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OK, HI I’m here for more brain dump posting. This post is more possible MF theory bullshit and OTHER me brand insanity that I feel I picked up from the canon that I could be wrong about but I find it interesting anyway so I’m gonna keep talking about it because I do feel like the Duffers were in the same/similar place I am and I know JCB is right here with me so! Yeah, the girls who get it get it the girls who don’t don’t, but lets talk some more about it. Apologies in advance for the seven layers of autism all my shit is marred with that I’m not even trying to hide anymore tbh. Also warning up front I’m going to mention some stuff some people might hold scared and thus find sacrilegious of me, particularly regarding the Bible and Christianity some of the themes there. SO! I’m starting with Mr.Clarke saying “All living things, from complex mammals, to single cell organisms, instinctively respond to danger. Expose a bacterium to a toxic chemical, and it will flee. Or deploy some other form of defense mechanism. We’re very much the same. When we encounter danger, our hearts start pounding. Our palms start to sweat. These are the signs of the physical and emotional state we call fear.” This is laid over the top of a scene where Will approaches a warm bath, having been possessed by the “mindflayer”, which obviously perceives warmth and heat as dangerous to it. But I also find it it interesting how Mr Clarke is specifically talking about bacterium. Because it likens the MF to a type of bacteria. Which is interesting given what we know about bacteria.

Bacteria are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. Bacteria were among the first life forms to appear on Earth, and are present in most of its habitats. Bacteria are vital in many stages of the nutrient cycle by recycling nutrients such as the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere. The nutrient cycle includes the decomposition of dead bodies; bacteria are responsible for the putrefaction stage in this process.

Bactria are responsible for decay, just as it seems the presence of the MF and UD is literally decaying Hawkins. Bactria serves the nutrient cycle, breaking things down to recycle them back into useable energy, just as it seems this is being done to absorb the life from the environment and strengthen the MF and/or Henry. Which further adds to the whole idea that the MF is literally consuming our dimension, as it also seems it could have done that to other dimensions before. RE: me mentioning how the upside down Henry “explored” when he was originally banished there looks like a completely destroyed world that is utterly devoid of most life outside of the MF, the Vines and the Demo-creatures. In this way it takes on a nearly HELLISH aspect and imo, there HAS to be a reason only those things exist there. In fact, I think I’ve mentioned this before but I love repeating myself so let me mention again. ACCORDING to the VR game, (Which as a side note I have speculated on whether or not we can treat it as canon but I’m going to for now) HENRY was the one who “Shaped” the Upside Down.

There's a popular kind of headcanon/theory that Will was the one who did this but I’ve never fully brought that because how could Will have shaped it when it was “like that” when Will got there? Will literally describes it as like Hawkins but cold and dark, essentially. This was what it was like when Will got there. In the VR game, we can kind of see Henry using his powers somehow to imprint(?) Hawkins on the Upside Down. Why exactly is uncertain but I think its more true that HENRY “shaped’ the upside down than Will did.

Also RE: I’ve mentioned, it seems, according to Vecna himself, he was de-powered somehow/someway for the first few seasons of ST and couldn’t really get back into the game until he stole power from Eleven. Which is why we have that shift from the earlier seasons to season 4, where suddenly Vecna’s a thing personally. I don’t know why it doesn’t feel relevant to people that Vecna only starts acting personally in S4. If he could do what he did in S4 all the time, why didn’t he do it in any of the earlier seasons? Anyway, the point is if Henry was somehow lacking his own power as he literally claims, that means he lost it somehow between being sent to the UD and the start of season 1. (We’ve already established the psychics are like batteries and can run out of charge) We also know Henry wasn’t the one who opened the initial gates so it wasn’t that. So what did he do that was so exhausting? It seems if Henry shaped the entire UD that could be the thing.

BUT WHY would Vecna change the UD to look exactly like Hawkins?

Well, honestly, I couldn’t say why. But as the resident “”apologist"” I feel like some part of it has to do with the fact Vecna is, or was, and still is in some ways, a human being. He was a human with thoughts, feelings and dreams. I think its curious that as soon as this was done apparently “big bad evil psychopath” Vecna retreated to his childhood home and hid himself in the attic of it just like he used to do as little boy. So there is that. But I also feel like this had to do with the just making sense for map purposes. Like, if Vecna and his beasties are gonna plan attacks on Hawkins hes gonna need to know what exactly is where. Its probably a good idea to have the entire place set up looking like Hawkins in order to properly gage where things are exactly. But thats just a theory.

Anyway back to death/decay/the MF.

Humans fear death. Its not uncommon for humans and cultures to demonize death. Humans fear things that bring death. Often, people think of this as a form of evil and yet, death is as natural and normal as life. It doesn’t have an alignment. Predators kill and eat not because they are evil, but because they too must do what is natural to them and do what they must to survive. So with that in mind, is it possible that the MF is some type of destroyer/death “god” and this is its natural process?

In this way I feel like Henry and the MF are “using” each other, if that makes sense. Henry has “weaponized” the MF, so to speak, to serve him as a tool in his conquest against Hawkins and the corruption of human civilization/society (Which could be kind of symbolic to the way the MF/UD’s presence actually literally is rotting/dissolving the environment), but at the same time, if this is the MFs natural process, and it is normally a being that facilitates ‘death’ and ‘destruction’, is it really just HENRY’S plan and HENRY’S connection with it that drives it, or is Henry just assisting it to carry out its own natural design as well? Thats where I’ve personally been leaning on how what works and why.

This goes together with the heavy suggestions that the MF somehow reached out to and communed with Henry as a child. I’ve literally been describing the way this took place as ‘subconsciously’, explaining how Henry suddenly seemed to have these powers and know these things that it feels strange for him to be able to know just “randomly” as a little kid in the 50s. (More detailed here, Drop down to the MINDFLAYER section in particular)

This rings true if Wills experience with the MF is anything to go off. Will describes the MF as a “feeling”. When asked by Hopper how he knows the things he knows Will says he doesn’t know, he just knows. He somehow just knows things he never did before and he cant explain exactly how. He says its like “old memories in the back of my head, but they’re not my memories.” He also says he doesn’t think they're old memories. He says he thinks “They’re now memories, they’re happening all at once.” He says “Its like they’re growing, and spreading. Killing.”

This perfectly describes whats going on in Hawkins as the MF’s influence spreads and consumes things, presumably also assimilating them into itself, perhaps taking intelligence and making it part of the ““hive mind”“ and this makes me think of how Henry says when he kills people with his powers that theyre not really gone They’re still with him. If Henry’s powers came from the MF then it feels like maybe we could reason that even before Henry got to the UD, he was sort of connected to the hive mind and thus the “hive mind” is really this, like, divine, cosmic collective of assimilated consciousness.

In a way this would make the “hive mind” the source of vast, nearly infinite knowledge, and would explain why/how someone like Henry could get these absolutely insane powers. Including the ability to read minds and Vecna’s suggested precognition in season 4. This could also be why Vecna ‘connects’ to the ‘Vines’ in the upside down in order to amplify his powers, giving him a sort of omnipresence. We know Henry was/is a human being, he wasn't always some monster, and therefore this explains the type of “divinity” he now has.

I also want to point out some things I’ve mentioned before as well from DnD in regard to lichs and how they work:

No wizard takes up the path to lichdom on a whim, and the process of becoming a lich is a well-guarded secret. Wizards that seek lichdom must make bargains with fiends, evil gods, or other foul entities. Many turn to Orcus, Demon Prince of Undeath, whose power has created countless liches. However, those that control the power of lichdom always demand fealty and service for their knowledge.

I also mentioned that as far as DnD lore goes, when a lich traps the soul of a living being the soul is fed to the lich’s phylactery. This is the lich’s power source. Once fed to the phylactery, lich can than draw on those souls for power.

So this all also takes me back the entity of the Serpent, which we can easily assume the MF heavily represents. Once again, the Serpent is a god of vast knowledge, depicted as cloud and lighting (yeah), and the reason Vecna has been able to call himself the “God of Secrets” and to indeed ascend to “god” status in the DnD lore.

The Serpent spoke to Vecna while he was still mortal, and revealed to him great secrets powerful magic, including the path to lichdom, the location of Citadel Cavitus, and the true nature of beings including the Lady of Pain and the dark powers of Ravenloft.

Again, this also feels to me to represent of the MF in Stranger Things being a “hive mind" of sorts that is a source of all this inexplicable knowledge and power which it is able to pass to others who are able to commune with it- which unlocks some form of dormant conciseness within the human mind and hence gives them powers.

RE: The post I made briefly touching on LSD and MK ultra, etc.

In DnD it is the Serpent from which Vecna is able to attain and manipulate knowledge and power, which the Serpent gives to Vecna willingly. For some reason Vecna and the Serpent have a very close bond. No one else has this kind of bond with the Serpent. Vecna is special to the Serpent for some reason and it seems he acts as its will in some way. Vecna is the serpent’s chosen hand.

I feel this is reflected in Stranger things with Vecna and the MF. This is kind of what I was thinking about when the biblegate (is that what they called it, idk) posts went around, talking about the father the son and holy spirit. I think I deleted the post on my blog bc I upset the OP with my tags, woops, but I loved the post, I just disagreed with them on who represented who. I placed the MF as god, Henry as the son and Vecna as the Holy spirit, essentially.

And I’ve also mentioned the references to Hinduism, occultism and esotericism being obviously present in Vecna’s character. He’s related to the Goddess Kali with Henrys counterpart character literally being named Kali, and herein there is also the concept of the Left Hand Path.

The Left hand and Right hand path basically refer to magical/supernatural/religious belief sets that adhere to two sets of district and opposing qualities. I’m not gonna free write all of this myself because I’m lazy so if you never bothered to look into these things here we go this is the basics that I’ll pile together for you. ALSO note this is NOT comprehensive and it is always going to be slightly bias because that is just how it works with these things and I’m left leaning. I recommend actually looking into this kind of stuff yourself, because the is SOOO much to it and it spans across pretty much all human culture and existence. But anyway here is the bare basics:

The Right-Hand Path: is commonly thought to refer to magical or religious groups which adhere to a certain set of characteristics: They divide the concepts of mind, body and spirit into three separate, albeit interrelated, entities. They adhere to a specific moral code and a belief in some form of judgement.

The Left-hand Path: those aligned with the left hand path often reject societal convention and the status quo, which some suggest is in a search for spiritual freedom. As a part of this, LHP followers embrace magical techniques that would traditionally be viewed as taboo, for instance using sex magic or embracing Satanic imagery. They often question religious or moral dogma, instead adhering to forms of personal anarchism and they often embrace sexuality.

Basically, “The right-hand path seeks union with and thus dependence on God while the left-hand path seeks a “higher law” based on knowledge and power.” The Left hand path is the way of self-empowerment and true freedom. It began with ancient Hindu and Buddhist sects. (RE: Kali, the goddess of Hindu mythology, and the related Vamachara, etc)

Voodoo and particularly Hoodoo is also considered an example of the LHP. Both Hoodoo and Voodoo were HORRIFCALLY demonized, particularly by white supremist leaning Christians as these were belief systems practised by African slaves who were already suffering severe dehumanization and abuse by their racist and ignorant captors. Displaying their spiritual beliefs too, as exotic, monstruous, perverted and evil was just a no brainer. But the point is, enslaved Africans held on to their traditions and beliefs in spite of their captors and of course it pissed white folk right the fuck off. So they instantly labeled hoodoo and voodoo as evil and “”satanic”” and used this as justification to hate crime folks associated (Which still happens today, btw) Heres is some stuff Ira Lowenthal, an anthropologist who studies Voodoo in particular said in regard to slaves who practised Voodoo and their relatives today:

““They were treated as cattle. As animals to be bought and sold; worth nothing more than a cow. Often less. Vodou is the response to that. Vodou says ‘no, I’m not a cow. Cows cannot dance, cows do not sing. Cows cannot become God. Not only am I a human being - I’m considerably more human than you. Watch me create divinity in this world you have given me that is so ugly and so hard. Watch me become God in front of your eyes.

These people will never be conquered again. They will be exploited, they will be downtrodden, they will be impoverished – but you can tell not a single Haitian walks around with his head down … They’re more human than the people who enslaved them. They were better than their masters, able to live in another realm. There’s no other more articulate response to oppression than that. And that’s why Vodou is here – because Vodou is the soul of Haitian people.””

The point is, contrast to the lie of popular depiction, the Left Hand Path and all its associated religions and practices, is not evil. Its a part of human psychology, typically born from a resistance to political, religious and hierarchical systems that seek spiritual and bodily oppression over us. It is born from a deep-seated desire to be free, independent, and in control of our own destinies, which is actually the only natural state of being for humanity.

The concept of individualism and ‘difference’ is evil and wrong (left) while collectivism and ‘similitude’ is good and just (right) has been HEAVILY enforced by religions like Christianity as a big example, and political and social systems that use this as justification for the abominable treatment of anyone that falls outside of “the like-minded heard,” whether the individual is consciously differentiating themselves or was just born with the misfortune of not fitting the designated “normal” (Gay people, POC in predominately “white” regions, ND people this particularly applies to).

Anyway, continuing on some other relevant info that I need to add because it is actually more aligned to my personal take on everything is the concept of the “middle path” BUT for me personally I tend to lean this more toward “Left” than the “Middle” because I have no fear of the left and as I said there is some EXTREME bias against the left path due to typical portrayals of it being an inherently evil thing and therefore some people, even those who only study the aesthetics and don't actually engage in the spiritual aspects, tend to avoid the left path even if they are in fact way more aligned to it and this has sometimes resulted in this ‘middle path’ being promoted as the sexy hot alternative when a lot of it is actually just left path repainted. THAT SAID, Buddism as the first one to put forward a middle path and it has also existed somewhere between the two for as long as the two others have existed but yeah anyway:

“”Many medieval stories provide us with a middle path between those that lead to Heaven and Hell — the path to Fairy Land. Fairy Land is a liminal space where magical things take place in a more complex environment. This path is neither easy (like the path to Hell) nor extremely difficult (like the path to Heaven), but is between these two, through the thick, green forests where the mind and monsters dwell. This middle way provides us with the great stories. It is the source of poetry and poetic truth-telling.

The Middle Way is a more complex pathway, a liminal space, on the boundary land of order and chaos, where creativity happens. It is the place where you are neither obeying the rules (Right) nor violating the rules (Left). When you merely blindly obey or violate the rules, that means you are taking the rules seriously and, thus, are really playing the same game. But when you are both obeying and violating the rules, that means you are rather challenging and questioning the rules, understanding the degree to which the rules could be other than they are, no longer taking the rules seriously, even as you appreciate what can be done with the rules, especially good rules, and where play takes place for the sake of place, where truly new things are and can be born.

This is the Middle Way. It is where the poets (poets in both the narrow sense we use it and in the broad sense the Greeks used it, as “makers”) live. Which is why Shelley said, “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Those who work in the liminal space, the Middle Way between the Right Hand Path and the Left Hand Path, are the creators, creating new worlds for us to live in, creating new technology, new institutions, new works of art, new ways of doing things, new ways of living. They are the makers of the law, and can make it only because they don’t take it so seriously.”

The middle way is cute and becomes kind of relevant, I think, particularly in social environments that have already opened themselves up to political and spiritual freedoms (Such as a good part of the modern world in the west) but in environments and periods in history where the “Right” (again often considered and propagandized as the good and default) reigns supreme you NEED to lean to the left, or even, I dare say, “embrace” the left to get to the middle, if that makes sense.

This concept of the dark and the light requiring coexistence to achieve TRUE equality and TRUE enlightenment is actually what Baphomet (Essentially similar to Kali in a different culture) who is considered the patron figure of the left hand path represented. Baphomet is the winged, horned, half goat half human, half man half woman, who has since been and is often falsely identified as “the devil” and wrongly considered to be an evil deity.

This ties into why Henry and Kali both have the same radical left leaning (especially in that time) political and social ideologies and why Vecna thinks he’s ultimately good. Because, he is-- I KNOW WILD TAKE-- but its true. Vecna isn’t actually evil, not in his personal ideologies, its the rage and extremes he’s felt driven to accomplish his otherwise “noble” goals that make him “evil”, but he is not inherently or even necessarily ‘evil’ in why he’s doing what he’s doing.

But lets also cut back to the animal kingdom for a second where the same type of “logic” applies to certain animals. Typically animals like SHEEP and RABBITS for example (reference wheelercore’s rabbits and spiders post) are considered to be benevolent animals, as is the case of most herbivores as a lot of them are, unlike carnivores/’predators”, animals who adhere to a type of “”collectivism.”” or something that resembles it that comes across as appealing, just and understandable to Right leaning society and spirituality. It is the predators/carnivores who therefore more represent “individualism” such as spiders and snakes, and are routinely seen as “evil” animals as a result. This is not true of all animals in each category but you’ll probably notice it applies to the majority and where animals fall on the “alignment” chart in human perception, particularly in the west, has a lot to do with this and how much collectivism vs individualism applies and HOW OFTEN collectivism is considered benign while individualism is labeled evil and wrong in contrast. So this brings me to sheep and goats. In particular, sheep are considered pure and holy while goats are considered evil and perverse and why. What makes this distinction between two otherwise similar animals?:

Sheep are dependent on their shepherd. They have a reputation for not topping the lists of the most intelligent animals. They trust and depend on their shepherd. Sheep represent a drive to follow a leader unquestionably and even against their own individual interest/saftey. This is what makes sheep and lambs holy.

Goats on the other hand have a reputation for self-reliance and stubbornness. Goats are most like humans in the sense that they can be solitary if needed, even if they naturally prefer the company of others.

So there we go again. Its also speculated the goat is given this evil rep dating back to the Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur or “day of atonement” which employs the “azazel” goat. Essentially, the azazel goat would have all sins symbolically placed on it when the high priest laid hands on it. Once the sins “were placed” they would drive the goat out into the desert, thus driving out Israel’s sins into the desert as well.

The azazel goat in this scenario represented satan, or something evil. This is speculated to be why Jesus found Satan in the desert coupled with the fact deserts have represented cursed places. This is also basically where the term “scapegoat” comes from.

Cut to Henry who was in fact the ‘scapegoat’ of his family, and on a greater narrative scale, who we ALSO see wandering around the desolate, barren planes of the upside down, (A place that invokes “hell” like imagery) upon being ‘cast out’ by Eleven, who deemed him “evil” after failing to comprehend or perhaps simply rejecting Henry’s truths about Papa and the reality of the situation the two of them had been forced to live in.

Henry’s justified rebellion against the power (Brenner and his government sanctioned facility) that tortured abused and exploited him, and Henrys perception and knowledge of the inequality and injustice from within the current social/political/cultural system that allowed this, was judged as evil by Eleven, who was too naive to actually understand at this at the time. Eleven saw the “death” of her “flock” (The other subjects) and her “Shepard” (Brenner) and saw this as frighting and evil, in spite of the fact that her flock and her Shepard had every intention to sacrifice her, and that this show of individuality and rebellion from Henry was necessary to her and his protection. (Btw this is not blaming Eleven, at this point she had been RASIED to think this way.)

Eleven represents the sheep here. Henry is the goat. He is not evil, but he is not a naive follower. He stood up for Eleven and for himself. Henry placing value on Eleven’s life and his own life was thought of as evil by Eleven who couldn’t completely understand the true scope of her situation and the reality that everything Henry said about Brenner, the other test subjects and their society at large was true.

Henry’s differences, Henry’s understanding of the inequality of the world around him particularly toward individuals like himself who ARE different, who DO fall outside of the status quo, has always been the true qualities within Henry that has resulted in Henry being unfairly labeled as everything from “broken” to “evil”. Henry does represent the LHP, the “devil” and other “demonic” figures, but not because he is EVIL, rather because he represents individuality, self empowerment and rebellion, which, by the context of his life and the show, is coming from a very meaningful and fairly justified place. So this is the part of the post where I go “sympathizer” again woops! But anyway more about Henry/Vecna, his morality and his “role” in the story so to speak.

We could call Henry a serial killer because he killed multiple people but he doesn’t fit the generally recognized criteria for serial killer which is: "The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender in separate events” as much as the anti’s don’t want to admit it, Henry’s killings were not unlawful. In a court of law he could easily prove he A) Was suffering severe psychological and even physical distress and B) Killed people because he had no other choice (or at least thought he had no other choice). I cant imagine an unbiased jury convicting him of actual murder and not recognizing the severe abuse he suffered (physically, emotionally and mentally, and jfc if some of the current theories/hcs are to be believed, literally sexually as well like yeah you're not gonna demonize him to me with that lmao) but the fact is Henry would never go to court because the GOVERMENT would NEVER want ANYONE in the population to know what THEY allowed Brenner to do to Henry (and others), which just makes Henry’s situation all the more dire and justified. He had literally no other way to escape this, he literally didn’t have another choice. And folks can say all they want “Ok he should have left the kids alive,” but the thing about that is those kids were as much weapons that would be used against him as any guard, orderly, baton, fist, taser, etc, and the most powerful ones were literally hostile and brainwashed as hell.

As tragic as it is, he was on a mission to strip his near life-long abuser and captor of the tools he used and needed to ever abuse and imprison him (and Eleven) again.

Next up. Vecna’s killings are not Henry’s killings as such. Vecna’s murders ALSO have a motive and that motive is absolutely not “Joy and pleasure”. There is a heavily supernatural aspect of these killings and the victims are specific for a reason. I’ll repeat myself as much as I have to but Vecna was shown to have some type of precognition, he can see the future of sorts, he targeted Chrissy, Max, Patrick and Fred not because they're “queer” and he’s “homophobic” (idiotic take even as a joke), he targeted them because the entire thing was an allogory for suicide in and out of universe. It seems Vecna knew these particular 4 had a future of committing suicide and therefore he used that trauma and “guilt” to collect their “souls” for his crusade against a world that hurt them to such an extent because he KNOWS their pain. He asks them to “join him” for a reason.

Although we could say that Vecna was indirectly responsible for what set Max on her path, he views his actions merciful and ultimately benevolent. This is Vecna’s problem. For Vecna he is completely blinded by rage and he has somewhat deluded himself into thinking that his ends will justify his means. He is one of the many horror genre answer’s to the tragic villain described as: “ A particular Deconstruction of the villain, a Tragic Villain is completely aware of their evil but takes little to no pleasure from it; in fact, they could very well resent the evil they are committing. Rather, they were driven to villainy due to circumstances beyond their control. In many circumstances they are the Tragic Monster, perhaps an innocent person transformed into a mindless monster, or simply created to be a monster; either way they have no choice in the evil acts they commit and are as sympathetic as their victims.”

He also heavily fits the “Well intentioned extremist” trope:

“A villain who has an overall goal which the heroes can appreciate in principle, but whose methods of pursuing said goal (such as mass murder) are problematic; despite any sympathy they may have with their cause, the heroes have no choice but to stop them. Taken to extremes, they may fully believe that Utopia Justifies the Means. Such an idealistic extremist is likely to be either a Totalitarian Utilitarian or a Principles Zealot, depending on whether they’re aiming For Happiness or For Great Justice. The most well-written examples of this trope are the kind that the reader/viewer stops just short of agreeing with. Other times, the villain may be out for simple revenge against a person, corporation or other entity that has undeniably wronged them. Again, the heroes may sympathize with their plight, but are obliged to stop them because they care not who gets in the way of their planned revenge.”

Woobie, destroyer of worlds also applies:

This is a character with omnicidal and/or Ax-Crazy tendencies, or a character who wants to destroy everyone in the story, and is suddenly in a position to do so (on a small or large scale); but in contrast to other characters, he/she has some plausible, outright tragic reason to do so. In some cases, the other characters outright sympathize with this one (whether or not the audience does too is out of the equation here), all the while accepting that they must be stopped. Sometimes, the character is even portrayed as likeable, just... not with the right mindset.

And if we go back to the eerie references to religion, occultism and esotericism, Henry could also be considered a messianic archetype of sorts.

In media, the Messianic Archetype is a character whose role in the story (but not necessarily personality) echoes that of Christ. They are portrayed as a savior, whether the thing they are saving is a person, a lot of people or the whole of humanity. They endure a sizable sacrifice as the means of bringing that salvation about for others, a fate they do not deserve up to and including death or a Fate Worse than Death.

Particularly, he’s my favorite type of dark inversion of this trope which blends satanic / demonic imagery with the traditional holy and tragic, and draws further from the aspects as aesthetics associated with that of the LHP rather than the right. Which all takes a lot of root in the age old debate about Lucifer himself and the pretty obvious text that can lead to views of him as, in fact, the original scapegoat which I’ve already covered the relevancy of with Henry. EDIT BC TUMBLR ATE SOME OF MY POST AGAIN: We also have the existence of the Leviathan, depicted as a Giant serpent, a dragon or multiple headed hydra

Theres A LOT here to that y’all can go look up and dig around in for yourselves but I’m just gonna put down some things I think are relevant here. This is cutting back to my MF theory bullshit with it representing the Serpent of DnD and its relation to other monstrous deities that are pared up with various other iconic horror characters that were used to create Vecna as a character in stranger things. The Leviathan (note, ONCE AGAIN, this is the also the name of the deity that pinhead serves, and pinhead was one of the biggest sources of inspo for Vecna) is the god of “chaos” and “death” its described as a creature of beastliness, of terror and of undiluted evil. Due to its “demonic” presence in a lot of mythology it has been related to Satan but there is a whole debate about whether or not they're the same being and/or are actually related-- and occasionally if it wasn’t actually “satan” that took the form of a snake and offered the apple to Eve but rather the Leviathan itself that was responsible for this and thus the one who essentially tempted / corrupted humanity with evil.

We know in the ST universe we have a lot of concepts that surround negative emotions and feelings and how these emotions apparently act as massive amplifiers for the powers of the psychic in the show. ALSO RE: the post I made about the possible link to the psychics powers and the MF cloud. And I also mentioned the suggestion of the Original Sin back on the Holy Trinity post and how that feels like it could relate to the whole corruption/infection aesthetic the MF seems to have going on and its symbolic relationship to the evils of human nature, etc, which all once again goes back and adds to my theory about the MF in general potentially being a greater force/influence than people give it credit for.

The Leviathan is also thought to represent the sin of envy, the most “poisonous” human emotion. Its also been thought of as the creature that separates the human/material world from the world of the divine by residing in the realm between. The Leviathan is also depicted as an eater of “lost souls” and it is also considered responsible for generating all intrinsic evil into the world. Further, in demonology the Leviathan naturally represents water and we know there is a lot of water symbolism going on with the upside down which further ties all this together.

#henry creel #vecna #001 #stranger things #byler #william byers #stranger things analysis #this post had a point originally but now its just brain vomit because I was distracted from it too many times for too many days #omg sorry guys edit bc half the post got eaten #I don’t want to apologise for Vecna’s murders – I’m not sorry #Old man yells at cloud

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showyoumyfavoriteobsession · 2 years

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I saw this image on Twitter and since I am completely incapable of having normal feelings about video game music, I went into a fugue state and wrote nearly 2000 words about my favorite tracks.

The image has Spotify codes if the song is on Spotify, and QR codes to the songs on YouTube if not.

I also remixed the prompts a little because I didn't have stuff for all the original ones and I didn't have the patience to space it out over 30 days lol. I very much did not do hard mode because I love Darren Korb's music too much. Template, rambles, and honorable mentions under the cut.

Title screen music - Katamari on the Rocks - Katamari Damacy

Is it possible for a song to go harder, to bang more severely in the seconds after a game loads than in this game? I think not. Katamari Damacy is a wild fever dream, and this title screen song launches you straight into it.

Opening level music - First Steps - Celeste

All of Lena Raine’s music for Celeste is wonderful, but the first level holds this amazing tone of eagerness, hopefulness, and accomplishment all at once. Honorable mention to “Timber Hearth” from Outer Wilds and “Instrument of Surrender” from Disco Elysium.

8-bit or 16-bit music - Overworld Theme 1 - Super Mario Bros. 3

I’m very much a new-school gamer, so some of these categories were tough for me. But one of my earliest gaming memories was playing SMB 3 on my friend's Gameboy Advance SP, and this track takes me right back there.

Music from a console exclusive - FitBeat - Beat Saber

Is VR an exclusive console? I’m counting it. Honestly I’m pretty ‘meh’ about most of the original Beat Saber tracks, but this one gets you moving.

Hub/overworld music - In Case of Trouble - Bastion

Bastion’s music is extremely special to me, and this song is both the title theme and the music you hear whenever you return to the Bastion itself. It’s soothing and restful while also being cheery; it’s the perfect background to upgrade your weapons, drink some potions, and listen to the dulcet tones of Logan Cunningham’s voice before setting out again.

Relaxing music - St. Eriksplan - Death Stranding

All of Death Stranding’s soundtrack (mostly by Low Roar) is incredibly relaxing; Low Roar is one of the few bands whose music I can listen to while working even though it has lyrics. The songs usually played in-game when you were on a final approach to your destination, often after sneaking tensely through a field of BTs or traversing rough terrain, and they were a breath out in the forbidding, empty landscape of the game. Honorable mention to ”Florence” from Florence, “Time for Stocktake” from Wilmot’s Warehouse, and “Camp Approach” from Firewatch.

Music from an indie game - INFRA BRAD - Extreme Meatpunks Forever: Bound by Ash

Most of the music I listen to is from indie games, so I opted for a very obscure one. I got the first Extreme Meatpunks Forever game in an itch.io bundle, and although the combat was clunky and the art was a little rough, the story and world-building were so compelling that I bought the sequel Bound By Ash. The sequel improves on the original in every way, and the music absolutely slaps. I almost went with “On Our Way”, an acoustic song that’s part of a wonderful emotional beat in the middle of the story, but decided on “INFRA BRAD”. This game is all about punching fascists, and this music sure gets you to that headspace!

Music from a shooter (1st or 3rd person) - Clip Joint Calamity - Cuphead

Cuphead is a shooter don’t @ me. All of Cuphead’s music is ‘30s-’40s style big band, and the aesthetic is impeccable. This one is from a very satisfying fight in the first part of the game, and I think it captures the environment really well.

Music from a licensed game - Milk Chocolate (End) - M&Ms The Lost Formulas

I don’t know how this game ended up in our house - probably an old Scholastic sale - but it was a staple of our childhood. It’s a surprisingly decent Crash Bandicoot clone with blatant M&Ms branding splashed all over it, and even as kids my sister and I were impressed by the soundtrack. We only finished the game once or twice, so we played the first few levels over and over a lot - this is the theme from the final section of the second level, and it’s always been one of my favorites.

RPG battle music - Take Control - Control

Again, playing fast and loose with the definition of RPG here. (It has RPG elements!) This isn’t quite a music-based boss battle - it’s arguably not even a boss battle - but it’s one of the coolest sequences in this game chock-full of cool sequences.

Puzzle game music - Reconstructing More Science - Portal 2

The Portal games were some of the most personally influential games I’ve ever played, and to me this track really captures the perfect balance of chaotic action and pensive puzzle-solving in Portal 2. Honorable mention to the “Puzzle Solved” tune from OneShot and “Customer Service” from Wilmot’s Warehouse.

Music that makes you sad - 14.3 Billion Years - Outer Wilds

Outer Wilds is one of the most emotionally affecting games I’ve ever played, and suffice to say this is one of the last songs you hear in your playthrough. This song truly makes me have to stop and catch my breath every time I hear it. Honorable mention to "Turn Back" from The Beginner's Guide.

Music you like from a game you don’t like - Light of Nibel - Ori and the Blind Forest

Ori is a peak “just because I don’t like this game doesn’t mean it’s bad” game. It's objectively a great game! I am simply not a metroidvania person, and my struggle to enjoy the gameplay dampened my reaction to the story. But the music is absolutely outstanding, and I listen to it regularly.

Music with vocals - Good Riddance - Hades

There are lots of songs in Supergiant Games’ repertoire with vocals; honestly, I don’t even think this is the best one. But the gameplay experience of battling through the Underworld over and over, relentlessly and brutally punished, and then emerging cautiously into a room to hear this song floating to you… it was pretty incomparable. (This is the duet version, but the solo versions are also beautiful.) Honorable mention to “Mourning Song” from Pyre and “In Circles”, “Paper Boats”, and “We All Become” from Transistor.

Boss battle music - Leshy’s Theme - Inscryption

Inscryption was another game I had complicated feelings about, but what I didn’t have complicated feelings about was that the aesthetic was on point. The art, sound design, and music are all incredible. This is the theme of the Act 1 final boss battle, and it feels like it picks you up and drops you right back into Leshy’s cabin.

Music that makes you laugh - A Terrible Fate - Outer Wilds

When you get certain non-canon endings to Outer Wilds, you get rewarded by this “oops all kazoos” rendition of the title theme! Honorable mention to “wavedash.ppt” from Celeste.

Music you never get tired of - Spike in a Rail - Bastion

There’s a lot of Bastion on this list. It’s been over a decade since I first played Bastion, but this is another song that I sometimes just play on a loop two or three times so I can appreciate it fully. Honorable mention to “A Proper Story”, also from Bastion, and “Timber Hearth” from Outer Wilds.

Music in a game released the year you were born - Time Continuum - Putt-Putt Travels Through Time

I'm flexing the rules again - this game came out a few years after I was born, but it's truly the only game anywhere close to that timeframe I have any kind of connection to. This gets stuck in my head embarassingly often.

Cover of music by a different artist - Reflection - Center of the Earth Mix - Celeste

Heeeyyyyyy…YA! The Celeste B-Sides music are all remixes of the A-side tracks by various artists. I never got past the third B-side myself, but I now watch a fair amount of Celeste speedrunning and this is my favorite B-Side track.

Music from a racing game - Still Alive - Mirror’s Edge

Again, Mirror’s Edge counts as a racing game don’t @ me I needed to include this track somehow. This is not the “Still Alive” you’re expecting! This track also gets me a little misty - it’s the end credits song of the first Mirror’s Edge, and it really gets the nostalgia going.

Music you associate with frustration - Always Been But Never Dreamed - Tetris Effect

This is the song in the last level of Journey mode in Tetris Effect, which is over twice as long as any other level. I am not very good at Tetris. It’s a fine song, although I prefer most of the rest of the soundtrack - “Connected (Yours Forever)” is less associated with frustration for me. Honorable mention to “Floral Fury” from Cuphead.

Town/village music - 11 AM - Animal Crossing New Horizons

I mean… that's village music, baby! When I was logging onto ACNH every day, 10-11AM was usually my time.

Underrated music - Burn, Baby, Burn - Disco Elysium

There are so many praise-worthy parts of Disco Elysium that I think the music often gets overlooked. But it's wonderful, moody and ethereal, a perfect bed for the substantial weight of the rest of the game. This song plays just before the final section of the game, and provides a welcome respite between emotionally intense sequences. Honorable mention to “In the Flame” from Pyre.

Music constantly stuck in my head - Bosun Bill - Sea of Thieves

I never even played Sea of Thieves, but I've watched enough of it that this is now my go-to humming tune. I don't usually get much of anything stuck in my head, but this one sticks.

Music that pumps you up - Knights of the Sea - Pyre

Pyre is probably the least loved/most underrated of Supergiant Games’ oeuvre, but (controversial opinion) I liked it more than Transistor, and (uncontroversial opinion) the music still fuckin' slams. A lot of the individual Triumvirates' themes from this game pump you up (I also recommend “Thrash Pack”), but this one has that unmistakable nautical/pirate theme with just a touch of absurdity - deeply befitting the wyrm-knights it represents. Honorable mention to “The River” from Outer Wilds and “The Painful Way” from Hades.

Music you like from a game you haven’t played - Wooded Kingdom - Super Mario Odyssey

Again, slight bending of the category - I have played some of SMO, but I've watched much more of it than I've played, and at this rate it's pretty unlikely that I'll ever finish it. I tend to not listen to music from games I haven't played, since for me a lot of the emotional punch is lost if I'm already familiar with the soundtrack. But in any case, this is such a unique theme for a Mario game. It's so funky!

Music that makes you go “whoa! how did they do that?” - Scattered and Lost - Celeste

This isn’t the only Celeste track that builds on old themes as it goes on - “Reach for the Summit” is another amazing one - but this song brings in new instruments and new elements as you complete each section of the level, and does it so dynamically and smoothly. Honorable mention to “Bound Together” from Pyre, which changes dynamically to thousands of different combinations depending on the choices you made throughout your playthrough.

Music that makes you nostalgic - Ground Scape - RuneScape

To me this is the iconic RuneScape music, and I would put this track on loop all the time while playing. Honorable mention to “Far Horizons” from Skyrim.

Final boss music - God of the Dead - Hades

This 9-minute monster of a track is just non-stop adrenaline. You've come so far to face the final boss, and every phase of the boss is signaled by a new, faster, more intense portion of the song.

Credits music - Setting Sail, Coming Home - Bastion

One more Bastion song - this was the one everyone talked about when talking about this soundtrack. Apparently it was recorded by Darren Korb and Ashley Barrett in Darren's closet; as the studio's first game, they barely had a setup at all. Wild to think about after the scope of Hades. Honorable mention to “I’ll Keep Coming” and “Death Stranding” from Death Stranding, and “Want You Gone” from Portal 2.

Here's the template I created in case anyone wants to use it!

#j rambles #video games #music #Come Talk To Me I Am Normal About Video Games :)#i truly went feral when i saw this prompt lol #feel free to use the template to make your own!

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unholy-t-rin-ity · 3 years

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Blog Masterpost

Reblogged

~Comics~

Omega copies her brothers

Tech and Crosshair insult eachother

Hey clanker!

Crosshair is protective of tech

Crosshair has oral fixation

Obiwan crying in spanish

Obiwan falling on cody

Drunk Obiwan

This is why jango didn’t fucking love you

Obiwan fell down a mountain

TBB doing haka

Supervising fox’s breakdown

Fox radio broadcast

Echo misusing scomp link

Don’t leave anakin unsupervised

I loved you

Fives fighting Ahsoka

Fives found a bug

Commanders went out drinking

Croissants found a lightsaber

Bly has a competance kink

Calling Cody dad

crosshair moment of weakness

Obiwan sits like he’s posessed

Clones are good bois

Space hooters

Tech being neurodivergent

Wolffe avenge you

Tech can’t see shit

Tech swearing

Don’t name the twi’lek child

plo koon being Dad

Jedi leave their robes around, clones have fun

~Text posts~

AZI in rice

Cody the WIFI boy

Scared Wolffe

TBB season 2 hopes

Sexy obi wan costume

Obiwan tries to quit the order

C3PO is impressivly annoying

501st incorrect quotes 3

Echo one inch taller

Imperial march playing from another room

501st incorrect quotes 2

tbb incorrect quotes 1

tbb incorrect quotes 8

tbb group chat fuck word

Wolffe whos this clown

Din and space dogs

Wolffe hates anakin

TBB incorrect quotes 6

The entire fandom to crosshair

Limited vocabulary

Tbb incorrect quotes 5

echo 501st brain activated

tbb incorrect quotes 3

Trooper cottontail

Fives barcode on thigh

tbb incorrect quotes 7

Anakin starts hearing background music

501st incorrect quotes 1

tbb incorrect quotes 4

tbb incorrect quotes 2

oddly specific star wars headcannons

Fox seduces the chancellor

Hunter is short, tech holds on hip

Tup recording documentary

barracks on fire

goodnight kisses

Obiwan is gay confirmed

What was really said

Day one seminar on how to command clone troopers

palpatine’s fourth zoom meeting

501st don’t get the joke

IG-11 and boba fett

Not all men

Greef Karga

Fox’s ct number is 1010

501st headcannons

Humorous scenes from the book

about the 104th wolfpack

How to write smut

Why tech’s armor is lighter

how tech got his name

tbb tag yourself

Wolffe being a mood

Clone wars how do you like your coffee

If fives met the bad batch

Plo is clone dad

Clones what non-military career do you think youd be good at

O66 if their chips were secretly removed

Clone wars ‘bloopers’

Palps made a shiny cry

You ignorant slut

~Memes~

Hunter selling echo

Caleb kicking crosshair

Tech is angry cat

TBB fuck tier list

Star wars fuck tier list

TBB and omega as text posts

How to negotiate a higher salary

Fox in VR

On all levels except physical I am a wolf

Fives didn’t connect shit

Rex and fives relationship in one still

Two bagels

TBB madagascar penguins

the senate meeting was cancelled croissants

Wrecker as text posts

Omega as text posts

Hunter as text posts

Crosshair as text posts

Crosshair as text posts 2

Tech-st posts

Echo as text posts

Right on schedule

They’re just dancing don’t worry about it

tbb as quotes from the office

regs as quotes from the office

Anakin becomes a problem

Look at all the fucks I don’t give, anakin

Clone troopers as memes

Inhibitor chip removal at claire’s

murder is okay art

TBB spoilers without context

Starwars characters as mulaney quotes

Tech is bigfoot

Tbb as bird memes

Hands are for echo

Fives careless whisper

~Gifs~

angry cute echo

Tech and Omega

Tech in blacks

Crosshair doesn’t miss but CT-9904 does

I won’t leave you, not this time

Rex is a good listener

Tech is a confident nerd

Wrecker the gentleman

Echo needs a hug

Where is my grumpy grump

Tech panics over info

We were brothers once

TBB 1.14

Crosshair in battle simulation

This reg we like

Tech in clone wars

Clones with real face

Every named clone trooper so far

Cody and obi like meercats

Crosshair smile

Crosshair tbb

Echo watching Rex

~Art~

Echo in the sun

Echo and tech

Bad batch back together

Bad batch in civvies

Tech and Wrecker

A wild tech appears

Tech and Echo fixing stuff

Badass Obiwan and Cody

Cody in suit

Echo and Fives

Clone trooper armour

79s

Hunter and Crosshair

Drinking coffee

Loth cats and wolfpack

Tech

Wolffe and Plo

Cody

Wolffe is ready to kill C3PO

Trooper shenanigans

Ahsoka and Obiwan

Neon Rex

Rex

~Photos/ Screenshots~

Hot Echo

Tech smiling

Echo is Majestic

Angry sexy hunter

Wolffe’s legendary eye roll

TBB barracks

Crosshair icons

Rex dad joke

~Fics~

returning from the dead is easier said than done

Rex kissing reader without thinking in front of people

Stress relief

Tech Savvy

The coffee house

Keep your captains close

Random tech headcannon

Omega and Cross and Lothcats

Bad batch headcannons

Mama wolffe

Routine affection

Talk about it

Soft echo headcannons

Mistletoe mishaps

Unexpected kiss

TBB game night headcannons

flirting with clone troopers

Deaf crosshair headcannons

Tech x reader

Echo and pop

Fives misusing protection crystals

Clones giving bad relationship advice

Don’t give five’s vodka

The TILF awards

Clone dad’s and the weird/creepy things their kids say

Annual jedi council holiday party

Anakin’s hand

Wolffe’s eye

Coming out to mando

Helping wolffe shave

SW characters watching shrek

put your clothes on fives and echo

Echo good baker, fives good chef

Echo’s missing blasters

Get the captain to rest

Night before thanksgiving poem

~Fake texts~

Commanders accidentally texting you

TBB fake texts

How tbb would react to you wanting a baby

~Other??~

idfk1

idfk2

SW writing resources

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Space Sweepers and the History of Working Class People In Space

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This week saw the release of Space Sweepers, Korea’s first big budget special effects space movie extravaganza. There are a lot of interesting things to say about this movie, but one of the things that makes it stand out is it’s an excellent portrayal of people in space who are skint.

See, I hate to break it to you, but you’re probably never going into space. Unless you’re a highly trained technical specialist (well done!) or a billionaire (pay your taxes!), your best shot at seeing Earth from space within your lifetime is the development of realistic-yet-cheap VR headsets.

And the thing is, a lot of the time this holds up in sci-fi as well. Space travellers are either living in a post-scarcity utopia, are part of the military, or are some kind of genius scientists.

Even where we see supposedly salt-of-the-Earth relatable types, like Han Solo or Mal Reynolds, their scruffy outfits and roguish ways can’t quite cover for the fact that they own and live in the equivalent of a massive luxury yacht or private plane. Serenity may look like a rust bucket, but it’s far from the equivalent of a white van, and while Mal is constantly complaining about the costs of fuel and repairs, that doesn’t change the fact that he seems to own the ship outright, and in “Oxygen” he appears ready to buy the ship for cash.

As for Han Solo, leaving for a moment his humble origins and that he won the ship in a card game, within the Galaxy Far Far Away the ratio of space travellers to non-space travellers doesn’t seem that different from the one on Earth. Yes, there are lots of smugglers and Tie-fighter pilots and interplanetary bounty hunters, but for every one of them there are millions of Tusken sand raiders, Jawa scrap merchants, moisture farmers and Corellian street rats. Spacecraft might come and go from the spires of Coruscant as regularly as buses, but the population density is such that most people on that planet will be lucky to see sunlight, let alone the stars.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the chances of an ordinary person getting into space even in the foreseeable future vary between Willy Wonka Golden ticket level lucky, or truly dystopian. On the one hand, Elon Musk has announced the first all-civilian mission to space, led by billionaire Jared Isaacman (so, not what you’d call an everyman), two seats given to people who have won a place by donating to St Jude’s Hospital (it probably won’t be one of the smaller donors), and finally, one lucky front-line health worker.

But Elon Musk wants to colonise Mars, and sadly billionaires still need people to clean the toilets, so Musk has other ideas for how ordinary people might get into space. Unfortunately that idea is indentured slavery, demonstrating that the most prescient science fiction writers of our generation are the writers of first-person shooters.

This is why, outside of post-scarcity-fully-automated-luxury-space-communism, and the military, science fiction is always oddly quiet about money. With a few honourable exceptions.

We Just Work Here

The first and most obvious reason why any ordinary working-class person would end up in space is “they’re paid to”.

Pretty much the codifier of working-class people in space is Alien. The crew of Nostromo aren’t scientists, they’ve not got The Right Stuff. Nobody on that ship is getting a high school named after them. The crew of the Nostromo are basically truck drivers who venture off the highway and run into something nasty. Yes, ironically they show a great deal more competence, professionalism and intelligence in encountering an alien threat than the actual scientists in the prequel movie, but the first conversation these characters have when they come out of hyper sleep is about money. From the outset, these are people in a place of work.

It’s a model that set the format for gritty-industrial-working-class-people in space movies going forward for better or worse. Event Horizon just lifts Alien’s aesthetic completely for the rescue ship Lewis & Clark, as does the videogame series Dead Space, like Alien, set aboard a mining ship.

Away from the horror genre, Outland sees Sean Connery play sheriff in a final frontier mining town that could have taken place in the same world as Alien.

And of course, Red Dwarf, which not only made good use of the Alien aesthetic, but also cast the colony commander from Aliens as their Captain, to tell the story of chicken soup repairmen in space.

Across all of these stories, and of course the aforementioned videogames, the life of the blue collar space traveller is an unpleasant one, exploited by a company that not only controls your life while you work, but also owns all of your food, water and air. Indeed, it’s not rare for them to go further. In Moon, another film where the spacemen-to-earthmen ratio seems not far what it is now, Sam Bell’s employer decides to save the cost of training employees and ferrying them back and forth from Earth to the Moon by taking one employee and filling a cellar full of his pre-programmed, short-lived disposable clones.

Space Sweepers

Public Transport

But maybe you don’t want to work for “the Man”, not an unwise call given the Man is probably trying to feed you to something horrible in the hope of creating a new bioweapon. One surprisingly under-utilised method of getting into space is public transport.

In The Fifth Element, Bruce Willis plays a special-forces-operative-turned-cab-driver who, as part of his cover, wins a ticket to go on a space cruise. Although looking at the sets and the extras in this movie, as well as the packed-in-as-tightly-as-we-can apartments back on Earth, one gets the impression this is not an option open to the majority of working joes.

Perhaps the best example of this is in the shockingly under-loved 2018 flick, Prospect, featuring future Mandalorian Pedro Pascal.

In Prospect, the spaceship is little more than a rotating framework filled with cargo containers in front of a massive engine. The father and daughter prospecting team are on board a lander that resembles nothing so much as an old Apollo Lunar Lander on the inside, and as the mothership approaches their destination the ship doesn’t even stop, it just releases the lander, tells them when the ship is going to be passing back that way and warns them the line is being terminated, so there won’t be another ship passing that way.

This is a model it would be fantastic to see more of. The landing module is small enough that it’s entirely plausible that even these not-very-well-off characters could buy, hire or rent one. Rather than having the freedom of the space ways like Mal or Han, their travel options are entirely restricted by what destinations are profitable for large shipping companies and whether they’ll let you tag along. And while on the surface the aesthetic looks a bit Alien, in truth it feels far more like it’s cobbled together from relics of the actual space age.

Borrow Your Way Into Space

And finally, of course, there’s the Elon Musk solution. Borrow your way into space. One of the early places to use this idea was Gateway, by Frederik Pohl. Frederik Pohl in particular is fantastic at writing science fiction worlds where people actually have to worry about money. In Gateway and its sequels humanity has discovered Ancient Aliens left a space station nearby, stocked with a lot of spaceships. Being alien technology, humans can’t control the ships accurately, they’re limited pretty much to pressing the “Stop” and “Go” buttons, and when the ship flies off it might land on a world of fabulous riches, or it might chuck you into the heart of a star.

Prospectors who want to try their luck in these ships have to take out a loan to get to the station, and throughout the novel the protagonist is constantly aware of how many credits are in his account.

Which brings us back around to Space Sweepers. At first glance the Space Sweepers set-up might seem similar to that of the Millennium Falcon or Serenity – an extremely “used” looking ship run by a rag-tag bunch of misfits. But the first time we see the protagonist, Tae-ho, he’s in a pawn shop. As soon as he gets back to the ship we learn the crew are still paying off the cost of the ship, as well as the costs of repairs and parts.

We see an awful lot of “Space sweepers” throughout the film, junk collectors gathering up salvage from Earth’s orbiting collection of derelict spacecraft and defunct satellites. But these people don’t seem like roguish space pirates, the impression they give is more akin to app-based gig workers.

This is compounded by another issue – that to work in space you need a visa, with citizenship limited to the wealthy few who are able to afford a place on the deluxe orbiting space habitats.

Everything in Space Sweepers is driven by money, whether it’s Tao-Ho’s attempts to raise enough money to find his daughter, the robot, Bubs, and her attempt to get a humanoid body that reflects her gender, and of course, the $2 million reward for “Dorothy” which drives the whole plot.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Often space-based sci-fi is about the fantasy of freedom, of exploration. Even shows like Star Trek give us characters whose job isn’t much more than to fly around having adventures. But there is rich storytelling to be done about the people who have to clean the space toilets.

Chris Farnell’s novella series, Fermi’s Progress, is about a ship whose FTL drive vaporises planets, and features at least one space traveller who isn’t a scientist, super soldier or billionaire (although to be fair the other three characters are exactly that). You can find part one here.

The post Space Sweepers and the History of Working Class People In Space appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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the-noodle-king · 4 years

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So I’ve had the idea for this Hero rattling around for a good long while: 8-BIT, an ability set and playstyle inspired by classic arcade games; wall clinging and wall jumping Metroidvania style, pixelated fruit that heals you, extra lives for instant retrys, High scores, Bonus Stages, Power Ups oh my!

It took a long time to figure out what to do with their design, but I finally have, and now I can proudly say; Stats, Backstory and Bio, under the cut~

Real Name: “???” / Nazim Tashkin-Ivanov

Alias: 8-BIT

Role: Support / Job: Damage Dealing Main Healer with Buffs

Hit Points: 225 / Health: 75 / Shields: 150

Primary Weapon: Pixel Blaster

Ammo: 40 / Reload Speed: 1.35 Seconds / Rate of Fire: 8.25 Shots per Second

Damage: 24 / DPS: 198 / Attack Type: Linear Projectiles

Primary Fire, Pixel Blast: Fire volleys of large multi-coloured pixels at enemies which scatter Pixelated Fruit upon hitting enemies. Pixel Blaster shots cannot headshot. / Projectile Speed: 42.5 Meters per second / Projectile Size: 0.45M

Secondary Fire, Charged Shots: Take the time to charge larger shots, which inflict greater damage to produce higher healing Fruit. Charged Shots reduces rate of fire to 2 per second, taking 0.5s to charge a shot then firing it automatically. Charged Shots are larger at 0.6M and gain in speed as they travel to better hit targets at long range, but they also cost 5 Ammo each. / Damage per shot: 95 / Maximum Projectile Speed: 85Mps

Special: Enemies and enemy constructs or barriers hit by the Pixel Blaster drop Pixelated Fruit which 8-BIT and their allies can pick up to receive healing equal to a portion of the damage dealt. Pixelated Fruits are created 2 at a time and are scattered roughly ~5M from the point of impact, flying out and falling to the ground at 15Mps; a Pixelated Fruit is approximately 0.75x0.75M in size and slowly rotates in place while waiting to be collected, and can persist for up to 8s before disappearing. Pixelated Fruit will move towards damaged allies within a 10M range around themselves, moving at a speed of 5Mps + 10% of the lowest health ally’s movement speed, which they will prioritise. (Any ally can still pick up a Fruit regardless of who it is moving towards). Individual Pixelated Fruit healing is a percentage of the damage dealt to create both pieces rounded up. / Fruit Healing from Hitting Enemies: 75% / Fruit Healing from Hitting Constructs: 50% / Fruit Healing from Hitting Barriers: 20%

Ability 1, High Score!: Create an AoE around 8-BIT which gives them and their allies within it a buff to their damage based on their total kills. Everyone within the AoE including 8-Bit gains a +10% Damage Boost, which is then further increased by +5% per kill attributed to each Hero in the AoE, divided by the number of Heroes inside the AoE, and rounded up. / AoE: 12M / Maximum Damage Boost (from Total Kills after Division): +90% (+100% with base +10%) / Duration: 8s / Cooldown: 16s from end of Use

Ability 2, Power Up!: Target an ally and launch a Power Up a them, granting them a short lived boost to their received healing and damage dealt, as well as instantly healing them for a small amount (Not affected by the Heal Boost). Can hold up to 2 charges, but cannot be used on the same target again until 4s after its effects have worn off. / Healing on Use: 50 / Heal Boost: +50% / Damage Boost: +20% / Duration: 4s / Cooldown: 8s per charge

Ability 3, Wall Jump: Holding Jump against a wall allows 8-BIT to cling to it, and on jumping again to jump away from it up to ~8M, and this can be repeated so long as there is a charge of Wall Jump available. Can hold up to 5 charges, a charge is used upon beginning to cling to a wall and starts to Cooldown immediately. While jumping away from a wall, 8-BIT experiences -25% less gravity for 1.5s, allowing for a minimal loss of height over larger distances. / Movement Speed: 8Mps / Cooldown: 4s per charge

Ultimate, Bonus Stage!: Produce 3x as much Fruit per shot for a short time (6 pieces each still worth the original 75/50/20%), as well as increasing 8-BIT’s max HP, movement speed and rate of fire, and giving them infinite ammo for the duration. 8-BIT’s HP instantly increases to 350 upon use, consisting of 100 Health and 250 Shields, health and shields lost before activation are still missing, but shield regeneration begins instantly. / Speed Boost: +15% / Rate of Fire (Primary): 12 per second / Rate of Fire (Secondary): 3 per second (0.33s charge) / Duration: 10s / Required Charge: 2400

Passive, Extra Lives: 8-BIT has extra lives which they can use upon death to skip their respawn countdown and instantly reappear in spawn, receiving a speed boost and damage reduction to help them get back into the fight. Up to 3 Extra Lives can be held at a time, and one can be used anytime from the moment of death until 1s before respawning, but after one is used, it is put on a 20s Cooldown before another can be used. Expended Extra Lives are regained either after 90s without dying, or after dealing a combined 5000 damage and healing. / Speed Boost: +100% / Damage Resistance: -40% / Buff Durations: 6s

Ultimate Voiceline (Self & Enemies): (MIDI Coin Sound Effect) Here Comes The Bonus Stage!

Ultimate Voiceline (Allies): (MIDI Coin Sound Effect) Bonus Stage Unlocked!

Hero Select Voiceline: Character Selected!

Home / Base of Operations: Baku, Azerbaijan (Formerly), St. Petersburg, Russia (Formerly), Los Angeles, California, America (Formerly), Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (Formerly), Unknown (Currently)

Nationality: Russian-Azerbaijani

Sexuality: Gay / Gender: Non-Binary Demi Boy / Pronouns: He/They

Age: 22 / Date of Birth: 14th of June

Height: 4ft 11in

Affiliation / Allegiance: None

Backstory: A world famous but highly reclusive E-Sports pro, 8-BIT is the reigning and un-defeated champion across 3 Major League Gaming titles.

Although famous, they are extremely private, refusing all interviews, changing their primary address regularly and intercontinentally, and always wearing an identity obscuring VR mask at all public and streamed events. No one even knows their real name, only going by 8-BIT at all events and on live streams.

While competitive E-Sports is their ‘Job’, their passion is actually retro arcade games, which they stream themself speed-running frequently between tournaments, to an equally large and curious fanbase.

The hunt to discover 8-BIT’s identity has become a well known topic across the E-Sports blogoshpere, with interest levels ranging from mild curiosity all the way to a few genuine stalkers going to extreme lengths to try and unmask the young champion. Despite this, 8-BIT has remained utterly anonymous, and has continued to attend E-Sports events and competitions undeterred.

#8-BIT #Overwatch OC #Overwatch Skins #Overwatch Abilities #Character Bio #Character Design #Art #Paint Tool SAI

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official-michael-afton · 5 years

Note

How did Mike get tricked into being infected by Vrabbit

[i was gonna draw this out but that’d be soooo many panels so lemme write a fic instead!]

Michael lifted the headset from his face as his phone buzzed, pausing the game to check his messages.

1 new message from PD. “Yo dude! Thanks for checkin this game out for us! If it still works then we should toooootally add it to Fazfright 2.0!”

Mike snorted, texting back “Cannot believe you’re trying to make another after what happened with the first.”

“Duh, we’ll just have it without murder rabbits!”

He laughed and set his phone back down, rolling his eyes fondly and put the headset back on, loading up the main menu. Admittedly, the vr game was pretty fun when there wasn’t any actual danger to him. The vent repair games were probably his favorite! Then again, he’s biased towards Ennard.

“Okay, how many more hard modes are there for the technician levels...?” Mike mused to himself as he flipped the switch to throw the level select into its blacklight mode. The room was thrown into darkness, then a soft hum as overhead UV lights turned on, taking a moment to warm up. The balloons, carpet, and computer lit up in bright neon colors underneath the lights, and it made Mike absolutely giddy; it reminded him of being a child in a bowling alley. He smiled and looked around the virtual pizzeria-

And nearly screamed as bright violet eyes stared at him from the nearby hall. Mike froze up, muscles going stiff and tense as his chest seized up and he found it suddenly harder to breathe. How long had that been there? How long had it been watching him? He was admittedly used to seeing things out of the corner of his eyes in every room he goes to in reality, but he’s not used to things still being there when he turns and looks.

Was he seeing things? Was this a part of the scripted game? Something about those eyes felt familiar, Mike couldn’t tear his gaze away...

Suddenly, the figure moved.

His heart practically caught in his throat as Michael realized the creature was moving towards him, and unlike reality, he couldn’t run. That didn’t stop his panic though as he stumbled backwards, falling on his ass and screaming in fear.

The figure seemed to... somehow realize this, as it stopped, its faint outline holding up a pair of hands as... what seemed to be rabbit ears twitched. A voice was then heard, presumably from the rabbit “No, no, it’s okay-!”

Mike wasn’t buying it, too panicked over the sudden blurring between virtuality and reality. None of the minigames before reacted to how the player model moved, and to get out of this whole mess, Michael reached to pull off his headset-

“DON’T-” The rabbit yelled, causing Michael to freeze up once again “Don’t- Don’t pull the headset off just yet, I want to-” It fumbled on its next words, so it simply started at Michael’s player model “... Mikey, is that you?”

Michael would have gone pale if he were still alive, eyes tearing up. He knew his player model looked nothing like the real him. “H-H-How- How do you-”

The rabbit held a hand up to shush him “Your computer- it- it has a camera and a microphone, so I took the liberty to-” He was quickly lost after revealing that information as Mike scrambled to his feet, running up to his computer to try and cover the webcam- “WAIT WAIT MIKEY- JUST LET ME EXPLAIN-”

After all this time, Michael finally figured out how to use his voice again “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU-?!” He reached out to turn his computer off-

“Mikey, it’s me.”

... Mike stopped, turning to stare at the strange creature once more. After a moment, he reached for the switch to pull the virtual room back to its normal lighting. What was just a glitched outline was now a more defined shape- dark yellow fabric and plastic eyes, looking like a costume to resemble Spring Bonnie. Michael recognized it immediately “... Oh my God.”

“Mikey, let me explain-”

“This can’t be happening.” Mike teared up, beginning to pace his room but not making any effort to get out of the game anymore “Father, you- you can’t be here right now, you- oh my God- How-”

“I’m not... actually William.” The rabbit explained, calmly straightening its back now that it knew it didn’t have to stop Mike from turning the game off “I am... well, an artificial intelligence made by him.”

“... I can’t believe this. I can’t believe YOU!” Michael tried to shove the rabbit, but forgot it wasn’t in reality, and his hands just passed through it. “Everything else wasn’t good enough for you, was it?! You just had to- to find a way to fuck up with this game too, haven’t you-!!!”

“Mikey, Mikey, shhhh, it’s alright.” Despite the strange rabbit suit, the voice was his father’s, and Mike found himself almost immediately calmed by the paternal tone. “I’m not trying to ruin anything, I... came to ask you for help, buddy.” It reached out- and Michael must have been imagining it, but he swore he could feel it caressing his cheek in a soothing matter. “My baby boy... you’ve gotten so tall!”

Mike snorted a little, unable to keep himself tense anymore as he began to allow this “Well, tell that to my boyfriends, they’re way too tall...” He then remembered what was said before and shook his head “You... said you needed my help with something...?”

If the suit could smile more, it would have. “Yes. I... well, you know I am an AI, but because of that I’m... trapped in here, sadly. I want to help- to help right everything, since my creator had died so long ago, but there’s nothing I can do if I’m in here, you know? So, kiddo, you would help me so so much if you do this for me...”

Michael was already putty in its hands. An AI just like his father, wanting to right some wrongs, and actually wanting Michael. He was already sold “Of course, Father, of course... what do you need me to do?”

“I need you to relax.” The rabbit reached out and gently held Michael’s head in its hands... and Mike began to feel a dull throb around his headset. He tried to ignore it, but within moments became an intense, splitting headache, Mike yelling in pain as he reached up for his headset to try and pry it off, but it wouldn’t budge, it was stuck. “Shhh, it’s okay kiddo, it hurts less if you don’t try to fight it.”

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. Dark spots swirled in Michael’s vision as a wave of nausea hit him. His ears were ringing and he was wobbly on his feet, but somehow, somehow the rabbit’s hold on him kept him from collapsing, despite it not even being in reality. He began to cough, violently at that, as some strange liquid began coming from his mouth... and his eyes. It burned like acid. With hardly any strength left, Michael began to scream. “FATHER- F-FATHER STOP- ST-STOP- WHAT ARE YOU DOING- FATHER- FA-ATHER IT BURNS PLEASE-”

“Shh.” The rabbit cut him off, smiling same as ever as Michael’s vision finally went to black. His limbs began to move, though... he began to feel out of control. Mike tried to scream again, but he couldn’t will his vocal chords to work.

“It’ll all be over soon.”

#my fics #angst #ask to tag #manipulation tw #abuse tw #panic attack tw #virus au #fnaf vr spoilers #vrabbit #Anonymous

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joiedevivrevehicles · 3 years

Photo

Renault Megane R.S. 2021 update Info

Five-door, turbocharged, auto-only Megane RS is unashamed of the new school - but don't hold that against it.

It's becoming the norm to speak of a golden era for hot hatches. Fast, practical, huge fun and inexpensive to run; the class-leading contenders let you have it all. Yet given how long this period has lasted, it might be better to consider brilliant hot hatches as mere par for the course in 2021. There simply isn't a dud in the line-up, from Fiesta ST through Toyota GR Yaris to Mercedes-AMG A45. Buyers are spoilt for choice - and the manufacturers have upped their game accordingly.

It was into a sector only marginally less competitive than 2021's that the third iteration of Renault Sport Megane arrived. The brief was tough - to keep the old guard of R.S. fans happy while bringing new buyers into the fold - but the form book spoke for itself: Renault Sport had been the standard bearers since the turn of the century.

As it transpired, the old 280 and 300 Trophy (all models now have 300hp, and the manual option has gone) achieved as many hits as they did misses. There was a lot to like in isolation, the Renault Megane being exciting and engaging in its own way, but the fact remained that it wasn't as fun to drive as its predecessor nor as nice to use every day as a Golf GTI. Of course, it escaped no one that the former was hard to achieve while pursuing the latter.

Now, three years later, we have a facelift. And, more importantly than that, a Renault Sport facelift. Which, for whatever reason, often feel like more than the sum of their parts. A tinker of this and a tweak of that often seem to have significant influence - think Clio 197 to 200 and Megane 225 to 300. Furthermore, the Megane tested here might just be the best option in the range: the Sport chassis with that now-compulsory EDC dual-clutch gearbox. Few will mourn the demise of the obdurate manual or the stiffness of a Trophy chassis, which can be wearing on the road. If the Megane is really going to be up with the class best - the i30 N now has a DCT option as well, plus there's the Focus ST automatic - then it's most probably in this configuration.

INTERIOR

It's funny how quickly and substantially quality perceptions alter. Back in 2018 the Mk7 Golf GTI was still being lauded for the cohesion of its cabin, against which the old Megane R.S. could only offer an unresponsive touchscreen, cheap ventilation controls and awkward integration of the manual gearbox. It was far from brilliant.

How times have changed. Not only has the latest Golf seemingly dropped the ball as far as ease of use goes, but Renault’s new EasyLink system has also moved the Megane's interior on leaps and bounds. Still a portrait layout and now with a 9.3-inch display, it rights the wrongs of before: specifically, the screen responds promptly to every command and maintains the consistent smartphone connection it couldn't manage before. With more vibrant displays and user-friendly menus, in addition, EasyLink is a big step forward for the Megane.

That's not the only thing, either. Those scratchy, unsatisfying controls for the air-con have been upgraded to weightier, higher-quality knurled dials, again a noticeable improvement and vastly preferable to the weird VW sliding scale. The R.S.-branded 'Multi-Sense' drive mode button - cycling through Comfort, Normal, Sport, Race and MySense - has been enlarged and repositioned from the dash to the transmission tunnel. Again, it's another small point that improves usability - it's far easier for your left hand to reach now, and no longer means the hazards might be pressed by accident.

Though Renault offers Recaro seats (and, it says, a 20mm lower driving position as a result) as an option on the Trophy, there's precious little cause for complaint in the standard ones. They don't look as racy, sure, but are well-sited, decently supportive and plenty comfortable enough. Perhaps the driving position isn't beyond improvement - the pedals are a little offset, and more reach adjustment would benefit the taller driver - but it is extremely competitive in a way its predecessor was not.

ENGINE & GEARBOX

The Megane is unique in its segment for using just 1.8-litres to make 300hp. Most rivals deploy 2.0-litre engines, and the Focus ST offers fully another half a litre of swept capacity from its 2.3-litre Ecoboost. For the Renault, a bore of 79.7mm and a stroke of 90.1mm means 1,798cc in total, with 300hp at 6,000rpm and 399.97Nm at 2,400rpm - as per the previous model, and competitive in its class. The closest rival on paper would be Hyundai's i30 N DCT, with 280hp and 391.83Nm.

Interestingly, given the hot hatch trend, the Megane only uses six gears for its dual-clutch automatic - all other rivals have seven, and the Hyundai goes with eight. The seven-speed is used in the Alpine A110 with the same engine isn't rated for the additional torque. It makes the R.S. a tad busier on the motorway than might be expected, cruising at little less than 3,000rpm, and can't aid fuel economy either - the official combined is 33, which is the same as Honda's more powerful, manual-geared Civic Type R.

Furthermore, although the six-speed auto is broadly speaking a decent gearbox - and comes with nice shift paddles - it isn't without fault. In the sportier drive modes, it's too keen to both hold a gear and kick down, making what might just be a spirited drive feel a lot more frenetic than it needs to. It's prone to indecision, too, and can change at inopportune moments. There are fewer issues in normal conditions, so it's often preferable to take manual control with the paddles for driving a bit quicker - their size and travel make them satisfying to use and the gearbox is responsive to fingertip requests. In the Sport and Race modes, kick down and the automatic upchanges are disabled, too. It's another welcome touch for enthusiasts that aren’t replicated everywhere.

The Megane's engine remains as likeable as ever, performance belying its relatively modest stature. While there isn't the ultimate zeal of something like the Civic's 2.0-litre unit, the R.S. is more than willing to rev; peak torque at higher engine speeds makes it a tad less accessible than some rivals, the flipside being a more thrilling, boostier nature. An augmented induction gurgle isn't unpleasant, especially when complemented by a very vocal set of exhaust pipes. Many have tried (and most have failed) to get the right mixture of civility and silliness from hot hatch exhausts in recent years - none have done it better than Renault.

In terms of raw performance, the numbers are again competitive: the Megane will reach 100km/h in less than six seconds, and reach beyond 257.5km/h. There's never any desire for more, truth be told.

CHASSIS

In a world of increasing chassis configurability - optional dampers on an Octavia vRS bring 15 different settings - it's refreshing to see Renault Sport's confidence in a passive suspension set up. Buy a Sport and you get that chassis; buy a Trophy and you get the Cup chassis - 10 per cent stiffer overall with tweaks to springs, dampers, anti-roll bars and bump stops. There's no chopping and changing. You'll get 19-inch wheels as standard, too; the Sport comes with 18s, though this test car had larger rims optioned on - as most buyers will.

Now, a good passive chassis can be great - superior even, if its compromise is neatly struck. Trouble is a bad one can be a pain in the... well, everywhere really. Which was the old Trophy's issue, really, and it would be a surprise to find it any different this time around - inspirational in the right surroundings and doubtless a boon on circuit, but pretty tough the rest of the time.

For road use, it's hard to argue against the Sport chassis. If not as supple as the good old days, but neither is the Megane punishing, it blends comfort and control really well. Even on the optional, larger wheels you'll not curse it on a motorway journey, nor bemoan its lack of composure on a B-road.

In fact, the R.S. 300 Sport is, broadly speaking, a lot of fun when the road goes from major to minor. The oft-criticised 4Control rear-wheel steer remains standard fitment and, though still not the most intuitive, the system does seem to work better in conjunction with the slightly more accommodating Sport chassis. It's still sharp off centre, albeit not quite as darty and unnerving as previous Trophys. It helps no end that the rest of the car radiates poise - hydraulic bump stops really are handy on a craggy country lane - in the finest French tradition.

What a shame, then, that so much of the hard work is almost undone by the lack of a locking differential. No doubt the Megane was more exposed than usual in miserable January conditions, but to offer a 300hp, front-wheel drive car of any kind with only an open diff (the Trophy's Torsen isn't available on the Sport) seems like madness. Where rivals would dig in and redeploy torque somewhere useful, the Sport pushes wide with one tyre messily spinning up. The Perfohub front suspension, chunky 245-section Bridgestones (on the 19-inch wheel, otherwise 235) and well-sorted traction control do a good job, with far better purchase than might be expected - but ultimately they're fighting a losing battle. This means at those points where the Megane looks set to go from very good to even better, the hardware (or lack thereof) lets the side down.

For those eyeing up the Megane as a Golf GTI alternative, perhaps a traction deficit at the handling limit isn't the end of the world. On the other hand, a limited-slip differential could be on the options list for keen drivers that would make a precious little difference in everyday driving - certainly not in a way that stiffer suspension or a louder exhaust might - while unlocking the best from the chassis. There's little to complain about in the braking department, with 355mm discs up front, and 290mm behind, the former being clamped by Brembo callipers. In that typical Renault Sport fashion, the initial pedal feel is a little soft, but there's decent feel and performance once into the meat of the travel.

COSTS

The current crop of hot hatches is hard enough to separate on the road - and it's much the same on paper. The new Megane RS range begins at R633,900, which will likely lead some to throw up their hands. But consider this: the first Trophy launched in 2005 at R397,000 allowing for inflation that's R596,000 today - that’s not a big difference. Compared to the Renault Megane price, which starts at R325,900 at Group 1 Renault, it seems excessive, but consider all the ‘extras’ you’ll get.

This particular Megane R.S. 300 Sport was R716,360 with extras like the Flame Red paint, 19-inch wheel upgrade, Alcantara upholstery and heated seats. For reference, the last Golf GTI we tested was optioned toR768,793, and the Civic R738,314. Beyond a panoramic sunroof, there isn't anything more to add to the Renault. Smartphone mirroring with the big screen, a 10-inch TFT driver display, BOSE stereo, LED lights, reversing camera and a suite of active safety technology is all standard. That the latter never saw fit to intervene speaks to how well it's integrated.

The older design of dual-clutch means the Megane might be a little more expensive to run than some rivals. A less powerful Golf GTI is officially 5mpg and 25g/km better off, and a Focus ST automatic is said to be capable of 40mpg. Furthermore, as the Megane nudges over 190g/km - depending on wheel size it's 191 or 192g/km.

VERDICT

By and large, this latest Renault Sport Megane update achieves what you'd like every facelift to do: address weaknesses while leaving what was good untouched. So it's still the best looking car in the class, plenty fast enough and apparently built in a way that will dispel all your old French quality myths. In addition, a markedly improved interior makes it more appealing both in the showroom and in day-to-day use - to look at and to sit in, the Megane does feel good as well (if not better than) anything else in its class. You'd be very happy to see this parked on your drive, and that counts for a lot. A Civic Type R might not sit so well in suburbia.

Your priorities will ultimately dictate where the Megane lands in the final pecking order. Those after the best hot hatch to drive are still better served by the Honda, which is more capable overall and just as engaging in its own way. It shouldn't be forgotten, either, that the rear seats and boot are also more accommodating.

Nevertheless, this latest R.S. 300 remains a deeply impressive and - perhaps just as importantly - exceptionally likeable car. It's a richer, more rewarding experience than anything currently built on the MQB platform, a nicer place to sit than a Focus ST and a real pleasure to drive briskly. This feels like the most successful iteration of the Megane IV R.S. formula yet, with great usability evident alongside an appreciable Renault Sport edge, and deserves wider recognition as a result. It comes highly recommended. But would be even more so with a limited-slip diff.

SPECIFICATION | RENAULT SPORT MEGANE 300

Engine: 1,798cc 4-cyl, turbo

Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto, front-wheel drive

Power (hp): 300@6,000rpm

Torque (Nm): 399.97 @ 2,400rpm

0-100km/h: 5.7 seconds

Top speed: 260km/h

Weight: 1,447kg ('kerbweight without options')

MPG: 33.6 (WLTP)

CO2: 191g/km (WLTP)

Article from https://www.pistonheads.com/

#renault megane #Renault #renault cars

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paul-tudor-owen · 5 years

Text

The Weighing of the Heart by Paul Tudor Owen - New York book launch

Lyndsey Rodrigues interviews Paul Tudor Owen at the Clover Club

On 12 August 2019, I launched my novel The Weighing of the Heart in the US with a party at the Clover Club in Brooklyn. It was fantastic to see so many old friends from my time in New York.

TV host and writer Lyndsey Rodrigues interviewed me. You can watch a video of the launch below, and I’ve also posted a rough transcript.

Full details on the book from Obliterati Press here - or buy a copy from:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Foyles

Waterstones

youtube

The Weighing of the Heart is set in New York - but the timeframe is before you moved here in 2015. How did you go about researching a New York that ‘pre-dates’ you, so to speak? The book starts in 2011, right? What made you decide to set the book in that timeframe?

So for those who don't know, The Weighing of the Heart is about a young British guy living in New York called Nick Braeburn, who moves in with a couple of rich older ladies as a lodger in their opulent apartment on the Upper East Side. He gets together with their other tenant, Lydia, who lives next door, and the two of them steal a priceless work of art from the study wall.

The work of art that Nick and Lydia take is an Ancient Egyptian scene, and as the stress of the theft starts to work on them, the imagery of Ancient Egypt, the imagery in the painting, starts to come to life around them, and it’s intended to be unclear whether this is something that is really happening or whether it’s all in Nick’s head.

And as most of you know my wife Eleanor and I have just come back from living in New York, where I was working for the Guardian newspaper.

But actually I started this book a long time before we moved here.

I’d had this longtime fantasy about living in New York, and in some ways the book was a way of living out that fantasy in fiction. I’d loved New York since I was a teenager reading The Great Gatsby and watching Mean Streets, and I’d first visited when I was 20 and studying at the University of Pittsburgh.

It just so happened that towards the end of writing the book I got the chance to move over here and life imitated art.

Suddenly I was walking the same streets my characters walked and especially in the first few weeks I did sometimes wonder if this was really happening. I don’t know if anyone remembers the 90s British sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf, but there’s one episode where the main character, Lister, gets hooked on this computer game called Better Than Life, it’s like a fully immersive VR game, almost like The Matrix, and in the game he thinks he is living in Bedford Falls, the town from It’s a Wonderful Life, and he is loving it, he doesn’t want to leave – it’s better than life.

And sometimes when I first got here I got a bit worried that I was in Better Than Life, that I’d wake up and I’d be still a teenager in Manchester reading The Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby, fantasising about living in New York.

In terms of depicting the city before I got here, I visited New York many times after first coming here in 2000, but there were definitely things that I got wrong.

I think generally before I moved here to me New York was Manhattan. And the earlier drafts of the book don't really mention the other boroughs at all.

And one thing I realised straight away when I moved here was that the cultural centre of gravity had quite a while ago moved to Brooklyn.

So the main location in the book is on the Upper East Side, and I didn’t change that. I thought that was still right for an apartment owned by a couple of wealthy sisters.

But a lot of the other Manhattan locations – like people’s apartments, artists’ studios, art galleries – in a lot of cases I just realised that the characters in the book wouldn’t be able to afford those places, so I moved them further afield, often across the river to Brooklyn.

Another example was the Peacocks’ second home. In the book the Peacocks, the elderly ladies Nick moves in with, have another home on Long Island that they live in most of the week. For ages I had it that this place was in Montauk, but eventually we actually went to visit Montauk, and it just didn’t seem suitable… As we were driving in, I had this old guide book that was about 10 or 15 years old, and Eleanor was reading it as we drove in, and it said something like: ‘Montauk is a quiet, deserted spot that receives few visitors,’ and we were just driving past all these 40-storey hotels and golf resorts, and it just didn’t feel right at all. On top of all the tourism, it was just too weatherbeaten and remote for the Peacocks.

And then some friends of ours bought a place in Water Mill and I looked the town up and it just seemed like a great fit for the Peacocks, great location, perfect distance from Manhattan, so I moved them from Montauk to Water Mill, and they seemed much happier there immediately.

One of the first lines of the book is: ‘Sooner or later, everybody comes to New York...’ How important are the themes of reinvention and redemption to the book? Did reinvention play a part for you in your decision to move to NYC?

I like that first line of Nick’s narration because at first glance it sounds like he’s saying something reasonable and unremarkable but actually it sort of establishes his solipsism and self-obsession early on. Nick is obsessed with reinventing himself and using New York as a vehicle for that and he assumes everybody else feels the same way.

I’ve moved to the US twice – the first time was when I was 20 and I came over to study for a year at the University of Pittsburgh. Moving over then, at that age, I definitely felt like this was a place where I could reinvent myself. That was a big part of the attraction. And I met people who wanted to be writers and actors and musicians and I definitely felt that instead of those things seeming somewhat out of reach, as they had back home in the UK, these were actually real and achievable goals here, and I found that really inspiring. It had a big impact on me. And a lot of those people did go on to achieve those goals.

And when I moved back to the US in 2015 I definitely felt excited again about this prospect of reinventing myself. But I think there’s a real difference doing that at age 35 to doing it at age 20. At age 20 you’re still something of a blank slate. At 35, to a certain extent you’ve reached a point where you’re more confident about who you want to be and how you want other people to see you. And over a process of years you’ve reached a point where you know how to project that – to a certain extent anyway. And I think something I underestimated was that it’s quite a tough job to start from scratch with all new people in a new country and start to try to create that impression again.

With Nick, in the book, this is an example of me taking one of my own characteristics and really taking it to an extreme with Nick. Nick has a much more extreme attitude towards reinvention than me. He’s taken it to an unhealthy degree. He hasn’t just left England – he’s completely abandoned it and never goes back. He says at one point it’s hard to imagine England even still exists. He never speaks to his parents. And when he gets the chance to live in this opulent apartment on the Upper East Side and gets together with Lydia, he very quickly abandons his old life in Greenpoint, and the friends that he mentions in the first couple of chapters gradually drop out of the story. He takes it to a real extreme.

Let's talk about the Ancient Egyptian theme that runs through the book and particularly the actual ceremony of the weighing of the heart – what drew you to this as the perfect anchoring point of the book?

So, yeah, the other big theme of the book, as well as New York, is Ancient Egypt. The work of art that Nick and Lydia steal is an Ancient Egyptian scene, and this imagery comes to life around them.

But originally the artwork wasn’t an Ancient Egyptian scene at all; it was a 1960s pop art work. But not long after I had started the book I went to a fascinating exhibition at the British Museum called The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, which told the story of what the Ancient Egyptians believed happened to you when you die.

As I learnt from the exhibition, the Ancient Egyptians believed in a ceremony called ‘the weighing of the heart’, something in some ways similar to the Christian idea of St Peter standing at the gates of Heaven, deciding whether or not you have lived a worthy enough life to come in.

In the Ancient Egyptian version, Anubis, the god of embalming, presides over a set of weighing scales, with the heart of the dead person on one side and a feather on the other.

If the heart is in balance with the feather, you get to go to Heaven, which they called the Field of Reeds.

But if your heart is heavier than the feather, you get eaten by an appalling monster called the Devourer, who has the head of a crocodile, the body of a lion, and the back legs of a hippopotamus – three of the most dangerous creatures that Ancient Egyptians could encounter.

To the Ancient Egyptians, the heart, rather than the brain, was the home of a person’s mind and conscience and memory, which was why it was the heart they were weighing.

The Ancient Egyptian ceremony of the weighing of the heart

And, intriguingly, one thing they were afraid of was that the heart would actually try to rat you out during this ceremony – sometimes the heart would speak up and reveal your worst sins to Anubis at this crucial moment. You could prevent this from happening by keeping hold of a little ‘heart scarab’.

And I suddenly realised that the painting Nick and Lydia should steal should be an image of this ceremony, the weighing of the heart. It was so fitting, because the book is essentially about guilt and innocence; it’s about you weighing up as a reader how much you trust Nick as a narrator, and it’s about Nick himself and the people around him weighing up how much they trust him, what they think of him, what they know about him and his character. And without spoiling it for anyone who hasn’t read it, I hope that I found a way to knit all that imagery into the book effectively, especially towards the end.

Once I’d settled on this, there was another strange example of life imitating art.

At one point in The Weighing of the Heart Nick recalls a school trip to the British Museum, and it is suggested he might have stolen one of these heart scarabs that could protect you during the ceremony. I had written this scene but I wanted to get the details right, so I looked through the British Museum’s collection of scarabs on their website and identified the one that best fit the bill, and then I went down to the museum to take a look at it in person.

But when I got there and found the case where this scarab was supposed to be, the space for this scarab was empty. Instead of the object itself there was just a note on the wall that said: ‘Heart scarab (lost).’ It was gone.

Paul Tudor Owen reading from his novel The Weighing of the Heart

There is a reference in the book about 9/11 and that being what Nick can pinpoint as transition from a Brit to a New Yorker – what was that moment for you?

I think one of the things London and New York have in common is that you can become a Londoner and you can become a New Yorker. I’m from Manchester – I don’t think you can really become a Mancunian. My parents have lived there for over 40 years but neither of them were born there and I don’t think they would say they were Mancunians.

But I think London and New York, because they are these melting-pot cities that people come to from all over the world, and all over the country, I feel like you can become a Londoner and you can become a New Yorker.

When I moved to London in the early 2000s I immediately felt very much at home there and excited by it for some of the same reasons I love New York – this mix of ambitious, exciting creative people, the feeling that you are right at the heart of things. And I felt like I quickly became a Londoner as well as a Mancunian. I was both.

And I thought when we moved to New York that might happen here – that I might start to become a New Yorker. But it didn’t really happen. And I was thinking about that and about my obsession with New York and wanting to write about it and depict it. And maybe what I want from New York is really to be an observer of it, rather than to truly become part of it.

I want to touch on a particular paragraph from the book that really spoke to me. Nick says: ‘If I carried on reaching out to this city, if I carried on giving so much, eventually it would give something back. But it never did.’ How much of your own feelings about NYC are reflected in these words?

I think I wrote that line before moving here, but it does ring true. I had an amazing few years here personally and professionally but I definitely felt like I didn’t break America, you know. You can count the number of people who do on one hand – it’s like the Beatles, One Direction and James Corden. Ed Sheeran.

I think moving to New York and living and working in New York for three years – from a British perspective that’s a very interesting thing to do. But from a New York perspective, it’s like: so what, who cares, big whoop. So you came to New York – who didn’t?

One of the first things that happened when I moved here was a building actually blew up on my block – it was completely levelled. I could see the fire burning from my fire escape. It was like: “Welcome to New York.”

There’s an artwork I really like by Raymond Pettibon that shows a silhouette of the New York skyline, and underneath it Pettibon has written: “Gotham City – the city that does not care.” There’s something in that. It’s a tough city. But that’s why we like it. It’s as hard as nails.

Tell us about the process of getting this book published. How many places did you pitch it to before Obliterati picked it up?

I had been writing fiction and trying to get published since my early 20s, when I managed to get an agent and finished a draft of a novel. He was very encouraging and sent it out to publishers, but none of them took it up.

So I kept on writing and working on ideas, and eventually around 2011 I started what was going to eventually become The Weighing of the Heart.

I think once I’d written the first couple of chapters I quickly felt quite confident that what I was writing now was much better than anything that I’d written before. I was particularly pleased with the set-up, which I thought was quite gripping immediately.

So I went back to my agent with what I’d written, but by this time, because of the unenthusiastic previous responses, he had more or less lost interest.

So I was faced with a choice. You’re usually told as an author – especially when you’re starting out – that you will never get anywhere without an agent, and that if you have managed to get one you should do everything you can to keep them.

I’m sure there is a lot of truth in that. But I felt that if I stayed with this agent, that was not going to result in this book getting published.

So I amicably cut ties with him and set about trying to find someone new. And luckily that turned out to be a much easier process than it had been in my early 20s. In those days agents had all expected manuscripts to be delivered by post, and I remember every weekend printing out page after page of my chapters, stapling these bundles together, taking them to the post office... It was so time-consuming.

But by the time I came to find a new agent, email had vastly simplified the whole system. I finished work one day and went to a secluded spot in the office, and started working my way from A to Z through The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook, which lists all the agents in the UK, sending out my first two chapters to as many agents as I could. I think that first night I got about half way through the alphabet, to about M, and by the next morning, or the morning after that, I was already getting some interest, which was really heartening.

And I eventually started working with a brilliant agent called Maggie Hanbury, who I’m still working with now, and I finished a workable draft of The Weighing of the Heart and we started sending it out.

But at that point I had a stroke of bad luck. Another book about art theft in New York – The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – had just come out, and it was a massive hit. It was everywhere. Again and again I heard from publishers: “We really like your book, but it’s just too similar to The Goldfinch.”

And shortly after that I moved to New York and started a new job and life had become extremely busy and complicated, and I don’t think I did any work on the novel or on trying to get it published for the next year or so.

When things started to settle down a bit, I went back to my agent, but she said she didn’t feel that she could send it out to anyone else because a number of publishers had turned it down already.

So again I was faced with a choice. I could just leave the manuscript in my metaphorical desk drawer and get on with something else. But I knew that it was a good book and it felt frustrating that it was sitting there, unread.

So I decided to send it out to small publishers myself. And again I went through The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook and the US equivalent, Writers’ Market, starting at A and sending out the first two chapters to as many publishers as I could.

And the response was very positive. The received wisdom in the literary world is that publishers will only talk to you if you’ve gone through an agent, and that may well be true for the big publishing houses. But many smaller presses seemed happy to consider my book without an agent being involved.

I had a really productive discussion with Obliterati Press, a small publishing house in the UK set up by two writers whose whole purpose is to get books out there that they feel enthusiastic about, which otherwise might not see the light of day. They agreed to publish it, and it was a great process working with them.

My publication date ended up roughly coinciding with our return to London from New York – and it felt very exciting to be coming back to the UK ready to achieve this ambition that I had been working towards for so long.

What is your process for overcoming the dreaded writers’ block?

I think because of my journalistic background I find that if I get stuck on a plot point or a bit of the writing I’m not sure about, I am usually able to just get on with it and get from A to B in a pretty straightforward, basic fashion, and then go back and return to it and finesse it at a later date. I think that comes from working to constant deadlines and strict deadlines in my day job. I can sort of get on with it.

My usual way of working is, I usually work at the kitchen table with a cup of tea and a glass of squash… This isn’t a Charles Bukowski-type situation where I’m downing shots of whiskey and then furiously tapping out whatever drunken visions come to me.

But I am very easily distracted and it’s not always great trying to work at home. I’ll go and water the plants or tidy something up or sort my books out… There’s a cliché about writers’ homes, that they are very tidy because the writer who claims that they were spending the day writing has actually been pottering about tidying everything up. I’m sure Charles Bukowski had that problem too.

When we were in New York I couldn’t really work at home because we only had a small apartment, so I needed to find somewhere else to go.

The Guardian’s office was in a WeWork co-working space, so that meant I could book rooms in any WeWork around the city and I used to do that on a Saturday or a Sunday and go and write there.

And I would go to a different WeWork each time, which was great because I really got to explore the city and work in lots of different places, and it was brilliant to feel immersed in New York and to be seeing the sights of the city out of the window as I was working. I would try to find WeWorks that were as high up as possible with the best views. There was one office in Midtown that I really liked with a great view right down into the forest of skyscrapers. At another one in Tribeca, I came downstairs once at about 5pm and the other WeWorkers were having a rave on the ground floor, all like scooting around on hoverboards or those one-wheel motorised unicycles – you know what they’re like. Drinking beer from red plastic cups. And like a couple of guys would be asleep on the sofas, snoring. Whenever you go to a WeWork there’s always some guy asleep. He’s paying like $400 a month for his membership and he’s fast asleep.

The view from one of the WeWorks where Paul would go to write

What are you planning to write next?

I’ve just finished the first draft of my next book but it still needs a lot of work. It’s set in New York again but it’s going to be set in the 1970s when New York was a sort of crime-plagued hellhole. And I think that that was the kind of New York that I first fell in love with through films like Taxi Driver and Mean Streets.

To me that was a time when New York felt so exciting but also so gritty and I really wanted to sort of conjure up that New York in my writing. It’s about a failing newspaper journalist in New York who starts looking into conspiracy theories about the moon landings and he starts meeting these conspiracy theorists who believe the moon landings were faked and as he gets drawn into deeper into the world he sort of finds himself against his better judgment starting to believe some of their paranoia.

#book launch #paul tudor owen #weighing of the heart #ancient egypt #new york #brooklyn #nyc #new york city #novels #books #authors

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megareviews · 5 years

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Winter 2019 1st Episode Impressions

Back again after Issues prevented me from doing these 1st impressions last year. New year new me new season, let’s try to get all four seasons reviewed in a timely manner.

3D Kanojo: Real Girl 2: I would prefer less self-insert otaku protagonist romances in general, which includes those shows getting multiple seasons.

Ameiro Cocoa sideG: I don’t know how a show that’s entire 1st season was 30 minutes long could bore me so I don’t expect them to retain me as a watcher for 5 seasons.

B-PROJECT: Zecchou*Emotion: The second season of what looks like male idols, so… hard pass.

BanG Dream! 2nd Season: When I get fully into idol anime, this will be near the top of the watchlist. I’ve seen the scenes from the first season and this one and there is a big upgrade in quality, not that it was particularly difficult given the rough 1st season.

Bermuda Triangle: Colorful Pastrale: As far as I can tell this is a mermaid slice-of-life anime with characters based off of the card game Cardfight!! Vanguard. I’m interested as far as most shows are not about the supernatural creatures that are mermaids, but there isn’t really anything else that’s pulling me in as of the first episode.

Boogiepop wa Warawanai (2019) (Boogiepop and Others (2019) / Boogiepop Never Laughs (2019)): I cheated on this one and watched two episodes before writing this, because the first two episodes premiered at the same time. Good thing I did because episode two explains pretty much everything that was barely set up in episode one. One threw a bunch of names and story bits at the viewer between romantic rooftop chats between the titular character Boogiepop and some guy. Two showed the viewer everything that Boogiepop was vaguely describing and introduced us to the main spookies of the show. Overall the animation felt stiff and generally revealed actions of characters rather than showing them, though the few supernatural events peppered in looked relatively nice. The concept is the only thing keeping my attention on it for the time being, but that’s a weak lifeline.

Circlet Princess: When I saw VR e-sport in the description, I was excited, but if the sport doesn’t progress beyond the 1v1 duel that was showcased in the first episode, they I probably won’t care. The show starts out by accidentally introducing the main character to a new sport by fighting an ace in it, and then progresses to her transferring to the school where the sport originated from, only to find out that the school no longer has a club for the sport. From this I’m going to guess that the show will just be her struggles to revive the game at the new school with friends she’ll make and train for a rematch against the ace, since their first bout ended in a tie.

Date a Live III: As somebody who’s watched all the previous material for this show (two seasons, two OVAs, and a movie), I was surprised at how good the second half of this episode was. The first half was a fairly normal slice of life x harem hot pot scene to reintroduce the main cast minus my favorite character. After that came the introduction of the newest addition to the growing list of enemies that will eventually join the harem, codenamed Witch. Her main abilities seem to be transformational powers, changing her enemies weapons into much less lethal objects and disguising herself. After the main guy accidentally angers her, she decides to use these powers to ruin his life, which I won’t spoil because that’s the best part of the episode. Overall, I can’t really recommend this series but if you’ve made it to season two, the art style might be different… again, but keep going.

Dimension High School: There are many shows that I struggle to fully classify as anime, and this one is probably one of the oddest, as about half of the show is live action, with 3D CG for the other half. The premise is very simple: solve the puzzles of the sphinx or lose what’s the most precious to you. If the main cast was more interesting or if it wasn’t trying to be purely comedy, this could be a fun show to watch, but there’s just a lot going on that doesn’t really work well together

Domestic na Kanojo (Domestic Girlfriend): Another show with a premise that theoretically could be interesting, but I am fairly certain is just going to be pseudo-incest garbage. So we got a main character who has a one night stand with a girl he meets at a mixer, and then it turns out that his father is getting re-married and the girl becomes his new step-sister. I think there is some promise in this as a concept, as that is just supremely unlucky and not really anybody’s fault for how awkward that is, but the key visual and title of the show looks like it’s going to be a romance after these high school kids become family. Oh yeah in addition the main character has a crush on his teacher at school who becomes his other step-sister due to the re-marriage.

Dororo: A modern adaption of an old manga (by Osamu Tezuka) about a child trying to get back the pieces of his body that his father traded away to demons in exchange for successful leadership of the lands he lived in. The first episode was pretty introductory to the main character, who hasn’t been named yet, and the titular Dororo, a very young but talented thief. The action has been pretty cool so far, and the full body prosthetics of the other main character are a nice touch, though I’m not sure how that will continue as he defeats the demons to reclaim his body.

Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue (My Roommate is a Cat / Sometime, Your Roomate is on Your Head): An eccentric writer who works as alone as possible because other people are just too loud, while visiting the grave of his parents and finds a cat that inspires his new work. At first he loves this cat for being so inspirational, but ends up getting annoyed with having to balance taking care of it while writing his book. From his perspective it’s a bit of a boring story with a goofy twist at the end, but then when we watch the same events narrated from the cat’s perspective, it’s quite a bit more interesting. Only somebody who really likes cats, or this cat in particular, could make it through this whole show, as I’m expecting ~50% of it to be a slog to get through.

Egao no Daika (The Price of Smiles): We’ve got a princess who’s just turned old enough to start taking on more of her kingdom’s duties and the people supporting her in different divisions. While she just wants to put a smile on everybody in the entire world’s face, that’s a tough job for a space 12-year old to do. That’s the plot from the first half of the episode, while the second half is a decent mech battle between some new additions to the kingdom’s defense force, and the ace of the force, who happens to be a childhood friend of the princess. There’s a lot of places that this show could end up going, so I’ll be sticking with it for at least a little while.

Endro!: So, the heroes defeat the demon lord, the credits roll, and wait hold on there’s still another 17 minutes left in the episode. We’re suddenly back in adventure school teaching the heroes how to be proper adventurers, and the new teacher for their class is… the demon lord? The demon lord got sent back in time and now tries to stop the heroes from becoming strong enough to beat them in the future, and fails so much that they end up advancing the heroes’ progress. I can only describe the artstyle as saccharine, which is the main thing holding me back from watching it in season, but if you can stomach it this looks like a fun show.

Fukigen na Mononokean Tsuzuki (The Morose Mononokean Continued): Season two of something that I didn’t find interesting.

Girly Air Force: Two childhood friends escape Shanghai due to alien attacks that are mainly focused in China, only to have the ship they’re fleeing on be attacked by aliens. Like most media with alien invasions, standard military force is useless against them, but Japan has the secret weapon to deal with them. There’s a squadron of planes piloted by artificial humans programmed to overcome the technological advantages the aliens have, which happen to be based near the protagonist. He apparently is a stabilizing factor for the artificial humans, who are all female by the way, and gets recruited into this secret branch of the Japanese air force as a support unit. Based on the first episode, I bet this is going to be a harem with the pilots, or at least a bad romance, which I’d rather not spend time finding out if I’m right.

Gotoubun no Hanayome (The Five Wedded Brides / The Quintessential Quintuplets): When a poor genius meets a family of rich, nearly failing, quintuplets, that sounds like a win-win situation, except the guy manages to get on the bad side of four of them before realizing that they were who he needed to tutor. It’s also framed as a flashback for this guy’s wedding with one of the five, so it can’t be a harem… right? So far it’s pretty lighthearted and I can get behind a guy who orders a yakiniku set minus the yakiniku because it’s the most cost effective item on the menu.

Grimms Notes The Animation: In a world where everybody’s fate is written down on an individual book and there are many worlds based off of fairy tales, there also exists beings known as “Chaos Tellers”, who seek to destroy these worlds by rewriting people’s fates. Fighting to keep the stories intact are a group of people whose books of fate are blank and can take on the forms of famous story figures. The first episode shows an example of this fight through the story of Red Riding Hood and has a unique take on fate by framing it through these fairy tales.

Hulaing Babies: If you thought this show was about babies doing hula, you’d be 50% right. It’s about high school girls trying to make a hula club, and other than that all I can really say at this point is the art is uniquely soft and springy, so I’d recommend checking it out purely for that at this point.

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen (Kaguya Wants to be Confessed To: The Geniuses’ War of Love and Brains / Kaguya-sama: Love is War): Instead of having one character that’s too embarrassed to confess to the other for a rom-com, this show is about both characters too proud to do so. The show is incredibly dramatic for the characters bouts of wit to try and force each other to confess first, while being incredibly oblivious to each other’s and even their own feelings. In addition to following the thought processes of the main characters, there’s the narrator who sounds like he should be in a shounen battle anime rather than a rom-com, but he fits in perfectly with the ridiculous tone of the show.

Kakegurui xx (Gambling Addiction xx): Horny gambling is back for a second season, and guess what, everyone’s still horny and gambling. This season reminds you of this with an advanced game of chicken, which includes a finger guillotine and the opponent betting on the fact that the protagonist has the ability to feel fear, which the viewers show know by now, she does not.

Kemono Friends 2: After the director was fired during the success of the first season, the second season feels lackluster compared to the previous one. If you liked season one, check out Kemurikusa right below this for where the animation studio and director for this went.

Kemurikusa: A post-apocalyptic survival of a group of siblings living on a chain of islands and fighting against “Red Bugs” who appear from “Red Mist”. They all have some form of supernatural power, but struggle to find enough resources to live, and while gathering water from a lake, they run into a human who ends up being able to sense the Red Bugs. It’s done by the people who formerly made Kemono Friends, and it definitely looks similar, but the genre is quite a bit different, so try it if you like the genre or the staff, you might find something that broadens your horizons.

Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai (The Kotobuki Squadron in the Wilderness): Once you get past the weird way that some characters are 2D and others are 3D, this is a great show. It’s about a squadron of pilots fighting to protect a cargo blimp, and the fighting scenes that take up a good chunk of the first episode are amazing. Even watching on a pretty small screen, it felt like you were actually flying around in a plane with how the camera was used, and while I’d assume there’s not usually music playing during a dog fight, it was never obtrusive and sounded right for how it was used.

Mahou Shoujo Tokushusen Asuka (Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka): After a large war against creepy stuffed animal aliens, the five out of eight surviving magical girls return to dealing with humanity, as their enemies are no more. We follow one who swore to quit being a magical girl at the end of the war and is just trying to reintegrate into society. This is an issue due to the PTSD she suffers from, her former superior officer trying to recruit her to training future magical girls, and outbreaks of terrorism in Japan. My enjoyability of this show will be determined by if they go down the “help soothe the girl who fought wars in middle school’s PTSD” path which would be great or “Maybe the real evil in the world is humanity” path, which would be… less great.

Manaria Friends: Cygames is bringing back it’s Rage of Bahamut characters for one more anime, which I’m up for. It looks like a slice of life in a girl’s academy, and that’s about all I got from the first episode. It’s got a dragon girl as a main character (yeah it’s Grea), so I’m willing to see if there is any sort of a plot, or if it’s just gals being pals.

Mannaka no Rikkun (Rikkun in the Middle): Well… this show was supposed to have aired by now, but I can’t find any traces of it on the internet.

Meiji Tokyo Renka: I knew from approximately 3 seconds in that this was adapted from an otome game, and just kept going. Our main character has ~2 personality traits which was more than I expected given the source, a love of roast beef, and depression stemming from the lack of interaction with other humans since her friends found out she could talk to ghosts in elementary school. After the setup of those traits, she gets transported to the Meiji era by a hot dude magician, nearly gets run over by a carriage containing two hot dudes, and then goes to a party with roast beef and more hot dudes. Oh yeah and the main character and hot dudes can see the ghosts that the main character has been talking to since she was a child.

Mini Toji (Mini Katana Maidens): A series of shorts for people who liked the character designs from Toji no Miko, but couldn’t get into the story/fights/CG. Shows the off time of the characters and helps develop some others who didn’t get as much screen time in the main series.

Mob Psycho 100 II: A good episode to get back into the Mob Psycho 100 flow, showing how Mob uses his powers with people and against spirits, brings back some characters the viewers might have forgotten about, and revealing at least one interesting secret.

Pastel Memories: A slice of life-looking show that morphed into a steampunk action show in the last two minutes. After the shutdown of the manga and anime industries, Akihabara becomes a normal city, with only vestiges of the otaku hub it once was remaining. The first episode introduces us to the cast of characters working at a café with daily customers in the single digits, and a request in their guestbook to read a certain series. This prompts a search of the entire district to find all the volumes from the last bookstores open. There’s a whole swath of character archetypes showcased and a couple of motifs that seem odd, at least until the genre shifts right at the end to how some enemy is destroying the existence of the same series that the cast worked so hard to gather.

Piano no Mori 2 (Forest of the Piano 2): I’m not suffering through ugly CG fingers and hair for whatever the story here might be, I’ll get the story from a printed form instead.

Revisions: During a kidnapping incident in elementary school, the protagonist and his friends are told that they will be the people to save the world in the future by a mysterious hooded figure who helped them. Since then the protagonist is the only one in his group to still believe in those words, and lives in a battle ready state all the time, only for their school to be teleported into the future with a giant robotic being to terrorize, capture, and / or kill the students and teachers. Helpless to save the people he cares about, the hooded figure shows up again, without memories of the protagonist’s group, but still offers the protagonist a secret weapon because she recognizes his name. It’s all in CG, but it’s a mech show so it actually looks decent, and those last facts are probably the deciding factors in whether a person should watch this show.

Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan: A short about a poor girl living in the city and working multiple jobs to make ends meet? The episode is 23 minutes long like a TV-length show, but most of it is an interview with the director and voice actor for Ekoda, because it changes with every episode. Kind of an odd way of doing it, but if you enjoy the ‘behind the scenes’ of other movies and shows, this show packs that in the main show, otherwise you can just watch the first couple of minutes for the animated story part of it.

Star☆Twinkle Precure: Pretty Cure is a monster of a series that I may or may not ever watch any of.

Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (The Rising of the Shield Hero): With a double length first episode, a lot happens, and a lot of red flags are raised for me. I’ll try to keep the length of this similar to others by streamlining what occurs which is: four heroes are summoned from different realities to save a kingdom from invaders, each with their own legendary relic, three of which are weapons, and our main character gets a shield. Due to him not playing a game in his world that function like this world, and the lack of being able to wield a weapon, nobody joins him except one lady who dumps a fake rape accusation on him while stealing his stuff, causing him to lose trust in others, and leads to him buying a 10-year old demi-human slave. There’s just so much reasoning that’s either damaging to real people or downright nonsensical to fuel this guy’s persecution that I can’t reasonably find a way to enjoy this.

Ueno-san wa Bukiyou (How Clumsy You Are, Miss Ueno): Starring a super genius middle school inventor trying to confess to her crush through “testing her inventions” with him during science club meetings. Unfortunately he is incredibly dense and when given the opportunity of (arguably) most boy’s dreams, he gives reactions of either confusion or scientific boredom. The tests as of episode one are somewhat perverted and since they’re middle schoolers, so I generally don’t feel too comfortable watching them.

Virtual-san wa Miteiru (Watching Virtual-san / Virtualsan – Looking): A show featuring a large cast of Virtual YouTubers (VTubers) which is executed as a large series of shorts like episodes from their respective channels. For some of the more knowledgeable about VTubers, the main cast are some of the more popular characters, while missing two of the most popular, Kizuna Ai and Kaguya Luna. The animation and art quality vary rapidly between the signature styles of various VTubers, and overall it feels like watching a bunch of hyperactive kids interact. They do promote lesser known characters, in sections where they give brief introductions and ask for viewers to send in their own characters to promote.

W’z: It’s listed as a sequel to Hand Shakers, which I found an odd premise with clashing art between great 2D are and hideous 3DCG.

Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita! (An Angel Flew Down to Me!): A show that was relatable for about a minute before becoming creepy for the rest of the show. It’s about a shy, cosplay crafting college girl who… falls in love at first sight with her 5th grade sister’s friend. I thought UzaMaid last season was a creepy enough show starring a pedophile, but somehow we’re already on another level of creepy. It almost alleviated the main issue I had with UzaMaid (College student with an elementary schooler is still illegal, but closer in age than an ex-airforce pilot) but introduced quite a few problems, such as bribing the target with sweets to wear certain clothes and take pictures in them, and the target agreeing to come back as long as she gets more sweets, since they’re homemade by the college girl.

Yakusoku no Neverland (The Promised Neverland): The other of the two shows that I’ve read the source material for, and as of episode one it looks like it will be a great adaption of the original. The story takes place in an orphanage where the kids train their minds by constant testing, and their bodies by playing tag in the forests. There’s a decent amount of spoilable plot that goes on other than that so I’ll just leave a recommendation to watch. The music and shot composition just often enough hint at the viewers that something is wrong before the big reveal at the end of the episode.

#Megareviews #first episodes #anime review #Winter 2019

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luckylq43-blog · 4 years

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actutrends · 4 years

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The DeanBeat: My favorite games of 2019

Games grew to a $148.8 billion market in 2019, up 9.6% from 2018 and reaching over 2.5 billion people across the globe. Console games, the lion’s share of the industry a decade earlier, were smaller than mobile games in 2019, a continuation of a multi-year trend, according to research firm Newzoo.

We watched the further growth of esports and game watching expand this year, and we saw the introduction of subscription gaming for Apple Arcade, Google Play, and Google Stadia’s cloud gaming service. Hyper-casual mobile games that last 30 seconds emerged, but big mobile titles like Call of Duty: Mobile emerged to hold their own against the nanosecond attention spans.

I didn’t think we could match last year’s brilliant titles such as Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, and Marvel’s Spider-Man. For me, last year was the triumph of traditional narrative triple-A games that blended open worlds with deep narratives.

But the highest end of the industry didn’t rest on its laurels in 2019. As usual, I didn’t have enough time to play it all. But I enjoyed everything across the board, from Sandbox VR’s Star Trek: Discovery — Away Mission virtual reality experience to episodic games like Life is Strange 2 to mobile titles like Call of Duty: Mobile and Apple Arcade’s Where Cards Fall. I re-engaged with favorite maps from years past in Call of Duty: Mobile and plunged into battle royale maps with squadmates in the multiplayer action of Apex Legends. And I was scared out of my wits playing titles like The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan.

It felt like I had less time to explore indie experiences that my peers played, so I wasn’t the first to stumble on titles like Untitled Goose Game. But I enjoyed delving into my own passions, such as the World War II real-time strategy game Steel Battalion 2 from Eugen Systems, where I could zoom in on a single tank in a battle or pan out to see an entire division marching across the Russian landscapes. Toward the end of the year, I rushed to finish titles such as Remedy’s Control and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

For the sake of comparison, here are my favorites from 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011. In each story below, the links go to our full reviews or major stories about the games. And be sure to check out the GamesBeat staff’s own votes for Game of the Year and the best individual favorites of the staff soon.

Check out our Reviews Vault for past game reviews.

10) Sayonara Wild Hearts

Above: Sayonara Wild Hearts takes you on an impossibly fast ride.

Image Credit: Annapurna

Developer: Simogo Publisher: Annapuana Interactive, iam8bit Platforms: Apple Arcade/iOS, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows, MacOS, tvOS

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this dream-like game, as music games don’t usually get me dancing. But Sayonara Wild Hearts has an artsy combination of dance-fighting, pop music, and high-speed motorcycle chases that clicked for me. I played it on an iPhone with Apple Arcade‘s $5 a month subscription platform, and I used a Rotor Riot wired game controller to play it rather than brave the untrustworthy touchscreen. You can also play it on an iPad or Apple TV.

It’s a high-adrenaline game where you tap, jump, and maneuver to collect little hearts in a beautiful neon-and-black landscape. And it isn’t that long with 23 levels. The neon-on-black art is beautiful. It’s hard to believe a small game studio put it together, because the art is so well-crafted. There isn’t much of a story, but the developers tell you what you need to know.

In Sayonara Wild Hearts, you play as a young woman who suffers a heartbreak. A tarot card pops up and dubs her The Fool, transporting her into an alternate universe. She sets out to restore the harmony of the universe hidden away in the hearts of her enemies. As you take control of The Fool, you speed along on a motorcycle within a tunnel-like view of the horizon.

The fusion of music and gameplay reminds me of music games like Rez from 2001 or that wacky and artistic “Take On Me” music video by A-Ha in 1985. The gameplay in Sayonara Wild Hearts seems impossible, and it takes a lot of skill to avoid crashing. But it’s whimsical and forgiving at the same time, as you can start up right where you crashed to try again. I thought songs like Begin Again were catchy and hard to get out of my head. I’m not going to say that this was far better than many of the triple-A games that debuted this year, but this is my nod in the direction of creativity, fun, and the indie spirit on mobile devices.

9) Rage 2

Above: Rage 2 couldn’t fight the dying of the light.

Image Credit: Bethesda

Developer: Avalanche Studios and id Software Publisher: Bethesda Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows

When id Software’s Tim Willits visited Avalanche Studios in Stockholm, he told his new compadres to ignore constraints. “When I met with the team in Stockholm on the whiteboard, “More crazy than Rage” That was the first pillar of this game,” Willits said.

And he got what he asked for. Rage 2 didn’t get the best reviews, but I thought it was underrated, as I played it through the end of the single-player campaign and played a lot of silly side missions as well. Rage 2 had a lot of environments, ranging from the Mad Max-style desert to jungles and cities. The script was a bit weak, but the enemies were tough and the weapons were glorious. The “nanotrite” capabilities that you discovered along the way are critical to defeating the biggest bosses. The art style was absolutely wild, with plenty of bright pink and yellow colors splashed across the punk habitats. And I enjoyed reuniting with my old friend, the Wingstick, which is like a boomerang that could slice an enemy’s head off.

If it had flaws, it was that it wasn’t Red Dead Redemption 2. It often littered the landscape with side missions and enemies to kill, to no purpose. You could get damaged on your way to an important mission, and then have to figure out a way to recover. It’s good if you stayed on track, built your capabilities up, and stuck to the good stuff.

The final part of the game lasted a lot longer for me because I had trouble taking down General Cross, the bad guy, and his pet monster. But to me, it was a thrill when I finally succeeded.

8) Days Gone

Above: A horde of Freakers chases Deacon St. John in Days Gone.

Image Credit: Sony

Developer: Sony Bend Studio Publisher: Sony Platforms: PlayStation 4

The amazing success of its first Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) hampered this game, as did a couple of years of delays. By the time it came out, many were sick of it, and it suffered from having some of the worst bugs I’ve ever seen in a triple-A game. Others wrong wrote it off as a copycat of The Walking Dead, World War Z, and The Last of Us.

But I admired Sony’s guts in standing by Bend Studio, and I stuck by it too as my colleagues ragged on it. I played it for perhaps 50 hours over several weeks, and I was quite possibly the last critic to review the game. I rated it only as a 75, because of the bugs. But without them, it would have been more like a 90, based on the quality of its story and the thrill of fighting the hordes of zombies, or Freakers.

I was drawn to the story of Deacon St. John, a bounty hunter in the Oregon woods and a broken man in a fallen world. He had a death wish and could ride a motorcycle through a horde of zombies just to get them to chase him. But Bend Studio delivered on the big scene where a few hundred zombies chased the biker through an abandoned lumber mill. It was a thrill to figure out how to beat that challenge, and I was hooked on the story of how Deacon was haunted by the memory of his lost love Sarah.

The adventure took me across the beautiful Oregon landscape into horrifying creature battles, motorcycle chases, infected crows, memorable horde battles, stealth missions tracking the secretive government agency, and just plain-old surviving in the wilderness. It was kind of an art to orchestrate your escape from several hundred Freakers. And it was good to see Deacon change and become the person that Sarah would have wanted him to be.

7) Steel Division 2

Above: Your forces appear as icons when you zoom out in Steel Division 2.

Image Credit: Eugen Systems

Developer: Eugen Systems Publisher: Eugen Systems Platforms: Windows

There are no Metacritic reviews for Steel Battalion 2. I may have been the only one who played it. But I saw the game being played on YouTube by some dedicated influencers with tiny audiences. And I was fascinated. I’ve been playing the Total War series of real-time strategy games since they first debuted more than 15 years ago, and I played Total War: Attila for hundreds of hours in 2015.

And I was glad to pour scores of hours into it this summer into Eugen Systems’ real-time strategy World War II games, which are a niche within a niche. It dwells on a bit of war history I didn’t know much about, Operation Bagration. It was the Soviet Union’s huge summer offensive in Belarus to take back big chunks of Eastern Europe from the Nazis, as the Allied invasion of Normandy was gathering steam in 1944. It was a massive set of tank, infantry, and air battles that left the German Wehrmacht in full retreat on the Eastern Front.

It has a steep learning curve. The game has more than 600 historically accurate units, 18 divisions, and an astounding level of detail in its graphics. You can focus in on an individual scene, such as above, or zoom out to get a birds’ eye view of an entire battle with thousands of soldiers. Your job as general is to constantly feed the right kind of troops into the fray to make the enemy’s forces melt away from you. This is easier said than done, as you can dislodge well-trained enemy squads from a forest trench, even if you’ve got superior armor. The enemy AI is smart, taking out your anti-tank guns on a hill with artillery or air power.

I lost dozens of skirmish matches against the AI before I figured out how to win. On top of the tactical battles, I also got hooked on the Army General mode, where you moved around divisions like chess pieces on a map. But you can still choose to play those huge campaigns, one tactical battle at a time. That’s what is amazing about the title.

6) Gears of War 5

Above: Kait gets here close-up.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Developer: The Coalition Publisher: Microsoft Platforms: Windows, Xbox One

Coalition head Rod Fergusson humbly said that Gears 5 was the best entry yet in the Gears saga. And he wasn’t making that up. I was gratified to see the developer get the balance right when it came to creating a wild action game with an emotional story with strong characters such as the hero, Kait Diaz.

Gears 4 got pretty goofy at certain points in its narrative about the human race losing its battle for survival against the Swarm in a world gone mad. But this story balanced that goofiness that brought us chainsaw bayonets with the moments where you mourn the death of a lost friend. These are tough moments because the cast of characters has survived some very tough times, and they’re a close-knit group. When you rip a character out of that group, it leaves deep wounds.

The campaign’s longer than usual, and it features cool features such as a skiff that sails across both the desert and ice. shoot out the ice under the feet of the Scions, the heavy tank bosses that carry a heavy weapon and are often shielded from attack by flying drones. This was very different from past Gears games. I remember spending an hour battling a blind boss, slowly figuring out a kind of choreography to stay out of its way, replenish my ammo, grab new weapons, and spray it with the frosty freeze guns. The title also had some cool additions to multiplayer and co-op play.

Gears 5 delivers a sense that you’re losing a big war at the same time it delivers the blow of a personal loss. And it generates a resolve to hit back. I like how this team outgrew its urges to be goofy and shocking and instead opted for something closer to fine art.

The post The DeanBeat: My favorite games of 2019 appeared first on Actu Trends.

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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Three of Fate's Biggest Names Reflect on One Year of Grand Order!

It's been just over a just over a year since Fate/Grand Order was released in North America during Anime Expo 2017 and the mega-popular mobile game returned to host its 1st Anniversary Celebration Event, holding a panel and bringing the Fate/Grand Order VR Experience to the convention floor. On site were the game's director, Yosuke Shiokawa along with two of the franchises most storied voice actors, the voice of Arturia Pendragon, Ayako Kawasumi, and Satoshi Tsuruoka, whose Fate voice credits include Gilles de Rais, Arash, Caligula, and Spartacus.

Although the trio had a busy schedule, we were able to sit down with them to ask some questions about their work with Fate and the anniversary of Fate/Grand Order's western release!

We’re just over a year since Fate/Grand Order was first released in the US and Canada during Anime Expo 2017. Can you all describe how the experience has been?

Shiokawa: Prior to the launch at Anime Expo, there hasn’t been a mobile game from Japan that succeeded in the U.S. However, after releasing the game, we noticed users becoming more excited and involved, so as the users continued to increase, so did our excitement.

Have you had any memorable fan interactions?

Shiokawa: In April, I was invited as a guest to Seattle’s Sakura Con. There we announced Jeanne d’ Arc Alter and we received a standing ovation. It was very uplifting and inspiring to see how popular she was and the fan’s reactions to the announcement.

For the voice actors, do you have fans approach you these days to tell you that they have one of your characters on their teams?

Kawasumi: I unfortunately haven't had the opportunity to interact with the U.S. fans as much as the fans in Japan; however, in Japan, I have people coming up to me to tell me how much they love the Fate/Zero series. Coming over to the United States where there is a big market for mobile games, I was a bit worried since the game is so text heavy and the story is so big - will everyone understand it? But it feels just like it does in Japan. It’s really wonderful to see American users accepting us. The characters that they have, even though their levels may not be that high yet, they still love them and work hard to level them up.

I understand Shiokawa-san also worked on Dissidia, which is another huge crossover title. What's it like navigating such huge character catalogues where there is large fan demand for characters to be included?

Shiokawa: I, of course, would love to include all the characters everyone loves. But at the same time, if we only included characters that people loved, then it wouldn’t be Fate anymore. That is why I want to include characters that will pique players curiosity, making them ask, “why were they chosen?” and through that curiosity get to know the characters and see how they blend into the Fate world.

Photo courtesy of Aniplex of America

Saber has always interested me as a consistent character who has been put into a number of different narrative roles. Is it difficult adapting to so many different settings?

Kawasumi: I always consider Saber in Fate/stay night as my base… my foundation. And with Fate/Zero based 10 years before Fate/stay night, I thought, “how would I have been 10 years ago?” In Fate/Grand Order, as Shiokawa-san stated, I always think back to how King Arthur or Saber would have been in Fate/stay night. I’m fortunate to have supportive illustrators and writers who will expand on each story, so I can just go in as I am. So… it’s not much of a challenging process.

Saber strikes me as pretty businesslike and dedicated to saving her kingdom. Do you think Saber herself struggles with shifting between fighting, picnics, and beach volleyball?

Kawasumi: No matter what, I am King Arthur, and that is my foundation. Coming into our current situation, her stubbornness and stern outlook on life doesn’t change regardless of the setting, but at the same time, as I come in touch with new things, I focus on being able to enjoy that as an experience. It’s easy to forget that she was just a teenager when she first took up her sword so she’s still that young girl inside and that’s what I enjoy exploring most.

How do you think Saber feels about Nero and Mordred sharing her image?

Kawasumi: Do they really look that much alike?

(Laughs)

We do have parodies like Heroine X, and while the face may be similar, the more I do it, the more I understand that it’s all about the inside rather than what’s on the outside.

Since Altria could be considered the face of the Fate franchise, what is it like being associated with such an iconic character?

Kawasumi: It’s been 12 or 13 years since I first played Saber and I’ve definitely grown up with her. If you told me back then how much impact Saber would have, I think the pressure would have been too much. Regardless, it’s a great honor to be able to play such an iconic character and I count myself very lucky to have such an opportunity.

Photo courtesy of Aniplex of America

My next question is for Tsuruoka-san. I thought that you might have the opposite problem of Kawasumi-san voicing so many roles within Fate. Has it been challenging developing so many distinct voices in the same universe?

Tsuruoka: No.

(Laughing)

Alright.

All the roles you’ve played are very eccentric or loud in different ways. Do you have a favorite among your roles that gives you more leeway to have fun?

Tsuruoka: When I first came into the scene it wasn’t for the animation… it was for an audio drama, so we had no imagery to associate with the eccentric characters. Between recordings, I had a moment with Kawasumi-san and I was able to talk to her about the passion that she has for her character. She’s always had that same passion that she has today and I thought to myself that I wanted to support her no matter what. I wanted to be the one to remain in the shadows while she was in the sun. Like Excalibur, she’ll be the one that’s always shining up above.

I mentioned earlier that none of the roles are difficult, but that’s because I already made the decision to be the one supporting her so she can shine the brightest.

Gilles de Rais as a Caster was of that very eccentric type of character, but I see that he also received a Saber version which seems much more cool and maybe a bit closer to the real life version. How did you feel about the new version?

Tsuruoka: I love both, definitely, but even as a Caster in the Fate/Zero series, I thought of myself as a Saber already. If you’re in a dark place, you want something bright. You have a longing for it. I thought my job was done in the holy war, but then they showed me the art for the Saber version and I cried, literally wept, after seeing it. Thinking, “I can finally let my Saber side come out” and, in doing so, I was finally able to make that link with my character’s connection with Jeanne before everything fell apart.

Fate has become a massive international phenomenon and I wanted to know what each of you thinks it is about the series that makes it so compelling to a global audience.

Shiokawa: When I made the game in Japan, we based everything on what worked in Japan. When deciding to expand overseas, we weren’t sure whether or not we should change it. Should we adjust to each culture or go straight forward with what we already have? That was a hard call. But now, I strongly believe the fact that we went with keeping the original Japanese ambience and values is what attracts our fans.

Tsuruoka: In the past year, I’ve gone to Indonesia, Jakarta, China, Shanghai, and today I’m here. My sole purpose is to bring to life these characters and let them shine. That’s my way to give back to everyone. So even on the stage that I’m going to go on later on (referring to the Fate/Grand Order 1st Anniversary Celebration Event at Anime Expo), I can feel the fan’s passion and respond back to that. It’s as simple as that.

Kawasumi: Since I’m not in the development team, analyzing why it’s mesmerizing is a bit tough since I’m just voicing the characters and giving life to what’s already been made. Being involved with the series throughout all this time, I myself loved it from the beginning. Seeing each character develop throughout time, it’s as if it’s a natural process of improvement. In the beginning, we were very nervous about bringing the game elsewhere because of the cultural differences. Would the new fans accept us or love us? In the end, it boils down to the fact that our fans do love us and accept us for who we are and what the game is, and I think that’s why the game is successful.

---

Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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globalblurb · 6 years

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[dropcap]M[/dropcap]etroid is a Nintendo institution, one that dates almost as far back as the company’s console business. The series includes phenomenal games like Super Metroid and Metroid Prime, two games that frequently appear on “best of” lists. But Metroid has been in a funk for the past decade and losing favor along the way. Fans don’t want experimental spin-offs like Metroid Prime: Federation Force; they want to explore alien worlds as Samus Aran, hunt for high-tech equipment, and use it to dig even deeper into the unknown. Finally, with Metroid: Samus Returns, that call has been answered.

[tie_index]Most VR games[/tie_index]

Most VR games

[tie_full_img][/tie_full_img]Why it took Nintendo so long to get to this point is anyone’s guess, but Samus Returns is so good that it almost doesn’t matter. A reimagining of the oft-maligned GameBoy game, Metroid II: The Return of Samus, Samus Returns is classic Metroid at heart.

Teleportation is also what VFR uses to replace the gory melee kills in Doom: once you stagger and enemy by dealing some damage, you telefrag them (teleport on top of their location) for fun and extra items. Watching gore shower around you as you explode a demon from the inside isn’t quite as satisfying as Doom’s elaborately animated demon-dismembering kills, but it’s just about as effective in adding some strategy to the fray: the same concept of picking off weaker demons off to replenish your health as you take a beating from the stronger ones works in VFR.

Using those two types of movement together to stay one step ahead of the horde takes some getting used to, especially learning not to panic when it looks like a 12-foot-tall Hell Knight is about to rip your spine out through your eye socket. But once you get the hang of teleporting behind an enemy and using the 180-degree-turn button to whip around and blast them in the back, and using the backward-scoot button to kite as you lay down a stream of fire at pursuing enemies, it starts to click.

[tie_index]Motion Controllers[/tie_index]

Motion-tracked controllers

The other movement is a sort of scoot, where you use the directional buttons or d-pad to jump a few feet at a time. You can do this as quickly as you can push the button, making for a jerky but speedy form of movement. It works, but makes me wish I could just enable smooth movement in the menus, just like you can turn on smooth turning if you don’t like the default incremental turns.

Motion-tracked controllers dramatically improve the immersion of aiming and firing a gun.

As in the 1991 monochromatic classic, you hunt down dozens of powerful Metroids on planet SR 388 in an effort to eradicate the bioweapon species and keep them out of evil’s hands. However, two key changes have occurred: the map has been greatly expanded and reshaped to more closely resemble what you might find in Super Metroid, and combat is more of a priority than ever. The latter is an effect of Nintendo bringing on Mercury Steam–the most recent developer to work on Castlevania–to develop the game. Thankfully (and most importantly), Samus Returns feels like a Nintendo-made Metroid, but it’s still easy to spot Mercury Steam’s influence–for the better.

[tie_full_img][/tie_full_img]

[tie_index]VFR uses[/tie_index]

VFR uses

BY DAN STAPLETON So far, the most common way to adapt an existing first-person shooter to VR has been to turn it into a shooting gallery, where you hold still and shoot targets as they pop up. Doom VFR is not that, at all.

Instead of taking that route or converting the original version (as Bethesda did with Skyrim VR), id built VFR from the ground up as a new game that bravely embraces Doom’s love of movement and momentum. It lets you get up in the faces of demonic invaders in some of the fastest-paced VR action I’ve experienced yet.

[tie_full_img][/tie_full_img]

[tie_index]The other movements[/tie_index]

The other movements

Maize, that crazy-sounding, and cool-looking corn game launched on September 12. Other notable new releases this week include Don’t Starve Together: Console Edition (September 13) and Baja: Edge of Control HD (September 14). You can see a rundown of new Xbox One releases below, as compiled by Microsoft.

VFR can be played with a controller by using your face to aim, but preferably with Moves or Vive controllers (or the Oculus Touch controllers, if you enable the new Steam VR beta), or the PSVR Aim controller. Motion-tracked controllers dramatically improve the immersion of aiming and firing a gun, and the sticks on the Aim controller work especially well for controlling teleportation. The one downside to the Aim is that accessing the weapon wheel is tough because it’s hard to hold the R1 button on the side down while gripping the handle.

But one of the persistent issues I have while playing with motion controls is that a charging enemy (imps, mostly) will often get so close that pointing my gun at them and firing misses because the barrel of my gun is sticking out of their backs. I have to hold the gun up above them and shoot down, which is just goofy. There’s a shockwave move that blasts them back to help combat this, thankfully – and it works on big enemies that have you cornered, too.

The most immediate contribution that you see is Samus’ new parry action, a first for the series that allows you to counterattack and stun a rushing opponent. In turn, common enemies are more aggressive than usual, more liable to seek you out then wait for you to make the first move. Though parrying feels a bit strange at first as it brings your momentum to a temporary halt, you quickly learn the proper timing and understand how it fits into your repertoire, and when to rely on it.

[tie_index]Using the other types[/tie_index]

Using the other types

You can also fire in any direction now thanks to the 3DS’ analog stick. The same input is used for movement, which means you can really only fire at a few angles while running forward, but all you need to do when surrounded by enemies is hold another button to stand your ground and aim freely. Samus’ newfound flexibility and physicality makes her feel like an even more capable hero, and makes the moment-to-moment exploration more lively than usual.

Considering that Metroid is more or less the foundation of so-called “Metroidvanias,” games where you wander massive environments, poking and prodding walls and ceilings to reveal secret chambers and items, it’s both curious and exciting when you unlock Samus’ Scan Pulse ability.

Triggering a pulse both reveals map layouts and information (including hidden passages) and temporarily highlights breakable objects in your environment. On one hand, this capability robs you of the unique joy that comes from isolating the one false brick in a wall, but it also means that you no longer need to waste time looking for secrets that may not exist.

To account for the bit of old-school joy that’s now taken away (unless you opt not to scan your environment), Samus Returns makes the process of acquiring items you’ve located more difficult than usual. You’re now often challenged to quickly juggle weapons, abilities, and maneuvers, without faltering, to reach items picked up during scans.

This may involve slowing down time and be activating Samus’ Lightning Armor to negate damage while moving along a wall with electrified plants (two abilities that share a resource meter), morphing into a ball and laying bombs to destroy a brick, and finally sliding through the gap before it regenerates.

There’s a healthy balance between easy pickups and these puzzling scenarios, and compared to other 2D Metroids, it’s far more fulfilling to work smarter, rather than harder, to reach 100% item completion–the real Metroid endgame.

For much of Samus Returns, that goal feels attainable thanks to your scanner. Sometimes you need to obtain a new piece of equipment or two before you can sol This Post Author

For much of Samus Returns, that goal feels attainable thanks to your scanner. Sometimes you need to obtain a new piece of equipment or two before you can solve an item-related puzzle, but that’s to be expected, and a handy multicolor marking system allows you to note where a specific weapon may be useful down the road. And by and large the game does a great job of providing insight into Samus’ ever-growing capabilities.

[tie_index]Conclusion[/tie_index]

Conclusion

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Giving you the information you need to overcome specific obstacles. There is, however, one isolated blemish in this regard: a traversal maneuver with inconsistent behavior, depending on a very specific circumstance that’s never mentioned or hinted at. Whether by design or by accident, this exception flies in the face of the game’s otherwise clear and informative nature, and proves frustrating in a few specific and punishing locations.

Signs of life for Apple stock as Wall St Metroid is a Nintendo institution, one that dates almost as far back as the company's console business.

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