#and feel the arc has been super different from campaign 1

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I tried to get my friend's character killed?

🎾🐕 for recognition.

I (19M) and my friends (all 18-early 20s, 5 players incl. me but not the DM) play Dungeons and Dragons from time to time, usually once a month.

We just introduced a new player to the campaign, who we'll call Evan (21M). Evan's character seemed a little Mary Sue-y to me when she was displayed to the rest of us, but I don't usually have beef with characters based off of that and just chalked it up to having different tastes which isn't bad at all.

My character has been working very closely with the BBEG and has basically joined their side in their conquest to y'know. Do the thing that makes them the Big Bad Evil Guy. I was super excited to see what the BBEG was up to.

Well, this was our 8th session, and we were about to wrap up Arc 1. My character had finally reunited with the rest of the party at the BBEG's lair, and Evan's character was introduced as being a traveling assassin/Sorcerer that happened to recieve a tip that the rest of the normal party was here.

By the end of the session, Evan's character had spent a third of the game time monologing at the BBEG before slicing his head off. My character is currently half blind and mute thanks to Evan's character [she tried to kill my character and I didn't roll the best on my roll to move out of the way of her blade so now she's missing an eye, and Sara's character cut out her tongue as punishment for working for the BBEG while my character was knocked out], and was kidnapped by Evan's character.

I was and still am PISSED. I'm trying not to be, but it's been driving me insane. Evan keeps on bragging about how he killed the BBEG and keeps on revelling in the scene, and I'm the only one upset by it. He was the BBEG, and you KILLED HIM YOUR FIRST SESSION?! It just seems like a silly thing to be upset about, but it's been really upsetting me and me alone (everyone else saw the BBEG just as that, a maniacal mustache twirler). Everyone is making jokes and laughing, but it was really upsetting me.

My character is very fond of revenge. Anything she has to deal with, she tries to get even with anyone no matter the cost. One of our characters died back in Session 4, and my character ended up being the only one that learnt about his character's backstory: he's a prince, and his family would do anything to give proper punishment to his killer, and his character told mine what to do to make this happen before he died. I am the only one in-game with this information.

We're now on Session 16, almost done with Arc 2, and the current plan is [the DM mentioned we'd have to wait until Arc 3 to act on the prince's last words] to rat out Evan's character as being the killer [she isn't the killer, my character would be framing her, but the BBEG was the true killer and my character is loyal to him] and hope that she's persecuted. Most likely, this would end up with Evan's character dead, but I'm not sure due to how much he's been Mary Sue-ing all over the place [not a bad thing, but his character does virtually have no flaws that have presented themselves opposed to the rest of our party each with a glaring flaw that the DM made us all add in when we first started playing, and her stats are leagues beyond the rest of ours due to what her Sorcerer powers granted her].

I haven't told this to anyone, but I have asked the DM questions about how to execute this plan. I feel like it's going to be a real dick thing, but I think it's well within the realms of what my character would do and I honestly want to knock her down a peg. I don't know if the DM will let me do this anyways, and as I said I don't think Evan's character will even die because she's just got too good of stats so unless Evan rolls Nat 1s she's probably fine.

WIBTA for acting on this?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[octolingo-writes]

I’m curious, what are your thoughts on PD so far?

Oh, I'm loving it! Season 2 definitely has a very different energy from season 1, and I'm liking that now (I've just finished S2E12) it's more continuous, because the "villain-of-the-week" format was difficult for me to stay engaged in; I prefer longer arcs or continuous stories rather than one-offs--ofc I still enjoyed those episodes, but I'm liking the direction things are going now :)

I really, really like the characters! I didn't expect to like all of them so much, but they're honestly all delightful. With Riptide, the characters are very distinctly ranked in my head (I like them all a lot ofc, but there are ones I like more than others) but I'm having trouble ranking the Prime Defenders; they're all so great for completely different reasons. Dakota is currently my favorite because I tend to agree with the decisions he makes, but William is creeping up behind him and Vyncent's hot on his heels, so we'll see how things develop :)

And the world!! I really like that Bizly has so many fleshed-out characters, supers or otherwise, and I like that it feels like things are happening even if the PCs aren't around to see it--Riptide is also very good at this, but the nature of phone calls in PD means I notice it more distinctly here :) I'm thinking of Summer + Doug in particular, because I don't know what's up with that but I know they've been getting up to something, but honestly the whole campaign is great for it

So yeah, so far I'm loving it! I've always really enjoyed superhero media, and it's very obvious that Bizly does too; he has a lot of passion for the campaign and its story and that makes it all the more fun to listen to :) thanks for the ask!

#this was a fun surprise thank you :) #im also very worried about where the campaign is going lmao #it seems like we're building to a pretty big conflict and i'm concerned #jrwi #jrwi pd #jrwi pd spoilers #jrwi spoilers #octo posts #octo answers

[lolotr]

10 fandoms 10 characters tag game

rules: name 10 of your favourite characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people to do the same

Thank you @courfaeriedust for tagging me!! It's been so long since I have been tagged in something like this that when I saw the post on my dash I didn't even bother to check. It took the notification for me to figure it out lol

Here we go, in no particular order:

1. Kaleidotrope (podcast). I, too, will begin here, since it's been four years and I'm still not over it. As much as it pains me, I think I will pick Drew, but mostly because I resonate with him so goddamn much. One of the running themes of this list will be trauma.

2. Call Me Katie (web series). Bates, it's obviously Bates, it could never be anyone other than Bates. My disaster bi, the boy who helped me start to realize I'm queer, with his dumbass puns, his neediness, his obsession with vlogging and pizza... I could go on forever.

3. The Adventure Zone - Balance (podcast). Hoo boy. How do I... Magnus? Or Lup? I'm gonna go with Magnus, if only because he is the one who never fails to make me cry. Travis (and Griffin) does such beautiful things with this character and role plays BRILLIANTLY. well, they all do. gosh jeez this is hard

4. Lord of the Rings (books, movies). Never mind, this is super easy. Samwise Gamgee. Next fucking question.

5. Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast. AHHHHHGGGGDKEKXJDI Zolf or Sasha???? At this very moment Sasha. She just-- I just-- my stabbing girl. My damaged, stabbing girl.

6. Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus (book serieses). (These are the two in the verse I've read so far.) It feels like a cop out, but I think Percy. It was between him and Annabeth, and I absolutely love their dynamic, whether it's before or after dating. But Percy is so smart and capable in certain ways and so utterly stupid in others (I have a theory that both he and Annabeth take hits to their mental stats when they are within thirty feet of one another). He's loyal to a fault, he's obsessed with blue food, he fought the god of war at 12 and won, he dove into Tartarus rather than be separated from his girlfriend/best friend again, he even has ADHD. Truly the character of all time.

7. Avatar: The Last Airbender (TV show). Zuko. I love the whole gaang but his character is done so beautifully and complexly. Like that is how you do a redemption arc, people. From the very beginning. And you do not make it easy for this sixteen year old who has committed war crimes, no you don't.

8. The Hunger Games (book series). Peeta. I live that he is optimistic, kind, and principled, but not naive, oblivious, or weak. His flaws are the same as his strengths: he's self sacrificing, self effacing, loyal. Everyone rubs Katniss's nose in the fact that he's good except him. But also, he's not perfect, and there's a lot of complexity tied to the fact that everyone thinks he's better than Katniss in every way, but he's mostly just better at hiding the darker parts of him. I love that we see nothing but the darkest parts and he's able to come back.

9. Dames and Dragons/LegendLark - first campaign (podcast). Fran. Again, I adore everyone, including NPCs, but I have such a soft spot for her. Noel plays her so beautifully and isn't afraid to make her jarring, make her part of the inner conflict of the team. I love how she's grown, and I'm excited and scared to see how the show wraps up.

10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV show). This is tough, because some people's characterization varies so wildly sometimes, but... Giles. I'm going with my sexy dad who cares so fucking much about his adopted child(ren).

I had a lot of trouble with this list, because I've been in fandom since I knew what it was. I picked things that I still enjoy, and also things that I still enjoy talking about/analyzing. Because that's how I show love.

PIKACHU, I CHOOSE YOU: @all-chickens-are-trans @chaotic-gay-is-my-alignment @sonseulsoleil @yeahdefnot @greatestvoyageinhistoryofplastic @rovermcfly @the-vaudevillain @anywhoozles @wire-smith @cantdance anyone who wants to! Sorry if I tagged anyone who's been tagged already, I was doing this on mobile and couldn't be bothered to check

#Long post #Tag game #Fandoms #Kaleidotrope #Taz balance #Btvs #dames and dragons #Pjo #Cmk #Lotr #Atla #Thg

[thematronofravens]

Is it really an unpopular opinion to like the Aeor arc?

#I’ve seen some people say it is #but I’m not sure if that’s actually the case #I mean it’s been kinda long #but I love Lucien #and feel the arc has been super different from campaign 1 #critical role #mighty nein #aeor arc #critical role discourse

[rosemarydisaster]

Oooh, we're airing our Campaign 1 and 2 Hot Takes™???? Because I have a few:

-Whenever Sam's character reveals to not be a two dimensional parody everyone acts like they never saw them as such...but their posts complaining about them being just jokes the week prior are still there. Same for Jester, you just have zero faith in the cast sometimes.

-The fandom baits itself with some queer couples. Like, sure, Shadowgast and Vaxmore had a base. In fact they're both canon (one as an epilogue the other as exs). But the way the fandom took Gilmore (and Essek) and obsessed over them week after week when they weren't even in the shower and then act surprised when Vax moved on is absurd. Sure, to you it was only this morning the last time you read a long meta on Essek's feelings for Caleb, but in game it's been months since they last talked. Stop building your expectations so much and then be mad that the canon differs.

-Tary is underappreciated as fuck. He had a banger of an arc, great story and was super cool LGBTQ rep (a little bit basic, but still great). In fact people always forget him when talking about Critical role's LGBTQ+ characters

-Also, people misgdendering Molly and Kingsley...just why. This fandom likes to be all preachy but at the same time they do this kinda shit. And sure, I'm not going to cancel anyone for a honest mistake. But don't attack the cast for things of the same caliber while denying you've ever done something like that. We all screw up at some point, and if you refuse to admit it, I don't trust you.

-People give Fjord a lot of shit for sleeping with Avantika when he only did it to get some information. While we're at it, I don't like the treatment of that moment in general. Caleb pressuring Fjord into sex with someone his scared of could have been a very interesting conversation on consent, but since Fjord's a dude no one questions that he liked it and done.

-The guests are super lovely and I feel really bad whenever the fandom shits on them for not playing at the same level that the other profesional players at the table. Specially the way people treated Aimee in Exu was wild. She didn't knew the game but still managed to be an excellent roleplayer, not afraid of playing a deeply flawed character as her first (in front of such a massive audience). And people still get mad at her for mechanical details I-

-Fuck all of you being biphobic towards Vax. Not only was he attracted to various NPCs (most notably Gilmore) but he also joked about it in different occasions (most notably, the love potion bit). While we're at it, Scanlan being bi (while part of a joke) was collectively ignored by a big chunk of the fandom, and so was Vex's bisexuality too. Sure, they came out because of jokes, but like so did most of my irl friend group????

-Just, in general the way the fandom treats discourse in general. people act as if every character has to say "hi, I'm Molly, I'm nonbinary and bisexual" for it to be canon. I swear, I will see a post shitting on Vax's bisexuality with thousands of likes and the next one is someone telling a non binary critter to std for saying that it pronouns for J'mon Sa Ord were not the best option. Sometimes you manage to simultaneously speak over LGBTQ+ and POC critters so you can "defend them", while also shutting down their valid constructive criticism.

-While we're at it, criticism. I've seen really cool posts about race, sexuality, gender and feminism from the critter community. This are posts that point out micro aggressions or stereotypes so that the cast can be better. If no one points out something, how the he will you fix it?? They have sensitivity consultants (at least now), but things can always be better.

And then there's that part of the fandom that assumes bad faith from the cast in every single mistake (or perceived mistake). People telling them how they should roleplay their characters and play their game. Bitch, and I mean this disrespectfully, find your own game if you want to play it so bad.

-THE MISOGYNY. Just, wtf. Why do people treat the female cast and the female characters like that?????? The infantilization, the demonization, just the whole deal of judging them differently. I know it is hard to admit that we have this double standard imbedded deep inside us because *society*, but come on. It's just ridiculous and it makes me too upset to even speak about it. I want to make a long post on this someday but, just not today.

-People interpreting things their way (totally valid) and getting mad when the cast had different intentions all along (fuck off). Jesus Christ, just for the love of God and everything Holy, admit you want to play your own game and leave the rest of us alone. Some of you have not played D&D and it shows. It's a roleplaying game in which people do whatever the hell they want. The rest of the annoying crowd is D&D people I would rather die than play with. I don't want to be in a table were people are going to get mad at me when I have different ideas than what they intended.

-Critical Role getting big is not some sort of betrayal. We made them big, now they are big. Easy. If you want to support only the most indie games, go support them and leave us alone.

-Also, stop acting like "being big" means that you can just send hate to the cast. When they answer you always act like they are being super mean because your just a teeny tiny Twitter account and they are famous. Look, if thousands of you keep saying "Keyleth is shit" it's normal that one of you is getting QRT with a "stf" from the cast. They are still people, and you're the one's at Goulet for them not interacting as much ,(which apparently you hate)

-Having said all this, I don't get mad about this shit on a daily basis because I curate my TL to only have people I like and that don't engage on toxic fandom bullshit. If fandom is hindering your enjoyment of the show, use the block button.

#critical role #critical role rant #meta #fandom politics #critical role campaign 1 #critical role campaign 2

[darlington-v]

I know different interpretations of a work are generally enriching and cool... but c!dream villan interpretations is like how to tell me you only watch Tommy without saying you only watch tommy.... which would be fine but its not a great place to be making statements about the whole nature of the dsmp lol

Wild speculation, but sometimes I wonder if like, because the dsmp didn't really start as a narrative, and a lot of fans don't nessecarily enter it expecting a narrative, but then there is one and the fandom is really discourse heavy and everyone is sort of excpeted to have an opinion while maybe not expecting to form one from the begining or not having a ton of experience with narrative in a way that would "expect" them to have an opinion or not take things at face value??, I don't know if I explained that well at all... and I don't really even think thats right nessecarily... but like wow sometimes some of the takes about power and government and villany...

Honestly, it makes sense!!!

I think something interesting is like.... looking at how animatics have shaped the like tone and culture of the fandom essentially. Like, an interesting fact that I didn't really fully grasp until SUPER recently is like...

c!Wilbur out the gate admits he is manipulating c!Tommy. Like his first youtube video on the Dream SMP he admits his goal is to manipulate c!Tommy and people like c!Tommy into helping him achieve a potion ("drug") empire to monopolize on potions because there were a lot of people on the server who like to min-max, which is to put all of your effort into this one specific skill essentially. so like... i know minecraft doesnt have a skill tree but if it did, it would be putting all your points into that one specific branch of a skill tree. So he wanted to exploit the labor of all the TommyInnits to.... maintain a Potion Empire.

THIS IS A LONG POST BC I GOT CARRIED AWAY SO BUCKLE UP

And I don't think a lot of the fandom who joined later on knows this. I certainly didn't until like a week or so ago? Like... I knew c!Wilbur had been manipulative from the start because I'm a mod of (shameless self promo incoming) @dsmpanalysis and we have a lot of different POVs in that mod team and discord and we talk about it really frequently. I joined the fandom as someone who was really big on L'manburg ESPECIALLY crimeboys, and have turned into.... *gestures vaguely to my blog*

And ngl I owe a lot of it to @1-michibiki-1 in terms of c!Dream "Apologism" but all of the mods there have expanded my thoughts and views on the storylines of this narrative.

My application consisted of like largely essays about like... how I think Dream was the villain but he was meant to be the villain because you don't get any insight into his character WHICH.... IS A FAIR ASSUMPTION AT FIRST GLANCE. People are easily villainized when you cannot get a glimpse into their thought process. It's easy to dwindle someone down into this flat character and starting out I knew Dream didn't stream the SMP on purpose.

And I personally came to the conclusion of "Oh! So Dream is supposed to be the villain." However as the story continued and I learned more about what Dream went through I began to realize that... it's more than likely a form of a red herring. My opinions on this were immediately solidified when I watched Ranboo's 2 MIL stream because both Ranboo AND Dream agree on enjoying red herrings.

There have been MANY times were Dream has said that c!Dream is a complex character and he's not a wholly evil guy and there have been times where the narrative has honestly just proved that.

Anyways, what's important though was that... I learned most of this from other people who were more focused on c!Dream rather than myself. Eventually I shifted from c!Tommy to c!Ranboo and c!Techno after c!Tommy betrayed c!Techno and I began to realize.... everything I learned before hopping in wasn't exactly what it seemed.

Part of this is because I'm older, I heavily identify with c!Techno's sense of loyalty and philosophies on government, but I especially identify with the anguish c!Techno voiced in... a lot of lore but especially the lore around Doomsday.

I'm not 16 anymore. I don't always feel wronged by adults, or older people in my case, whenever they absolutely have done something wrong by me, but I do feel wronged by my close friends. I also felt like c!Tommy's sense of loyalty didn't line up with mine after what felt like him constantly flip-flopping and refusing to understand c!Techno's morals on government didn't line up with his.

In short, it was easier to identify with Tommy in these animatics versus in the actual stream content because c!Tommy is played by a 16 year old. I'm not a teenager and my line of thinking doesn't entirely line up with people that age anymore. It's harder to place myself in the same shoes of someone's OC who is played closer to their actual age, because I'm not that age.

Regardless, I was still on the c!Dream is a villain train. I wasn't ever like... c!Dream is repulsive I hate him, but I was like omg hot villain lad go brrr.

Even when the first like... mellohi, panic room, Ranboo lore stream popped up I thought "Oh! c!Ranboo corruption arc?"

And I was excited because I really wanted this shy, nervous character to turn into villain buddies with his good pal c!Dream. I'm a total sucker for villains and corruption arcs and all that good shit.

SO I STARTED GETTING REALLY INTERESTED IN ENDERSMILE. I'VE BEEN ON ENDERSMILE SQUAD OUT THE GATE. NOT THE SAME WAY I AM NOW, BUT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED THEM TO TEAM UP.

So... upon not really keeping up with c!Dream and being relatively??? indifferent? I don't think I started arguments on c!Dream back then, but I might have. But I remember like... starting to participate more whenever c!Dream came up and looking more into Dream's character BUT ESPECIALLY TALKING WITH OUR SERVER'S C!DREAM SPECIALIST MICHI ABOUT DREAM A LOT MORE.

And because Michi has been a watcher since day one and was a DTeam fan rather than a SBI fan, she was able to provide me with more information on how the server worked pre-Tommy but especially pre-Wilbur.

Now, you could definitely argue well Michi probably has clear bias but it made sense to me when I looked back on how the storyline had been constructed and was going along, and everyone in the server talks a lot about our own biases and how we want people to maybe not lean so hard on them. Michi would also provide like anecdotes on what had happened and I'm sure links were probably provided at one point but the point was I felt like Michi had no reason to lie or manipulate how the story was told and if she did, eventually someone would have pointed it out because... Group of like... right now it's around 20 or more analysts but I don't remember how many at the time there were. POINT BEING, WE'VE ALL GOT POINTS TO PROVE AND IN MY EXPERIENCE NOT MANY OF US HAVE BEEN SHY TO PROVE THEM.

So if anyone ever had any differing opinions they would be talked about and we literally had and still have discussions.

REGARDLESS.... I DIDN'T FACT CHECK IN DEPTH BECAUSE I THOUGHT PEER REVIEW WAS ENOUGH WHEN YOU HAVE LIKE HOURS UPON HOURS OF STREAMS TO WATCH.

Anyways. Eventually I started paying closer attention and looking more into c!Dream lore but only recently have I started to triple check before speaking about c!Wilbur lore because I know everyone has biases and while I did trust everyone's thoughts and analysis in the discord, whenever I make essays I typically like it to be largely air tight and if theres a mistake, I want it to be because I forgot not because I just trusted what was said. Plus, I wanted to get down to the specifics of how Wilbur had always started with manipulation on the mind.

SO I WATCHED HIS FIRST VIDEO ON THE DREAM SMP.

AND WHAT I WAS NOT BY ANY MEANS EXPECTING WAS WILBUR TO SAY WORD FOR WORD, VERBATIM,

"SO WHY DON'T I START AN INDUSTRY WHERE I USE THE TOMMYINNITS OF THE WORLD TO WORK FOR ME, TO CREATE THINGS THAT THE MIN-MAXERS OF THE WORLD WILL WANT."

Like... this is in no way an attempt to like hardcore villainize c!Wilbur like everyone does Dream, it's just more so to like REALLY outline how far off a lot of fandom interpretation of c!Wilbur is....

Because of SBI focused animatics.

Now, when I joined I watched A LOT of animatics that really highlighted like... Wilbur being this self-loathing JD-esque, "I destroyed it because I had to because the world was against me because no one loved us, Tommy" type of character. At least... that's what it came across as.

And it definitely highlighted the fact that Tommy was a victim, which he is. He is undoubtedly a victim and no not even any dream apologist can change my mind otherwise. Tommy, despite being an instigator sometimes, didn't deserve the abuse he received.

But these animatics never shown the fact that c!Wilbur started L'manburg as a shady ploy to exploit people like c!Tommy and vilify c!Dream so he could have power.

And that was easy because Dream and Tommy had wars before. They had spars and pranks and here's the plan to take back my disks and here's the plan to out smart the thieving little child etc etc.

And all of the animatics I watched never mentioned this. Neither did the recaps though. The recaps gave the events flat out, there didn't sound like there was bias, and honestly I don't really know if there was rather than like... a lack of nuance. And it's hard to provide a recap with that much nuance in a short period of time for a youtube video, to be perfectly fair.

However, this creates a perfect formula for entirely rewriting the history of a server. c!Wilbur quite literally fucking succeeded TO A META LEVEL. He slandered and ran smear campaigns against Dream and like he even does that with Sapnap in the beginning. But what's crazy is that it transferred over into the meta! Most of this fandom understands Wilbur as a victim of mental illness, and yeah maybe? He definitely wasn't mentally well by the end of pogtopia, but he never started out with honorable intentions. L'manburg was never a victim, only its citizens. The TommyInnits of the world.

I just think it's like... such an interesting case study. Because this is like... an opinion like shared by at least half of the fandom, but the vilifying of c!Dream is shared by MOST of the fandom I would argue. Which is like even more crazy for me because that was c!Wilbur's goal!!!

LIKE I GO INSANE WHEN I THINK OF THIS BECAUSE HIS REACH IS JUST TOO POWERFUL. HE'S NOT EVEN ENTIRELY REAL, JUST A MANIPULATIVE PERSONA OF SOME BRITISH GUY.

And I mean... maybe people who have watched Wilbur's video on the SMP still maintain this idea that Wilbur wasn't always the bad guy, but honestly... I wouldn't be surprised if their introduction was still an animatic. Like bias is hard to check and I'm not going to lie I could have sworn I watched both Wilbur's AND Tommy's video on the SMP in the beginning and yet I STILL was a ride or die for tragic yet on some level still honorable Wilbur and a resilient Tommy.

Like... upon watching Wilbur's first video... possibly again I was surprised because I thought I did watch it like right before I even started watching the streams and yet I was still so invested in c!Wilbur as this tortured anti-hero.

It took 6 months of... not being in an echo chamber, full of multiple different people of different ages, different stream POVS, and people who joined the fandom at different points in time.

IDK IF THIS WAS EVEN ENTIRELY RELEVANT IT JUST FELT TANGENTIALLY RELEVANT AND THIS WAS SOMETHING I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FOR A HOT MINUTE AFTER LIKE WATCHING WILBUR'S FIRST VIDEO AGAIN.

TLDR;

SBI CENTRIC ANIMATICS HAD A LASTING AFFECT ON THIS FANDOM AS IT'S HARD TO GO BACK AND ACTUALLY CHECK THE NARRATIVE FOR SOLID FACTS FOR YOUR OWN INTERPRETATION BASED ON THE FACT THAT THIS NARRATIVE SPANS OVER HUNDREDS OF HOURS WORTH OF TWITCH STREAMS.

#asks #anon #dream smp #dsmp #dsmp analysis #dream smp analysis #dsmp meta #dream smp meta #my analysis #long post

[eponymous-rose]

Return of the Revenge of the Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E108-109 (September 15, 2020)

It’s been six months since the last Speech Machine Upper Luminosity (is that right?), so let’s jump right back in like nothing ever happened!

Tonight’s guests are Laura Bailey and Matt Mercer!

Announcements: Talks will now be biweekly, discussing two episodes at a time! Unfortunately, this means fan question submissions aren’t doable yet, since they’ll often be filming Talks for episodes that haven’t aired yet; questions will come from crew, but fanart and cosplay from earlier episodes will still get awards. Dani Carr’s new official title in the company is Lorekeeper!

Episodes 108-109

Brian asks Matt about the tug-of-war with the Moonweaver’s influence: “how much of that did the Traveler and Jester’s interactions influence him not going back to the Feywild?” Matt: “Okay, well, the Moonweaver isn’t necessarily happy about taking on the images and icons and co-opting elements of her worship, but also isn’t a vindictive deity necessarily.” She has a similar fey history to Artagan, “so I knew this encounter, there would be a punishment involved, at the very least to take Artagan down a few pegs.” He wasn’t going to be actually banished; the Moonweaver just wanted to “scare the shit out of him: You think you’re a trickery god? Welcome to the original trickery god, bitch.” There was a possibility of him just vanishing for a while, if there was no sign of humility; but based on their interactions, it was just enough to show the planetar that maybe this isn’t the same “troll of an Archfey” that the Moonweaver had known. “Maybe this is enough of a lesson.”

Laura thought Artagan was going to be “gone-gone, and Jester was going to be left alone”. She thought there was going to be a Feywild rescue, and Jester would have to try to find a new deity.

Laura’s wi-fi conks out. So does mine. Ah, 2020.

Jester would probably have followed the Moonweaver in an attempt to make amends. Laura mentions that every time she sat down to prep something for Traveler-Con, she realized Jester wouldn’t sit still long enough to plan it.

Laura: “If that cult hadn’t been there and she hadn’t seen what a false god could do to people, I don’t think she would have come to the realization that what her and the Traveler were doing was detrimental: oh, we’re fucking over people’s lives, hardcore.” If Artagan hadn’t been on board with picking a different deity, Jester would have stepped down at Traveler Con and she would have exposed the lie.

Matt’s “super happy” because he was purposely making sure he didn’t know what was going to happen at Traveler Con. “Okay, everything around it’s going to be interesting and fleshed out, but as to the actual convention, I have no idea what’s going to happen.” He wanted to balance a complete train wreck with character beats and mini-arcs, and he was satisfied with how that worked out.

Brian asks if Jester ever considered walking away from the Traveler. Laura: “Yeah. It could have progressed to that point. Jester always gave him the benefit of the doubt, and loves him with her entire heart, so if he would have not seen that what they were doing was not acceptable, in his own way, then Jester would have probably walked away. I don’t know if she would have walked away from him, but it would have been a big issue for her. I have no idea what that would have meant for her... my entire character arc.”

How does Jester feel about the Traveler now? “She loves him, but at the same time, she doesn’t adore him without boundaries. She sees a little bit more of who he is, and the worshiping aspect isn’t there anymore. She sees him more like another friend. That’s a complicated relationship for a cleric to have.”

Matt talks about what a fan he is of his players. “I’ve just been enjoying the hell out of this.”

Has Artagan learned his lesson? He’s been living for a long time, and old habits are hard to break. Matt points out that Artagan “is free in a place that he doesn’t have complete domain over, and he’s been humbled a few times. I think he’s definitely learned a series of lessons to some degree. We’ll see how far it sticks and where their relationship goes.”

Brian asks Laura how it’s been to have the spotlight on Jester for a long time. Laura: “It was nerve-wracking. I feel very relieved that it’s on to something else now, but it was so much fun, too. I feel like I kept getting so emotional as her through all this. Having to come to terms with all the things she was going through was crazy. But it felt good.”

Cosplay of the Week: An amazing Yasha by @shiieldmaiden on Twitter, photo by @asheneyed.

Matt: “I took a bath for this.”

Brian notes that Jester found herself caught between her god and the M9. Who would she have chosen if Artagan hadn’t kicked her off? Laura: “Here’s the thing. If Fjord hadn’t jumped on my back, Jester would have gone. But him doing that, I mean, that’s why I froze like I did. I really didn’t know where it was going to go. Thankfully Artie made that choice for me.”

The Vilya reveal’s been waiting since Marisha made Keyleth’s backstory. Brian recalls that the question of what happened to Vilya came up in the campaign 1 recap, and Matt was cagey about it. “When I got the original backstory from Marisha, in my head, I was like, her mother’s probably still alive, just lost to the chaos for reasons that I’ll get to, but I like the idea of an eventual reunion when it made sense.” As they got later in the campaign, Keyleth’s story became about taking on this leadership and stepping into her mother’s footsteps: “I didn’t want to rob her of her journey by bringing her mother into it before it was complete. There wasn’t a beat that felt right for it in the first campaign unless the players actively wanted to go and seek it out.” He knew she was on an island somewhere, and that there was an issue with her memory, but the details were still hazy, and it never came up in the first campaign. “As soon as we got to Rumblecusp as a possible visiting location, I was like, this would probably be the island that Vilya’s at.” He knew the community would pick up on it quickly, but the players would likely be too engrossed in their own story. “Getting to send her home was wonderful, both for an idea of closure, but as a long-waiting gift to Marisha and Keyleth. It’s something that I’ve been looking forward to giving to her.”

On building Vilya’s character: “I wanted to make sure she wasn’t too similar to Keyleth. She couldn’t remember her family, but when she did, it meant everything.”

Brian asks what inspires Jester’s thought process to try and befriend every creature they come across. “Everyone is interesting. Except for Celia, she’s a bitch. If you piss her off, she might just hate you forever, but everybody else she thinks is pretty great. Jester can hold a good grudge.”

Brian asks Matt about the inspiration for Vokodo. “It is a heavily customized version of a Morkoth. I was just intrigued by how they had created this creature that creates this island around it. It has ways of affecting the minds of creatures around it. I didn’t enjoy that the creature was only Medium in size, and I wanted it to be something that was a little bit more changed by its experiences.” He also tied it in with the Astral Sea lore and suggested that it had been changed by its proximity to this volcano, similarly to how Thordak did in the first campaign.

Fan Art of the Week: An amazing Traveler Con Jester and Artagan by @callanthee on Twitter

How about the visions of the living city? Laura: “I don’t know what the fuck is going on with that thing. If it true that there’s a Molly connection, the Eyes of Nine, I don’t know. It’s just too much. We have to look into it.” Matt, blandly: “Weird mysteries.”

Who would the Disintegrate spell have hit if it had ricocheted? “Initially, I would have wanted to choose Caleb, like back at himself, because the immediate threat of that ray towards Vokodo, it would have been just right back at him.” But the runner-up would have been Jester because of the threat of the banishment back to the Astral Sea, the one place he didn’t want to go.

Laura could tell from Liam’s gameplay that he hadn’t realized someone was going to perma-die from that. “I thought it was going to be me, because I had been the one to banish him.”

Dani points out that the group would probably have gone after Artagan if Jester had died right before Traveler Con.

Matt highlights Cad’s Divine Intervention as pretty much the only way they could have learned the important information they used to prepare for the fight with Vokodo. He was torn between frustration at not being able to use this boss to its fullest potential... and pride in his players.

Laura is amused at listening to the characters talking about Jester when she’s not there. “It’s fun to hear but not be able to use that at all in your interactions with them.” Laura points out that even her sister who watches the show doesn’t trust the Traveler. Matt mentions that he’s always being very careful with the relationship between the Traveler and Jester, because it could get into rough territory. “There are unhealthy elements of their relationship, very much so. A lot of her story has been about disillusionment.” Laura: “Yeah. Eyes open.” They’ve set up bumpers to make sure they don’t veer into territory the players find uncomfortable. 

“Artagan at the end of campaign one versus Artagan at campaign two are different. He came into this world a purely selfish being of id and impulse. He still has those dark tendencies and can lean down those dark paths. But he went from a purely chaotic, selfish creature to unintentionally beginning to care for people that aren’t him.” Traveler Con definitely left a mark on him. “Aw shit, I let them in.”

Sam starts Facetiming Brian. “How does he know when we’re filming this?! No. I’m not going to do it.”

Matt and Laura are "super excited” for the new landscape of the next part of the journey.

Laura notes that Jester is getting past the point of “needing to put on the mask”, including around her mom. And as that’s happened at Traveler Con, the small breakdowns have been piling up. “That’s what therapy’s like, right?”

On the new goliath shopkeeper (even with the mispronunciations as clues, I got nothing on that spelling), Matt points out that purchasing magical items is tricky because most things were pulled into the war effort. He was trying to figure out how a shopkeeper could build a business in that environment: “with a bunch of really small, shitty enchantments”. As a kid, he loved novelty shops, and took a lot of inspiration from those memories.

So glad everything’s back in business! “As always, don’t forget to love each other. And don’t worry, it’s almost Thursday.”

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

[buryme-makeoutcreek]

Best shows I watched in 2020

I wanted to look at some shows I watched that I felt had some of the best writing. Most of these shows did not come out in 2020 but are shows that definitely deserve some attention for their masterful writing. Minor spoilers below. 

1.Succession

This show took me by complete surprise. While I love stories about complicated, and darker characters I went into this show expecting it to be a classic story about power dynamics among the rich. And it is but the show is really about cycles of abuse and trauma and how that relates to a capitalist system. The show follows the children of billionaire Logan Roy as they continuously jostle for power within the family company, it’s very Shakespearian in nature but also one of the most absurd and hilarious shows on.

The writing on this show is very interesting because none of the characters can actually say what they want to say, it is all disguised such as a politician’s word choices would be. And bringing that veiled rhetoric into a family dynamic makes for an exploration of power and manipulation. The writing is also significant for doing something called by the cast, “the language of strength” which is using aggressive and sexually charged language frequently, this is used both in the company and within the family as both intimidation and to show off. There’s really a lot to dissect in word choice and meaning in this show and for that reason it is fascinating.

2. Hannibal

This was another show I didn’t expect to like but was pleasantly surprised by. This show ended its series in 2015 but it has always been a cult favorite and has been receiving renewed attention as of late and all I can say is thank god. This is a brilliant show both visually and story-wise. As I watched the first season I felt like I was stepping into a different world of just complete madness, and the show is really escapism in that way even though it features horrific deaths every episode. While I don’t think this is the best written show out of all the ones listed here, and I do think it expresses itself more through visual prose rather than words it is still reminiscent of a dark epic poem. 

The show follows FBI consultant Will Graham as he investigates a series of grisly murders and comes across the path of notable psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (also notable cannibal and serial killer). The writing is very interesting due to it’s plentiful of metaphors. In regards to the main relationship between Will and Hannibal the distinctions between wanting to “eat” one’s love and wanting to be with them are really interesting and the word choices made can only be called poetic. 

3. Atlanta

I went on a Donald Glover kick after finishing Community and I’m so happy I did because it led me to this show. Many have called this show “what TV could be” and it really is. This show starts off simply enough with the story of Earn trying to become a music agent for his cousin, the rapper Paper Boi. But the show delves deeply into the surreal in order to illustrate its points about poverty and being black in America. 

The writing on this show bucks traditional story structure completely with each episode being more of a “day-in-the life” rather than a continuous plot driven towards a goal, this allows for much more experimentation but also the feeling that no matter what the characters do they’re going to get weighed down in some way or other. This disregard for classic show structure also bleeds into the genre, it’s hard to solely classify this show as a comedy because there are so many elements of horror, drama, and satire within it. The writing is overall beautiful, heartbreaking, and hilarious. This show is a must watch as it is probably the best thing on TV right now.

4. Ramy

This show is the spiritual successor to shows like Atlanta and Fleabag who have paved the way for this new brand of comedy show, often focused around a single character as they try to better their lives. Ramy is a show about a Muslim- American milennial who is trying to get more in touch with his religion, thinking that it will help him to get his life on track. While the humor can be brass and the story lines can get pretty weird and disgusting the first word I think of with this show is delicate. 

Especially in its second season, which has moved away from Ramy’s perspective to focus on the rest of his family. The writing in this show can swing from a really fragile sense of beauty to super crass and sexual in the blink of the eye, which makes it so hilarious and interesting to watch. The writers have complied a series of character studies under the guise of a TV show, and watching this family deal with issues of assimilation, lost dreams, religion, and loneliness makes the watcher feel deeply connected to them.There’s a lot of stuff happening in this show that is very fragile but very moving and also hilarious.

5. The Great

This show is chaos embodied. From excessive violence, sex, and rampant and ridiculous abuse of power this comedy which is extremely loosely based on Catherine the great’s life is a real ride. It was created by the writer of The Favourite and interacts with absurdity and power in similar ways.

The writing is really interesting because it is so crass. In that way it is meant to be humorous but also terrifying. Many things in this show act in more than one way- Peter (Russia’s emperor) is terrifying, ridiculous, and lovable sometimes all within a single scene. And this ability to be all of these things makes this a very good examination of power.

6. Veep

This is how you do a villain arc. Perhaps the best and most honest show about American politics Veep focuses on Selina Meyer, the first female Vice President who is surrounded by the most competent incompetent people and virtually powerless and unfulfilled in her job. Throughout the seven seasons we follow her through presidential campaigns and personal woes all in classic dark comedy style. While this show is first and foremost a comedy it is not afraid, as it’s ending shows, to dig into dark themes and character exploration of a narcissist with a bottomless thirst for power going after the highest office in the country.

This show predates the Trumpian era America currently finds itself in but much of it’s subject matter and even specific plot points have come to be echoed in our current history. Such as an election depending on the results out of Nevada and a politician’s base protesting to “Count the vote” and “Stop the count”. This just proves that the show is so in-touch with the reality of American politics (even when the show was just a satire rather than the bleak truth). This is a perfect dark comedy with excellent, well-crafted characters, and solid plot points. Definitely a must watch for anyone.  

#best shows 2020 #hannibal #veep #the great #succession #ramy #atlanta #ramy fx #atlanta fx #writing #screenwriting #tv shows #best tv shows #power

[the-red-rainy-perytons]

If you guys are ever confused about something I'm into, reading, or watching, and have questions, please hecking ask. I know you might feel awkward about it, but please. I would love to answer your questions about my fandoms, no matter how weird

What's the plot of dsmp? I have no clue what happens in there

You're going to wish you hadn't asked but ok

It's kind of a lot but I'll do my best. Also it's still in the works, so technically any of this could change on a dime but

/rp (black font from here on out so I don't absolutely destroy your eyes)

Season 1:

So it starts off relatively normal for an SMP, with the Dream Team and some of their cohorts messing around. Then Tommyinnit and Wilbur Soot show up and start making drugs (potions) in a van.

Drug van -> drug empire. Drug empire -> country.

Dream doesn't like this, and the members of the newly formed L'Manburg (Tommy, Wilbur, Eret, and Fundy) go to war against those who are still technically with Dream or haven't split off and made their own faction (also known as the Greater Dream SMP). At the end, Eret betrays them. ("It was never meant to be" #1) They lose, but reparations are made and L'Manburg gets independence. Wilbur becomes president of L'Manburg, Tommy his vice. Eret becomes king of the Greater Dream SMP. Niki joins L'Manburg, completing its major members.

Commence Election Arc.

Wilbur decides to hold an election to make his government look more legitimate considering he kind of just claimed leadership. Naturally he tries to rig it and become the only candidate. Wilbur takes on Tommy as his running mate, forming the campaign POG2020.

(Note: MatPat made a Game Theory video on this section. While it misses about 75% of the plot and side characters, it's a good overview of this arc and the mechanics of the server in general. The theory is also wrong.)

Quackity challenges Wilbur, and runs another campaign with GeorgeNotFound as his partner, making SWAG2020. COCONUT2020 (Niki and Fundy) is also a thing that exists. No one votes for them.

JSchlatt joins the server under the guise of a political endorsement for POG2020, but promptly decides to make his own campaign (SCHLATT2020).

There's some drama afterwards, but the gist is that Quackity and Schlatt team up and combine their votes in the final election. (George was sleeping.) With their combined votes, SCHLATT2020 wins, making Schlatt the president, Tubbo (Tommy's best friend and Secretary of State under the Soot Administration) the new vice president. Quackity becomes the Secretary of State.

At his inauguration, Schlatt exiles Wilbur and Tommy (the "My first decree" speech). The two create a secret base outside the border (Pogtopia), Tubbo spies for them on the inside, and Technoblade, a violent anarchist, joins the server and sides with them. This is also the opening of Wilbur's insanity arc (aka the Vilbur arc).

Schlatt holds a festival, and Tubbo plans it. Wilbur puts TNT (TNT he got from Dream, I might add) under the podium and hooks it up to a button in the mountain, planning to press it and detonate about half the country after Tubbo gives his speech. Of course, things go south.

Techno is invited to the festival, while Wilbur and Tommy are not. After Tubbo's speech, Schlatt exposes Tubbo as a spy and orders Techno to execute him. Techno does so (the death system is weird here, and every character has 3 canon, or plot-important, deaths before they die die). And Techno being Techno, he kills everyone else attending as well. Wilbur can't actually find the button so no boom.

There's more tea and arguing but the next big event is 11/16/2020. By now quite a few people have sided with Pogtopia because no one really likes Schlatt as leader, and they decide to go to war, all in, everybody. (These are the events of SAD-ist's Dawn of 16th animation if you're curious)

Chaos ensues, lots of pvp, Schlatt dies of a heart attack for good (yes that's what happens) and Tubbo is inaugurated as the new president.

But wait. You just inaugurated a new president in front of an exceptionally violent anarchist. An anarchist who just so happens to have been the major supplier for the war you just won. Maybe that wasn't a good idea.

Anyways Wilbur finds the button, has a great monologue ("It was never meant to be" #2, and I do recommend checking this one out because the guy knows how to act.) (There's also another animatic by The Channel Without A Name that shows this scene, called Never Meant to Be) Philza Minecraft shows up for it. Wilbur presses the button, big boom, and asks, nay, begs Phil to kill him. Phil does. So now Wilbur's dead for good too. Phil is also Wilbur's dad in SMP canon.

Wow

Indeed. The timing on this bit is a little fuzzy, and most animators take some liberty with it considering there's only about 5 minutes difference between the button press and the following events.

L'Manburg blows, and Techno begins the Theseus/So You Want to Be a Hero monologue. He finishes and spawns two withers into the ruins, completing the major events of Season 1.

Afterwards, Techno leaves to retire with Phil (his old friend), Pogtopia is annexed, and Tommy goes back to L'Manburg.

Season 1 is the most concise and cinematic in my opinion. I skipped the opening of The Disc Saga, which doesn't become super important to the core plot until Season 2, but just know that it was happening in the background, and influenced some of the events (one of the main factors in the revolution, the reason Tubbo became the 3rd president instead of Tommy)

Do you actually want to hear about Season 2 or will I just be tacking on more to a very long post

I'mma be real w ya my brain is fried

That's fair

Another time

#plot explanation #dsmp #dsmp summary #dream smp techno #dream smp #george not found #tommyinnit #mcty #its mcyt pery #a for effort tho #mcyt

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Hints of Beth and the CRM War in 5x09

So, after I re-watched 6x08 and 6x09, which I posted last week, I also decided to re-watch 5x09. I did so for various reasons, including a comment I received on an old theory. But mostly, I’d been wanting to rewatch this episode for a while. I had a hunch that there might be hints toward the CRM war in it that we couldn’t possibly have known about or recognized back in S5. I was not disappointed.

Tyreese, Lizzie & Mica:

So, in this new comment I got, this commenter said she thought Ty was likening the twin boys to Lizzie and Mica. And I’m sure this has been discussed in some iteration, but I sat and thought about it in a way I hadn’t before. I know I’ve discussed that it seems, from the photos, that there seemed to be a “good” and “evil” twin, and obviously that has ties to Lizzie and Mica. But just think about it this way. Ty was obviously present for the Lizzie/Mica tragedy. Then, he’s killed by one of these twins as a walker.

A random line from 5x04, 4 Walls and a Roof, came to my mind. After Abe and co get on the short bus to go to D.C., Ty is digging graves (for the Termites they killed) and Rick goes to help him. Rick asks him something about what happened on his way to Terminus or something like that (can’t remember the exact question) and Ty answers that what happened “killed me.” Rick, looking a little annoyed, says, “No, it didn’t.” And that’s it.

 But it occurred to me that Ty’s line is a foreshadow. He was speaking about Lizzie and Mica, saying that their deaths killed him (emotionally) but it was a foreshadow that another set of siblings would actually kill him a few episodes later. I don’t have a whole lot more to say about this particular thing, though I’m going to talk more about Ty in a minute.  

The thing is, I really don’t think we understand the point of Lizzie and Mica, yet. We’ve had lots of theories, talked about how they impacted Carol, the ways in which they could be Beth proxies. But I don’t think we understand their significance in the grand scheme of things, and I’ve never quite known what to do with them symbolically. But given that they’re in Ty’s hallucination WITH BETH tells me we will probably figure it out when she returns.

Hints of the CRM in 5x09:

Several years back (like during S6) I tried so hard to figure out what the radio messages in 5x09 pointed to, and couldn’t really come to any solid conclusion about them. Of course, back then we knew absolutely nothing of the helicopter people, so how could I?

We’ve definitely seen some of the things they talk about come to pass, both before and after this episode. They mention prisons (prison fell before this) and setting people on fire (Carol did that both in S9 and also to Karen and David in S4) and of course they mention machetes (Red Machete). All important symbols.

But these messages also tell a story. Look at what they say:

“At least 68 citizens of the Republic have been killed in four deadly attacks along the main coastal district. The group has continued their campaign of random violence, moving across the countryside unfettered, with the Republic’s military forces in disarray.”

Okay, so I’m assuming the “republic” is the CRM. This suggests a different group performing guerilla warfare against them. Think about all the symbols these lines encompass. We have a group of rebels attacking the CRM, the COASTAL district, and of course the CRM itself. So it’s talking about some rebel group that will be fighting against the CRM.

I think that’s super significant, especially because of the TWB template. Remember that we saw a group of rebels, perhaps led by Will, though it’s a little unclear as yet, who is Beth’s proxy in that template. And they’re outside the CRM and, presumably, because they saw the slaughter at the college, going to fight against it. So I’m seeing this as a huge hint for Beth’s return.

The other thing to bring into the mix here is the Wolves. Because all of this in 5x09 definitely foreshadowed the wolves, and it’s where we first saw their “WOLVES NOT FAR” signs. And where did we see TONS of Beth symbolism: around the wolves.

Second message: “…then terrorizing the village by night, carrying out revenge attacks which include hacking innocents with machetes, and in some cases setting them on fire.”

Okay, so I get that this isn’t flattering for Beth or her group if she’s with the rebels, but it is really hard to know what they’re talking about here, since we don’t get the full sentence. The point is, these are acts of war, and even if this is talking about the rebel group doing this (and I think it probably is, given that wolves did all of these things a few episodes later in 6x02) it’s no worse than what we’ve already seen the CRM do.

But I can also see that if Beth is with or leading this group, this is a very Grady-like issue to be dealing with. Are we killing these people for the greater good, because the war needs to be won? You can see how Grady could easily have been a setup for what she’d be dealing with later on. And maybe she’s the “new sheriff” because she has to police her own people and not let them get too blood thirsty. Or maybe I’m reading into this WAY too much and the point is simply that there will be a violent war. ;D

There’s only one more message that comes out of the radio. So we had the first one, talking about the CRM war and a rebel group attacking the CRM. Then talk of wartime violence.

The third message is Beth singing her song. That’s super on-the-nose, if you ask me. No more clear way to say that Beth will be part of the conflict the radio voice was just talking about. See why that made me happy?

Tyreese…Again:

I’m gonna make a sweeping claim, here. I think the themes around Ty’s death are pretty much the point of the entire series. Yes, I know that’s a tall order. Let me explain. It does tie heavily into Beth’s return, but it encompasses other things as well, and I think it’s a huge part of the current Negan/Maggie/forgiveness story line.

So, when I first went to watch 5x09, I pulled up S5 on Amazon and it shows all the episodes, the first one, of course, being 5x01. And the little picture it had for that episode was Ty in the cabin with baby Judith. I sat and thought about that and that there’s the picture of a cabin in 5x09 that gets blood on it and it occurred to me that those two things are probably related.

So I watched 5x01 after watching 5x09. I’ll admit I didn’t see tons of smoking guns that haven’t already been discussed at length in 5x01. The biggest thing is simply that it was a setup for Ty’s death themes in 5x09, and I definitely need to revisit my cabin theories. ;D

So, if we look at the people Ty hallucinated, there’s the Gov, Lizzie, Mica, Beth, Bob, and Martin, right? These are all obviously people and events Ty feels guilty about. Bob’s death, because he lied about Martin and that sent the Termites after them. He feels guilty about being duped by the Gov and not realizing what a bad guy he was. Lizzie and Mica for obvious reasons. And Beth.

I honestly don’t think Tyreese did anything to feel guilty about with Beth. Not in the same way we think Sasha might have (Sasha/Tyreese Theory). But based on what the Martin hallucination says, I think he’s just really broken up about it and wondering if he could have done anything to change it. Just my opinion, though.

So, if you listen carefully to who is saying what in the hallucination, we have two different representations of good and evil. There’s 1) Bob vs. Martin and 2) Beth/Lizzie/Mica vs. the Gov. In each case, they’re like good and evil angels sitting on Ty’s shoulder and they’re arguing.

So, for example, Martin says the thing about Ty lying about his death and how, maybe somehow, if Bob hadn’t died, it would have changed things with Beth. Domino shit. And then Bob says [paraphrasing] “No, that’s bullshit. I got bit at the food bank. It went the way it had to. The way it was always going to.”

And we have the same thing going on with the Gov. He’ll basically tell Tyreese what an idiot he is, and then one of the three (Beth/Lizzie/Mica) will say, “No. It’s all right. It’s better now.”

So, you can see that Ty is really at war with himself internally.

It’s important to note that one big thing that’s mentioned is that he forgave Carol for Karen’s death. The Gov actually says that Ty is weak and ridiculous because he sat across the table from a woman that murdered someone he loved, and he actually forgave her. The Gov really razzed him about that.

And this is one of the things I mean about over-arching themes. Carol killed Karen and David in S4, which we all know was one great big foreshadow of arcs to come, and Ty forgave her.

I really think this was probably meant to be a foreshadow of Negan. Negan’s story, killing Glenn, was a way bigger deal and way more front and center, mostly because no one really knew Karen except for an episode or two and Glenn was such a beloved character.

Now, we have this redemption arc for Negan and Maggie is going to have to decide if she’ll forgive him, moving forward. We could apply this to plenty of other story lines where Rick took the violent route or forgiveness wasn’t had, and it leads to trouble and death. So, I think this is pretty huge for the overall show.

And I really think it points to Negan doing something to save TF in some way. Because they forgive him and he’s allowed to live, that will save lives. We’ve talked about this with Daryl showing Dwight mercy as well.

My Biggest Beth Takeaway:

As the episode progresses, before Rick and Michonne come to get him, Tyreese does finally stand up to the Governor. He says that the Gov was a bad guy, and that wasn’t his (Ty’s) fault. He says what he talked about with Noah: that he never turned off the radio. He always faced it, and did what he could to help. He said he forgave Carol specifically because “it’s not over.” Which I take to mean that he has hope for the world’s future, and forgiveness is the only way forward. Being angry and holding a grudge only brings death.

And then he said the thing that jumped out at me most: 

“People like me CAN live.”

Okay, so what does he mean by ‘people like me?’ Because obviously Ty didn’t live, so this doesn’t apply to him directly. Or if it does, he means that he’ll die, but people like him CAN live under some circumstances.

To figure this out, we have to go back to his cabin in 5x01. During that entire scene in No Sanctuary, Martin was giving him crap about being a “good” guy. Ty answers, “you don’t know what I’ve done.” And Martin looks at baby Judith and says, “no, you’re a good guy. You save babies. That’s a little like saving an anchor when you’re without a boat in the middle of the ocean.” (Total boat/water reference.)

So, when Ty says “people like me,” he means those who choose to be good. Who choose to be hopeful and moral, rather than violent. There’s a long-running theme in the show that Chris Hardwick mentions a lot, that people who function as the moral compass of the group often die. And that’s true.

But here, Ty says, “people like me” (meaning the moral compasses) CAN live.

And Beth is in the room with him when he says that.

She’s looking at the clock radio that simultaneously reads 5:10 (music box) and also 8:22 (Resurrection).

The skeptic might argue that all these other people are in the room too, and how can we be sure he means her? Well, putting all the mountains of TD evidence aside, they do have a point. After all, all the “good” characters Ty hallucinates (Bob, Beth, Mica) are moral compasses and fit the criteria. There are plenty of others not represented here (Hershel, Dale, Glenn, Denise, even Abraham to an extent) but these are the ones Ty felt particularly guilty about.

But I would argue that we only heard one person’s voice come through the radio: Beth’s.

So once again, look at this from a bird’s eye view. Talk of the CRM and a coming war. Then Beth’s voice comes through that same radio, suggesting she’ll be part of it. And later on, “people like me CAN live.”

See what I mean? As I told my fellow theorists, this episode really had all we needed to predict Beth’s return. We just couldn’t have understood the meanings back then.

And honestly, this may be the explanation for the Lizzie/Mica thing I mentioned above. It’s a representation of the evil killing the good, which is super traumatizing and messes everyone up because as humans, we’re hard-wired to believe good will win out.

So, we had Lizzie/Mica, Noah’s brothers, and then the good vs evil hallucinations I already talked about. And we might even have a representation of this at Grady because of evil officer Bob.

We had good Bob who died in 5x04, and then Evil Officer Bob, who directly led to them only having two prisoners, which directly led to Beth getting shot. And I remember when it aired, the show brought a lot of attention to it by doing clickbait articles about why there were “two Bobs.”

So, it’s something they wanted us to notice. And then we see Bob in Ty’s hallucination here. I gotta think that Sasha and Ty’s sibling relationship plays into this in some way as well.

Okay, I’ll shut up, now. But re-watching this gave me tons of hope. We can’t say for sure that we’ll see her in the bonus episodes (though obviously I hope we will) but I’m more sure than ever that she’ll be part of the CRM war. And we’re kind of on the cusp of that. We just have to sit back and wait. ;D

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[magicmoon65]

The Politician Season 2 and why I didn’t like it as much as Season 1

Some Spoilers

Usually I wait a little while before I figure out what I thought of something. But the politician season 2 disappointed me a lot, I just finished watching it and... I’m disappointed.

Because it’s fine on its own. it’s even good on its own. But the first season is really good. And season 2 doesn’t just not hold up.. it almost undermines season 1. Makes fun of it.

Season one had really good character development and that’s why I loved it. Sure, a lot of really extreme things happened. But all of it propelled the plot and Peyton’s character development. Every twist in the election was cosely tied to his arc. Every out there crazy plot point impacted him, challenged him.

Peyton Hobart is an ambitious guy who wants to win. He cares about things for his image and to gain support. Until he meets River, which is the big turning point, because he loved him, and River loves him, and River makes him feel things. River brings out the best in him, makes him more than a slimey politician and into a real perosn that he’s afraid he isn’t.

Somewhat of a sidenote, but the queer rep also did a 360. In season 2 Peyton is in love with Alice, which is fine if he’s bi, but they seem to drop the idea that he was at all attracted to guys except for in a flashback to a threesome he had with Astrid. In talking about River they determine that he wasn’t even bi, he just loved them a lot and wanted them to feel loved. Plus, though McAfee is seen going on dates with girls in a breif montage and then has a date, sex with, and then in the end marries a guy, like any wlw attraction was a teenage/college phase rather than a real part of her. Skye was hardly mentioned to be queer. The Voter mom character I think was gay, but that was in one sentene, not even seeing her (wife? girlfreind?) or mentioning where she was. This was a strongly diverse show in s1, but s2 seemed to try to remove or ignore any queernes sof any of the characters. 

Peyton’s arc in s1 is incredibly well written and complex. He’s also a very different character than we usually see. He fucks up a lot in the name of getting elected, and that is exactly what screws him over. And then you know what happens? He goes completely to the opposite extreme. I love that. He drops the ambition and feels everything. And he can’t do that either, because his ambition is a part of him, but he has to learn to follow that while also being true to himself and letting himself feel things. Whih, by the way, is a very important messege. 

But season 2? I hardly know what’s going on in Peyton’s head for most of it. He’s all about controlling all of his staffers and there’s a bit of should I play dirty? But he only cares about not playing dirty if it might look bad because apparently that’s all he took from his school election? We have one significant challenge for him and that’s when Alice says she’s leaving him. But she comes back without him really having to do much, and he just says “hey I’ll stop writing my speech to spend the evening with you.” His talk with his mom solidifies and idea that he will play dirty and do anything to win.

There was a scene where Dede, his competitor, found him singing at a bar, and he said some things about the election that really solidified who he was. He didn’t care about anything he was doing. He was going to do it because it would ensure more votes. Watchign that I was thinking, dang, he really is just a rich kid who wants to win and that’s all. He wants the campaign, Dede wants the job. I thought Dede realized that too... but then she gives him the election, and then two years later, offers him to be VP with her. So maybe she didn’t realize it. 

And want to know what super sucks? He wins the election as this entitled guy who will cheat and play dirty to win. Someone who isn’t ready for the real job of winning. Which would be fine if I saw him get to Albany and realize how hard it was. Realize there that the job is more than power and winning. Learn something. Finally get the development he started and come out better and stronger. I was ready for that.

But no. They skip ahead and he’s done a great job, he’s a family man, he’s confident in winning, he doesn’t care about the camapign as much until the VP offer comes up. 

I would watch a season of this show that was him facing being in office. I don’t particularly care about the drama of the lives of actual politicaians. But what I liked about The Politician was the character arc. But the show sacrificed any character arc for the drama and the race of an election, the flashy stuff like threesomes and Geronimo costumes and lies and blackmail and tricks. I only care about that when it’s tied to character arcs, and it wasn’t, it was just there for fun. And instead of seeing him face what he needs to, they cut out Peyton’s character development becaus eit didn’t happen during a race. So they skip tp another race, if they get another season.

That’s my main problem, but also, I feel like Netflix’s been on an environmentalist kick lately. Which is okay, though I don’t know if Netflix is practicing what they preach. But they also seemed to exaggerate it weirdly. Like Infinity’s waste-free life sounded interesting, I was actually thinking about it, but then they pull out an extreme that most people would never do no matter how much they care about the environment (That by the way I don’t think is that essential? If you’re not using any harsh chemicals, and maybe you have to control where it goes, but water is water. you don’t have to boil your bathwater to be eco-freindly), and it almost makes me go “nevermind.” If no one is going to do it, and INfinity seems to think it’s all or nothing, it gives power to the “nothing” side if you don’t want to do all. A middle ground is acceptable, but for The Politician, I feel like environmentalism was jsut what it was for Peyton— a talking point to look good. 

#the politician #the politican netflix #the politican spoilers #the politician season 2 #Analysis #review

[honeymoonjin]

Ugh in response to the anon who seems to dislike Hobi so much they had to go off on the #savehobi campaign as if any of this is real:

1. It’s. Not. Real. It doesn’t matter who your bias is in real life bc these are versions of them they aren’t accurate to them (like I’m sure they’re all just as kind and wonderful as you write them but s t i l l ! D a m n ! This is an au!) also like hi! I started as army as RM bias w Jimin being my bias wrecker and then D-2 dropped and now Yoogles just basis wrecked me so hard he’s now my bias and Joonie is my bias wrecker...but I love Hobi’s arc in this so I want him to stay!

I find 1. His scenes genuinely more interesting and better than everyone else’s. And yeah. Maybe he takes it “too professionally” whatever tf that means (as if jimin didnt start this whole competition as the “porn Star dom too good for you all” persona he always used on camera and jk isn’t literally camming through the show??) (also like...he messes with much more serious kinks than the others so we hate him for going the extra mile for explicit understanding for proper consent among everyone? What?) but like he puts a lot more effort and thought into his scene and always makes sure it’s something yn will enjoy and would be willing to explore without taking it too far since she’s new to a lot of these kinks.

2. His outing? He literally offered to go get smoothies and have a normal night out if she wanted to and SHE chose the red room and mistress bee over that!

3. Idk how many times I’m gonna go off about this to you (I apologize bc I don’t blame you teddy- I love the way you write him!) but he is aromatic. Sorry he doesn’t fit into your ideas that sexual and platontic bonds can’t run as deep and be as meaningful/loving as romantic bonds! Do I think he could interact with her more? YES! PLEASE TEDDY LET THEM INTERACT MORE! I feel like something holding him back is knowing she has these romantic bonds and he knows he can’t offer that but also he isn’t out to anyone in the house but joon! So he’s probably nervous she will treat him different bc they’ll never be in love that way like the others (and I know it’s different but one of the reasons I don’t actively seek relationships (besides like anxiety and a general dislike of ppl 🤪) is bc I’m always scared of having to have the I’m asexual/what is asexuality conversation- idk there’s a lot of ppl who just think it’s not real or think we’re just “straight ppl trying to be special too” both in and out of the lgbt community so it’s weird sometimes)

4. I also feel that one reason we differentiate jimin using his professional persona from Hobis (besides romantic vs nonromantic aspect) is that we’ve seen jimin more have moments “outside of the show” where he lets it go and it’s not just the scene assigned and Hobi hasn’t had that. Like even outside of yn, we see a lot of jimin/Tae scenes that have sexual undertones (even when they don’t have sex) that are viewed more favorably bc they’re in love and also bc there’s just more of them (no complaints over you feeding my vmin love) i kinda hope we get to see up close Hobi interact more with Joonie and yn and the others like we see the other characters do bc he seems close with a lot of them from mentions here and there (sitting on each other’s laps, stroking each other’s hair, eating/cooking/watching tv together, him and joonies whole thing, he was excited at the idea of the “sleepover” in the bunkroom with some of when when he failed his prompt) but outside of his assigned scenes he’s almost always been a background character or as an antagonist to jimin and we as readers are only told by others about his good interactions we almost never read them for ourselves.

Idk this got super effing long and idk how much sense it makes but those are my thoughts on this whole #savehobi thing also like 100% I feel like he should have fan fav scene more/be higher in rankings at least bc his scenes are so amazing and well written and interesting and new but also always show the deep trust between him and yn as well as how well he pays attention to her likes/dislikes/ the little things! Cool. That just made t longer but anyways!!! #savehobi !!!!

babes i wish yall would get paid by the word really i do because it means the world to me that people care enough about my story and my characters to actually take the time to write these asks, like irrelevant of what it's about it always makes my day, and when it comes to discussing the characters it just is so fascinating to me to hear people's reasoning for things!

[shae-c-art]

I’ve been here awhile, but I’m still more on the outside of the Reed900/DBH fandom, and I’d really love to make more friends and be more involved. I’m not quite sure how to do that beyond throwing art into the void, but uh, I guess this is me saying hi. If you want to talk or interact feel free to message me. ^_^

Some ships/headcannons under cut.

BTW if anyone has different ships or headcannons or takes on characters, that’s totally fine. I love hearing what other people think. I just kinda thought I’d throw these out there since I’m waving hello. ^_^

Ships I especially like are: Reed900, HankCon, ConVin, Markus/Josh, North/Ada (from Detroit Evolution), and Tina/Valerie (from Detroit Evolution)

Headcannons I especially like are: Kamski and Gavin are half brothers. Fowler was a father figure to Gavin. Tina, Chris and Gavin are best friends. Gavin is a cat person. Hank is pan and a transman. Gavin is pan and somewhere on the ace spectrum, though not sex repulsed. Tina is a lesbian. Chris is bi and demiromantic. Chris and Gavin hate horror movies, but love horror games. Tina loves horror movies, but hates horror games with the exception of Deadspace 1 and 2.

Chris makes DnD miniatures. Tina rolls a Tiefling or Orc in any DnD campaign without exception. Gavin will never admit to enjoying the game, but he ‘begrudgingly’ plays if asked and usually rolls a bard or warrior.

Gavin, Chris and Tina are some of the only people who can interpret what Hank and Fowler are saying when they start talking in memes. Though there’s a few that confuse even them. Gavin at one point had a crush on Hank, but never pursued it for a variety of reasons. Hank does make amends with his ex-wife, but they never get back together. They love each other, but they’re not in love anymore. They’re happy though and friends. Hanks ex gets along well with Connor, Tina and Chris. She does not get along with Gavin or RK900. It’s basically just a sarcastic verbal battle if they’re ever near each other.

Personal thoughts: AMANDA DESERVED BETTER AND A REDEMPTION ARC! It’s not her fault Kamski chose to use her likeness for Cyberlife’s AI. ;__; She’s not a bad person. Let her have her own android body! Her and Hank are both millennials. There’s so much potential for them to bond, and also Amanda to take over Cyberlife since she was a huge part of why it even exists. She could turn it into something incredible for androids and just...I have a lot of feelings, but big ones are simply Amanda deserved better and I refuse to hate her.

Favorite tropes/stories: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Mystery, Horror, Angst with a Happy Ending, uhhh...lots of others I just can’t remember the tags at the moment.

Anyway this is just some stuff about the fandom. I wanted to say hi, you all seem super sweet and fun, and I’d love to talk to more people. ^^

#DBH #Detroit Become Human #dbh fandom #reed900 #hankcon #Hank Anderson #Gavin Reed #dbh connor #RK900 #headcannons #hello

[luxurypackaging9]

Innovative Luxury Packaging Design Agency

It focuses on its set of target audience depending upon its necessities and feelings. Here merchandise don’t should put efforts to get seen whereas the best set of the audience attracts in the direction of the product. Immersion–we immerse ourselves in your business to fully perceive your strategy. We design every brand round its distinct personality traits, rooting it to a singular positioning. ARC Worldwide are the great brand activation arm of Leo Burnett and have received a number of John Caples Awards, Campaign Big Award, IPM Awards, MAA Best Awards and DMA Awards within the last yr alone.

Primarily specializing in client services, Identica is trusted by shoppers to tell stories about their brands using their experience in model identity, pack design, branded setting retail communications, naming, and model activation. When speaking to an audience, marketers should be conscious that their audience not only understands but craves more data and emotional connections to purchases. For subtle clienteles, true luxurious has less to do with worth, however quite the product’s worth, mission, and quality. Therefore, a luxury packaging design agency is a great funding for your corporation to help you undertake a direct, in-depth, and curated type of communication in your model. Massive portfolio with pretty portfolio pieces include Vimto, Diageo, Buxton Water, Unilever and Nestlé.

A one-stop-shop for all your marketing and design wants might be very beneficial for your small business. You get to work with teams that perceive your brand, offering companies that assist you to obtain goals in a single cohesive effort. The newest research from the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs reveals that 63% of businesses don’t have a documented content marketing strategy. Just like a person, a model could be socially awkward and ship confusing messages — one thing nobody needs from their business. Content advertising consultants can help you employ this missed promoting alternative to get ahead of the competition. We wrap up by checking whether agencies implement packaging design strategies with security, functionality, convenience, protection, beauty branding recognition, communication, budget, and ROI in mind.

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We like to begin each project with a minimal of a certain amount of time getting to grasp the scenario. This would require getting to understand the demographic, the channels, brand structure and product range, geographic reach and more. Today in 2020, buying is all concerning the experience, and the journey one goes throughout the entire course of. Luxury packaging design isn't just about money however to create a memorable expertise in each step.

With that in thoughts, we tracked top packaging design firms that, in addition to packaging design, offer net design and improvement services. We choose companies that may create outstanding digital experiences using a wealthy assortment of visual elements that portray the brand identity in the very best means. The packaging design studio should use the info and insights for a inventive search to discover the identification and style course of the brand.

We partner with shoppers at every step to make sure we design collateral and packaging to match the characteristics of your products. Our staff can be based in your office, working hand-in-hand with you to further improve the partnership. 1HQ was in at 15th place in the Design Week Top a hundred again in 2010 with 2 top 5 finishes in both the packaging and product design sections. But what's most essential within the award stakes are the truth that within the Drum Client Poll 2013, SomeOne were voted the No1 design company by their peers within the UK design business. I think Dew Gibbons and his mates have been on the wacky backy when they came up with their new model name ‘Free the Brids’, read the story and it’s quiet a tenuous link to say the least. Some of their clients, such as Boots, Boehringer Ingelheim and P&G, have been with them since they began as an company, which says so much.

The companies’ case studies let us study their work in motion, with real shoppers. We verify how the agency approached and solved a specific problem; from technique and recommended options to the implementation course of, and establish the components that led to success or failure. We use multiple qualitative and quantitative factors in our analysis process to rank the companies. We check each firm’s scope of providers, depth of experience, creative expertise, the professionals concerned in it, and, most importantly, the power to craft a strategic and visually-pleasing bundle that sells.

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Since 1995, we've produced award profitable packaging designs and have established a powerful popularity for inventive excellence and the business impression of our work. Our specific experience in meals packaging design has allowed us to become certainly one of Ireland's main food packaging design specialists. We focus on providing revolutionary packaging design options having immediate artistic influence whereas remaining useful and cost efficient.

We have developed high-standard ranking standards for advertising corporations that came in helpful when choosing the right names in artistic packaging design that double as successful, full-service advertising businesses. This established packaging design company counts major brands like Rhed’s among their clients. Based in London, The Packaging Boxes brings a brilliant and impactful strategy to every distinctive enterprise project they take on. SO help luxurious and aspirational brands look better, sound higher and think better.We love what we do and are fortunate enough to have labored with a wonderfully various vary of past and present shoppers.

The packaging design companies that totally fulfill our criteria and present excellent ranges of creativity get a boost in our rankings. To remain aggressive, brands must spend money on advertising and artistic efforts, with companies preferring agencies that supply a full scope of providers in addition to packaging design. We additional analyze the companies' portfolios to find whether they have a proven track record of helping purchasers drive gross sales. We take the time to check their purchasers' efficiency before and after hiring a particular packaging design company.

We end by checking the bundle designers’ narrative expertise in phrases of visible graphics and slogans. Those might help the package deliver an enticing story, inspiring consumers to take motion. For example, Brandality completely revamped and packaged the Number 1 well being drink by creating a fresh design for the cans. The new, eye-catching design created better awareness of the drink’s health benefits, highlighting the inclusion of energy-enhancing ginseng, B-vitamins and biotin. Working with licensed brands from Marvel, Spider Man and Avengers, influential Design created absolutely permitted market prepared ranges for lunchbags and tablewears for children.

The data-led report predicts picture, video and music kinds set to dominate advertising campaigns, which could also affect packaging designs. Brand design company JDO is holding its annual competition to encourage and establish emerging design expertise. If you have a project in thoughts, don’t be shy, we’re on hand to talk via your necessities and would love to have you ever and your brand on board. We can help you convey your values to the fore, and form a cohesive brand identity you can be happy with. We offer all of the greatest bits of a artistic company with none of the nonsense.

We are simply showcasing the data for design inspiration and creativity. The colors used in the premium or elite packaging aren't brilliant; as a substitute, they are from matt finish to metallic and glitter shades. Pearlescent coating raised UV coating, metallic sheens and gentle contact are some of the commonplace luxury effects mixed with a singular structure.

We evaluate these companies intimately against our criteria for graphic design firms to make sure only the most effective safe a spot on our record. What matters most to us is whether or not or not the companies have diverse in-house teams that supply versatile and in-depth expertise. We interview staff members, ask for measurable results from previous initiatives, and evaluate their expertise first-hand. Underneath one of the best packaging design lies intelligently applied creativity. Teams that method technique and design processes with outstanding creativity rank on prime of our list. We check the agencies’ trade and shopper focus to make it easier for you to filter the choices that suit your wants.

Oh and earlier than my reminiscence slides away, they were additionally named 'Design Team Of the Year' on the 2011 UK Packaging Awards & 'Design Company Of The Year' on the prestigious UK Packaging Awards in 2009. This listing of really helpful packaging design & branding agencies pack a huge quantity of inventive punch between them, the tally was conceived and composed to showcase the best of talent within the UK. All entries are alphabetically listed and not ranked in anyway towards each other. Jewellery branding, packaging design and website company Grain Creative counts among its purchasers Damiani, Bliss, Devotion, Richemont, Gucci, Forevermark, Avakian, Spence Diamonds, Savage and Rose and Amanda Wakeley. We go beyond pretty photos, creating jewelry model identities from scratch in addition to refreshing historical names in jewelry. Firms ought to be capable of elevate consumer’s expertise past the mere utility of a services or products.

Companies looking for a package design companion should seek the advice of firms that also have capabilities in product design and branding. P&W is a London-based inventive design consultancy with 30-years of expertise serving to manufacturers by way of the business jungle by delivering intelligently crafted design solutions. An in-depth understanding of retail environments is what differentiates P&W. We at all times contemplate brands in context, excited about the broader market, store setting and buyer expertise. This has resulted in 100+ international design and marketing awards, proving our design solutions meet commercial objectives.

Agencies should worth transparency, and supply purchasers with reviews on agreed-upon intervals. Whether it’s a conference call, in-person assembly, or written temporary, companies should update customers in regards to the results and may optimize further efforts, primarily based on these outcomes and suggestions. Packaging design firms with versatile expertise in branding, marketing, and design get a rating boost.

Design studio Marmalade on Toast has lately rebranded as Thursday, following a successful period of growth. Creative company STORMBRANDS has hired a model new inventive director of communications. By submitting this type, you acknowledge that the knowledge you provide will be transferred to MailChimp for processing in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms. Premium packaging not only will increase the perceived worth but additionally turns into an unforgettable unboxing expertise.

And of course there are private label brands, excessive avenue retail brands, begin ups, native, forecourt manufacturers, the record is countless and the necessities for information vast. However, getting the experience and model proper means the difference between success and failure. The best method to put luxury into your packaging is to assume about it as a compelling mission. One of the most important differentiators between commonplace and luxurious packaging is the diploma of interplay required. Hence ensure your packaging is distinct and inventive when your model is elite.

[thefiveavengers]

jester and sexuality/romantic inclinations

so, this is my last day of summer break (actually the day before last, but tomorow is monday) and I decided to put into words what my thoughts about this dicey, dicey subject are. First, these are solely my opinons based on 1) watching the second campaign, 2)watching talks machina and the meta knowledge that comes with that and 3) assuming the players are playing in good faith and are open minded to organic changes that might come to their characters along the way.

and second, I do have my biases, and I come from the following inclinations: I ship lavorregard, and I don’t believe Jester is straight.

That said let’s begin. I’ve written a far amount about the lavorregard ship, but mostly focused on Beau’s feelings and her perspective. Right before the ep that Beau reveals the crush to Nott I wrote the following: “ If I were to put a chronology on Beau’s feelings for Jester it would go something like that: 1)“This girl is cute and somehow I like her way more than I usually like, well, anybody” 2) “This girl is cute and we are… friends???” 3) “This girl is cute, we are friends and I love her” 4) “We are friends, I love her AND I think she is hot” 5) “This girl is hot, I love her and maybe I love her as more than friends?”

But last ep I think it shifted to, “I’m definetely into Jester as more than friends and she’s never been hotter AND I think I’m getting to a point where I’m ready to actually process my feelings regarding that and be open about it.”

And lo and behold, the very next ep we saw Beau actually processing her feelings when talking to Nott. But what about Jester?  

         I’ve seen some people express the idea that “wouldn’t it be galaxy brain if all three cr ladies had independently decided when creating their characters that they are lesbians?” and honestly, while a cute thought, I don’t think that’s what’s happening. In my opinion what happened was, Marisha created Beau as a lesbian and she made sure to make that clear as possible from the get go, and one of the reasons I think she did that is because she entered the campaign looking to avoid a pc/pc romance, since the one she was in in cr1 took such a toll on her. She probably figured it would be a safe bet, playing a lesbian she would shield herself from the male characters and most likely the other female characters would not be interested in Beau, right?

      Enter Ashley Johnson. Honestly I don’t think Ashley had such a clear idea that Yasha was (or is) a lesbian. She had a wife, and from what has been said in canon Zualla was her only romantic and sexual relationship. Now, from what we’ve seen Yasha hasn’t expressed any interest in men, but to be fair she hasn’t really expressed interest in much anybody. She called Jester adorable in the very first ep and she seems to be fond of Beau’s flirtations even if not directly responding to them. The conversation where Yasha has said that she has “seen {Beau} a lot” coupled with one of the songs in Yasha’s playlist has me convinced that Yasha has some kind of feelings for Beau, even if is just a small crush. And I say this as someone who doesnt ship Beau/Yasha. I don’t think they would make a good match, but that doesn’t mean I’d deny either of them having interest in the other. But that doesn’t mean Yasha is for sure a lesbian who would never engage with a men ever. She seems pretty adamant on not having any romantic connections, so its hard to gauge really where her interests lie. She is for sure though a wlw. 

      Now, when it comes to Jester and Laura Bailey that’s when things get complicated. I would assume that most of us that have considered the possibility of Jester not being straight have read the excellent essay on comphet by tumblr user fuzzy-face ( https://fuzzy-face.tumblr.com/post/185001577009/you-make-your-own-fairytale-jester-comphet ), so I’m not gonna rehash what she’s said already. While I do agree almost wholeheartedly with this post, I’ll say this, I don’t think Laura Bailey when creating Jester set out to tell a story of a wlw learning how to overcome comphet. But (BUT!,!) I also don’t think her idea was Jester is totally straight and that’s that! I think she created Jester as a sexually and romantically inexperienced young woman that almost immediately got a crush on Fjord because, among other reasons, he reminded her of a hero from her smut books. 

       Recently, with the new upload of talks to the CR youtube channel, I rewatched this talks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZqJzNj_1tI , which is about the ep a Hole in the Plan, deep into the pirate arc, but before the first big Beau/Jester moment, the conversation they had in the boat on ep 46. First I must express my annoyance  at the fact that Laura and Marisha are the guests and yet at least 80% of the questions are about Fjord. I know it was in his arc, but COME ON! Also I was very surprised by how open they are talking about Fjord/Jester as if it were a done deal alaready. When anyone involved in Talks claim that they don’t do shipping questions, you should show them this ep because it is all about shipping questions. Anyways, Laura clearly states that Jester has a crush on Fjord (at the time at least) and she compares it to a super intense high school crush. So to me there is no refuting the fact that at least at some point Jester had a crush on Fjord. 

    What I do find it interesting is when you compare her answers in that talks to what she said in the most recent talks she’s participated  ( https://youtu.be/_NmZ2b_Q3So ) which seem to at least indicate that Jester has, on a level or another, moved on from said crush. It’s also, the now infamous moment where Laura talks about Jester’s crush...es. We’ll get back to that.

     That’s all good and dandy, but this is meta outside the game. Let’s go analyze actual in-game developments. As far as I can remember (and I’m not an expert in Fjord/Jester, so I might be forgetting something) these are the moments Jester spoke directly or inderectly about her crush on Fjord; when Caleb point blank asked her if she was sweet on him (to which she answered “I don’t know” and let’s keep that in mind); when she talked to nott about first kisses and the best thing she can say about it is that it didnt make her feel dead, and to me the most significant moment; when she asks the traveler  how to make a boy like her. Now, I’ve seen some people band about this as irrefutable proof that Jester IS straight, otherwise she wouldnt be asking the traveler advice about boys, but in this case she wasn’t talking about boys in general, she was talking about ONE boy and that was Fjord. 

      And that’s the crux of the matter isn’t it? Jester has demonstrated sexual/romantic interest in one man and one man alone, and that’s fjord. That does not mean she is straight. It doesn’t even mean that she, if a wlw, is bi. Her crush on Fjord has been wrapped around in all these expectations and I think its hard to parse how much was just projecting, among other things, the romance her parents had. Also, let me comment on how all these developments were long ago, during the pirate arc, over one year ago in real time.

     Jester has commented about Fjord’s appearance and Caleb’s and even pointed out to Reani that hot boi Essek was hot, but its all done very matter-of-factly. And if we are going to talk about Jester commenting on people’s apperances we have to acknowledge how Jester cannot SHUT UP about how she finds women beautiful. From Beau to Nott, from Reani to random shop girl in Uthodurn and her obssession with the Bright Queen in particular its all very in your face. Once someone wanted to argue with me that this is just how straight girls air their insecurities, and even if that’s true and not just misogyny, the only time Jester commented on a woman’s apperance with any kind of insecure note was one time when she compared herself to her mother.  

     Look, the thing is, if we take at face value every comment Jester has made about Fjord’s looks and strenght, we also have to take at face value how distraught she looked and sounded facing the idea that Beau’s new vestiments wouldn’t let her abs show. Is it funny? Yes, but it’s funny for the idea that Jester is very appreciative of Beau’s abs, which, I’m still waiting for the straight explanation if anyone if willing to give me. 

     To end, this goddamned book that I’ve started, the thing that gives me the most certainty that Jester is not straight and that a Beau/Jester romance is not only possible but likely is that I do not believe Laura Bailey is cruel. If she had no interest in exploring the possibility of a not-straight Jester and a B/J romance she wouldn’t been doing what she has been doing for awhile now.

     And what do I mean about that? I mean that even before Beau’s confession there’s been a different dynamic to their relationship. I already mentioned the “but can I see her abs????” incident, but also her encouragement about beau’s qualities and abilities (beau, you’re super strong), using the traveler as a proxy to her feelings (the traveler thinks you’ll do great, the traveler thinks you’re awesome, the traveler loves you), waiting to hold beau when she went up a column and showing disapointment when she didnt fell into her arms, listening to Beau regarding her wanting to confront her dad, being super, and I mean SUPER bummed out when Beau and Reani kissed and took a walk. And after the confession things ramped up.

   Like, that was Laura Bailey listening to the conversation between Nott and Beau, not Jester. She could have had continued to play out their friendship as usual, but that’s not what she did. She used this opportunity to play the romantic possibility as never before. Making sure that Jester shielded Beau’s body in combat, being VERY specific that when her double cured her, she leaned over her body and put her hands to her face and even contradicting Matt, pointing out that when she woke up, it wasn’t the laughing hand that she first saw, but Jester’s face. And then there’s ep 89, the juiciest lavorregard ep since ep 46. It’s romantic comedy set up, one character confesses their love to a third one, and the one character who is the target of that love starts a conversation with “Are you avoiding me? Because I think I know why.” That’s a romantic trope ladies and gents, and Laura Bailey the genius she is played it to perfection. Not being sure why she was so upset about not curing Beau (a sentiment that battle mercy Jester has never expressed before). Wanting to punish Beau’s dad for not treating her right, getting to an agreement after arguing about tarot and molly. Afterwards engaging Fjord in an activity that she usually associates with beau, that goes disastrously and thanks to the dice gods, I could see, in real time the comphet melting away.

And concluding with the fact that she bet 20 extra gold on Beau on the down low.

So coming back to the idea of Jester having crush...es, to me is very clear those crushes are, the one she has/had on Fjord and her new emerging one on Beau. do I think Jester herself is aware of these feelings? Not really, but Laura sure is.

     look this is not about being entitled or acusing anyone of queerbaiting if my ship doesnt pan out. its just, you know, laura’s sister is a lesbian, and I do think that gives people some perspective that they might not have, and I genuinely don’t think she would be playing things as she is, if she didn’t have any interest in playing out to the end.

#critical role #jester #jester lavorre #beaujester #lavorregard #this got super long and took me a few hours #but anyways these are most of my feelings regarding queer jester

[cristinaarce]

LAST UPDATE ON MY START-UP VENTURE (at least here in Tumblr)

Well, this is the final report and after many ups and downs, I am pleased with how everything has turned out at the end.  

... But before I go into business, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and appreciation to Amber. Thank you for all the help given the past 14 weeks!  Your guidance and mentorship have been greatly needed and I really appreciate what you have done to support me (and all your students) through the entire class.  Thank you for not only sharing the theory but for the encouragement to actually become entrepreneurs.  Thank you for setting up the bar high because of this we were able to build a new business from the ground up and become small business owners. Thank you Amber!  :)

Ok, as part of the last update, I just want to share a summary of the journey of this start-up venture.

AN IDEA THAT BECAME A REALITY...

Everything started with a very personal problem.  As a petite woman who is curvy, I find it difficult to find clothing that actually fits my body shape.  And that’s where the idea of starting an online store for petite women came from.

ARTISTIK is a fashion brand for petite women. An online retail store focused on styles and designs for petite women. ARTISTIK offers a variety in clothing that will actually fit and flatter the small figure. There is a common misunderstanding that petite means small all over. However, petite women vary in heights, body shapes, and sizes, including plus-size.  No matter her curves, a woman who’s under 5 foot 4 inches in height is considered petite.  ARTISTIK is an online retail store focused on styles and designs that will make the petite woman feel confident, without drowning in extra fabric.

WHAT DOES MAKE ARTISTIK’ BRAND DIFFERENT?

ARTISTIK’s collections are exclusively designed with the petite woman in mind.  I have created exclusive prints and patterns to make the small frame look longer.  ARTISTIK represents a fusion of fashion and art, with contemporary designs merging illustrations, original photographs, and designs, all created by me, Cristina Arce.  I am a fashion photographer, a graphic designer, an artist, and most importantly, a curvy petite woman myself.

(Although the pieces are designed with the petite woman in mind, they can also we worn by any height woman).

BODY POSITIVITY

My focus is to design clothes that are comfortable and chic, allowing women to carry out their daily routine with confidence and ease. It’s super important for me to promote a healthy body image.  I do not digitally reshape or alter the model’s appearance – this is a very common practice done by many big retail brands.

SUSTAINABILITY

The clothing industry (Fast Fashion Industry) is the third largest polluter of our Earth.  Because of this, ARTISTIK does it differently.

ARTISTIK is a slow fashion store using a made-to-order business model.  This allows me to operate in a safe ethical manner with minimal environmental impact.  ARTISTIK only sells online and on demand so that we don't waste unnecessary raw materials and thus keep the Earth a little cleaner.  I want to be remembered for the quality of products I deliver, not the waste ARTISTIK leaves behind.  This way ARTISTIK prevents overproduction, and therefore unnecessary waste.

BIG SUCCESSES THROUGH THE COURSE

During this journey I have had many successes (and also many failures, but let’s focus only in the successes), and I would like to share some of them:

Success 1.  Going from just an idea to the entire creation of the business. Success 2.   Feels great to have done the market research, identity market gaps, and doing surveys to ensure me that the idea was feasible and accepted by the potential buyers. Success 3.  Developing concepts for products, creation of prototypes and designs for products.  This was something totally new to me and I have never done anything similar, and it was a good experience to go through the entire creative process. Success 4.  Applying all my knowledge of Design Thinking, User Optimization, and E-commerce creation into the store. Success 5.  Doing the extensive research of Canadian, American, and international suppliers, contact them, define processes was not fun (lol).  It was a hard process to find a supplier specially during the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was very rewarding to finally find one that I am happy with and its products are all made with eco-friendly materials!!!  (which it was very important to me). Success 6.  Finding not only a beautiful packaging but it is made 100% from recycled materials. The Branding and packing I have created for the store its just gorgeous!

In addition to the multiple tasks that I have successfully accomplished as part of the course, and also as part of the business plan for ARTISTIK.   Some of these tasks are:

- Created a “start-up”, “launching”, and first 6 months budget - I did the banking, financial planning, and monitor of funds through all the start-up months - Creation of a SEO strategy, Landing Pages, and AB Testing for the E-commerce store - Develop pricing strategies to maximum profit - Planning of marketing campaigns around build brand awareness - Professional photographs of the product for the E-commerce and for social media

And everything related to the creation and design of the E-commerce store that I have done all by myself.

(And many many more!)

AND NOW... ARE YOU READY FOR THE BEST NEWS?!

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR AND PLANNERS!

ARTISTIK STORE is ready and I am having the LAUNCH set up for August 18th at 10am EDT!!!

Yes!  The Launch date is just right around the corner, and I am so excited for all the things I have planned for that week.

The store is launching with TWO Collections, and a current line of sixteen (16) totally different products.  

- Seven (7) different styles of dresses, including two (2) styles for plus size petite women - Two (2) styles of hoodies, two (2) styles of sweatshirts, and one (1) of a windbreaker jacket - Two (2) styles of T-shirts and two (2) styles of tanks

Each style has different designs for the customers to choose their favourite.

 https://artistikstore.com/

Did someone ask for a sneak peek? ;)  

These are just some details of the pages from the E-commerce that I have been creating, designing, and programming these past weeks:

I think sneak peeks are so exciting but make me more impatient at the same time lol I cannot wait.  

Join me for the full Launch Date on August 18th at 10am EDT!

If anyone wants to give me a follow, it would be so awesome! :)

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/artistikstore/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/artistikstore

Or go to ARTISTIK’s website:

This is the link:   https://artistikstore.com/

Thanks for reading my updates during these weeks, and I hope to see you at the store. ;)