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kingofthewilderwest · 7 years

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thefuriousnightfury replied to your post: The more I watch, read, and get into Defender of...

So would you recommend I watch it? Cuz I tried and got stuck

Would I recommend Defender of the Universe? Depends on the person.

For some people, yes, I would recommend Defender of the Universe. I especially recommend DotU for people who can appreciate 1980s shows for what they are, are interested in Voltron’s origins, and wish to expand their lore knowledge for the franchise.

Characters are lovable and compelling. My favorites are Keith, Pidge, and especially Lance. Don’t expect them to be their VLD counterparts, though - there are some elements in common (ex: Lance flirting with Allura) but also notable differences (ex: Lance being hot-headed, semi-cynical, and sometimes assholish). I think characters are the biggest highlight of DotU.

Plot isn’t exemplary. I don’t watch this show for plot. But I do find myself watching every episode curiously to catch VLD Easter Eggs. The more you know about DotU and Beast King GoLion, the more you can enjoy those scenes in the latest reboot. For instance, characters/locations in BKG were often renamed for DotU... but both names appear in VLD! Emperor Daibazaal became King Zarkon, Prince Sincline became Prince Lotor, the planet Altea became Arus, Honerva became Haggar, and, of course, Ryou and Takashi Shirogane became Sven Holgersson. It’s really fun to pick up on small Easter Eggs down to Allura having the mice kiss one of the Paladins!

So here’s what I say about recommendations:

If you want to know all about the past of Voltron and are happy watching tons of material, watch Defender of the Universe THEN Beast King GoLion. Although BKG was created first and the Americans heavily edited it (and other shows) into DotU, watching the American version first... 1). allows you to understand the Voltron franchise phenomenon from the foundation, as this is where the rest of Voltron was based from and continued to expand. BKG was not what started the reiterations of Voltron; DotU is the popular/influential “starting point” of the franchise. 2). gives you more material. DotU actually incorporates several anime shows together. So if you only watch BKG, you miss important things like Pidge’s twin brother, Chip, given as Chip was not a part of BKG. 3). is less painful than going the other direction from Japanese --> American versions. Watching the Japanese original first can make the USA version awkward... as you are then overtly aware of the USA’s less-than-stellar censorship, scene splicing, and awkwardly changed dialogue.

If you want to watch a show to understand the past iterations of Voltron, watch Defender of the Universe. The American version of the show is where you’re going to get the main bulk of what Voltron has become.

If you want to watch a show that has better story, logic, production, intrigue, action, and maturity, watch Beast King GoLion. It’s the unedited, uncensored original that the story was intended to be Back In The Day. By that, I mean actual character deaths, gore, swearing, and more exciting, higher stakes. Not going to lie, the dialogue is hugely better in BKG than DotU.

But I would not recommend Defender of the Universe, Beast King GoLion, or one of the other starting anime shows to people who get put off by outdated shows or people who are only interested in watching Really Great Shows. Yes, DotU has a lot of love, respect, and nostalgia for people who grew up watching it, but it hasn’t aged well, and frankly there are lots of corny, sexist, or weird parts to it. And, again, it’s not that great in the plot category.

For you specifically @thefuriousnightfury, no, I can’t see you enjoying it. I imagine you wouldn’t have the patience for its outdatedness and very episodic, repetitious nature. Not many episodes develop plot. Most episodes are basically Zarkon/Lotor/Haggar sends a robeast to Arus and Voltron fights it.

So personally, I really enjoy reading the old comics and watching the old shows. But they’re not going to be for everybody!

If anyone’s curious about how different DotU and BKG are at any one scene, I’ve transcribed parallel moments from one part in the first episode (keeping character names the same to make it easier to follow). Yes, I swear, these are the same scene!!!

Beast King GoLion (Japanese original, English subs)

Hunk: Damned vulture, it’s waiting for the flesh to rot off our bones. Pidge: Don’t you toy with us! Get lost! Shiro: Not too bad, Shorty. Pidge: The Deathblack Beastmen are chowing down on slave stew. Hunk: Are we just gonna sit here and wait to be turned into those things? Dammit! Lance: You must be joking. I’d rather not have to eat slave stew. Keith: But if we resist Daibazaal, we’ll be killed. Shiro: We’ll break out. Lance: Say what? Shiro: The only way we’ll survive is by getting out of here. Lance: We’ll need a spaceship to get away from the Galra Empire. Keith: We can steal a slave ship. I took a look when I was outside for hard labor, and they don’t keep too close an eye on the hangar. We can make it. Hunk: The hard part is all the soldiers on guard in the corridor... Keith: We’re space pilots, aren’t we? Hunk: Let’s give it a shot! Lance: Yeah, but... they say nobody’s ever escaped from Slave Castle. Pidge: That’s what makes it interesting. Hunk: All five of us are as good as dead anyway. Lance: May as well. Keith: That decides it. We’re escaping! Now we just wait for nightfall!

Voltron: Defender of the Universe (USA English edited counterpart)

Hunk: Look at that window up there. If we could only reach it... Pidge: I can reach it! Sven: Ugly birds! Pidge: Ooh, wow. I can look right down into the monster’s feeding pit, and he’s eating up a storm. Let’s try to sneak out while the robeast is busy eating his lunch. Hunk: But before we leave, I’d like to get my hands on Zarkon. Lance: We’re in a pretty tight spot, but we’ve gotten out of worse before. Keith: Right! We’ll really have to use our wits to get out of this trap. Sven: I’m thinking. Lance: Me, too. Sven: When the guards come to take us to the arena, we’ll rush them! Lance: Real clever, Sven. Oughta be good for a million laughs! Keith: We could all use a laugh right now. We’ve got to use our heads! We can’t panic. We’ll find a way outta here. Hear anything, Hunk? Hunk: Quiet. Keith: We don’t have much time. Let’s think of something! Hunk: We gotta move, now! Lance: We’ll never make it! This is it. Fine. Finale. We’ve had it. Pidge: Hunk, could you twist those bars? Hunk: Yeah, I could bend ’em easy, if I could just get up there. Lance: Then go! Keith: It’s a long shot, but worth it. You’ll have to work very fast and quietly, Hunk. Sven and Lance, you take turns standing guard at the door. Pidge, you get that rope they had us tied up with when we came in. Nobody can keep us in a dingy hole like this! We’re space explorers, and we need space!

AGAIN, yes, I SWEAR, you can check for yourself, these are the same scene!

#thefuriousnightfury #long post #non-dragons #Voltron #Voltron: Defender of the Universe #DotU #Defender of the Universe #Voltron Defender of the Universe #Beast King Golion #BKG #analysis #my analysis #reply

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honeylikewords · 7 years

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window shopping (joe teague)

(gif source)

(hi guys!! sorry i haven’t been around for a bit- i’ve been really busy! but i promise lots of fun posts very soon!! i have more for the beauty and the beast au, and i have a few shane things coming up!! feel free to send requests- i think i’m all out!! anyway, here’s a piece for joe teague from mob city, which i’m OBSESSED with and that i’ve gotten my friend luce into watching!! i hope you all enjoy!)

(warnings: none!)

(written mostly for @doct0rstrange <3)

Dickinson's Department Store. It's a small but old-enough-to-have-a-legacy shop that Joe passes every morning on his way to work. He parks a couple blocks from the station (because the streets of LA fill up ridiculously fast) and every single morning, without fail, he walks by the storefront window of Dickinson's Department Store. Likewise, every single morning, without fail, he finds himself engrossed in the window dressings.

They're always fantastic and detailed, articulated down to the most minute element. He remembers the Easter display they had, and how he'd actually stopped to stare for a few moments.

There had been countless stuffed bunnies posed ever-so-gently, frolicking in shockingly realistic fields of synthetic green grass. A handpainted background of rolling hills and a bright blue sky had been hung up, framing little tea tables decorated with Fabergé eggs on delicate stands, the tabletops covered in elegant paint palettes and brushes in crystal vases to simulate some garden party of Easter egg decorators. Joe half-believed that any moment, someone would return to their tables to finish their fragile artworks, and he'd found himself smiling.

Every day it was something new, something different, and it never ceased to amaze Joe that somewhere, someone was planning out a brand new, unfathomably detailed setting to create in that six foot long, five foot tall, and three foot deep glass box.

Today's window dressing has mannequins, something Joe has noticed is a little rare in these particular windows. Every other storefront in LA has big, plastic mannequins dressed in the shop's finest, but not Dickinson's, even though they sell clothes, too. He pauses and surveys the window, curious.

There are two mannequins, one at either end of the window. One is a model of a woman, the other a male model. They face one another, but are separated by the entire length of the window. They are dressed surprisingly simply- the man in an everyday suit and tie (it strangely reminds Joe of his own suits), and the woman in a straightforward blue dress. Between them are stacks of suitcases piled into a somewhat pyramid-like shape, and some of them are opened, revealing bursts of flowers, clustered together and popping up out of these pieces of luggage.

There's something subtly longing about the mannequins, Joe thinks. Their eyes, though vacant, are fixed on one another's faces, and there's even a slight positioning of their arms so that their hands just barely seem to be reaching toward the person they gaze upon.

Joe is entranced, his eyes scanning over every tiny inclusion in the scene, but he snaps himself out of it when he hears a distant police siren. He's gotta get to work. With something close to apprehension, he turns on his heel and heads to the station, mind turning over the various tasks on his list he'll need to get done. Still, throughout his day, he finds himself wondering about Dickinson's.

He ends up having a late night at the office. Some joker on the force went and shot a suspect in custody, so Joe had to work through a metric ton of paperwork. By the time he's done, it's edging into one o'clock and he's exhausted.

The walk back to his car is mostly uneventful- all the shops are closed, their lights hushed to silence and their windows shuttered. But as he steps into view of Dickinson's, he sees that the lights are still singing and the door is slightly ajar.

As he rounds the corner, he can see a woman standing in the window. By now, the suitcases are long gone and the mannequins dismissed, and she is hovering in the little glass box, a pencil behind her ear as she pores over a legal pad in her hands. There's a new background hanging- what appears to be an ocean full of sailboats with bright nautical regalia, their colors flying high. Next to the woman's feet are countless paper birds- seagulls, Joe identifies- and a life preserver that seems surprisingly weathered (might it be real?). But more than the set, Joe finds himself admiring the woman in the window.

Her hair is tucked up messily, flyaways branching out around her face like a halo, and the warm store lights catch the shape of her face in such a pleasant way that she seems like she's glowing, even as her brow is furrowed in concentration. She taps the eraser of her pencil against her lips and bites them gently, staring at the notes that she holds, and Joe feels a surprising rush of butterflies in his stomach. She's beautiful.

He realizes he's staring when she looks up from her legal pad and meets his eye, jumping a bit at his presence. Joe puts his hands up to show that he means no harm, flashing his crooked smile at her. She puts a hand to her chest, miming a heart attack but smiling a little, too.

On impulse, and without really thinking, Joe steps through the open door. She's even more beautiful without the glass divider. She has a little apron on, tied around her waist, the pockets of which are full of pencils, rulers, measuring tapes, scissors- an entire entourage of tools. She steps down from the window and dusts her hands on her apron, and Joe thinks that she looks like the most darlingly domestic person on the face of God's good earth.

"Hi," he says. "I'm Joe. Teague. Joe Teague."

"Hello there, Joe Teague," she replies, smiling. "Can I help you?"

"Are you the, uh, person who does all-" -he gestures loosely at the window, somehow hoping that the movement conveys his meaning- "-This?"

"The window dressing?"

"Yes, that, exactly that." He feels like he's choking on his own words. Real smooth, Teague.

"I do, actually. That's my job: professional window dresser." She seems a bit sheepish, smiling down at her feet and shuffling the toes of her shoes on the carpet that covers the entrance to Dickinson's. "It's not much, but I like it."

"Are you the only one who does 'em?"

"I am, yes."

"Are you- are you serious?" Joe is shocked. All that work, all that detail, all that effort comes from just one woman?

"Um, yes? I'm the only set dresser at Dickinson's, as far as I know."

"Wow. It's just- they're so- I mean, I can't believe- they're very beautiful," he finally manages. She giggles at his stumbling, and for some reason, it makes him feel like the most wonderfully lucky man in the world. "I can tell you put a lot into 'em."

"Well, thank you. That's the first time anyone's ever stopped me to say that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Not a lot of people see the window dressers, you know. They only see the dressings. Of course, I mean, that's how it ought to be- it's about the sets, not about me. But I do really appreciate it, Mister Teague."

"Joe, please," he mumbles, shyly smiling. Something about her makes him shy all over again.

She smiles back at him, and he's momentarily oblivious to his surroundings. It doesn't matter that he's in a closed department store at one in the goddamn morning, gawking at a girl he's only just met- he's happy.

"Well, Mister- um, Joe," corrects the woman, fidgeting with the pencil behind her ear in the most adorable way, "I better get back to the windows. They don't dress themselves. They're a bit like kids, that way."

He laughs at her little joke and she grins at him, the warmth between them increasing by the minute. He's tired from the day, yes, but being in here and having a conversation this nice reinvigorates him. For a moment, he hovers, unsure of what he should do until she begins walking up to the window again.

"Do you need help?" The question leaves his lips before he even knows what he means by it. She turns, looking over her shoulder at him, then gives him a curious, enchanting look.

"Um, alright," she smiles. "Come on up."

She extends her hand and takes his, pulling him up into the box of the window. It's smaller and larger than he imagined, and it's certainly a bit of a squeeze to have a man as big as him in there alongside another person. He tightens his shoulders and gives her a goofy smile as she hands him a seagull, giggling to herself a bit.

"They have a little fishing wire on them," she says, pointing at the place where the invisible thread is. "Hang them so that they look like they're flying."

The two of them work together to finish the window, speaking softly and exchanging shy but bright smiles when they accidentally bump into one another or end up caught in a tight squeeze, face to face as they try to brush past the other in the condensed space.

The time flies by, and soon enough, the display is finished. A boat made from old books stacked to make the hull sails on a sea of bright blue kerchiefs and scarves, little white gloves popping up here and there to simulate seafoam. The birds dangle in convincingly lifelike positions, swaying gently every time the two of them stir up even a slight breeze.

Joe glances over at his compatriot and smiles, watching her survey her work. There's a bit of pride on her face, but also consternation- she squints at the window and leans in as if displeased.

"Do you think I put enough curve in the sail? It looks a little-" "It looks perfect to me," Joe interjects. She looks over at him with a soft expression, somehow surprised that he's impressed with their work.

"It's nearly three in the morning," he mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck. "Lady like you needs her sleep."

"And an officer like you needs his," she replies.

But neither wants to move. They stand in momentary stasis, smiling at one another and hoping that they don't have to be the one who breaks the beautiful bubble they currently reside in.

Joe looks over her face and decides to be brave, to be bold. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his memo pad, scrawling his number and name on it.

"If you, erm, ever want someone to swing by at an ungodly hour and help you dress a window," he chuckles, "Gimme a call."

"And what if I'd like to go to dinner? Would this same number be alright to call?"

He blinks in surprise. She's beaming at him, blushing a bit, and he's utterly endeared. He grins and nods, laughing a little.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think that this would be a real good number to call if you want to get taken out to dinner."

"I'll make sure to call, then."

She pockets the number, then taps his chest with her finger.

"Pad, please."

He hastily produces it and watches her write out her number in the prettiest handwriting he thinks he's ever seen. She signs her name and even puts a little heart at the end of it, then hands the pad back to him. Their fingers brush in the exchange, and Joe feels electricity run through him.

"I expect you to call and ask me about my plans for the next window," she grins.

"I'll make sure to call," he parrots.

They only part ways when Joe sees her begin to stifle a yawn and he smiles at her, heart full.

"Get some sleep, doll."

At the term of endearment her eyes brighten and she blushes a bright pink, one so sweet he thinks he'll have a cavity when he wakes up. Joe smiles and reaches out, squeezing her hand.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Joe."

For the rest of the night, as he drives home, Joe wonders how soon he'll be able to call her without looking like a lovestruck puppy. He wonders if seven am is too early. He grins all the way home.

#me at three am: LUCY JOE TEAGUE IS A MENACE TO MY LIFE #original #joe teague #mob city #joe teague x reader #joe teague imagine #im gonna slide this into other tags too so ppl can see it there as well i guess #frank castle #frank castle x reader #frank castle imagine #thats all im leaving it there otherwise its too much

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entergamingxp · 4 years

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Guard Crush on Possible DLCs, Development Stories and More

May 13, 2020 7:00 AM EST

Guard Crush, developers of Streets of Rage 4, shared fun stories behind the revival of Sega’s legendary series in a video interview.

French Twitch team Gwak held on May 10 a video interview with Olivier Deriviere, Cyrille Lagarigue and Jordi Asensio, developers of Streets of Rage 4. Cyrille Lagarigue and Jordi Asensio are the founders of Guard Crush. Olivier Deriviere is one of the many talented composers of Streets of Rage 4, who handled nearly all the stage BGMs. Gwak is a pretty cool Twitch group made of talented individuals, though it’s not like the majority of those who’ll click on this article can understand french. Anyway, through the interview, we learned many fun details and development stories on the game. Most notably how Asensio wished to put iconic Sega character, Shinobi‘s Joe Musashi, as a playable character in Streets of Rage 4, but was turned down by Sega Japan. We’ve translated and summarized the whole interview below.

Streets of Rage 4 Development stories from Guard Crush

Streets of Rage 4 was first pitched by Guard Crush to Sega Japan. Guard Crush, Lizardcube and Dotemu already had a link open with Sega Japan thanks to the remake of Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap. Sega Japan approved the project and pretty much gave the french developers free rein, only giving regular feedback.

Sega is a huge company, and the French developers were only in touch with a small division at Sega Japan, which they regularly sent new builds to, with new features. They always got positive feedback. That division is made of people who also played Streets of Rage in their childhood, so it was very easy to talk with them about SoR 4‘s development. Adding ramen as a recovery item was a suggestion of Sega Japan.

Sega of America learned of Streets of Rage 4‘s existence at the same time as everyone else with the reveal trailer.

After the reveal, the majority of the vocal Streets of Rage community: in Europe, in South America, etc, was very supportive. The french devs mostly got positive messages during development. There were nearly zero “noooooo don’t ruin my childhood!!” type of reactions, often seen with sequels like these.

The developers mentioned they’re happy with how the game turned out. It’s only been out for a few days though, so they don’t really realize yet tons of people around the world are praising the game. One thing the developers feared is people not understanding the game, and claiming it’s just a nostalgia fueled shallow game where you walk to the right and hit people. IGN’s review got cited as an example of people not getting the game. The Streets of Rage 4 team did a lot of choices that can be considered unconventional or anti-modern by some, like how they didn’t add things like EXP, levels and skill trees. Game systems from the RPG genre that pretty much every mainstream game borrows nowadays. In the end, judging from feedback, a vast majority of players do understand the game, and the devs are happy a lot of people dig the combo-based gameplay.

Another thing the devs were wary of is whether fans’ enthusiasm on the net would actually translate into sales, but it seems like it went well. Streets of Rage 4 publisher Dotemu is the sole entity deciding to share sales numbers or not. For now, they didn’t share any, so the devs didn’t explicitly talk about sales numbers either.

Streets of Rage 4 gameplay philosophy by Guard Crush

Guard Crush has some Streets of Rage 4 DLCs ideas in mind. However, no DLCs are officially in development, and they don’t know yet if they’ll actually make DLCs or not.

Guard Crush tried to make Streets of Rage 4 as accessible as possible, that’s why the game has many difficulty levels. The game was developed on hard, and the other difficulties were added later. Overall, they wanted the game to focus on scoring, that’s why the stages are short, and there are few waves of enemies.

Bare Knuckle 4‘s main base is Bare Knuckle 2. One reason why 2 is so memorable is because where and when you choose to move is important. It’s the same in 4. Where you choose to position yourself, where you decide to gather the enemies, learning where the enemies will spawn, is important. All of this was thought up with scoring in mind. That’s also why the game doesn’t include a running system like Streets of Rage 3. It would make placement less important. The developers wish for Streets of Rage 4 players to think ahead, not to react by reflex. It’s not a reflex based game like most 3D beat em all nowadays. That’s why there’s no dodge button either.

Another reason why there’s no running function like Streets or Rage 3 is how it can make your fingers tired pretty fast to dash all the time. If all characters could dash, there’s no point in not dashing, so you just keep doing it.

The Guard Crush developers also gave some good words of wisdom when it comes to game development. They stressed how developers who work on triple A games are just as passionate as indie developers like them. However, triple A devs simply can’t express that passion as much, as they’re only a small part of a huge machine. They also stressed out many players nowadays forget developers are human beings and players too. Developers do realize it when the game they released is bad. There are always reasons why a game turned out badly, and these can be either valid reasons or bad reasons.

In Streets of Rage 2, using your special move uses some HP, which leaves the player frustrated. Using the special move feels as if you’re playing badly. Guard Crush improved this system by making the HP loss temporary, and getting it back if you manage to net a combo.

Streets of Rage 4 includes many references to other games, anime, etc. These just came in naturally, and the developers didn’t really think about it when making the game. A lot of the references and Easter eggs in the stages were added by Background Artist Julian Nquyen You, who was greatly praised during the interview.

Streets of Rage 4 players already managed to find every gameplay subtlety in the game, including things Guard Crush didn’t know themselves.

On Streets of Rage 4 ‘s music

The developers managed to get so many different composers, most notably Japanese composers, thanks to Brave Wave Productions. It was decided from the start that Olivier Deriviere would handle the stage BGMs. Meanwhile, each one of the other composers would do a boss BGM. Each composer got some visuals of the boss they were composing for.

The title screen BGM, character select screen BGM and the first part of the first stage’s NGM are handled by Yuzo Koshizo. The final boss BGM is him as well. Olivier Deriviere explained this is to show the link between the past works and to show Yuzo Koshiro’s importance in the series. The game starts and ends with Yuzo Koshiro music.

Jet Set Radio composer Hideki Naganuma did not participate in Streets or Rage 4′s OST as planned. He ended up not having enough time in his schedule.

DotEmu only got the rights for the Streets of Rage 1’s Game Gear version OST, not the Megadrive version. That’s why only the Game Gear OST is in SoR 4.

Most of the BGM names are references to anime, games, etc. Ti un fou, which means “dude you’re crazy” in French, is named this way because this is what the others at Guard Crush replied when Deriviere finished and sent them the track.

Streets of Rage 4 is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. If you’re planning to grab the game, you might want to check out DotEmu’s statement on physical editions. Be sure to check out our review. I personally didn’t have the time to try out the game yet, but I can’t imagine myself disliking it, seeing I’ve been regularly playing Streets of Rage games since as far as I remember.

May 13, 2020 7:00 AM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/05/guard-crush-on-possible-dlcs-development-stories-and-more/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=guard-crush-on-possible-dlcs-development-stories-and-more

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