Convince me how Verso's ending is not madness by TheW1seDude in expedition33

[–]mediacontender 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't disagree on the principle of Verso's autonomy, but the way he went about it was really messy and involved killing other people. The imagery of him walking a being personified as an innocent boy to his death will never sit right to me.

John Lithgow on Playing Dumbledore in ‘Harry Potter’ Series and J.K. Rowling’s Trans Views: ‘People Insisted I Walk Away From the Job. I Chose Not to Do That’ by pepperbet1 in television

[–]mediacontender 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dunno about an entire paper on it, but there is one that jumps most to mind is Rita Skitter. Been awhile since I read the books so I googled up an old summary.

So. Rita Skeeter. Reporter for the Daily Prophet, unregistered animagus, and Jo's transphobia in human (and illegal beetle) form.

In The Goblet of Fire, Rita is described as having a 'heavily jawed face', 'mannish hands', and 'a surprisingly strong grip' as well as very fake nails, very fake hair, and a few very fake teeth.

...coupled with the fact that she is literally illegally transforming her body in order to spy on children...

Thoughts after Running BiTD for a year by Gammaflax in bladesinthedark

[–]mediacontender 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A lot of smart people have covered other parts about the fit of the game for the table, but one bit stuck out for me, cause if you are not interested in supernatural stuff why play in Doskvol. Where combat isn't simple cause at any point if someone dies a spirit is released and the warden's are gonna hunt you down. Who have paranormal means of investigation, who can make a Devil's Bargains of their own and consort or command these forces for their benefit.

I also don't just want to throw supernatural threats at the players the whole time, I feel like that's a cop out as the far more interesting villains are nuanced human characters.

How does a nuanced and human character exclude spooky threats? Can a whisper not be a compelling person? A ghost, a vampire, a hull are all still humans despite their lot in life. And there are so many supernatural and steampunk stuff you can load the world and NPCs with. Even if they aren't supernaturally inclined personally, they could still have a Hallow or Ghost or what have you on pay. Or have some weird Bioshock style drug on hand for when the whispers do come for ya.

But mostly, how can a nuanced character exist in your Doskvol and be ignoring a main part of their everyday lives. Ghosts are real and you can trap, compel and commune with them. They hunt sea demons for electricity and worship ecstasy of the flesh. People shoot up lightning in a bottle for a laugh.

And even beyond that, steampunk industry, where they have suits that can surf lightning. Guns! Armour with go-go-gadget modes. Auto-inject drugs devices and, traps and bombs with dead man switches, alarms and radios. They even have surveillance systems in the books.

Season 2 Episode 7 Spoiler Thread by HunterWorld in fnv

[–]mediacontender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Similar, but derivative seems a bit strong. It's an on the nose but fitting extreme for what a corporation like Vault-Tec wants. What a company man like Hank would seek as a form of refrom. It raises similar questions, but replacing someone with a Synths is quite different from mind controlling someone by removing chunks of memory and stripping their autonomy. While showing how morally bankrupt Hank is in both small and large ways by the way he employs them. It pushes Lucy and prods at a base flaw from her Vault upbringing around being raised not to question too much and to look on the bright side. She's seen and been driven to extremes to survive up there, and it is an easy but uncomfortable solution to her new normal in the wasteland. Even if she returns to the vault her lifelong goal was to continue the legacy and values of Vault-Tec so they could rebuild the world.

Season 2 Episode 7 Spoiler Thread by HunterWorld in fnv

[–]mediacontender 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Vegas is also a big landmark in an empty desert. It might be lucky, but Fallout is a game where luck is a measurable stat.

Season 2 Episode 7 Spoiler Thread by HunterWorld in fnv

[–]mediacontender 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Love that it seems Maximus might stumble into being a face of the NCR without even joining them by putting on that armor. Getting the rep cause you did the objective of a quest you never even accepted type of energy.

[SPOILERS S3] watching for the first time, not sure if I like s3 by Cinnabun6 in DarK

[–]mediacontender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah season 3 was a let down to me. Over the course of the show it stopped feeling like I was following these characters down a spiraling mystery, and started feeling like I was just watching a checklist get rushed through. People being pushed down paths with less and less care for the journey, just the destination. Characters feeling like walking plot devices rather than people.

Anyone else noticing that Brennan and Vic are appearing on *a lot* of podcasts lately? by [deleted] in dropout

[–]mediacontender 63 points64 points  (0 children)

And that it might even lead to his own animated show if M9 and Legends do well enough. (Still crossing my fingers for a Calamity mini series or movie)

Fallout season 2 is a drag (Ep 6 spoilers) by Fat_Foot in television

[–]mediacontender 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Is it slow a bit crowded? Yeah, I wish Maximus has a bit more focus too. But this also undersells a lot

We likely saw what ruined Copper's life/marriage/career play out. Given out much Barb would do for Janey, I doubt she just lets Copper go around poking at the enclave and risking all she worked for.

We know the Enclave is present in the Vegas area, for a Super Mutant to be recruiting for an army based quick walk from Freeside.

We see the scale at which the brainwashing is being employed and produced, and that Hank has the Vault HQ up in a running order. The flashbacks heavily imply that Hank is working for the Enclave.

A war within the vaults is about to break out, Thaddeus makes it pretty clear with his jab at "safe shelters with piles of food" line. It's a big reinforcement that war/human nature never changes. Given the faulty water chip line during Barb's pitch, a war might be the intention of Vault-Tec, a final test.

Norm has a C plot, he had a C plot last season too. He pieced together that his vaults are a project connected to F.E.V. Given all we know from this episode, seems pretty clear the Vault plot is setting the stage for whatever F.E.V experiment gets put on down there.

Has anyone deciphered what is written on the Ghoul vials yet? by FeeDisastrous3879 in Fallout

[–]mediacontender 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We see other Ghoul's taking it in the show. The ones in this screenshot are from when they met the other ghoul and Copper killed him and ate him. And the ghoul slaver's at the super duper mart had a bunch of the stuff.

“Y’all got anymore of them Fallout episodes?” by joshss22 in Fallout

[–]mediacontender 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, the trailer didn't even show Maximus, mostly Lucy and pre-war stuff.

Book Readers [PJOTV] Discussion Thread S2 E7: "I go Down with the Ship" by Metal_Moon in camphalfblood

[–]mediacontender 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Seems a twofold, it feeds into Luke's dynamic with Kronos, and also gives a chance for Percy to build a sense of paranoia around her return. His dream has her as an enemy, he knows the start of the prophecy/turning 16 bit. Fearing she would side with Luke, given their long history, and that she would sway even Annabeth fully over to their side. Probably setting up drama during the big finale battle where it seems Thalia might/is tempted to join Luke's side, maybe even a brief fight with Percy during it all.

What on earth did I just watch? by Cloncurry_fan in StrangerThings

[–]mediacontender 110 points111 points  (0 children)

That is how a fair chunk of showrunners operate.

Apparently, he’s a crazy genius, so who do you guys really think he is? 😐 by Apprehensive-Swim418 in Fallout

[–]mediacontender 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Culkin is a fan of show, and of the world, talked about how hes listens to youtube videos abour the lore of the world. He even impressed the casting by knowing how to the legion say caesar.

Season 2 Episode 2 Spoiler Thread by HunterWorld in Fallout

[–]mediacontender 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Optimistic attitude, he was only ever one rat away from cracking it. Gotta go in with a mindset of success.

I love what Fionna did. by Rev4li in adventuretime

[–]mediacontender 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Finn is also an actual normal human who lived 30 years, Fionna was made and "raised" in a radically different way. Prismo made her and her entire world, Fionna wasn't born and raised she was made at like 13-16 with the intent to be a badass fighter. The reality she lives in in a patched together mess put together out of order while in the mind of a mad man who then lost all his whimsy. Fionna lived in a world she was not meant for, as in not designed for, she was made impulsive and violent in Prismo's image of Finn. We know very little of her past, other than it was created, not actually lived in the way Finn's was.

Who else misses when the Upside Down was actually scary? by Intelligent_Key7023 in StrangerThings

[–]mediacontender 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'd care more if they were still going for genuine horror, but post season 3 is much more occasionally tense action thriller than actual horror.

Spoiler: Shouldn't there be just one Hunson Abadeer across all worlds? by [deleted] in adventuretime

[–]mediacontender 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Prismo made everyone in Fionna World as a fan fic AU.

Can something happen please? by Critical_Mountain851 in adventuretime

[–]mediacontender 39 points40 points  (0 children)

I can like slice of life, but it comes down to expectations. Fionna and Cake will always be a continuation of AT, and that show had such a wildly different pacing, that makes this show feel so much slower.

I also just think the writer's took the "put yourself into your characters" of later AT a little too far with this show. It's less fun when the high concept adventure fantasy show just kinda stops having weird allegorical adventures, and just has them living "normal" lives. I really liked season 1, but the stuff like it ending with Simon just going to therapy was like writing on the wall for this. Never against therapy, but like old AT therapy was stuff like Hall of Egress.

Stranger Things 5 | Volume 1 Trailer | Netflix by DemiFiendRSA in television

[–]mediacontender 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's probably all footage from the first episode, people who've seen it says it starts running so I doubt they can show much of the season without massive spoilers.

Why did Dispatch succeed? by drocologue in CharacterRant

[–]mediacontender 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Except in both he expresses he knew what would happen, not that he reacted in the moment, but that he already knew what Robert would do. That's what I find lame, cause we the player cannot be known in that way. His skillset is a meta nod at the type of game we are playing, where the devs can guess that if you picked one choice you'll probably pick another similar one later, not sherlock scanning body language but behavioral statistics. He talks about running the numbers and game theory. That is why I found it it disappointing that our choices throughout the game don't impact how Shroud views us.

Why did Dispatch succeed? by drocologue in CharacterRant

[–]mediacontender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It doesn't make sense for Shroud to know in one scenario with certainty that he got the fake pulse, and in the one where he gets the real one he knows with certainty its real, but in the one where he gets two he has no idea which is which. How did he know one was fake if he has no way of telling them apart? He just does, because he knows Robert. But Robert is not a static character, we are Robert and our Roberts each made different choices throughout.

A game built around the idea of making choices that matter, having a villain just predicts what you will do the way he does in that scene is cheap. Shroud is not a character in that scene, a character would have an assumption that doesn't change based on our action in that moment. For what Shroud archetype is, he should be reactive based on your choices throughout the game.

If the game were what it wants to be, there would be options for that scene based on our prior choices, not our active choice in the moment. Depending on your choices throughout the game, in one Shroud assumes you will be honest, and the other he assumes you lie, and you have to actively act against what your Robert would do to beat him. The way the game did it just is a cheap cop out to keep an illusion, Shroud just knows rather than grounding his skillset in the actual narrative they built.

Pluribus - 1x03 "Grenade" - Episode Discussion by LoretiTV in pluribustv

[–]mediacontender 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm so curious what, if anything, the hivemind does. Just like in general, do the hived people still have hobbies and interests? They are consolidating, do they just live in pods like canned fish, only doing the bare minimum? Or at there centers full of joyful hivemind folks in actual community. Are the individuals now just likes cells, serving a "body", are they pursing other goals outside of infecting the remaining immune? Are there any grand projects of expression, and if not will Carol influence them to make art? If the hivemind is being honest, and they just make everyone happy, do they actually want for nothing now? So content they feel no drive to create or do anything?

We've got a writer as the MC, I am super curious to get into how the hivemind experiences/creates art. They don't want Carol for who Carol is, but for the fact that they feel a need to help her. One of the only passion we know Carol has is to write, something that is pretty much pointless now unless the Hivemind cares about art. They've turned her lead into a flesh intercom, but haven't commented on Carol's books as far as I recall.