a Death of a Salesman type cry out of me.

In terms of Film:

When Marnie was There (2015), The Wind Rises (2016?), and Everything, Everywhere, All At Once (2022) all got me real close to crying. EEAAT specifically hit me really hard, because pointing at the screen Joy is just like me for realsies (she isn't but the story was something I sympathized with). When Marnie was There was a story that I think spoke to me somewhat when I was younger, but I didn't realize it, and I wasn't really prepared to process what it got me to feel. The Wind Rises is just about an artist fundamentally, though the framing is about the construction of the Zero, the film is adapted from a manga Miyazaki wrote, which was in turn based loosely on a series of dreams he had where a role model he had would visit him, and (to bring it back to point) it comes through in the film as Miyazaki thinking about how his career is coming to a close. That's what I think, at least.

Also, not crying, but I'm still thinking about Lawrence of Arabia (1963?). It's a film that stays on my mind and I'm not sure Why.

In terms of Television:

Puelli Madoka Magi Magica (2011-2011) I think yoinked the most tears out of the tear ducts. Themes surrounding the social contract, loss, and lesbianism + the USB-ification of a certain member of the cast early on really helped get me invested early so that seeing homura and madoka's actions in the final episodes + rebellion really hit hard. Idk stories about having to sacrifice memories really strike me in a specific way. For other TV shows, uhh MST3K probably got me rolling on the floor more than once. It's really good!

In terms of Video Games (if the LoC says they're art, they're art to me):

Disco Elysium (2019, 2021).

In terms of Music:

Windows 96's 100 Mornings has a very listless feel to it that really got me to cry a bunch when I was younger, though now it's more just listless and a sort of wall-staring component for me (cf. Boa's Duvet, or Gorillaz's Melancholy Hill)

Though uh what was it Jesus Beleibt Meine Freude? by Bach also got me staring at walls and ceilings largely because like, you know, the funny evangelion song, but it's been exorcised of all sadness by Mister Manticore's JESUSINVIETNAM. I would need to think hard, but Chernaya Noch, Hills of Manchuria, Gloomy Sunday, and probably a few others got me sad and crying at times. But I don't think I have much in terms of music to cry to.

In terms of painted works:

idk man, not much off the top of my head, sorry. Theres a lot of pretty art out there and the Romantics always sort of got that same wall-stare out of me as mentioned above. Emphasizing a hollowness I feel within myself

ANYWAY :] thanks for asking a lot of the things mentioned here are good :[ some aren't, but thanks!!!

#an ask thing! :) #an ask thing about *me*!!!

[bobgoesw00t]

Top 10 Video Games of All Time: bobgoesw00t Edition

OK, I’m officially gonna start listing my Top 10 Video Games of All Time now and I’m starting off with the only game from my original Top 5 that has survived the cut: Star Ocean Till the End of Time

Now I should mention something real quickly and it’s the following: I’ve played this game MULTIPLE TIMES, cleared the story at least 3-4 times, and only one of those clears was done without the use of an Action Replay… I know that’s rather sad but the first time I got to the Moon Base, without using it, that god damn Reclaimer FUCKED ME UP SO HARD that I ended up resorting to using the, “Max EXP” cheat on the entire party.

When they released the HD Remaster of the game on the PS4, I knew that I would have to play smarter (no Action Replay will do that to you), once I got that far and I was actually able to beat her on the first try somehow…I think. ANYWAYS, what I’m trying to say is that this game is one of my three favorite JRPGs from the PS2 (one of those is in my Top 5 right now) and no matter how many times I boot the game up and start from the beginning I have a blast. The story is awesome, the graphics hold up surprisingly well in the HD Remaster (at least IMO), combat is fun and challenging at times, and the cast of characters is phenomenal (hell, my top Star Ocean OTP is from this game and they are SO CUTE AND FLUFFY AO;SDGHASOLGJAPO;STGIJLAGPO…it’s Fayt x Albel/FayBel in case your wondering). I even think the big plot twist is awesome, given how it re-frames the ENTIRE series, even with the games that got released after it. I know one of the people who work on the series said that The Last Hope takes place in an alternate timeline, but I call bullshit on that.

That’s cause if we factor in the information that the Universe as Edge and the party know it is actually a giant MMOesque creation, we can come to the logical conclusion that the Missing Procedure is a bug or virus of some kind in the Eternal Sphere that had the potential to crash the entire system. As for the impact it has on Integrity and Faithlessness, along with The Divine Force, that is a conversation for another day.

I also like how in order to get enough Battle Trophies to unlock all of the bonus content, you actually have to play through the story multiple times with different party configurations when it comes to the optional characters. You’ve got Nel, Rodger, Albel and Peppita and which ever characters you don’t pick end up becoming bosses in the Urssa Cave Temple, and you get Battle Trophies for defeating the different configurations.

I only really have two complaints to talk about but both are pretty minor for me. The first one is the lack of a “Synopsis” section in the Info part of the Camp Menu, someplace where you can look up what’s happened so far and easily figure out where to go next. If you’re like me and you’ve taken a long break from the story, chances are you won’t remember what the current objective is the only way to figure that out is to run around like a chicken with your head cut off hoping for a cutscene to trigger…which sometimes can lead into a Boss Fight that you might be under prepared for. Thankfully they added that into the next game and this is no longer an issue but it’s still a pain in the ass to have this happen.

The other complaint is the MASSIVE difficulty spike at some points in the game. The only places I can think of when this happens is when you stop the Vendeeni from getting the Sacred Orb, the start of the second disc (or the equivilant part in the HD Remaster), and when you reach a certain level in the post-game part of Sphere 211. If you have any party members that are under-leveled, the enemies here will FUCK THEM UP. But even with properly leveled characters, one wrong move will wipe them from the battle.

And that’s all I have for gripes with this game, nothing really game breaking, and once you get a grip on the tougher enemies in the main story, it becomes a breeze to get past them and move on with the plot. Great gameplay, good cast of characters, music by the BADASS Motoi Sakuraba and a theme song from the Japanese Artist renown not just for being the first J-R&B star, but also sung the Japanese National Anthem at the Tokyo Games Opening Ceremony, MISIA. Her song, “A Little Bird Who Forgot How to Fly” is GORGEOUS and I almost ball my eyes out during the ending credits every time when it starts playing.

SO for my score of Star Ocean Till the End of Time, I’m going to follow in the steps of X-Play, use their scoring system and give this JRPG a 5/5.

Lastly for my Honorable Mentions today, I’m highlighting:

Forza Horizon 3 - the racing game that got my into not only the Forza franchise in general, but also introduced me to the music of CHVRCHΞS. Even the the next Horizon game wasn’t able to top this one for me, no matter how good it was.

Tales of Xillia/Xillia 2 - I’m doing a two for one deal this time only cause I feel like you can’t talk about one game without mentioning the other. Both games are awesome, both have their merits and flaws (not many of them to be honest though) and both have my favorite theme songs in the franchise from the Queen of J-Pop, Ayumi Hamasaki.

I’ll be giving more a in-depth reviews of these games sometime next year so that’s all for today! Keep your eyes peeled for when I post the next entry in this series and I hope you all continue to have a wonderful holiday season.

#top ten video games of all time #video games #star ocean #star ocean till the end of time #fayt leingod #albel nox #faybel #fayt x albel #forza horizon 3 #tales of xillia #tales of xillia 2 #MISIA #ayumi hamasaki #chvrches #my opinion #JRPG #star ocean the last hope #star ocean 5 #star ocean the divine force #PlayStation 4 #ps4 #top 10 video games of all time

[popculturebuffet]

Thomas and Friends Season 3 Review (Comissioned by Lachiev): Bees, Escaping Death and Angry Reverends

Hello all you silly little engines and welcome back to my Thomas the Tank Engine Retrospective! For those new here yes this is a thing i'm doing and while the money is good, the real reason I do it is for those delightful bits of chaos.

Season 3 of Thomas the Tank Engine was a time of great change. For starters it took 5 years.. which is what the gap between my last venture bros reviews feels like, for a number of reasons: One was that producer Britt Alcroft, whose comapny took over most of the production, was busy making shining time station, an amiecan program that aired the first two seasons segments. The program also became a huge hit in Japan, which makes it coming up in the japan set Bullet Train as Lemon's faviorite show less waht the fuck… it's still delightfly weird that's this man's fascination.. though given i'm a grown man who was paid by another grown man to talk thomas multiple times, I could relate to him. The point is if you haven't seen bullet train watch it and the show took a bit. A lot of the crew also went ot work on Tugs, a show I never heard of but is apparently the darker and edgier thomas the tank engine, to the point instead of the engines just being stupid once in a while with the only real antagonists being the trucks an disel (and Gordon but I don't think that was intentional), there's an ENTIRE TEAM OF EVIL BOATS. As you can probably guess i'll be reviewing this for Lachiev at some point, possibly next time.

At any rate, things came together though weirdly despite the large gap not a lot changed; Most of the same models are used, the towns and what not are about the same: the only big change was that the faces are noticeably more expressive, having been reworked between seasons. It's only by a bit but it's easy to see. They also move more instead of just moving between frames.. the latter is still the primary way these chimera's function, but it's neat.

Another big change is Micheal Angelis replacing Ringo Starr as the narrator judging these stupid train children.. at least in the UK. George Carlin still had his priorties in order

Angelis is a fine replacement though and while it took me an episode or two to get used to him, he's a very useful narrator.

Finally this season relied more on original stories: while they'd done one or two in the past, most of the new books had new characters, which would require more momney funneled in the company just couldn't shill out yet. As such they wrote some stories. The Rev Baldry was not a fan of them, and while normally i'd side with a creator on this part of his problem … was a lack of realisim….

Yeah… look I get it: he tries to keep things grounded despite starring sentient trains whose inner workings are best left unknown lest we go mad figuring them out. But the story he got mad over.. is about Henry being fond of some trees , sad when they get knocked over and a storma nd them being replaneted. Like… how is that remotely unrelaistic? How is it MORE unrealistic than say the fact Trains still get scrapped in this unvierse despite being sentient? What i'm saying is maybe don't expect realisim from your series when you made the trains able to talk and have horrible fleshy faces. You made your horrifying hybrid being bed Rev, and you are lying in it. Granted i'm saying all of this about a man whose long past so i'm not sure either of us is well adjusted. Anyways, join me under the cut for more Stupid Train children, a jam related accident, near euthinasia, and trees.

Seasonal Stylings:

Not much to say I hadn't up above really. THey ad one or two more trains. I will say the switch to original stories actually.. helps the series a lot. It allows for more stories on the characters, gives thomas more to do, and the singled out because god knows why Gordon's Garden is a treat. This is a well written season. Is it that much diffrent? No, it's still clearly meant for young children and not for me, and most of my enjoyment as always is the absolutely weird shit that happens ever few episodes. But it's still a solid season of tank enginery and probably the best paced yet. So there's that sooo

Episode Guide:

A Scarf for Percy:

I won't be doing an image for EVERY episode as i'm limited to 30 now by tumblr, and I have to be careful. And yes it does indeed blow. Anyways the season start strong with this utterly baffling tail: basically Percy sees humans wearing scarfs and since scarfs are dope wants to wear one. Everyone mocks him for this and apparently god's solution for Percy daring to want to be remotely human.. is to make it so a bunch of jam and the Fat Controllers pants end up on him and he gets yelled at by his dad. Honestly this is the angreist and least reasonalbe i've seen the Fat Controller since the early episodes. I was half expecting him to also brick Percy away for always and always till he learned his lesson. But he didn't, so I guess that's what passes for character development in this show. Not half bad and the scarf solution is genuinely funny, if fairly telegraphed.

Percy's Promise:

Percy promises to take the children home from Sunday school. It's a ncie character showcase as Percy doesn't let a goddamn flood stop him. He also get ssome help from Harlod, the helicopter I forgot existed, who also drops hot tea for everyone percy included. Because these things drink now?

Time for Trouble:

Gordon gets a break because he's been working too hard , code for "His conductor needs a break from the smug bastard", so James and Toby take over. But some dick dosne't get that otby is part of the line so the poor guy runs out of water. I do really like toby, partly because he's one of the few members of the main cast to have a fairly unqiue desgin that isn't just a neat paint job, so I was happy to see him

Gordon and the Famous Visitor:

A famous engine visits and is a nice person.. and since Gordon is the worst, something I hadn't forgotten in my long stupid train children break, he has to one up the guy for not having a dome and get punished for his hubris because he sucks dirty ass in thunderstorms.. if not nearly enough. Like percy got yelled at by his dad, jam in his face and public humilation. Most gordon gets his is thing flying off and some light teasing.

Donald's Duck

So Duck is given his own branchline, the little western. Duck is the one who looks kinda diffrent…. he's happy about it but Donald, the engine who speaks in an impenatrable scottish accent isn't, and has his crew drop a duck in Donald's water tank. Donald adopts it as his son and leaves and egg for Duck. So thus Donald becomes the best, a new parent and still you know, has his own line while Donald just has an accent and a twin. Game set an dmatch. I love this one both for the pun and for involving a duck..

And i'm proud of it, so any donald duck refrence, let alone one this subtle and clever, deserves a nod.

Thomas Gets Bumped:

Thomas is Jealous over Bertie but has no need to be. This one sure does exist.

Thomas, Percy and the Dragon:

Percy is a dick to thomas and get shis compuance when thomas delivers a dragon for chinese new year. Another very standard tail but the model for the dragon float is really nice and I appricate they put in the work.

Diesel Does it Again:

Diesel is back bitches! And as Lemon taught us, Disels are not to be trusted. Though the Fat Controller's hands are tied in this case, as Percy and Duck need help and he's all the Controller could get. Naturally the guy with his own cool evil theme song's response.. is to be a dick, delberatley bumping percy then manhandling his trucks. While he's able to scare Percy and Duck into silence with the great captail punishment of "being called tattletales", he fucks up publicly by bumping some china clay trucks into the ocean. This destroys the clay.. though somehow not the trucks. Which I mean i'd get for real trucks but the Trucks of Sodor are living beings. I'd ask if they coudl drown.. but then I remmebered we've had a story or two at this point of the trucks being submereged in water and being fine to be pulled out so apparently they don't need to breathe or, being steam engines, can process the water as well as air. Trust me when just about everything about these trucks biology fascinates and horrifies me it's nice to have some confromation of their limits. Anyways Diesel is sent away forever again. Sure that'll stick given he has his own movie and everything.

Henry's Forest:

Henry's back! YOu remember him right? The one who was bricked away forever and always into being a useful engine? Good times. Anyways this is the one the reverened was mad about… though apparently it was for them not signaling and being too close to trees.

Yeah once again they have sentient trains and it's a very minor thing. I get he takes this seriously and I admire that. But this is being a bhit too anal rentive. While i'm fine with a children's show taking itself seriously and trying to have some sense of logic, being mad because they forgot to write a signal into an FOUR MINUTE SHORT or note that some trees woudln't be too close (Something Britt Alcroft even backed up as having scene and apparenlty does correct next season). Not everything has to end in misery man, just let these trains be happy. You bricked the guy inside a well man, let Gordon just be near trees. Back on the actual episode though.. it's my easy favorite of the season. It's a simple story but it's one of those nice cosy children's storybook stories: Gordon who again really needed this, likes passing by the forest. A storm knocks it down and I geninely felt devistated to see the nature torn down: Sure it's a set.. but it's still disheartning and seeing the fat controller do his part to have trees shipped in to help was really sweet. IT's a realyl nice little fairy tale like story, which is why i'm so defensive of it it's a simple, heartwarming story and a rare one for henry.

The Trouble with Mud:

This next one.. may also be part of why. Gordon is just unplesant and we get a whole episode about how he refuses to take a bath. It's not a bad premise mind, I just get tired of gordon: all of these trains fuck up sure but Gordon is just such a smug prick it's hard to like him or sympathize with him compared to the others, who are more like prideful teenage idiots who you can't help but love despite their flaws. Gordon is just an old man yelling at other trains about this not being proper. He's like Sam the Eagle without any of the charm or hilarity.

No Joke For James:

James lies or something.. I honestly have very sketchy memory of this one which happens when you watch 20 episodes of this show in close to a row it happens.

Thomas Percy and the Post Train:

Once I jogged my memory for this one I found it very fun: While as usual one of the characters is a dick, in this case Harold the Helicopter who mocks percy for being late with his post due to Henry taking a while, something the fat controller understands rather than brick up both forever, but the two trains end up having to deliver it again. It's also nice to just see another side of train deliveries nad what not on sodor and i'ts some nice little world building. Trust Thomas:

Bertie is mad at the trains for not delivering his tar so the roads wont' be so bumpy and thomas proves he's great by solving the mystery while james not so much as his bullying some trucks then playing sick… because trucks can get sick apparently? do they take giant things of cold medicine? Do they need giant thermometers? I NEED TO SEE A TRAIN GETING TREATED FOR A COLD SHOW. At any rate Thomas finds the tar and gets Bertie's friendship back. It's not half bad.

Mavis:

We get another disel added to the roster this time Mavis, though Mavis unlike the OG Disel, isn't a complete asshole, simply naive and egotistical. IT's also nice to add a female train to the roster instead of just thomas' coaches. Her issue is more reorganizing and not getting why messing up Toby's coaches without telling him would cause issues.

It dosen't help that as the train eviuqlent of magneto, Disel both tries to convince her of engine's superiority and to not listen to toby, casuing a diasaster when she accidently barrles through his line, with toby only helping because he has to

Toby's Tightrope:

Mavis is at it again, though it once again comes off more as youthful inexperince: she just wants to pull trucks, which is fair enough, but her manager is understandably pissed. Also Iwho is her manager? I thought the king of all trains was The Fat Controller. Anyways she tries to get some trucks to push her but they push toby instead, which ends with him having to tip on tha ttightrope, tip on it.. well something like that. But it does get a happy ending as Mavis realizes what she's done and helps toby, and gets to do trucks ocasoinally. IT's a nice little story and i'm really disapointed we don't see mavis again after this, as it was nice to have a Disel who wasn't even because the reverend and his son hate Disel Trains for some reason. Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party:

The Vicar has a garden party to fund a trip to the seaside for the underprivliged children. This is mostly just a fun side story letting Trevor have a turn and is part of why despite often having nothing to say, I do really like this season: it has a LOT more variety in characters, using at least every character brought into the cast at this point once compared to previous seasons which just sorta.. introduced them then often had them vanish. Trevor is also the parties main attraction for some reason… oh who am I kidding who wouldn't want to ride trevor.

Buzz Buzz:

It's episodes like these that make this whole experince worth it. Well that and Henry getting some trees. That was nice. But "James gets stung by bees for his hubris" may rank up as one of my faviorite what the fuck thomas the tank engine plots, up there with "Henry gets bricked in forever and always" , "one of the trains crashes into someone's living room", and "one of the trains gets lathered up by a barber".

Simply, James says he's not afraid of bees when Duck kinda is, and then has to deal with his words when a beehive breaks on the track. We get a rare bit of animation… as in they'v enever done this before and it looks gloriously janky as a cartoon bee STINGS james which somehow gives him a big red nowse, meaning his grey flesh is malable enough to get swollen

The train company tries nothing and their all out of ideas, then tries actual ideas, cumilating in James the Red Nosed Engine having to drive them back home. Sometimes the simple pleasures in life are just a grown man watching bees sting a train and wondering who thought this up and how many scoops of cocaine it took. But however many was just right. It was some really useful cocaine.

All At Sea:

This one is simple enough and involves the ocean, something I dearly love so i'ts nice enough: Duck sees boats doing a regatta and wishes he could go beyond his rails but a sailor breaking his hand tells him he's.. fine on rails. I guess. The moral makes no sense and comes off like "STAY IN YOUR LANE BITCH", but the setting is fun enougha nd i'ts nice to see Harold the helicopter again.

One Good Turn:

Okay now we're having some fun as the twins, Bill and Ben get into such a spat they end up face to face and both REFUSING TO MOVE in a contest of wills and the fat controllers patience, and forces them to work together by hauling BoCo's goods.. also I GENUINELY forgot BoCo both existed and was in this one. I mean it's nice they eventually went away from Disels are bad adn they shoudl feel bad as early as him, it just speaks to how many characters there are to keep track of.

Tender Engines:

Henry wants a tender and is punished for his hubris with really old tender. This episode sayign tender a lot really makes me want to watch recess.

Escape:

Another one of the seasons standouts and one that's generally as tense as it is fucked up: Douglas, the engine with a cockney accent. While his accent annoys me, he somehow dosen't cut the tension as Douglas has to help new addition olvier escape scrapping. Yeah in this world they STILL kill engines despite sapience, which was implied with toby but has somehow esclated from "the threat of death" to "HAVING TO SMUGGLE OLIVER ACROSS LINES, FOOL A CONDUCTER AND GET HIM TO THE SAFTEY OF OUR HEROES. " His crew is obviously on board with this but like.. why woul dyou kill engines? Just put them in a museum or something. THeir living beings. At any rate the ending is happy and Duck gets a new friend, but it can't wear off the novelty. That said.. this episode was truly excellent being as I said tense, something I never thought i'd say about this series but here we are, and heartfelt and the rusted design for oliver is truly unerving. THe poor guy

Oliver Owns Up:

Oliver gets a big head after everyone promotes him you know.. escaping imminent death. THis one.. isn't the best mostly because maybe the "punished for his hubris plot" dosen't work when the person acomplished something genuinely impressive and praise worth and deserve a tad of a swell head.

Bulgy:

So it's time for one last new character, as we meet Bulgy

Bulgy is a double decker bus and also a gordon level asshole who belives all rails should be torn up, but unlike Oliver who didn't really deserve being punished for his hubris, Bulgy does as he outright STEALS duck and oliver's passengers and then gets caught in a tunnel to learn a lesson for his train racisim. Good stuff.

Heroes:

A thrilling chapter in which Billa nd Ben mess up again, but then save some trapped workmen from a rockslide.

Not not that one… althought I now want to see X-men Versus Thomas the Tank Engine. Someone… please draw that if you do you get a free review.

Percy James and the Fruitful Day:

James slams into some fruit crates and ends up looking like he played Donkey Kong 64 multiplayer.

Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure:

Another delightful christmas adventure to end things off: Thomas and Percy help some villagers and are rewarded with their station being decorated lovely for christmas. A top not way to end the season

While it may not be apparent as sometimes this episode guide can be a lot to get through, this was probablyt he best season yet, mixing the usual stupid train children antics up in fun ways, and letting every engine get lots of screentime. The new additions also seemed less superfluous: Mavis is a wonderful new addition with a unique personality, Oliver had one hell of an origin story and while the worst Bulgy has both a unique design and serves as a nice evil counterpart to Bertie. All in all a solid season

Next Time: Either season 4 or boats. either way i'm happy to keep doing this. While the money is good i've become a fan of these stupid train children and look forward to their continued stupidity for years to come.

#thomas and friends #thomas the tank engine #percy #diesel #trains #animation #thomas #gordon #henry

[never-not-ever]

I was going to put this off. I was going to just eat my ice, watch some Modern Family and relax before 2:30 comes and I have to leave to get my girlfriend but I know if I don’t get these thoughts and emotions out now I’ll either forget them or brush them off and I really ought to document them..

The ride home was fun in the most sarcastic way possible. I put on an old playlist titled “Loud Noise” and cranked the volume up. This playlist is exactly that.. loud noise, to try to block the thoughts which obviously didn’t work. The biggest things were fear, sadness and anger. In my past I’m known to cover up the sadness and fear with anger. It’s easy, it’s simple, it works (temporarily)... I’d rather be angry than sad and scared. 

I just kept repeating her words “I have cancer”. I literally lost my Aunt, my mother figure, the person who raised me, to cancer. Then one of my favorite doctors when I was first inpatient died from cancer. You hear the words cancer and immediately think of death. I hear the word cancer and am reminded of abandonment all over again. It didn’t help that this information was shared at the end of the session and right after I had asked the question “does it make sense to keep the every other week or should I go back to every week?”. She said it was entirely up to me and then she mentioned that there was one small thing that might be a problem.. and that’s when she said it. 

Ugh I was already crying because of emotions that popped up towards a thought I had (will explain more about this after). So when she mentioned the cancer thing the waterworks just came right back on. And it felt like I was hit by a ton of fucking bricks. She said it’s small, treatable, not in other parts of her body etc. She said the only foreseeable thing right now is surgery being out for 2 weeks but that it might make more sense to do the every week thing time wise. Honestly I was and am even more confused now....Like when is this surgery? We had a time frame of ending therapy in November, is the surgery then? Are we looking to speed up working on this last goal of mine before she’s out for surgery/our termination of therapy? Is the cancer even treatable or is she just telling me this because she knows we’re ending therapy and why tell me you’re going to die if we’re terminating anyways????

So on top of all the initial feelings and emotions I was then hit with a huge judgement and wave of “you’re being so fucking selfish right now... how dare you react like this when she’s the one who has fucking cancer, this is about her NOT you”. 

And of course all these punishments then formed up as ideas in my head and scenarios playing out... (TW) cutting for the first time in over a year. Ironic how I just mentioned today my cutting dream from the weekend and also said the words “self harm will never be a problem again, I don’t think” ugh I can’t remeber the exact words but saying how my scars are finally fading and I have the chance to look normal again... And then I’m driving home thinking of how just one cut, I could brush it off as an “accident”, no one will ever know. And then more judgements pop up from “your therapist has cancer and you’re going to go fuck everything up and self harm, it’s. NOT. about. you.”

So naturally there’s so much anger popping up and I’m just thinking of how going home is not going to be a good thing. All I want to do it punch a wall or bang my wrist off something hard. Thinking of how if I bash my hand in and have to go to the ER I can easily say “yea I just found out my therapist has cancer and I didn’t take the news so well”. They’ll see the scars on my arm, see the BPD diagnosis and think well at least it she didn’t go kill herself over this.                                                                                                                                       Then the thoughts of well I’ll just leave her before she can leave me even though I was planning on leaving her in November. I’ll just stop eating, I’ll just control the anger that way... Like the reason I was crying right before she told me about the cancer was because of this thought/worry that popped up recently. What if the “unhealthy eating habits/behaviors” get worse and I’m unknowingly doing it just to not end therapy. Which just reminds me of how whenever the depression and self harm used to get bad in the Spring time I’d often wonder if I was purposely doing it because I know Spring time is always hard for me... like am I doing it all on purpose... 

We talked a lot today about how scared I am of things becoming so black and white and obsessive regarding “getting healthy” aka losing weight. Counting calories, weighing myself multiple times a day, so many unhealthy thoughts and obsessions... feeling like a hypocrite at work etc.. 

Ugh honestly I don’t even know how to process all this... Low key don’t feel like rereading it all looking for spelling errors and typos...

I am home and surprisingly no angry wall punching happened.. Weirdly enough as I approached my house I stopped crying and sort of felt numb in a way? We’ll see how the rest of the day goes. I’ll be with my girlfriend and she’ll be a good distraction I guess..

#personal

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2022 (#36)

36. AUSTRALIA Sheldon Riley - “Not the same” 15th place

Decade Rank: 71/79 [Above Vasil, below Undisclosed]

Out of the Tiresome Troika of Nadir, Sheldon and Marius, Sheldon’s the one that offends me the least. Which is funny to me now because I intitially loathed him the most by far. “Great, after being forced to sit through Vasil twice, we have yet another narcissistic gay with a theatre monster ballad that’s all “ME!!!! ME!!!! MYSELF!!!! MEEEEE!!!!. I don’t care who wins Aus Decides, as long as Sheldon LOSES!” -- me, dated January 2022. Then he won (thanks to Jaguar BORE-ASS Jonze), beating Voyager’s amazing entry. Let the hatrið commence!

However, “Not the same” is really just three minutes of screaming when you think about it.  Like, no shade, that’s the exact sort of entry it is. Sheldon comes on, Sheldon belts for a full three minutes, (impressing those who care about that sort of thing I guess), and that’s it. Power Vocals (and gaudy accessories) are his trademark, and once you become aware to it, it’s just really easy to block everything out as white noise.

Also, I kinda feel for Sheldon! None of that has to do with his song, but I know the situation. Bullying can leave a mark on any victim (especially if you’re also on the spectrum), so while I don’t particularly like the way Sheldon presents himself (if you’re going to wear glasses, why choose THOSE glasses?!), he’s in the phase of his life where he feels like he needs the eccentricities in order to be likeable. This is of course palpably untrue, but that’s a lesson Sheldon will learn once he starts appreciating his true self, and that process takes time, so I’m cutting him that slack there. You can have your face and unveil it too.

Don’t mistake this as to meaning that I don’t dislike “Not the same” because I very much do. “Not the same” is a fucking weaponized sob story, misguided and solipsistic. So is it a surprise that, for a song framed as woke and empathetic, it’s really bad at empathy? 

Let’s start with how the message was gradually shifted from “Sheldon is sad because he’s Gay” to “Sheldon is sad because he’s Autistic” when they figured out the latter had more of a niche at the contest. (I’m not going crazy, right? They DID change the meaning between the NF and ESC, right?! Even if they did not, doesn’t the fact that you can substitute the meaning of the message with some narrative sleight-of-hand prove that the meaning is completely unimportant?)

Across the whole line, “Not the same” suffers from issues, such as Sheldon constantly talking screaming about himself with disturbingly little regard for other individuals who might be in the same situation, or wearing an ostentatious veil that blocks off eye-contact, or ASCENDING THE STAIRCASE before the Big Reveal:

“I’ll address in the audience in a bit, but first I’ll move as far away from them as possible, while singing with my back to the camera” -- Sheldon Riley.

EVENTUALLY it transitions into “We’re not the same”, with... fifteen seconds left to spare, and that’s Too Little Too Late, babs~

Fortunately for me (and unfortunately for Sheldon) I have an example of an entry that nailed the same message from this very same NF season! I’m of course refering to Tone Sekelius.

 "My way” had its own string of issues (it’s average and poorly staged), but I really liked it. Why? because Sekelius, unlike Sheldon, immediately reached out to her audience and while she consistently refered her own struggles, she always put those in need ahead of her own problems, flippantly clapped back at her haters, and then harnessed her experiences to triumph over all the hurdles life had thrown at her, unburdened from her shackles. I’m a Melody-over-Message guy, but she served and i ate it. What it ultimately boils down to is that Tone is at peace with herself, while Sheldon is not, and that makes all the difference between becoming a beloved televote darling, and receiving two pity votes from Azerbaijan.

(And also that Happy > Sad, but you knew that ofc.)

Ps: I’m all for fashion, so whoever stitched together that Chocobo monstruosity should consider a different craft..x

THE RANKING

36. AUSTRALIA - Sheldon Riley - “Not the same” 37. SWITZERLAND - Marius Bear - “Boys do cry” 38. AZERBAIJAN - Nadir Rustamli - “Fade to black” 39. ITALY - Mahmood & Blanco - “Brividi” 40. ISRAEL - Michael Ben David - “I.M”

#Eurovision #Eurovision Song Contest #Eurovision 2022 #ESC 2022 #Turin 2022 #Australia #Sheldon Riley #Not the same #BorisBubbles

[adelha-mathilde]

Comfort Found (Obey Me!) fic

summary: Adelha and her Paw Posse spend the night at the House of Lamentation. Which leaves many of the demons snuggled by fluffy pets.

characters: Adelha OC, Lucifer

content: casual talk, fluff, snuggles with pets

Lucifer had invited Adelha and her Paw Posse to stay the night at the House of Lamentation when the power in her home had cut out. The repairs having to wait until the next day before anyone might fix such. So Beelzebub and Mammon had helped to herd the pets into the house as well as carry boxes of perishable food from Adelha's fridge. Beelzebub already munching on a rather thick sub sandwich as Lucifer shook his head. But the demon brothers are more than able to make the Paw Posse and their Fae dragon owner feel welcome. Satan just up and cat napping precious Aqua for the kitten to purr and savor the attention.

Mammon scooped up the beagle mixed puppy to hold him close so the pup might give Mammon face licks. His grin wide as Wesson showered Mammon in puppy kisses to smirk at how the little woofer adored him. While the four Tibetan Mastiff puppies wandered to their own favorite individuals. The biggest of the four just openly glued to Beelzebub's side as the Avatar of Gluttony walked around the house. With Beel smiling to pat Americano and give chin scratches. While the second biggest of the four decided to tag along with the demons favorite pact human. Cappuccino soon getting face rubs from the human to pant and wag his tail. While Asmodeus already had a grooming brush at the ready for Latte to waltz over to him for her pampering session. The smallest Tibetan Mastiff puppy staying close to Adelha to look too shy to chance socializing. Something Leviathan took notice of to give her some attention and even have her sit by his seat during dinner. The shy puppy soon warming up to the shut in to all but be his cuddle companion during the movie after dinner.

By the time Lucifer was going to suggest turning in for the night, most of his brothers were already scooping up a pet to take with them to bed. With Leviathan and his pact human to join Belphegor and Beelzebub in the twins room. Satan all but stealing Aqua away to his room as Mammon just took Wesson outside for a last minute walk. Asmodeus already taking to his room to leave just Lucifer and Adelha in the living room. The quiet soon broken as Lucifer shook his head. "They could have at least asked if they might bunk with your treasured pets. But this does mean you may use the guest room to-"

Lucifer turned to then pause mid sentence. His gaze to Adelha's face as she rubbed a gloved hand to her eyes. The trace of tears over her cheeks giving away her conflict. So Lucifer sighed to gently pull Adelha into his arms and hold her close. "You are no longer used to being alone. Are you, Margaret?" The dragon maiden nodded to lean into Lucifer's frame with an eager need. Her own words lilted and sweet despite the sadness. "You are so blessed, Lucifer. To have so many who love you here and who you love in turn. I miss having my family with me. Yet I am grateful to be here in the now."

The Avatar of Pride nodded to close his eyes and place a soft kiss to Adelha's forehead. His words warm and hinting at affection. "They do fill my life with so much emotion. Not always good emotions. But I refuse to let go of what I have in this home and with this family. Our relationship is also one I savor, Margaret. Truly. Your presence in the Devildom has brought great contentment and much happiness to so many here. So in accordance with your generosity, I would ask if you wish to stay with me tonight." Adelha gave a soft purr like a happy tiger to nod her head. So Lucifer smiled to escort the lady up the stairs and to where they might find slumber. While the rest of the house settled in for good dreams.

#obey me one master to rule them all #obey me! one master to rule them all #obey me! shall we date? #obey me shall we date #obey me #Obey Me! #Obey Me! Shall We Date? #Obey Me! One Master To Rule Them All #Obey Me! Verse #Obey Me! fanfiction #Obey Me! fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic

[mollysfilmblog]

Group 12 Scene Recreation

American Psycho: Hip to Be Square

Our group had originally chosen to recreate a scene from The Royal Tenenbaums, when in our tutorial we were told it would be incredibly difficult and we would need special lenses which were not available to us. As we had already spent nearly half the allotted time planning for a scene we were no longer going to use, we had to have a very quick turn-around and pre-production process. Choosing a new scene was difficult at first and we went through many options until we settled on American Psycho, it was the the first one we were all equally excited about. I was not heavily involved in the pre-production process, but served as primary director, set designer, and secondary editor. I also was in charge of the fake blood effects.

Shooting took place in Olivia's student accommodation which was very challenging. In every scene with Logan (Paul Allen) we had to completely re-arrange the furniture to give the impression that the kitchen was facing the window, when actually it was to the left of it. This was made even more difficult by the fact that this was a small space which served as a living room and kitchen to at least 6 students, and there was furniture, decor and filming equipment immediately out of frame in every shot. Figuring out the geometry and blocking of a 'fake' layout proved to be very hard for me, and there are some shots where it was almost impossible to maintain spacial continuity, but I felt that for what was available to us the blocking and set design was done well.

I really enjoyed directing for this shoot, (Matthew and Olivia also assisted with the directing) Matthew served as DOP and together I feel we make a very good team and were able to create some shots I was really proud of. We realised pretty early on that due to the limitations of the space we were unable to recreate things as exactly as we had imagined, which meant most of the night became a series of problem-solving tasks to get the shots as close as we could manage. I found this aspect of the shoot to be incredibly stimulating. I have really enjoyed working with my production group this past semester and will be very sad to split up. We work really well as a team and each have naturally slipped into roles. I have found that I have mainly become the de-facto director of the group which was surprising to me as it was not my original are of interest. I felt that this shoot was the culmination of all of that experience, and was by far the shoot I enjoyed the most. That being said it was also the most difficult, with shooting taking around 10+ hours, not including set up time. There were some shots where we had to do an hours worth of takes for about 10 seconds of footage, but I felt that the crew all maintained a good energy and positive attitude.

Matthew is by far our most experienced editor and has edited all of our films thus far. I am not very experienced with editing but have a strong interest in it so briefly helped with the last project, and helped more in depth with this shoot. Olivia helped as well. We edited on DaVinci Resolve which I have found to be more user friendly than other softwares I have used. We started out by watching and selecting all our best takes, ordering them, and syncing sound. This in itself was an arduous process and took well over an hour. As the pacing and the blocking of the film was slightly skewed during filming, we spent a long time finding the right place to cut shots to make it look as natural and smooth as we could. We also added music. During our crit some people pointed out that in a couple of the shots with the window, it seemed as though the colour grading was very intense, that was because in every window shot the reflection of the crew was visible in the window. I was not a part of this process, but this meant that Matthew had to find a mask plugin for the window and erase our reflections, which yes may have made the colours more contrasted, but I found to be very impressive and much better than having the crew visible in the reflections. The scene where Dylan walks to the bathroom for me was the largest blunder in the film and although I had some ideas for an editing work-around, there were too many other things that required attention once I had left so unfortunately we were unable to remedy that. Overall I feel that even just assisting with the editing for this shoot really boosted my skills and confirmed my strong passion for editing.

The fake blood was quite a risky element when shooting because it means there is really only one chance to get it right unless you want to spend an hour cleaning and resetting. For the shot where Dylan swings his axe we rehearsed the movement at least 20 times to make sure our timing and movement was right. We had to get creative with our tools because the fake blood was just in a jug, so I found a spray top from some kitchen cleaner and screwed it on to the jug. I then hid just below the frame of the camera on the couch and sprayed the bottle up at Dylan's face at the moment we had been rehearsing. I felt very happy with how this turned out, and the last 4 shots with the fake blood were my favourite of the whole scene recreation. We spread the fake blood around the side of Dylan's face to mimic the half and half of the actual scene. With Logan we had to put an excessive amount of fake blood on him to try and make it look realistic, especially with the absence of the more advanced, higher budget effects they use in the real film.

This scene recreation may not have been exactly prefect, but for the time, budget, and space that we had, I feel very proud of it. It was by far my favourite experience of the term and I hope some of that energy is captured in the shoot. I feel that I learned a lot from it, and can genuinely say I'm proud of all the work we did, and will really miss working with my group.

[topknotstrunk]

Review Everything 32 - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Please note, this review briefly touches on simulated child abuse, and shows images of simulated animal abuse as well as discussing that topic with some depth. Please proceed with caution.

Hoo, boy. What to say about this movie. Let’s start with the neutral to good stuff. 

This is a weird send off for this team. It’s the last Guardians of the Galaxy movie, which in and of itself I’m happy with. I think 3 movies plus some bonus screen time in other movies and shows was the perfect amount needed to complete these character’s arks. It was cool seeing Mantis come into her own as a fighter, teen jock Groot was fun, and I am SO EXTREMELY HAPPY that they didn’t have Quill and Gamora get together. The fight scenes were done with better than usual polish, it was nice to see long shots in the action scenes instead of the often defaulted to in Marvel formula of hit, cut, hit, cut, hit cut.

I also really enjoyed Gamora’s characterization here. She went from, “I don’t get why some version of me would love you piss the fuck off.” To, “I get it, but also, again, that wasn’t me so I’m gonna go do my own thing now.” I like that she’s her own person and not a story loophole for Marvel to get out of killing a character in a way that wasn’t supposed to be reversible. Keeping her her own character who’s not romantically interested in Quill makes her feel like her own person, and keeps the weight of the original Gamora being gone in tact.

Now on to the not so good to bad stuff.

Not So Good:

Having Mantis just out of nowhere, with no prior hints, be like, “Yeah I’m leaving.” Drax I get because he’s had this whole “used to be a Dad” thing going from the get go, but Mantis? She was thriving! And having Quill stop running is good-ish but like. He’s my least favorite character on this team, so when, at the end of the movie, they’re like, “Peter Quill will return.” I’m like. On Earth? Just chilling with his Grandpa? Doing normal Human stuff? As is, not a thing I’d bother to spend my time on. Not a thing I watch Marvel movies for.

Outside of the rest of what I’m going to write about the stuff with Rocket and his first set of friends, it was VERY weird to have the final movie in your trilogy have one of the core friends just gone for the majority of it. Not having rocket to interact with the rest of the team for their final movie together. I guess it works, cause like, it sets up that the Guardians team is kinda modular. As long as a few of the core folks are around they can make the team work. Saying that this was “always Rocket’s story” though? I don’t agree. The thing that works about this series is all of them playing off each other. As much as the movies frame Quill as the “main character” it just doesn’t feel like that when you watch these movies, at least to me.

The Bad: 

Animal abuse is bad. Child abuse is bad. A movie where you child code anthropomorphic animals and then abuse them? Doesn’t make for a “bad” movie necessarily, but a hard to watch one. Honestly, if I had known how brutal and disturbing some of these scenes with Fllor , Teefs, Lylla , and Rocket were going to be I don’t know that I would have watched this movie. I cried though a lot of the half of the movie that’s Rocket’s backstory, and felt physically ill a few times. I’m greaful that they didn’t show us much of the actual surgeries, but I am sad that I’m gonna have to use Does The Dog Die from how on with Marvel Movies.

Let’s touch on Fllor as an example. She is the most heavily modified of the batch Rocket belongs to.

She has either part of her face missing or modifed, she’s had antentas attached to the top of her head, what looks like a second set of eyes, and robotic spider legs added on.

Now, here’s the thing. I “get” why Rocket was changed the way he was. Teefs and Lylla too. If you want a creature to navigate the world as a person when it’s an animal you need to change its body. It would be unrealistic for Teefs to move easily around a busy city that’s not under water as a walrus. So you give him wheels. The movie is so dark in those scenes that it’s hard to tell if he’s attached permanently to his wheel chair seat or not, but, like it as little as I do, that’s a choice that makes a sick kind of sense. Same thing for Lila, otters have short stubby arms that would make reaching things a struggle and they don’t have hands so adding some on, I get it.

But why the fuck does Fllor look like Fllor look like Jigsaw tried to make a spider cyborg? Is it for climbing, which we don’t really see her do? Rabits are already fast as fuck, so it can’t be for speed. They’re perfectly mobile and agile, so not for the same reasons that Teefs has for having wheels. And the thing over her face?

I think whoever designed her decided that the “upgrades” done to Lylla, Teefs, and Rockets weren’t... Gross? Upsetting? Gothic? Enough, so they took the cutest animal they could think of that we do real world animal testing on and made them look as fucked up as Disney would let them get away with.

Like, AFAIK Fllor isn’t in the comics. The closest thing we’ve got is Blackjack O’hare. And sure, he’s got cybernetic additions but they’re not needlessly gross or upsetting ones like Fllor has.

Floor was made up for the movie. Sot they had total freedom to do with her design whatever they wanted. And what they wanted was upsetting. So, ya know, I got upset.

They upped the gross factor for “Teefs”, Wal in the comics, and Lylla too but. I don’t know it’s just not the same as with Floor.

On top of being horribly modified animals, because this is a flashback and the characters are young, they’re also children. Children we get to see shoved around, screamed at, and shot. Alongside rapid, painful body changes, decapitation, gas lighting, and on screen immolation of other animals in similar situations. And this is all before we watch many animal-people die on screen as their entire planet is rased to the ground and crowds of children being trapped in cages in the cargo hold of a ship like they’re goods, not people. The movie just keeps piling on the longer it goes.We’re even treated to a nice, long, juicy close up of The High Evolutionary face after Rocket has torn it off. Normally body horror in movies really doesn’t bother me, but after all the awful animal stuff I just about barfed when his face popped up on screen. And there’s no real catharsis for any of this shit, which you would expect from the end of a series. You don’t need to go this far to convince us that these characters were honorably abused. Between everyone in America understanding that animals are abused in real life, and Neblula saying that it was worse than what Thanos did to her, that would have been enough. We don’t need to see them get abused on screen multiple times. It feels like torture porn, it feels unnecessary. I also really don’t get why Fllor, Teefs, and Lylla all had to die. Like, was it to help Rocket move on? The could have been dumped somewhere by their careless creator to come back later, and have a moment of reuniting and them owning their lives, instead of all getting murdered and then helping Rocket with a few kind words in the space between life and The Endless Sky.

And listen, I get it. The movie was impactful. So if shock value was the main thing they were going for here they got it. It was just a big let down to me personally, after the masterpiece that was Vol.2, and coming from the Found Family TM part of the MCU. Animal abuse isn’t fun, child abuse is worse, but it feels like the movie fell short by showing us all this graphic content and then not doing anything about it. Rocket looses half his friends at the end of the movie because they go off and do other things, they shot and killed his first set of friends instead of exploring what cool stories they might have to tell in the MCU, and then the movie kind of just peters out with them standing around in a room and talking, then going their separate ways. Will Rocket make a good leader? No idea, his history doesn’t suggest so. Taking care of Groot and being a good team member does not a leader make. Will we see more of Rocket? What will that look like? It feels so incomplete, like a 4th movie was being set up for only for it to not happen.

And the movie was so difficult to watch that I doubt I’ll ever watch it again.

What an unfortunate send off for many of these characters.

Really, why was I made to sit through all of that. What did I get out of it? Or Rocket? Or his friends?

In Summary: What a weird and gross way to end one of my favorite Marvel things. Good for Drax and Gamora, Mantis and Quill who knows, and Rocket I hope we see more of in the future. It’s too bad that Marvel now has gone over my personal threshold for disturbing content and I’ll have to be careful about that after 15 years of it not being an issue. There was some pretty great stuff in the not animal abuse parts of the movie, and I wish Rocket had been there for more if it.

4/10

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