#cc meta

[asharkapologist]

mini rant about Julia Brine's wasted potential

hi. I am back with even more Ad Astra stuff, this time with something to complain about. I'm hardly the first person to talk about this, but it's something that's bothered me ever since I played The Conspiracy. Spoilers under the cut.

Julia Brine is so underdeveloped and underused compared to her fellow Ad Astrans -- she's literally the only one of them who doesn't get a quote on the wiki page -- and Pretty Simple did not always use her screen time well. I don't hate Julia or anything, but she ranks as my second least favorite of the main five Ad Astrans (we don't talk about the junior Ad Astrans), not because I don't like her but because there's so little to work with. Note that this isn't a character analysis of her or anything, just complaining about how she was written.

She is introduced SO late in the game, for one. We literally see Louis in the first case in the entire game on video, are properly introduced to him in the second district and he pops in and out a few times throughout the districts, are introduced to Bateman in the second district even if he goes away for a while, are introduced to Rozetta in the first case of the third district and she is extremely important to the rest of the game, and are introduced to Warren halfway through the game, and although Warren doesn't have as much of a presence as the other three initially, he does a lot in Newmark. But Julia isn't introduced until the 8th district, and she barely does anything in Newmark compared to the other three. I feel like they definitely could have woven her into the game earlier somehow. Maybe her company has some shareholders in the Financial Center, or she's invited to some events in Maple Heights or something. I don't know, they surely could have done something to make her relevant before the third to last district!

Speaking of which, her story is so rushed in Spring Fields. That district was juggling Mia's story, the Fornax plot, and Bateman's reintroduction. I think that Mia's story was handled pretty well, but the same cannot be said for Julia. Her plot was chilling-- burn the fields, then distribute corn she'd been growing laced with drugs to brainwash and mind control the population through their food. But it's also over by the halfway point of the district and she's unceremoniously dumped in prison and swapped for Bateman, who the team focused on. I feel like the Fornax plot should have been the entire district, with Mia's story being in some other district or somehow tied to Julia's. You can release Bateman from prison, sure, but have him and Julia's stories combine somehow, so it doesn't seem like you're just abruptly ending one Ad Astra story thread and swapping it for another.

And finally, Newmark, the biggest bit of wasted potential. I've heard people say that Julia should have survived the blast and been a suspect in Blaze of Glory instead of Joe, but I think if they did that, then Joe would be pretty underdeveloped, since he also appeared sparingly up until that point, plus they were kinda setting up something with him starting in Reap What You Sow, and I feel like him surviving the neohumans initially and being in Blaze of Glory makes sense logically with the way his character arc was going in Newmark and wouldn't have made sense if Julia was there instead. Either way, lose-lose situation, I guess. She kidnapped Jake and Carter, yes, but Ad Astra is more of a felt, not seen, presence at the start of Newmark. They're mostly running and hiding then (while still managing to hurt and traumatize people in the process because that's what they do best sorrynotsorry). But the fact that. The ONLY thing that Pretty Simple could figure out to write for Julia in Reap What You Sow. Is having her be in love with Christian "I fantasize about torturing women and brutally murdered a woman for rejecting me and enjoyed it" Bateman is WILD. WHAT?! Joe and Rozetta both were vital to the plot of that case, but Julia? She did nothing! The only thing she did was talk about how she was in love with Bateman but he insulted her! How on EARTH is that a good use of her limited (because you don't talk to her in the AI) screen time?! Yes, I know that unfortunately, some women do fall in love with murderers. But like.... seriously??? Pretty Simple couldn't think of another way she could have had strife with Bateman?? That's it??? Of all the characters she could be in love with.... him?? Meera is cursing her out somewhere.

And then of course, she agrees to fight with Joe and then later with Rozetta against the neohumans. Joe initially proposes the idea, saying Julia was already on his side regarding the idea, and you have to work to find and convince Rozetta to do so, once again pushing Julia aside in favor of Warren and Rozetta being developed. It's nice that she agreed with Warren to fight against the neohumans, but that agreement happened completely off-screen, with no conversation with her one-on-one. And then she dies in an explosion unceremoniously. The end.

It's unfortunate. They really could have done a lot with her, but just....they kept pushing her aside in favor of other members of Ad Astra throughout the game and did not always use her screen time wisely. She could have done a lot more and been a lot better.

Thanks for reading!

[aenor-llelo]

sometimes i trick myself into thinking "yeah, you could consider me a new content creator" 

and then two minutes later i'm going off from personal experience about how the influx of scripted cinematic minecraft content in 2021 is not a degradation or rejection of improvisational writing, but actually a logical resurgence of the first gen mcyt machinima era, re-enabled by the increased audience of the minecraft genre, and the improvements of both independent cinema technology and the game itself

 because i've personally watched this evolve, as a creator, over the past decade.

i was in fandom, yes, but i was watching the evolution of fandom and content as a creator myself, so i kind of always had an eye on the technical meta of it all

content creation has overall become so much more accessible? 

and so much more collaborative it used to be like. you had to make it on your own, and even when you had friends in your CC bubble you didn't touch each other. but now it's all connected. collaborating with and actively promoting other CCs is now the common and respected practice, kind of even necessary as a modern element there's a shift now (a GOOD ONE) in the CC culture of collaborative promotion, the recognition that other CCs are not competitors but other potential audiences and avenues of better content CCs no longer exist as islands, it's in groups where they promote similar/compatible content and actively help each other improve their stuff it used to be a big deal when CCs had groups or collabs, but now it's the common practice

idk i’ve seen shit man

[harristanning]

Is Harrison left or right handed?

This is actually a pretty tough question- because, as far as I know, most cartoon characters are ambidextrous as it makes animating easier, and remembering which hand is the dominant hand, especially in a more action-y scene, is difficult.

So, if we look at these pictures of Harrison-

These either show him directly using his left hand, or indicates he does use it (the spoon in the potatoes is on the left side).   

But THESE-

show that he’s more than capable of using his right hand. He can even shoot fire out of it.

And of course, he can use both easily. 

In conclusion Harrison is ambidextrous thanks for coming to my TedTalk

[mryddinwilt]

“With hope nothing can tear this family apart.”

Yeah I am going to go ahead and say that was a very purposeful and meaningful phrase to use as was having both Regina and Hook included under the umbrella of “family” and them all toasting together. David could have said a lot about the power of hope but specifically talking about families being torn apart was echoed at the end when Killian gave him hope and then again at the docks when Killian references the toast when he asks for the blessing. 

I also think it will key to the further developments of the Captain Charming relationship. 

[gukkiecrush]

This is Chris and Darren in the purest form of having each other and protecting what matters to them, which is why I will never give up them. As said, Chris and Darren are yin & yang in a sense that Darren is a goofball who's the most humble person then Chris who's an old soul with a witty, sarcastic humor. They compliment greatly and in a sense make each other laugh and love life. One day we will see this come to light but for now those secret smiles and heart eyes are what make it worth it!!

[gukkiecrush]

It's amazing to witness the love Chris and Darren have for each other because no matter where they are their eyes gravitate like magnets. They're yin and yang, who are so damn proud of each other plus protect one another from harm. It's a beautiful thing to see and be apart of...