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verobatto · 4 years

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Destiel Chronicles

Vol. LXIX

It was a love story from the very beginning.

I Want You Back (Part II)

(11x16b/11x17)

Hello there! Finally finishing the second part of this meta.

It will focus on the parallel between the entity from the 'Safe House' episode and Amara it’s suggesting. Afterwards we will talk about one of the episodes that were discussed more controversially among us Destiel shippers, I'm talking about 'Red Meat', and I will show you step by step that it is, indeed, a very Destiel one.

Thanks to @destielle for beta-ing this one! She's amazing. Thank you girl! 😘💝

Soul Eater

Let's talk about that haunting parallel I just mentioned.

If you check episode 11x16, there is this entity from that house that ate souls.

RUFUS: A Soul Eater? What the hell is that?

BOBBY: Undead creature that feeds on souls. Hence the name. They exist in a place between our world and… another. Soul Eater moves into a house, and once it does, it makes what the lore refers to as a ‘nest’.

RUFUS: A place that exists outside of time and space.

SAM:The nest looks and feels like whatever house the Soul Eater is in.

The creature created a fake house, like a reflection in the mirror. It’s a fake home in which the entity shows people the souls of the ones they love in different and terrible situations (dead) to keep them under it's dominium. From the moment the seal was broken, the creature attacked again.

SAM: Apparently, the nest messes with their victim's head, shows them things they love, parts of their soul in distress, it keeps the victim's soul vulnerable.

So we have a broken seal, a powerful creature eating souls, a fake reality to keep them dominated, right?

And Bobby saying that he could feel the evil in that dimension…

I think we have the perfect description of Amara here, Dean and Sam broke the sigil, Cain's Mark, and she was released, she eats souls, just like the Soul Eater, creating a fake happiness/reality to dominate the victims/Dean.

Again the writers are showing us that Amara is evil, her dominance over Dean is established through fear.

I think it’s vital to mention that between all the books Rufus and Bobby were reading, there was one with the title "Fallen Angel", it make us recall Castiel and Lucifer with the particularity that they're sharing vessels at that moment. Two fallen angels: one fell due to love and the other due to hate.

Another interesting visual narrative that acted as a foreshadowing, was the soul eater placing a hand on Dean's chest in the same way Rowena will place her hand on him in the last episode of the season where he’ll become a soul bomb.

And now, pay close attention to the following scene, because it’s connected to the next episode (Red Meat).

RUFUS: What'd you see, Bobby?

BOBBY: My boys. Both of 'em. Both of 'em dead. And I saw… well I don't know what the hell I saw.

And…

SAM: Hey, you said the Soul Eater made you see things. Plural. So… what else did you see?

DEAN: I saw you. Dead on the floor.

This was a foreshadowing of Sam laying dead on the floor (well he won’t die, but almost) in the next episode. But it’s A BLATANT MIRROR. BOBBY SEEING HIS SONS DEAD ON THE FLOOR. AND IT’S REFLECTING PURELY FAMILIAL LOVE. A father and his two children who are brothers.

FAMILY LOVE, there's no hint of ROMANTIC LOVE in here, no Wincest! Bobby was actively chosen to pose as the mirror. The writers easily could have used a couple with the husband seeing his wife laying dead on the floor, right? But it was BOBBY who saw his boys on the floor, just like Dean saw his brother. It’s about Family!

Sorry I'm a little bossy here, but I need you to understand this point before jumping to the next one.

Using Logic

Let's analyze episode 11x17 with logical facts…

The mentioning of Castiel at the beginning of the episode is there to remind us that Dean is feeling miserable because they couldn't rescue him yet. And he is not sleeping because of that. Sam is trying to comfort him by saying that they’ll get him back.

The episode introduced Corbin and Michelle, a newly-wed couple very much in love.

Corbin would do anything to protect Michelle (Dean mirror) and he is the one becoming a monster (werewolf), so he’s acting as our Castiel's mirror here.

Sam gets shot, and he has a very bad wound. We have Corbin trying to kill him, because he would do anything to save Michelle, even if that implies making a bad decision.

Now, we have Dean thinking his brother is dead. But keep in mind that WHEN HE ENTERS THE ROOM SAM IS ALREADY DEAD (in Dean’s eyes at leat). So DEAN DIDN'T SEE HIS BROTHER DIE. HE FOUND HIM DEAD, LAYING ON THE FLOOR. (First fact).

Then this… he asks Michelle to assist him in his try to contact Death… but … he also says this ..

Dean: Okay. After I do this, go get the doc and tell her to, um... Tell her to bring me back, if she can. If not... no hard feelings, okay?

He is not suicidal here, THIS IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT TO EPISODE 13X05 WHEN HE WANTED TO DIE, NOT WANTING TO LIVE BECAUSE CAS WASN'T ANYMORE. Even knowing Sam was dead, Dean wanted to live. GIVING YOUR LIFE FOR YOUR BROTHER DOESN'T COUNT AS A SUICIDAL THOUGHT, BUT INSTEAD AS SOMETHING ANYONE WOULD DO FOR THEIR BROTHER, especially when that brother is your little brother you raised yourself like a father. (Second Fact).

Dean wants to be alive because he needs to rescue Cas.

Billie: That's what I thought. It's cute, though. You pretending you're trying to save Sam for the greater good, when we both know you're doing it for you. You can't lose him. But even if Sammy could win the title bout... the answer would still be “no.” The answer will always be “no.” Game's over, Dean. No more second chances. No more extra lives. Time to say bye-bye to Luigi, Mario.

This sums up perfectly how Dean feels about Sammy. He raised him, he always took care of him. He can't lose him because all his life revolved around Sam. This is not Wincest, this is solely FAMILY LOVE. Remember what we said about Bobby a little earlier, these were Bobby's feelings too.

I will put here an addition from Destielle, she talked about the well known toxic codependency, and i think is important too:

"Billie basically calls out the toxic codependency between Sam and Dean here. ‘You’re doing it for you’ she deadpans. It’s more about Dean fulfilling the task, or rather duty, John gave him so early on, that it’s part of Dean’s personality. An automatism. He doesn’t want Sam to live because it was Sam’s wish, but because Dean needs Sam to keep things the way they always have been as so not having to deal with himself."

Is interesting because John Winchester heritage to Dean was the GUILT and the FIRST BORN duty, so practically, he keeps reacting and acting like a soldier that needs to protect the little brother and the entire world, I talked so many times in My metas about this toxic heritage and about THE BIG PROTECTOR living inside Dean. Interesting comment my friend! Thank you!

Dean’s spirit [sadness and desperation in his eyes]: I'm asking you... I'm begging you, please. Bring him back. Bring him back and take me instead.

DEAN WINCHESTER WILL ALWAYS GIVE HIS LIFE IN EXCHANGE FOR THE ONES HE LOVES BECAUSE HE IS DEAN WINCHESTER. NOT JUST FOR SAM, BUT FOR THE WORLD, AND CAS.

Billie: I'm not here to bargain with you, kid. I'm here to reap you. And the kicker is... Sam's not dead. [Dean looks stunned] But you are. Or will be, soon enough.

Now… let's go with Michelle and Dean's conversation… the third fact:

Dean: Michelle, this is gonna be very hard. But you will be okay. And, eventually... eventually you'll get back to normal.

Dean is talking from experience. Drawn from every time he lost a friend, a family member (including Sam) which he always affronted in the same way, by hunting, drinking heavily and stuffing bacon in his face. It always was hard at first but got better with time until he got back to normal. He's talking with determination because he lost a lot of beloved people. But … he hasn’t lost the love of his life yet… Michelle did…

Gif set credit @thejabberwock 👇

Michelle [sighing]: No, I won't. They said I could leave... [she sighs] an hour ago. But... where am I even supposed to go? After everything we survived together... [turning back to Dean] I watched the man I love die. There's no normal after that.

This is a rich piece of text over there. First of all, she's convincing Dean she won't be back to normal. Ever. She's the one talking with authority now, because she's talking from her experience of losing the love of her life… 'where am I even supposed to go?' SHE'S LOST, Just as lost as Dean will be for the first 5 episodes from season 13. 'After everything we survived together…' these words are carving deep into Dean's heart, because the man he loves is in danger in the very moment, and I know he's recalling everything they survived together. 'I watched the man I love die, there's no normal after that', Dean's face is priceless here, full of fear, he doesn't want to go through the same Michelle has and had to. He doesn't want to watch Cas die. And I want you to remember the first fact I pointed out, MICHELLE IS SAYING SHE WATCHED CORBIN DIE, not that she found him dead. Okay? So we are not talking about a reference to the death of Sam here. Dean didn't watch him die, he found him dead. And secondly, Dean knows Sam is okay by now, so why would he display a face full of pain and fear? Who's the one in real danger now, possessed by Lucifer? CASTIEL. DEAN DOESN'T WANT TO SEE CASTIEL DIE. HENCE THE TERRIFIED EXPRESSION.

AND THAT'S WHY IN THE NEXT EPISODE HE WILL FIGHT AGAINST RATIO, AGAINST WHAT’S THE LOGICAL THING TO DO, JUST BECAUSE HE DOESN'T WANT TO SEE THE MAN HE LOVES DIE. Sorry for the yelling. But I needed to make things clear.

To Conclude:

The Soul Eater in episode 11x16 is a blatant mirror of Amara. Another way to show us her dominance over Dean is a forced and dark one.

Episode 11x17 must be analyzed with logic. The clues are in the details and related to the previous episode in which Bobby saw Sam and Dean dead. It was purely about FAMILIAL LOVE and it must not be mistaken for something else because that just would be a twisted interpretation.

Dean giving his life in exchange for the one of EVERYONE shouldn't be mistaken for suicidal tendencies, too.

The fact that he wanted to go on with his life EVEN THOUGH BEING CONVINCED SAM IS DEAD is an important difference to how Dean is behaving in 13x05.

We have the foreshadowing for Castiel's death and Mourning!Dean and a prelude to 11x18 where we’ll have a very desperate Dean trying to save his angel.

Hope you liked this one! See you in the next meta!

Tagging @metafest @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @foxyroxe-art @authorsararayne @anonymoustitans @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @wildligia @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-is--endgame @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @tenshilover20 @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @isthisdestiel @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@imjustkipping @destielle @agusvedder @spnsmile @shippsblog @robot-feels @superlock-in-the-tardis

If you want to be added or removed from this list just let me know.

If you want to read the previous metas From s11, her you have the links.

Vol. LXII, XLIII, XLIV, LXV, LXVI, LXVII, LXVIII

Buenos Aires July 7th 2020 5:36 PM

#destiel #destiel chronicles #destiel meta #supernatural meta #season 11 meta #vol XLIX

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bearpillowmonster · 4 years

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Resident Evil 2 Remake Review

NON SPOILER

I've bought Resi 4 on Steam, after the first level of playing it, I realized that it wasn't for me, all the enemies looked the same and it looked repetitive, zombies kept spawning and there was no way to get rid of them all, I ran out of ammo, it was a mess. I knew that the genre did that, I know that that’s the point, but I didn’t like it. Plus, I couldn't even really get the gunplay to work right. I heard that it was at its best on the Gamecube but I haven't given it another shot since then. However I saw that Resi2 got a demo, so I played it when it released and I kind of liked it, I was sold on the game and asked for it for Christmas (or maybe even my birthday, so yeah it’s been a long time but I was busy with other games) Now, the RE3 remake is already out...wow, time to play RE2 then, huh? So, you can consider this my "first" RE game.

Right out of the gate, visuals are stunning, almost needless to say and the level of accuracy is immense. I mean I didn't expect there to be a gas station at the beginning but it even had the lighters and beef jerky towards the front and stuff, they really went all out.

I can't imagine seeing this game when the original came out with PS1 graphics, it's ambitious, this is clearly the way it belongs. I thought a bug flew on screen but then I realized it was in-game, it's immersive, I don't normally read all the little tidbits and notes and stuff but it was generally interesting to read on the lore along with the VHS tapes and get some clues as to what to do next. I tried to play through it as if it were 1998 so I didn't look much up, I usually tried to do it myself with a few small exceptions. I felt accomplished by the end of each session like "Wow, I did that. I'm smart." It's rewarding. Now I played through each campaign so both Leon and Claire (starting with Leon) Claire on the other hand I was more lenient with, I looked up a decent amount because I was already in the station doing the same puzzles as Leon. It makes me wonder how they got the same items story-wise though, I mean we see Leon leaving her notes but you can't blow up the same wall twice in reality, that's nitpicking the game a little bit though. I will say that I felt like it was a wild goose chase when I did look it up because every thing I looked up was giving me different information "The portable safe is in this room." "No it's in this room." "This is the combination for the unicorn statue" "No it isn't, this is." Because it varies when you're playing on standard vs hardcore and whether it's your first or second run. So, I got my punishments for looking it up I guess.

But with that said, I know some of these types of older games have a tendency to make it really confusing and difficult without a guide so I was kind of worried about not knowing what to do or where to go. While I will say I had had to look a few things up, it became cut and dry once I figured out the pattern, most of the things I looked up were things I was going to do anyway but wanted to make sure before I somehow unleashed a hoard of zombies that I certainly didn't want. Same goes for story too, I knew close to nothing about it. But you basically just have to make it to the next area, think of it as that Chowder episode where he loses his hat and Chestnut has it so he has to go around doing odd jobs one by one in order to progress. The overall goal is to get out of the police station and kind of just find a way to survive but you have to focus on the smaller goals / getting to the next room. I looked pretty thoroughly through everything and managed to find everything I needed without even trying or knowing what it was for half the time like "Well this should come in handy later." *puts it in storage chest* Speaking of, I like how each chest is like an Ender Chest and is interchangeable as if it was the same one chest in every location, that makes things much easier rather than some hardcore game of "where did I put my keys?" that I'm not into. But you learn to find your destination a lot easier than I thought. That was always something I hated about Resident Evil games while watching them, that there was a lot of backtracking but actually playing the game hits differently, it's not what I expected, it's actually kind of fun, like I mentioned saying "I know where that is!"

Maybe it's just the setting of a police station that did that for me or maybe seeing speedrunners doing it with the old games and paying no mind made me scared or maybe the fixed camera angle of the old games (so that each side of the room had the clip as if it were just a picture) along with the idea that the originals are dated rather than PS4 but regardless, it's just surprisingly not annoying like I thought.

Games can easily stress me out but I actually found myself cruising and feeling good about it despite all these zombies...then I met Mr. X. He chases you EVERYWHERE throughout the game. Thing of nightmares. I will probably hear footsteps in my sleep now. I knew he was coming but I didn't know his presence wasn't always scripted, it's just a game of cat and mouse...and he's the cat! It gets me paranoid because I'll stop and hear footsteps then stand still for a good 5 minutes and he's still tromping around. I walk down a hall. BOOM! Crashes through the wall, making ME screech. There's no way to get rid of him and it kind of ruins the atmosphere to be honest, I know it's trying to be scary but it's more annoying than scary because every time I move I'm like "Ok stop" and I'll stand around for a minute, checking the map, to check the fastest route to where I need to go, just to make sure and then continue... only to turn the next corner and then repeat. I couldn't even move comfortably anymore, it's space invading. The tension is high because he can come into the main hall which I liked to use to save but alas, I had to memorize where all the other save points were or check the map again.

So, you get to play as Claire, which I like, but with Leon's story it's kind of just like "Well I'm going to do my own thing and if she survives, she survives." I understand each step is essential to progressing and getting closer but for all he knows, she's just out in the rain, waiting for him to unlock the door. And I also know that she said that she can handle herself (before Leon had to point out the zombie behind her! lmao) and he has survival on the forefront of his mind too but still. They flirt every time they're on screen together but the thing is that I love it, I ship it, it's cheesy but I don't care, that’s half of what I’m even here for.

As for the rest of the story, you're telling me that they made not just one movie but a SERIES of movies and it wasn't this?! This is great, this is a master-craft in its work. I'm not a big fan of zombie movies, I'm sure there's one out there that I like but I can't think of any off the top of my head but this? This is it! (Jennifer Lawrence would make a good Claire tbh) Let alone the horror genre in general, I'm not even frightened all that easily, I just think a lot of the plots and decisions are stupid in horror, this goes against all that. Speaking of spooky, I know making the screen brightness balanced is normal for games but I don't think it's mattered more than here, brighten that baby up because sometimes it's pitch black, immersive but still hard to see.

Boss fights are something I didn't think a whole lot about until I actually got to it. Doing the first boss fight with G was really memorable for me because I could cower away all I wanted in that gridded pit of a machine room and just launch grenades at him but it wasn't until the bosses in the sewer that I really started to like it. First was that Crash Bandicoot type running sequence, then we had G-2. I had actually ran out of ammo at that point, I used it all on the sewage monsters (I didn't get the flamethrower, I didn't know how, as I said, I did this more or less blind) so I just kept running, and clicked X every time the option came up, hoping to pick up something good. All I got was a combat knife and a flash grenade, then I started messing with the buttons on the control panel, in hopes of cheesing it and just going to the next section but then I realized what I was actually doing. I was using those buttons to move a crate and using that crate to slam G into a pit. I love the classic boss style, I haven't played a boss like that in a long time. One where it doesn't matter how much ammo you have, but just using the environment to your advantage without it explicitly telling you (except the death screen giving you hints). That was until the later boss fights, you basically just keep unloading your belt until they die, kinda lame but whatever.

This actually made me rethink the genre and also about giving one of the other games a shot (PLEASE REMAKE CODE VERONICA, I BEG!) it might be right time, right place (PS4 with modern graphics and modern gunplay) that made me actually interested. The “true ending” is unlocked by playing through one of the two’s campaign and then playing through the other, which is basically the same game but with different cutscenes and context (some new areas too) so it’s definitely worth it, you could even just speedrun the second run if you’d like, you even unlock a secret boss and for those who have already seen the true ending, know that I liked it based off of what I said earlier, no spoilers.

#re2 #resident evil 2 #remake #review #this game is great #long review #ps4

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stevenuniversallyreviews · 5 years

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Episode 124: Lion 4: Alternate Ending

“Please tell me my destiny.”

We’ve had Ronaldo as a toxic gatekeeping fan intent on harassing the creator. We’ve had Lars as a disappointed fan whom the creator is desperate to impress. We’ve even had Navy as a false fan who’s only interested in robbing the creator’s spaceship (arguably a rarer breed than the first two). So now it’s time for the obsessive clue-hunter, who parses through the creation so deeply that the original meaning gets lost in the shuffle. And this time, our fan stand-in is Steven.

Lion 4: Alternate Ending is an episode about Steven trying to ruin Lion 3: Straight to Video. All the magic from that first glimpse of Rose Quartz threatens to be extinguished through overanalysis, to the point where his discovery of a new tape is met with dread instead of excitement. For all the Steven Universe fans that get frustrated by Steven not being as invested in the lore as they’d like, well, this is what happens when Steven gets as invested in the lore as you’d like.

To be clear, I don’t think Steven succeeds in ruining Lion 3, especially because the conclusion of Lion 4 manages to enhance its predecessor. I also don’t think it’s a bad thing that he tries: it fits his post-Storm in the Room state to tear through whatever evidence he's got to figure out why he was born, and it’s properly painful to see him so desensitized to the wonder of Rose’s tape that he’s reduced it to a possible decoded message. What better way to express how Steven feels than tainting a pivotal moment with his mother?

I’m super into stories where a mystery to the characters isn’t a mystery to the viewer: the core example is Cowboy Bebop episode Speak Like a Child, where our 2070s crew is trying to solve the case of a strange antique object that a 1990s audience already knows is a videotape (although a fifth of the way through the twenty-first century, we’re already getting removed from an era where modern audiences would know what a Betamax is, even as a cultural relic). Because the writers don’t have to try to fool us, we can focus more on how the characters tackle a problem instead of trying to beat them to the punch with our own deduction skills. I wouldn’t call Lion 4 the most concrete example of this sort of story, as it’s not impossible that Rose was leaving encrypted messages behind, but to me at least the “twist” that Rose’s tape wasn’t part of some dubious master plan is obvious enough that I can just enjoy the ride.

“Enjoy” is perhaps the wrong word, because while this is an excellent episode, it’s not a fun one. There are comedic moments, because this is still Steven Universe, but watching a kid at the end of his rope struggling to understand his place in the world is bound to be harrowing stuff. Steven’s determination is compounded by his solitude: the Crystal Gems are pointedly absent, as the last time he asked them for answers his dad got abducted to a space zoo and it’s easy to confuse correlation with causation. So it’s just Steven and Lion for most of the episode, and it’s telling that Lion answers Steven’s final cry for help by bringing him to see his dad. Some things can only be fixed by talking, and for all his strengths, Lion isn’t a great conversationalist.

Before we get to Greg, this Steven/Lion solo outing uses constant activity to sidestep the dullness factor that bogged down Steven’s Lion. After a strong first impression of Steven’s mental state as he scours Rose’s tape for clues, going so far as to try to find meanings in anagrams, Lion revs up the plot by retching up a giant key. I love that Steven’s first thought is the same as mine, and likely yours: the chest in Lion’s mane that we first saw in Lion 3, which unlike Bismuth remained a mystery (and it still is, because we never saw what Steven found in there between Change Your Mind and the movie). Even though the key is comically oversized, Steven ignores the obvious and keeps trying to make it fit. So right off the bat, we get two little stories about Steven looking for answers where there clearly aren’t any and doubling down despite the futility out of sheer desperation for the truth.

From here we get a montage of past locations a la Marble Madness and Warp Tour, accompanied by a gorgeous medley of location themes from Aivi and Surasshu; I will never not complain that we don’t get to have an album of their scoring, because this episode’s soundtrack is one of their best. Visiting the Armory harks back to Lion 2 as the tape did for Lion 3, and we also get a glimpse of Rose’s Fountain and Rose’s Room to continue our references to the many known areas tied to Steven’s mom. When nothing works, Steven pleads with Lion for more information, aware by now that the cat has some answers.

While I’m not huge on Steven’s Lion as an episode due to the aforementioned dull pace, it’s awesome to see our heroes return to where Lion was first found. Buddy’s Book already did a great job of reminding us of Lion’s desert home, but now it’s time to finally investigate the area further.

Jesse Zuke and Raven Molisee paired up for our last episode, leaving their usual respective partners Hilary Florido and Paul Villeco at bat for Lion 4. The ragtag team has so far given us rich visuals, with a particularly expressive Steven and Lion (crucial for the non-talking member of the duo) and a callback to the lovely settings of the past, but every aesthetic choice they make is topped by the desert run. It’s a beautiful shot, evoking the iconic ocean run of Lion 2, but Steven’s exhaustion (aided by Zach Callison’s beleaguered performance as he narrates his thoughts) tinges the scene with melancholy where there was once only magic. Steven’s desperation is no longer the frenzied need from when Greg was kidnapped, or even from the beginning of this very episode, but has been worn down to a weary determination that just breaks your heart. This is Charlie Brown after a yanked football too many; he hasn’t been thrown a single bone in his search for answers, and this might be his last chance.

I try not to include too many images in these reviews, because they can mess with the flow of the text, but screw it this shot is also amazing:

The pyramid-like structures leading to the locked door are the first we see of a new hidden getaway, and retrospect makes Steven’s plight even worse: as we learn in Legs From Here to Homeworld, all he had to do was touch one of them to get a major hint about Rose’s true identity.

It wouldn’t have solved everything, as Garnet would likely assume they were spoils of war, Amethyst wouldn’t recognize them, and Pearl would keep her mouth shut. And it would’ve ruined the pacing of the mystery for such a strange hint to be presented, so from a storytelling perspective it makes total sense to keep this in the backburner. And it’s not like it’s that weird that Steven doesn’t feel compelled to touch what seems to be a couple of statues when he’s spent the whole episode looking for a lock and it’s right in front of him and he just survived hours of desert travel. But knowing what we know now adds to the drama of how close our hero is to the truth he deserves.

In yet another bummer, Rose’s hidden landfill is worn down to the point where most of the walls had collapsed, meaning Steven didn’t even need the key. Which isn’t to say the key wasn’t important, as it prompts his trip in the first place, but it’s just one more way that the universe seems to be throwing unnecessary hurdles at him. In the same vein, Lion not only could’ve warped him to the destination as he mentions, but he could’ve done so without hacking up the key in the first place. But we’re long past the point where we should expect straight answers from Lion, so I forgive the big lug.

The first thing that came to my mind when Steven saw the dump wasn’t Amethyst’s room, although there are obvious similarities. It was Greg’s storage locker, the place where we first talked about Rose all the way back in Laser Light Cannon, the place where Greg expressed confusion about why a magic woman fell for a regular guy like him. And as frustrated as Steven is, this room is a wonderful unspoken answer to that distant question: among Rose’s many imperfections was that, like Greg, she was kind of a slob. It’s so nice to have a mundane flaw after nearly a full season of focusing on her as a liar and murderer, especially a flaw that reminds us of why she and Greg were so great for each other.

But yeah, Steven isn’t interested in subtext, and his tantrum is both realistic and reasonable. He finds the tape for Nora by accident, right after kicking some garbage in anger, and this is where that Speak Like a Child oomph comes in. It’s crystal clear that the tape was a backup in case Steven was a girl, but he’s so primed for lies and complications that the obvious answer eludes him and he suspects the worst. I honestly can’t blame him. If you learned out of nowhere that your mom killed someone, who’s to say you don’t have secret siblings?

The contrast between harsh desert and soothing sunset is another treat for the eyes, readying is for a cooldown after two distressing acts. Greg’s excitement over seeing the old tape blinds him to Steven’s angst in a way that adds honest tension to the exchange, because he’s trying to give Steven a fun treat but has no idea how much anguish his son has been through to get to this point. To Greg, telling Steven the answers outright would be ruining the moment, but the wait is already killing the kid. In an episode without an external villain it’s such a clever way to present a final “confrontation” to overcome.

When we finally see the tape, it becomes even more apparent that it was a backup for a hypothetical daughter. Still, I love how the strange new version of a video we know and love is only half-seen, as we focus so much on Steven’s reaction at the expense of footage. Where he was once gazing at the marvels of a new glimpse of his mother, his eyes are now furrowed in frustrated concentration. As in Lion 3, he has a viewing partner, and Greg’s welling tears mirror those of Steven and Sadie from the first tape, highlighting that the Steven of the present isn’t feeling an ounce of tenderness.

Tears do come for Steven, but in the form of anxious release. When he’s told that he’s Nora, meaning he’s the person the tape was intended for, Steven still doesn’t get it and exclaims that he’s his mom and his sister; it’s sort of a joke, but boy is it rough to hear him slip that in some way he does see himself as his mom rather than his own person. So thank goodness he’s saying this stuff to Greg, who’s calm at first but leaps to the occasion when Steven frantically asks why he exists.

As is standard by now, Greg's got fatherhood down cold. He adjusts his tone to show he’s taking Steven seriously, but rather than jump in he sits his son down and lets him talk. He addresses Steven’s concerns gently but firmly, leaving no room for doubt that he’s loved and appreciated no matter what. He brings himself into the conversation by saying he changed his name, doing so not to turn the topic to himself but to reassure Steven that it’s okay to not be stuck on one identity. And just look at how perfectly our three main characters exist in the shot during this last talk:

Steven gets those happy post-tape tears after viewing the last part of the video, and our happy ending is earned, but it’s not a full victory. Rose still had issues, but at least Steven has gained some confidence back that she wasn’t all bad. He’ll go back and forth on how much guilt he feels for her actions, but at the very least he knows now that his decisions to try and atone for her mistakes are his to make, and not a mandate from a dead parent looking for an escape route.

Whiiiiiiich means that now he’s able to try and feign a sense of control over helpless situations by assigning blame to himself in new, exciting ways. Hey, it’s not like the show could’ve solved all his problems less than halfway through Act III of the series. Lion 4 thus doesn’t have the conclusive oomph of Lion 3, which closed a trilogy of Lion Episodes as well as the stage of the show where Rose was a well-realized but distant idea more than a full character. For all its strengths, Lion 4 feels much more like Just Another Episode. But that’s okay. It doesn’t owe the past a thing.

Future Vision!

Again, those pyramids return in a major way, because they’re not pyramids.

Greg talks about Garnet’s inability to predict things about Steven, which is an element of their relationship throughout the show but gets major focus soon in Pool Hopping.

Escapism blends the two big Lion Runs by setting it back on the ocean, but making the passenger an exhausted Steven facing one last ordeal before relief in the form of his dad with a guitar.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

It doesn’t make the top twenty, it does make the top twenty-five. Just like Bismuth right before our hundredth episode, this doesn’t mean much now, but it will next time, because I’m expanding again to a Top Twenty-Five when we hit the big One Two Five with Doug Out.

Top Twenty

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

Last One Out of Beach City

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Mindful Education

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Earthlings

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Bismuth

Steven’s Dream

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Chille Tid

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Catch and Release

When It Rains

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Monster Reunion

Alone at Sea

Crack the Whip

Beta

Back to the Moon

Kindergarten Kid

Buddy’s Book

Gem Harvest

Three Gems and a Baby

That Will Be All

The New Crystal Gems

Storm in the Room

Room for Ruby

Lion 4: Alternate Ending

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Greg the Babysitter

Gem Hunt

Steven vs. Amethyst

Bubbled

Adventures in Light Distortion

Gem Heist

The Zoo

Rocknaldo

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

Know Your Fusion

Future Boy Zoltron

Tiger Philanthropist

No Thanks!

6. Horror Club 5. Fusion Cuisine 4. House Guest 3. Onion Gang 2. Sadie’s Song 1. Island Adventure

(Kind of unbelievable to me that a Lion Sequel doesn’t have official promo art, but luckily we have discount-supervillain’s measured take on what Nora Universe would realistically look like.)

#lion 4 #lion 4: alternate ending #steven universe #su #steven universally #review

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agentnico · 4 years

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) Review

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there was Star Wars. Then Disney happened.

Plot: The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once more as Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron's journey continues. With the power and knowledge of generations behind them, the final battle commences.

The Rise of Skywalker brings the new Disney Star Wars trilogy to a close whilst also setting out to be the grand finale to the entire Skywalker saga. That’s a big feat to conquer, and does this movie succeed? To put it in post-haste words, this movie will split up audiences. Some will love it, some will definitely hate it, and some, such as I, will find many problems but will enjoy it for what it is. As a throwaway blockbuster with a load of action and cool moments in time for Christmas for families to enjoy whilst shoving popcorn in their faces, this film perfectly suffices. However, if you take in the bigger picture with this being a Star Wars film and how it fits into the franchise timeline, the movie is a mess. It’s all over the place (or should I say galaxy?). There is a lack of a consistent narrative as well as ignoring the Star Wars lore set by previous films as well as a bunch of random mumbo jumbo that happens which makes the whole thing disappointing.

There is a lot of fan service, and sometimes it does work, but most of the time it feels forced and shoe-horned in. Also, this film emphasizes how much Disney lacked a grand plan for this new trilogy. Feels like they kind of just made up everything as they went along, unlike having an actual plan for the endgame from the beginning. Ironically, Disney’s other endgame this year proved to have had a well-structured plan with Avengers: Endgame, and that is why that movie, for the most part, works. In the case of this new Star Wars trilogy, it seems like the folks at Disney simply tried to constantly appease to fans whilst forgetting to actually give us a consistent and well thought out story. With The Force Awakens, people complained it was too similar to A New Hope. So with The Last Jedi, director Rian Johnson tried to do something different with the franchise, by taking it in a new direction, so then audiences complained about the fact that that movie strayed away from the familiar (though some of the complaints are indeed well-founded). So with The Rise of Skywalker Disney again decided to focus on simply filling the needs of the fans rather than just tell a story they should’ve told, which causes The Rise of Skywalker to be a mix of the familiar with huge nostalgic factor with certain cameos and scenes simply being there for the sake of “oh look, that’s from that other Star Wars movie I know and love, wow, how happy does that make me!!” type of spiel, whilst also trying to fix the choices made by The Last Jedi and also trying to bring a somewhat satisfying conclusion to its characters, the latter of which it definitely does not succeed in my opinion. The whole thing is all over the place. Look, I apologize for my vagueness in this review, but with Star Wars being Star Wars, one does not simply go and spoil Star Wars. You do not need my review as a confirmation to go or not to go see Star Wars. Its Star Wars! You’re going to go see Star Wars regardless of the opinion of others. Because Star Wars, capiche!

Alright, so some quick thoughts that are spoiler-free. The return of Emperor Palpatine doesn’t do much. He’s basically just a stand-in villain due to Snoke’s awkward demise in the last film. And if you’re looking to find out how Palps survived that death of his in The Return of the Jedi, good luck, this film doesn’t even try to explain that. Why? Because books. Disney wants you to read the books that they publish which fill in the plot gaps that the movies do not cover. And why’s that? Because moneeeeeyyy! Next, what was it with all the fake-out deaths? I’m not even talking about Palpatine’s return, but many characters within this movie supposedly die only to be brought back with ease minutes after their suggested end. What was the point of that? Not a clue. Moving on, the presence of Princess Leia in this movie is done by using unused archived footage from The Force Awakens for the unfortunate reason that Carrie Fisher, unfortunately, passed away, and yes, the Carrie Fisher shots are very obviously added to scenes in the film through visual effects, and it does look awkward, but I respect the effort that was put into it by the producers and crew in light of the fact what they had to work with. Billy Dee Williams returns as Lando Calrissian and just kind of hangs out. Honestly, he was included simply to include a character from the original trilogy. He doesn’t get to do much in this film. Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver do as best as they can with the roles of Rey and Kylo Ren, but the fact that their characters are so underwritten limits them from doing much. Also, Rey in this movie is ridiculously overpowered, to the extent that most of her actions in this movie are a whole load of deus ex machina. Visually this film is not as striking as The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson just has a more exciting flare for exciting visual shots compared to JJ Abrams, however, the movie still looks and feels glossy and well-made. John Williams returns to once again score the film, and faulting him and his work here would be a work of a Sith so I’ll truly admit as always his music was on point. There are also many jokers and one-liners used and to be honest, most of them missed for me. The humour really felt forced in this one, more so than in The Force Awakens. The actual ending of the film leaves you feeling a bit ‘meh’. It’s sort of predictable and you can tell where the movie will go. Also, expect some nice little cameos in the movie, one of which I predicted and felt so proud of myself for calling it. Though I will not reveal what cameo this is. See for yourself.

Finalizing my thoughts, I feel like The Rise of Skywalker will be a cause for constant debate amongst critics, fans and general audiences. It literally depends on what tickles your pickle. I know people who really liked this film, some not so much. This is definitely a divisive movie, and I’m stuck somewhere in the middle. I enjoyed my time at the cinema with this one, but at the end of the day I cannot ignore the messiness of the whole thing.

Overall score: 5/10

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caithyra · 5 years

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Vampire Game Reviews Part 1

This Halloween I sat down and played a bunch of vampire themed games and decided to review them. First up, Vampire Legends: The True Story of Kisilova, Dracula: Origin and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. I might get around to Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption and Dracula: Love Kills in a later post.

I use my own 5-scale gradation in this:

0: Either I couldn’t force myself to finish it, or I was more relieved it was over than anything else. 1: I had no fun, but there might have been something fun in there… maybe…? 2: More bad than good. 3: About evenly good and bad. I actually start having more fun than not. 4: A solid entertainment piece. Has it’s blemishes, but despite that I like it. 5: Almost perfect (perfection is a myth). I had lots of fun and am satisfied.

(Semi-minor spoilers below. Unless you’ve gone quite far into the games, you likely wont suss out what’s happening until it’s happening.)

Vampire Legends: The True Story of Kisilova: You’re an investigator for the Hapsburg Empire going to the small town of Kisilova, recently beset by a killer leaving bloodless victims behind them. Rumors of vampires abound. After a series of mishaps the rumors do not feel so farfetched. Especially not when a mysterious, young woman enters the picture.

(Left: The Beginning of the Adventure with our buddy and hint machine. Right: The first of many, many hidden objects screens in this game.)

Okay, it is a point-and-click visual novel adventure thing that’s really short (less than 5 hours, and I think I left the game — and the clock — running for a while at some point), and also cheap. It was enjoyable enough, the music was forgettable but good enough, the graphics nice and atmospheric enough and the story was short and serviceable. The problems mainly came through the game-play; this game relied faaar too heavily on hidden object minigames, and those were unskippable, while all others were skippable after a short while. Fortunately, your partner can give hints to speed things along. As for my final decision in the winter-themed bonus chapter? Well, it was Halloween so I thought “why not?” and that was that for Europe. I always try to pick the most supernatural decision whenever I can lol (see Squirrel Elves in the Witcher franchise, or picking spell-sneaking classes in the Elder Scrolls).

My biggest problem with this game, however, is that I need to resize the resolution on my ultrawide monitor to play it without horizontal stretching distorting the art. The Options menu is seriously lacking in Options (actually, that whole menu is a mess that looks more at home in a Free-to-Play mobile game).

All in all, I generally liked it and its short nature meant that except for the hidden objects minigame, most of it didn’t outstay its welcome and it was really cheap (less than 4€ when I bought it, which is about the right price IMO. I think regular price is something like 9.99€?) so worth it. 3/5.

Dracula: Origin: You are Van Helsing. Yeah. That guy. And you have a missing friend, Harker, who had something to do with Dracula, and you have a pretty friend named Mina who ends up targeted by Dracula and now you must rush across the Old World to save her from a curse.

(Left: Yup, same dev as the Sherlock Holmes games. Middle: Vampires don’t like garlic breath. Right: Dammit Mina, I gave you ONE job. One. Job. All of this slow walking could have been avoided!)

Ah. Frogware. I generally like their Sherlock Holmes games, but this game… It felt more like a waste of my time. Oh, I’m sure there is a good game in there that isn’t a waste of time. Unfortunately, it is hidden behind the biggest time-sinks in the game: Van Helsing walks at half the speed of a normal person at all times and speaks really slowly, in conversations that has no branches, yet they will periodically be interrupted so that you can click on the next topic in the list (that wont reveal the next topic until you’ve listened to the topic listed before it). There’s this scene during a cave in when he says something like “quickly, we must make haste to escape!” and then you click on the exit and he waaaaaaaaalks slooooooooooooowlyyyyyy through it. It certainly doesn’t help that he must cross the entire span of the screen and backtrack locations many times and… AGH! RUN YOU FOOL!!

And, well, Frogware adventure game with its strange clues and non-clues and objects. There’s this bit in the first outdoor area when you have to capture some flies. Now, if you have followed the story logically, you will have a jar and a lid in your inventory. Easy, peasy, just click the flies with the jar, right? Nope. You must find a mourning veil hidden in the cemetery (that is large and that Van Helsing waaaaalks sloooooowlyyyyy through), use it on the flies and then combine the fly-ridden veil with the jar to get a jar of flies (I wont say what for because of spoilers, but, well, I don’t recommend eating during the Cemetery/Mansion part of the story if you have a phobia against bugs). There are also several objects that are basically five pixels on the screen because of the angle we’re viewing them at that we must find to pick up, and on the whole, I had more frustrations than fun with this story. Like, there’s even this puzzle minigame with a picture of Minos, the Labyrinth and the Minotaur and you find thread/string in the same house and wouldn’t you know it! The thread/string has nothing to do with the minigame and the minigame has nothing to do with the legend of the Minotaur!

On top of that, well, lets just say that the Egyptian section has quite a bit of stereotyping (think Victorian stereotypes of Egypt and its people in a modern game. Also, potential racism against white people must be prevented at all costs, including lying to a bereaved family), and when we run into our first, unliving female vampire she of course wears a top made of strips of cloth and a sheer skirt (you’d think a rich vampire’s favorite mistress would own a nice dress at least, but nope), and every woman (including dead of non-vampiric variety) have their beauty commented upon (and, of course, a young, pretty girl’s defilement/death is a tragedy, which is why it is so important to include that she was pretty).

And, well, this game markets itself heavily with Dracula at the forefront, not Van Helsing, yet while Dracula is the main antagonist, he only has a few, brief scenes, which were disappointing. All in all it was a 1/5.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines: You are a fledgling of one of the Camarilla clans, recently thrust into the secret world hidden by darkness, and more specifically into one of the most fucked cities of the World of Darkness. After your illicit embrace into the undead by your executed sire, the Prince of the City has graciously offered to adopt you, provided you prove yourself worthy to the exacting clan of rulers. Except the prince’s domain is built on quicksand, and this is Los Angeles; the birthplace of the modern Anarchs, and one of the domains of the Kindred of the East, on top of the eternal, political dance all Kindred must dance, and you, baby vampire as you are, have no allies and no clue as how to proceed except to survive.

(Left: Told ya Velvet is a mascot in this game. Middle: Did you know that Mercurio was meant to handle the Voerman sisters and we wouldn’t have to go through sewers and a haunted hotel if he did his job? Right: Apparently the Chinese are masters of Japanese swords and the Ventrue need no neckbones...)

Here’s the thing about VtM:B: It is a very enjoyable game and definitely the definite vampire game out there. It also has no story for your character. “What about the Ankaran Sarcophagus?”, well, your character participates, but it does nothing to answer the questions we are immediately confronted with in the opening of the game: Why would our unknown sire, an upstanding member of Kindred society, break one of the Traditions (pretty much laws set in stone for all Kindred over the entire world) to embrace us? Why would the prince, whose sole job is to uphold the Traditions, then break one of the Traditions and allow the ill-begotten progeny live?

Except for the opening of the game, we never hear from our sire again, nor the questions raised during the opening. And that makes our player character a bit superfluous when any random neonate could serve just as well.

So if not story-telling, what does VtM:B do that makes people sing its praises? In short? Characters and the World. It is incredibly atmospheric and while characters don’t develop (vampires are static by nature in this world, and most characters in the game are entrenched in their places and wont be shaken by some random baby vampire showing up), they are all very distinct and written in different tones. However, if you’re not role-playing as an ignorant fledgling, but meta-playing with some Vampire the Masquerade lore known, you will feel extremely railroaded (if your character had any inkling of who Smiling Jack is in the World of Darkness, they would never believe his coarse but kind uncle-figure thing he’s got going on. Because even before a certain hugely Biblical spoiler got involved, Jack was an imposer, liar, manipulator and mass-murderer who has sired many, many thin-blooded vampires and abandoned them to their fates. There’s a reason why only ignorant neonates like Nines’ gang admires and likes him. What I just said is not a spoiler for the game, btw, because it never comes up because your character is an ignorant fledgling being manipulated and deceived by literally everyone. Maybe Velvet and Bertram don’t, but Velvet might seem so sweet when she convinces you to be her knight because of Presence and acting, and Bertram is a Nossie and they have major secrets within secrets).

And while it is easy to sink into the world of the game and roleplay, thus mitigating the railroading feeling above. This game was clearly written with an audience of White Male Teens in mind. We have Velvet (of the fashion-conscious Toreador clan) show up at the prince’s court in Elysium in only a lacy basque, g-string and thigh high fishnets, tall heels and not as much as a peignoir thrown on top. Yeah, she attends an important society function in her fetish underwear. Then we have the explicit sex life of game cover-girl Jeanette (yeah, the one dressed like a dilapidated school girl), and those two are THE female mascots of the game.

The less said about the Orientalism and the Kindred of the East the better, but that segues into how around the time you reach Chinatown, the game starts losing its luster and strengths. Okay, so if you’re sensitive to that kinda thing, you might notice it a little bit in Hollywood, but by the time Chinatown rolls around, you might notice how it is less immersive and how it starts to feel more and more gamey (specifically, Action gamey), and you get less options that isn’t some variant of “kill it”.

On top of that the game has technical issues if you do not use the fan-made patch (I always use Patch Plus, which restores cut content and quests, as well as ReShade for better anti-aliasing and sharpness), and it still has a few cropping up from time to time. At least it works perfectly well in ultrawide resolutions?

Still it has that charm, and despite its flaws and how I can think of a dozen complaints at the drop of a dime, I still love playing it. So it’s a 4/5 from me.

#games #vampires #vampire games #vampire the masquerade: bloodlines #dracula: origin #vampire legends: the true story of kisilova #vtmb #random reviews #well I had to do SOMETHING for Halloween #and then I forgot to post it lol #so have it a few days late

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lastgenpodcast · 7 years

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Star Wars, Han Solo, Its Directors, and Kathleen Kennedy. What's the deal here?

It was recently announced that Lucasfilm and the directing duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller have parted ways on the upcoming untitled Star Wars film centered on a younger Han Solo. This announcement came via StarWars.com and has subsequently hit the echo chamber that is the internet. The reaction has been pretty solid towards posing the question, "Is this worrisome?". Sadly, when you look at the recent history of Lucasfilm and its directors, the answer leans yes.

Now, let me preface this. What you are about to read is not going to be an article claiming that Earth has burned to a cinder. The film will still come out and the franchise will move on regardless. Still though, what's the deal with the majority of directorial choices made by Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm? Kathleen Kennedy's resume speaks for itself and when she was announced as the new head of Lucasfilm, personally, I could not have been more excited. This is the woman who produced 17 Steven Spielberg films, the Back to the Future Trilogy, Scorsese's Cape Fear, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Sixth Sense, and many many more films that fill the lexicon. She understands everything a person in the film business can and she has handled large franchises before. Perfect, right?

Towards Star Wars, things started great. A smart, if safe, choice for the re-entry into the Star Wars universe was chosen in the form of J.J. Abrams who has two very distinct talents. Working with younger casts, and making a film comfortable to ease into. He is a populist director with a massive amount of charisma and a strong eye. To restate, his ability to get performances out of younger actors is comparable to that of Spielberg. He is THAT good. On the other hand, beside the dead horse joke of lens flare, he does not exactly have a style of his own.

When you see a Tarantino film, you know where you are. You don't need to be told it was directed by Tarantino. Same goes for select modern day directors such as David Fincher, Wes Anderson, Christopher Nolan, and even Guy Ritchie. When you walk into a film directed by these folks, you are told it visually and audibly. Abrams, not so much. He is a fantastic chameleon. He has an innate ability to mimic film styles. There is no better example of this then in Super 8, a film I really enjoy, which is a giant hug to Steven Spielberg. His Star Wars entry was likewise in that it had his staple of young actors firing off fantastic chemistry but it still felt and looked exactly like a Star Wars film. That is not a complaint either. As I said, it was the smart, safe choice and paid off in spades. The Force Awakens was a hit and besides some folk begrudging how similar it was to A New Hope (the mimic point arises again), it was embraced by the fans and movie goers at large.

Following this we learned that Rian Johnson would direct Episode 8 and hot off the financial success of Jurassic World, Colin Trevorrow would helm the finale of the new trilogy. In addition, Josh Trank was attached to an unnamed Star Wars project with Gareth Edwards earning the opportunity to show us exactly how the plans for the Death Star got into Princess Leia's hand with Rogue One. This did not happen all in one afternoon mind you, but there it was. A lot of wheels were in motion and excitement was high.

Then Fantastic Four happened.

John Trank had a fresh take in his low-budget, found footage, superhero film, Chronicle, but his followup film with 20th Century Fox, Fantastic Four, was an utter disaster. Not only was the film a critical and financial failure, reports surfaced of over $100,000 worth of damages to a rented home, issues with the producers, and Trank being "erratic". All of this lead to re-shoots that occurred only months before the targeted release date and many unhappy executives at Fox. Let's be honest too, if the film wound up being a success, all the other issues would have gone by the way side. Keep that in mind.

With all of the bad vibes spreading over Trank and his behavior, he was bumped off his Star Wars film. Lucasfilm was gracious in allowing Trank to state that he departed the project, but everyone knew the deal. He had lost the gig. The question then arose as to why a largely new, stranger to big budget film, director was even given the reigns at a Star Wars film with everything that was riding on it? Sure, Chronicle is great but it seemed a large jump and may have hurt Trank's career in the long run.

Then came Gareth Edwards and Rogue One. Edwards got much deserved attention with his film Monsters which was a low budget indie hit. It showed a filmmaker who can do a lot with sci-fi without having to show a special effects cluttered mess. He followed that up with 2014's Godzilla which is neither great nor terrible. It suffers pacing issues and dispatches the most interesting character way too early. It also barely features Godzilla on screen, which I liked, but it did feel a bit empty as a result too. After that, onto Star Wars. The shoot of Rogue One had some issues at hand though and ultimately Tony Gilroy was brought in for re-shoots and was paid to the tune of 5 million dollars to do so. Now, re-shoots are not uncommon, on the contrary, but bringing in another person on the paycheck of 5 million is not exactly common practice either. We don't know the specifics of why Gilroy was brought in, but obviously the product at hand was not stitching together very well in the eyes of the producers. In particular, the ending was retooled quite a bit, or all together depending on what source you read. Upon release, Rogue One was a box office smash but definitely had its share of criticism towards pacing and lack of character development. It also used CG to recreate some lost folks and the reaction was mixed. Truthfully though, towards Tarkin, many people who were not aware of who Peter Cushing was and that he had died over 20 years ago, had no clue the character was CG. Make of that what you will. With all of those concerns though, Edwards brought a new look to the Star Wars cinematic universe. It had a grit without being dour, felt more tactile, and improved upon the "lived in" feel that the best Star Wars film have. Full marks to him on that. Yet, despite the film being a box office monster and successfully introducing a new tone, the question remained towards the motivation on the heavy retooling and bringing in Tony Gilroy. Was this another un-experienced director who bit off more than he could chew? And if so, how did this get by the powers that be. Maybe hiring the director who made heads turn by showing less and accomplishing more, was not the guy to then tell, "Show everything". It seems an odd match.

Now for the uplifting piece. Rian Johnson. The director of The Last Jedi, aka Episode 8, seems to have it all rolling. His enthusiasm for the project is addictive, his knowledge of the series makes him seem trustworthy in his love of the lore and quite frankly he is the best damned director of all the people chosen for this new run of Star Wars films. None of the other filmmakers made a better film than Looper, Brick, or even his three episodes of Breaking Bad. He also is the only director that I can sit down and get a sense that he directed it. Johnson has his own style and it seems he was given the leeway to inject it into his entry of the series. Granted, I am basing this off a teaser for The Last Jedi, but it feels different from the other "saga" films in a good way. If anything, it feels very "Empire", which is exactly what most fans want to see and hear. This choice seems the most inspired and fitting. J.J. Abrams fit extremely well due to what needed to be accomplished, but this choice seems to fit in the effort and need to expand the films into a larger. more original, story.

For Episode 9 we have Colin Trevorrow. This may be the most head scratching one for me. I get it, Jurassic World made a ton of money but I think the nostalgia machine was turned so far up, the film would have had to arrive on fire to not make money. Nothing in that movie stands out beside the assistant woman being tortured slowly by dinosaurs who drag her over the ground and sky to eventually eat her. It's a total rehash of the original with no new interesting characters or events. More recently, The Book of Henry was released and the reaction to this offering by Trevorrow has been pretty harsh. It's sporting a Rotten Tomatoes score of 24% and to quote one review (trust me, many echo this sentiment) it's "grotesquely phony and manipulative". So, that's something. I find myself in total agreement with an article recently written by Owen Gleiberman in Variety where he states, "To my mind, Trevorrow has never made a movie in which he has told a powerfully and convincingly emotional story. His aesthetic seems to lack the human factor." Did Kathleen Kennedy and Co only look at box office receipts? I understand the business of the business but making a quality flick also is good for business isn't it? At this moment, I have zero enthusiasm for Episode 9 and many folks are starting to rightfully question WHY Trevorrow gets this honor. That being said, PLEASE, prove me wrong and make the best Star Wars finale film yet.

Finally, we find ourselves five months into filming the unnamed Han Solo film and the directors just packed their bags and left. Did it really take this long to realize a "creative difference" existed? Miller and Lord have been making quality and bank off of comedies for the most part. 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street and The Lego Movie all have a great off-center feel to them. It would be a good guess that they would bring that very approach to Han. That would be my guess anyway. Behind Rian Johnson, I felt the most excitement towards this match up. Han needs to be a silly, fun romp. Miller and Lord are a perfect fit for the need. Again though, are the folks at Lucasfilm only looking at box office receipts and not the actual product produced by the talent at hand? Were they unaware of their previous works and tone created in such? What was the disconnect here and why so late in the game has it fallen apart?

In conclusion, out of the 6 directorial choices made, he have one that never made it to production, one that required a second hand to come in for extensive re-shoots, another that left while approaching the finish line, and a director who has yet to make a compelling film but people like dinosaurs.

Does this fall on the shoulders of Kathleen Kennedy? She is ultimately the one calling the shots. Her resume is beyond compare but she has also had the blessing of seeing Steven Spielberg in the directors chair for 17 feature films. Is finding the right fit for this franchise proving to be a larger problem than anticipated? I can't imagine so but based on the current results, that seems a question to be raised.

In the end though, Star Wars will be fine. Kathleen Kennedy will be fine. Hell, the Han Solo film will probably be fine despite this development. Too much money is at risk and mountains will be moved to ensure the investment is paid in full with interest pouring over everyone's head. In closing, don't panic but definitely shoot first.

#Han Solo #Star Wars #Lucasfilm #Kathleen Kennedy

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dashxero · 7 years

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Xero Out Design Challenge 02: Cross

So… It’s been a while, but I’ve decided to make another Xero Out Design Challenge. The first one can be seen here.

If it weren’t for a buddy and his current endeavor to design an Overwatch character, I’d have abandoned this project. So, you can blame him.

A couple of months ago, I was watching a PBS Idea Channel video when I began to wonder: Do I just not like Overwatch because there’s nothing presently in it that I can latch onto? I mean, on paper, I should adore Overwatch. Tons of well-animated, visually interesting characters with personality and lore interacting with each other in a variety of settings. I should love it. Why don’t i?

This got me thinking: If I were tasked with designing an Overwatch character to get me into the game, what would I do?

Well, I hopped in and did some research to try to get an understanding of the game. Lore, mechanics and all. I read the comics, I studied matches, I read pretty much the whole goddamn wiki. I even considered buying the game for a bit, but decided not to because pre-ordering For Honor pretty much ate up my entertainment budget. Also, I tend to stay away from Blizzard’s games because they can be scarily addictive.

Visual Development: So, the first thing I decided was how the character would fight. I wanted a boxer because I love punching things in the face. Especially in games. For example, I’ve done a dual-caestus run of each of the Dark Souls games. I take every opportunity to punch things in games. So, since I knew that I wanted a boxer, I had to decide what kind of boxer I wanted, and settled on the idea of a “Flashy Boxer.” As a matter of fact, before I even came up with a name for the character, that’s how I referred to her.

I started with simple silhouettes, and jumped the gun a bit to the sketching phase. I felt that the sketch’s distribution of detail was too haphazard, resulting in a design that was too busy - even at its unfinished state. I decided that I needed to simplify. However, when I got to the first color attempt, I got a bit discouraged and abandoned the project.

When my buddy showed me his progress in designing an Overwatch character, I decided to revisit this design attempt. I determined that some things wouldn’t make it, and that the weapons needed to be simplified even further.

Challenges: The weapon gave me a lot of trouble. I had a bit of an obsession with the caestus that I guess I had to get out of my system. After I came back to the design, I ditched the techno-caestus in favor of a boxing glove kinda mixed with a brass knuckle.

Another thing that gave me trouble was the headgear. I already have a wolf-themed character in my repertoire with riding goggles, so I really wanted to avoid giving her those goggles. I tried boxing headgear, but she wound up looking like either Symmetra or D.Va. I wound up settling on a breathing strip.

Basic Info:

Codename: Cross

Real Name: Xandra Wolf

Age: 34

Height: 6′

Occupation: Professional Boxer, Terrorist

Affiliation: Talon

Quotes:

“I look out for my own.”

“The world doesn’t need heroes.”

“Eyes on me!”

“Mess with the pack, you get the Wolf!”

Story: During the Omnic Crisis, there were areas that should have received help that just didn’t. The South Side of Chicago was one of those places. When the chaos started, Xandra Wolf’s parents were beginning the process of evacuating. They saw the Overwatch drop ships appear in the distance, and hope changed to despair as they watched all of the ships pass over their neighborhood and head Downtown.

Xandra’s parents left her at her grandparents’ farm in Kankakee County and headed back. Over the course of the next two days, Xandra would see many of her neighbors arrive - each with a story of how her parents helped them to evacuate to safety. On the third day, her father returned carrying her mother. She’d been hit, was just barely hanging on, and she wanted to see Xandra. Xandra asked her mother, “Mama, we could have all been safe if you just stayed here. Why did you go back?!”

Her mother’s final words would stay with her for the rest of her days. “Ain’t nobody gonna look out for us. We have to look out for our own.”

Xandra’s father, a heavyweight boxer with a middling record, found that the only way to keep her out of trouble was to train her in the Sweet Science. She eventually became the Women’s Boxing Champion – gaining notoriety through her penchant for using flashy maneuvers to defeat her opponents.

After Overwatch was recalled, Xandra sought out Talon. When asked her reason for joining, she stated, “I’ve been wanting a piece of Overwatch for a long time.”

Imagined Play-style: Cross would be a low-health, high mobility harrier. Easy to deal with, but deadly if ignored. The lack of range on her weapons means she’d have to get close to do any sort of damage. Her place would probably be on the periphery of the skirmish, only jumping in to pick off weakened foes or stragglers before going back to the periphery.

What would make Cross unique is the way her skills are handled. Cross would only have a single persistent defensive skill, but the rest of her skills would be determined by the makeup of her squad. She draws inspiration from the other members of her team to perform bargain-basement versions of their abilities. So, for example, if Reaper is on her team, she gains access to a nerfed version of Wraith Form. Or if Widowmaker is on the squad, she can throw a punch with a shockwave that strikes from long range. Or if Symmetra is on the squad, Cross gains access to a nerfed version of Photon Barrier. In effect, she relies on her pack.

For her Ult, she executes a slip. Any enemy firing in her direction during that time gets countered. It should be interesting because inaction is the only way to be safe. However, being inactive opens the way for the rest of the team to capitalize.

Problems: Well, an obvious problem would be her reliance on teammates for most of her abilities. I could easily see players requiring their teammates to use specific characters, and being complete buttholes about it. Also, balancing such an array of skills would be a pain in the butt - even if they are supposed to be inherently worse than the originals. And, factoring in new characters that could be added to the game… Yeesh! Forget about it.

I still kinda wish I could come up with something better than a breathing strip.

Verdict: It was fun to do, and I am somewhat happy with the result. Her story could probably use some work. Mechanically, she’d be a nightmare to implement. One of the main goals of this project was to figure out why I don’t like Overwatch… I still don’t have a clue.

#xero out #design challenge #overwatch #fan design

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milfbosa · 3 years

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okay i’ve also seen people floating the “ganon as 10k hero” idea which would be really neat but wouldn’t it directly contradict link always being the hero reincarnated?

#botw 2 #breath of the wild 2 #ganon #ganondorf #link #like the visual clues are there but that would mess too much with the lore no?

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ruumiinlaulaja · 7 years

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i have so many thoughts about Dreamfall Chapters. This game destroyed me. Basically, I was sobbing by the end of it and I needed a few days to reflect on things.

As always, my mind is a mess so I find it best to just make a list of my thoughts. I made notes throughout the whole experience so that’s why most of this is probably going to be messy.

-First of all. My first impression is that the story is a bit hard to follow, given that I was not familiar with the original story and previous games. The gameplay was often dull and frustrating; even for a puzzle game. I don’t particularly like puzzle games, and imo Dreamfall Chapters isn’t even very functional as a puzzle game due to the lack of audio/visual hints while trying to solve the puzzles. A lot of time went into running around and trying to find some oddly placed items that I would have had no way of finding without online research. Large worlds can be hard to navigate, especially when there are barely any clues while you’re trying to solve your problems. “Maybe I should try---” from the playable character would have helped a lot, for example.

-For a “choice based game” this game didn’t offer many choices. In fact, a lot of things were really not up to choice and many choices I made didn’t seem to matter. So player choice doesn’t live up to its potential. Bioware is so much better at this for example. In ME and DA the choices you make actually matter - your choices affect drastically both the world state and the character development. In Dreamfall Chapters, not so much. ESPECIALLY when it comes to character development/character choices.

-Oh but there was so much story. SO MUCH STORY with endless possibilities for different interpretations. I got interested in all the lore despite being unfamiliar with the previous games - it motivated me to do research and read up on earlier events and theories.

-Regarding gameplay, I was mostly bored/frustrated with the Propast sequences. Mostly because I didn’t give a fuck about Zoe and Raza and the forced het romance. Some of the puzzles were annoying as fuck, too. But by Book 3 things got better, more interesting, as we ditched Propast completely.

-And regarding the whole Raza thing. This is where it became apparent that your choices didn’t really matter. I didn’t want the het romance, so I tried my hardest to end it. I practically cheered when they broke up... but the story wouldn’t let go of it. It seemed I didn’t have any control over Zoe’s characterisation and that sucked hard. Basically ruined the character for me, and as I mentioned, the Propast sequences were a pain in the butt.

-They just kept pushing and pushing the whole Raza thing that I never wanted in the first place. I did everything to ruin their relationship. And it was never dropped. Instead they gave some bullshit reason in the end like “Raza was controlled and that’s why he was acting like a bitch” and then they apparently got back together like nothing had happened, like... I don’t give a fuck? Why not give us the option to just end it, once and for all, without any bullshit endings? I stopped caring about Zoe and about whether she was alive or not because this game that was supposedly about choices kept pushing those options. Luckily, when they forgot about Raza for a while, I started caring about Zoe again, a little. But ofc they ruined it in the end. With a gross pregnancy ending. Because obviously pregnancy and babies and a heterosexual nuclear family is the ultimate happy ending. Fuck that. They went with the gross nuclear family pregnancy fantasy in the end which I hate so much. Apparently my choices didn’t matter. Zoe was lost cause, a ruined character. And i hate how she was treated as the most important character of them all. Only to end up being the gross preggo lady.

-It’s unfair how they force heterosexual romances, gross explicit references to heterosex and “cocks on pussies” and hard dicks (hell, even the villains are shown to be in a sexual relationship - luckily they get killed in end lol), but then there are no romance options or such references for the gay characters. Completely unfair.

-Basically I wanted Kian Alvane to kiss men. Instead they kept throwing this one particular woman, Anna, at him. He has an option to kiss a WOMAN, but not any men. What the hell was the point of this? Anna throwing herself constantly at Kian made her such an annoying character, and ultimately she was pretty pointless, at least to me. She was literally there just to be kissed by the gay protagonist. Or, rather, KISS the gay protagonist since Kian obviously isn’t into it.

-The worst thing is that there are not one, but THREE possible moments Kian can be kissed by Anna. What the actual fuck. I’m pretty sure there are better ways of handlng a gay character’s sexuality than throwing women at him and making him cringe. You know, like, I don’t know, giving him some romance options with men?

-Obviously, romance does not determine character’s sexuality. A gay character is whole without romance. I love that Kian is gay no matter what you choose, whether you let Anna kiss him or not. He’s gay in all versions of the game. And I love that it is SAID out loud. He expresses it very clearly. This is a great way of portraying a gay character. This is fantastic because we need more game protagonists who are openly gay no matter what the player chooses. Yes, we have Mass Effect and Dragon Age where all my protagonists are gay. But those are dependent on my choices. Someone might play their characters as... *shudders*... as heterosexual.

-But all of that goodness was nearly ruined for me because they kept throwing Anna at him. This is why I felt the treatment of Kian was unfair as compared to Zoe or even Saga. Why not at least give the option for a gay romance? Why didn’t the romance happen with Likho, who’s another gay character? There were obvious hints pointing towards a potential romance, so why didn’t it happen?

-Of course, two gay men can be friends and connect without it turning sexual or romantic. But this could have also been solved by giving Kian ANOTHER potential romance. Instead of Anna, there could have been another openly gay man for Kian to kiss. Or even several gay characters, why stop at just two? Because - gasp! - there can be more than two gay characters in one story. Likho could have been the brotherly relationship for Kian, and the other character could have been a romantic relationship - or another friendship, depending on your choices. They could have replaced Anna with an openly gay character who’d help Kian, and ultimately connect with him, perhaps fall in love with him. It would have been perfect.

-The point is, it seems unfair to me that Kian’s gayness wasn’t handled beyond him talking about it, and he wasn’t given all these options like Zoe was. And if you’re going to force a het romance at us, why not force a gay romance as well? And it’s especially insulting since instead of doing that, they keep throwing a woman at him.

-Why is this world so heteronormative, anyway? I’ll never understand how fantasy worlds with magic and dragons and furry cat people and blue men are heteronormative. It’s not a thing that should automatically exist in every universe. It was so sickening to hear characters make heteronormative assumptions about everything.

-It’s so unfair how heterosexuals are always given the options to avoid everything gay in video games, but queer people don’t get to avoid the heterosexual content. The same applies here. Kian may be openly gay (and Likho, depending on your choices, and Hanna and her gf), but he’s not given any romance. I’m super glad though that a miracle happened and they did include an unavoidable kiss between Hanna and her girlfriend. But at the same time, the het content could not be avoided. I wish I didn’t have to see any of it. (It was like this with Life is Strange: the protagonists are queer, but it’s totally possible to “avoid” it so the hets don’t get mad.)

-So basically I had to FIGHT OFF the forced het romance & the forced kiss scenes with a gay man and a woman. And I wasn’t even rewarded with the option to let Kian kiss Likho. What the actual fuck. It’s just tiring, and unfair. A typical example of a story that tries to be inclusive (and does succeed in it to an extent - I mean Kian is still out and proud gay, Likho is gay and becomes friends with Kian, Hanna and her gf are openly together), but ultimately it’s just another story that is made for heterosexuals, first and foremost.

-Furthermore, it’s gross that according to statistics over 70% chose to kiss Anna. This means most people just assume Kian is not gay, and pretend he’s heterosexual. I’ve seen some awful comments regarding this subject, and people really do say shit like “he’s not gay in my game”. Even though Kian is gay no matter what you choose. Giving those kiss options in the first place is not helping. Perhaps heterosexuals would be more convinced if you gave that bloody gay romance option gdi. I also didn’t like the description of it, if you chose not to kiss Anna: “Kian wasn’t ready for that level of intimacy.” Okay, or maybe he didn’t let Anna kiss him because he’s GAY? Why not just write it down in black and white: “Kian didn’t kiss Anna because he’d rather kiss a dude”, or, if he did let Anna kiss him: “Kian let Anna kiss him because she was being creepy and harassing him and he couldn’t stop it, but he’d still prefer to suck cock.” UGH.

-”You’re not pulling away this time!!11″, like, bitch. Kian doesn’t even KNOW you. Why is the kiss forced in this scene? They didn’t even give the option to avoid it. Gross. Why couldn’t he kiss Likho before leaving? WHY is Anna even a thing?

-Seriously though I can’t stress this enough: stop throwing that skinny bitch at Kian. Two times you have to avoid a kiss, once she manages to kiss him without him stopping it. I know, gay men can kiss women and it can be completely platonic and mean nothing. But it IS unfair in a GAME that is supposed to give REPRESENTATION and is based on CHOICES not to give choices for that GAY character to kiss men, and instead give the choice to kiss a woman. It’s unfair not to give him a proper romance while the hets get those romances. Hets get their happy endings even though I tried my hardest to stop it.

-Stuff like this means that heterosexuals apparently FORGET Kian is gay. I’ve seen playthroughs where they go like “oh I forgot he was gay”. Yeah probably because he’s forced to kiss women all the time (even though Kian’s inner dialogue says “I can’t give her what she wants”. Yep. So gay.). And with the man he actually connects with? “HURRDURR THEY’RE BROTHERS.” Oh please. I’m so angry.

-So yes. Kian deserved better. Holy shit just let the man get laid. The whole thing with Anna was just insulting.

-Why didn’t Kian and Likho bang, though? I mean, I can’t say they didn’t end up having sex after they rode off to the sunset together, but why was there nothing within the story itself? Especially since there were so many hints pointing towards a potential romance.

--> Like the flirting.

Likho: “I WILL COME WITH YOU.” Kian: “No, I will not have you killed.” Likho: “Okay. But don’t die plz.” Kian: “WIll you still kill me afterwards though? ;)” Likho: “Yes. ;);)” Kian: “Nice. ;);)”

---> And then Likho runs after Kian anyway. Then they bond and get closer together and Likho tells Kian he’s gay. (At least that’s how I interpreted it; Likho said he loved April but “not like that”, which indicates he’s gay af.)

--> The fact that it’s Likho who tells Kian about the “Salty Seaman” tavern, how it was popular among gay men, and how it was eventually shut down because of a romance between a human soldier and a DOLMARI man (because humans aren’t supposed to be with magicals). Kian is a human soldier and Likho is a dolmari. Foreshadowing, much?

-I loved the “salty seaman” thing though. Kian pondering the pun. Haha it’s a cum joke, basically. Because salty semen.

-So yes, two openly gay characters. And still the creators give us this “it’s up to interpretation whether they end up together or not” crap. That’s how queer people have been forced to deal with queer stories always. All we get is this vague shit and it’s always dependent upon our interpretations. Maybe at least once give us something that is NOT up to interpretation (and is not up to choice either) and just make the two dudes kiss?

-The best thing about the whole game was Kian and how adorable he is. His obsession with yams. His inner dialogue about brooms. The man is too fucking adorable. A stoic character who’s adorable, I LOVE them. Of course my love for Kian was largely influenced by the fact that he has the voice of Garrett Hawke. And Garrett Hawke means everything to me. So obviously Kian meant a lot to me too. It felt like I was playing an incarnated Garrett Hawke; in books 3-4 he even LOOKED like Garrett Hawke, with that lovely hair and beard. Hahah only makes sense Kian is gay, since Garrett is also the gayest video game character ever. Such a bear, he is.

-It was so immensely beautiful and powerful to hear Kian humming his mother’s song while the beautiful “song for Kian” music was heard. Such a gorgeous and powerful moment. And ofc Garrett’s voice is sex.

-The BEST thing was to hear Garrett Hawke’s voice saying: “I’M GAY. I don’t mate with women.” Ugh I need an audio post of this. It was also fantastic to hear Kian talk about being gay and how out and proud he is. As I said, I just kept thinking of Hawke while playing Kian. It made the whole experience 120% more enjoyable.

-SHITBOT. Ugh, robot sidekicks who sacrifice themselves for you make me sad. “Remember meeee!”, ah. A true hero. Reminds me of Loaderbot from Tales from the Borderlands.

-Hanna/Abby. Thank god for these two and their lovely on-screen kiss (it took away some of my bitterness). I just wish Hanna was more important a character, instead of just a minor one.

-I need to mention Kian/yams again. This man is so adorable.

-I didn’t much care for Enu. I don’t get the fascination with furry characters, in general. Enu mostly annoyed me, since she was the one who was making most of those heteronormative comments. And ugh I can’t believe they made references to her sexual relationships - it’s as though it’s more acceptable to depict furry content than it is to depict sexual relationships between gay men? Lmao.

-Kian kicking down the door and Crow saying he wishes they could always do that instead of all those dumb puzzles, and after playing almost 20 hours of this game I couldn’t help but agree. I was like “I KNOW RIGHT??”. I hate puzzles lmao. I like Kian because he gets to kick and kill and punch stuff.

-It was adorable and hilarious to hear Kian sing. Or rather, try to sing. Horribly. Again, it was extra fun because I just heard Garrett Hawke lmao.

-Kian is an adorable giant. He needs love. And a boyfriend. He loves yams a lot and apparently also knitting and he’s adorable.

-Nuclear family fantasies in gross 50s settings and pregnancies. Ew. No thanks. That kind of made me dislike Saga’s sequences, even if Saga as a character was fascinating. Saga’s dad seems a bit creepy too. They didn’t tell much about this family, like who Saga’s mother was, who her dad was, why did the mother leave... but perhaps the mother left exactly because she was married to a creepy guy who wanted to keep them all locked inside. That’s the reason Saga left too. I did get attached to Saga eventually too, but more about that later.

-KIAN IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME. This is why it bothers me that he is kind of secondary as compared to Zoe/Saga/April. Why? Well, because Zoe is literally god, apparently. If she dies, the dream dies, everything stops from existing. Kian and Saga even exchange thoughts about how *important* she is. So that immediately casts aside all the other characters. And Saga? She’s important because Saga = April. And April means everything. She’s the hero of the previous games, the legend. She’s the one who begins and ends everything. She closes the circle. She’s the character who dies in the beginning of the game and is reborn as Saga. So, in light of all of this, Kian is treated like a pawn. A means to an end.

-Kian is super important, nonetheless. He becomes something great. He literally shapes history, saves the world. He IS IMPORTANT. Even if in the story he seems not-as-important as Zoe and Saga.

-Now, someone might say “but shouldn’t women be more important in stories than men, for once? haven’t men gotten more attention in fiction already?”. I mean, yes, it’s true, and it’s important to have important female characters. But in this case it’s kind of fucked up because here “the more important people” are 1) a heterosexual woman (at least it’s implied she’s heterosexual, she could be bi though), 2) a white woman. And Kian just happens to be a black gay man. So basically, they are saying a heterosexual woman and a white woman are more important than the black gay man. Since when have black gay men ever been heroes of any stories? Wouldn’t it be fair to make Kian the most important of all, given that he isn’t exactly that typical video game/movie protagonist (aka a white heterosexual man)?

-I suppose to every player each character means different things, and everyone considers one character as the most important. To me that character is Kian.

-I love how they all came together in the end. The importance of Saga is relevant here. She’s the one who brings these two characters together, herself included. She’s the one who... connects everything. And it makes sense, because Saga (April) eventually is the one who connects everything in the overall story of the game series.

-And yes. I have millions of thoughts about Saga and April. But the only thing that makes sense is that April is Saga. Saga is April. The visual cues and all the hints are pretty obvious. Like at the very beginning of the game. The death of April is immediately followed by the birth of Saga. The way April tells Kian in his dream “You freed me, Kian Alvane. Don't blame yourself for my death. This is what I wanted. To be free. To be reborn.” April is reborn as Saga. They’re both shifters, similar in a lot of ways. ALSO WAAHHH notice how IMPORTANT Kian is.

-Kian had a connection with April, so I suppose he blames himself for her death. Later, he forms a connection with Saga too. Saga literally becomes his daughter. Kian has a connection with April, Saga... April is Saga. Not surprising at all.

-The “longest journey”/afterlife scene threw me off a bit. Because Crow had died. April had died. And then “two best friends embarked on one last journey together” (super sad, btw). It made me think that perhaps they did die. BUT. In the end we know Crow didn’t die. So they didn’t fly off to the afterlife together. They were both reborn. And surprisingly, Crow is saved by Saga. And they become companions for life. Just like Crow was with April. So yes, another thing pointing towards the idea that Saga is April.

-I never thought I’d cry about the death of an annoying bird sidekick btw. But I did. The scene with Crow and April, and the moment Saga picked up dead Crow from the ground. Awful.

-Anyway, more about April/Saga. In the end April shifted to Saga. This was the moment “balance was restored”; it’s literally the same scene that happens in the first game (Lady Alvane even says the exact same line: “Welcome, April Ryan.”). Therefore April/Saga close the circle, they begin and end the story. April is Saga. Saga knew she’d meet April once again, she already knew how the “story was written”. After all, Saga is Lady Alvane, the story teller of the whole thing, basically (and she became Lady Alvane because Kian Alvane adopted her). Also apparently it was implied in the first game that April is Lady Alvane, and since Saga is Lady Alvane... yes, April definitely was reborn as Saga.

-Saga knows how the story goes because she’s lived it. She knew April’s story even as a child, she drew the pictures. So again, Saga is April.

-Also: When Saga opens a portal and leaves the house, the background music that plays is a mixed version of April's funeral theme. Yet another thing suggesting that Saga is April.

-AND THAT LAST SCENE. Oh how I cried. It’s so sad. To see her as an old woman, all she has left are old Crow and... memories. Things that have happened in the past, old friends who are long gone - KIAN AND LIKHO ARE GONE. I sobbed even harder when she talked about Kian and Likho and how they stood by each other until the end. Fuck, if that’s not marriage I don’t know what is. WAAHHH, and old Saga talking about Kian and how he never understood her jokes... just remembering this person I have grown so attached to, it’s heartbreaking, realizing that “wait... Kian’s story is over, he’s dead now”. This is what really destroyed me. And the sad music in this scene was not helping.

-All in all the ending scene is really brilliant. Because Saga is this character you got to know through all stages of her life. First as a baby, then a toddler, a kid, and adult... and then finally as an old woman. To live through the adventures of Kian and Zoe, to get to know these important characters, only to be connected by this one person whom we have known from childhood... and then the story ends with this one person. And you realize how important key character Saga really was.

-But Crow was there and it made me happy he didn’t die after all. And it only confirmed it for me more, that Saga is actually April. Crow and April’s “longest journey” wasn’t the journey in the afterlife, it’s the journey they made together through life.

-So this is how the circle was closed. April had her adventures; as a shifter she of course met Lady Alvane (Saga) during her adventures, in a place that is obviously not bound by time (the house where Saga was born and grew up in). Then April died, was reborn as Saga, and Saga meets the earlier version of April. Brilliant. And a bit confusing too, lol.

-I wish we’d get another game, but unfortunately this sort of ending definitely suggests this was the last part of the story. The circle has closed. But this sucks, because it didn’t really give a satisfying ending to those of us who really cared about Kian. Once again, it feels like Kian was secondary in the grand scheme of things. We know he became the bloodless king, with Likho by his side, and Saga as his adopted daughter (which explains how she became Lady Alvane). But I want to see more. I want to see the whole adventure of Kian and Likho, the wars they went through... the eventual, OBVIOUS love story that happened between them. All of it.

-Someone actually described it brilliantly: “It feels more like a conclusion to Dreamfall than to Dreamfall Chapters, as if the four episodes leading up to this didn’t matter much. Those who mainly played Dreamfall Chapters looking for answers might be okay with that. But if you’re going into Book Five hoping for a cohesive end to this story, prepare for disappointment.”

THIS. This is why it was disappointing, this is why I was left wanting more. A proper conclusion for Kian’s story, basically. Kian and Likho’s adventures. But in the end all of that seemed irrelevant, since April/Saga/Zoe was what mattered. I don’t like when stories just “drop” important characters like this.

-All in all a pretty cool game with lots of interesting lore. It looks beautiful, it has amazing music, THE VOICE OF GARRETT HAWKE. Put also, somewhat disappointing, as I was expecting more from it.

-I have no interest in playing the previous games though. Because I doubt there are any open queer characters, even if Kian is there. I don’t think his orientation comes up until DC. And it’s better to keep the emotional distance, though - the Crow/April stuff was heartbreaking enough already lol.

-Oh and btw who the fuck was Saga’s mother? Why did she leave? Was she lost or did she just die? I think she died. And did the father die too, or just leave Saga because he knew Saga would just be travelling all the time so there would be no point living in the house anymore?

-Speaking of the house... House of All Worlds. It’s self-sustaining, it takes care of its inhabitants. Seems that this house exists outside of time. Would make sense, given how being away for months would mean years in the house. Saga is a shifter and can go from one time to another, and past April stumbles upon this house by the time Saga is old. It would make sense that all these stories are in a loop and they keep happening again and again (which is why April was reborn as Saga), and when April comes to Saga, that’s when the circle closes. Hah. So poetic.

ANYWAY I’m done. This rant turned into a novel.

#ruumiipersonal #cw: pregnancy mention #this is an insanely long list of incomprehensible thoughts so i don't recommend reading #anyway #i can get over this #dreamfall chapters destroyed me only momentarily #it's not like mass effect which destroyed me completely and there's no recovering from that #dreamfall chapters spoilers #in case you're planning on playing it #dreamfall chapters

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