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ashwii · 1 year

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Celestial AU FAQ

Usually I prefer pinning my favorite artworks to the top of my profile, but over the last couple weeks I've gotten MANY repeat questions about my rottmnt celestial AU. I never mind answering questions, but I want to limit how many asks I answer to keep everyone else's dashboard's in mind [i.e. I don't want to clog up other people's tumblr with several asks that have been answered in the past.]

Below is a list of general frequently asked questions regarding my celestial au. Even more detailed information and questions can be found in the "#celestialFAQ" tag on my blog.

What is the Celestial AU?

It's a ROTTMNT au where Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey embody celetial bodies. Leo embodies the stars, Donnie embodies the Moon, Raph embodies the Sun, and Mikey embodies the comets.

Can you tell us more about what they are?

Leo is the stars — he overlooks the stars as a guardian figure. While he thinks of his stars as his children, he is also an embodiment of the stars — he IS the stars. They are one and the same.

The same goes for Mikey and his comets. Although, while Mikey specifically embodies and overlooks the comets, he also overlooks all them zippy lil' things in the galaxy [meteors, asteroids, etc.]

Donnie and Raph are a little different — Donnie specifically ONLY embodies Earth's moon, and is the overlooker of all the other moons in the universe. The same goes for Raph and Earth's Sun.

Are there any other characters in this AU [Splinter, April, Drax, Krang, etc]?

[As of writing this] The only other characters in this AU are April [an astronaut who works for NASA / an aspiring astronaut], and S.H.E.L.D.O.N. [a robot made of lost junk and lost space tech that Donnie found]. I do not plan for there to be any other characters in this au, as I mainly want to draw and focus on the turtles.

There have been lots of fun headcanons in the askbox about who else could be in the au and what they would embody, and I think that's great! I love all the fanart and creativity everyone is doing for this AU, I will never be mad at exploring fun ideas [I've even doodled some of these ideas for fun] — as for what is "canon" in the AU though, at the moment I'm going to keep it as the turtles, April, and S.H.E.L.D.O.N.

What's the lore behind this AU?

There is no real lore behind this AU, just a bunch of fun ideas in a fun concept. Lots of other people have had fun coming up with their own lore and ideas for this AU, and once again, I think that's great! There's so many ideas other people came up with that I love — but again, in terms of "canon" and what I'm willing to draw, there's no legitimate lore for this AU.

The Sun is also a star. Does that mean Sun!Raph has a special relation to Star!Leo in some way?

Yes! Leo and Raph have a very strong special connection in this AU because of this.

Do the celestials control what they embody?

Control isn't exactly the right word — say for Star!Leo, for example, he's more of a guardian figure to the stars. "Control" implies that the stars have no personality of their own whatsoever, but that's not exactly true. They almost have their own little life to them — like a healthy tree —that Leo can understand since the stars and Leo are one in the same.

What are Moon!Donnie's alternate phases?

Moon!Donnie's alters are Blood Moon, Harvest Moon, Blue Moon, and Super Moon. Moon!Donnie's design also changes some depending on the phase of the Moon [eg. During the Full Moon phase, Donnie has no shadow up his arms and legs. During the New Moon phase, Donnie is all encompassed in shadow].

Is there any more info about these phases?

During Donnie's Blood Moon phase, he tends to be a little more mischievous and violent. He's ready to kill, no questions asked.

During his Blue Moon phase, he's a little sadder than usual. He's not breaking down every minute or endlessly sobbing — he's more just a little blue (heh) and the unending river of tears just comes with the phase. He just needs some cuddles and comfort during this time <3

Harvest Moon Donnie is a happy lil guy! He's a little chipper and cuddly during this time, hapoy to help and talk with his brothers on end.

These phases don't COMPLETELY change his personality — he still the same Donnie, but just with little changes to his overall mood.

There are many more types/names for the Moon [Snow Moon, Worm Moon, Flower Moon, etc.] — will you be drawing those as designs for Moon!Donnie as well?

While I think I may sketch out some of them for fun, in terms of "canon" to the AU, I want to keep it limited to what I listed above in the previous question.

Are there any alternate versions of the other celestials?

Sun!Raph gets sun flares when he's upset, and I have a Nova!Leo design in the works. I haven't thought of any alternate versions for Comet!Mikey, but I don't think he needs one, haha.

What happens during an eclipse?

During a solar eclipse, Raph gives Donnie a hug from behind. During a lunar eclipse, I like to imagine that Donnie is hiding behind the earth because he ticked Raph off.

Can Star!Leo feel it when any stars die?

Yes, he does. I explained in much more detail in the "#celestialFAQ" tag, but when his stars die, it hurts him some emotionally and physically.

Whenever the Sun [Raph] would explode in the future, Star!Leo will be out of commission for a while because of how much it would hurt him.

What is Star!Leo's relationship with the stars?

Leo is the stars, point blank. He is the personification of them. He's all the stars, he is them, they are he. One and the same. BUT there's also a special relationship there — Leo looks at the stars like they're his children, almost. A very deep connection and love. The stars feel that deep love for Leo too, they see him as almost a guardian figure. They love him more than anything, and Leo knows that.

Now HOW can the idea that Leo looks at the stars like they're his children, and the idea that Leo is just straight up the personification of the stars (him being all of the stars) both be true at the same time? Ah — no real answer there. It just kind of is, and it's more of a feeling that I myself have. That's just the way that I personally feel Leo's relationship with the stars is, even if I'm never able to describe it quite perfectly, and even if it's confusing to everyone else lmao.

Do the celestial turtles still have their weapons like the canon turtles?

Yes they do — Star!Leo has katanas made of constellations, Moon!Donnie has his staff made of shadow, Sun!Raph's fists fire up, and Comet!Mikey's comets and meteors spin around him and he can shoot them where he pleased.

Is this AU meant to be accurate about how astrology and space works?

Not at all — there are a lot of inaccuracies in this AU. But what's the fun of making an au like this if I have to keep everything pinpoint accurate! This AU is for good, fun vibes, and it's ok if not everything matches up with exactly how space works.

Can I make fanart/fanfics for this au?

Yes, you can! If you do, please tag me and lmk, I'd absolutely love to see what you guys make. Oc's and fan characters are welcome as well.

#celestialFAQ #rottmnt celestial au

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laurzzz · 1 year

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"COME ONE, COME ALL!"

The Freddy Fazbear Circus is in need of new character recruits!

[EDIT: CLOSED]

Hey, so I'm moving quickly with the plot for my fic, What's Written in the Stars (The Greatest Showman AU of FNAF Security Breach) and I'm kind of in need of new characters to progress in the next chapters. I could have opted for making characters of my own but I think at this point you guys should have an inkling that this is something I prefer doing.

If not then, simply put, I like building communities and including as many people as I can with my projects because I'm sure each of you have your own creative ideas that my stories would benefit from too!

Interested? Details are under the cut!

What kind of characters am I looking for?

I'm looking for characters that are either robots or downright humans! I know many of you guys have lovely cryptid, monster OCs but those lovely creatures aren't canon to the lore of the story so this is the boundary I need to set for the character/s you guys would like to share! Also they have to either have a specific "ghastly trait" that society would have shunned upon back in the 1800s or up until now (like being a dwarf, an albino, hairy, a POC etc.) and/or be able to do certain circus acts (like trapeze, tightrope walking, etc.)

How many characters am I looking for?

I don't have a set number just yet but probably around 5 because I love that number lol.

How to join?

Kindly post your character sheet/s on your blog, mention (@) my main blog (this one!) and include the hashtag "WWITS OC-Laurzzz" for me to be able to sift through them easily!

Who can join?

Artists, writers, anyone, as long as you can clearly describe your character's design and backstory, and you have a decent amount of knowledge in the lore of WWITS so far!

What should be included when posting/making the character sheet/s?

For artists: Your character standing and showcasing their designs, additional appendages, accessories, pre-show and during show attires. You can opt to describing one attire while the other is drawn if it's too much of an effort! Then, somewhere at the side or bottom of the character designs must include their backstories/important lore details, characteristics, quirks, etc.

For writers: Same with the artists, except you'll be writing down the details of your lovely character's designs of course! Be sure to keep it as detailed as possible for me to write them out as accurately as I can too! And just like with the artists, you must include their backstories/important lore details, characteristics, quirks, etc.

Is there a specific genre/theme in design?

Yes, essentially. Try to keep the design as similar to the fashion of 1860s as you can with their clothes. Robots can be made of metal or wood, up to you! But nothing too fantasy-based, like having superpowers or something lol.

Can you submit more than one characters?

Yes! Only if you'd like. I can't guarantee being able to use all character submissions though so please keep that in mind. I'm only one person doing all this and I can only write down so many characters AKDHSKSJ I appreciate them all nonetheless!

Until when can we submit our characters?

In around two weeks, I will close this event thing soooo April 11, 2023 probably at 11:59 pm (PST). I'll make an announcement about it when it closes!

Anything else you guys should know?

This is all for fun! I don't want you guys to feel pressured in joining as I know that drawing and writing takes a lot of time and effort. I genuinely just wanted you guys to be a part of this but you don't have to if you don't want to! I'm not doing this to get free fanart of whatever.

Also, by giving me the details and backstory of your WWITS OC, you'd be giving me permission and consent to fill in any gaps or change some parts to keep the characters accurately tied with the lore of the whole fic and the other main characters.

Lastly, kindly reblog so others who may be interested to join can see this too! Thanks, I hope to see your lovely WWITS OCs sooner or later! Oh and, have fun!

Got any other concerns or questions about this?

Send your questions in my asks so we can clarify and/or figure something out!

#wwits #fnaf security breach au #character recruits thingy idk how to tag this help #oh also no updates for the fic until then because yeah #i wont be able to move forward withouy you guys xD #i dont need too many characters tbh #just characters that would like to join!

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fictiontbh · 6 months

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Haii!

I felt like I should make an intro-post for myself, so, I suppose this will be a huge masterlist of alot of things... so here's my introduction and everything about me!

Feel free to ask as much questions as you'd like! You can ask me through my inbox (as an anon or not) or through my DM's (direct messages) If you would like to keep your questions between you and me!

With that said....

More under cut <3

Tags!

Currently, I've been wanting to sort my posts, from og posts, art, and everything like that. It just makes it easier to search for things I want when I want. Currently my only tag is #TBH's art I chose that because my name changes alot... but my autism persists so... yeah that exists. If I ever get around to actually finishing my fics then the tag #TBH's fanfics will be coloured down on this list.

Sexuality/gender!

I am an Aroace Lesbian who is along the nonbinary spectrum! I prefer masc terms, dressing femme, and mixing up pronouns!!

Here are my flags!!

Questions are allowed!

Names!

My name is Storm(y) but I also go by Charm and Fiction. I go by she/they/he/ it!!

The reason I go by multiple names is due to me having been on the internet for... since I was born, practically.

Both of these names have a special place in my heart, though Charm has more of an explanation and Fiction is what I prefer to be named online.

The name "Stormy" comes from my middle name which is just the word Storm. It holds no significance more than just me disliking my birth name and chosing my middle name felt like it would be easier on those who do know me. I have also used this name on a self insert I made of me (not for me, of me. Trust me it is very different to make a self-insert that was made in your image than one you made just to project onto.)

"Charm", however, was a name i fell in love with because I am apart of the Fnaf Fandom. This name was made for a "self-insert" oc i made for satire, the thing is, I ended up expanding the OC's lore so much, but since it was "self-insert" I guess I just stopped taking it as a joke when my brain hyperfixated on the OC. The name has applied to me only because I still consider that OC a "self-insert", truly made for my Indulgence.

"Fiction" is my last name, no, not my actual last name, just my last preffered name. Fiction was another self indulgent name I made for another OC, this was made during a time of major depression where I would spend my day projecting onto my characters and enjoying parasocial relationships with them. Its not a name that means anything good, but this is the reason I use the internet, so I kept it.

I have said above that Fiction is my preffered name online, yet I would truly be fine and maybe happier if you do use my other names as well, especially for more lighthearted conversations. My names may change depending on the circumstance.

Also, I have certain personal depending on the name, Storm is what I draw most commonly as I based the design off myself truly, Charm is technically a furry, but like, robot.... fnaf. Thats my only explanation. Fnaf like Freddy. Except its a fox. Idk. Uhm. Fiction doesn't have a design, but they have alot of emotions behind her, so I'll probably draw them but she is gonna change... alot. No depiction of them is gonna stay the same. Ever.

In conclusion:

Storm is just a name I use for convenience and with family/close friends and in a way that connects to me as a person.

Charm is a name I use for self indulgence purposes and for happier/lighthearted conversations.

Fiction is the name I chose to express my thoughts and is used in a more depressing/serious type of conversation.

These names will switch alot however, sometimes storm or fiction will be the self-indulgent ones, sometimes Fiction will actually be happy and not just my "damn, depressive episode!!" name, sometimes my names will just have no meaning but usually I feel I prefer them during specific circumstances. Plus... sometimes I might find a new name I like for a bit and sometimes ill try testing out a new name.. ice been thinking Mimic for a bit and the name Allen has crossed my mind a few times... but for now sticking with the names above would probably be best.

My personality, what I choose to indulge in, and the thoughts in my head are different from eachother and I suppose my brain liked using the names to show and express myself in a more... disassociative way. Just blame it on past trauma and parasocial relationships I've been in.

Speaking of trauma...

Diagnosis'

I have Social/General Anxiety Disorder, Sociopathy and Minor Depression. I am also Autistic which attributes to alot of my other mental disorders and just myself as a person. (As stated before with Autigender)

I may still be undiagnosed so this list may update, and my only main guesses for what else i could have would probably be ocd and odd but... you never know right? I mean, i discover new paraphilias that i go "hmm... interesting..." to every... not every day but pretty often!! Im not technically a paraphiliac? I don't get aroused. At all. Ever. But I do get very interested. A new interest but not something I care for and actively search. Unless it's comships... love those.

I do not have a way to Segway into my interests smoothly so pretend that this is a really cool line that relates to my-

Interests

I have a LOT of interests.

FNAF, OMORI/おもり, Vocaloid, Evillious Chronicles, ONIBI/鬼火, Pokémon, Be More Chill, ATL:A, Hazbin/Helluva, Steven Universe, Saiki K No Psi Nan and then my scattered interests that are just... its just me liking random characters from random franchises. The franchises im not a fan of but one (1) character? Hell ye im into them!! They are... silly... so silly... recently BMC has been stuck on my mind and o CANNOT get rid of it... have I been squipped???

Shipping!

I am a multishipper. I ship almost every ship in every Fandom and I do not care what others ship. Will I judge? Yeah. Will I truly care? Never! This counts me as a "Pro-shipper" though in technicality im actually full comship. I do not care what you ship. Just as long as you DONT support people who actually and actively support or participate in abusive relationships IRL I am okay with you. From the most innocent cutesy ships to absolutely vile ones I support. Hence my squipemy ship...

I would also like to add, Kinks and anything sexual is allowed on this blog, just a reminder however if I get uncomfortable with the sexual tension in my asks, comment/replies, or anything im tagged in I will most likely not respond or delete what I can. I'm not sex repulsed, but I have boundaries for certain people and my way of showing affection/intimacy with them.

I suppose having said this... all thats left is a DNI list? Its a little basic, cause I really don't care. At all. Just have the basics.

DNI (Do not interact)

Pedophiles/Maps (POCD is fine! You can't control that and all that matters is you surpressing these urges. I can't even lie, I've had the thoughts too, its not pleasant and I'm sorry for your stigmatisation. You are welcome here.)

Rapists and rape defenders. (There is no excuse.)

Anti-LGBT/homo-or-transphobes (you are on tumblr. How could you dislike gay people. This was basically made for gay people. What.)

Anti-shippers. (Please I use shipping as a way of coping. My trauma is different from yours. My coping mechanisms are different than yours. Why do you get mad abt that. Its not a harmful coping mechanism. It doesn't hurt me or you or anybody else.)

Ableists. (There is no excuse.)

Racists. (There is no excuse.)

Radqueer. (... I dont like saying this but just.... no. You aren't welcome in the community. Xenogenders and neos are allowed here! Not you however.)

And thats the criteria. I told you. Its basic. I don't care who you are. I just want to know that I am in a place with people of my kind- mentally ill, bullied, nerds, geeks, whatevers, LGBT community, etc. Or just people who wont actively try and harm me, both mentally and physically. This has been my introduction, and I suppose.. I bit you adieu!

Goodbye! Thank you so much for listening~!

#fandoms #intro post #introduction #meet the blogger #TBH's art

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theveryworstthing · 3 years

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So over on patreon Trevor asked for my take on the Addams Family and I grew up LOVING the Addams family movies so here we are. Instead of doing a straight up style interpretation, I decided to do a full on design challenge, using the characters as bases to make a black southern gothic Addams au. I actually drew the kids first, using the character bases of Wednesday and Pugsley to create some delightful kiddos I'm calling Sunday and Blanche. I of course then redesigned Gomez and Morticia into Carlisle and Mortesha.

The Addams have a very specific high aristocratic goth aesthetic (they've got a butler and nobody really works among other things) so in this re-imagining I wanted to go with vibes that run a little more middle class/upper middle class. I thought it would be interesting to think about what would be considered weird and off-putting in an entirely different culture, and how being a big ol' goth is way less controversial than it used to be.

I tried to keep this short (HAHAHAHAHAHA) so I didn't spin off into an essay about villain coded families, black people in the horror genre, and normalcy as it pertains to social survival, but just...bits of that are in these designs and lore. Keep that in mind.

Also I made the kids twins because they've flip flopped in age so much in different media and also twins run in my family (i'm the daughter of one). And let's face it, I'm pulling a lot of their southern gothic traits from living as a southern goth so *shrug*.

10 thousand pounds of lore incoming loooooooooool.

The Parents

From the moment he saw her he knew that there was a 50/50 chance of him either never making it out of that swamp alive or marrying the figure that was creeping out from under the distant willow tree in a black cocktail dress. The third time she found him trussed up in one of her traps, he complimented her rope work and asked if she'd like to go out sometime after his head wound stopped bleeding.

Or while it was still bleeding.

If she was into that.

Some kids and a mysteriously burnt down Piggly Wiggly later, their love is still as strong and inescapable as a bear trap in a sink hole.

Carlisle Guillermo (now Addams through marriage but I wanted to give him two first names for a name since Gomez has two last names) makes a vaguely described living practicing ‘law’ around town. A loophole king, people come to him from miles around with contracts signed in blood, fights over chunks of hair buried in their rivals’ yard, dehydrated primate hands, memories that seemed like dreams until the evidence of their happenings became too real, and other regular Legal Items asking for counsel which he is all too happy to give. For a price. Sometimes that price is a homemade pie and sometimes it’s a million dollars, depends on who you are. Whatever you’re asked to pay it’s worth that price, and if you try to scam him out of work or he just plain doesn’t like you? Well. He knows how to twist a contract better than anything at the crossroads.

And he always gets his due.

He doesn’t just serve the local (living)humans though, there are many things that need proper legal representation in this day and age. You wouldn’t believe how many city councils try to build on sacred burial grounds even after he lets them know that his ghostly clients are totally gonna haunt the FUCK out of the ensuing shitty condos and curse their families for all eternity. At least 50% of his energy goes towards dealing with real estate bullshit.

Carl is an excitable and good natured(?) man who loves his family, cigars, dancing, and his many knife-based hobbies. People find him very charming once they get past the feeling that they’re talking to a sultry gator badly disguising itself as a human. I didn’t put a ton of deep thought into designing him, mostly I wanted to make a middle aged dude who looked like he would have been voted ‘most likely to smooch the literal devil’ in high school. Tbh he probably has, but no demonic ex’s can compare to his lovely wife~

Mortesha Addams(her name was already perfect so I just tweaked it)is a woman of many talents. A self proclaimed homemaker, she prides herself on a greenhouse full of Concerning Foliage, a beautiful wasp apiary, and a coop full of what are probably chickens that she keeps for what are probably eggs. She’s also an avid creator of the outsider art that can be seen around the estate. She has taken on the family business of selling her homemade goods in a little stall by the road just outside the swamp with her mom, and makes pretty good money doing so. A surprising amount of poison gets bought in quaint southern towns.

Speaking of poison, people who come out to the edge of the swamp to buy it are usually carrying a lot of secrets around, and Mortesha knows most of them. It’s not like she pries the truth out of people, it just so happens that many nervous hellos eventually turn into the tragic backstory power hour if she’s alone with a client for long enough. She supposes that’s just how people are. Despite the fact that the Addams are very active in the community (whether the community likes it or not) she especially, as a direct descendant of the first Addams matriarch, is seen as…Well not an outsider because the community feels A Certain Way about outsiders and despite it all the Addams are their people, but maybe something like an exception. They feel like whatever weirdness they’re hiding can’t be weirder than any given Addams, so they get a little loose with their words.

This is amusing to her, since Addams’ don’t naturally keep the kind dramatic secrets that their surface level prim and proper neighbors do. It’s much more fun to openly talk about those things.

Do they have a sadly decrepit yet terrifying grandma up in the attic? Yeah, like three. They got a tv, all the creepy porcelain dolls they could want, and they’re close to family. Where do you keep your gram-grams?

Any bodies buried on the property? Yeah some, but most are thrown to the gators.

Any creeping through the balmy summer night with ill intentions? Yeah dude, everyone loves a nice family stroll.

What about dangerous forbidden love? If an adult Addams isn’t incorporeal then they’re either queer or in a torrid romance with some person/thing mysteriously drawn to that awful swamp. Sometimes both at the same time. Most times actually.

Mortesha would know.

The current head of the Addams family is just as outgoing as her husband but a lot quieter and harder to read. She never really seems to get mad about much and always has a genteel smile for everyone whether they deserve it or not. A seven foot tall human shaped “Oh, bless your heart”. A perfectly composed Lady even when she’s, oh I dunno, burning down a Piggly Wiggly. You know. A regular southern mom. Chat her up at the hair salon for 50% off a jar of wasp honey with your next purchase of a mysterious but foreboding packet of herbs.

Designing her was pretty easy because I just drew a lankier Grace Jones and called it a day. I had some problems with her outfit simply because if we were going HARD southern gothic then she’d probably be wearing a white/cream dress with a fuller skirt but I thought keeping the silhouette and the black was more important. She’s supposed to be an anti southern gothic southern gothic character anyway. A woman who looks like she has a million secrets who is actually the most open person you could meet. For better or worse. The red hair came from a coloring error that I really ended up liking (my mom had red hair her whole childhood that only darkened up in high school so I can buy that an Addams can be naturally fire engine red) and the veil was to get more of that classic Morticia silhouette in there.

The Children

Sunday and Blanche are the twin children of Carlisle and Mortesha Addams. Some say the Addams clan got their cursed homestead when a wealthy local businessman made a deal with the devil and lost, leaving his grand mansion to his least favorite maid and cutting his losses once he realized that the swamp would do everything it could to drag the house into the water and take what was owed with its horrible curse. Others say that the family has just always squatted there and no one really cares because man, fuck that particular swamp. Have you been in there? Absolute horror show.

Anyway.

Blanche is the more outgoing sibling and quite the engineer/mad scientist in the making. He started going grey at 2 weeks old but considering he was also rocking some extra fingers, toes, and a tiny tail (he takes after his dad), his parents just put it on the 'not life threatening' pile and decided not to worry about it. He's the kind of smart that teachers find utterly infuriating, less a dog eagerly learning and obeying commands and more a hyena who keeps teaching itself how to pick locks. He has a few friends in his school's robotics club (which they honestly allowed him to make so the school could contain his... creations) but mostly hangs out with his sister exploring the swamp. They find all sorts of neat things in there! wedding rings, suspiciously lumpy garbage bags, cloaked cultists who can't read private property signs, it's an adventure every day!

Blanche is all about experimentation with his creations, his look, and his tether to this mortal coil. Is lipstick a cool thing to try? Let's find out. Can he get out of a strait jacket fast enough after being pushed into the depths of the swamp by his sister? let's find out. He's not dead yet and confused local doctors can attest to the fact that he's rarely attained more than a bad bruise so he's pretty set on continuing to kiss rattlesnakes on their cute little heads and have his sister practice her knife throwing at him until that fact changes.

Blanche is very much a country goth. Cowboy boots (customized by his mom), knife, and lighter are daily accessories. He likes to wear the crusty swamp jewelry they find (the rust adds a splash of color!) and despite appearances he does try to keep himself neat. He's just got natural Grunge Colors and a tendency to wear clothes he likes until they fall apart. Pugsley always seemed the most modernly styled to me (which might just be because little boys clothes have been the same for a long time) so I wanted Blanche to be the most purposely fashionable Addams. Everyone else is goth by nature, but he's the only one truly familiar with goth as an alternative fashion.

I got really into designing Blanche because honestly, I find Pugsley to be the most boring member of the family. And he was hard to design! I had to mess with his vibe a lot to get him looking how I wanted. I know he's supposed to evoke an " 'evil' little boy next door who's parents never reign him in", but that's just goth Dennis The Menace. I's 2020. We can at least go queer goth Calvin.

Sunday was much easier to design. Wednesday was my favorite as a child (of course) and I really wanted to keep the spirit of her look while adding things like billowy sleeves (it gets HOT down here), big poofy twists instead of braids, and a nice tie. She's a professional after all, been running the local pet cemetery since she was 6 and the previous groundskeeper met with an unfortunate accident after telling her that tarantulas don't have souls. Her specialty is creating beautiful naturalistic animal funerals similar to those that Maquenda (https://linktr.ee/artofmaquenda) makes, and she takes pride in creating miniature dioramas of her subjects after each burial which she uses as a kind of 3D catalog for future clients.

She really wants to try out her skills on humans one day. Well. Publicly try out her skills. Lotta random bodies float into the swamp. None of them have turned down her requests for diorama models so far. Most seem downright flattered. Plus, she usually figures out which graveyard/crime scene they floated over from and gets her parents to give them a lift back. She'll even help enact terrifying revenge from beyond the grave on whoever put them there if she's not, y'know, busy.

Besides arts, crafts, and pet based funerary arrangements, Sunday is an avid lover of archery (any ranged weapon really), books where little fantasy adventure animals die dramatic deaths, and history. She is That Kid who eagerly raises her hand when asked who Christopher Columbus was and ends up being sent out of class after 15 minutes for making 'a scene'. Her favorite party trick is just picking an item in the room and talking about how it relates to either some obscure historical figure with a buck wild life or a horrible disaster. At least one charity pancake breakfast ended with children in tears after her vivid description of the Great Molasses Flood of 1919.

Social-wise, while Wednesday is the girl that people ask to smile because they think she'd, "look so pretty", Sunday is rarely asked anything at all. People just kind of assume from her quiet nature (in between horrible history facts) that she's angry all the time and that she hates everyone. This is untrue. She hates some people but she's ambivalent to most everyone else and even downright friendly if you bother to talk to her like a person instead of a terrifying cryptid. Like, she IS a terrifying cryptid but she's also a little girl.

That’s about it for now. One day I might do the other family members but for now I’m happy with the four I’ve redesigned. Making an au! Lurch in a family that doesn’t do butlers could be interesting. Over on patreon I put forth that he could just be Motesha’s mute little brother (similar bone structure) but Amy Crook had the nice idea of quote: “ a mysterious "cousin" that "helps around the house" whose origins are both long in the past and faintly unsettling. He's good for lifting heavy things, like that tank of propane you're about to throw into the burning Piggly Wiggly... “ which i now consider canon. Who's kid is he? How old is he? Not important. Anyone willing to commit arson with you is family.

Annnnyway. This challenge was a lot of fun! I love indulging in AU’s.

#long post #the addams family #Character Design #au #design challenge #i am incapable of doing a design challenge like a normal person #oh god i forgot the cut lol

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border-spam · 3 years

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Does troy really have a split jaw or is that fanon?

It's total fanon!

The design of the split lines across his cheekbones and chin coupled with the cheek clips and v shaped hinge outline next to his ears lead to a lot of people coming to that same outcome, that there is something up with his mouth from a prosthetic/mod standpoint.

So much of his design is never mentioned once or referenced in any way (hightech spinal rig with tattoos under it, neuro connector, mech arm that's much older and doesn't seem related to the spine and neuroport, implants on bicep, face mod etc) that like Tyreen's scars and possible lower body Siren markings, fandom took over when it came to coming up with logical explanations for 'em.

This actually touches ground with some Ao3 comments I wanted to share as they are all Leech Lord compliant, so I'll list them here alongside links to the fics they were related to (note warnings!)

You leave no avenue for characterization unexplored. Troy's facial prostheses finally receiving backstory is amazing

- Maw (Gore/Bodyhorror)

I LOVE the idea of it being not just decorative shit on his face, but my MO for any content I make is always based around asking why, over and over, and trying to make sense of what material I'm using in the first place. The modded mouth is a popular piece of fanon but you know... why? Why would he do that shit to himself. WHY would he want to be grotesque, why would he be chasing the reaction people would have to it when canonically he seems to really not be interested in fan attention the same way Tyreen is, what's the difference to him between being adored as his persona or being lusted after as a monster, etc. I just love deep-diving into the logic behind character and world building? It's what adds meat to the bone for me.

Big 'ol character and worldbuilding / lore responses list under the cut -

He could afford better robots but these ones UNDERSTAND Ty, don't you get it?

- Good night in (tooth rotting fluff)

Hey just because it's mangled and broken, and can't perform its intended function to a degree expected of it by everyone around it... and it's got rusty sharp bits it accidentally hurts you with sometimes... and it's cranky but it doesn't mean it... and sometimes it errors out in a way that's mildly disturbing in a way you can't place.. uh.. doesn't mean you should just GIVE UP ON IT you know? He can fix them :) They will be fine :) No one should just throw away something that's trying so hard just because it's damaged... haha... :')

It's so hard seeing how much they tear each other down when they're the only thing they have left. And what a poor self-image Tyreen has beyond all that glitter and bluster...

- Wolf in sheep's clothing

The twins function well enough as a unit till tensions rise, and I was trying to seed in The Leech's influence on them in earlier work like this too - towards anyone else Ty would become MORE aggressively confident, more assured in her complete and utter dominance of the situation, her flawlessness, but against Troy who see's her for what she is, it turns inwards and eats at her instead of lashing outwards. He switches from relatively submissive around her to almost surgical levels of dissection, he knows exactly how to go for the jugular with words, and doesn't hold back. She's The Leech's mouth but he's its eyes and it's only when they lose control emotionally enough for it to claw to the surface of their psyches that you get an idea of how much it really affects them individually. GB had an absolute goldmine on their hands here of cosmic/body horror and the concept of toxic family when all you have is each other, there's so much to work with, and I figure it's a factor in why some people still really enjoy messing around with Calypso content.

I like how you allow Troy to be a disabled character, how his congenital defects and prosthetics colour his outlook and appear in ways big and small in all these vignettes. It's easy, I think, to see him as largely untroubled by his health apart from when he needs a charge from Tyreen in the game, but you allow him to struggle with his weakness.

- Chronic (Drug use)

I'm really glad to hear that's coming through in the writing because it's something I noticed a lot too. Very often when Troy, or other characters canonically disabled / chronically unwell are written it's "told" and not "shown". Chronic pain, illness, it's not something that is just a little tickbox in a life or some descriptive terms added to a character synopsis, it's something you live and deal with. There are bad days. There are times it is a negative that has to be worked around or faced in ways that aren't pleasant. It doesn't make you lesser or weak to have times where illness does leave you unable to function to a level you want to, it's not a failure for you to be unable to perform tasks when a disability or flair up means it's not viable. I feel personally that by showing scenes like this where his health and body issues do have a very visceral and impossible to ignore the effect on his ability to function, and going through his mental processes of dealing with and managing them, it brings the character across as stronger than if he never seemed to be shown dealing with symptoms or weaknesses. People are more than their disabilities and conditions, those aren't just kinda taglines to add onto a character's description and then never address. I feel like doing that in a way undermines what people deal with who manage chronic illness, pain, and who have disabilities that affect their daily lives negatively. Appreciating the effort it takes to manage them is important.

What I really like about these is that you can really understand as a reader how their dynamic must have evolved. How even before Leda's death Tyreen would have felt demonized while Troy got the attention because of his condition, because he was less willful.

- Starlight, Moonbright

Ah man, absolutely - and that shit stayed with them. It wasn't his fault and he never wanted it, but of course their parents would have had their extremely ill child at the forefront of their thoughts, especially during weeks when he was.. bad. Tyreen by nature even without The Leech's influence is a little attention seeker, she'd be the life of any party and she BLOSSOMS if she's got the spotlight, but as a little kid who's got literally no one but her parents and her brother, and who all three of which can't give her nearly as much time as she deserved? That's rough. That's really unfair. That coupled with The Leech's warping effect on their egos as they grew up and the bitterness and resentment they harbored in different ways created a reverse dynamic. She'd never be out of the Galaxy's attention again, and he'd have no choice but to take his rightful place in her shadow.

I love how you illustrate both how much more, and yet how much less Troy is now. How the blameless child, full of potential, is inextricably linked to the brutal, larger-than-life avatar he fashions.

- DeLeon ( Graphic Violence / Gore / Hallucinations)

He's molded the monster he is now out of the bones of the man he should have been - there's no going back really. There's nothing left to go back to. He broke Troy DeLeon apart to build the persona that acts like an iron lung now, suffocating him breath by breath while forcing him to still take them. That life is over, he killed it before it had a chance, but the idea of it is still there in his subconscious. Somewhere in the absolute trainwreck of Troy's brain is the tiny, flickering belief that maaaaaybe one day this will all be over and he can shuck off the bracer and spines, peel off all the shit he's covered his skin with, and just go back to not being Calypso. DeLeon here isn't some aspect of his mental state or his sins haunting him - it's The Leech, spitting venom at a host it loathes in something that's not sound or comprehensible language. His subconscious has just translated it into something it can understand - his greatest regret.

On if Borderlands Humans originated on Earth -

There's a really tenuous link between BL verse and rEarth, but it's there and can't be ignored. The cultures, accents, terminologies, so many are Earth specific despite these people being spread across galaxies, so hell yes - Earth as an emergence point makes total sense. The next question then, is why is it never mentioned - and you can cover for that with a lot of things like say, tt was so long ago that it's not relevant to anything that would ever be discussed, or it could be a mass evacuation from a catastrophe there is little record of now. I like to go with something along those lines, that the first human Siren host emergence on earth just absolutely decimated the planet. Like, we were doing fine till this random woman somewhere in the ass-end of nowhere develops weird markings overnight, then goes apocalyptic. The first Leech maybe, not understanding her powers and having them rip across continents in a spread of crackling electric death that only left husked shells of plants and animals in its wake, or the first Firehawk who went nuclear and burned the sky, or the first Voidgrasp who lost control and began to collapse the planet's core - some extreme shit that had humans fleeing en masse with barely any preparation and HUGE swathes of history and knowledge left behind. That would cover so many social things surviving into the BL verse, cultures, accents, cooking, that shit comes with us regardless of what we were able to throw into escape ships. Like so much data would be stored on any tech and data arrays within the vessels people would use to leave a dying planet even in an insane rush, but that shit waters down over time - if you're farming barely edible plants on some planet that smells like farts, are you really gonna be that stressed about teaching your kids history from a lost planet when your current concerns are not being eaten by something with 19 legs and 4 buttholes? Don't think so.

On if the other Siren entities are as influential to their hosts as The Leech -

I touch on it a wee bit throughout LL, but the others are FAR more passive and meld more to their host's whims. The Firehawk Siren wouldn't.. like.. care? If the host was burning down a planet or fighting off an evil corporation? They are removed from any nonsense happening on this side, they might not even really be able to tell, it's like asking an amoeba or a collection of sentient atomic particles what its opinion is on Brexit. That's not really its priority. The Leech is so aggressive in its control of the twins and desperation to drive them towards an outcome it desires only cause it's split, broken, removed from the song, and completely lost. We're talking a caged, half-mad animal removed from its natural environment and left totally isolated from its own kind for millennia. It's in pain, it's confused, it wants to find its way back to the song and the others and where it belongs, but it's stopped by a barrier it can't comprehend ( the twins and being ripped between them), so in its impotent rage it feeds back that hatred onto them. It's not really sentient in the way we would describe functional intelligence, but it wants, and craves, and FEELS. And it feels very, very angry.

Big thanks to @undergoingcalibrations for talking through so much of this with me!

Asks are Open!

#borderlands #borderlands 2 #borderlands 3 #bl3 #troy calypso #tyreen calypso #calypso twins #sirens #leech lord #my hcs #my writing

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catboycafe · 3 years

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I Will Now Express Every Thought I Have About Pacific Rim: The Black

⚠️ spoilers for the whole thing baby

I actually forgot Pacific Rim: The Black was premiering today until I saw it in an article this morning! When I first heard about it months ago, I was decidedly not sold on a Pacific Rim anime. Uprising burnt me the fuck out and I don’t have a lot of trust left in me for new entries to the franchise. But I had heard rumblings of Raleigh and Herc being referenced after going into #pacificrim and I decided I may as well check out to see what was up! I binged it in 4 hours and it sure was a whirlwind, I’ll tell ya

The Plot

I really enjoy the setting and initial concept! We’re so use to seeing Kaiju/Jaegar shenanigans play out within these major cities with helpless civilians everywhere that spending so much time in a lonesome desert and these destroyed civilizations was really cool and indicative of the changes Pacific Rim has undergone in the last few years. I also looooved the Desert Settlement from the beginning!! It seemed really homey and picturesque; I wish we’d spent more time with the other survivors and got to see more of their day to day aside from farming and sitting.

I also found the first episode set up to be really tight and well written! I was hooked during the initial flashback, Hayley and Taylor’s fight was really poignant and well acted, and the reveal of Atlas Destroyer felt really huge and epic!!

But once we left the Desert Settlement and the plot started actually moving along, the pacing becomes suuuper rough. We spent way too long in Bogan with Shane and Mei; there’s only 7 episodes and we spent, like, 3? 4? within the confines of that camp and I felt it weighed the plot down. Boy is introduced in the 2nd episode and, because the narrative spends so much time on Shane’s evil machinations and Mei’s back story, we still don’t know anything concrete about his origins or purpose 3 episodes later! That felt frustrating to me

The story beats overall were very predictable. I was able to pick up on Mei’s backstory via her dynamic with Shane in their introductions, so her memories felt too built up and too hollow once they were revealed. The same with the reveal of Boy’s Kaiju form; he was in a big green test tube in a PPDC base - I assumed immediately he was a part-kaiju experiment and again his reveal felt hollow, especially after the glacial pace of it’s development.

Even when events weren’t predictable, they lacked weight. The appearance of several Kaiju Breaches in “Boneyard” felt very cheap for some reason; I wasn’t scared and I didn’t feel tense about these odds mounting against the protagonists. This was just happening and I was just watching.

The Art Direction and Animation

I’m very obsessed with all the new Kaiju we got from this; I love how Copperhead is rendered, they’re a joy to see on screen!! The Rippers are also very cute and deserve little plushies...i love these neat little dogs. Boy’s Kaiju Form is very intimidating with an interesting color palette and I loved seeing him next to Copperhead’s highly saturated design!

That’s unfortunately all that I liked however; All the human character design is unmemorable to me. Every character looks exactly like another easily identifiable anime character from a different property (Hayley looks exactly like Zero Suit Samus to me, for example. And Mei kept reminding me of both Bernadetta Fire Emblem and Motoko Kusanagi from GitS. The list goes on).

I can sort of understand why they’re so bland? A franchise going from Live Action to something as heavily stylized as anime is probably a really difficult transition and these designs are probably meant to be more lowkey than more unique anime designs in order to help that transition. But realistically stylized designs can still be recognizable and unique! These feel uninspired and bare bones.

I have no problem with the switch to CGI animation that modern anime is doing because I know it’s a lot cheaper to produce and it can still be really unique and striking! But The Black’s model animation felt very stilted and inconsistent. I don’t have a lot of knowledge about animating so I don’t think I can accurately describe what I disliked? Wooden is probably the best term. Character movements felt wooden and things like hair and clothes felt plastic.

Impacts also had very little weight. The fight between Tayler/Mei and Copperhead reminded me of when you’re in a dream and trying to punch something, but you can’t punch hard. It was simply too floaty and too soft. The final showdown in “Showdown” was better, but not by much. It was very immersion breaking seeing these Giant Robots and Giant Monsters unable to throw a real solid hit!

Characters

My favorite character was unequivocally Joel Wyrick. We love Joel Wyrick in this house! Joel’s character has real charisma and charm. I love his flirtations with Loa, how his cocky disposition is juxtaposed with his drinking problem and later insecurities over his lost memories, and his genuine kindness shown to Mei, Taylor, and Boy. No one ever plays with Boy, they just run after him and drag him around...but Joel has this moment in “Escape from Bogan” where he kneels down to Boy and helps him collect rocks. It was sweet!

So of course, when Joel dies for absolutely no reason 5 minutes later - pissed! I was pissed! I yelled “COME ON” aloud in my studio apartment! I was genuinely so excited to see him interact more with the rest of cast then, poof. No More Joel.

His death felt like it was for shock value to me rather than actual narrative development. Why kill him when we still don’t fully understand his and Mei’s relationship? Why were they so close? Were they childhood friends, or just coworkers that happen to become friends? Why did he specifically know all the details of Shane’s abuse towards Mei before she did?

What did his death accomplish? It made Mei sad...ok? She was already...very sad. Her running away from Shane already had consequences - the consequences of Shane coming after them for revenge in the future. Why did Joel have to become a causality?

His death is ultimately tied to Mei’s character arc which is, unfortunately, my least favorite :c I find Mei to be a really one dimensional character with a personality, backstory, outlook, and motivation that I’ve seen done a million times before with a million other characters. She feels very out of place in the franchise as a whole - Pacific Rim is, at it’s core, a story about connecting with others. Her self-centric arc and lack of desire to connect outside of drifting really alienates her from the story at large and it frustrates me how long The Black’s narrative spends on her.

Hayley and Taylor were otherwise very interesting in the pilot episode, but become similarly one dimensional at the story chugs on. Taylor’s unflinching (bordering on unhealthy) faith in their parents was really interesting next to Hayley’s complete acceptance of their parents’ death. But once the two of them make up their differences, they lack an interesting dynamic and become very passive protagonists.

Taylor especially has no personality - how would you describe Taylor? He’s...brave. He’s the older brother. He’s a leader? He’s nice? There is nothing noteworthy about him at all, which is sad considering I think he has the potential to be a really interesting way to explore the original movie’s influence on The Black’s story.

Hayley’s grief and self-blame are more interesting than Taylor’s...nothingness, but she still falls into this one-note trope of being the naive, excitable little sister. I guess I feel abnormally frustrated about this flat character writing because Pacific Rim’s incredibly unique cast has always been an inspiration to me! It feels sad that this new iteration into the series is full of what feel like stock characters.

Then we get to Boy. How come Boy can’t have a person name? It’s specifically written in a dialogue between Taylor and Hayley: “I’m not going to call him Chad or Barnaby or one of those names for a baby brother you wanted as a kid,”

Why?

He’s by all accounts a human child when they find him. Yes, he was found in a big green test tube - but he walks and acts just like a human child. The only difference, seemingly, is that he is non-verbal and engages in strange/annoying behavior (running off, eating bugs, etc). So he isn’t deserving of a name?? I don’t know why that makes me so mad, it just does. it’s like they refuse to treat him as a human even before they find out he’s a Kaiju - it’s super weird! How can the story sell me on the three of them becoming found family (like they’re seemingly trying to do) if the protagonists won’t even treat this kid like a kid??

Misc. Thoughts

The callbacks to Stacker, Herc, and Raleigh were cool! I also like that Herc is a major plot point! We love Herc Hanson and it’s what he deserves. I also find Loa’s connection to Horizon Bravo very interesting...and the fact we’re getting Kaiju cultist lore! Love that! Love that!

Fucked up that the only two dark skinned characters were: 1) removed from the story 10 minutes in with no call back yet, 2) Killed after having 1 line of dialogue and fridged for the character development of the blonde white girl. I really need to know what the deal with those 4 characters leaving in the beginning was about - I absolutely thought we’d see them again by now, but no dice

I don’t know how to feel about Ajax and have no clue what their purpose in the story is. They’re cool, but whats the point?

If Mei and Taylor are paired up together romantically, I’m putting Craig Kyle and Greg Johnson in the time out box. Very tired of seeing random hetero romance B plots in stories that can’t even get their A plots together

Overall, it’s kind of subpar! It has the foundations of a really interesting story, but the pacing and characters really took me out of it. I’m interested in Season 2! I know season 2 is already ordered and I’d love to see how things continue to develop, see if the character writing gets any better - but I’m not too hopeful unfortunately. I really really love Pacific Rim after all these years and I’m happy to still be getting content and world building! There’s just sooo much I would change about this however. At least fanfiction’s free!

Thanks for reading all this, I have ADHD and just go on and on if u let me. hmu if You Too have thoughts about Pacific Rim: The Black and have no one to talk abt them with

#pacific rim #pacific rim: the black #pacific rim the black #taylor travis #hayley travis #long post #sorry this is thousands of words. i contain multitudes

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legionofpotatoes · 3 years

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we decided to watch all story cutscenes from the new resident evil village videogame on a whim, since it’s not really our cup of tea gameplay-wise but seems to be this massive zeitgeist moment that made us morbidly curious. And I know how much everyone cares about my thoughts on things I know very little about, so. let’s get into it huh gamers. and yeah spoilers?

for context, I’ve only played resident evil 4 and a small portion of 5. I also read the wikipedia entry for 7’s plot recently. all this to say I was only vaguely aware of how tonally wacky the series was going in

I also completely gave up following the plot of the mutagens’ soap opera, so that paid off in spades here as you might imagine

anyway so that baby in the intro. that baby’s head is just massive. humongous toddlerdome. when ethan finds the baby’s head in a jar later on. there is no way that head would fit into that jar. bad game design. no not even game design. basic stuff. one hundred years in prison for jar modeler

if I see a single functional hetero marriage in video games I will cry tears of joy. I understand their misery is kind of The Point irt them badly working through the hillbilly romp trauma but like. sheesh. at least set that up as an emotional story goal the plot will help resolve. but nope they start off miserable and it goes nowhere

I know I know the mia thing has a huge wrinkle in it but like. not really in terms of dramatic function?? set up a happy end to the re7 nightmare (miranda can keep up appearances for all she cares) and then take that all away from angry griffin mcelroy for manpain. it will still absolutely work to set up the dramatic forward momentum. why throw in this cliche Hollywood Tension in their marriage if you’re not going to address it oh maybe because it’s normalized as automatically interesting because nuclear families are a self-propagating pit of a very narrow chance at emotional happiness relying on social stigma to preserve their empty function oops my baggage slipped in yikes abort mission

I called him griffin mcelroy because I saw his face on twitter and. yeah. I will continue to do this occasionally. my house my rules

... fuck the reason I’m hung up on this is specifically because the rest of the game is so tonally dexterous (which is a shining point to me! more on that later!), and yet they felt weirdly compelled to create the aesthetic trapping of a family-at-odds trope without following it through too well. a sign of both the good and the bad stuff to come

but listen the real reason why I wanted to talk about any of this is to nitpick the fascinating backwards-engineered nucleus of the entire thing; in that this game essentially creates a melting pot of just SO many disparate horror tropes and then makes a no-holds-barred unhinged effort at weaving thick lore to piece them all together. it is truly a sight to behold. like straight up you got your backwoods fright night situation, your gothic castle vampires, your rural-industrial werewolves, and don’t forget your bloated swamp monsters over there, with then a hard left turn into robotic body horror, and the entire ass subgenre of Creepy Doll writ large, and the bloodborne tentacle monsters, and a hellboy angel bossfight, which rides on the coattails of a mech-on-mech pacific rim bonanza, and just jesus henry christ slow down

almost all of these are textural hijack jobs that don’t really get into the metaphor plain of any of those settings but the game sort-of makes an argument that the texture IS the point and revels in it. It is kind of admirable almost. The same reason why the intro felt boxed in and unmotivated is also why the rest of the game just blasts off of its hinges to the point of complete and self-indulgent tonal abandon. I kinda loved that about it. lady dimitrescu made sure to hold her hat down as she bent forward in mahogany doorways and then suddenly she’s a giant gore dragon and you settle in your temp role as dark souls man with Gun to take her ass down. Excellent??

this rhino rampage impulse to gobble up every horror aesthetic known to man comes to head when the game wrestles with its FPS trappings in what is the most hilarious solution in creating visceral player damage moments. Since most cinematics and the entire game is in first person, that leaves precious little real estate for the devs to work with if they really want to sell griffin’s physical crucible. To wit. This dude’s forearms. Specifically just the forearms. They are MASSACRED throughout the story. The poor man lives out the silent hill dimension of a hand model. by the end cutscene he looks like a neatly dressed desk clerk who had decided to stick both his grabbers into garbage disposal grinders just a few hours prior. like in addition to everything else it manages to rope in that tinge of slapstick violence into its general grievous genre collection except this time it IS for a lack of trying! truly incredible

but wait his miracle clawbacks from everything his poor paws go through are retroactively explained away, yes, but far too vaguely and far too late to console me as I sat and watched everyone’s favorite baby brother reattach an entirely severed hand to his wrist stump by just. placing it on there. and giving it a lil twist ‘n pop terminator-style. and then willing his fingers back into motion right in front of my bulging eyes. this game just does not care. it does not give a shit. and boy howdy will it work to make that into one of its strongest suits

cause generally speaking resident evil was THE premiere vanilla zombie content destinaysh for like a decade, right? and as the rest of the world and mainstream media started encroaching and bloodying its blue ocean it went and just exploded in every single conceivable horror trope direction like a smilodon on catnip. truly, genuinely fascinating franchise moves

yeah the big vampire milf is hot. other news; grass... green. although I do love the implication that her closet is just identical white dresses on a rack. cartoon network-level queen shit

apropos of nothing I’ve said there’s also this hobo dante-devimaycry-magneto man, and I can’t believe this sentence makes sense. anyway he made that “boulder-punching asshole” joke referring to chris redfield and it was probably the only easter egg that really landed for me and boy did it land hard. I have not seen him punch the boulder in re5, mind. I had only heard about how funny it is from friends. and here this dude was, probably in the same exact mindset as me, trying to grapple with that insane mental image. with you on that ian mckellen, loud and clear

I advocate vehemently against the shallow pursuit of hyper photorealism in art direction but I gotta admit it works really in favor of immersive horror like this. the european village shacks especially gave me super unchill flashbacks to my rural countryside retreat in western georgia. I could smell the linoleum dude. not cool

faces are weird in this game. can’t place it. nice textures, good animation, but the modeling template is... uuh strange? and the hair. it has that clustered-flat-clumpy look that harkens to something very specific and unpleasant but I just don’t know what. sue me

griffin’s mental aptitude to take all this shit in stride and end every seemingly traumatizing bossfight involving some fucking eldritch being yet unseen through mortal eyes by essentially throwing out an MCU quip is just. What the fuck dude? I mean that was funny how you casually yelled the f-word at a god damn werewolf that you considered a fairy tale an hour ago but are you like, all right?? it was swinging a sledgehammer the size of a bus at you, ethan

oh oh the vampires are afraid of cold and your last name is winters. I get it haha

Pro Gamer Nitpick: boss fights seemed a bit unnecessarily long?? idk why the youtuber we picked decided the ENTIRE propeller man fight counted towards the vital story scenes he was stitching together, but man mr big daddy lite there really had some get up and go huh??

why are they saying dimitrescu.. like that. is it really how you say that word or is the english language relapsing into its fetish for ending every single word with a consonant at all costs

I’m not saying it’s a dramatic miss of a twist in context of all that’s going on, but the “you died in the last game actually and have been DC’s clayface ever since” revelation is low-key. it’s. it’s just funny to me, I dont know what to say. century-old god-witch fails her evil plan after she mistakenly removes heart from what was definitely NOT just some white guy with eight fingers after all

chris realizing he’s about to become the player character and immediately swapping out his tsundere trenchcoat for the muscletight sex haver sweater

the little bluetooth speaker-sized pipe bomb he taped to his knife was nuclear?? really??? I must have missed something because that is just too good. I buy it though I totally buy it. chris just got them fun-sized nukes in his car trunk for, you guessed it, Situations

anyway this is all for now just wanted to briefly touch on how unexpectedly funny and tonally irreverent this seemingly serious game turned out to be. did not articulate any cathartic story beats whatsoever but my god it had fun connecting those plot points. he just fucking put his severed hand back on his stump and it Just Worked todd howard get in here

#text #another one in my bulleted review series with no rhyme or reason #sorry resident evil fans this could be a painful read pls turn away #i know almost nothing about it but i am gonna be super fake familiar and critical of this one hey ho

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kryptsune · 4 years

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Underworld AU Info

🌼 Ok so I know I am not the best at describing exactly what Underworld or the Welcome to the Underworld fic is. I am going to endeavor to do so right now so bear with me. Before I begin I need to preface that this AU is dark. It has dark themes which is why I post it under M. This is my Underfell and the fic/AU that started my multiverse. Every single Fell based AU that I have created is based off this lore/world build. I will be answering some frequently asked questions. Feel free to ask more!

What is WTU/ Underworld/ Welcome to the Underworld? They are all names I use for my lore as well as fic that I write over on AO3.

What makes your any different from the other Fells? This one is easy to answer. I have spent a long time crafting this world and story. I try to tie it to UT with specific references or events but the characters, world build, and plot are not UT. The locations are the same with specific alterations and events have taken place to change the characters personalities and their motivations. This world is not for the faint of heart which is why it is called the Underworld and not the Underground.

Is this a Frans Fic/ story? In essence, yes, but I would like to note that just because Frans is in it does not mean it is necessarily the central focus. It is more about how their relationship develops and grows over the course of 3 Acts. There are other ships within the story as well such as MTT/Boss, Grillby/ Muffet, and NCG/ Rabbit shop keeper (Her name is Rae). What are the Acts and how are they different?

Act 1 is the journey that Frisk takes through the Underworld to reach The Capital. It is the UT journey as I like to call it. Up to about the middle section of Waterfall there is more original takes and content that are added. As an example a lot of Hotland is entirely different from the original game.

Act 2 is the monsters adaption to being on the surface and living among humans once again. It is more of a slice of life tone than the first act and focuses mainly on more character development and relationships.

Act 3 is a culmination of one and two. I tend to keep this one under wraps since the story completely detaches itself from the original. Frisk must make another journey and piece the Underworld back together with the help of a friend and a foe. This is really where the original work comes into play with that UT flare.

It’s a Fell verse so are all the monsters evil?

No, they are not all evil and I would argue that a lot of them are not. They are just trying to survive in this now lawless society run by a crime syndicate known as the Triad. Snowdin in particular is a safe haven under the protection of Boss for monsters that are just trying to live their lives. They don’t even really hate humans as you can find out in the chapters with the rabbit family.

Where is Chara?

Oh she is there... trust me...

Is Gaster a part of this story?

Yes... yes he is but he does not show up until around the end of Act 2 (Now if you want to talk about a monster that’s evil...)

In the Waterfall chapters it’s mentioned that there are human remains but I thought only the 7 souls fell? Not in my canon. I canon that there are more humans that have fallen down than the 7. The notable souls that we all talk about are special because they are pure souls of the 7 traits while other humans can have a combination of traits in lower quantities. They souls have to be pure of one specific trait. That is why the Black Market exists. Alphys in particular knows how to extract soul essence which is sold illegally. It is incredibly dangerous for monsters to dose with human soul traits but some do it and pay big money for the feelings/power it gives them.

Is MTT still a killer robot?

Yes, but not of his own volition. Alphys being the mad scientist she is and prodigy to the late William Darrius Gaster, has used her scientific knowledge to imprison MTT. I won’t go too much into it but... he does not want to be a killer robot.

Where is the fic so far? Act 1: Hotland

What other changes are there? (this is just a few)

- The MTT hotel is now Muffet’s casino - Grillby’s diner is now a nightclub - Hotland has a new area, the gold mines - The true lab does not exist since it exploded a long time ago. It is basically in Ruins now - Snowdin’s magical “sun” acts as an actual sky - Boss is Captain of the Royal Guard not Undyne - MTT’s show is more like a coliseum and death gauntlet - Undyne’s backstory is vastly different from the original as well as other Fell interpretations

Are there lesser monsters and side characters?

Yes! Of course there are. I really try to spotlight each and every one. That includes Doggo, Gerson, Nice Cream Guy, Snowdrake, Monster Kidd. They are all in the fic. I feel like they don’t get enough love and even some play a far larger role than the original like Grillby as an example.

Are you really going to complete this?

Come Hell or high water you bet I am.

Do your versions look different?

If you are referring to design, yes, they do. I have redesigned the cast from top to bottom with what I feel looks the best. Their designs do change when Act 2 is in play. Red still wears his jacket though.

Can I send in asks about the world/fic/designs?

Of course you can! My ask box is always open!

#undertale #underfell #frans #Frisk x sans #sans #WTU #welcome to the underworld #Underworld AU #AU #fic #archive of our own #Q and A #quick #ask box is open

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shy-magpie · 3 years

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RQG 157

these things get long and are by definition one spoiler after another, so live blog under the cut

pre episode nonsense:

My hopes for this episode are mostly just the obvious: For Zolf to pull out of his spiral; for Azu to talk to someone about how she's doing; for Hamid to find his footing with the Kobolds (loving that they are devoting a proper arc to using unearned privilege/power rather than pretending it doesn't exist); more Cel lore; a Wug; and for someone to shake answers out of the Brorb. Not sure Alex is going to let us get to know the kids individually which makes sense as juggling 7 new NPCs would seriously cut into everyone else's screen time. I think we will get more of Skraak & Hamid working through their issues, and Skraak's helping the kids through recovery. If we are very lucky maybe Zolf & Skraak will talk rather than just have Zolf resent the Kobolds for putting Hamid in a place to fall into old habits. Okay lets hit play!

Episode live blogging:

Intros are quick: Zolf sounds low, Ben sounds higher energy than he was.

Oh the Brorb drawings come better when the other half is distracted but not thinking about the real topic.

Krakens are through out the globe, unknown numbers, not true instances of Shoin, network is down.

Cel and I both react to having Shoin be the one to come closest to a truly non physical form.*

Krakens are cloned brains in robot bodies. Specifically said Daleks not Jurassic Park.

Shoin thinks he sent a ransom note using the Kraken as a threat against the world.

Does not handle it well when Zolf hones in on that no one knows who he is, much less trembles at his name.**

Hamid follows Zolf's lead and twists it towards boasting about beating the Infection. The talking half doesn't seem to know how he did it as clearly as the drawing bit. Unfortunately its strictly surgical which would be hard to reproduce at scale even before you consider the side effects.

Quick huddle with the rest of the team:

Cel always wanted to go to London?

Zolf wants to ask more about how the infection works so they could prevent infection. Wilde thinks he is suggesting using Shoin's solution, I get Alex has to catch people up but I don't like Wilde being a paragraph behind me or underestimating Zolf.

Bryn wants to review the diary. Alex confirms the diary says he had a possible way to "end it" as a whole.

They go back and Cel feigns being extremely impressed that Shoin might have a way to stop the infection. I think having time to regroup cut him off from his memory of the infection again. Alex spells out Shoin loses coherence whenever they bring up the infection/the time period around when he was infected.

Heal check time. Zolf crit fails. Azu got a 29 and can see where his theory was better than his surgery. It may be an aphasia (issues to with communication. can't get to certain words, some can't be spoken even if he understands the concept; others he can't understand if he hears them even if he uses the word/concept himself. Brain trauma, memory problems more severe the more recent you get, sounds like unable to store short term memory properly so anything longer ago than a week but after surgery likely lost.)

Cel switches to the simulacrum. He verbally dismisses it as a waste of time. His hand keeps drawing based on the previous question re:stopping the infection.

Alex calls for a sense motive. Zolf & Azu see the latest drawing is a landscape using technical notation. Its a barren mine. Yes! it's the entrance to Svalbard. Cel can see its a circuit. Alex makes us/Lydia wait until after he's done with the simulacrum stuff.

Shoin thinks using humans as your base design to improve from is the wrong approach, gives some credit to Francois Henri for taking a different approach.

The circuit maybe to transmit something, it needs an organic component. Cel couldn't roll much better then that so they probably need to kick it towards the Harlequins to set a team on.

Shoin is moaning about paying the bills. Took on the contract to provide Simulacrum fluidics to Damascus for the money.

Drawings change shape get less technical and focus on the cavern entrance. Ben catches it sounds yonic, Alex was trying to not go there but did he really think you could go from cave imagery to seed imagry without stopping there?

Hamid tries to get more on how he caught the infection.

Bryn and Alex spell out that to get answers you ask a real question he won't answer verbally but will answer with his hand, with a decoy to keep the talking him distracted while the hand answers.

Decoy question is about Harrison Campell.

Concept drawing of a person, overwhelmed by an image of a huge figure with lines going from the small to the large? Is he suggesting they plant someone they prepare to be infected, and have them infect it back?

Proofs? Minor changes between the proofs and published version of early Campbell books.

Another review session upstairs. Hamid's red string wall got cited as being useful! Cult of Hades/Wellington may have been the one to hire Shoin to make parts for Damascus. Zolf and Hamid talk briefly, about work and as dry "stick to the subject" as possible but they are talking productively.

Oh Ben finally gets in that the interrogation is hard on Zolf's knees because he has to keep his legs out of the cell. He snaps a little at Cel when they comment on cell vs Cel. Carter suggests "naughty box" which nicely derails that point of tension. Cel refers to Shoin as being more pleasant to talk to than Carter. Not sure if that undermines the tiny Cel/Carter ship or fuels it with tension.

Cel asks who hired Shoin to make Sim parts. He can answer directly. Well directly for him, it seems to be mostly justifying stealing Tesla's work on the basis that Tesla wasn't going to implement his theory. Hamid snipes him with a shot praising Edison to get him back on topic. Shoin says Edison was being backed by a big investor. Is it to much to hope this is Alex finally consolidating the factions? If Hades is Edison's investor (leaving Edison & co as effectively their minions, rather than a faction of their own) and the factory owners we can cut down on sides considerably.

He goes on about how he spied on Henri, religion as money maker. Shoin was directly approached by Hades lot. Shoin made sure his bits won't work since he didn't want competition. Wellington was his contact with Hades. Wellington always had a pair of cloaked figures. Vinegar + squizard = funny? Could be useful.

Do not follow what is going on with the hand.

Shoin is still unstuck in time and thinks he is going to connect them. Cel unplugs the speaker on his villain speech. Cel induces a dream state by powering him down

~break~

Cel suggests painlessly killing him. Zolf seconds the idea because its immoral to keep him like that. Hamid points out the longer the keep him around the more likely it is for someone to be infected. Wilde rules they should kill and seal it off.

Cel & Zolf have an argument about having the Kobolds handle the remains. Cel calls Zolf out on his inconstant stance on whether the Kobolds can be infected because if he doesn't believe that then he is risking them.

Wilde is moving on? Cel suggests letting the Brorb die, putting it in a bag of holding, keeping the bag in the anti magic field.

They can't just call Einstein because using unofficial channels is bad when irregular behavior is a sign of infection(?)

Alex's unhealthy attitudes about productivity are called out when he refers to the time Wilde spends thinking/planning before getting their transport arranged as "working" (with the inverted commas) rather than considering it part of the work.

They work out possible paths if teleporting is off the table.

And the boys are snapping at each other again. Zolf, you can't flip out every time you are reminded that Hamid doesn't have the experience or expertise of a seasoned sailor. Yeah you did leave the team without your skills and maybe the kid was a bit green for a field promotion; but you know what? He did a fine job, and the other choices were Sasha, who wouldn't lead, and Bertie, who shouldn't. Just because stepping down was the right thing to do, doesn't mean you get to lose it when you are confronted with the mere allusion to the idea it had consequences.

Barnes tells Hamid why going over the pole is a really bad idea. That Azu's suggestion is carrying Hamid has troubling symbolism.

Zolf actually comes more or less to Hamid's defense by pointing out that all their options are bad options, so having a go at Hamid's idea in particular is unwarranted.

I'm not going to bother listing out options. They will pick one or won't need to pick one. If we have been a very good fandom Alex may reward us with Earhart coming back as their preferred transport.

There we go, Hamid suggests her, Zolf seizes on the idea compliments Hamid on it, and immediately takes it to Wilde. Thank God he isn't so far down he can't do that. If he isn't compulsively shooting down any hope (especially from Hamid) then he really is on the upswing from the low brought on by quarantine stress.

Lydia isn't happy that there isn't going to be an American chapter. Then again we wrote off Svalbard, so don't give up!

Its the Northwest Passage and its so weird realizing that not everyone has it as a cultural reference. Wonder if it's an Oregon thing or a US thing.

Yes it would have been cool, but I think Alex is not going to let us have cool new story arcs when we haven't played with the ones we have at home.

Einstein and Earhart are our two best transport options. I am a happy fan. Especially if Zolf has to use his family and Earhart’s reaching out to him near the end of the journey to appeal to her. I mean we did get more on Zolf's relationship with his family than I expected after Paris, so I'm not going to sulk if they don't pursue this, but it would be nice.

Conflicted as a fan, its hard to remember that this taking months extra is a bad thing when the end of the series is feeling too close for comfort.

Zolf, look at you leveraging your experience with moving even when things feel hopeless!

Cel I love you, kraken as submarine is brilliant. Air kraken is suggested by Carter.

Hamid plays with the ideas while Alex goes "why?". Because you are going to have to work a hell of a lot harder than that if you want Hamid to see it as a no win situation rather than proof he needs to redouble on cheerful creativity. Feeling like he had no options led to the worst parts of Hamid's life, the things he is truly ashamed of; having few losses outside of those, he is going to make Kirk's Kobayashi Maru hang ups look amateur.

Zolf is heading to the beach.

Cel is checking on their village.

Hamid wants to contact Einstein himself, Zolf says he should talk to Wilde about that. Hamid wants Zolf with him for that meeting. Zolf either doesn't want to be a safety blanket, wants Hamid to get used to dealing with Wilde directly, or completely missed Hamid offering a chance to work together because he is incapable of seeing Wilde as an opponent. He does say some nice things about being a team.

Hamid tells Cel to say hi to Jasper for them. He is good at the people side of leadership. Remembering names and relationships, knowing how to show he cares because it's important to Cel without overstepping. If Zolf can learn to let go of the rank stuff, they could be an unbeatable team of co leaders.

Zolf nods at Azu. Azu smiles proudly back. Alex jokes about not liking giving them time to heal because they coordinate.

Hamid offers hugs to both Cel and Zolf. Because this entire character is a "fuck you" to toxic masculinity and he is not afraid to openly show affection to his friends.

Cel gives him a great hug.

Zolf hesitates but gives him a pat on the shoulder. Hamid's has high enough charisma to make that not awkward. Good kid, accepting that Zolf is reaching out as far as he can.

Hamid talks to Skraak. Hamid is worried about taking the kids. Maybe Skraak can convince them to stay & help Jasper with science. Because RQG loves us and wants us to be happy, they are considering a fantasy some of us harbored since "science" as a serious possibility. Could solve the issue with Alex not wanting the kids to take up too much screen time too. Skraak is the perfect character for Hamid to have as his second. He believes in Hamid, and can be confided in, but isn't going to take an ounce of self pity or bullshit.

Alex that village better be okay. Smoke? Controlled burn. Ben lightens the mood. The tank is still guarding the village. The barricade is up but they are guarding about as well as a village of level 0(1?) characters can be expected to.

They are having a party and there is a bon fire. Because Alex knows we wouldn't have trusted him if there wasn't a little scare with the smoke. !puns

The village is visibly healing since the weather is fixed. They thank Cel but know better than to ask.

Jasper! Jasper is looking good. He stepped in as a leader of the village. Cel and I could burst with pride. Jasper thinks Cel is coming to stay, Cel tries to explain they are going to help save the other villages around the world and mentions that Jasper would like the Kobolds.

!puns

* One day I need to hunt down the right corner of SF because there has got to be a decent amount of trans humanist fiction for trans humans out there somewhere.

**Not sure if I should feel bad for hoping this gives him a safe target for his destructive tendencies. Ideally Zolf would get past that point without indulging his dark side lest he reinforce bad coping mechanisms. Ideally Zolf would have weekly therapy without the fate of the world on his shoulders too. Its the more personal version of looking forward to a fight after Hamid's been stressed because he seems to find cooking baddies cathartic.

#Rusty Quill Gaming #live blog thingy #RQG 157 #RQG Spoilers #RQG Season 4

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thanksjro · 4 years

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Eugenesis, an Overview: Let Me Get Weirdly Serious About This Book For A Sec

HOLY SHIT WHAT A RIDE.

So, let’s recap what we’ve learned over the last 282 pages.

In 2001, James Roberts published nearly 300 pages of fictional prose, based in the established franchise of Transformers, specifically the Marvel UK comic continuity. This novel tells the story of the Transformers, in their dwindling numbers, being attacked, not by their opposing factions, but by an outside force hellbent on revenge. Those who are captured by this force- the Quintessons- are stripped of their very individuality, forced into servitude until the moment they die of exhaustion. Everyone is pushed to- and in some cases beyond- their limits, the horrors of a literal genocide beating down on them like a tidal wave. Only by casting aside their differences and banding together can they hope to survive the nightmare that is the Eugenesis Wars.

But people don’t really talk about all that, even though it’s a majority of what the book’s about. No, people only talk about what happens after the Quintessons are defeated. People only talk about the robots getting pregnant, because honestly it is the most bizarre thing.

Not because the idea itself is terribly odd- I mean, at least it’s in line with the lore the comics set up. It’s bizarre in how we get to that point. All the torture, all the suicide and death and depression and destruction of entire belief systems, leads up to these robots getting pregnant. Almost like that was the whole point. And considering that this story is presenting to us a bridge for the gap between the classic Transformers and the Beast-Era ones, it could have very well been.

I won’t say fetish, because that doesn’t feel quite right, but our dear author seems to have a sort of… obscene fascination with the concept of mechpreg. A fascination that will carry on well into his career as a professional comic scriptwriter, setting readers on edge for the duration of his run with IDW.

Comparing Eugenesis to More Than Meets The Eye and Lost Light, you get an interesting view of Roberts’ growth, as both a writer and a human being. Eugenesis is the work of what Billy Joel might call an "angry young man”, focusing on the despair of wartime and the futility of one’s struggle against the flow of time and mortality. The theme of time only being perceived as linear, and being in actuality an unending plane where all moments are equal and eternal might seem oddly specific, but it’s reflected upon by multiple characters within the story of Eugenesis. Perhaps this is why he has Brainstorm and Perceptor collectively and completely jack up time itself in the Elegant Chaos storyline.

Character moments sprinkled throughout the narrative give us a glimpse of the relationships that would be written later on- some of the most compelling scene writing happens between Quark and Rev-Tone, two original characters who have such a delightful dynamic between them, they very quickly became some of my favorites. You truly believe that they care so strongly for one another, they would do just about anything to keep the other safe. And they do, in a couple cases.

Then there’s all the death. There’s a lot of death in Eugenesis, and none of it is by way of natural causes- you’ve either got suicide, murder, or suicide-by-way-of-murder. You really see Roberts shine in these death scenes, both then and now, as he captures the utter, raw tranquility as one stares down their own demise, and on the other side of the coin, the complete annihilation of one’s very heart as someone they love is destroyed. It’s downright poetic how he handles these scenes.

Still, there is a difference in how the aftermath is handled. When someone dies in the MTMTE/LL run, there’s always meaning and purpose to it- nobody dies just to die, and those who are left behind are left at least something to comfort them.

A message of love.

The return of a friend.

A chance to keep living.

A chance to be a better person.

You don’t get that in Eugenesis. In most cases, there’s no salve for the wound, only more hurting. There’s no time to even mourn, as the fight rages on and on and on. Any happiness pulled from the narrative for the characters is laced with a bittersweet understanding that these folks probably aren’t going to make it, and they’re just as aware of that fact as the reader is.

And yet there’s something kind of beautiful about that, in a twisted sort of way.

Eugenesis is a sort of love letter to those dark thoughts hiding in our heads, those deeply scary intrusive visions of everything we care about being ripped away from us. It’s a book make up of catharsis, of hurting that begs for some sort of outlet. The characters in this story are lost, and scared, and hollowed out before the mass extinction even arrives, and are put through wringer after wringer, like some sort of distanced facsimile of self-harm.

Perhaps I’m reading a bit too into this, but with how intense things get, with self-insert characters no less, I can’t help but wonder if the James Roberts who was writing Eugenesis truly needed this outlet in more than just a creative sense.

Which isn’t to say that there aren’t issues with this novel just because it was a vessel for catharsis. Pacing can end up going so rapidly it feels as if you’re being pushed towards the edge of a cliff, then stutter to a halt to the point where continuing on feels like an absolute slog. But it always seems just as you’re about to put the thing down and give up, something completely thrilling, completely insane and powerful and profoundly attention-grabbing happens, pulling you right back in. If nothing else, this book demands one’s attention.

There are also some other, more interesting issues with Eugenesis. Issues I wasn’t really expecting to run into. To highlight one such issue, we’re going to play a game.

The game is called Guess That Character Design!

Hey Transformers fandom, got a new quandary for y’all to fight over. Forget the Frenzy/Rumble color debate, forget the Bombshell/Skywarp is Cyclonus debate, it’s time for the What The Actual Everloving Fuck Is Quark Supposed To Look Like debate! Do we follow the comic and its script, which show him as being either about on par with Rev-Tone and Mirage or taller, but fails to note any sort of color because it’s in black-and-white? Or do we follow the novel, which states he’s short exactly once, and crimson? And if he’s red, where did the blue paint chips come from in Part Five? They sure didn’t come from Rev-Tone, who I know is mostly red- not because the novel told me, but because I’ve seen art of him outside of this. Honestly, other than him having big honkin’ shoulders and a bust to match, nothing about Quark’s visual aesthetic is concrete.

Now, I could tell you all about his quirks and mannerisms, how he holds himself, how he talks, how he interacts with others, all sorts of stuff. Nothing wrong with the writing there, characterization’s great! I just couldn’t tell you for the life of me how his body is supposed to look. Rev-Tone’s in the same boat, except it’d be even worse without the helpful input of some friends. Did you know he has a visor? Because I sure as shit didn’t until someone showed me. It’s never mentioned in the book. You can barely see it in the prequel comic art if you’re looking for it, and the script is less than helpful to me because I’m not Matt friggin’ Dallas, nor have I had the pleasure of reading Transtrip. All the information presented in the novel about his looks involves his mouth.

Hell, some of the writing in Eugenesis seems to imply that he actually just has normal eyeballs.

What I’m getting at here is that Roberts leans a bit too much on the reader knowing exactly as much as he does about the characters, the plot points, the lore. And he knows A LOT about Transformers.

This book essentially requires the reader to have the wiki open with multiple tabs at all times. Roberts put his heart and soul into the prose, but the world-building had his nerdy little brains smeared all over it, because there are some obscure references in here, not to mention the sci-fi jargon. You basically NEED an internet connection to get through this- I’ve never read a novel that pretty much forbid an acoustic reading, but here it is, in all its glory.

Eugenesis is a dark, morbid, conflicted story with the oddest little bright spots in it. Within five pages, you’ll go from some of the most horridly bleak death scenes to someone accidentally burning a hole in their hand like a cartoon character. But never once, in nearly 300 pages, does it ever stop trying. It may not succeed in what it’s attempting 100% of the time, but goddamn does it go as hard as it can. This isn’t something that was done for money, or fame, or anything like that. Eugenesis is a passion project in the purest sense, and you can really feel it in the way it’s been crafted. For all the frustration it put me through, never once did I think “man, this guy just doesn’t care.” The ambition Roberts shows in the prose, in the world-building, in all the funny little moments that show just so much personality within the story, truly were harbingers for what was to come just a decade later.

Ambitious. Bleak. Brutal. Weird. Ultimately unforgettable. That’s James Roberts’ Eugenesis.

But let’s get to the heart of the matter, shall we? The one question that truly matters for any novel: is it worth reading?

Well, that depends.

If you had a hard time with the darker parts of MTMTE/LL, I really couldn’t recommend that you read Eugenesis. You will have an awful time, because most of it is Grindcore x100 levels of depressing and brutal. There were a couple points where I had to take a break because things got so intense- and I’m not exactly squeamish. Maybe stick to a breakdown- like this one!- or try a group read-along. Friends make everything better, after all.

If you like Roberts work and want to see where he came from, like I did, I highly recommend you find a copy- digital of course, there are only a few hundred physical copies in existence. I recommend you find the 2nd edition, which includes Telefunken and fixes some of the more glaring continuity mistakes and typos.

It’s a good read. Just... it’s a lot at times.

Like, a lot.

Up next-

Oh, what? You didn’t think that was it, did you? This url is way too sweet to just be done with so soon.

Next, I’ll be taking a gander at Children of a Lesser Matrix, which is something that was never finished by Roberts, but is still floating around the internet because hey! It’s the internet.

If anyone has any other somewhat obscure writings from JRo, feel free to send them my way. Especially if you have any of the TMUK zines from back in the day. I wish to consume all the works.

#transformers #jro #eugenesis #recap #maccadam #Hannzreads #incoming analysis #overthinking about robots #text post #long post

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halcyondigger · 4 years

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So, the lore for Mega Man Legends is hella deep and pretty much all contained within the sequel -- which is the game less people know about for some reason.

In the interest of that, for anybody curious and wanting a better understanding of just what I go on about, I’ve created a handy chonological bulletpoint sequence of events! Read on, if you’re so inclined!

Elysium is Born

Following one of Mega Man X5′s endings, Mega Man X, last creation of Dr. Light, chooses to finally ensure the safety of the surviving humanity after the fall of Eurasia by beginning work on the space colony “Elysium”, meant to be an artificial paradise where people could live in safety.

This project is eventually completed, and all remaining human life is migrated from the devastated planet’s surface into the care of the units housed on Elysium.

Centuries pass, with life support systems allowing humans to live well beyond their projected life expectancy, technology advances to the point where reploids end up phased out in favor of biomechanical units with biology similar to carbon-based lifeforms hybridized seamlessly with cybernetic components.

The new units become part of Elysium’s Master System, a colony-housed society with hierarchy amidst the units there, all centered around the ideal of caring for their human wards.

The Master System becomes headed by two sister “Mother Units”, Sera and Yuna, who produce and oversee further others to serve the Master System, upon which all subsequent units emerging after are as their subordinate offspring. At the same time, the Purifier Unit line to succeed the Maverick Hunters from olden days is formed, in order to deal with “Aberrant” units who malfunction or otherwise become a threat. Amongst this number is the First-Class Purifier Unit, Mega Man Trigger.

Over time, the human life aboard Elysium begins to naturally dwindle and die out. In order to combat this threat, Sera and Yuna take DNA samples of all that remain to be stored in a genetic Library in the heart of Elysium, a chamber charged to Sera personally to ensure that no existing force could threaten them.

In an attempt to ensure human life will flourish once more, Sera and Yuna coordinate with the oldest-living human, the Master, in creating a fodder race in the image of humans using the Master System units’ design as a foundation. They mass-seed the Earth, now referred to by codename of “Terra”, with with these life forms, thus creating the Carbon race.

The Carbon race eventually leads to unsatisfactory results in proving mankind can once again live on Terra. In order to reset the process and try again, Sera creates the Carbon Reinitialization System -- a process by which all Carbon life is erased from the planet to create a clean slate.

The Master, Trigger, and the Mother Units

As the Master loses all other human companions and becomes a revered existence within Elysium that no one dares to regard personally, he seeks out another in the form of Mega Man Trigger, chosen personally to be his attendant functionally while in reality for the purpose of becoming his close companion.

As Sera and Yuna repeatedly attempt to see if Terra is suitable for life periodically, the repeated extinctions cause the remnants of each Carbon line’s budding civilizations to coalesce with the lingering traces of the ancient human race, resulting in countless ruins becoming strewn across Terra.

As the Master and Mega Man Trigger spend greater time together, becoming inseparable over the years, the Mother Units’ behavior begins to alter. Yuna comes to adopt an affectionate, personally-invested attitude between Trigger, the Master and her sister, acting as the group’s compass and mediator. Sera, however, grows frustrated, as the Master never seems to regard her efforts the same way he does Trigger’s company. This causes her to develop a jealous rivalry of Trigger, while at the same time growing more complicated feelings towards him.

Three thousand years after the Mother Units were created, the Master has finally grown tired of his forcibly-extended life. Without the other two noticing, the Master charges Mega Man Trigger to take him in a pod down to Terra’s surface, so he can behold the forming of early Carbon society with his own eyes -- not disclosing to Trigger that he would be unable to survive outside Elysium without its life support systems.

Making landfall on what would in the future become Calbania Island, the Master is humbled seeing how the early people coming together, finding simple pleasures in life, and comes to realize the cold, sterile luxury of immortality he’d been sheltered by was fundamentally wrong. Coming to accept the Carbon race as humankind’s true successors, the Master gives Trigger a “good luck charm” containing his genetic code-- the key to managing the Library’s computer, to either begin the mass-cloning of humanity on Terra, or to erase it all. He makes a final request of Trigger to do the latter, to put an end to the Master System so that the Carbon race would be free of Elysium’s godlike control over them. Then, peacefully, the last human passes away.

As Mega Man Trigger returns to Elysium in order to fulfill the Master’s last wish and put an end to the system, Sera reacts violently upon discovering what has come to pass. Unable to accept what she believes to be the Master discarding her, she decrees Trigger the highest-priority Aberrant for aiding in the Master’s death, declaring open war on him with all of Elysium.

The End of Elysium

Untold years of battle between the endless forces of Elysium and Trigger alone begin. Yuna, for her part, finds herself conflicted in holding love for both her friend and her sister equally, on top of being torn between siding with family and siding with the one she knows would know best the Master’s wishes. Unable to take side with either, she removes herself to be a neutral overseer -- taking with her the keys Sera would need for clearance to activate the Carbon Reinitialization Program for the planet.

Trigger and Elysium’s battle eventually makes its way to Terra. On a locale called Kattelox Island, Bureaucratic Unit Third-Class Mega Man Juno decides to activate the Carbon Reinitialization Program for his territory specifically, calling down the tower of Eden from orbit to rain fire on the island. Mega Man Trigger makes to stop this, facing Juno in single combat and dispatching him handily, sealing him back in the Main Gate and closing off all paths to it.

Sera finally loses all patience with Yuna as well as her own failing forces, and ventures to Terra herself to eliminate Trigger with her own hands. Trigger and Sera have their final battle on the unnamed landmass in the polar north, largely destroying the island in their clash before mutually striking each other down, both mortally wounded.

In order to preserve himself, Mega Man Trigger backs up all his personal data into a small, monkey-like storage unit named “Data”, before an automatic restoration function kicks in. With most of his body destroyed, what remains undergoes a total biological regression, self-reincarnating as an infant.

Sera manages to remain conscious in her condition, as Yuna arrives in the aftermath of their battle. Once more, she demands Yuna give her the keys for the Library so she could fulfill her purpose to erase all Carbon life and restore humankind, but Yuna refuses. Having accepted the Master’s will, Yuna seals Sera into a prismatic stasis field, doing the same with the resetting Trigger and Data. Trigger and Data are then sent away, transported deep into the aquatic ruin of Nino Island. Yuna then chooses to remain with Sera on the polar island for all time, manipulating the weather to create a blizzard too harsh for any living thing or transportation to pass through. The island would eventually come to be known as “Forbidden Island”.

Unbeknownst to either, early Carbons had been in the area. They had missed the final battle with Trigger and Sera, but arrived in time to witness what transpired between Sera and Yuna. The two would become regarded as goddesses, with Sera known as the “Goddess of the Sky”, who “guards the record of ages”, while Yuna became known as the “Goddess of the Earth”, who “guards the keys”.

Pre-Legends

Centuries later, famed Digger couple Banner and Matilda Caskett chose to be the ones to penetrate the barrier of Forbidden Island and uncover its secrets. Leaving their infant daughter Roll with Matilda’s father, Digger legend Barrel Caskett, the two embark on a dropship meant to penetrate the very epicenter of the perpetual storm, where one can successfully break through.

The expedition turns for the worst, as the pair are unprepared for the Reaverbots guarding the island. Matilda ends up fatally wounded, while Banner loses an arm and vanishes, eventually turning up on the Calinca continent with all memory lost from physical trauma.

Yuna discovers the dying Matilda in her territory. Feeling responsible for what has befallen her, Yuna decided to save her by means of nanotechnology and portions of her own being to heal her wounds. However, the procedure ends up compromising Yuna’s own body. With no other recourse, she transmits herself in her entirety into Matilda, becoming one with her and putting Matilda’s consciousness into dormancy while she lives on within her. Yuna’s body is then put into the dropship the Casketts arrived in, sealed within a barrier for safekeeping.

Upon hearing what has befallen his daughter and her husband, Barrel Caskett resolves himself to retire from active Digging to raise his granddaughter. However, he decides to embark on one final digout before being done for good -- one within the Nino Ruins.

At the bottom of the Nino Ruins, Barrel discovers the stasis prism that had been buried there ages before. Touching it, the prism disappears, revealing a brown-haired infant and a small, robotic monkey. Unsure what to think, Barrel decides to take the boy home with him for the time being.

Upon bringing the boy home, the unknown baby comes into contact with the infant Roll, who immediately displays favor towards him. On seeing this, Barrel decides to take in the boy just as well. However, recognizing the child is clearly abnormal and bizarre circumstances may arise in the future, he opts not to adopt the boy into their family, but to raise him alongside Roll as his apprentice. The infant boy is given his own name: Rock Volnutt.

#Musings #The Lore

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freeza-emperor-of-the-universe · 5 years

Text

Dragonball Super: Broly thoughts

So on a bloody hot day to put it lightly- 46 degrees- almost 115 in US fahrenheight I finally got to see it. English dub rather then my preferred original Japanese subbed but I won tickets so seeing it for free and on a day like this in an airconditioned cinema was perfect.

Light spoilers below.

The Good

*The backstory.

Perhaps the best part of the movie we got so much lore and backstory on the Saiyans, it was fantastic. I used to think the Saiyans were basically just primitive and barbaric beings (I found it odd they had a monarchy). .But this movie depicts them as being a pretty advanced race and that not all of them are fighters. Looks like some work in technology, others as butchers etc. I really hope we get more looks into this in the future.

I really enjoyed the Dragonball Minus material, I used to be one who preferred the TV Bardock special but now I prefer this. Bardock feels like a more developed character here then in the TV special, specifically his interactions with other Saiyans and Gi-ne.

This movie also made me want more on Vegeta’s past. What happened to his mother? What happened to King Vegeta when Freeza destroyed planet Vegeta? Was he already dead prior or what?

I really enjoyed seeing kid Freeza but I wanted more. Just how did Freeza’s race come across the Saiyans. It appears it was Cold but how? More on that would be cool and more on the relationship between Freeza and Vegeta after Vegeta’s destruction up until the Saiyan arc would be amazing.

*Broly

Unlike the DBZ movies Broly here has more of a character compared to say DBZ Movie #08 where his personality in base form was non-existent and then a rampaging and cruel monster in his Legendary Super Saiyan form.

Broly here is akin to Goku at the beginning of Dragonball. He doesn’t know how to socialise, lacks manners, his father tells him what to do yet he is still is a friendly if naive guy. In one of my favourite scenes Broly tells Cheelai and Lemo how his only friend was this giant monster. It’s a really touching scene. The only real thing he has in common with DBZ Broly is when he gets angry, he loses control.

I think the movie opens up to Broly being a regular character in the future of Dragonball, he has of opportunities to learn and grow and I’m really looking forward to seeing that and what they do with him in the future.

Even Paragus felt more developed in this movie. Unlike DBZ Movie #08, you can tell he really loves his son yet he still wants to use him as an instrument for his revenge, sadly.

*Freeza

I am a big Freeza fan, he’s my favourite villain of the show and I think DBS Broly did a good job with him. From seeing him as a kid, to his interactions with his minions, Paragus and Goku in the present, they’re just so much fun. His wish has been a source of controversy, but I actually didn’t mind it and it paralleled with Bulma nicely. This movie also has me excited for his future and personally I do think they should introduce another member of his race. PM if you want spoilers regarding this. Also, his minion Berryblue seemed really interesting to me. We’ve never seen Freeza with a female minion before if I remember right and his relationship with her seemed particularly intriguing. She is seen in the opening flashback with him as a child as well as in the present. Headcanon she was his nanny! Hope we get more of her in the future.

*Cheelai and Lemo

I thought these two were a lot of fun and their dynamic with Broly was great. Hope to see more of them in the future.

*The backgrounds

The backdrops for the movie were just gorgeous, from Planet Vegeta, to especially Planet Vampa. They gave the movie an appropriate level of atmosphere.

*The future

I think this movie sets up a lot for the future of the series. Freeza’s future ambitions and Broly’s character for example. I’m REALLY excited so see what Toriyama and Toei come up with next.

The Bad

Nothing was really bad in the movie overall but...

*The fights

Honestly, I found the fights with Broly to be boring and uninspired. Apart from the animation budget clearly going the most to these parts and vastly better than anything the TV series cinematography, these just felt nothing special. Just your generic run of the mill Dragonball fights. I mean it was cool to finally see Vegeta as a Super Saiyan God in animated form though.

*The character designs/animation

I wasn’t the biggest fan of how the characters looked in this film say compared to Battle of Gods and Resurrection F. They felt much more detailed in those films compared to here, where they looked more... not sure how to put it... cartoony here. Some characters looked fine- Freeza, Broly, Paragus, Cheelai and Lemo while Goku, Vegeta and Beerus etc looked off to me. There was some derpy looking animation at times. Thankfully in the fight scenes the characters looked much better and as mentioned this is where likely the majority of the budget went

*Power scaling

A big problem with modern Dragonball nowadays IMO is that Goku and Vegeta have God-level strength, and it’s hard for them to have villains who should be convincingly at this level or even stronger for them to face. I can JUST buy Freeza training for four months and catching up to their levels because he was incredibly powerful to begin with, I but Broly was harder to believe. It’s like the Artificial Humans/Androids... A human scientist is somehow able to make machines and add robotic devices to humans and make them stronger than Freeza.

Like Broly is not even a Super Saiyan yet he is able to fight Goku in this Pseudo-Oozaru/Great Ape HumanState when Goku is Super Saiyan Blue. As a Super Saiyan, even though he is outclassed, he is still able to put up a fight of sorts against SSJ Blue Gogeta. It just really sucked me out of the experience.

Again beings from other universes being stronger or at Goku and Vegeta’s level, I find acceptable. Villains from the ancient past like Boo/Buu and Moro, I can buy. But this just didn’t work for me.

*The music

The music isn’t bad but it didn’t really stand out too much. I did smile when Cha-La Head-Cha Head played when child Goku arrived on Earth. I also liked Freeza’s theme, however but I wish in the opening flashback it was used more shall we say epically to really capture the intensity of Freeza and Cold landing and the Saiyans mistrust of them. Broly’s theme wasn’t bad and I will say the music playing when Freeza destroyed Planet Vegeta in combination with the scene itself did give me goosebumps. I was disappointed that Blizzard wasn’t used in the actual movie and left to the end credits as well.

The what the?

*The Editing

Wasn’t the biggest fan of the editing- mostly in the beginning backstory parts. It cut too quickly into new scenes- especially cutting from Broly and Paragus on Vampa to suddenly three years later with Bardock. I felt that could have been done better.

*What the?

Three major moments had me scratching my head. Vegeta is fighting Broly and then Goku abruptly steps in and Vegeta just disappears for a good amount of time. We don’t even see him complain about Goku jumping in out of the blue or anything. Then when Goku is getting beat up and is talking to Piccolo telephatically, Vegeta still doesn’t step in nor do we see his reactions. After the Boo/Buu arc this just felt strange.

Cheelai and Lemo don’t know what the Dragonballs are... yet then later on they suddenly do. I get that they presumably forced Kikono to tell them but how or why would they just think to do that was really jarring. I mean yeah I know Cheelai says in one part along the lines of ‘I WISH we could do some/thing’ but still. It just came up out or nowhere.

Finally Cheelai takes forever to make her wish. I get that they needed a climatic moment but it takes Cheelai minutes to make her wish to save Broly, even after knowing all she has to do is simply tell Shenlong/Shenron her wish.

Overall

Dragonball Super: Broly is an entertaining Dragonball movie with some great characters, plotting and solid animation. It’s let down by the uninspired fighting scenes that are your run of the mill generic Dragonball fights and some bizarre what the moments but sets up some interesting threads for the future of the franchise.

7/10

#dragonball super broly #dragon ball super broly #spoilerish

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faeiri-tft · 6 years

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abe? :o

during the kakuna wars i was stuck at a club event, which meant i couldn’t go on stream, but i COULD intermittently check the live updater. i got basically nothing done that day, and when charizard got released i almost started crying into a robot. that’s still basically how i feel about anniversary red

anyway. headcanons:

he’s always wanted to Do A Science–specifically, to learn something new about the world, to put it there for everyone to see. because pallet town is so small and he knew like 5 entire people, this meant he wanted to be a professor

he spent a lot of time around the lab, sometimes reading stuff, sometimes helping oak

blue actually spent a lot of time in the lab too, but that’s partly because it was the only place in pallet town with internet

oak’s computer had the outside world’s 2014 internet, and no one figured out anything was up until postgame

abe used to look up to professor oak a lot, which is…unfortunate, in retrospect

he’s pretty quiet naturally, and he’s not good at interacting with people and will generally default to doing stuff by himself, but at the same time, if you show anything remotely resembling friendship toward him, he will get Immediately attached

after AR ends that probably…contributes to why he doesn’t interact with others much

on the current point on the timeline he’s getting better about that but Everyone He Knows Fucking Dies, so. hoo

he’s pretty forgiving of people in general as long as they actually demonstrate that they’re changing. still, it’s kind of a “forgive but don’t forget” thing

abe’s a huge nerd but you already knew that

i picture him looking basically like FRLG!vanilla!red but with glasses

he has a tendency to pretend he’s doing Perfectly Fine for as long as possible which leads to the inevitable crash being like 10x worse than it would have been if he Admitted His Life Sucks

he spent the whole time between the kakuna wars and the battle tent in partial-shutdown pure-determination only-kinda-verbal pretending mode, and not even pretending well because, uh, i’ve never decided EXACTLY how old he was at the time but it can’t be more than 13

the battle tent was SO bad that leech king had to fucking telepathically confront him about it, which was the only reason he worked out that if he didn’t let himself have an emotion he was literally going to die

but it still took until way after AR, once the Voices weren’t watching, for him to sit down somewhere and have the good long cry he needed that whole time

the funny thing is that his Big Science Thing might have turned out to be the pokedex even before he got possessed and told to do the impossible?

he likes putting names to stuff, having a list of This Is How This Works. hence the whole map thing, and the dome thing, etc

after AR and until the end of anicrys he spends basically all his time tracking the glitches, seeing what forms they come in, and trying to figure out what the fuck they want

a lot of this involves sulking in a damn mountain (because mt silver in any universe is Important), which a) relatable, and b) works out pretty well for him because he’d. rather not deal with people right now anyway

the thing about abe is that he can be oblivious about things while being scarily smart about others. he theorizes that the dokokashira glitch might be a thing before the Voices even enter a universe where it’s possible. and yet…actually i can’t think of a good example right now. i was gonna say something about time but i realized time doesn’t exist

plot stuff:

the PC was always a bit of a sentient location–the Voices thought it was specifically a murder machine but that was mostly because we suck–but there was always a world inside there, and it was always kinda alive

after bill died, oak got his hands all up in this interior world and, after fucking up a bunch of times (and with the help of the PC itself, which wanted to Be Something, had absorbed a lot of knowledge from deposited pokemon and what stuck was a lot of PC war lore shit), managed to make it into a copy of runwun kanto, from a few months before the Voices arrived.

oak designed this virtual kanto as a trap for the voices, where, once they got a Host, he’d give them an impossible task to keep them there forever

and protect all the REAL people out on this side of the PC. and it didn’t matter if anyone in the PCverse suffered, and it didn’t matter if the Voices helped create something that would rip that whole world apart–because it’s not like they’re real, right? they do a good job of pretending, almost fool him a few times, but they can’t be ALIVE, right?

oak only really feels guilty when interacting with AR!blue, and the first time he feels regret is when he realizes that somehow, AR!blue is starting to remember the “real” world (and also tpp1!blue is starting to remember the PCverse, but that doesn’t come up until way later)

oh yeah, and then it turns out that olden doesn’t just have power in the PC

even with all the ways oak miscalculated, it still takes him a long time to understand that the PCverse folks are, like, Real People Who Exist

fucking asshole

uh i witnessed the battle tent incident and it was like a creepypasta and my favorite part is the individual parts of that glitch (especially the “no pokemon -> black out forever” part) can mostly happen in the original games

i’m still upset about the whole “char comes back as a fucked-up glitch hell ghost and probably tells abe it’s his fault because Glitch Angery” thing

ahhhh fuck that makes a lot more sense in retrospect actually. that was already my lore and then we got the reason Glitch Angery being a double serving of “pissed off because they died and everyone moved on like they didn’t give a shit” no WONDER. huh. i’m aware i made half this up but still, why does everything in tpp happen so perfectly

character stuff:

i think AR is the most i’ve ever cared about the actual pokemon instead of getting too distracted by crying over hosts, so:

i started typing something about leech king and i think it’s turned into a full-fledged ficlet, which hopefully i can post in the next couple days, so thanks

charizard was The Best, and a huge sweetie who also loved just fucking destroying shit–in one of my personal runs i had a gyarados like that, he’s great–and i’m still fucked up about her

we have a charizard ‘M in sidegame right now, which because i love pokemon glitches is Hell The Fuck Yeah, but at the same time when i try to lore about it i’m not sure if i’m…ready?

like, i want to believe but, if it IS her, how much of it is really her and how much…isn’t? i mean, i keep applying the same trope to Every Character In TPP but idek. i miss char

kakuna was more of a symbol than anything, but then i’m generally of the opinion that the casualties of our PC wars are no one’s fault but our damn selves

(anicrys is weird because it’s post-canon and post-given-save so it’s like, schrodinger’s releases, so it messes with the mood in all my lore)

the fact that abe and alice are now in the same universe and can interact with each other is Terrifying

in my kanto fusion timeline, they were the ones who got the multiverse transfer working, since it needed one person on each side. i think alice figured out how to communicate with the PCverse too–oak had a window to the outside but he couldn’t go back and forth, and he burned pretty much every way in (but alice is Also Smart)

together they design and invent a bunch of shit that, uh, it’s cool, but i’m also afraid, although i also love them

abe was pretty sure baba died in the pc and had no clue about her situation until a random girl walked up to him and introduced herself as his fish, so it took him awhile to, like, believe that

i’m really big on tpp multiverse theory so i headcanon that a lot of our repeat-design hosts are AU selves

this doesn’t always apply–like, i usually headcanon napoleon and pepe/petrov/whatever-his-name-is as brothers. but all our male hosts from pallet town are from the same stock, is what i’m saying

abe is a lot like (but not exactly like) how red would have turned out if we hadn’t hivemind overloaded him straight to hell

their relationship is complicated. the only time red tried to kill abe was the first time they met, which all things considered is probably a good sign

abe mostly views red like a weird older brother he didn’t know about. red’s thoughts on abe vary a lot (and he still can’t believe abe’s a domist what the Fuck) but eventually he’s kinda fond of him. he Gets It in a way that most the other hosts don’t

this isn’t a CR but i, personally, IRL, will tear a window into the tppverse and punch oak with my own bare hands

#howlback #tft talks #twitch plays pokemon #tpp #also yeah feel free to reblog any of these!#sorry this took me a lil while #headcanons #hostposts

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 7 years

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Why saying there are new movies for Peter Parker (and that’s why we should have Miles) is stupid.

In recent months and years ever since the announcement of Peter Parker being the new Spider-Man of the MCU there has been shittons of backlash against the decision. A lot of this has stemmed from Miles Morales supporters who feel he should have been the Spider-Man of the MCU.

Whilst there is a lot to say about that (and I have) today I want to counter a fairly frequent point I‘ve seen more than once from that camp. That point being that Peter should not be used as the MCU Spider-Man because ‘we’ve seen his story’ or ‘there is nothing new to be done with him’ or something to those effects.

This is a boneheaded argument to make because it is essentially saying that a comic book series which has existed for over 50 years publishing sometimes multiple comics every month across that time period can apparently only generate FIVE major motion pictures...two of which recycled material from the first three.

To show you how idiotic that argument is let me off the top of my head throw out THREE different ideas for high school Peter Parker Spider-Man movies which contain things which we’ve honestly never seen before with the character on film.

Spider-Man vs the Mob

As many fans of Spider-Man comic books well know Spider-Man has an incredibly long history addressing street crime. The early Ditko Spider-Man stories vacillated to parables about science gone too far and crime noir.

Fans of the thus far five Spider-Man films and the more recent pathetic Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon are likely unaware of this long history since it’s essentially devoid in both. Sure Spider-Man might fight regular thugs, but that’s rarely if ever the plot or main thrust of the stories.

But it is in fact from Spider-Man comics that the most famous super villain gangster of all time, the Kingpin, originated. Spider-Man has tangled with Wilson Fisk countless times though admittedly rarely with the same intensity that Daredevil has.

Now sure on film using Kingpin is very unlikely given his affiliation with the Netflix Daredevil series, however Spidey actually has a whole host of other gangster villains with gimmicks which would make them film worthy.

Hammerhead

Silvermane

Don Fortunato

Tombstone

Man Mountain Marko

Mister Negative

The Rose

Delilah

The Crime Master

The Big Man

Black Tarantula

The Enforcers

Gangsters one and all.

Gang war storylines have occurred more than once in Spider-Man’s comics and having him caught in the middle of one, trying to end the war for the sake of the civilians would present a realistic, complex and far more difficult to solve challenge for Spider-Man than ever seen before.

Spider-Man could come face to face with the realities of crimes which exist in our own real world and see how it’s not a battle with a true ending but one which he and other people must constantly resist all the same.

Spider-Man and the media

As perfectly cast as J.K. Simmons was as J. Jonah Jameson in the original Sam Raimi Spider-Man film trilogy it must be said the movies downplayed the character compared to the comic books.

Whilst he served the same basic function as Spider-Mans loudmouth skinflint boss who used yellow journalism to slander Spider-Man and make the city mistrust and hate him, he was ultimately a bit player in the proceedings of the trilogy.

In the comic books especially the early days of Spider-Man Jameson was almost the resident villain of the series, a lot of panel time was dedicated to him and his irrational vendetta against our hero. He and Spider-Man often exchanged harsh words and it seemed his persecution of Spidey was unrelenting. He was in fact one of the three most important recurring characters in the whole series during the original Steve Ditko run next to Spidey and Aunt May themselves.

Doing a movie which is actually specifically about Spidey’s relationship with Jameson and making the central focus the ramifications of Jameson’s smear campaign would not only be something original for a Spider-Man film but fairly original for a superhero film in general. Jameson isn’t a super villain nor is he truly evil. He’s just a greedy man with an irrational hatred stemming from deepset issues which themselves make him a compelling character.

The film could thus be about the abuses of power afforded to those who control the media and examine the responsibilities and role the press should hold, with a greater focus being upon the press’ obsession with celebrities and the detrimental effects they can have on their lives.

Once more this isn’t an enemy or a crisis Spider-Man can truly resolve or defeat, so much as learn to live with, which is once again something fairly unique for a superhero movie.

But just so we can have our bam smack pow superhero action we could draw upon one of two classic Spider-Man tales to generate a villain or two.

In Amazing Spider-Man #20 Jameson infamously helps create the Scorpion as a natural adversary to Spider-Man only for his creation to turn on him thus justifying Spider-Man save him. The Scorpion has never been done on film and fits Marvel’s mould of villains who are dark reflections of the hero. In fact that is why Jameson created the Scorpion, he was based upon a fellow (but bigger) arachnid.

Alternatively we could draw upon a famous recurring element of Spider-Man lore, the Spider Slayers. Throughout his history Spencer Smythe and his son Alistair have created robots specifically designed to locate, capture and sometimes kill Spider-Man, with the designs of the robots offering a variety of interesting visuals. However many of the Spider Slayers were affiliated with Jameson who wanted to use them to rid the world of Spider-Man.

Perhaps one of the most famous Spider Slayer stories was the death of Spencer Smythe which involved Jameson and Spider-Man shackled together by a bomb counting down to their destruction. Adapting this would be a perfect way to bring the movie to it’s climax and focus in on the central relationship between Spider-Man and Jameson.

Peter Parker is a Mama’s boy

Love her or hate her, Aunt May is vitally important to the mythology of Spider-Man and his character. Hence she’s appeared in every Spider-Man movie to date.

She is also his mother. Not biologically, but in all the ways that really matter she is his mother.

Many stories (sometimes to an exaggerated extent) have showcased Peter’s affection for May and her doting attitude towards him. But like Jameson we’ve only seen this in the movies as part of larger plots where it isn’t really the point. When done right it’s really endearing and something relatable to most people.

Instead of a Spider-Man movie which is about Peter Parker’s romance with a woman, his rivalry with a new villain, the mystery of his dead parents or (ugh) his teacher/student relationship with someone like Iron Man, why not make the heart and soul of this movie about a parent and child, specifically a mother and her son.

Films like Logan prove that that can work but the unique twist of this movie would be that the focus isn’t upon someone learning to be a parent or a father/son relationship or a mother/daughter relationship or even a father/daughter relationship. Rather it’d be the far less focussed upon mother/son relationship.

Even in movies which do focus upon a relationship like this things typically play out wherein the mother is fridged, or it’s about a woman learning to be a mother, or a woman struggling to survive for the sake of her son or where the relationship is strained (think Tony Soprano and his mother).

Instead this would be a movie about a kid and his mother figure coming to together to cope and survive in a world now bereft of the most important person in both of their lives who supported them both.

And the central basis of this movie could be arguably THE most iconic Spider-Man storyline of all time, the Master Planner trilogy. Allow me to give you some cliffnotes from the story.

A new gang working for a criminal called the Master Planner who plans his schemes meticulously so they go off without a hitch butts heads with Spider-Man. Meanwhile Aunt May is feeling incredibly unwell as Peter Parker goes to his very first day of college. Later she collapses and we learn that she’s dying, poisoned by a blood transfusion Peter gave to her many issues ago. A potential cure can be created from the expensive ISO-36 chemical.

Peter pawns most of his and May’s possessions to buy the chemical but the Master Planner steals it believing it could be of use in his experiments. Spider-Man uses a Daily Bugle journalist to help him get a lead on the whereabouts of the Master Planner and he proceeds to bust up the criminal underworld, desperately seeking information of the MP.

Finally he learns that the MP is in a secret underwater base so Spider-Man has to swim beneath the Hudson river, infiltrate the base, fight off the hordes of armed henchmen and finally confront the Master Planner himself, who is in fact DOCTOR OCOTPUS.

As they fight Spider-Man is trapped under several tons of heavy metal rubble, with water quickly filling the room and the ISO-36 just out of reach. Then in an endlessly homage and utterly iconic scene Spider-Man ruminates upon how he cannot allow himself to fail Aunt May like he did Uncle Ben and gradually summons all of his strength and in a supreme act of willpower throws off all of the rubble in the greatest Spider-Man splash page of all time.

He then gets the ISO-36 swims back to the surface, fights some of Doc Ock’s goons underwater, then despite his exhaustion single handily kicks the rest of their asses before getting the chemical to the doctors just in time to save Aunt May.

Now sure that isn’t everything that happened and you’d have to tweak a few things to make it work as a self-contained movie about a high schooler...but...goddam...how does all that NOT sound like the most baller Spider-Man movie ever!?

There’s action, there’s tension, irony, human drama, heroism; it’s got everything!

Now you see those three idea I just tossed out?

Well with one exception all of them are based upon the original Steve Ditko run of Spider-Man. In fact not even all of the Ditko run, just the first 33 issues.

None of them involve retelling Peter Parker’s origin.

None of them involve repeating material or storylines we’ve seen in other movies before apart from Spider-Man fighting Doctor Octopus which is in my suggestion not even the point of the movie.

I just made all of those suggestions up off the top of my head based upon less than the first five years of Peter Parker’s existence.

I could probably make up even more if I cast my net further and spend a bit more time considering it.

So tell me again how there are no new ideas for a Peter Parker Spider-Man movie?

Tell me how the only way to make the franchise fresh again is to use another character other than Peter Parker?

Go on. I dare ya?

#Peter Parker #Miles Morales #Spider-Man #Ultimate Spider-Man #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #Spider-Man: Homecoming #Marvel #marvel comics #Aunt May #May Parker #J. Jonah Jameson #Scorpion #Mac Gargan #Spencer Smythe #alistair smythe #Kingpin #Hammerhead #Tombstone

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thebigmick284 · 5 years

Text

Dragonball Super: Broly thoughts

Light spoilers below.

The Good

*The backstory.

This movie also made me want more on Vegeta’s past. What happened to his mother? What happened to King Vegeta when Freeza destroyed planet Vegeta? Was he already dead prior or what?

*Broly

Even Paragus felt more developed in this movie. Unlike DBZ Movie #08, you can tell he really loves his son yet he still wants to use him as an instrument for his revenge, sadly.

*Freeza

*Cheelai and Lemo

I thought these two were a lot of fun and their dynamic with Broly was great. Hope to see more of them in the future.

*The backgrounds

The backdrops for the movie were just gorgeous, from Planet Vegeta, to especially Planet Vampa. They gave the movie an appropriate level of atmosphere.

*The future

I think this movie sets up a lot for the future of the series. Freeza’s future ambitions and Broly’s character for example. I’m REALLY excited so see what Toriyama and Toei come up with next.

The Bad

Nothing was really bad in the movie overall but…

*The fights

*The character designs/animation

I wasn’t the biggest fan of how the characters looked in this film say compared to Battle of Gods and Resurrection F. They felt much more detailed in those films compared to here, where they looked more… not sure how to put it… cartoony here. Some characters looked fine- Freeza, Broly, Paragus, Cheelai and Lemo while Goku, Vegeta and Beerus etc looked off to me. There was some derpy looking animation at times. Thankfully in the fight scenes the characters looked much better and as mentioned this is where likely the majority of the budget went

*Power scaling

A big problem with modern Dragonball nowadays IMO is that Goku and Vegeta have God-level strength, and it’s hard for them to have villains who should be convincingly at this level or even stronger for them to face. I can JUST buy Freeza training for four months and catching up to their levels because he was incredibly powerful to begin with, I but Broly was harder to believe. It’s like the Artificial Humans/Androids… A human scientist is somehow able to make machines and add robotic devices to humans and make them stronger than Freeza.

*The music

The what the?

*The Editing

*What the?

Cheelai and Lemo don’t know what the Dragonballs are… yet then later on they suddenly do. I get that they presumably forced Kikono to tell them but how or why would they just think to do that was really jarring. I mean yeah I know Cheelai says in one part along the lines of ‘I WISH we could do some/thing’ but still. It just came up out or nowhere.

Overall

7/10

#dragon ball super broly #dragonball super broly #spoilerish

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