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leidensygdom · 2 years

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For your Gharmyra campaign, I've got a bunch of questions!

You've run fucking 90 SESSIONS, which is a crazy long game (so congrats to that lmao), so what would be some of your favorite moments to come out of the game? This is both from your players and something they did that was amazing, and from you surprising yourself through a great DM moment!

For your worldbuilding, what's your favorite bit of info? Could be a large thing, could be a small little detail that your players will probably never interact with but you love it anyway!

Finally (there may be more later lmao), I ADORE the crystal and watcher lore you have! Where did the idea come from, and how did it change as you developed it?? I love hearing inspirations and the creative process!! And what's the most tragic/cool/fucked up thing you did with the watchers to your players??

In conclusion, your world's cool as hell, your art's sick as FUCK, and I adore all of your characters!!!

AAA THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU'RE SO NICE!!!

Higlights: From a player

There's been a lot of highlights in these 90 sessions. I'll focus a bit on Laestis here, since the other players are no longer in game (because they just don't have the time or drive for dnd anymore). One of the highlights was a bit of a climax that happened after Act 1's end and Act 2's beginning, which was about dealing with her patron's crystallized corpse and retrieving the staff that once belonged to Vest. I even got a commission by the ever-fantastic EllirhShaan from that scene:

A watcher's original, crystallized corpse isn't really more than a bunch of crystal for the most part. Which means that if, unoccupied, someone else can take that over and use it. Vest's "mother" (Solaralith) decided to use it to avoid Laestis from retrieving Vest's crystal staff (seen in the background of the last panel). So, threatening golden watcher is the Solaralith-possesed-Vest-corpse, while friendly looking watcher is Vest's appareance (Which was more ghostly). Getting to settle that down, getting Solaralith vanished for a bit, retrieving a significative weapon that was a next step towards their pact (and in a way, helped giving Vest more physical presence) and leaving behind her current sword (the one that had hosted Vest's seed for all this time (which Laestis took from the sword) was all very climatic!

Highlights: As a DM

On my end, as a DM, I really enjoyed Mythannae's Nightmare arc. Before he became my PC in another campaign, he was a background NPC. He had been a dissident watcher, that lead a group that tried to do exactly the same than the party is trying to do: End the long feud between watchers and avoid the war. And yet, his group failed terribly, which ended with the death of most (or worse-than-death fates) and very few of them surviving the ordeal. I'll explain what is a Nightmare a bit late, but let's say it's somewhere where memories persist so strongly, you can view stuff from the past. And to get information, they visited one related to Mythannae- And got to talk with their memory!

And also fight him (in a friendly manner) to understand the sheet power that the big watchers have. For scale, a token is about the size of these lil gems in the center of the five platforms. I got to do an animated battlemap, which I was very excited about! The fight was tense and fun, the party found out methods to end watchers, they retrieved the weapon that was used to kill Mythannae in the past. Also found out a bit more about a NPC that they had quite a lot of doubts about, who happened to be very close with Mythannae

A bit of lore I enjoy

So, other than the watchers (and a lot of worldbuilding focused on nations, which can be a bit harder to develop in a post like this), the mechanic of the Nightmares was fun and a great way to introduce lore in the shape of a dungeon.

Basically, in this setting, extremely strong memories, if mixed with a magically charged environment, can create Nightmares. They're areas where reality is over-written by the source of these memories: Things change to adapt the past, often creating whole new areas and spaces that can be traversed as if they were physical. Nightmares can be caused by individuals or collectives. They're often chaotic and not completely logical: Events that might have been many years apart (or very far away physically) can happen in 2 rooms one next to the other. It allows the players to have a much more direct view on these events, and even partake in them. Which is always fun to have, since the alternative tends to be a lore dump or giving them lenghty text descriptions.

Usually, they need to face the source of the memories to end a nightmare: It tends to be the person who caused the nightmare in the first place. The first time, they fought a knight of the Ark'Sava from the times they were most tyrannical. The second time, they faced Mythannae. The physical objects that were tied to these were a statue to said knight, and Mythannae's whole corpse.

Here's the Ark'Savan guy : ) his name is Sygdom, he's where I get my nickname from. The nightmares had some mechanics tied to it, related to how long they were in the space, and how involved they got in them: The line of reality and dream got more progressively erased, and the memories started to overwhelm the characters. Mechanically, they could accumulate up to 30 "nightmare points", which had 3 tiers. Each tier meant the dream-stuff around them affected them further, to the point they started to get their views influenced by it. For example, one character started to side more with the Ark'Savans, while another character was more akin to the Ark'Vossians. It affected against enemies and even between them: In the second tier (from 10 to 20), they couldn't end their turn next to each other due to some natural distrust. It was overall a fun bunch of things!

On the watchers

So! Watchers were made originally as part of a lore for a forum. I was given the task to give some lore to a barren land in the map, and I ended up going for "drows" and "crystals". I had no idea what drows were like in DnD canon and just ignored it altogether. Don't regret it. The idea was that, within that setting, drow had thrived and made great advancements, but suddenly disaster struck their main city and most of them perished in the catastrophe, with few survivors running away and scattering across distant caves. They had relied in crystals for technology, but now, they feared it: The crystals were related to the mess, but the survivors weren't sure what went wrong.

Millenia passed, and people kept fearing the magic crystals, never going back to where the catastrophe stuck because it was an extremely dangerous land. But there were almost no records on what did exactly go wrong. And some people were tired of being kept in the dark, of not using a resource that was so invaluable. Something that could give them the chance to fight back much bigger nations, which were all readying for war. These people started to investigate and use the crystals, and their leader travelled to where the catastrophe stuck. He returned with a crystallized arm and much knowledge, including the fact that people in said place had both, feared and yet also adored crystalline creatures. Unknowingly to him, being magically corrupted made him the perfect vessel for watchers, which had caused the accident, and were looking forward to expanding their reach.

THAT was the original lore. It was done when i was 14 years old or so. Then, the forum died down due to drama, and I never got to explore much the lore. I decided to port it (With adaptations) to another forum, but this time, I decided to instead focus on the city that had fallen down due to crystal corruption and watchers: Try to understand what happened before disaster struck. The idea was that, if the lore advanced enough in that forum, the disaster could happen. OR it could be prevented! That's how Gharmyra was born, and how the watchers were further developed. Again, that other forum died (RP forums die like crazy), and I was again left with a lot of lore and nowhere to use it.

(Here's a watcher, to spice up the post : ) ) And that's when, years later, I decided to port it towards a DnD campaign. All these new ports meant refining the lore, cleaning up issues and holes, and detailing things further. A surprising amount of the ideas came from ages ago, but my 14yo worldbuilding was not the best in many regards So I've had a lot of time to polish things and bring them to their current state!

Anyways, this is a very long post already!! I'll get into watcher spooky things in another moment. I hope that does answer most of it though, I appreciate a lot the questions <3 It's giving me an itch to get finally back from the long hiatus!!

#dnd #dnd art #dnd homebrew #homebrew #worldbuilding #watcher #watchers #kalashtar #gharmyra #undead #crystal #drow #dark elf #elf #ttrpg #pathfinder

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cafalla · 6 months

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Dorothy, Volume 1 (2005) Scans - Chapters 1 & 2 // Part 2 of 3

Here is Part 2 of my Dorothy comic post!

Please refer to Part 1 for some background info about this book and its old website!

In this post (Part 2), I'll cover Chapters 1 & 2 of the comic! See the end of the post for the link to Part 3.

In chapter 1, we are introduced to our main character, Dorothy Gale. She is a rebellious teen girl who feels misunderstood and aimless in life.

It is implied her parents died five years ago. She is upset that her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are treating her like a kid, when they "aren't her real parents".

Dorothy steals her Uncle's truck and begins driving off with the intention to run away from home, despite being warned of a terrible storm incoming.

Confronted with the tornado, Dorothy tries to out-drive it, but winds up being pulled into the storm.

I enjoy this panel of Dorothy getting flung around the truck while in the tornado. She's quite funny, even if she is a bit self important. But what teen character isn't?

She thinks about her parents, and decides she'll do anything not to die in Kansas.

Comically, Dorothy somehow manages to get on top of the truck and just…dives off of it? While still probably thousands of feet off the ground inside a tornado?

Miraculously, Dorothy lands on the ground and just passes out, while the truck explodes into flames near her.

She then gives us these iconic lines after waking up.

Queen shit, honestly.

Then Dorothy looks around and again, delivers a banger of a line.

Oh god, love love love this cgi/editing. I truly do. It's so fun and creative.

I'm being 100% honest and genuine, not ironic at all. I adore this.

The chapter then shifts to the Evil Queen's castle. We meet a character called Graybones, who is implied to have been a powerful man once, but is now just a servant to the Queen.

The Queen tells Graybones that "the one from her dream" has arrived, and then says Dorothy's name out loud.

But all that is boring part to me, so I'm not including it here!

。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°。°

Chapter 2 begins with a flashback of Dorothy at eleven years old. Aunt Em tells her that her parents have died. It then cuts back to the present Dorothy, exhausted after having wandered around for an hour in this new world.

She is the title of this chapter: Lost.

She assesses her resources, aka the random stuff she brought in her bag.

There is actually some foreshadowing here!

Dorothy continues walking on, trying to think positively, when she is attacked by a flying monkey. We get to see the panel that was used as an example back in the behind the scenes screenshot from Part 1, remember?

Ouch.

Dorothy runs away, then trips and lays on the ground while trying to give herself a pep talk. She notices a funny little robot dog approach her, and the dog jumps on her.

It's Toto!

I mean…To-2!

Dorothy and To-2 find a strange looking person passed out, and Dorothy gives them some of her water. The person claims they are a witch, calls Dorothy a sorcerer, and says they knew Dorothy would arrive.

We then shift over to the Evil Queen, where her and Graybones are discussing finding a magical necklace.

Going back to Dorothy, we see the witch entrust her with a necklace, saying it has always belonged to Dorothy.

The witch instructs Dorothy to walk to the munchkin village. Dorothy and To-2 begin walking, and the witch disappears in a flurry of bubbles.

Dorothy expresses that she hopes they don't run into anymore weirdos, while the back of an ominous scarecrow is present on the last panel.

If you'd like to read the comic for yourself, please feel free to check it out on my Internet Archive account.

Part 1 -> Intro & Background Part 2 -> You're Here! Part 3 -> Chapters 3 & 4

#txt #dorothy #dorothy comic #dorothy volume 1 #dorothy gale #comic #comics #comic book #2004 #wizard of oz #scans #nostalgia #part 2 #long post #books #catie fisher #greg mannino #mark masterson

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halt-kun · 1 year

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Hunter x Hunter Chapter 166 - Face-Off (9)

Last one for tonight

We’re pretty good

Gon is sweating a lot from his two rocks, it is really tiring for him

I hope he can take a shower after this because it must have been a while since he’s been in game

Tsezguerra is the only one considering the state of the player

he’s also a bit of a pessimist anyway

They are indeed in bad shape but they look cool and pretty good in those panels !

Killua is indeed very hurt

But look at how he can still smile !!!

Yep, it’s a child that’s suffered serious abuse, he can mask his actual feelings pretty well and smile while hurting internally

He can pretty much disconnect from his body

it’s a bad consequence of his upbringing my man

Also because he probably feels he would disappoint people by actually appearing hurt or not well when he is

The drawing is good

I love my two good boys

Best duo

The ring is bad enough, normally the whole skin should have been ripped with the ring

Let’s just say nen prevents the ring from moving once you’re inside the game

Also cool to still mention Tsezguerra still can do stuff they can’t

nen is always fun

like with the body, skills and strength work together and you can do a lot with skill alone even if you’re a bit behind in the strength department.

I’m a bit sad to realize a scene I like was added in the 2011 anime. They really did a good addition, highlighting Biscuit’s skill

I liked it

TIMEOUT

Razor likes to spin the ball

Tsez is a cool guy though

I have to agree with Tsez here, it’s not a cop out

Killua, stop trying to fake being fine challenge

Biscuit is a good mom

OUCH

You knew but seeing is quite different than just knowing

Gon looks a bit ashamed here, he knew but he still feels bad about hurting Killua

Here it comes

the famous confession line that’s traditionally used in Japan

I’m tearing up a bit, Gon trusts and loves Killua so much

Killua is honestly moved by it too, I bet he really isn’t confident enough to feel like he can be valued like that

Hisoka looks like his suspicions are being confirmed

For those who don’t know this line from Gon in japanese is a classic line used to confess one’s love, for more info on that go there

https://medium.com/anigay/let-me-begin-by-giving-you-a-puzzle-71aa326293cc

My current vision on the potentiality of Gon and Killua having a romance with each other is that it could go either way, Togashi isn’t dumb and he’s clearly coding some queerness into them as he did with many other characters in several of his works.

He likes to play with queerness and I wouldn’t find it surprising at all if Gon and Killua’s relationship becomes romantic, for now they are friends and I’m sure Togashi’s freedom with Hunter x Hunter compared to Yu Yu Hakusho or Level E (or even things he wanted to write like Trouble Quartet) is pretty high but there could definitely be some pressure from the editors if he does that

Killua is so gay though

When I was a little gay (13 to 15) and 2011 was coming out, I basically convinced myself I couldn’t be gay because my feelings where just strong friendship like Killua’s feelings for Gon (I related a lot with Killua and identified a lot with his struggles)

this is the kind of conversation that became toxic a lot of times on forums so I’m always wary when I talk about it but some fans are so stubborn they would be capable to deny any prior hints at it if it happens. Some can see it though and agree it would make sense

Anyone saying it wouldn’t make sense, is definitely delusional and not familiar with Togashi’s work

I can definitely see this staying just a friendship too so I don’t care, their relationship makes sense as both and it’s beautifully written.

I love them

ANYWAY let’s catch this fucking ball

Hisoka really is down for all of Gon’s absurd ideas, Killua is a better person to be around him. Not buying into all he says and trying to think things through

Oh yeah emitted nen, back to Razor !!!

This guy is so dangerous he didn’t need all his aura to face Hisoka and Biscuit and put them in life threatening situation.

Conjurer don’t need to recover their aura from conjured objects so really this is one thing that makes emitted beasts potentially viable in the case of Razor. All conjurers would become weaker when they conjure stuff otherwise and that’d be pretty dumb. Especially since it’d be like having aura removed from your usual pool just to make an item that needs the use of shu to compete with nen abilities

The cost would be double

BUT you used it like a few weeks ago to destroy the troupe’s ship ????

COMBINE

really one of the most wtf moment in Hunter x Hunter

46 - I wouldn’t be down with having a sentient girl kept somewhere to produce gold

47 - oh yeah someone sleeping in your place, pretty cool

48 - Nice smell girl

49 - fuck it a pet mermaid is also fucked up

50 - a little dinosaur, very cool

51 - pet dragon that can talk

52 - weird grasshopper with pearls

53 - king white beetle (we know it)

54 - a butterfly

it was the pet/insects card list

GOTTA CATCH ‘EM ALL

THE END for tonight

#hxh c166 #hxh manga #hxh liveblog

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lunaajade · 3 years

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Everything You Need to Know about “Shadow and Bone” on Netflix (*UPDATED: POSSIBLE LANGUAGE OF THORNS ADAPTATION INFO)

Since it’s recently been confirmed that we’d be getting S&B content in a few days (finally!), I thought I’d compile and summarize as much info as I could to refresh everyone’s memories! Please spread the word/share this post to those who aren’t up to date! (I’ve seen some people online who are worried about how it’s going to turn out, and I’d like to be able to hopefully reassure those people)

Now, there’s a LOT of stuff, so there’s always the chance I missed/forgot something. This post will be split up into categories based on type of info, so here we go! I went back and listened to/watched both of the big live streams (NYCC and the S&B Charity Competition), went on the Grishaverse Reddit, etc. to find as much (extra/bonus) stuff as I could. (If I missed anything/got something wrong, please feel free to leave a comment!)

Update: A lot of people have been asking where it was confirmed we were getting content soon. I found out from one of the update accounts I follow.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

General/Key Info About the Show

-This first season will be adapting both “Shadow and Bone” and what has been dubbed a “Book 0″ (most likely meaning prequel/backstory/set-up) for “Six of Crows” -In relation to the above point, the timelines are being brought together for the show. (Normally in the books, the two series are set two years apart)(We don’t know how exactly or what this means for the story, but I have a really interesting theory that I thought up in relation to this, message me if you’d like to hear it.) -Leigh acknowledges and understands that some of us have doubts and are worried about the show, but she has publicly assured us (numerous times) of how much she loves the show and cast, how well she thinks the crew/writers did in bringing the Grishaverse to life, etc. See a later point below in the Facts/Tidbits section -The first season will have 8, one-hour long episodes -Alina has been made half Shu (half Asian) for the show! Leigh stated that was decided on after she and Eric had a lengthy discussion on Alina’s character. -The main cast (as in confirmed to be in all episodes) is comprised of Jessie Mei Li (as Alina), Archie Renaux (as Mal), Ben Barnes (as the Darkling), Freddy Carter (as Kaz), Amita Suman (as Inej), and Kit Young (as Jesper) -Wylan and Nikolai are NOT in the first season. (Nikolai didn’t appear until the second book, and Leigh confirmed that at this point in the story, the Crows had not met Wylan yet.) -Other cast members include Danielle Galligan (as Nina), Calahan Skogman (as Matthias), Daisy Head (as Genya), Sujaya Dasgupta (as Zoya), Luke Pasqualino (as David), Julian Kostov (as Fedyor), Simon Sears (as Ivan), Zoe Wanamaker (as Baghra), and more! -The Darkling will also be called “General Kirigan” in the show. From what we know, The Darkling will be the “enemy” to Ravka (so in essence, General Kirigan is his alias/fake persona (what he’ll most likely be referred to for most of the show), and no one knows that he’s actually their enemy. (Meaning it’ll most likely a super big moment when they learn their general was actually the Darkling in disguise)). -The show was shot on location in Budapest, Hungary. (And additional filming took place this past fall in Vancouver) -In order, the 8 episodes are titled the following: “A Searing Burst of Light”, “We’re All Someone’s Monster”, “The Making at the Heart of the World”, “Otkazat’sya”, “Show Me Who You Are”, “The Heart is An Arrow”, “The Unsea”, & “No Mourners”.

Other (Fun) Facts/Tidbits About the Show

-Upon seeing Jessie’s audition, Leigh loved her audition/portrayal of Alina so much that she apparently stated that she wanted her to play Alina or she’d be out of the project. She was sent five auditions to watch, Jessie’s was the third, and she said she didn’t bother watching the rest of them. -Leigh stated that she and Eric Heisserer (the creator of the show) said they were on the same page from the first meeting. All other past meetings with producers and companies about possible adaptations had left her with a bad feeling, but she said they’d had the same ideas about inclusion, story, staff, etc. She said she’s loved the respect he’s shown towards the work (and, in a way, to us the fans) -Netflix apparently also has the rights to adapt “The Language of Thorns” , though we’ve gotten no info on that adaptation yet. (UPDATE: I just watched a Leigh Bardugo event from Feb 2019 (a few weeks after the show was first announced, I think): As of that day, she said that she thought that they were going to use LoT more for "texture” (IMO that might mean worldbuilding?) in the show. And I don’t know if she was talking about LoT specifically because she was very vague, but she said that there were certain things in the show that she thinks readers will be really excited about. Again, this was over a year ago, back when they were still in pre-production and stuff, so don’t take my word for it. Besides this, I couldn’t find anything else relating to a possible LoT adaptation. Maybe they’ll have the stories from LoT appear as actual folk tales told in the show, and that’s the “adaptation”? IDK. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpHnw8Ygw5c&t=1906s)) -Leigh is an exec. producer on the show! I’m no expert, so I don’t know how much say/power she had in the process, but she definitely had some. -There is a RAVKAN edition of the “Shadow and Bone” book that Leigh says makes a cameo in the show! -Jesper’s guns had custom etchings done on them by a Hungarian antique gunsmith! (And they were so good that Leigh and Eric said that it looked like it belonged in a museum--they were also described to be quite heavy!) -Eric Heisserer is the creator of the show, he is an award-winning writer, well known for “Arrival”, “Bird Box”, and more. (If I remember correctly, Leigh said that he’d reached out to her about making the show!) -A DeKappel painting (maybe the one owned by Van Eck?) was confirmed to be in the pilot episode. -Pekka Rollins and Tante Heleen have been confirmed to be in the first season, but their casting has (up to this point) not yet been revealed. -Bo Yul-Bayur is confirmed to be in the show! (Though Kuwei has not) -Leigh will have a cameo in (I think) Episode 5! She will be wearing a Materialki kefta and will be opening a door, if I remember correctly. -A lot of the crew was also extremely passionate about the project and fans of the books -The “Lives of Saints” book that was published in October is an actual book/prop that is appearing in the show! -I’m personally fine with Mal, but Leigh says that Archie is going to change everyone’s minds with his portrayal! -The costume designer for the show is Wendy Partridge, known for her work on “Thor: The Dark World”, “Pompeii”, and more! -The composer for the show is Joe Trapanese, known for composing for “The Greatest Showman”, “Straight Outta Compton”, “Lady and the Tramp”, and more! At the NYCC Grishaverse panel, they revealed a little bit of the score (”Grisha Theme”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFxIEbsHKJA

Fun Cast/On Set Stories/Facts

-The cast all loves each other, and are all extremely passionate about this show, which is great! (Leigh said that on her second visit to the set, she heard them singing together) -Leigh says that Ben Barnes once snuck up behind her on her first day on set and scared her by whispering “Fine, make me your villain” -Freddy’s favorite Grishaverse book is “Six of Crows”, but most specifically the first line of chapter 2 (”Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason.”) -Jessie would apparently come to set on some of her days off to support the cast and crew! -Sujaya has stated that her favorite Grishaverse character is Nikolai! (#Zoyalai) -Freddy has become famous/popular with the fandom, one of the reasons being because he often comments on posts/live streams asking something along the lines of “What was it like working with Freddy Carter? xoxo” -Danielle loves Nina and her journey in “King of Scars” -According to a Tweet, Freddy and Leigh said that there had been a scene with “a very pesky gate”--Freddy said that it “wouldn’t be proper to tweet the expletives [he] used that day” and that he thinks he “scarred” Amita and Eric. -Amita’s favorite thing about Inej is her silence, and her favorite Grishaverse book is “Six of Crows” (as of May, where we learned this during a live-stream, she said she’s read it three times and listened to the audiobook twice.) -There was a waffle truck on set on the last day of shooting! -Calahan says that if he could play any other Grishaverse character, he’d want to play Nikolai! -While she did work with the trainer to get more physically fit, Amita learned most of her knife techniques by herself! -Leigh said she cried a lot while on set! (She said there was one scene they were shooting that she has a very clear, vivid memory of writing many years back--based on the context of which she was talking about it, if I had to guess, I’d guess she’s describing the Winter Fete.) -Leigh also said that on one of her first days on set, it was funny/weird to see all the extras in First Army uniforms chilling on their phones, drinking coffee, etc. -One of Calahan’s favorite character dynamics in the books is the dynamic between Kaz and Matthias -There was a moment where Amita was fully in costume and doing amazing, graceful knife work, only to trip and fall when she’d finished. -Amita and Jessie and Sujaya were best friends on set. -Sujaya loved everything about playing Zoya. (Especially her confidence) -Leigh says one of her favorite props was Kaz’s cane, especially because of what it meant to her and the story. -If he could be any Grisha order, Calahan says he’d want to be a Corporalki -Calahan loves Matthias’s journey/arc. -Kit’s favorite Grishaverse book is “Crooked Kingdom”!

Links

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X65iI1YXrbU (NYCC Grishaverse Panel) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHou5rVs6o0 (S&B Talent Show Charity Live Stream ft. the S&B Cast!--the IG video got taken down because Archie deleted his IG account and switched to a new one) -https://www.netflix.com/title/80236319 (”Shadow and Bone” on Netflix!) -https://twitter.com/shadowandbone_ (Official “Shadow and Bone” Twitter!) -https://www.instagram.com/shadowandbone/?hl=en (Official “Shadow and Bone” Instagram!) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRh-Pmbynww (Annoucement made by cast when filming wrapped! (can be found on the social media accounts, but here’s a link to YT)) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bpY8uLtyB4 (A S&B Cast Crack video by HeartPhantom--it highlights a lot of the inside jokes and memes that we’ve gotten to witness among the cast, and also just generally shows off how hilariously chaotic everyone is (this cast is the definition of chaotic good, lol))

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incoherentbabblings · 4 years

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What are your favourite comics anyway?

Oh! Oh! Oh! Okay. Full disclaimer. We’re going for what comics I re-read over and over again. Are these comics...good? Eh. Are they bad? No, I don’t think so. Some were meh to wow! when first released that time has either been kinder or harsher to, but I don’t think I have a series or a run or a title which is I like which is like... hot guilty garbage. Though, of course, feel free to disagree. There are some authors on here which people will not want to touch with a barge pole, and I totally understand and encourage not touching them if you don’t want to.

Having said that, here are my favourite popcorn comics (largely Titans and Batfam because I am... basic):

The Flash (2016) issues 39-45 + Annual #1

Having said that, Flash time first. People think Williamson is a real hit or miss writer and I do agree, but I think this whole arc is one big hit. It’s frantic in its energy, I love Gorilla Grodd as a villain, I love the modern Flashfam trying to help, I love how Wally coming in to help totally turns the tide and the mood. I love how everyone looks at Wally like… this guys is powerful, more powerful than any other speedster… but also noting there’s something very fragile about him. I didn’t include Flash War in this because I’m still waiting for the payoff for that angst regarding Wally, but this arc… mwah. Wallace Rudolph West being vindicated as the greatest Flash (whilst allowing Barry to be flawed and to lead his family)? Yes please. Also I love Carmine’s art. I gather it’s hit and miss for some folk but I love the line work. Also Carlos D’Anda’s issue (come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack draw Dick and Roy again your work has gotten so much cuter this past decade) is a beauty too. Big ol’ eyes.

(Under the cut ‘cause this is LONG)

Batman Dark Victory

One of two Loeb stories for me. And yeah sure Long Halloween is objectively better but…jelly bean

Also, angry traumatised Dick smacking a dying man with a stick. What a legend.

Gates of Gotham

Cass! Damian! Dick!Bats! Tim! A mystery villain! World building for Gotham! Stuff exploding! Batfam banter! Trevor McCarthy art! This bizarre panel of Jim Gordon holding Tim’s hand like he’s checking the time?

It’s one of the last ‘pure’ Batman stories before the reboot – Bat Inc aside – so it’s how I like to read the Batfam’s relationship by the end of that universe. Everyone’s a lot more content, proud Dad Bruce, happy and settled Dick and Damian, Cassandra returning home, Tim chopping off the emo hair… it’s all good.

Grayson (particularly #5)

I know why people can’t stand it. The circumstances leading up to it are bog awful. Opinions on Tom King’s writing has only grown more spliced with time. The (sex) jokes are too on the nose and hit too close to home for many. The cheesecake art is too stilted for some. But! Issue #5 is my favourite single issue story. Ever. You never have thought boxes in this series, because everyone is lying, but you aren’t told when. You never know how genuine Dick is being at any given moment, until it is just him and the baby. I love how single-minded it allows him to be. I love how he flat out lies and manipulates to protect that little girl, whilst also caring for Helena. About how seriously he takes his job of protecting Bruce and his family (and that’s why he’s even doing the stupid spy thing in the first place). And maaaaybe it’s unrealistic that Dick could outlast Midnighter crossing the desert, but screw it. Bruce can be better than metahumans all the time. Let Dick get an issue to be so to. Saving a little girl who is probably going to grow up to be akin to Superwoman. Just because he’s given himself that responsibility. He’s going to double cross twenty groups at the same time and come out clean as a whistle. And he’ll cross a desert with a newborn to do it.

Light of my fricking life.

Infinite Crisis

I…I like that things go boom. John’s is very good for that. Also, the Nightwing and Batman moments howowheheheheheheeeeeeee. Almost wish Bruce had shot Alexander. I wonder what would have happened?

(Brief side note: Graphic Audio’s adaptation of this is great fun. I dropped a bowl of cereal at the part of Superboy Prime versus the Titans. Cassie’s scream when Pantha’s head got punched off was a bit…intense. The No Man’s Land one is very good too if you have cash to burn - the voice actors are the same in both and Nightwing’s voice actor has this lisp and I don’t know man... I love it. He’s now the voice in my head for Dick).

Titans/JLA and The Titans (1999) issues 1-25

The Titans are now known I think for not being a very proactive hero group. Books struggle with balancing team dynamics versus plot, and this one is no exception. I know people don’t want to touch Devin Grayson’s stuff with a barge pole. My justification for this is flimsy I accept that, however, the JLA/Titans comic was the very first comic I read when I was like six or seven. I was rummaging through my brother’s room as a nosy kid does and this was at the top of his pile. Thank god for the little info boxes as each Titan was captured/referenced. I fell in love with Kory, I fell in love with Dick, I fell in love with Donna (oh Donna…) and then I tumbled down a hole and pretended I hadn’t until about six years ago. So that’s nice. So yes, this one is one hundred percent nostalgia based.

But honestly, Linkara did a retrospective on this event comic and series years ago, and his reasons for loving it are the same as mine really, so go watch those if you have like five hours to kill. When Devin leaves the comic remains strong for just a moment then... absolutely plummets off a cliff. So I really wouldn’t bother with the second half of the series but hey. You do you.

Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders

More Geoff John’s explosions. My first comic that got bought for me. My brother walked in to the shop and said: “I need a comic for my sister where Starfire gets a good showing” and the men went… ah yes.

Eleven-year old me was like EXPLOSIONSSSSS but also was intrigued by Kory and Dick’s bedtime convos (perhaps…I was a bit under the age bracket for this book - Kory gets a good showing huh?) but uh. Anyway. Also this is when I was thoroughly enamoured with Roy. This crossover is typical Winnick and John’s angsty angst with overly poetic narration and tropey tropes which, combined with what came before and what was to come for the Outsiders, can make both series such a slog to get through, but in isolation, I think it’s a real fun crossover which gave everyone a bit of time to shine and some real fan-ficcy moments (very self-indulgent, and I love that in a comic).

Teen Titans: Year One

I love Amy Wolfram and I love Karl Kerschel. It’s a good intro to those five characters with cute stories. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Batman is demonstrably a major prick in this, even after de-brainwashing, so it’s obviously going with the ‘Dick is only half as functioning as he is thanks to Roy, Wally, Garth and Donna’, which I can get behind 100% depending on what story they are trying to tell, but it’s just… it’s still sad to read. I just think the art is brilliant at giving each of the five very clear characteristics just from their body language, and you know immediately what each character dynamic is like with another.

Batman Hush

The other Loeb story. Again, it has what I like in a Batman story. A mystery, the family, appearances of villains, flashbacks and brooding, fighting, Jim Lee’s Nightwing being hunky… Ahem. It’s a fun read I think. Also, I really like Loeb’s Bruce? I don’t think people talk about it much. But he’s really chatty in his own head. And he’s witty and dry and funny. I like that! Also, Babs is such a backbone of this story. I adore that. She’s treated well here, I think.

Black Mirror

I flipping love this arc. I love it. I love the two contrasting but deeply disturbing in different manner art styles, I love the mystery, I love Babs role in the story, I love Tim’s little appearances and the banter with Dick, I love the weird villains and the terrifying ones, and how you think one is one of the two only to be revealed to be the other or both. I love Dick’s investigation and how he goes about it differently to Bruce. I love Dick’s relationship with Jim, I love the flipping reference to the vultures and owls seemingly following Dick (a whole reboot before Snyder got to tell that story), I love the monologue about how James thinks Dick is weird and weak for his compassion and love, when really that’s his greatest strength, I love Jim wanting so hard to believe James is trying against Babs’s cynicism, but also does try to get an unbiased opinion of someone who is proven good at reading people (Dick) and does what he needs to when his son is actively harming people, I love that ambiguous ending and the questionable science, I even love the Joker’s one (1) scene with Dick. I love this line,

I love Snyder at his best. When he’s good…mwah. Great.

…And yeah. That’s my story.

#dc #dick grayson #bruce wayne #wally west #koriand'r #roy harper #batfam #the titans #the fab five #I love talking about things I like I'm sorry this is so long!#ask and I'll babble #Anonymous

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goldenkamuyhunting · 4 years

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Manga vs Anime: Episode 25 “To Karafuto”

So the new series as started and this time I won’t just ramble about it but also compare it to the manga.

So let’s start with Ep 1 of the 3rd series… which is the 25 Golden Kamuy animated episode.

Some data first.

This episode last 23:40 minutes. There’s no opening, or better what will become the opening song for the series is used as ending. The episode covers the last panel of chap 139 and 4 other chapters of the manga, chap 140, 141, 142 & 143 for a total of around 70 pages (I’m discounting the covers) basically ending Volume 14 and the first part of Vol 15.

The episode is titled ‘To Karafuto’, which is actually the title of chap 139, chap 140 being ‘An Ainu girl’, chap 141 being ‘Karafuto Ainu’, chap 142 being ‘The village of resident Russians’ and chap 143 being ‘Stenka’.

And now into the anime.

INTRO

Manga: We see the boat approaching Karafuto and someone saying they’re arriving.

Anime: We get some bits from Ep 24 as some sort of preview. Wilk says to Sugimoto it wasn’t him who killed the Ainu then starts asking him to tell something to Asirpa about the gold when he’s shoot. Sugimoto hurries to use Wilk body to cover himself but he’s shoot as well. Asirpa, on top of a roof, screams his name then everything goes dark. We then see Sugimoto holding Asirpa’s menomakiri. A porthole shows the sea as Sugimoto, inside a boat, is sitting on a hammock. The door opens to show Tsukishima, telling him they’re there. Gulls fly on the sky. On the bridge of the boat we can see Koito Heiji, his son, Tanigaki and some other sailors. Then, we see Sugimoto also standing there, Tsukishima behind him as the boat approaches Karafuto.

My two cents: Although I’ve included that one panel of the manga as correspondent to this whole scene in the anime, you might say this anime scene was created for the anime to introduce the new series, showing the important elements that’s relevant we remember, like Wilk’s death, Sugimoto getting shoot, Sugimoto having Asirpa’s Menomakiri and travelling to Karafuto with Koito, Tsukishima and Tanigaki. At first I was a bit displeased to see the story start with recycled footage from the last episode but we start with new footage almost immediately and I’ll say the idea to create this scene to introduce like this the situation we’re in is good, considering the long pause the anime took. There’s no really equivalent in the manga, the most we get is a panel showing the boat and saying they’re reaching Karafuto. I’ll be honest and I’ll say I was worried they would start from the dumb dream that showed Asirpa and Sugimoto’s magical mental connection at the end of ep 24. That one wasn’t a great idea, especially considering Asirpa doesn’t believe in dreams so I’m glad the anime pretended it didn’t take place. Now, while I praise this idea I’ll be honest and say it also causes a continuity problem because a ferry, who’s much slower than the boat Sugimoto is on, takes three hours to go from Hokkaido to Karafuto. Sugimoto, in ep 24, was shown on the bridge of the boat, about to reach destination. The fact he went inside and needed to be called by Tsukishima feels a bit weird. Whatever, it’s not a big deal and maybe no one remember how Ep 24 ended after all this time. On another side the anime couldn’t help but put a great remark on Sugimoto. The way the camera zoom on him as he’s on the bridge, as well as how all the other characters seem to stand behind him, really gives the impression he’s the leader. Whatever, it’s no big deal and it gives a certain atmosphere so okay, so far it’s good.

CHAPTER 139 ENDS HERE.

THE GOLDEN KAMUY WRITING IS SHOWN HERE

THE BOYS ARE IN ODOMARI

Manga & Anime: Tanigaki comments how they got there quickly. We get some info about Karafuto before Tanigaki says there are good chance Kiro and the others also went there. Tsukishima tells Koito he can’t carry with himself all his luggage, Koito protest when a case opens suddenly, showing Cikapasi and Ryu. It’s decided the two of them will remain with then, under Tanigaki’s responsibility.

There are just some minor differences:

- In the anime we see Tanigaki pulling out Cikapasi from the case and rest his hands on Cikapasi’s shoulders. Nothing of the sort happen in the manga where Cikapasi’s nose, differently from the anime, was running.

- In the anime Tanigaki frowns when Cikapasi says he doesn’t have a home/a place to return. In the manga this isn’t included.

- In the manga when Tsukishima says that he doesn’t plan to babysit more children, Koito is looking at him from behind him and Tsukisihima seems to be about to go in the opposite direction to the one Koito is looking at. In the anime they’re both staring at Cikapasi, Koito in front of Tsukishima, turning toward Tsukishima as the latter finished speaking.

- In the manga after Tsukishima says that he doesn’t plan to babysit more children he immediately adds that Cikapasi is Tanigaki’s responsibility. Sugimoto then says that he doesn’t know about Cikapasi but Ryu helped them often. In the anime when Tsukishima says he doesn’t plan to babysit more children, Sugimoto replies that Ryu helped them often so they should carry him with them. Tanigaki then says than in Karafuto there should be Ainu so Cikapasi could be useful as well. Cikapasi smiles at that and Tsukishima says Tanigaki will have to take responsibility for them.

My two cents: It’s not bad. Although there aren’t all the close up of the manga, expressions are visible and well cared enough and I’ve to say I also like many anime choices, like showing Tanigaki walking next to Sugimoto when he says Kiro could have gotten there, showing that Tanigaki feels closer to him in this hunt than to Tsukishima and Koito. Koito’s reaction to the idea of leaving behind his cases is a little over the top in the anime and this bit is overall weak but can work. I like his face when he sees Cikapasi and Ryu. I love how Tanigaki runs to where Cikapasi is, how he pulls him out of the case, kneel next to him and hold his hands on Cikapasi’s shoulders. I also love how he suggests Cikapasi can be useful. In the anime Tanigaki seems to care much more for Cikapasi than in the manga where Tanigaki is just there, saying nothing and being entrusted Cikapasi. Koito’s expression when Tsukishima says he won’t babysit any more kids is fun. On another note though, while in the manga it seemed Tsukishima just discharged Cikapasi to Tanigaki, here it seems more likes he surrendered to Tanigaki’s wish to keep Cikapasi. On a sidenote though I found the music completely unfitting for such a scene. It had something… tense, mysterious, that seemed to make the moment more important than it was.

THIS IS WHEN WE’RE SHOWN THE TITLE OF THE EPISODE

SEARCHING THROUGH THE CITY

Manga & Anime: Sugimoto suggests asking around in the city and starts showing a photo, thinking it’s Asirpa’s and asking people if they saw her. It’s Tanigaki’s photo though. Tsukishima and Tanigaki also asks around and Sugimoto wonders if Inkarmat’s info was correct and Asirpa really came to Karafuto. Tsukishima then realizes they’ve lost Koito. Turns out Koito is in a shop, trying Hurep wine. Tsukishima scolds him for leaving them with no result. Sugimoto insults him and Koito tosses Hurep on him. Sugimoto throws him a glass and the two start fighting. The woman in the shop notices Cikapasi and points out he’s the second Ainu kid she saw that day. Sugimoto thinks the kid she saw could be Asirpa and shows him her photo. The woman claims it’s her and that she just left to go back to the Ainu village.

There are just some minor differences:

- In the manga Sugimoto comments on how the fact in Karafuto is snowing a month earlier than in Hokkaido means the winter is longer and colder there. In the anime this is cut.

- In the manga when Tsukishima finds Koito he sighs and he’s sweating a little. No such thing happens in the anime.

- In the manga when Sugimoto jumps on Koito, Koito’s face is well visible and it’s clear Tsukishima is trying to part them. In the anime we can’t see Koito’s face and it’s not so clear what Tsukishima is doing. Kotio’s face becomes visible and it’s clear Tsukishima is parting them only when the woman says she saw another Ainu child, making it seems as if Tsukishima decided for parting them and Koito stood more upward just due to this.

My two cents: Somehow I don’t particularly like Koito’s expressions. They’re similar to the manga but they don’t seem to deliver the same nuance. Mind you, the anime shows the expressions so it’s not so bad and it can be they’ll improve them for the dvd release but for now they feel slightly off. Still, the more the story goes on, the more I feel they hadn’t nailed Koito. Maybe that’s why because he had a too little role in the previous series and the animators just don’t know what to do with him but his funny moment just don’t deliver the same vibe, nor does his behaviour as bonbon.

CHASING ASIRPA

Manga & Anime: The group runs out of the shop, in the direction Asirpa supposedly took. They met a Russian person who points then to a direction an Ainu girl just took, warning them that she went into the wood where there are bears and an animal more dangerous than them. They run there to search for her but find Enonoka and realize the woman mistook her for Asirpa. Cikapasi asks her why she’s there and Enonoka explains it, albeit not in perfect Japanese. Koito translates her words better. Enonoka then claims she met a young Ainu girl from Hokkaido

There are just some minor differences:

- In the manga, although it’ll become clear the others run in search of Asirpa too, at first we see only Sugimoto doing so, in the anime we see all them doing so, Sugimoto leading, second Tsukishima, then Tanigaki and after Koito. However, in the following scenes that shows Sugimoto running we see no one behind him, not when the image is frontal nor when the camera is behind him.

- In the manga we don’t know who talked about the Ainu village being distant but in the anime it’s Tsukishima.

- The manga merely shows Sugimoto surprised Tsukishima can speak Russian, in the anime, probably knowing showing emotions isn’t their strength, they have him also comment on it.

- The manga explains the situation of Russian people in Karafuto. The anime prefers to show us a bit of Tsukishima and the Russian man’s dialogue.

- The manga showed Sugimoto from behind as he called Asirpa while the anime preferred to focus on his very worried expression.

- When Tanigaki says he has found child footsteps in the manga Sugimoto turns in the direction Tanigaki is pointing and sees Enonoka. In the anime he runs desperately until he finds Enonoka.

- In the manga, after Sugimoto turns because he saw someone (Enonoka), we get a full page with Enonoka turning, her pose hinting she did so in mid movement as she likely was chasing after he grandfather. In the anime Enonoka is standing still and when she turn a lot of emphasis is put on the move as there’s a lot of shining around her.

- In the manga Sugimoto is immediately disappointed to see Enonoka isn’t Asirpa. In the anime he first seems surprised then disappointed.

- In the manga Enonoka is serious as she explains why she’s there. In the anime she starts serious but then starts smiling.

My two cents: The anime keeps on showing Koito running behind all them which makes no sense considering he’s the fastest runner.

While it’s good the anime focuses on expressions and it’s nice to see Sugimoto so worried for Asirpa when he thinks she’s in the wood, in a way it doesn’t really make sense as Sugimoto knows she’s a hunter and trusts her ability as hunter. From the emphasis they put on Sugimoto’s worry for Asirpa, even showing him running in slow motion to remark his effort as we hear him panting hard, it seems he’s searching just a defenceless little girl, not the girl he trusts to be able to take care of a bear on her own. The shining lights around Enonoka and Enonoka only are a bit weird, they seem the special effect you use in shojo anime to introduce the heroine. I stand my case, somehow Koito gives me a different vibe than in the manga but maybe it’s just me. I’ll say I appreciated the anime new trend to show expressions, for example when Tsukishima says the bear is being strange we can see Sugimoto’s expression as he notices the bear is bleeding.

ENTER THE WOLVERINE

Manga & Anime: Enonoka tells Cikapasi she met a young Ainu girl from Hokkaido. Sugimoto would like to ask her if she’s Asirpa but Ryu starts barking and they notice he’s looking at a bear, which is acting strange. A small animal fell off the bear. It’s a wolverine which attack Koito.

There are just some minor differences:

- In the manga when Enonoka says she met a Hokkaido Ainu girl, both Tsukishima and Sugimoto grow interested, Sugimoto showing her Asirpa’s photo. Then Ryu starts barking and Tanigaki turns. In the anime Sugimoto is the one who shows interest while Tsukishima is the one who turns as he hears Ryu barking.

- In the manga, after they noticed the bear, we can see Tsukishima preparing his rifle as he says to get the children behind them, then the bear, then Sugimoto and Tsukishima pointing their rifle at it, Sugimoto ready at shooting at it. In the anime, after they noticed the bear, we can see Tsukishima and Sugimoto pointing their rifles at it as Tsukishima says to get the children behind them, then Tanigaki, rifle lowered, moving in front of Cikapasi who’s in front of Enonoka, then the bear, then Sugimoto and Tsukishima pointing their rifle at it, Sugimoto not really taking aim as he did in the manga.

- In the manga Koito looks mocking when he says the wolverine seems weak in the anime disappointed.

My two cents: It’s actually bad when Tanigaki places himself in front of the children but keep his rifle lowered, clearly not ready to shoot and he still has his rifle lowered when the wolverine, which clearly was attacking the bear, falls near Koito.

In the manga it’s implied Tanigaki had his rifle ready to fire when the bear was around, although he raised it when the bear escaped. Although in the anime Sugimoto looks surprised when he realizes it was the wolverine which attacked the bear, in the manga this is a lot more visible. Tsukishima also seems a lot more alert in the manga than in the anime. Again, maybe it’s just me but I keep on getting a different vibe from Koito than the one I got in the manga.

CHAPTER 140 ENDS HERE.

ESCAPING THE WOLVERINE

Manga & Anime: We get some explanation about which animal is the one they met. Tsukishima kicks the wolverine away, tries to shoot it but fails. The wolverine tries to attack Enonoka but Cikapasi protects her and Sugimoto rips the wolverine away from him before it could bite Cikapasi. He then entrusts the kids to Tanigaki claiming the girls has info on Asirpa. Afterward he tosses the wolverine but Tsukishima fails again to hit it. The group escapes, chased by the wolverine. Sugimoto fails on shooting it when Enonoka’s grandfather arrives and they climb on his sled, managing to distance the wolverine. However the old man said they’re too heavy and so Sugimoto tosses Tanigaki off the sled.

There are just some minor differences:

- In the manga explanations include the differences between animals in Karafuto and Hokkaido. This is cut in the anime. Explanations about the wolverine are also shorter.

- In the manga it seems the wolverine is biting Koito’s back, in the anime, even though there’s blood, it’s clear the wolverine is biting Koito’s coat while on Koito’s back.

- In the manga it’s clear Tanigaki grabbed the children. In the anime it seems the children were pushed against him, which is not possible as Sugimoto was holding the wolverine right then. So maybe it’s just me.

- In the manga the sled doesn’t stop to pick them up but they climb on it while it’s running. In the anime they stop it.

- In the manga isn’t clear if it’s Koito’s words about him having gotten fast or Sugimoto’s groping who caused Tanigaki to flush while in the anime it’s clear it’s Sugimoto groping.

- In the manga when Tanigaki is tossed off the sled his buttocks jiggle, in an attempt to make the scene funny. The anime who’s still playing a dramatic music instead freeze the scene, with Koito saying ‘Tanigaki first class’ after a pause as if attempting to make it dramatic… for humoristic purpose.

My two cents: The anime has previously depicted Tanigaki close to the kids, which wasn’t in the manga. Now it plays the scene of the wolverine’s attack to Enonoka as it’s in the manga, in which Tanigaki was nowhere to be seen… but as in the anime we know he’s near them, it makes him look worthless when Enonoka is protected by Cikapasi and Cikapasi by Sugimoto without Tanigaki doing nothing but receiving the kids from Sugimoto. After Sugimoto fires and misses for some reason the anime decides to show they have ALL stopped running, which is dumb, especially considering the wolverine is running toward them and Tanigaki is even giving it his back.

In the anime the fact the characters first and the sled after, stop running is particularly bad because the wolverine, which in the anime is also defined fast, should have reached them at that point and instead it doesn’t. While I can’t really say I found the scene of tossing Tanigaki off the sled fun in the manga, it impresses me even less in the anime but maybe it’s just me. And again Koito feels a bit off to me.

ABASHIRI

THIS PART DOESN’T EXIST IN THE MANGA

Anime: At the Abashiri hospital Usami informs Tsurumi they couldn’t find Hijikata’s group nor corpses resembling them.

Tsurumi is brushing a tattooed skin against his cheek, the other on display on a bed. Tsurumi comments Hijikata is a tough old man but there’s no hurry as Hijikata will show up.

The scene switches and we see Hijikata’s group (Toni still unconscious on Ushiyama’s back and Kadokura with his arm bandaged) reaching Nagakura.

Nagakura is happy to see Hijikata is still alive...

...as he feared he died but hoped that, if the latter where to be alive, he would have hid in the place in which Inudou hid Nopperabou so he’d been keeping an eye on the lecture hall each day. Hijikata says they’ve info on the prisoners so they would head to Kushiro. Kadokura turns to Abashiri to point out that prisoners and guards are all dead and wonders if the gold was worth all this.

Hijikata says it’s not the gold they want but what lies beyond it. And the same is true for the others and that everyone believes what the others are doing is right.

At this we’re shown an image of Tsurumi looking at the skins greedily and of the Karafuto group, Tanigaki still chasing the sled.

My two cents: The idea of the scene is good, the fact Usami is so far from the camera as he speaks we can’t even see it’s him, it’s not. Luckily they show his face and Tsurumi short after. The scene of Tanigaki running after the sled is horrible. Anyway, the scene with Tsurumi rubbing himself against the skins is likely partly inspired to when, in chap 139, Tsurumi was rubbing himself against the tattooed skins, albeit since he has done it in ep 24 too, I find useless to show it here as it seems to imply he kept on doing that for days. It was much better if he were studying the skins. On the other side the rest of whole bit, plot wise, is a very good addition. I was genuinely displeased the manga skipped this so that it didn’t seem like Tsurumi searched for Hijikata, and the moment of the reunion between Hijikata and Nagakura was also completely skipped so we moved on them being together abruptly when they show up in Kushiro. Also I take their mention of Kushiro means the anime might show the Youichirou arc and not skip it altogether. Let’s hope so. Also the colouring in the scene is nice, I love the sunset.

THE ANIME PLACES HERE AN EYECATCH

THE AINU VILLAGE

Manga and anime: We get some explanation about Ainu, and, more specifically, about Karafuto Ainu. Koito’s wound gets treated. Enonoka asks Cikapasi his name and tells him her own. At Sugimoto claiming they could have named Enonoka differently, she says the Ainu girl that came from Hokkaido also are hurep at their house. She recognizes Asirpa and tells Sugimoto she was with three men. She confirms to Tanigaki Kiro was one of them and that he said they were heading north. Sugimoto asks if Asirpa was well and Enonoka says she was very sad and silent but she ate the hurep they served. Sugimoto tries it too. Enonoka says eating the hurep cheered Asirpa up and she smiled and said ‘hinna’. Sugimoto says this means it’s Asirpa for sure and that now they’re sure she came to Karafuto.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga the scene starts with Tanigaki being already at the village, seated on the ground and panting. In the anime we see him walking, coming to a stop and sitting down, looking much more worn out than in the manga.

- In the manga, when the old man put bear fat on Koito’s wound we can’t see Koito’s back and therefore e can’t see his wound. In the anime we can… but there’s no wound.

- In the manga Kiro’s face is partially darkened (not that it can be seen wella s Kiro is giving us his back) while in the anime it’s in full light (even though Kiro keeps on giving us his back).

My two cents: It’s not bad. While certain scenes could have benefitted of showing close up of the characters, it more or less transposes everything faithfully

KIRORANKE’S DESTINATION

THIS PART DOESN’T EXIST IN THE MANGA

Anime: This scene is supposedly a continuation of the previous in which Enonoka reports her grandfather says the Ainu girl and the men were asking about the Russian village near their own. At this Sugimoto and Tanigaki turns toward the old man who nods. Koito and Tsukishima exchange a glance and the same happens to Sugimoto and Tanigaki before they nod to each other. We then see the roof of the house, the sky showing us Night has fallen.

My two cents: In the manga we learnt this by a discussion the boys had the morning after while the anime preferred to insert it here. The idea wouldn’t be bad… it could actually be very good… but the execution is poor. The transition from the previous scene is horrible, they tries to avoid having us hear the old man talking in Ainu by skipping to Asirpa translating his words, but it’s just too abrupt and you have to reason to understand she’s translating and not merely continuing the previous conversation. So, while I praise the idea, I hope the anime will handle it better in the future.

CHAPTER 141 ENDS HERE.

HIRING ENONOKA’S GRANDFATHER

Manga & Anime: Koito negotiate with Enonoka to hire her grandfather and his sleds.

My two cents: In the manga it works to keep Enonoka and Koito silent but in the anime it just feels weird we don’t hear their voice. While Cikapasi singing is also present in the manga, in the anime his scene feels abrupt and a waste of time.

THE RUSSIAN VILLAGE

Manga and anime: The group travels to the Russian village. Tsukishima warns them about how the Russians there could be criminals. In the bar Tsukishima asks if people had seen Kiroranke. A drunken Russian tells them to leave. Sugimoto claims he doesn’t understand what he’s saying and tells Tsukishima to tell him if he touches him, he’ll knock him down. The Russian tries to attack Sugimoto and, ultimately, is knocked down. The boy leave the bar, Sugimoto claiming the place is worthless.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga we get explanations about dog sleds and ethnic groups using them. In the anime this is cut.

- In the manga, once they arrived to the village, Enonoka would tell them her grandfather said Asirpa’s group asked about the village they’re in. This is cut in the anime as they added a scene of them in Enonoka’s house discussing this.

- In the manga, the group listen to Tsukishima standing still. In the anime they move toward the bar as Tsukishima talks.

- In the manga Tsukishima’s face darkens when the Russian guy asks him why Japanese soldiers are in their village. In the anime he also lowers his head, seeming even more annoyed than the manga.

- In the manga the impression is that the Russian guy has moved closer to Sugimoto. In the anime is clear he has moved closer to Tsukishima and Sugimoto had gotten in between the two.

- In the manga the scene seems faster, as we have the impression Sugimoto immediately puched the guy as the other grabbed him. In the anime the scene is slower as the guy grabs him, the camera pans on Sugimoto who frowns and then punches him.

- In the manga Sugimoto is leading the group when they leave, Tanigaki looking behind worriedly and Tsukishima and Koito walking while frowning. In the anime, although Sugimoto is still walking ahead the others are just following him calmly, as if nothing had happened.

My two cents: Honestly I don’t particularly like the anime choice of having Sugimoto getting in between Tsukishima and the Russian. In the manga it made sense he would tell Tsukishima to tell him not to touch him or he’ll beat him because the Russian seemed to plan to attack him but in the anime it seems Sugimoto has gotten in between to protect Tsukishima and, with his words, he’s challenging the other to touch him. Also slowing the start of the fight, while giving more emphasis to Sugimoto at the same time make him look more violent. In the manga the quick scene seems to tell us that Sugimoto just reacted fast so as not to be attacked. As in the anime the Russian didn’t immediately attack him but just grabbed him, Sugimoto seems to be overreacting. The idea of also having the group walk away calmly makes the scene underwhelming and cold.

THE DOG STEALING

Manga and anime: As the group wonder why Kiroranke came there Enonoka reaches them complaining their dog was stolen. She explains what had happened and we get an explanation about sled dogs. The Russian guy who distracted Enonoka and her grandfather shows up and tell them to come with him.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga Enonoka seems to run as fast as she can seriously, in the anime it seems more a humoristic scene.

- In the manga when Enonoka explains what happens we can see her grandfather is distressed. The same isn’t true for the anime where the scene is shown from afar and with the camera above them.

- In the manga the explanation about the Isohseta is in a box. In the anime Tanigaki asks what an Isohseta is and Tsukishima explains him, giving him a much more summarized explanation than the manga.

My two cents: The lack of expression of Enonoka’s grandfather is a real annoyance in the anime. The poor guy is just a background figure.

BACK TO THE BAR

Manga & Anime: The owner of the bar claims if they want the dog back they’ve to join the stenka. It turns out that the man Sugimoto punched should have taken part to it but with a swollen eye can’t anymore so he wants Sugimoto to take his place. Sugimoto says he doesn’t care and wants to threaten him and the same goes for Koito. Tsukishima though claims he can’t translate their complicate sentences. The Russian guy tell them he knows Kiroranke and the others were searching for a tattooed man who came from Hokkaido and the tattooed guy might show up to the stenka. Sugimoto comments this means the tattooed prisoners have found their way to Karafuto.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga when the Russian man tell them about Kiro his dialogue is at first untranslated, and we can only see Tsukishima’s surprised face before hearing him translate it. In the anime they subtitled it.

- In the manga Tanigaki sweats as he comments that’s why Kiro came there. In the anime he does not.

My two cents: Honestly, subtitling what the Russian guy said takes away the surprise of hearing it from Tsukishima, making the scene more flat and since they left the part in which Tsukishima translate all that the guy is saying, it’s a bit useless.

THE STENKA

Manga & Anime: The Russian takes them to the place in which the stenka is taking place. The guys still don’t know what it is and, once shown, we’re surprised. We get some explanations on how this is a traditional Russian sport.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga Sugimoto decides they’ve no choice but join it, albeit Tsukishima is surprised by his saying ‘we’. In the anime there’s no such scene as the guys will express their disagreement in taking part to it later.

My two cents: When the anime shows people fighting, he recycles some scenes. This is not so great. On a more positive note I somehow like the colouring of the scene. Also I’m fine with cutting the part of Sugimoto saying they’ve to take part to it and Tsukishima being surprised by the ‘we’ because it will be discussed later, both in the manga and in the anime so in the anime it would become redundant.

CHAPTER 142 ENDS HERE.

ACCEPTING TO JOIN THE STENKA

Manga and anime: Tsukishima translates the info the man gave them about the stenka and how the man who first started gambling on it was the Japanese man with the tattoo. The Russian man says the man isn’t there yet and only comes to fight strong people so he won’t show up if there aren’t adversaries he likes. Sugimoto says then they’ll have to join the stenka and draw him into a match. Koito and Tanigaki points on how Kiro’s group gave up on him but Sugimoto insists, saying it will be a pain if they let such a guy escape so he wants them to take part to the stenka. Tsukishima and the others express their disagreement but then the Russian guy says he only wants Sugimoto to fight in the stenka because he thinks Japanese, apart from Sugimoto, are weak, which fires up Koito, Tanigaki and Tsukishima’s fighting spirit.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga, when explanations are given we see the men fighting. In the anime we see Gansoku moving close to the place.

- In the manga Sugimoto asks if the tattooed Japanese is there, Tsukishima translates his question for him and the Russian shakes his head. As the manga shows people fighting, it’s implied the Russian said to Tsukishima what Tsukishima then said, making Tsukishima’s words a translation. In the anime Sugimoto makes his question, the Russian shakes his head and Tsukishima explains the guy only fight the strong.

My two cents: This is transposed faithfully enough and I love how they made Sugimoto’s voice sound muffled due to the skewer going through his cheeks. Not translating Sugimoto’s words give the impression the Russian understand Japanese. We can stretch thing and assume he told Tsukishima before , what Tsukishima will reply but still the scene isn’t that good. Although in the scene in which they’re drawn Nihei and Henmi’s pose are similar to the one in the manga, in the anime it seems more like they’re together, with Henmi watching Nihei as if they were some sort of friends. That’s just weird. Also I don’t see why there’s this weird obsession of showing scene from above instead than from a frontal position. It really doesn’t improve things if we can see the top of the characters’ head and their expressions come as less visible in this way.

THE STENKA

Manga and anime: Sugimoto’s group take part to the stenka. A Russian player makes fun of Tsukishima due to his short height. Sugimoto’s group tells us what the stenka is for them. They fight and win, watched by Gansoku. Sugimoto’s group win the stenka and Tsukishima helps the Russian to get up. As people cheer on them Sugimoto notices Gansoku looking at them.

There are minor cuts and changes:

- In the manga the panels show the boys together, then we get two panels placing more focus on Tsukishima first and Koito after, as we never saw them without clothes. In the anime they pan on all the bodies equally, starting with Sugimoto, then Tsukishima, Tanigaki and, at last, Koito.

- In the manga as the boys fight we also learn what is the stenka for Gansoku and we get a flashback about his past. This is cut in the anime but it will probably included in the next episode.

My two cents: The music gives a very odd atmosphere to the scene in which the boy tell their expectations for the stenka but it’s fine. On a sidenote I’ll say the anime is doing action scenes much better now, compared to the previous series. When the 7th division attacked Abashiri and had to fight the convict they used a lot of still frames while here the fight is thankfully animated. This is a clear improvement. Gansoku is depicted in a more mysterious manner in the anime as we can’t see his eyes for most of the story and get to see them only at the end of the episode.

TO SUM IT ALL

Well, if I’ve to compare this first episode to the previous series there are a lot of improvements. Sure, the musical background should be improved and, more importantly, used better, they should film the character more often form a frontal position, with a decent close up instead than from above or from a distance but there are much more close up and much more attention to expressions, there are action scenes instead than still images and most of the added scenes were a great idea. The story flows, for the most of it, smooth enough (except in a couple of points) and while I still perceive Koito’s transposition as odd well, it might be just me. Overall it’s a good start for the third series and I hope the rest of the episodes will keep up with it and even improve.

#Golden Kamuy #Sugimoto Saichi #Tanigaki Genjirou #Koito Otonoshin #Koito Heiji #Enonoka #Cikapasi #Ryu #Gansoku Maiharu #Golden Kamuy Manga vs Anime

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fandomsarepainful · 4 years

Text

Chapter 85: The Guinea Pigs Gather- Or Better Known As “What The Hell Is Going On?”

Let me get this out there first. I’m not a theorist and I’m not great at analyzing texts. This is more ranty and my brain trying to make sense of things with what we are given and absolutely no research done.

Well, I finally got what I wanted, Shinoa is dead.

Segue Done Wrong

Image: Chapter 85, page 2, panel 1-2

After how many chapters, someone finally shows concern for Shinoa and it’s the villain.

Image: Chapter 85, page 3, panel 2-6

Someone showing concern for Shinoa: 2, and it’s a morally grey character. Fun.

Interesting what Noya says considering that Shinoa is technically already dead. So Kagami, how are you gonna explain this? Likely answer, probably not even gonna mention it. I mean, how many questions has he managed to circle his way around already?

The whole point of why Yuu agreed to be experimented on was to prevent Shikama Doji from taking over her and to prevent Shinoa from becoming a vampire, which the two were linked for some reason. Seeing as how to become a vampire, you would have to die and Shinoa DID get taking over by Shikama, it leads one to conclude that Shinoa is dead.

And despite what the more likely explanation is, Shikama taking over Shinoa’s body isn’t demon possession.

I could use Guren or Yuu as an example, but this series enjoys treating them as special cases, Shinoa, too as well, if this chapters any indication so I can’t use them. Luckily for us, there is in fact another demon possession that we could compare to, Yoichi’s possession back in Chapter 7.

How they got Yoichi back was that they appealed to Yoichi who was still ALIVE and was inside his consciousness where he was cowering. They got him back by screaming at him to come back. Specifically, Guren yelled at Yoichi and encouraged him to stop hiding and to protect his family now.

Demon Possession: the host is still ALIVE and CONSCIOUS. Shinoa getting possessed by Shikama was triggered when she DIED.

Her possession wasn’t demon possession.

And to prove that Shinoa wasn’t conscious like how Yoichi was during the “possession” is this scene.

Image: Chapter 85, page 4, panel 5-7

You’d think that if she was conscious, this information would have already been known to her. You could argue that she’s faking it as the “impassionate observer” but I highly doubt that as Shinoa letting in Shika to take over her body is when all the walls she built crumbles. Simply put, there is no reason for her to fake being ignorant or even being surprised.

So with this, it brings on issue #1 I have with this chapter and refers back to a word that I titled this section with.

Image: Chapter 85, page 5, panels 1-3

Issue #1: This segue from shifting the focus from Shinoa to Yuu.

Segue is a transition from one thing to another smoothly and without interruption. And this scene, just feels off. There’s just something about this scene that doesn’t connect with me. And it has absolutely nothing to do with my dislike for Shinoa or Yuu//Noa- Hell, some of their other scenes make sense to me and I understand that those scenes were needed to get the story moving but this scene is not one of them.

Image-wise I guess it kinda flows-and that’s me being nice- since Shinoa mentions Yuu then it switches to Yuu but in terms of where the story is heading, this scene is irrelevant. I strongly believe that this scene wasn’t meant to have any importance behind it other than to shift the focus from Shinoa to Yuu. And it’s precisely this reason this segue feels off is because this scene does not make narrative sense and doesn’t flow very well.

Another issue I have with this part yeah there is more than one is:

Issue 2: How does Shinoa even know that Guren went off in the direction where Yuu was at? While adding onto that, how does Guren know?

As I said before, Shinoa has no reason to fake what she knows and she couldn’t even be consciously aware of what was happening because she was DEAD. So Shinoa shouldn’t know that Guren was going to where Yuu was at.

Prior to Shinoa dying, what she knows about Yuu was that he was the last person whose face she saw before being wheeled away. Other than the possible romantic undertones to it which I won’t touch because why bother? There is no reason for Shinoa to know or suspect that Guren is going after Yuu and no reason at all for her to even mention his name after being revived.?

As for Guren knowing, I’m gonna write it off as him knowing thanks to Mahiru or something since we did see that Mahiru can travel to other places with no need of Guren to be in close proximity of the place. Or maybe he heard Mitsuba yelling out that Yuu was captured, which I doubt but let me dream that she still has an important part. It’s a cop-out but whatever.

And the award for vagueness goes to…

Image: Chapter 85, page 7, panel 1

Ah. Another flashback and another puzzle piece added to an uncompleted picture. But more on that later as this has been what has kept me up at night and what is Issue #3: who does Krul mean when she says “they”?

Because she wants to save Asura and the scene before this was Mika trying to rescue Yuu and being aNGeRY at Guren. I assume that it has to do with either one of them or both. But for who she was worried about them confronting, I wasn’t sure.

But after rereading and thinking it over again, I think I know which two people she was worried about confronting one another and honestly I’m excited. And if I’m right, this is great foreshadowing that we have seen so far.

Image: Chapter 85, page 8, full page; page 17, panel 3

Noya and Mikaela.

Foreshadowing is more prominently shown before the encounter comes to pass. These two panels aren’t the amazing piece of foreshadowing. No. The excellent piece of foreshadowing that shows this is back in Chapter 82.

Image: Chapter 82, page 30(panel 2)-31, 33-34

But that discovery isn’t what has me excited but the realization as to what this means. I think we are finally reaching the puzzle piece that we couldn’t grasp because of so little info we have on it: the Mikaela gene.

It’s quite a trend for Kagami to completely focus on something else rather than give it the attention it needs. And it’s because of this that this brings on Issue #4 because I am fairly certain this will be glossed over in the coming chapters. Fingers crossed I’m wrong.

Speaking of things that get glossed over…

Image: Chapter 85, page 6

They didn’t refer to Yuu as demon or a variant of it since back in Chapter 77, page 26 when they were first captured. Is this just a translation error? I mean previous chapters has referred to Yuu as “Sun God Aten”

I tried relooking at the other chapters to see if it was just a difference in what species refer to Yuu. Like if humans call him a devil and it’s just humans or if it’s the vampires who call him Sun God Aten and them only and vice versa.

The results?

Not a damn difference.

Now moving on: “Sword of Mikaela”

This one, at least, was consistent. When they were first captured, Asura was referred to by his real name “Ashera Tepes” and then any reference to both Yuu and Asura has been consistently referring to Asura as “Sword of Mikaela” or “Mikaela’s Sword” which brings on some concerns- mostly questions really. And this brings Issue #5:

Given our knowledge of the Mikaela (gene) that we have now:

Mikaela’s are what the vampire’s apparently trying to become.

Turning someone who was supposed to have the Mikaela gene into a vampire somehow negates them as being successful.

Image: Chapter 85, page 36

Fucking how Noya? See the issue? And given that “Mikaela’s Sword” is a demon sword that turns vampires into ashes when strucked when the demons power is released and that their injuries aren’t able to regenerate/heal when cut...I’m not sure how this would work or connect.

But then again this is under the assumption that vampires can’t touch the handle of the sword and wield it so I guess there is some leeway here??

Either that or the ongoing joke/theory of the vampires all want to die is now confirmed based on this contradiction.

Just miscellaneous things that won’t ever get attention, probably

I wanted to include this in the above section but eh, there more of things that I guess that don’t fit in to it. Anyway, this:

Image: Chapter 85, page 21-22

Do you think after Rigr was exploded that the chains that were absorbing the Hyakuya Sect members disappeared as well?

BONUS:

Mitsuba. Seriously, where is she during all this? What was she doing during all this?

Speaking of other people missing during these events, and someone that I absolutely forgot where the hell is Narumi at?

Guys, seriously.

#owari no seraph #seraph of the end #ons #sote #chapter 85 #ons 85

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sammyhale · 7 years

Text

J2 PittCon 2017 Main Panel

J2 came running through the crowd from the back of the room.

Jared: Welcome to our wonderful dysfunctional family.

Jensen was yelling for Jim Beaver (also at the convention) to come back when he was in the glass walkway above the panel room.

Jensen teasing Jared: Hearing goes at 35...

Jared apologizes for back problems in ops. Jensen: What’d you do? Jared: I think I turned 35 and everything stopped working.

Jared: Are you done yammering, Mr. Ackles? Jensen: Never :P

Jensen thanks everyone for being here opening day of football season since Pittsburgh is the most sports city on the planet apparently lol.

Someone yelled that they love Jensen and Jared said, “I love him, too,” so another fan yelled that they loved Jared and he said, “I know” lol.

Danneel wanted to FaceTime Jensen during photo ops because Arrow was saying “Dada.”

Jensen’s favorite ep to film was Baby. Jared mentioned The French Mistake, Changing Channels, Hollywood Babylon.

In Hollywood Babylon, they got bigger trailers for the actors in the ep and J2 were like, “We’ll take them.”

Working with kids on set depends on the parents.

Jared says that sometimes kids would rather Game Boy...Jensen: Game Boy???

Working with kids is logistically challenging because they can only shoot so many hours. Jared says it’s tough when kids don’t seem into it but have pushy parents, but it’s great when the kids love acting. Jensen says it’s nice to have innocent energy on set. Child actors don’t overthink characters like adults do.

J2 talking at the same time :P

Jensen says watching father-child relationships on television affects him more now that he’s a father.

Fan: When is the s13 promo coming? J2: I imagine pretty soon. Maybe this week or next week. They’re not sure, though.

Jensen: We’ve lived these characters, and have people to remind us of our real life. Each other, our wives...

Jensen jokes that he hasn’t read a script since s3. Jared: He gets a flip book version. Jensen: Really trying to get popup.

Boys cracking each other up :)

Jensen: The Winchesters don’t live in a world with superheroes. They live in a world with real heroes.

Fan: Would you guys do an Arrow crossover? Jensen: Oh, sure. Let Misha go over there.

Jensen just called Stephen Amell a “crossover slut” and that he needs to “lock it up” on the Arrow crossovers lol.

Except each other, Jared liked working with Gabriel/Richard and Ruby/Gen. Jared said it was a lot of fun to have Richard around because such crazy things happen on set with Gabriel.

Jensen liked working with Briana. She helps stretch his comedic muscles.

Jensen just said posse magnet and Jared said: “You’re confusing reality with porn again” :P

Favorite lines? Jared: Low sodium freaks.

Reaction when they found out so many characters were killed in the finale? Jared: I don’t like it, but it makes great TV.

Jensen’s reaction was the same as when he reads a scene when he dies: “Meh. I’ll come back.”

If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go? Jared: Vancouver and Austin because that’s where my family is. Jensen: *pretends to snore*

Jared would travel to Florence, Italy. Jensen would travel to one of the Scandinavian countries. Would also love to go back to Japan.

Every time the room starts to vibrate (like from helicopters flying by) Jensen looks for Transformers lol.

There were a lot of things behind the scenes during the end of season 11 that made things complicated with the last three eps.

They don’t usually shoot stuff they can’t use in an episode. Jensen says they’ve gotten it down to a science. Things are rarely on the cutting room floor.

There is enough gag reel footage for a 30 min. gag reel just from the first 2-3 episodes. They want the gag reels to be longer, but they don’t budget for it.

Jared: I’d watch a season of gag reels. Everyone: Us, too!

Fan asks a tech question and mentions Jensen may have more perspective because he directs. Jensen: I usually do hehehe.

Jared: I haven’t seen Magic Mike. Jensen: All the way through.

Jensen watches The Change-Up a lot. Jared sings along to Alvin and the Chipmunks when he puts it on for his kids and watches it even after his kids will go take a nap.

Jared’s favorite big bad character is Lucifer. Jensen agrees, then gives honorable mentions to Azazel and Alastair.

One of Jensen’s favorite scenes in s11 was when he was talking with Chuck.

J2 are open-mouthed about a fan’s amazing binge-watch of Supernatural.

Jared’s favorite dramatic TV show to binge is Breaking Bad. J2 both like BB.

Jared is fangirling over Jensen’s Eric Brady character :P

Jensen’s favorite show to binge is Arrested Development.

After mentioning a few shows they enjoy, Jensen says, “But that’s enough advertising for other TV shows.”

J2 haven’t pranked each other in a long time. It got too dangerous. They usually work together when doings pranks on other people.

Jared is waving his foot over Jensen’s crotch lol.

Their usual prank target is Misha. Recently made him mess up and when the director was like, “Misha, what’s up?” J2 were like: “Yeah, Misha!”

Jensen hit Jared in the balls when Jared was hugging Misha during filming on Friday. Jensen says that Jared then said, “I hope that was you, Misha.” Jared: I was trying to break him! Jensen says that Jared was squatting a little in front of him during the hug so he just brought his foot up a little... lol

Jensen: “I already worked with the actor I wanted to work with.” Jared: Aww!! Jared then hugs Jensen. Then Jensen says, “Actually, my Dad...” lol.

Jared would have loved to work with Robin Williams <3

J2 fist bump at the end of the panel :)

Info via: Fangasm, Michael, Cherie, Sil’s livetweet list

#j2 #jared padalecki #jensen ackles #pittcon #spnpitt #panel sum #long post #shpost

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dongerquest · 6 years

Text

Brex: [...] "And if he asks you, you just give him the same expression you give to... anything. God, Nabura, I wonder if you look like this during sex too."

DM: "Yeah if I were in your bed, sure I'd make that face. I'm not impressed by small things."

Aeder 25th, 325A4 Morning

Devy: Ok, so, it's been six days since you left, and when you come back to the inn, Nabura is like "I got your infos." (and a beer)

Brex: "Nabura! You always know how to butter me up. So what's the word?"

DM : He sighs a bit but gives you the beer anyway "Your employer's name is Eryl Ultore. Well, that's probably a fake name. He's a drow, but the last line of Ultore died some three centuries ago, and trust me on this, if one of them had survived, they wouldn't go around using their name. Plus, no one had ever heard of this dude before. He just kind of... showed up in town, went to some fancy parties and that's about it. Apparently he's in the west of the country by now, but no idea what he's doing there. Anyway, he's left this tiefling behind to recruit mercs for him I guess. As far as I know he's a mage, and very interested in magical artifacts. Kind of shady but he pays well I guess."

Devy: I'm making Nabura tired of everything and everyone, I'm sorry...

Brex: The goblin thoughtfully scratches their chin "Anything I should know about his pet? The tiefling appears to be a bard, nothing special (a good performer though)."

DM: "Ah, the tiefling's name is Zerachiel Thuja, he's just a bard, yes. Arrived to town a month ago on a boat, made some money in inns and got accepted to some fancy nobles' parties, that's probably where he met Eryl Ultore, but no idea what he's got for himself except pretty songs. Polite and educated, that's about everything people could tell me. No idea where he comes from."

Devy: Also he asks if you have more questions /want more investigations done on those two.

Brex: Brex takes a sip of their beer "Hmm let's keep an eye on the tiefling, see if he makes any moves. Every pawn makes a mistake sooner or later.” They pause a little "Do you know an elf named Thallan? I'm not familiar with the guy here in the guild, could be an outsider or just hides himself really well."

DM: "Thallan... Well he seemed quite in a rush when he came here. Probably a mission that didn't end well. Anyway, he knows Senbo and since she didn't have him stabbed in a dark alley yet, I guess that he's a half decent person, as much as us." (he's very proud of himself there) "He seems from quite far away though. That's about all I've got, that was his first real mission here, no idea about his skills either."

Brex: "Oh yeah, about that. If he ever asks about me, I'm a nobody. Just an average goblin trying to survive in this fine economy. Also" a malicious grin flashes through their face "how quickly can you spread a rumor? I wanna make the guy busy, give him a hard time to operate, if you know what I mean."

DM: "Don't worry, you are a nobody, Brexit" he jokes. He seems pretty much into whatever they're going to come up with. "I can make a rumor run through this whole town in one night, and reach the borders in a week, what do you have in mind?"

Brex: "Do you know alicorns? Fancy creatures from fairy tales. I know enough halfwits would try to cut up that bloke if they'd assume he's bearing one. Try to make it believable, like Diorell told it or something, and alicorns are worth enough to afford a mansion by Bönner. How does an alicorn look like, can elves be pregnant with it and stuff aren't important. The idiots of this city has no concept whatsoever."

DM: He seems to completly lose it but only internally like, his face is blank except for a half smile, but you can see that he's trying not to brust out laughing. It takes him like 20 seconds to be able to communicate again. "I'm... A baby alicorn? Yeah sure... And if it can piss off Diorell to be part of this then of course I'm in." He pauses to rethink his life. "You're right, the details are not important... I'm sure this rumor is going to spread even faster than I thought... This Thallan is going to be in trouble that's for sure, but mostly pretty pissed. You'd better pray that he doesn't find out who started this rumor."

Brex: "Oh you know I can handle myself" Brex winks at him. "And if he asks you, you just give him the same expression you give to... anything. God, Nabura, I wonder if you look like this during sex too."

DM: "Yeah if I were in your bed, sure I'd make that face. I'm not impressed by small things" he cracks a smile, this time. "Alright, it's way more fun than my usual missions, I won't tell on you for that rumor. Anything else you'd like to know?"

Brex: "It's not the size that matters, but how you do it" they retort a little bit peeved, but elect not to pry on the subject more. "One day I will show you that... But for now, that's all." They finish up the remnants of their beer. "Gotta take ol' Grabby out for a walk. I swear the streets crawl with less vermin since I have it." They wave goodbye to Nabura and are off to buy equipment form the market.

~ ~ ~

Brex: After the short errands Brexit is back to Nabura like they haven’t even left. "Do you know Jetta? She's a feisty beast, but has a keen eye. I saw her once pin a guy to the wall with utensils, it was beautiful. Think she has enough spare time to take in an apprentice to teach them knife juggling?"

DM: Nabura kind of shrugs "She's been training all day in the archers' field ((that's like a random room in the HQ, you know where it is)). This month has been quite empty, nothing’s happening much for us. She'll probably be happy to show off her skills, as usual. Might ask you for a favor in exchange or for some gold though."

Brex: "Thanks, I'm off then."

Brexit enters the archers' field, with only a few people around. Jetta's alone training with a bow by her own, so they approach her ((the two haven't met personally, just passed each other, and Brex knows some of her adventures)) "You have a pretty good aim - Jetta, right? - Can you do that with knives?"

DM: Jetta turns to the goblin with a smug smile, says "Can I?" and winks. She gets two knives out of her sleeves, throws one apparently too high to hit one of the wooden panels hanging from the ceiling. The knife cuts off the panel's rope and she throws the other one. When the panel hits the floor, the second knife is at the center of the target, because I'm the DM and I just made an OP NPC that's how ((idk if the scene is quite clear I swear it's clear in my head. I should describe things more,,,))

Brex: The trick deserved a clap, and the goblin nods approvingly "Very impressive, I'm amazed! I wish I had your skills, I'm only good at gutting the unfortunates. Say, since you're warmed up already, could you give me a few lessons? I'd make worth your while."

DM: She seems very happy with the attention. "Well I could. Are you ready to suffer and give up on all hopes?"

Brex: A wicked shine appears in Brexit’s eyes "Oh but pain doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy it..." ((should I roll persuasion for flirting???))

Norris: 9 + 4

Devy: Aww she totally resists, but she thinks it's cute.

DM: "Hum... Well I wouldn't usually ask for help but I was running in the sewers the other day, and lost a collar. If you could be a dear and bring it back to me, I'll give you some training lessons, how does that sound? There's nothing too dangerous down there. Rats and spiders maybe, but the thing is... I don't really like spiders. At all."

Brex: "Oh? Is the collar for a pet or a person?" they wink. "Nevertheless don't worry, I get your collar back. Where should I go looking?"

Devy: I FUCKING FORGOT THE WORD NECKLACE EXISTED I MEANT NECKLACE AhHAHHAHAH

Norris: asdrtfzguhi I'm crying... there's the word pendant too.

Devy: I'm pretty sure I've been using the word collar instead of necklace/pendant for like 3 years now and I'm going to hide in shame...

DM: "Could be both depending on the occasion... You'll find it somewhere between ((insert street you totally know and other street you totally know)). I don't know where it fell exactly but I'm sure it didn't fall in the water, I would have heard that. It's a golden choker, quite heavy. I had it in my pocket since it's noticeable when it's worn. I'm sure that I had it when I went in the sewers, but when I got back the high quarters it was gone."

Brex: "Hmm yes, that place crawls with some big spiders. I'm surprised you didn't take the route on ((insert street name here like Brex knows their way around better)), that has only big slimes... Eh whatever, I get your collar back in no time. Godspeed for me." ((and they’re off to get the naughty accessory back))

Part 2 (Next)

#dnd #goblin #Brex #player #drow #Nabura #dwarf #Jetta #NPC #Devy RP #Norris RP #writing

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katieiscunning · 7 years

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MTMTE #7: More like DeciptiCAN’TS

DECEPTICONS!

We’ve already been introduced- via ominous mentions of the carnage they wreck- to the DJD, the Decepticon Justice Division. These guys are the sadists in chief: they have the job of hunting down any Decepticons who turn against the cause and torturing them to death. And now we get to meet them.

They’re currently ‘working’ on Black Shadow, a Phase Sixer (a Decepticon who’s been altered by Megatron to be world-destroying strong), whose exploits we see via an effective little montage of his past chaos, ending on how utterly the DJD have destroyed him in turn.

But while you might know what they do, you don’t yet know who the DJD are. So, without further ado:

Tarn, the leader, wears a Decepticon badge face mask to hide his real identity (all the DJD use aliases but Tarn’s is a plot point and a secret metatextually too). This is interesting to me because it implies that Transformers actually have different looking faces from each other, even if you have to be a Cybertronian to see it. I’d always just assumed they had pretty interchangeable silver vagueness going on. He can, in true scifi style, put his voice into sync with a spark and then talk it to death. He also likes music- namely a piece called the Empyrean Suite.

Kaon, the least subtle member of the team, turns into an electric chair. He doesn’t have any eyes, but he does have a best friend, namely:

The Pet, a semi-tamed Turbofox (an animal from Cybertron) which he pretends is a Sparkeater.

Helex and Tesarus sort of go in one box together for me- they both have big horrible things in their chests that do big horrible things to robots. Helex uses a giant furnace. Tesarus has a bladed spinning hole thing.

Vos, the scientist, speaks only in Old Cybertronian and sadly doesn’t have a torture gimmick. That we know of.

Anyway, together, they fight crime! Or, you know, the opposite.

After Black Shadow weakly protests that the “war’s over”, Tarn’s had enough and murders him.

I’m mentioning this specifically because I love it. Tarn is fiercely loyal to Megatron and his ideals, and beyond that, his whole existence is tied so strongly to there being a war that he simply doesn’t understand the concept of there not being one anymore. It’s something that comes up again and again in MTMTE: that all of these characters, from Swerve to Vos, have no idea who they are now. For someone like Tarn, that means becoming worse than he was. He needs to prove to himself that the war isn’t over and he’ll do that via brutal, brutal murder.

It also gives us what I think is the first mention of Megatron’s writing career via a title drop for his political treatise, ‘Towards Peace’.

It will not be the last.

But the DJD aren’t the only Decepticons around. You’ve seen brutally efficient, cruel and unstoppable, now it’s time to meet…

These guys are the Scavengers. They’re exactly what they sound like- robots who get by through picking over the pieces left behind by the competent. They are:

Crankcase, who is missing the part of his head which let him be happy.

Krok, a historian who’s trying to find his squad.

Flywheels, anxious and afraid.

Spinster, a surgeon who likes shooting stuff more than fixing stuff.

Misfire, who’s easily distracted and also likes to shoot stuff.

As we meet them, they’ve just discovered Fulcrum: well chinned and apparently the only survivor of a massive battle. By ‘discovered’, I mean, of course, that they were about to strip him for spare parts when he ruined their fun by waking up. The Scavengers!

Over a fire- revealed to be a still living Autobot- they talk to Fulcrum, first about the way both sides reduced their soldiers to data, and then about the war being over.

This dialogue is maaaybe the best so far? It’s skillful in dropping emotional exposition at the same time as establishing character at the same time as sounding natural. It would be so easy to turn this into an info dump: instead we get insight.

One of the best moments comes when the ‘fire’ repeats what they’ve already said and what we’ve already heard said to Tarn: that the “war’s over”. Their response is to shoot him. He’s an Autobot and, left on autopilot and without orders, all they know how to do is kill Autobots. It’s senseless and pointless and awful. Like the DJD, they can’t even admit to themselves that there’s nothing to fight for anymore.

Again, I love this. I love these idiot robots having no idea what to do now the war is done. I love that the sheer scale of the conflict is implied so well by these foot soldiers still not really knowing what happened. I love that the war isn’t over because they don’t know what else they are, because war, like any trauma, is carried long after you’ve experienced it.

The next morning they start scavenging again. Krok annoys Fulcrum by clicking his communicator over and over, trying to get a message to his crew, but before he can completely explain that they’re both interrupted by Misfire. He’s charging across the battlefield to confront a mysterious figure he believes to be the Necrobot- a sort of post death grim reaper who supposedly shows up every time a Cybertronian dies. Of course the guy’s gone before he can get there, instead he finds what just might be a Decepticon ship.

They go on board because they’ve never heard of horror movies on Cybertron and find a few disturbing things. 1, a ceiling covered in brains. 2, half dissected cybertronians. 3, a weird wooden robot. 4, walls covered in dead, organic, bleeding tissue, and worst of all, 5, a message.

It’s not good news.

But who’s this mystery 7th person? They find out pretty quickly.

This is Grimlock. He’s a Dinobot, aka a massively powerful robot who can turn into a robot dinosaur because of course that’s a thing.

MEANWHILE

Back on the Lost Light, Rung is somehow not dead. His death in the last issue proper was admitted by James Roberts to be a pretty weak fake out, even if how exactly he survived a head explosion still hasn’t been revealed.

We see a couple of people visit his bedside: Swerve still horror struck at what he’s done, and, more importantly, Red Alert showing up with his recording of the hidden Overlord.

He leaves the data with Rung, but after he’s gone a mysterious drone steals it.

I like this scene. It’s very short- only a few panels long- but it establishes Red Alert’s growing desperation without the help he needs, and continues to treat his problem as a serious one.

Chromedome goes to visit Brainstorm, who, as he generally is, is ready to show up Perceptor.

Domey has no time for that though: he’s brought Brainstorm a gift- Skid’s mystery gun. He had it in his hand when he showed up, but seemed completely unable to notice it himself. Brainstorm analyses it and says, with full ominous voice in effect, that it seems to come from ‘The Institute’.

I wonder how much of a risk this issue was when it first came out. MTMTE is, after all, normally a comic about B listers and here it’s time away from them to visit the Z end of the alphabet. It feels very much like the whole focus should be on the Scavengers and the DJD- not because their parts of the narrative are rushed but because their story is so separate from the main plot of the book. Maybe it was viewed as too much to completely dump the real cast for an arc.

But plot isn’t the only way to tie a narrative together. This issue, and its conclusion next time, is all about hammering more uncertainty into the binary of Good vs Evil, as well as exposing how much the damage of our past affects us in the present. That’s clearest in the Scavengers and DJD- two very different sides to the same movement, united by their post war trauma but separated by everything else. The Lost Light gang too are revealed to have more going on than being heroes. Someone is undermining Red Alert’s search for the truth, and Brainstorm and Chromedome have a shared and ominous secret.

God, that got dark.

But then, this is a dark story. Not in terms of gore, though the DJD certainly provide that. This is a war story about what what war leaves behind, physically and mentally, and that’s summed up in one image: the abandoned battlefield being picked over by clueless losers

You can get on this fun train by buying the comics over here: https://www.comixology.co.uk/Transformers-More-Than-Meets-the-Eye-2011/comics-series/7279?ref=c2VhcmNoL2luZGV4L2Rlc2t0b3Avc2xpZGVyTGlzdC90b3BSZXN1bHRzU2xpZGVy

Written by James Roberts, Art by Alex Milne, published by IDW.

#transformers reviews #transformers #reviews #review

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vacationsoup · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://vacationsoup.com/new-in-orlando-in-2020/

What's New in Orlando in 2020

New Attractions In Orlando in 2020

In the ever-expanding world of Orlando attractions, we have so much to look forward to in 2020. New rides, new attractions, new thrills, new shows, new eats.

So much to do and so little time!

Here's a Run Down of What's New in Orlando in 2020

New Attractions in Disney World:

Walt Disney World is currently undergoing its most significant growth period of the last two decades. So much is coming our way in the next few years.

Hollywood Studios

Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway

The first ever Disney ride-through attraction that features Mickey & Minnie Mouse. You'll be right inside a Mickey cartoon taking a fun-filled adventure where “Mouse rules apply”. Anything can happen! Opening: March 4th 2020

Roundup Rodeo BBQ Restaurant

Toy Story Land is getting a brand new rootin’, tootin’ rodeo right in Andy’s backyard!. This immersive restaurant will provide a unique and fun, family friendly dining experience. Andy has created a new rodeo arena using some of his favorite toys, games, and play sets. Opening: 2020 - no date yet

Mickey Shorts Theater

An original short film in the style of the Disney Channel series “Mickey Mouse”. This will also feature a new photo-opportunity. The theater will feature fun Mickey Mouse-themed seating. Open: March 2020

New at Epcot

Epcot is going through a complete transformation and there a TON of stuff going on! Below is what's happening in 2020, but see our guide for a full rundown of all new experiences at Epcot.

Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue

This brand new fast-casual restaurant will be located at The American Adventure pavilion. Diners will find a classic American backyard barbecue offering home-style craft brews. Opening: Very soon!

Beauty & The Beast Sing-Along

Take part in this twist on a tale as old as time. This brand new singalong features narration from Angela Lansbury, who played Mrs. Potts in the original film. Beauty & The Beast Sing-Along will run in rotation with “Impressions de France,” which will receive an upgrade to 4K projection. Opening: January 17th 2020

Awesome Planet

The Land pavilion showcases the Earth’s beauty and diversity in a 10-minute film featuring spectacular imagery and in-theater effects. Opening January 17th 2020

Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360

New scenes and a new musical score by Canadian composer Andrew Lockington and new narration by award-winning actors Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy. Opening: January 17th 2020

Space 220 Restaurant

An out of this world dining experience is coming to Orlando in 2020. Space 220 is a new table-service restaurant at Epcot next to Mission: SPACE.

When you enter the restaurant, you’ll step into a special space elevator that will transport you 220 miles above the earth’s surface to the International Space Station orbiting. The restaurant will offer "spectacular views of space" thanks to screens surrounding the dining area. Opening: February 2020

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Take a super-sized adventure with Chef Remy through Gusteau’s restaurant. This new ride is under construction at the France Pavilion. Opening: Summer 2020

Le Creperie de Paris

This brand new restaurant will feature the cuisine of celebrity chef Jérôme Bocuse, the mastermind behind the pavilion’s Chefs de France brasserie. With a menu inspired by the Brittany region of France, the new location will offer table service dining as well as a quick-service stop for guests craving savory crepes called galettes and sweet crepes. Opening: Summer 2020

Wondrous China

This brand new presentation will take you on a spectacular journey across China, filmed and presented in a completely seamless 360-degree digital format. Opening: June 2020

HarmonioUS

HarmonioUS will debut at Epcot as the largest nighttime spectacular ever created for any Disney park. It will celebrate how the music of Disney inspires people the world over, carrying you away harmoniously on a stream of familiar Disney tunes reinterpreted by a diverse group of artists from around the globe.

“HarmonioUS” will feature massive floating set pieces, custom-built LED panels, choreographed moving fountains, lights, pyrotechnics, lasers and more. Opening: 2020

DuckTales World Showcase Adventure

A new interactive scavenger hunt is coming to World Showcase. Join Scrooge McDuck, Donald, Launchpad, Webby and the nephews in search of priceless treasure. Using the Play Disney Parks mobile app, participants will discover exotic destinations, exciting mysteries, and maybe even experience a few thieves, villains and supernatural guardians of ancient artifacts. Opening: 2020 - No launch date yet

What's New in Orlando in 2020 - Disney Springs

Drawn To Life - New Cirque du Soleil Show

This brand new show follows the story of Julie, a courageous and determined girl who discovers an unexpected gift left by her late father: an unfinished animation piece. Guided by a surprising pencil, she embarks on an inspiring quest sprinkled with her Disney childhood memories. Through this journey, she learns to imagine new possibilities and animate the story of her future. Opening: Previews March 20, 2020. Officially debuts April 17, 2020

City Works Eatery & Pour House

City Works will be the ultimate sports bar. This go-to spot will be a superb game-viewing experience on gigantic HD screens. The gourmet menu offers American cuisines and over 90 local and global varieties of beers on tap. Located in West Side. Opening: Very soon

M&Ms Store

A brand new state-of-the-art M&Ms store will offer an immersive experience that combines the colorful fun that fans of the M&M’S brand enjoy with lasting memories. And all your favorite candies too. The new store will be located in West Side, near the NBA Experience. Opening: No set date - 2020

Beatrix

Beatrix will be your neighborhood restaurant, coffeehouse and grab-and-go market featuring healthy food options including vegetarian, gluten-free, and vegan along with fresh-squeezed juice cocktails.

The restaurant will also offer a bakery and full-service bar with a selection of all-American beer and wine. Located at Disney Springs West Side. Opening: No date set - 2020

Ample Hills Creamery

This is one of the tastiest things new in Orlando in 2020! This Brooklyn-based creamery will be offering the most decadent ice cream desserts this side of the East River. You'll find a menu full of tasty treats such as Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, Peppermint Pattie and Nonna D’s Oatmeal Lace. Can't wait for the opening date? There's already An Ample Hills Creamery at Disney's Boardwalk Resort. Opening: 2020 - No set date

Universal Orlando

The Bourne Stuntacular - Universal Studios

This brand new, cutting-edge live-action stunt show will blur the lines between stage and cinema in a hybrid form of entertainment that has never been seen before. The Bourne Stuntacular will follow the character of Jason Bourne around the globe as sinister characters pursue him.

There will be thrilling chase scenes, punishing fistfights, death-defying leaps and danger at every turn with live performers, high-tech props and an immense LED screen.

Opening: Spring 2020

SeaWorld Orlando

Ice Breaker

An exciting ride is one of our favorite things new in Orlando in 2020. Named after the icy Arctic summits, Ice Breaker will feature four launches, both backwards and forwards, cultivating in a reverse launch into the steepest beyond vertical drop in Florida – a 93 feet tall spike with 100-degree angle. Opening: May 2020

Orca Encounter

SeaWorld has made plenty of changes in recent years. The Orca Encounter replaces One Ocean and showcases the importance of play for Orcas. Visitors will learn all about animal welfare practices at SeaWorld and the importance of conservation to their habitat. Open: January 1st 2020

Busch Gardens Tampa

Iron Gwazi

This coaster is going to break some records. At 206 feet, it will be North America's tallest hybrid coaster, and the world's fastest and steepest hybrid coaster! Throw in a 91 degree drop and speeds of 76mph and you've got a thrill ride on your hands! Estimated Opening - Spring 2020

Aquatica

Riptide Race

Riptide Race will be Florida’s first dueling racer when it launches in 2020. Visitors will be taking on opponents through high-speed tunnels and be competing through 650 feet of slide.

Adventure Island

Solar Vortex

You'll able to spin and splash on America’s first dual-tailspin water slide. This thrilling family ride will send sliders on a swirling journey through two open tailspin features. Plus there will be high-banking rotations and rapid descents.

Icon Park

Already home to the tallest wheel on the east coast and the tallest swing ride in the world, Icon Park Orlando on International Drive is set to break two new world records with attractions that will be new in Orlando in 2020.

The creators of Orlando Slingshot are brining two new thrill attractions to Icon Park in 2020.

Orlando Slingshot

Towering 300 feet, Orlando Slingshot will be the world's tallest slingshot attraction. Riders will be catapulted 450 feet into the air - nearly fifty stories high! The Orlando Slingshot will feature innovative dual-loading, allowing guests to be loading while another is experiencing the attraction Opening: Spring 2020

Orlando Gyro Drop Tower

At a height of 400 feet, the Orlando Gyro Drop Tower will be the world's tallest free-standing drop tower. After an intense gyrating climb around the tower to reach the top, riders will freefall 350 feet back to Earth, traveling up to 75 miles per hour. Opening: Spring 2020

Snowcat Ridge Alpine Village

Snowcat Ridge will be the first-of-it's-kind in Florida. Set to open in November 2020, Snowcat Ridge features a giant snow slope,10,000 square foot snow dome and an alpine village. With REAL snow! See full info: Snowcat Ridge.

The multi-lane 60 foot tall, 400 foot long snow tubing hill will offer a magic carpet lift to transport riders to the top. Then zoom down on single snow tubes, in tandem or on family-size 6 seaters.

A 10,000 square foot giant snow dome will feature real snow to build snowmen and a smaller hill for the little ones. The Alpine Village will feature snacks and drink locations, plus there will be a magical light show on the slopes and in the dome, once the Florida sun sets. Opening: November 2020

That wraps up what's new in Orlando in 2020, If you are planning a vacation, we'd love to welcome you to one of our vacation homes!

#New Attractions #New in 2020

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the-nysh · 7 years

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Saitama Cares Masterpost

PART ONE

Yep, THIS IS a comprehensive and ongoing list + commentary (with pictures!) of every moment Saitama shows care/concern for Genos in the story, to eliminate the common misconception that Saitama is either ‘heartless’ (no way) or that the sentiments between them are only one-sided from Genos (not true; the characters just express their outward emotions differently). To establish that Saitama does not treat Genos with the same indifference of a complete stranger/acquaintance, but rather in fact grows fond of him to the point he treats Genos noticeably different than others. With particular emphasis on moments from the original webcomic, AS PROOF Saitama’s subtle way of caring originates from the source material itself. Feel free to use as a reference list or supplemental material to enrich fan content or expand people’s positive perspective of the egg!

Current chapters covered: up through the meteor arc (ch23) Words: 1800+

Chapter 6, the moment they met. They don’t even know each other, yet Saitama genuinely thanks and compliments Genos as ‘awesome/amazing’ for saving him from the mosquito hoard. Not even caring or noticing that his own clothes have been completely burned off in the process. No complaints from him at all, just that he’s pleased and impressed by Genos, even making chance lighthearted puns during the moment too:

Chapter 10, vs Asura Rhino/Carnage Kabuto, which was their first outing together, the same day as, and immediately after Genos arrived to Saitama’s door, with his backstory given and disciple proposition declared.

The ‘Modern Art’ scene, where Saitama stares in stunned, confused concern at Genos getting embedded into the wall, IGNORING the face of the monster, with his attention only on Genos until he declares, ‘you’ll pay.’ The manga increased this to two pages, with wider body shots of Saitama’s stunned reaction, however, his ‘ignore the monster’ pose was changed to 90 degrees instead of how the webcomic shows his head turned at an opposite 180:

The catching scene, (the ‘leg hold’ in the anime). The manga has an extra panel of Saitama watching Genos’ fight (and swoops in off-panel to catch him), but the webcomic has Saitama suddenly appear at his side. His supportive hand on Genos’ shoulder was changed to his waist in the manga too. The manga further shows Saitama kneeling at Genos’ side while supporting his back for the ‘don’t push yourself so hard’ panel.

The ‘afro’ scene. The egg OVERTLY CONCERNED if Genos is ok from the blowback, yelling with visible sweat drops over his condition (same worried reaction in the manga). The webcomic’s ‘son of a bitch!’ line in response to the monster doing this to him is a personal fav of mine (even if it’s just the translator’s personal choice to use that language). 8D As is his raised fist with his serious expression, ready to dish out retribution. He looks angrier here, so I definitely prefer it to the manga’s version:

Chapter 11, when prompted by the monster to explain his strength training regimen, rather than simply answering him, Saitama directly addresses Genos about it instead, instructing him to ‘listen up’ and focus on the important parts:

Two birds with one stone here, yes, but Saitama makes sure he has Genos’ attention first and performs his ‘teacher role’ mainly for him, and not caring as much for the other two in the audience (barely even notices the scientist in the room). When Genos responds in a furious fit at him, Saitama is visibly shocked (stress sweat included), but CALMLY meets his distress with open honesty. Caring about Genos’ reaction and making sure he understands the truth. Not caring at all for the monster’s version of rage (sales are more important than that).

Chapter 15, while Saitama is at first in shock over the news of his nonexistent popularity (and wants to be left alone in his distress, telling Genos to go home), after learning why, he’s then interested whether Genos has already registered as a hero or not, with neither of them wanting to register alone. (Genos was never interested in joining in the first place: “no, I wouldn’t do something like that/I’m not interested.”) Genos gives him the necessary background info and exposition, but Saitama is the one to initiate the idea they register together, with the deal that if Genos comes with him, he’ll make him his disciple ‘for real.’ Of course Genos elatedly flips his mind right there and agrees to go along! (This agreement was allll on Saitama’s insistence here; in fact, you could say it was Saitama who bribed him to register because he didn’t want to do it alone.)

Chapter 16: Upon passing together and Genos beaming to him that he’s looking forward to his official teachings, Saitama contemplates that maaaaybe he was too quick to make that promise, especially to the type of guy Genos is (cyborg, upstanding, diligent, serious, hardworking, loyal, overeager, honest to a fault). Essentially, feeling wholly unprepared to have signed up for a task (and tutelage over a person) that’s much more than he’s comfortably qualified (or even really wants) to handle. But, he has to step up and take this teacher role (and hero job) seriously now. Does he fall back and refuse? No, he takes responsibility for his actions and makes the most of it. When alone, he reviews their hero ranks, with himself in Class C and Genos in Class S, contemplating the gap he has to climb to reach him and thinking about him: “could it be that Genos is actually really amazing?”

Chapter 17, their spar. Indulging on Genos’ request for a match, as their first test bout as newly appointed teacher-student. Saitama keeps it playful and not too serious, as it’s not fighting ‘for real’ to him. Tagging Genos with the cute cheek poke (with a fun smile!) and forehead flick after demonstrating a fist of his power to his face. Important to note that a parallel scene happens much later in the manga vs Suiryu in the martial arts tournament. Also not fighting ‘for real’ there either. Both of Saitama’s ‘opponents’ want him to get serous and display his power, but the difference between Saitama’s two punches is that he shreds Suiryu’s clothes in humiliation (Saitama’s close-up afterimage behind Genos could have shielded him from some of the blast too). Saitama was not having the same fun in the tournament (or smiling during that match), unlike in his spar with Genos, nor does he care for Suiryu the same way (flat out refusing his disciple request in comparison too). Saitama asks Genos out for udon, which the anime even shows in full with a competitive, fun eating match (which Genos wins this time, and Saitama, genuinely impressed, tells him he’s amazing again).

Chapter 18, Genos moves in. It’d been 5 days since their spar in the webcomic/manga, but the anime changed it to that very same night (after the udon). Webcomic Saitama doesn’t mind that Genos regularly comes over, but moving in is another story. Immediately changing his mind upon seeing Genos’ loaded rent money (offering payment upfront IS polite & proper boarding manners, whether or not Genos was aware of Saitama’s tight finances then to legitimately bribe him). However, ONE’s stated that Saitama has never used Genos’ rent money.

Genos came prepared and eager to learn (with his notebook), but conversely, Saitama believes he has nothing to teach him (muscle training is useless for a cyborg after all), and importantly, doesn’t want to play at this teacher charade any longer if it’s like he’s deceiving or taking advantage of Genos:

It would become all the more morally unacceptable (really, Saitama would feel bad) to continue half-assedly and meet Genos’ high & honest expectations of him with deceit like that. Genos has raised the bar to the point Saitama’s been put on the spot and can’t simply mess around with this anymore. Establishing right here how much Saitama’s conflicted about this: even if he’s empty handed, ideally he wants to match Genos’ eagerness with open honesty and NOT deception or having to abuse his position of power. (Saitama is a good egg and he’s TRYING to do this teacher thing right!) But he doesn’t know how or what else to teach him aside from what he already knows, (knowing Genos won’t simply accept his training method either). Scrambling and pressed for time (gotta juggle his hero quota deadline), he settles for a temporary, on-the-spot goal for Genos to aim for in the meantime (top10 hero spot). Saitama assumes the advice he gives is bullshit, but it DOES logically consider Genos’ limitations and key mental aspects he needs to improve, so it is viable insight and not as far-fetched as Saitama thinks (it’s actually pretty spot-on):

Chapter 20, interested whether Genos has done any hero work yet to raise his rank too (popularity a different story). RECEIVES GENOS’ PRAISE HERE. In contrast to the comments from fans who don’t personally know him, Genos gives his honest opinion of Saitama, ‘the most incredible man he’s met,’ since he knows him. While Genos doesn’t value what his fans have to say (and Saitama shocked he isn’t embarrassed reading them out loud), the same can’t be said whether Saitama doesn’t appreciate what this particular ‘fan’ has to say about him. ;3 He brushes off Genos’ words as flattery (in anime, as ‘buttering him up’), but the manga and anime show him with a little pleased smile. So while Saitama is bad at receiving/taking compliments from him, on some level he IS glad there’s someone who finally appreciates him.

Chapter 21, THE METEOR. Arrives in impeccable timing to save Genos. Saitama probably heard the news on his own, geared up and rushed to the scene, witnessed Genos’ whole flashy attempt to blast the meteor, stood back for him, and only approached at the last possible moment when Genos absolutely needed his help. He personally instructs Bang to take care of Genos for him and evacuate to safety while he takes care of the meteor:

The manga has Saitama arrive in extra dramatic flourish (+color in the digital version), hidden behind his speech bubble until Genos turns and lightens up in astonished recognition (complete with shoujo sparkles). :’) Saitama went through the trouble to do all of that and arrive directly at Genos’ side, when he could have simply destroyed the meteor by jumping from the vicinity of his apartment. Not only that, but he gave Genos room to finish his attack without rushing in and ‘stealing his thunder’ so to speak. Saitama knows Genos is usually strong enough to take care of himself, which is a reoccurring sentiment from him (even repeated by ONE & Murata in interviews), so he only intervenes and steps in when he sees Genos rendered helpless to fight anymore, which here, also revives Genos’ hope at his lowest moment (when he pretty much accepted his grave). :’)))

Chapter 22, the meteor aftermath. Genos laments that the HA didn’t call Saitama in the first place (instead of him) to more effectively handle it with Metal Knight to reduce damage to a minimum. But Saitama immediately rationalizes Metal Knight wouldn’t have been a team player anyway and that he (himself) handled things just fine since no one died. Coolly assuring Genos not to brood/worry over what didn’t happen and to focus on the positive outcome instead. Like for instance, interested in whether their ranks went up (specifically asking Genos in terms of ‘we/our,’ not just for himself). Plus, when Genos starts talking threat levels, Saitama freely asks him to clarify what they mean. At this point in time, Saitama is comfortable with Genos’ level of intel/knowledge, and is fine asking him about things he doesn’t understand. (aka when the student informs the teacher, and the teacher’s totally cool with it! :D Never has been seen again, ch7′s 20-words-or-less policy!)

Chapter 23, the tank top rookie crushing. Where Saitama bellows to the crowd how he doesn’t care about their approval or whether they hate him. Interestingly, neither the webcomic nor the manga show how the scene resolves (it just cuts to a several day’s time skip), but the anime resolves it by having Genos arrive at the scene to pacify Saitama’s anger with a simple but effective, ‘let’s go home’ (with sustained, sincere eye contact too). This is ALSO where the anime places Genos’ praise from ch20, now as the iconic ‘sunset confession scene’ with Saitama’s ‘you don’t have to butter me up like that’ line as he turns around with a pleased little smile. Here, it’s in direct contrast to how Saitama views the public, because he DOES appreciate and care what Genos thinks of him (no matter how humbly he accepts it). When even one person’s support more than makes up for the combined hypothetical cheers of a whole fanclub or the voices of the public – right now, just Genos’ words are enough for Saitama. :’)

TO BE CONTINUED

#opm #saitama #saigenos #meta #ref #saitama cares #OHOHO definitely not messing around here 8D #it's become more and more imperative to do this after so many doubts (particularly against webcomic saitama) have surfaced lately #I SHALL PROVIDE~#to defend the good egg!#dunno how many parts this will be but i can assure the project will be thorough #originally this was gonna be ALL the chapters at once but dolltrash and the image limit convinced me to break this in parts :P #(and this would have stayed a super wip for ages XD)#main intention to be a refresher from saitama's side - and his feelings #will eventually cover the whole webcomic (with supplemental caps from the manga and anime)

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hydrus · 5 years

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Version 370

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I had a great week. There's a big improvement to tag display management and a bunch of smaller stuff.

tag display

Part of this ongoing tag overhaul work I am doing is to catch up some ancient systems that aren't able to deal with the size of the dbs we have now. The old 'tag censorship' is probably the biggest example of this. I have rewritten this to work in a more sensible way using newer objects.

The main difference is services->manage tag censorship is now service->manage tag display. You can now hide tags from the front UI using the new Tag Filter interface, with separate filters for 'single' views, like thumbnail banners and the taglist on the media viewer, and 'multiple' views, which for now means the 'selection tags' list on normal search pages. For instance, you might like to hide page: tags from the selection tags list, since they usually clutter things, or you might like to only show creator/series/character. You can set any normal whitelist or blacklist, and filtered for each tag service (e.g. 'only show creator/series/character tags from the PTR') and/or blanket rules for all services.

Right-clicking on a tag in one of the lists will provide options to hide it or its namespace from that list type. These menu actions now take effect immediately!

The behind-the-scenes of how these display tags are generated and served is also much improved from the tag censorship system. The lists are accessed in a unified way and are cached (previously, they were manually filtered on the fly in each instance), so a variety of thumbnail selection and navigation tasks should be a little bit faster, and changes to the filters should cause reliable refresh updates across the program. Tag siblings are now also cached using the same system, so this layer of presentation is also faster.

Unfortunately, these caches do have to be computed the first time you load a file. It slows initial load by a small amount, but in my tests not a very noticeable one. I would like to move at least some of these caches down to a persistent location in the database at some point, so the load is faster (this will also help things like accurate autocomplete result file counts for tags with siblings, a long-term goal).

Another next step is to add filters for storage, so you will be able to take the next step of saying 'do not allow x, y, z tags on this service', which stop parsers from pending certain tags and will save db space for users who process a big repo like the PTR but only want a subset of what it offers (e.g. 'no title: tags').

If you used tag censorship previously, your rules should be converted to the new system, but make sure to check them out. Previously, your 'censored' tags were hidden even from the manage tags dialog, but this is no longer true--this week's work adds reliable display rules, and making 'true' storage rules (and perhaps a filter for autocomplete search results?) will come later.

the rest

I have added system:modified date. It works just like system:time imported but plugs into the new modified date metadata. It is fun to put in 'find files modified more than ten years ago'. Remember that if you have many files in your db, the new file maintenance manager may still be retroactively generating this data for them in the background. You can check your current maintenance queues under database->maintain->file maintenance->review scheduled jobs.

Files with duration (video, audio, animated images, swf) will now get a ' ▶ ' label on their thumbnail, just like the recent speaker icon for 'has audio'. The 'has audio' one overrides the 'duration' one, but this is a nice simple way to see videos vs still images. You can edit the label used under options->audio and duration. I do not really like how the ' ▶ ' looks, so maybe we'll ultimately go to icons here, or if someone finds a nicer default unicode string, let me know.

Thanks to a user's submission, I am folding in two new pixiv url classes to recognise their new format, which had broken the default pixiv downloaders.

'Separating' large subscriptions is now easier--if a sub has more than 100 queries, it will now be quickly and easily halved, so you don't have to pick through a gigantic and laggy list of 300 query checkboxes. A note on the subs edit panel now recommends breaking up subs with >200k items.

The 'quality info' button on advanced users' edit subscription panels now let you copy the data to your clipboard in CSV format. The way this works is still pretty hacky, but if you want to analyze this data more closely, let me know how it goes!

There was a bug in the new non-interrupting tag repository processing system that meant in certain situations (usually on slower machines), some tags may not have been processed. This bug is fixed, and I have set the last eight weeks' of updates to be reprocessed to fill in gaps. Since the vast majority of the data is already there, this reprocessing should be very fast.

The various '110/250' import status columns in the downloader UI now sorts better, by num_total first, then num_done. It previously did by percentage done, but it wasn't really useful.

The new 'tag migration' panel is now available straight off the services menu.

full list

tag display updates:

the old tag censorship system is now replaced by a broader tag display manager that will deal with tag storage and presentation settings. this is the first step, and some of it is not yet completely functional or as efficient as intended

management for the new tag display manager can be found under services->manage tag display. you can set per-service and all-services filters for 'multiple' display like the 'tag selection' boxes and for 'single' file views, like thumbnails and the media viewer

existing censorship rules will be added to the new manager and will apply to 'selection list' and 'single media' display rules

censorship/display rules no longer apply to underlying storage views, which are unfilterable for now, so the manage tags dialog and the autocomplete lookup will now show all tags

page and media viewer taglists now have new right-click menu options for hiding--they will provide hide options for the specific tag clicked, and its namespace more broadly, and will apply immediately to that kind of taglist (previously, this was just the tag, and launched the tag censorship edit panel)

all 'tag manager' objects behind every media object in the client now pre-compute cache layers for different tag presentation contexts. operations such as sibling collapse are now only done on file load or new siblings

for now, initial media load will take slightly longer, but various tag display updates and autocomplete tag fetches on media will be faster

changes to siblings and the new tag display rules will now trigger a reliable (although, for siblings, delayed by a few seconds) and complete tag list and thumbnail and media viewer refresh

changes to tag presentation will now correctly update collection thumbnails

some complicated sibling display and counts are now more precise

cleaned up some tag/siblings/thumb refresh notification code

cleaned up all tag manager access code

cleaned up a variety of related tag fetching, counting, and display code

the rest:

added 'system:modified date'. it works just like system:time imported

files with duration but no audio will now have a ' ▶ ' label in the top-left of their thumbnails, like the 'has audio' one. you can edit this label under options->audio and duration. I don't really like how this looks, so maybe we'll go to icons. let me know what you think

fixed an iteration timing bug in the new asynchronous repository mappings processing that meant large lists of mappings within an update object may be occasionally truncated, leaving some mappings unprocessed. this would more affect users on slower machines running 'process now'

any tag repository content updates issued in the last eight weeks will be scheduled for reprocessing to cover the above issue and fill in gaps for most user situations. since the vast majority of the data was added as intended, they should catch up very fast

added two pixiv url classes for their new url format

the edit subs panel now recommends users break up subs with >200k urls

the 'separate' subscriptions button now has a new 'break in half' option. subscriptions that have more than 100 queries will auto-choose this to separate

the 'quality info' button for advanced users' edit subscription panels now gives the option to additionally copy the info to your clipboard in CSV format

the lists on the gallery downloader, thread watcher, subscription, and subscriptions panels now sort their progress column by ( y, x ) (given a total status of x/y). previously, this was preceded by a percent-done sort

the hydrus network engine now recognises 429 bandwidth responses

on 429 or 509 bandwidth responses, network jobs will now go through the regular reconnection delay loop and try again later (previously, they just failed)

added 'tag migration' to 'services' menu for quick-launch

tag migration's 'go' action now skips the second confirmation if you are in advanced mode

expanded the 'reset' review services button (only visible to advanced users) to allow 'softer' resets that simply reprocess definition/content without deletion (a 'filling in the gaps' command)

fixed the 'process now' review services button disable check, which was being overzealous

cleaned up some of the new repo 'caught up' checking code

improved stability of review services 'refresh account' call

the client api /manage_pages/get_page_info call now returns a list of hash_ids beside the list of hashes, in simple or not simple mode

fixed a bug where tag import options that still had a secret deleted service reference were causing tag-parse errors on import jobs

fixed some other places that were not handling service disappearance neatly

added a note to the install/backup help to mention not to use continuous cloud-sync backups on your live db directory

misc unit test refactoring

next week

Tag filters are used in plenty of places now, so I'll set up a 'favourites' system into the edit panel so you can save and load common presets. If that goes well, I'll get started on 'storage/processing' tag filters and some related db tag cleanup/recycling maintenance.

#release

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woohooligancomics · 7 years

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Webcomic Whimsy: Tales of Midgard

Welcome to the Woohooligan Weekly Webcomic Whimsy! I've given a couple of interviews in the past, but this is my first experience with reviewing. If you have any suggestions for improvements, feel free to leave a note. If you're a webcomic author and would like a review, you can see my announcement and review rules here.

Title: Tales of Midgard: the Age of Magic

Writer: Attila Polyák • About

Illustrator: Erzsébet Schlett aka Lizbeth von Rabbit • About • Patreon

Site: TalesOfMidgard.com • Facebook

Genres: Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Medieval, Middle Ages, Victorian, Anacronism

Rating: PG, T for Teen - some language

Updates: Every Weekday (Mon-Fri) - (used to be full chapters in 3-week intervals)

Synopsis: (from TalesOfMidgard.com) - Tales of Midgard is a collection of fantasy stories, mostly comics, set in the world of Midgard, which is not the same as in Norse mythology, but if you are vigilant enough you’ll find a reference or two here and there. While all stories are set in the same world, the actual settings for each individual tale varies a lot. Depending on the time and age of a story, the settings of some might be more modern than others. The “main” storyline, titled The Age of Magic, will be about the adventures of a young knight named Anne White.

As the authors described, Tales of Midgard contains very little reference to Norse Myth (despite the title), and in the long-run it reminds me a lot less of mythology and more of some sessions of Dungeons and Dragons. I managed to read a little more than the first two out of nine chapters, and while magic is mentioned with frequency, it's rarely seen (that may change in later chapters). What seemed much more common than the appearance of magic however was the appearance of modern ideas and inventions; trains, newspapers, democracy, modern capitalism with beauracratic corporations. From what I can tell, there are even approximations of "cell phones" and "the Internet". The main charater, Anne, is a knight, except that the title would be a misnomer in our world, since she works for a corporation instead of a monarch and her first two jobs are both illegal "smash and grab" operations. In our world, her title would be "mercenary". As a side note, the term "freelancer" originates from an old military term for mercenaries, "free lance" (that of course you pay for, after all, it's "free"). Anne is also a mage, although the first two chapters only show her working any magic once and very briefly. If you replaced swords with firearms and "info boxes" with flash-drives, this would almost be a modern action story.

I had a really difficult time deciding on the first image to display here. I wanted it to be either the best page I could find or the page most representative of the story as a whole... but I couldn't seem to find either of those, so I opted to use the first page. The difficulty finding a single page to represent the series is that the individual pages vary so wildly. I'll find a page that includes representative dialogue, but the art shows backs of heads, and then I'll find a page with better art, but it's a splash page with little to no dialogue or narration and it tells you virtually nothing about the story.

The story opens with Anne and Erik planning their first job, stealing an "info box" from several guards who are carrying it through the city of Kessheim. These are the kinds of planning sessions I remember from a slew of tabletop roleplaying games over the years. In a game session, this is part of the fun of the game, although I'm not sure it adds much to the comic. In some of the scripts for Return of the Jedi, the film included some planning scenes, explaining how the heroes would get Lando Calrissian, Leia and the droids into position inside Jaba's Palace before the ultimate rescue of Solo. Lucas cut those scenes because in the long run it was felt that they eliminated a number of surprises that made the film more enjoyable.

This is only the eighth review I've written, and already "focus on your pacing" is becoming a frequent refrain from me. It seems like pacing the story is one of the things that challenges most webcomic authors. The first couple chapters of Tales of Midgard tends to vassilate between pages with a lot of text, and splash pages with little or no information. A lot of text on a page can be forgiven sometimes if a situation really calls for it (lord knows that's something I've struggled with), however this story has a lot of pages where the extra verbiage that's added isn't delivering any new information. Splash pages can be great when properly and sparingly used to punctuate dramatic reveals and action sequences, however, several of the splash pages in Tales of Midgard seem to be splash for splash sake (or in Latin, splish pro splash es gratia). The page above is the second page of content, opening the story with two pages of Anne and Erik discussing the plan for their first job. The second page doesn't reveal much about it, just that Erik wants more reconnaissance and that he suspects it will reveal a more challenging task ahead. And then the third page is a splash page, just for Anne to repeat that she's preparing for the job (she already said so), while striking a heroic pose.

Heroic!

I'm ribbing them a little here, but this isn't really a huge problem. I'm just pointing out that the above page could have been entirely left out and nobody would have noticed, and that the first two pages of planning could have been one page with a little more editing. The opening dialogue for example reads: "Seems like we still have about an hour. Let's revise our plan, and after that I'm off to prepare for plan B." If this were a script for a movie or a TV show that might be fine, but in a comic you have to remember that dialogue can take up a lot of realestate on the page. That line could have read: "We have about an hour to revise our plan before I prepare for plan B." And that's before you consider the elements that aren't necessary because they're mentioned elsehwere in the script. It really could have been "we have an hour to revise our plan." ... Or in retrospect it could have been dropped entirely, since the reader doesn't need to know how long they're planning, just that they are, which is apparent from the rest of the art and script on that page.

Also, paring the script down would help the artist, who inevitably has to spend more time working on the comic than a writer does. Liz had to fit in a splash page, plus five panels for a minimal portion of the story. If the script had been pared down to fit onto one page, that could have been two to three, maybe four panels of art. I'm sure that would have been easier for Liz.

It turns out Erik's suspicions were right, the job will be harder than they thought.

There are two more pages of planning (a total of six) before the job starts. The pacing on the first page of the job is better, although I think the art jumps the gun on exclamation points and burst lines (I can't remember the western term for that effect). There's not been any action yet, this is still the "suspense" portion, leading up to the action. I would have used just two panels - the first with Anne entering and the second seeing the guards carrying the box with "there they are," and a background. As I said before about the pacing, these aren't huge problems, just areas that could use some polish.

Even here I'm not convinced we're quite ready for the dramatic splash page yet, although it makes a lot more sense on this page where she snatches the box than it did during the planning phase.

Honestly, I think the three bumbling guards turning into the Three Stooges is kind of a nice touch.

If I were writing, I might have started the entire story on the last panel of that page, with the guards already chasing Anne. All that talk of running down streets, and how many guards there were, and "plan B" could easily have been part of the narration during the chase. In fact most of it is repeated in the chase narration anyway, making most of those planning pages redundant. Starting here would have gotten the reader into the thick of the action straight away (just like the opening scene of Star Wars IV: A New Hope) and probably done a better job of holding people's attention.

The first "magiknight" appears right away, you can see him behind the other three guards in the last panel of the previous page. Anne confirms that's what he is on the following page after he's overtaken the regular guards and is gaining on her. The second magiknight appears immediately after and oddly decides on a WWE wrestling move instead of the kind of thing you'd expect from someone in full-plate armor... or a spell (remember, he's also supposed to be a mage).

But the most shocking thing on that page was the democracy! SHOCKING! Remember, peasants, the King needs your vote! Again, I kid, although it is another part of the overall theme of this world being modern day with a veneer of medieval or renaissance themes. That's the kind of atmosphere that I've found a lot in D&D or other roleplaying games because the players are never historical scholars and I suspect even for them, it's hard to put yourself in the shoes of someone who lived even sixty years ago, much less several centuries.

After Anne avoids the first body-slam, the third magiknight appears immediately, following a page of Anne wondering where they are, and showing a map of her run up to this point. (The map doesn't seem necessary.) Throughout the entire chase, the third magiknight is the only one to talk, and then only to call Anne a bitch (rather than "halt" or alerting the other guards).

(EDIT: I was wrong! I forgot the last magiknight makes the comment "what are you" when Anne stands up after he knocked her down.)

I suppose I should point out that most of the first chapter is the chase with a lot of jumping and swordplay. Although if Tales of Midgard is going to be an action/adventure story with a lot of fighting like this, Liz should probably brush up a little more on drawing action sequences. This one is probably the worst and I might not have pointed it out here except that it looks less like Anne is expertly dodging a sword than she is expertly dodging a giant penis.

Like I said, most of her illustration is better... although the page immediately following this sword swing is another weirdly placed splash-page.

My penis can shatter stone!

If there were a splash page in that sequence, I think it would have been better used on Anne's dodging the blade than on the aftermath of the miss.

And that's followed by a carriage that appears to be in the Matrix Loading Program instead of the street.

Anne gets past the carriage and points out that all the maginkights so far have been "brutes with no speed or accuracy". These guys are mages? Working in service of the monarch? It does get more difficult as there are now two of them ahead of Anne, which she expertly dodges again. (Plus, there's that background that was missing behind the carriage.)

The very last magiknight appears to have a fighting style that involves constantly being off-balance and occasionally presenting his back to his enemies.

He does eventually land a blow against Anne on another splash page (and a good place for one), although the art is rather confusing... I couldn't really tell what was happening here.

Apparently she blocked the blow, but was knocked back into some barrels (empty?) that broke open. The magiknight is amazed that she's able to stand after taking the knock, although I'm not sure that explains why he didn't have time to catch her.

So Anne is able to get to the water-mill for her much hyped "plan B".

Which turns out to be jumping from a high window into the river while wearing plate armor.

And then it's time for a recap from the magiknights. I'm not sure why their dialogue is suddenly an ominous white-on-black.

Also, many of these balloon tails are confusing, and black on a dark background doesn't help.

When Anne comes up from the water, we get our only glimpse of magic in the first two chapters. How many magiknights was that? Eight of them? And not ONE spell between them? Was the wrestling leap a spell?

The second chapter opens with our first real glimpse of the anachronisms; a train.

And another couple anachronisms; a newspaper and the Grand Archives, which from context sounds a lot like the Internet. A little work on the composition of that first frame could have allowed us to see Erik's head and fixed the problem with the dialogue that's causing those parts that don't have full balloons. (Although to be honest, I think full balloons could have been used there without causing any problems. They're done that way to reveal parts of Anne's armor that aren't necessary to understand the story.)

Oh, and a third anachronism in that page also; the corporate bureacracy of the Dyrian Knights Order. Magic is also treated in this modern way, with the characters discussing "units of magic energy" as often happens in roleplaying games.

I understand that there's a goal of showing the height difference between Anne and Erik on this next page, however, with a little work on the composition, that can be done without cutting off his head in the third panel. The first panel showing the stairs and the delivery sign isn't necessary. The second panel should have been in profile so we could see all three of the people speaking. And in the last two panels, Erik could be standing more behind her so that their heads are side-by-side in the shot, allowing you to get those two panels side-by-side instead of above-and-below.

The silent disagreement between Anne and Erik is a classic trope and a well placed joke. Nicely done.

The dialogue balloons didn't have to cut into Erik's head in the 2nd panel - you could have used the extra whites-space in the lower-left corner where nothing's going on. In general, don't cut into a character's head if you can avoid it.

"That's what I'm afraid of" is another classic trope, and I would say it's a fairly well placed joke. I'm personally nonplussed by the fact that it's perpetuating the negative stereotype of women as spending their money frivolously.

Honestly I think the backgrounds are sometimes the better illustrations. Although those lamp-posts and buildings look pretty modern. There's a lot of glass for even a rennaissance period and especially the top of the building in the back of the second panel looks like a modern office building. I suppose the lamp-posts could still be oil-based rather than electric, but the design aesthetic just looks really modern to me. To be honest that clothing looks pretty modern too.

This is the point at which Erik starts second-guessing the job they just finished. He brings up some of the things I was already thinking during the chase in the first chapter.

And now the lettering starts getting weirder. We see a bunch of places where dialogue balloons follow unnatural right-to-left reading paths and a few other issues that make it hard to know which block to read next, who's speaking, etc. Many of these problems could be resolved by pruning the script (like I mentioned before), improving the panel choices, composition and character placement. This page is crowded but not the worst to read.

Pardon me for a moment while I nerd-out on writing dialogue... If you write comics yourself you might find this interesting, otherwise, skip down.

I would have simply trimmed a lot of this writing.

In the first panel, for example:

Anne: Hey Erik! What's up.

Erik: I booked passage on the August Albatross tomorrow morning.

Anne: The expensive cruiser from Dyr to Ilial?

Erik: That's the one.

That's genuinely all the information that's relevant for the reader in this first panel. Having "everything we need" until they get home should be assumed -- the only time it should be mentioned is if they lack things or there's a question about resources. The second panel runs dialogue balloons for Anne and Erik together, which was probably an oversight, since I saw that same thing fixed on a later page.

Also, the rest of the page:

Anne: Woohoo! That'll be great!

Erik: Hope so. Also, Sir Alvis wants that yearly report as soon as we reach Dyr.

Anne: Uhh... Thanks.

Erik: You've got enough cash, you should fix your orb if you don't replace it.

Anne: Yeah, I can totally afford a new one. Good night.

Erik: 'Night.

On the next page, nice backgrounds with street-lamps that definitely look electric, since they hang down from above. Dialogue balloons in the 2nd panel that are round like they're spoken? But she's alone, and the balloons in the previous panel were cloud-formed thought balloons... but neither of them have any tails, and using the bubble-tails for both would have clarified that they're all thought balloons, whether cloud-shaped or not... but they really should be one way or the other, not both. If thoughts are cloud-formed, they should always be cloud-formed to avoid confusion. Also, when balloons are separated on a wide panel like this, left-to-right takes precedence over top-to-bottom, so the text in these balloons is in the wrong order.

More nice backgrounds the next morning. Some of the water on this page is particularly nice. And then the beginning of dialogue balloons that run the wrong direction (right-to-left), which could have been easily avoided by placing Anne on the left and Erik on the right while they're sitting there on the dock.

These dialogue ballons run the wrong direction again and again.

There's a couple of pages of elegance on the Albatross before they arrive in Dyr. Stepping off the ship, it becomes apparent that the "orbs" are cell-phones, and they even ring like a telephones. It turns out a few pages later that Anne and Erik's second assignment is stealing back the "info box" (flash drive) they stole in the first chapter. D'oh! Personally I feel like the plot ought to have started developing this kind of complexity at least in the second chapter if not by the end of the first, but as I've said, these pacing issues are pretty easily resolved.

I realize that I've offered a lot of criticism of the trade-craft of comic making here, however, those are all minor and to be honest easily resolved issues. I think this story has a lot of promise, it just needs some cleaning up. If you enjoy fantasy stories with roleplaying-game-styled anachronisms, it's worth a look at Tales of Midgard.

If you are a webcomic author and are interested in a review from me, you can check out my announcement and my review rules here.

If you enjoy my reviews and would like to help ensure I'm able to continue publishing them, you can contribute on our Patreon or if you're short on funds you can also help me out by checking out and sharing my own webcomic, Woohooligan!

Thanks! Sam

#review #action #adventure #fantasy #medieval #rennaissance #anachronism

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sammyhale · 7 years

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J2 ChiCon 2017 Main Panel

*Reminder: if possible, watch the panel videos for full context/info.

Boys make their entrance and do their jump onstage.

The dick tweet from last night is brought up. Rich, Rob, and Jensen are all teasing Jared lol. Someone in the crowd yells, “Size doesn’t matter!” Jared: Yes it does! Jensen to the fan: That’s just what people say who don’t have it.

Jared: I got my phone stolen last night. Well, it wasn’t stolen, I gave it away like an idiot. Jensen: After you tweeted something very personal. Jared laughs and jokes: Oh crap, I hit send here hold this! Everyone cracks up. Video

Fan sneezes. Jared: Chuck bless you.

ChiCon is special since it was the first convention that started it all. Jared: It’s where we started realizing what this family is.

Fan: You’re the Power Rangers. Jensen: Wrong show. That’s down the hall.

Jared: I’ve watched more Power Rangers in the last 2 months than my whole life. Jensen: Why? Jared: ‘Cause Tom and Shep... Jensen: They don’t watch. You MADE your kids watch that.

Jared: Never had anyone yell “You’re Power Rangers” at me. Jensen: Why would you? Jared: They just did! Jensen: THEY ARE IN THE WRONG HALL.

Jared to a fan: What are you wearing? Fan: It’s a blanket. Jensen: It’s a serape.

Fan: Most difficult thing about raising twins? Jensen: Our four-year-old. The twins aren’t moving yet. Jared (behind Jensen) freezes like he’s not moving with his arms in the air lol.

Jensen to Jared: I can see you on the screen! Ain’t my first rodeo.

Another tweet: Jared imitating the twins not moving. Jared: Oh you can see me on the screen? Jensen: Yeah I can! *busts out laughing*

Jared: Someday JJ is gonna see these videos and be like “Hey!” Boys are cracking up.

Jared: What if in 15 years kids see these videos and are like WHAT DO YOU MEAN I WAS THE DIFFICULT ONE?!

Jensen says Bram is a mini him and Arrow is a mini D.

Jared says favorite brotherly moment to film was the end of Sacrifice.

Likes “I got your back” episodes. Jared will always be proud of defining brother moments.

Jensen: When we took the pickaxes to the wall at the end of last season. It was a cool moment for the brothers and me and Jared when we broke through the wall at the end of s12. Fun for them.

Jared: It was a poignant moment, the brothers talking about their legacy and it could have been me and Jensen [talking about themselves] on SPN.

Jensen: Because we’ve lived with these characters for so damn long, it’s hard to tell us apart sometimes.

Jensen: In Baby arguing about the burrito wasn’t scripted, that was me and Jared alone in the car.

Fan apologizes for how she’s asking her question because of her anxiety. Jensen: You’re doing great so far.

Jensen: People don’t usually try to prank us out of fear of retaliation. The hell we will rain down on them.

The only person who never feared pranking them was Kim Manners. He did things like dump freezing water on them in that manhole in s2. Crew came up to them with elaborate excuses about why they needed to take J2′s phones before that because they knew what was coming.

Lots of teasing happening (lots of references to the dick tweet lol).

They were talking about sit-ups and push-ups in scripts, etc. Jared: I have a pretty long torso- Jensen: So that’s where that length went.

Jared changed it to Sam doing pull-ups not sit-ups. Jensen: So you’d look all elongated *rimshot*

Jared teases back: In all the Days of My Life- Jensen: I was a child! Not a man responsible for my actions!

Jensen chooses middle of the road success and win an Oscar when he’s 50 lol. Jared teases him about his age: Gonna win an Oscar last year?? *mic drop*

Cutest things kids have done? Jensen: Exist.

Jared about Odette: “My girl is perfect.”

Tells a story about Tom and how he picked up a habit of saying, “That’s what I’m talking about” from someone at school and it cracks Jared up.

Jared talks about how Shep looks up to Tom so much.

Jared: Tom, what was your favorite thing today? Tom: Walking in the park with you. Shep: Me too! Jared: You were home napping lol.

Jared to fan, clarifying info she’d mentioned: You have one kid? Her: just one. Jared: That you know of!!

Fan asks about their favorite monster to kill. Jared says the one he ended up marrying lol. Talks about how that will be awkward with the kids in a few years: “Why is Uncle Jensen holding mommy while you stabbed her??”

Jared talks about killing Death. Jensen. I did not like killing Death. Jared: Cause he’s awesome. Jensen: Well yes, he is awesome, but, those types of scenes are technically difficult to shoot. Jensen likes to kill monsters with guns ‘cause it’s easy.

Jared is sitting backwards on his chair with one of his legs hoisted up, showing off his flexibility lol. Jensen talks about how Jared sits like that at a nice restaurant, will use his knee as his plate :P

A fan starts to ask the question: How different are you in real life to your characters? There’s a pause and then she adds: Musically? Jared: Wait, what? Jensen: Answer the question in song. Jensen sings a bit. Jared jokes about being thrown off by the pause in the question lol.

Jensen: What’s your favorite Bieber song right now? Jared: All of ‘em.

There’s a song Jared has been listening to a lot lately that reminds him of Gen but is having a hard time remembering the name. Thinks the band’s name is Skyline. (Possibly the Austin-based band Skyline x).

Jensen: Dean likes classic rock. Nothing else is playing in his ears. Jensen loves classic rock, some country, some hard rock, a little bit of everything. Whatever he’s in the mood for.

Fan says her sister is obsessed with Jared. Jared: She’s awesome! Fan’s question is for Jensen though lol.

What advice would Jensen give Beyonce about twins? Jensen: B, let me talk at you real quick...Jared: What advice did you give her? Jensen: Let me check my texts lol. Jensen says to sleep when you can, mentions that duct tape is handy because it can fix anything, including your children lol. Jensen’s advice for Jay-Z would be to ask B: “What can I do for you?”

Jared starts quoting lyrics from Destiny’s Child’s song Bills, Bills, Bills: pay my bills, pay my automobills, maybe we could chill.

Favorite pie? J2 are arguing over the pronunciation of “pecan” lol. Jensen says Dean likes sweet cherry pie ;) Jensen’s favorite is banana cream.

Jared’s favorite is pecan. Say Sam has a favorite and starts reciting Pi off the top of his head.

Pet peeves about each other? Jared: I don’t waste gum!

Jensen goes off lol. Talks about how “we hang out with each other a lot” and when Jared will come to his trailer every time he’ll take his gum and put it on Jensen’s counter and walk to his fridge to get a drink. Then when he’s done, he picks it up and puts it back in his mouth. Jared: I don’t wanna waste gum! Jensen used to call him out on putting gum on surfaces that aren’t the trashcan. Jared: The gum’s still good! Jensen: There’s no excuse!..Drink your drink with your gum in your mouth. The crowd says eww. Jensen: Oh, that’s ew?!

Jensen talks about how whenever he and Jared go out to a restaurant, bar, etc, there will be either paper coasters or napkins and Jensen watches in amazement because while Jared is talking Jared, without noticing, has ripped the coaster and/or napkin into little tiny balls and had made a pile and eventually pushes it onto the ground. Jared: Multitasking. Jensen: What is that, though? Jared is just smiling.

Last question: Fan starts talking to Jared, turns, sees Jensen on the other side. “Oh, hi!” Jensen: I’ve literally been here the whole time lol.

Four things the colt can’t kill? Lucifer, God, Amara, and the Winchester Brothers. Jared: Wouldn’t that be cool?

This video from the last question shows Jared looking up in the air while standing next to the fan because he felt water on his arm. Jensen notices and without Jared saying anything he tells Jared that the fan is flicking water from her cup (because she was gesturing around in excitement lol) and Jared collapses laughing on one knee saying, “Oh, God!” Jensen: “Jared thought it was raining”- Jared: I was like, what is going on here?!

J2 share their traditional fist bump and thank the fans <3

Info via: Fangasm, Cherie, Carry On, Kristin, Adina, iwinsoiwin, Becky, Christina, Sil’s livetweet list, Audio

#j2 #jared padalecki #jensen ackles #chicon #spnchi #panel sum #long post #shpost

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