#so if they had to adapt any of their games I'm actually glad it was fallout

[tleeaves]

Folks going "WHAT they made a show about the Fallout franchise?? I've been hearing people say Bethesda messed it up, but I haven't watched it myself, so I'm going to trust the word of other people -- some of which also haven't finished watching it" is driving me insane.

Being a hard core fan of something obviously brings with it a lot of passionate feelings when adaptations come into play. Of course, there's going to be people going "but in 8 episodes of the first ever season they made, they didn't explore Theme C or D, didn't introduce factions E and F and G, and because the source company is notorious for its scams, we and everyone else who's a TRUE fan should hate it".

The Amazon Original series Fallout follows the videogame franchise of the same name. It is a labour of love and you can tell by the attention to detail, the writing, the sets, and YES THE THEMES ARGUE WITH THE WALL. It's clearly fan service. I mean, the very characterisation of Lucy is a deadringer for someone playing a Fallout game for the first time. She embodies the innocent player whose expectations drastically change in a game that breaks your heart over and over again. Of course, she's also the vessel through which we explore a lot of themes, but I'll get to that.

There're some folks arguing that the show retcons the games, and I gotta say... for a website practically built on fandom culture, why are we so violently against the idea of someone basing an adaptation on a franchise that so easily lends itself to new and interesting interpretations? But to be frank, a lot of what AO's Fallout is not that new. We have: naive Vault dweller, sexy traumatised ghoul that people who aren't cowards will thirst over, and pathetic guy from a militaristic faction. We also have: total atomic annihilation, and literally in-world references to the games' lore and worldbuilding constantly (the way I was shaking my sister over seeing Grognark the Barbarian, Sugar Bombs, Cram, Stimpaks, and bags of RadAway was ridiculous). Oh, and the Red Rocket?? Best pal Dogmeat? I'm definitely outing myself as specifically a Fallout 4 player, but that's not the point you should be taking away from this.

The details, the references, and the new characters -- this show is practically SCREAMING "hey look, we did this for the fans, we hope you love it as much as we do". Who cares that the characters are new, they still hold the essence of ones we used to know! And they're still interesting, so goddamn bloody interesting. Their arcs mean so much to the story, and they're told in a genuinely intriguing way. This isn't just any videogame adaptation, this was gold. This sits near Netflix's Arcane: League of Legends level in videogame adaptation. Both series create new plots out of familiar worlds.

Of course, those who've done the work have already figured out AO's Fallout is not a retcon anyway. But even if it was, that shouldn't take away from the fact that this show is actually good. Not even just good, it's great.

Were some references a little shoe-horned in to the themes by the end of the show, such as with "War never changes"? Yes, I thought so. But I love how even with a new plot and characters, they're actually still exploring the same themes and staying true to the games. I've seen folks argue otherwise, but I truly disagree. The way capitalism poisons our world, represented primarily through The American Dream and the atomic age of the 45-50s that promoted the nuclear family dynamic -- it's there. If you think it's glorifying it by leaning so heavily into in the adaptation, I feel like you're not seeing it from the right angle. It's like saying Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck glorifies the American Dream, when both this book and the Fallout franchise are criticisms of it. If you think about it, the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout is a graveyard to the American Dream. This criticism comes from the plots that are built into every Fallout story that I know of. The Vaults are literally constructed to be their own horror story just by their mere existence, what they stand for, what happens in each of them. The whole entire show is about the preservation of the wrong things leading to fucked up worlds and people. The missions of the Vaults are time and again proven to be fruitless, unethical, plain wrong. Lucy is our brainwashed character who believed in the veritable cult she lived in before she found out the truth.

So then consider the Brotherhood of Steel. I really don't think it exists in the story to glorify the military. We see just how much the Brotherhood has brainwashed people like Max (also, anything ominously named something like "the Brotherhood" should raise eyebrows). Personally, I don't like Max, but I am intrigued by his characterisation. I thought the end of his arc was rushed the way he "came good" basically, but [SPOILERS] having him embraced as a knight in the Brotherhood at the end against his will -- finally getting something he always wanted -- and him grimly accepting it from all that we can tell? Him having that destiny forced upon him now that he's swaying? After he defected? If his storyline is meant to be a tragedy, it wouldn't surprise me, because Fallout is rife with tragedies anyway. And a tragedy would also be a criticism of the military. That's what Max's entire arc is. It goes from the microcosm focusing on the cycle of bullying between soldiers to the macro-environment where Max is being forced to continue a cycle of violence against humanity he doesn't want to anymore because a world driven to extremes forces him to choose it to survive (not to mention what a cult and no family would do to his psyche). Let's not forget what the Brotherhood's rules are: humankind is supreme. Mutants, ghouls, synths, and robots are abominations to be hated and destroyed. If you can't draw the parallels to the real world, you need to retake history and literature classes. The Brotherhood is also about preserving the wrong things, like the Vaults (like the Enclave, really). They just came about through different method. The Enclave is capitalism and twisted greed in a world where money barely exists anymore. The Brotherhood is, well, fascism plain and simple.

Are these the only factions in the Fallout franchise? Hell no. But if you're mad about that -- that they're the main ones explored, apart from the NCR -- I think you're missing the point. These themes, these reminders, are highly relevant in the current climate. In fact, I almost think they always will be relevant unless we undergo drastic change. On the surface-level, Fallout seems like the American ideal complete with guns blazing that guys in their basements jerk off to. Under that surface, is a mind-fuck story about almost the entire opposite: it's a deconstruction of American ideals that are held so closely by some, and the way that key notion of freedom gets twisted, and you're shooting a guy in-game because it's more merciful than what the world had in store for him.

I mean, the ghoul's a fucking cowboy from the wild west character he used to play in Hollywood glam and his wife was one of the people who helped blow up America in the name of capitalism and "peace". There are so many layers of this to explore, I'd need several days to try and keep track and go through it all.

The Amazon Prime show is a testament to the Fallout franchise. The message, the themes? They were not messed up or muddled or anything of the sort, in my opinion.

As for Todd Howard, that Bethesda guy, I'm sure there's perfectly valid reasons to hate him. I mean, I've hated people for a lot less valid reasons, and that's valid. We all got our feelings. But the show is about more than just him. My advice is to keep that in mind when you're judging it.

#fallout series #amazon prime fallout #amazon prime video fallout #amazon fallout #prime fallout #fallout #besthesda #todd howard #fallout spoilers #some light analysis #the american dream #militarism #lucy mclean #maximus fallout #cooper howard #the ghoul #I know they're not planning a skyrim adaptation and that's fine #I prefer it remaining in its videogame medium while I write fanfics #so if they had to adapt any of their games I'm actually glad it was fallout #also please forgive me I wrote this very late at night so there's probably a bunch of mistakes #and I've played fallout for like six years and still don't know anywhere near as much as the hard core fans but I'm also not a newbie

[riddlerosehearts]

idia/vil is such a sweet and interesting ship to me and does not deserve to be a rarepair i'm serious. this might end up a bit incoherent and disorganized because i'm not great with words, but listen. the thing is that while on a surface level idia shroud and vil schoenheit--a nerdy shut-in with anxiety who likes to game all day and a mega famous celebrity who's strict about self-improvement--might seem completely incompatible, their actual interactions show us that that just isn't true!!

like, for example idia's starsending robes vignette is a big one!! the way that vil sees idia trying to hide when he's supposed to be at the ceremony, and idia says he's terrified that people will make fun of him, that he's not like vil and can't just go out and not care what anyone think the way he does. and then vil... tells him he's wrong, that it's the opposite, that he cares so much what other people think but has enough of a grip on himself that he can ignore it and appear confidently in public. the way vil admits to idia that they are so much more alike that he thinks.

also, the way that (in this fan translation at least, as well as in other TLs i've seen--the localization translates it to have the complete opposite meaning, for whatever reason) idia then says "so in other words, you've got to level up your ignore skill", and instead of getting annoyed at him for translating his advice into video game terms vil just says "isn't that obvious?". he's going out of his way to try and give idia genuine advice and is willing to speak his language to get him to understand it. he even does a similar thing later on in book 6, when he tells idia that it's worth taking chances because after all, the star rogue protagonist took his chances and went from zero to a hero.

and on that note, book 6 is so good for them. book 6 has idia get all excited and carried away while infodumping about star rogue, only to abruptly lose his enthusiasm and start talking quietly and stuttering. and who is it that tells him he shouldn't act so embarrassed and that they weren't judging him? it's none other than vil. vil who also shows an interest in gaming, much to the surprise of idia who believed, in his own words, that a "sparkly, gorgeous supermodel" like vil couldn't possibly like any of the same things as him! but no, vil wanted to try out the games they had and vil expressed a desire for idia to talk about his passions without fear of being judged. vil enjoyed playing star rogue and he was glad to discuss the movie adaptation with idia and ortho.

it's also vil who, when idia expresses his disappointment at the star rogue sequel being canceled and his wish for the original team to get back together and create a sequel that would be made with passion behind it, is the only one to genuinely understand where he's coming from (as opposed to jamil who's like "is it really that complicated?" and leona who suggests that he just throw money at the creators). vil is the one who encourages him to take a chance at doing what he can to make that wish a reality, to let the original team know that there's a passionate and loyal fanbase waiting for a sequel, and tells him that he just generally shouldn't give up on changing his future and achieving his dreams before he's even tried. of course ortho heard this advice too and took it very much the wrong way, but vil showed a surprising amount of understanding and support for idia and i feel like it was exactly the kind of thing he needed to hear.

also. remember the scene in disney's hercules where hercules temporarily gives up his godhood and his youth by diving into the underworld to save megara? because vil literally did the same thing to save idia. yeah, he may say he only did it for plot reasons, but like come on, how am i supposed to just not ship them after they parallel one of my favorite disney couples like that? vil is a world famous actor and model who was terrified of aging, and he still took such an insane risk!! i'm sure idia would have a crush on him after that.

i'm trying to wrap this up now because it's already too long but also idia has actually been said to have great fashion sense as his online persona and shown to enjoy cosplay and dressing up on occasion (for example, he went all out on his pumpkin knight costume and this hasn't made it to EN yet but he liked wearing the masquerade outfit). vil had pretty high praise for his design sense when he saw ortho's burst gear. and vil gets along incredibly well with ortho and is in the film club with him post-book 6, which is something i imagine idia would appreciate a lot. the contrast between them and the things they unexpectedly have in common are just so neat to me.

so, in conclusion,

i love them and i think they should be boyfriends

#twisted wonderland #idia shroud #vil schoenheit #vildia #idiavil #vilidia #i am once again forcing everyone to think about my favorite rarepair #okay also i didn't think this was relevant to the main post but like. consider. #height differences make everything better right?? #but vildia doesn't have a height difference! they're both 183 cm! #EXCEPT. apparently vil usually appears to be taller because of his 13cm/5in heels #which means they CAN have a super cute height difference. idia can lean on vil's shoulder... #also i think it would be fun if vil finds out idia actually has a bit of interest in fashion and is like SUPER surprised by it #like the reverse of idia finding out vil is interested in gaming #and they should play animal crossing and do couples cosplay together #also i have no idea if the localization for that one vignette is more accurate than the fan TLs i've seen or not?? #but the fan TL version just makes more sense to me #okay i'm done now sorry #idia x vil #vil x idia

[assorted-things]

My thoughts on the ending

This is probably going to be a bit rambling and disconnected, so bear with me...

(This got far longer than I meant it to be...)

Does anyone else feel that the Deserter is a reflection of the person Harry could have been, if he hadn't lost his memory? The bitterness and anger and inability to let go of the past remind me of a lot of things that the Ancient Reptilian Brain and the Limbic System say in the dream sequences... I think that Harry's amnesia is a gift, in a way - it allows Harry to eventually let go of the past and decide what kind of person he wants to be now. One of the first dream sequences shows Harry a vision of himself as the hanged man, and I think in a way the old Harry did die when he lost his memories. One of the reasons the game was so affecting emotionally to me is that you as the player are the one getting Harry to turn his life around, if that's how you choose to play it, because it really makes you feel involved and part of Harry's story. It's one of the reasons why I don't think the game would work well as a TV adaptation - I think it would really lose a lot of its emotional impact without your input. It really moved me that I could get Harry to go from screaming that he "doesn't want to be that kind of animal any more", to telling the Phasmid: "I'm glad to be me - an incredibly sensitive instrument".

I really love how the tone of the game manages to be somehow hopeless and hopeful at the same time. Maybe the world is doomed by the Pale, and the Revolution failed, and maybe Revachol is a shithole, but... you can find that there are things worth loving and saving in this broken world. You're subconscious tries so hard to convince you that it's all terrible and evil and that you should just give up and let the darkness take you, but all of your actions through the game can prove that voice wrong. It tells you you're not helping anyone, but depending on how you play the game, you are: you found Billie's husband, and even though he's dead, at least now she knows and won't have to wait forever for him to come home when he won't; Cuno has someone who actually listens to him and takes what he has to say seriously; you got Plaisance to bring Annette in from the cold; you stopped the mercenaries from killing as many people as they might otherwise have done (it went pretty badly in my playthrough, but I tried), and you gave Kim a friend. I love the message it seems to be trying to put across that even if the world is ultimately doomed, you can and should still try to find the good in it, and make a small part of it a better place. And maybe in the end it won't change anything, but the fact that you had hope enough to try matters. And maybe if enough people thought that way, they could change reality for the better - maybe there was a grain of truth in that infra-materialist stuff all along. Maybe it sounds corny, but I found it very touching.

This is... sort of where the Phasmid comes in for me, because everyone thought the existence of the Insulindan Phasmid was impossible, but because you believed in it enough, you were able to prove it was real. And if the Phasmid is real, then maybe other things that people thought were impossible can happen, too... It makes me feel very satisfied that I chose "SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL IS GOING TO HAPPEN" when I painted that wall. It seems fitting.

I also love the fact that the Deserter being stuck in the past is literally killing him. And... he talks a big game about being the last real Communist or whatever, but in the end, how is he actually helping the working class by clinging to his bitterness and refusing to let go of what could have been, instead of trying to do something to help the people around him? Even though Harry is flawed, and on his own can't change the world, he's made a difference to the people around him, which is better than being consumed by bitterness and doing nothing at all.

In the end, I think for me one of the core themes of the game is faith/belief (not necessarily in a religious sense)... I think that something that really helps is Kim's belief in Harry. He's so kind to Harry, when he could just as easily write him off as a shambling alcoholic. I think Kim's faith in you makes you want to live up to what he thinks of you, so... I'm not sure how coherent I'm being here, but it's a bit like how Harry believing in the Phasmid lets him make it a definite reality - Kim's belief in Harry as a great detective, or someone who could be a great detective, makes Harry a better person, I think. (At least, that's my take on it - I got so attached to Kim as a character that I really wanted to make him proud of my version of Harry!) And in the end, his faith wasn't misplaced. Again, he can't change the world, and he's human and not a saint (much as Harry may think he is), but Kim choosing to be kind did make a difference, even if it was only to one man.

tl;dr This is going to sound unbearably pretentious, but if someone asked me if video games can be art, this is the game I'd point to and say "yes".

#this game's story and world have just grabbed my heart and squeezed #I'm Not OK #Disco Elysium #Splash plays games #Disco Elysium spoilers

[froggy-with-a-knife]

lasertag

pairing: reyna x reader

prompt: inspired by that post about your oto going lasertagging (i've seen it on my timeline at some point but i'm to lazy to look for it)

word count: ~1300

warning: not proofread, sry

A/N: i've never played lasertag so think of the game they're playing as less of a lasertag game and more of a vp training session with fake guns

"Shit"

You quickly slung the weapon over your back, barely dodging the fire coming your way as you ran for cover behind the next wall, sliding the last meters to safety on your knees.

You looked for any sign that you had been hit, but luckily came up empty. Taking your rifle, you peeked out into the open, scanning your surroundings for your opponent. Darkness enveloped the room, making it hard to see clearly. Only a faint movement of shadows on the other side gave away your enemy's position.

Taking aim, you waited for a clear shot, finger hovering over the trigger. You hit Phoenix square in the chest, bullseye. The Brit scowled, as the light on his vest turned red and bells rang out, signaling his 'death'. You couldn't surpress the satisfied smile as your friend stomped away in anger, muttering under his breath.

You took cover again, finger moving to your earpiece.

"KJ, how does it look on your end?", you asked, aware that with Phoenix out of the game, there was only one enemy player left.

But having a two versus one advantage meant nothing when the one you were up against was Reyna.

"I lost sight of her, but she was somewhere around-"

The comms cut off suddenly and you sighed when the death chime sounded once more. At least you had a vague idea where Killjoy had been before she was eliminated. That should help you track down the Mexican.

With everything on the line, you kept your weapon ready, not daring to sling it over your back for more mobility. You knew Reyna's combat style well. She was quick, merciless, and precise. Your only hope was to find her first and take her by surprise.

As silently as you could, you walked through the maze of the lasertag arena, retracing the route that KJ had taken, your eyes peeled for any movement in the shadows, ears listening for any sound that could give your opposition away.

However, the thing with Reyna was, she was not only quick and accurate but could also be silent if she wanted to be. You didnt even realize she was approaching, until you felt the barrel of her weapon press into your back, freezing you in place.

"Hello, darling", she whispered smugly into your ear followed by a throaty chuckle that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Your grip on your gun slackened until it hang loosely at your side. She already had you at gunpoint, the game was over.

"Reyna", you acknowledged quietly, heart beating out of your chest. Slowly, you turned around to face her, hands raised in surrender. The end of her gun came to rest on the marker on your chest. All, she would have to do was pull the trigger.

Her magenta eyes were glowing, making you wonder, like so many times before, whether she could actually see in the dark. Kind of like a cat or an owl. It wouldnt surprise you. Pretty much everything about her has been adapted for battle, why not her sight?

Even in the dim light of the arena you could see her raise an eyebrow at your quick surrender.

"Giving up so easily? You could at least attempt to fight me."

You offered her as genuine a smile as you could manage, given the disappointment of your imminent defeat.

"I know when I'm beaten. Im just glad it's you and not Phoenix. I couldn't take all the gloating."

"Oh, I plan to gloat alright, dont you worry", Reyna informed you, pursing her lips in thought, "But I dont think I'll let you off so quickly."

You frowned as she pressed the barrel more firmly to your chest with an almost predatory smile, prompting you to take a couple of steps backwards.

"What, why-"

Reyna shushed you, clicking her tongue in disapproval, eyes flashing with mischief.

"No questions. Just do what I say."

Hard to argue with that when you are at gunpoint. Besides, you were, admittedly, curious about what she had planned. Slowly she forced you backwards into a secluded corner, hidden from prying eyes by tall walls. She nodded to your gun next.

"Put that away. I dont want you to try anything."

Slowly but purposefully you took your gun and put it on the floor, sending it skitting to the other side with a firm and well-placed kick. Reyna's stance relaxed slightly, weapon lowering for the first time. It's not like she needed it now. You posed no threat at all, unarmed and backed into a corner as you were.

Weirdly enough the absence of the gun barrel made you more nervous. Without something separating you, the closeness of the other woman became all too apparent to you. There was no denying the attraction you felt for her under normal circumstances. But while you were usually able to ignore the butterflies in your stomach or the way your pulse quickened, there was no dismissing them this time, nothing to distract yourself with, nowhere to escape.

You swallowed agains the lump in your throat, failing to keep your eyes from staring at her lips as she came even closer, caging you in by placing her hands on the wall behind your head.

"What now?" , you asked, sounding almost out of breath. You forced your eyes to meet hers and she smirked, leaning close.

"Now, I think I deserve a reward for winning, don't I?"

Obviously, you agreed. You eagerly met her halfway, lips crashing together with raw passion, sending a jolt of electricity through your body. Reyna pushed against you until your bodies were pressed flushed against one another, your back hitting the wall with a soft thud. Her hands were in your hair in an instant, making you let out a moan that you'd be embarassed about later. You move your hands to rest on her hips, needing an anchoring point.

Reyna dominated the kiss and you had absolutely no objections to that. After the first frantic moments had passed, she angled your head in a way that allowed her to ease you into a slower, surprisingly tender kiss. One of her hands moved to cup your face, thumb caressing your cheek in a gesture that made your heart skip a beat.

Once the need for air became impossible to ignore, she pulled away, resting her forehead against yours. Your eyes were still closed, breath mingling with hers as you tried to savour the moment, lips tingling pleasantly.

Reyna used your distractedness and turned her attention to your neck, lips tracing a path all the way down to your pulse point. Your grip on her hips tightened, pulling her body even more into yours. You could feel the way her lips pulled into a smirk, satisfied with your reaction.

"I hate to cut this short, cariño", she murmured in between kisses, pulling away from your neck, much to your chagrin. If possible, her eyes were shining even more brightly than before, and even the tattos on her arms were shimmering magenta. She looked mesmerising and the sight of her was a little too distracting, you almost missed her next words completely.

"But sadly, the other's are waiting."

Her gun fired and the bell signaled your defeat to your teammates waiting outside, but you were still too lightheaded from the makeout session to care. Seeing, the state you were in, Reyna smiled more softly, pressing a lingering kiss to your lips before detantljng herself from you.

"We can continue this later, if you like", she offered picking up your gun and holding it out to you. You take it slowly, clearing your throat.

"I would- I'd like that a lot."

"Good", she grinned, matching the one on your face, "Now come, it's time to gloat."

#reyna x reader #valorant reyna #reyna x you #zyanya mondragon x reader #valorant x reader #froggystory

[maverick-werewolf]

Hi! I suck at sending asks so I hope I don’t come off in any kind of bad way

I know you very briefly mentioned Van Helsing (2004) in one of your ‘Vampire vs Werewolf’ posts, but I wanted to know your thoughts on the werewolf designs in them. I was doing research for one of my characters, and I’m not really sure if drawing inspiration from their designs would fit/work with the actual folklore.

Maybe you could even list some of your favorite designs or good places to reference from, if you know any?

— House 🩵 (I love your blog so much it’s a literal godsend for Vamp and Wolf research)

Not at all a bad way; thank you for sending in an ask! And I'm so glad you enjoy the blog, thank you for the kind words! :D

I actually love the werewolf designs in Van Helsing, overall. They're very cool - they're big, scary, muscular, and wolfish (all traits I personally love), but they are also varied according to character...

This is concept art from the film. Notice how they all look like wolves and have a coherent common design while also having unique and characterized features and builds. I really love that. You may not have even noticed it a whole lot in the movie itself (I did, though), but it really makes them feel more like an individual turning into a monster instead of just someone turning into a standardized creature like a transform ability in a video game.

I'd say they're a good starting point for any werewolf concepts that want to go for the big wolfish humanoid look while still being scary and characterized!

Designing werewolves after folklore can be tricky and even odd, given folklore varied very widely and also wasn't always very specific. Most werewolves in folklore turn into wolves, which leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Some also had paws they used as hands (does that mean they had hands? etc) and other variations. Some even looked quite ridiculous and not even very wolfish, with things like a tufted lion tail and red hindquarters! It got wild in folklore.

Personally, I wouldn't restrict yourself to trying to stick too closely to folklore specifically. Design something cool, and most importantly, have fun with it and make it yours. My recommendation is just to stick with what you like and think looks cool and things that look wolfish in some way. Don't do like a lot of designers and tell yourself that a wolf is the last thing you should be drawing reference from; that's just silly. They're still werewolves. Granted, since you're interested in folklore and enjoy my blog, I doubt I need to say that, lol. I have other personal preferences, but at the end of the day, that's my advice to others.

My advice might also sound a little bit canned, but that's how I feel. My werewolves in Wulfgard have a variety of designs per individual and other factors in the story/world itself and many other elements; their designs are something I have hashed out over the course of literally my entire life, so it isn't something to rush. I like a variety of designs, and curses are complicated in my world, and I've adapted that into the entirety of werewolf designs themselves. I'm really proud of what I came up with - be sure to check back to my blog in November for some big news in terms of my own werewolves and their designs... Sorry - shameless plug! I've got a big thing coming.

Hope this helps, and hope you're having a great day! :)

#asks #ask #anonymous #werewolf #werewolves #designs #Wulfgard #folklore #van helsing #movies #werewolf movies

[camirami]

I have soooo many thoughts about the Scott Pilgrim anime.

Unfortunately none of my friends have watched it yet so I'm quietly going insane. Fortunately Tumblr exists! So I get to scream into the void and rave about this gem!!

Going in, I felt the pacing for the first episode felt way too fast?? Was really disappointed because it seemed we skipped too many steps forward to the big fight? Then OHHH boy suddenly it made perfect sense.

Scott, btw, has immaculate rizz. Can't believe it worked.

I was on the fence whether or not that was different good or different bad, but the second episode kept me in. Third episode all but confirmed I wasn't jumping ship at any point

I absolutely ADORE how the other characters in Scott and Ramona's lives get a lot more love. Though we got some hints that the league wasn't all that bad in previous adaptations (well, mainly just the one ex), the anime really fleshes them out and shows hey!! They have their own side of the story!!

About Ramona: I'm glad they made it more believable that she's actually in lesbians with Scott. They switched their positions and instead showed her being the one to go completely gaga over him for the entire show, something the rest of the cast consistently point out makes zero sense!! Total dumbass move on her part. They're perfect for each other god

I know I praise the show for fleshing out characters, but I guess the price for that is some important figures get pushed to the background. I guess being an adaptation it assumes the viewer will have read and watched both the graphic novels and the movie and wouldn't need to know more about these characters? Honestly not too affected by that actually

That being said, the anime doesn't require you to immerse yourself in the preceding comic/movie. People new to the series will still have a blast!! But your viewing experience would be vastly enhanced if you actually did read and watch them because they go well hand-in-hand

The game and the movie had amazing soundtracks, so it's no surprise that the anime would deliver on that front as well (but I might just be a bit biased just because of the mortal kombat theme in the finale)

But actually surprising, is the voice cast was very good?? I knew going in the cast from the film was gonna be the English voice casts, but I was a bit skeptical because live-action actors don't always do a good job doing VA work (LOOKING AT YOU CRISPRAT). There was never a moment where they came off as awkward.

Despite some very glaring changes, the show retains pretty much the same story beats and themes as the book, but with an additional focus on Ramona's own tendency to run away from her problems. The finale still ends with them wanting and trying to be better for each other, but this time everyone gets a happy ending!! So I think that kinda makes it better than everything that came before it

My dad talked about how amazing he thought the Scott Pilgrim movie was and I'm gonna take SO MUCH JOY knowing he'll be seething by the first episode alone. This shit is so gay. Absolute 🔥

#scott pilgrim takes off #scott pilgrim vs the world #scott pilgrim #ramona flowers

[evilwickedme]

Your elementary posts are inspiring me to rewatch elementary! Which is good bc i love elementary and bad bc i have so much programming homework to be doing.

Anyway, so on the topic of sherlock holmes:

Which screen (movie and tv) adaptation of sherlock holmes have you seen, and which ones do you think are best (true to original holmes) and best (most personally enjoyable to you)?

(I love your meta on fandom stuff in general - no pressure to answer tho! I just feel like you’d give an interesting reply on this)

Elementary is so good, I'm glad I inspired you to rewatch (but also, good luck with your homework lmao)

Now, to answer your question

It's worth noting that I... Did not read the original stories. Or well, I tried, but I didn't vibe with them originally (I tried to read them in high school after receiving a complete copy for my birthday from my sister), didn't get around to giving them a second chance, and eventually just exchanged my copy for some of my friend's books. So I can't really speak to how accurate any of these are to the originals, but I'll guess anyway lmao

So! Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes I've seen, in no particular order

Sherlock (BBC, 2010-2017) - first two seasons and an episode and a half of season 3

My experience of Sherlock BBC was heavily colored by superwholock and the reichenbach pause, which were the reason I watched the show in the first place, as I had not heard of the show previously. 2012-2013 Tumblr was truly another time. I believe around the same time I also binge watched the first two seasons of Game of Thrones, and I had very similar experiences with both of them: investment because they were pop culture phenomenon, and uncritical and quick consumption that left no room for my own feelings to develop. And in both cases when the third season premiered I discovered, much to my surprise, that I didn't actually like the show. I in fact had extremely pointed criticisms of the show, didn't enjoy the characters, and found the viewing experience to be tedious hard work. So... I do not like Sherlock (BBC), and never really did, although I continued to participate in superwholock as a fandom until its decline. The release of Sherlock is Garbage and Here's Why (dir. Hbomberguy, 2017) was an incredibly satisfactory experience, as it experienced my criticisms extremely well, and put to words my feelings that I hadn't even managed to turn into criticisms, plus pointing out flaws I hadn't even noticed. SiGaHW is one of my favorite films, a twice-yearly watch. Highly recommended. That said, Sherlock itself sucks and is both a bad show and has uncompelling "mysteries". Bad as an adaptation of the original stories and bad as in just bad. Bad.

Elementary (CBS, 2012-2019) - all seven seasons

I enjoy Elementary a great deal. I think it's sort of a model modern procedural, with the cases of the week nearly always being compelling to watch and the emphasis on the developing character dynamics being one of my favorite aspects. There are seasons I enjoy more or less but that's nearly always because of the ongoing subplots (Morland and Moriarty were significantly more compelling than Shinwell, for example) than the actual cases of the week, which again, are pretty much always extremely solid. I've rewatched this show several times, and I think it's extremely enjoyable. It's not perfect, but it gets points for, for example, having Mrs. Hudson be a trans woman all the way back in the early 2010s, and having an autistic woman as a love interest who felt like a genuine well rounded woman. It's also occasionally a little critical of the police in a way that stands out for a crime procedural, which is cool, but only a little. All in all, I like the show a lot, although it's not my favorite on this list. That said, the crime procedural is pretty much the most natural way to adapt the spirit of the original Holmes stories into modern day media, and it uses pretty much every notable character from the stories eventually including some of the mysteries (I really like the hounds storyline adaptation in particular!), so I think this wins best adaptation.

Sherlock Holmes (dir. Guy Ritchie, 2009) - just the first one

I'll be real with you I don't remember anything about this movie except that I watched it and had a fine time.

House (Fox, 2004-2012) - all eight seasons

Y'all know I'm currently in House brainrot, so obviously this ends up on the list. Excellent television, especially for people like me who live for a good procedural and were looking for something that wasn't a cop show. House is Holmes, Wilson is Watson, and the occasional Sherlock Holmes canon reference shows up, such as the guy who shot House being named Moriarty in the credits, or Wilson bullshitting the second gen ducklings about a woman named Irene Adler who was The Woman for House. It's a very good show - although not currently my favorite on the list - and any mystery of the week format is going to be at least a little inspired by the o.g., but it doesn't win over Elementary, which has actual murder and crime mysteries.

The Irregulars (Netflix, 2021) - like two episodes

Based on the concept of Sherlock's canon irregulars but it's a fantasy show! I heard great things but did not end up clicking with it. Obviously by virtue of it being a supernatural show it's not very based on the original, but at least there's mysteries that must be solved?

Sanctuary (Syfy, 2008-2011)

This show is the kind of thing I'd watch when it was on, back in the days where I would watch my parents' satellite television instead of downloading whole seasons of shows on my laptop (as I didn't have a laptop yet lmao). I remember it having dense plots, and vaguely remembered that one of the characters was Sherlock Holmes, and I googled it - it's actually Watson. But hey, that counts, so I included it. I remember enjoying the show but I could not tell you if it was actually good because my taste in 2010 was a bit of a mixed bag on account of me being 12. Anyway I would say it's probably a terrible adaptation and they most likely didn't even try considering the kind of show it was, and I wouldn't call it my favorite.

Psych (USA, 2006-2014; movies 2017, 2020, 2021) - eight seasons, 3 movies

Finally we reach my favorite of these shows. Is it the best one? Idk that's probably a competition between Elementary and House, really, because Psych gets quite silly in the later seasons. But I really do love this show and these characters so much. Like House, it is only a little inspired, but even more loosely so, with really only the idea of a guy who's really smart and eccentric and his best friend who seems normal but really is a bit of a freak (in Gus' case, actually way weirder than Shawn) sticking around. Shawn has eidetic memory and is wicked smart, and actually makes for some really good ADHD rep in my opinion. The comedy usually lands and the romance plot is one of my favorite slow burns and the serial killer episodes are high quality as shit and I love that there's a pineapple hidden in every single episode and I just. I love this show I love it so much

Anyway these are all the adaptations I've seen that I could think of. It's possible I missed something but only the kind of thing that doesn't say Holmes on it; I haven't seen Enola Homes, for example.

Thank you so much for asking I really appreciated this thought exercise of trying to remember every single bullshit TV show I've ever seen because, um, I've seen a lot of TV if I'm going to be honest.

Sorry for taking two weeks this was surprisingly hard and I have. A job

#sherlock holmes #elementary #house #house md #sherlock #sherlock bbc #the irregulars #sanctuary #psych #gail speaks #ask #hoarder-of-tea

[greenerteacups]

How do you feel about the fact that Bellatrix was Voldemort’s concubine/lover?

This ask prompted a real coleslaw of emotions.

Top level, I can't take the Cursed Child seriously as canon. I'm a purist about text to begin with — no word of God or adaptation can change what you put in the original books, and if the author wanted the text to be different, they had their shot — but, even if not, the Cursed Child is bad. Like, it's My Immortal type bad. It's the kind of bad that makes you glad it didn't come out closer to the original books + movies, or it could have had a Game of Thrones-type cratering effect on discussion and fandom. The Albus/Scorpius dynamic is cute — everything else about it sucks. It is a no-fly zone for good ideas. The Golden Trio are all twisted into funhouse mirrors, Voldemort has a daughter, and most perversely, the absolutely horrific mutilation of Cedric Diggory's character (in no world did that boy become a Death Eater! he was KIND AND DECENT! and he DIED ANYWAY! that was THE FUCKING POINT!!!!!!!).

Second layer: let's say that Bellatrix/Voldemort is canon and explored beyond the writers going "whoops gotta find a working womb for Voldemort's kid." That's a really interesting dynamic. It's a horrible dynamic! It's a motherfucker of an age gap to begin with, and it would have started when she was in her late teens to early twenties! Plus, she was married. To another man. So that would have to be explained? Because she obviously wasn't always so mindlessly devoted to Voldemort that she couldn't entertain connections with others? But that's not to say that I'm against it as a narrative decision. Tom Riddle is (captain obvious moment incoming) a Bad, Bad Man, and the idea of him seducing a younger woman is actually an understandable extension of his connection with his followers that's not explored in the books. Because, like: the Death Eaters are a cult! Riddle runs a death cult. Cults use sex to manipulate members. One of the oldest tricks in the book.

Third layer: this could be a kind of interesting move for Riddle, who as a villain is never developed all that much, and doesn't have much in the way of humanizing qualities. Because Riddle is anti-love as such. He doesn't believe in it, and if you believe Dumbledore, he's not capable of it. (I don't really love this take on the character, but I think that Riddle thinks this is the case, and Dumbledore is so grizzled and jaded by the years that he believes him. Dumbledore's great failure with Tom was never seeing past the person Tom wanted him to see — or, rather, looking at Tom and seeing Grindlewald when he should have seen Harry.) So for him to harbor enough affection for Bellatrix to take her as his (only?) lover, when he doesn't seem to need it to convince her to join him (and he doesn't really need her support, anyway) creates a wrinkle in the Story of Voldemort as we're told. It suggests that either Tom or Dumbledore (or both) is lying about his capacity for love— or at least his capacity for human attachment. And that Tom isn't so unique as either of them would like to believe.

Also, it adds a wrinkle to Bellatrix's character, too: even if they met when she was an adult, there's manipulation happening there that's clearly one-sided and unequal. or at least, there probably is. and if it's consensual, or if she aggressively pursued him— that's interesting, too. my point being: this isn't a bad idea, necessarily. it's a bad idea because i don't think the writers of the Cursed Child thought about any of that when they were trying to find a womb for the Voldebaby.

#greenteacup asks #i was going to ship tag but i realized this probably counts as yucking the yum #so i'll just leave it here on my blog #sidebar i think the good-faith read of dumbledore's “voldemort cannot love” thing is about love as a form of selflessness #i.e. that love is a fundamentally selfless act that people as narcissistic and cruel as tom cannot do #without first undergoing great change and becoming a substantially different version of themselves #i think that's fair. but i also think for dumbledore to show harry all those memories of tom being a weird little kid #as if to say “yeah look at this guy. he was always broken and now he must die. :(” is like. dude you're a shit fucking teacher #if you think that your involvement in this child's life had nothing to do with the direction it took. #tom would have BARELY made it out of london before the blitz started and you think that had nothing to do #with him being interested in immortality and the power to save himself from death? are you fucking stupid? #anyway!

[manderleyfire]

hey, ali! i feel your pain about the tbosas adaptation! i cried so much during the movie but not because i felt emotional, seeing MY book comes alive on screen but because we were robbbbbbbbbbed and shot 😞😞😞😞😞😞 anyways, what's your opinion on the music tho? fav/least fav song? (my is the oldtherebefore and least fav the 0livia r0drigo's one)

hey, lollis!

‘robbed and shot’, exactly. i couldn’t have said it better myself because unfortunately, that’s spot on 🥲

I LOVED THE MUSIC! a dystopian reflection of our reality through intentional use of folk/bluegrass music is something that resonates strongly with me. i mean, they knew how to strike the right chord in the hearts of book readers for sure! *the only other thing i wish was different about the music it's the variety of tempo and rhythm because as much as i LOVED the unified sound of LG's songs, i would prefer each song to have its own individual tune and ~aura)

my absolute favourite adaptation that they did was 'nothing you can take from me' (boot-stompin’ version); i am utterly in awe of the powerful passionate energy that they gave to this song?? also i loveeed the similarity of rhythm and tone between 'nothing you can take from me' and a traditional american folk song 'man of constant sorrow', i kinda feel it was a deliberate parallel which worked just great. (also i’m glad they added maude ivory’s 'keep on the sunny side'!)

my least favourite is perhaps 'the ballad of lucy gray baird'?.. and though i did enjoy rachel’s rendition (she copies a young dolly parton in such a warm-hearted respectful manner!), and the respect for traditional appalachian music, she sang it in a cheerful 'to hell with you!' manner which is less intense and intimate that i remember it from the book to be? to quote tbosas here: 'the haunting melody set the tone, and her words did the rest as she began to sing in a voice husky from smoke and sadness' – the movie version really failed to capture both the haunting tune (their version doesn't really tell the story musically because of a major key) and the lucy gray's vulnerability here for me. in the book she did what carrie fisher told us all to do: 'take your broken heart and turn it into art' while in the movie she isn't even angry at billy taupe?? like his betrayal (and her place in the games) is not a big deal? she's openly rebellious and sassy with out of place 'i need no man' attitude and that simply didn't work for me personally.

it took some time for 'pure as the driven snow' to grow on me (i expected it to be more of a waltz-like, similar to maiah wynne's cover), but i'm coming around to it. yet… i wish it was STAGED differently??? they had to combine certain scenes and songs in the film but it was such a SURREAL idea to meld PATDS with 'sell you for a song' setting? and it took away so much from that moment of love and connection and unconditional acceptance, where lucy gray is finally ready to be emotionally unshielded in front of her lover (maybe for the first time ever)?? it was a PIVOTAL snowbaird moment but they needed to blend two songs together because obviously PATDS can't be love confession in form of a song because it should be taken as an ominous warning instead (duh!). 'bitch you better not turn out to be a bad guy even tho i knew you were a villain all along' :??? and it could've worked in its own angst-y way, if there had been any development in snowbaird love story?? but since movie!they are full on survival the whole time (there's no canonical teetering on the edge of an actual fondness/love and survival instinct), PATDS makes no sense at all. so… i extremely frustrated by the use of PATDS on screen but at the same time i love the sound of the full version on the soundtrack album.

annnd i'm actually IN PAIN because they had the audacity to leave so many songs out?? especially given their ties to the original trilogy?? 'deep in the meadow' aka rue's song???? 'the valley song' aka the one peeta mentioned seeing katniss sing at school when they were children????  the festive 'crawling to you' ('that thing i love with') likely performed at finnick’s wedding?? idk maybe it's a musical nerd who is speaking in me but i wish they could have included more of the book songs at least on the album, if not in the actual movie (even tho i'm still sure, it would've been possible to present the whole complexity of this book AND its poetic side too, if they decided to split the film in two).

[the score album wasn't much to talk about but 'snow lands on top' piece tho… vivid, striking, remarkable]

#wifeofthewolves #ask #my ramblings #dolly sorry it's a bit longer and more spiteful than i expected it to be #i have to agree with you 'the old therefore' is mesmerizing and breathtaking + rachel's vocals are phenomenal there #i'm not a fan of how aggressive her portrayal of lucy gray generally was #but that raw anger in 'the old therefore' felt so right it reminded me of eva noblezada's eurydice even #btw rachel's first line from 'the reaping song' sounds so similiar to samantha's eponine #actually first time i heard it i was so shocked i stopped the song to immediately rewind it back to the beginning lol #and i'm glad i listened to the album before i watched the movie #because welllllllll the music is better #i wish we could've replaced 'can't catch me now' with any canon song tho because i really don't care about miss rodrigo #also also the movie’s musical arrangement of the wordsworth song is kind of boring sorry #anywayssssss tell me more what do you think

[hxhhasmysoul]

"JJK really went from a loved manga to a mid-to-bad story with insufferable fans 🙏 may more of us hate it in the future. It snatches the spotlight from genuinely good shows and its another case of "general shonen fan will call any trash 'goat' if the fight is well animated".

I used to be a fan, until the start of the culling game. And after this controversial, inconsistent and inhumane adaptation of shibuya, im glad that I have no interest in both manga and show anymore.."

Thoughts on that statement? Do you think culling game really that hard to understand, cause I saw quite a lot start dislike JJK since that arc....?

If I had seen this in the wild I would've blocked the account that produced it. I block for very liberally and while I will block for obvious bigotry and shitty harassment behaviour, so like serious reasons,I will also block for general annoyance. Fandom is my hobby and I don't want it to be annoying and stress me out through unleashing my adhd and flood my brain with thoughts. And this qualifies as annoying.

But since you brought this to me I will actually explain why I find these kind of posts annoying and not worth engaging with.

While I would've blocked it before I got to the second paragraph on the "may more of us hate it in the future" alone, I will actually start analysing it from the second paragraph where op pretends to give an explanation for this turn in attitude towards JJK they experienced.

Reason 1:

"I used to be a fan, until the start of the culling game."

Op invokes the Culling Game arc as if it's an obvious reason to dislike JJK and hence your question at the end of the ask. And I will get to that but I need to set the stage first.

Reason 2:

"And after this controversial, inconsistent and inhumane adaptation of shibuya,(...)"

(Side note, I find it genuinely dodgy that Shibuya, an actual rl geographical location is not capitalised when the abbreviation of the manga's title is.)

What is controversial, inconsistent and inhumane about the adaptation of the Shibuya arc? The working conditions at Mappa are inhumane indeed, but it's an industry wide problem and with how JJK is a beloved title the animators actually could do a strike with a chance of the company making concessions. I don't think there would've been the same amount of fan support and pressure for animators of smaller titles. And the way the anime is produced isn't really the reason why JJK as a story should be hated because the story isn't responsible for industry exploitation that has been happening since long before JJK was even conceived by its author.

The word "controversial" honestly feels flippant when it's together with the far more appropriate "inhumane" and feels like it was added for the aesthetics of having 3 adjectives.

Now the word "inconsistent" actually makes me believe that the outrage in this sentence is not genuine and is typical posturing of "I'm critical of the media I consume so I'm a good person" crowd." This is the only adjective that actually describes the adaptation and not its creation process. And the inconsistency of the adaptation is in its animation quality. And that inconsistency stems from the inhumane working conditions. Pulling is out as a reason as to why op is "glad that I have no interest in both manga and show anymore." feels really callous and shows their hand, that they are upset that they can't consume the pretty moving pictures in peace anymore.

Huh...

"It snatches the spotlight from genuinely good shows and its another case of "general shonen fan will call any trash 'goat' if the fight is well animated"."

This is a typical example of trying to put on the guise of intellectualism through being against the popular thing. There's also this classist distinction between high art and pop culture with the idea that only a certain level of education and intelligence allows for interacting with high art thus it's only for the intellectual elite.

So there's a certain group of people who equates obscurity with quality because if they can claim liking things that others don't know about they feel like they are smarter than the rest. This way they can make an appeal to intellectualism even if they are not interacting with what would traditionally by the upper classes and social climbers be considered high art.

Popularity means that the unwashed masses like it and and the intellectuals will look down on them and their tastes, even if the intellectuals are leftists. The mob is defined by its stupidity and by liking primitive and simplistic things for vulgar reasons.

In this framing, the moment JJK became popular it lost any claim to quality. JJK is liked by the "general shounen" fans who only like pretty moving pictures. The shounen fan mob doesn't care about the "genuinely good shows" and because the mob is huge and loud those better shows suffer in obscurity. Of course no show gets specified by op because they are addressing this to those who are in the know - like those who are at their level will immediately conjure the image of those "genuinely good shows" and nod along.

And now we will circle back to the Culling Games arc. This arc feels like a HxH arc, especially Hakari and I love it. But not only for that. The arc is much slower than the previous ones and I actually hoped it would be a signal that the story will slow down like this, take more of its time to follow one or two characters and delve deeper into them. I love how that arc fleshes out the power system so much more. I hoped we would get more on the new and old characters, and we get it on same Yuuji, Megumi, Maki, Noritoshi, Hakari, Kahimo, Charles, Higuruma though not enough on Kirara, Uro, Remi, Ishigori or the Kyoto school characters or later on Hana and Angel, the time wasted on Yuuta could've been used much better. But alas then Gege cut the breaks and put their foot down on the acceleration pedal and it makes me sad.

The thing is that the Culling Games are disliked because of how slow they are and how much reading there is in them. You will read the chapters online and the comment section will be full of:

"wtf, i'm not reading that lol."

"what did i just read, i don't understand a thing"

"ugh, does anyone know what's even going on in this manga?"

So saying that JJK fans are "insufferable" "general shonen fans" who only like flashy animation and the bring up the Culling Games as a reason why JJK is bad, is very funny to me.

People also stop liking JJK at the Culling Games because the Shibuya arc removes or sidelines several favs of the western tumblr and twitter fandom. Sexyman Nanami gets killed, cute Inumaki gets sidelined, sexyman Gojou gets sealed, sexyman Chousou stays in the tomb with a woman and it's becoming very hard to be delusional that Kenjaku isn't a real important character of their own but actually sexyman Getou who will return soon.

There are many new characters introduced who aren't sexymen, apart from Higuruma and Kashimo (canonically Kashimo doesn't have a defined gender but when has that ever stopped the fandom).

And the western fandom does not like Yuuji and even among those who claim to like him there's a not insignificant subset that likes their head canon of him as a manic pixie dream himbo that they like as a background to their favs and not as someone the story concentrates on.

Basically the Culling Games are not fast and flashy enough, and the arc is really hard on those fans who were skipping dialogue when it delved into lore and power system in the previous arcs. Already Shibuya gets difficult at times if you didn't pay attention to the world building in the earlier chapters but with the Perfect Preparation and the Culling Games and anything after I imagine it must be a chore to read when all the concepts seem new but the plot and character arcs heavily rely on the previously established world building.

The truth is that if you delve into the fandom tags it quickly becomes perfectly clear how poorly the fans are acquainted with the text. How to many fans the characters exist mostly as their head canon versions and not as they are in the text. You will see fans complaining that the manga changed into something else from something they liked. But when you learn what they think the manga used to be it becomes apparent that they were ignoring huge portions of the text for one reason or another and just focused on the parts that interested them. That they blow out of proportion the significance of their favs and get disappointed when the story doesn't centre them.

It's okay not to want to follow a story when the character you liked dies or gets sidelined but that doesn't mean that the story is bad for it, that it's definite proof of bad writing or whatever. And it's not the story's fault that someone only liked one or two characters and didn't care about the rest, it happens.

And this is the crux of the issue. People who write opinion like the one above speak as if they represent some large group. The language of the post you cited suggests that there's some general consensus about the quality of JJK, about the Culling Games being the reason to dislike it. That the choice is exclusively between these two options:

thinking that JJK is "mid-to-bad" for some reasons that should be obvious to the reader

or being a part of the unwashed anime fan masses who like it only because of the animation.

You're either among the intellectuals who are in the know and also morally correct in their hatred for the story or you're an insufferable cretin.

People like the author of that post can't just dislike something, can't fathom that something can be not for them. For them it's not okay for something to exist in a neutral way and not be for them. Them not liking a thing means that there's something "objectively" wrong with the thing and the people who like it. And they can't fathom that a serialised story not going in the direction they like doesn't mean that it's "objectively" badly written. It's natural to feel disappointment when the story one used to like turns into something they don't enjoy anymore. But posts like this hint on the fact that the author believes that stories exist just to satisfy them personally and when it fails to do that it needs to be publicly denounced and anyone who dares to like it needs to be shamed and informed of their intellectual failures.

#answering asks #thank you for the ask #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #this answer got long and kinda mean but this fandom tends to give me brain damage

[blood-choke]

Hello! I just wanted to say that I really appreciate this game and how it portrays butchness. I'm a huge fan of lesbian lit and there are so few butches in media that to see a game have not one, but three, makes me feel a certain kind of way.

Aside from that, I was really drawn to how you portrayed the differing relationships between all the characters. Everything feels so visceral and real, it just feels so crunchy that I find myself wanting for more. I really look forward to seeing how it will turn out for everyone involved.

Additionally, (if this is too spoilery, has been answered, or insensitive pls feel free to ignore) is it ok if I ask how you decide the dialogue and event flow of the choices? I was mildly and pleasantly surprised that flirting with Clear and staying with her in ch 3 would lead to "that" scene, and I'm curious on your writing process on how it lead to that.

Ultimately, I just really want to thank you for sharing your game with us. Im just really glad to be able to experience this game and I hope that you stay safe!

thank you!

overall when it comes to structuring dialogue & choices i tend to write a linear path first & then double back to add more branches.

i had a basic outline of the chapter & knew what i wanted to touch on with each route & what scenes needed to happen, and then i just kinda started writing from there. Clear's was actually the one i wrote first, her sex scene was what i wrote first, and then i went back and built a lot of the route around it.

i wrote Clear's and Hana's routes simultaneously since they were so intertwined, but i ended up rewriting Hana's three times, whereas with Clear i just had to edit it a bit. i knew i wanted them to have that conversation at the table about Clear not having any friends, and then i wrote the scene where mc finds the vampire erotica book. it took some trial and error until i was happy with the dialogue & choices at the table, as well as how i wanted to split the following variations. i tend to do the romantic variations first, and then work my way down, and sometimes i have to go backwards and edit as i write because i'll add something on a whim to one variation and decide that actually i want this to be in all of them.

i am definitely someone that's a bit of a "planster" meaning i do minimal planning and write a lot by the seat of my pants. sometimes it works, other times it puts me in a bit of a bind. like i said i tend to set out with specific information/dialogue/scene/etc in mind that i know has to happen, and build up around it.

with Hana the main focus in her route was that conversation with mc; i wanted mc to get overwhelmed at the store, and for her and Hana to talk about it afterwards, and for Hana to be frustrated at her situation as this person who suddenly has to comfort and take care of mc after being replaced by her. again, minimal planning, i wrote almost her whole route before i started working on Valentina's & i mentioned Standard and his proclivities towards Chinese antiques. this made me realize i needed to rewrite a lot of Hana's dialogue to be more inclusive of her race. i went back to Clear's route, and ended up writing a lot of the conversation with Hana there after she gets back from the store, and then i adapted it to the other routes.

Valentina's route was all about the painting. again, i wrote that initial scene of walking into her room, the description of the painting, and then her first sex scene, and built up from there. there was also the brief meeting with Joan, which was mostly just for fun and to introduce those characters early for anyone that went on V's route, so the next chapter those players will have a little jump on who they are. but the main point was that painting & i think it's pretty obvious with how the whole route plays out, and the fact that the painting is always seen by all players.

this is still a game, so it is gamified quite a bit, with all 3 characters having a potential sex scene in the same chapter at the same time. i planned it that way to make it easy for myself and because that's just how i wanted it to go. i put some stat checks in place to add variations, like if you went with Hana or Valentina in ch2, if you flirted with Clear or not, and again, it was a lot of jumping around and trial and error. i wrote a significant part of Valentina's route out of order, and i finished hers last before i finalized the council meeting (which i had written very early on but like Hana's route i had to rewrite a few times)

i like to describe my process as building a tree. i write the core of it all first, one linear path, the trunk, and then i double back and add in all of the possible branches. it doesn't mean anything that i wrote the friendly, romantic variation of Clear's route first, it just allowed me to use that single variation as an anchor and build up around it without straying too far and losing the plot, hahahaha. i still sometimes stray a little too far... but it's fun that way. it was fun trying to figure out a way to make the rival route different, how to change it while still telegraphing the same overall ideas about Clear & her situation. it's also very frustrating, but it's all part of the process....

#i have no idea if this answers your question. LOL #one thing with writing interactive fiction and something with big variations #is just it really does take a lot of trial and error #again writing a lot of Hana's route but then stepping back and realizing it doesn't quite compare #when held up against the others & having to scrap a lot of it #it happens a lot even with minor things like basic choices #right before i finished V's route i had a huge pity moment where i was like wow this all fucking sucks. but then when i finished it #along with the council meeting and saw it all come together it was really satisfying #it's hard but it's rewarding when it all comes together in the end #not that i think the chapter is perfect by any means or anything lmfao but you know. In General #ask #anonymous

[sparkykadachi]

A 5th Gen Hunter's Experience with Old Gen Monster Hunter

Ok, I want to preface this with my experience with the Monster Hunter series. While I consider myself a 5th generation hunter, I technically started at 3rd gen. I always had a passing interest in the Monster Hunter series, but was too preoccupied with other PS2 games like Kingdom Hearts, Ratchet and Clank, and Jak and Daxter (man remember Jak? I miss Jak...). But when Monster Hunter Tri came out on the Wii, I finally decided to try it. I went down to my local Hollywood Video (remember those?) and rented a copy...and then returned it three days later. I hated it. Movement felt clunky and stiff and stopping to do these long animations when using a consumable is STILL something I despise and I will DIE ON THIS HILL--

I would try again with the demo for Monster Hunter Generations on the 3DS, but it had all the same exact qualities I didn't enjoy. I had given up on Monster Hunter at this point, until Monster Hunter World was announced. It looked like it was changing everything I had a problem with. So I decided to give it one last try when the beta came out...and I was hooked. Cut to me today and I have put well over 3000 hours in World alone and my entire online brand is Monster Hunter. I didn't start with the 5th gen, but it's the one that finally turned me into a fan.

At this point, I've put a few hundred hours into Monster Hunter Rise as well and while I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as much as World, it was still a great time. But I've seen and done pretty much all I want to do in these two games. I wanted... something more. Something new to experience. And it was around the time I was feeling this that I just so happened to notice Generations Ultimate was on sale for $10 on the Switch. The last "old gen" style game before World came out. I was hesitant, but maybe after all my time with the two newest ones, maybe I could finally enjoy an old gen one for what it was. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?

I decided to stick with something familiar and played Guild Style Sword and Shield. I mained SnS for a while in World and Rise, so I figured this would be a good way to ease myself into this one. As time went on, I branched out and tried other weapons and styles eventually settling on Valor Charge Blade and Adept Great Sword. Hunter Styles and Hunter Arts are a ton of fun! It was a good time. But then...old gen problems came back up. While I was able to adapt to the more stiff movement, it was frustrating having to come to a full stop and be stuck in animations when using consumables, certain monster attacks being un-telegraphed and hard to react to, some constantly running around making it hard to actually fight them, and some I would just follow to a new zone, they would immediately leave to another, I'd go there, and they'd LEAVE AGAIN!!! AAAAAAAAAAA--

So yeah...my experience with the game itself is a mixed bag, but I was having at least some fun so I was willing to put up with the things I didn't like. Sure it was frustrating at times, but it's all a learning experience, so I wasn't giving up just yet. But then came...the community...

Do you think it's reasonable to say a game's community can absolutely ruin any fun you've been having? Because I sure as hell do! I don't like referring to a community as being "toxic" or "elitist" and will usually just ignore the bad apples. But most of my experience with anyone in the GU community has not been pleasant. Very early on when I started playing GU, I was streaming it (I stream btw check me out I'm SparkyKadachi on Twitch I'm a VTuber hi) and some random chat members popped in. I wanted to have a pleasant experience with the community and explained that I came from playing World and Rise. They started to act weirdly aggressive about expressing their...opinions. Saying that World and Rise are bad games and they're glad to see someone like me play a "good" Monster Hunter game now. As if the new games ruined the series. But, to each their own. They have their opinions, and I have mine. I still prefer World and Rise over GU, but that's just me. I wouldn't actively go around shitting on the things people like for no reason, but it's whatever.

Pretty early on though, a friend of mine who had joined me in World and Rise noticed me playing GU and wanted to hop on with me. I enjoy playing with my friends, so I gladly joined him for some hunts. My friend has been playing this series for many years prior to us even meeting, so it was in this moment that I realized...he was also someone who was weirdly aggressive about expressing his opinions on the new games. As time went on, I would play GU with him and members of my small community who would say things like how GU was more "pure" and that the quality of life in the new games have "spoiled" someone like me. The term "skill issue" was thrown around a few times, which...fair. I am kinda bad at GU, but does that warrant absolutely shitting on me for not really enjoying GU as much as World or Rise?

To this day, I have not heard a single compelling argument for why Monster Hunter World is a "bad" game. People I've interacted with or watched who prefer the older games have definitely tried to explain it, but it has all been entirely subjective. People can prefer the old games over the new ones, but to say the new ones are "bad" games is just flat out wrong. I don't like old gen, but I still acknowledge the good in GU and I'm sure there are great qualities of the older titles. None of them are bad games. But I just have my own preference for the new ones.

As time has gone on, I wanted to hunt with my friends and enjoy the game for what it was, but hunting sessions would always devolve into praising GU for mundane things and shitting on the new games for no good reason. So...I think I'm done. I'm tired of hearing this endless complaining about the "purity" of the series and how the games I like and the reason I became a fan of Monster Hunter...are the ones that ruined the series. So I think I'll shelf GU at least for now and stick with World and Rise.

I hope we all are happy with Monster Hunter Wilds when that comes out. In the meantime, happy hunting, everyone!

#monster hunter #monster hunter rise #monster hunter world #monster hunter generations ultimate

[shihalyfie]

I've watched Appmon thanks to your recommendation and it was amazing! Eri, Astra and Rei were my favorites :) But after looking at past discussions online about the episodes, I've noticed so many people had a problem with its 'filler' (which i think didn't feel like filler at all), much more than any other series in the franchise (besides ghost game, probably) Why do you think this is so? Is it something in the context of its original airing's run?

First of all, congrats on finishing Appmon! I'm so glad my recommendation could get someone else to enjoy it!

Well, I'm going to be honest: I think the prejudice against Appmon having "filler" is, quite simply, a double standard. Savers actually gets this as well in regards to its first eleven episodes (it's just that since it's a fast-paced narrative after that, it's hard to make any accusations of it having "filler" after that no matter how prejudiced you are). But if you look at Adventure through Frontier, there are a lot of episodes that don't advance the plot much. Most Frontier fans agree that the hamburger episode is one of the finest episodes in the franchise despite it technically also being one of these. In fact, if you actually sit down to think about Tamers and ignore the cult that constantly insists it's incapable of having anything wrong with it, its beginning is extremely slow and there are a bunch of early episodes that don't actually advance much of anything "plot"-wise. Adventure through Frontier will automatically get a lot of passes for things that later series won't just because they have the My Childhood Nostalgia™ pass attached to them.

(I do think Appmon episode 26 is entirely skippable, but that's purely because it's a recap episode made to accommodate a timeslot change and any newcomers jumping on at that time, which obviously isn't relevant for people watching it now.)

That being said, I actually despise the word "filler" the way it's used now. The word was supposed to be used in the context of anime adaptations, especially adaptations of manga or video games; anything that was original to the anime and wasn't from its original source material is "filler" (because just sticking to the original material only won't fill enough episodes). Filler in that context was never supposed to inherently be a bad thing, it just was more often than not in practice because it was too obvious the original story wasn't made for it, and it can't advance much character or plot status quo because otherwise it'll derail it from the originally intended storyline, so it usually would end up being kind of boring. But that wasn't always the case, and I've definitely met a lot of One Piece and Dragon Ball fans who have said that some of its filler episodes are its best ones because they have interesting ideas or do interesting things with the characters even despite being so limited in what they could do.

But nowadays, people just use the word "filler" to mean "an episode I don't like" or "an episode I think is boring" -- very subjective. And even when they aren't trying to be condescending about it, they still use that word to apply to "any episode that doesn't 'advance the plot'" completely ignoring the fact that "not advancing the plot" can still have fascinating character studies or interesting ideas, oftentimes even moreso than series that don't. I've seen anime that are entirely minimal-plot that have interesting character studies and/or are episodic. Hell, I don't know many people who watched Digimon Adventure for its totally riveting plot of (checks notes) some isekai where they defeat some bosses who want to take over the world...like, how many people actually watched early Digimon because the "plot" was oh so spectacular?

I do think there's room to criticize Appmon's early pacing (in that it's kind of hard to tell where exactly they're going with the plot in the first handful of episodes, and I honestly wonder if it should have taken so long to introduce Eri and Astra), and frankly I would actually apply those criticisms to Adventure, Tamers, and Savers too -- in fact, I've had very little success introducing new fans to Adventure because it takes almost half the series to feel like it's going anywhere, and it makes it easy to get bored and drop it. But if the problem is pacing, I wish people would actually say it that way instead of saying something is "filler" and therefore useless and unnecessary just because it focuses more on characters than background plot intrigue.

#ninasheadband #shiha's ask box #appmon #digimon multi series talk

[reapersbayif]

Hi Dakota!! I was wondering if MC has a nickname that their family used to call them?? Like how in Fallen Lights, Ezrah calls MC 'Star'.

Because I'd maybe love to use that nickname for my MC's codename (my MC is an informant though I'm sure a codename would be needed for other jobs too.)

Something that Kai would definitely know and MAYBE Laurie and Adri would also know? My reasoning is that MC would use it to remember their family but is also using it as a very specific clue in hopes that Kai and/or Laurie (if alive, I'm assuming that MC doesn't know if Kai and/or Laurie are still alive) would pick up on it if either of them heard it, and hopefully use it to find her.

Also, what are House Vailia's colours? Their heraldry/coat of arms? Do they have an animal of some sort that is attributed to their House? Inquiring minds would like to know! :D

Hello, anon! I’m glad you asked!

Your brother, Lukas, got his love of birds from your father, the king himself. He nicknamed all his children after one of his favorites, actually.

He called Adelaide “canary” because she loved to sing with your mother at the piano and had a lovely voice. He called Lukas “dove” as Lukas was soft spoken and didn’t take well to any training that was foisted upon him; he loathed weaponry and violence, preferring to spend his time elsewhere.

With MC, his nickname depends on the players choice. If you were a very charismatic kid, a real charmer, you’re dubbed “sparrow.” A kind and friendly MC will be called “starling.” An intelligent and adaptable MC will be called “falcon.” A rather shy but intelligent MC will be called “crow.” A bold, brash MC is referred to as “eagle.” If you were excitable and energetic, you were called “merlin.”

He called your mom “my beloved hawk,” as she’s quite fierce and not easy to dissuade.

You see the bird theme, obviously. Diminutives of any of those nicknames were popular.

It’ll be an option in game to use your chosen bird as your code name (or you can pick your own ofc). So if you’re an assassin, thief, informant, or smuggler, you’d be known as “Sparrow” or “Falcon” or “Merlin,” and so on so forth. And yes! Kai, Laurie, and Adri will all recognize the code name!!

As for House Vailia, their color is actually purple. If you notice in Kai’s portrait below, it’s actually that exact shade of purple. Kai still wears House Vailia’s colors as their mother saved their father’s cloaks. Kai wears it to show his loyalties belong to House Vailia even if they’re all “dead.”

(Art by @stephschoices)

As for the animal that is present on their heraldry, it’s actually a bear. An emblem meaning projecting your own, or protecting your family. It’s essentially a historical promise that House Vailia will protect Navra as their own and simultaneously suffer no threats against their royal family.

We see how well that turned out.

#answered asks #lore #alfred vailia #johanna vailia #adelaide vailia #lukas vailia

[allsortzofcrap]

I need to find a mechanism through which I can look at the sherlock holmes tag on here without having to see the bbc's "sherlock" content whatsoever.

It's not so much that the adaptation is particularly terrible, although it is, but actually just that seeing Benedict Cumberbatch's face freaks me out (not for the reason you are thinking - having to do with tumblr culture of 2014 - although also that I guess).

The real reason I'm freaked out is because of a completely separate terrifying incident.

I've been very into Sherlock Holmes since I was a kid, so when that show was on the air, my family had cut off a cover image from some magazine reviewing the premier of the show that was a close up of Benedict Cumberbatch's face with the hat and everything and taped it to my door. I left it there for a day or so and then took it down. Then my mom and sister took it out of the trash and hung it back up in another location around the house which I again left up for a few days and then eventually took down.

We kept going back and forth for a few days until it basically became this game my sister and mom would play to irritate me. Hiding it in different weird locations to see how long it took for me to notice. One time it was on my closet door, in the laundry room, in the pantry etc.

Flash forward a while, my sophomore or junior year of high school i had just started smoking weed correctly and had not fully got a handle on how much I could smoke now that I was actually inhaling it into my lungs as opposed to just sort of breathing it into my mouth and then blowing it out very cool and nonchalant.

So i had really extremely overdone it at my friends house and when my friend dropped me home I was very glad that everyone was already asleep because I had basically spent the entire car ride trying not to puke. So i kind of speeed walked inside the house and like trip ran up the stairs to the bathroom and immediately yakked in the toilet. It was quite bad since I was very high, and the room was spinning, and I was scared I'd poisoned myself. Also I was trying to be quiet because I was convinced if my parents found me they would kill me and then make me get my stomach pumped (not how weed works but whatever).

All the lights in the house were off and it was super quiet so I just kind of laid my head on the toilet seat and tried to calm down. I could kind of see in the bathroom because there was a night light plugged into the outlet by the sink. And as I finally got the will to try and lift myself up and take a shower I raised my head and saw like a millimeter from my face making direct eye contact with me was a blurred bendict cumberbatch in his stupid fucking sherlock holmes outfit with like SCARY ass blue eyes staring into my soul. It had been taped to the inside lid of the toilet seat???

I was so absolutely caught off guard and I guess low key terrified that I immediately puked again and that image has become so entwined with the puking and the sensation of complete and total terror that every time I see him in anything it completely ruins it for me. Which is unfortunate because he was quite good in the imitation game i think.

Anyway so there's that. Any advice is welcome.

#sherlock holmes #bbc sherlock #tw throwing up

[beevean]

I’ve had a lot of problems with Netflix’s Castlevania but I’ve never played the games so all my complaints about it were never from it being a poor adaptation. So reading your posts about just how much it differs has been super interesting and kinda makes me wanna check out the games because the lore and themes just seem so much more unique? Like all the stuff with the Belmont Family and Dracula’s destinies being so intertwined and how that effects the descendants (like Richter) and Dracula being less of a vampire and more like some satan figure in service of Chaos, sounds so much more original than Netflix’s version which just seems like a really generic dark fantasy, but like worse, with all the swearing and sex and just general dismal tone. I feel a bit robbed now because a good adaptation actually sounds like it would really stand out from all the other fantasy shows I see on Netflix and HBO.

Oh 🥰 first of all, it's always nice to hear when people have issues with NFCV without having played the games, because it proves that complaints go far beyond "it's too different :<" (implying everyone who dislikes the show is nothing more than a grumpy old purist, which is not the case). Trust me, as a Berserk fan, NFCV doesn't do anything groundbreaking, and somehow it manages to be more outdated and offensive than a manga started in 1990. Second, I'm very glad you are interested in trying the games! They're a lot of fun :D

I wrote a list of my first picks to play here. However, I skipped on the Classic games on the asker's request: if you're interested, I'd start with Rondo of Blood (appropriate, as it's the game Nocturne allegedly adapts) or Super Castlevania IV. Nocturne also takes a lot of cues from Bloodlines, which is fun but a bit harder, and ofc the original NFCV started off as an adaptation of Dracula's Curse - a good game with quite a bit of replay value, but hard in the Japanese version and outright sadistic in the American version lmao. So I'd save it for later.

Now, if you're playing from the plot, I must say that the games as a standalone tend to be somewhat light in story, and even the most elaborated ones are usually limited by scope or budget and/or feel a little cliché. A good chunk of the lore that connects the whole timeline is tied to manuals (mostly the Japanese ones, because sometimes the English translations made a mess, as it was custom in the '80s), outside materials like mangas, or even character bios in the games' official websites that have long shut down. But it's worth doing some research!

Personally I love this website, for example:

In any case, have fun! 💖

#castlevania #akumajou dracula #probably the one thing i will thank nfcv for #not as intended but it *does* spark interest for the game series :p