Anyone But Me Episode 8

May 23rd, 2009 by Brianna

This episode was all about being a coward. Afraid. Vivian’s afraid of coming out again, Archie’s too afraid to tell Elisabeth how he feels, or even really talk to anyone except Vivian and perhaps Aster. Aster’s afraid to be in the closet again. Sophie’s seems afraid too – I’m not sure what of yet, but she definitely has problems. In fact, the only people not afraid are the drunk homophobes. Which is perfectly realistic, if you ask me!

Vivian is under a lot of stress. New place, strained relationship, new ‘mom’, reunion with an old friend. Some people respond to stress by reaching out. Others respond by closing up. Guess which sort Vivian is! By the end, she can hardly tell Aster she still loves her, and she can’t ask her honestly to stay. More importantly, she can’t really tell her, can’t make her understand why she’s acting that way. The same things that keep her from coming out to the school keep her from explaining to Aster. It’s a cycle.

This is an unusual sort of characterization. (And one that I identify with – I act this way, very much) We see ’shy’ characters often, but usually only in stereotype. They’re scared of social interaction in general, or scared of asking someone out, or something like that. The solution is always for them to become less shy, more extroverted, whereupon they are suddenly happier. (Think of Willow from Buffy). The other ‘bottled up’ sort of character refuses to share their emotions – the typical male pattern. Their solution is to learn to share, to relate. But Vivian is neither. She expresses her emotions perfectly well, but is unable to… articulate her reasons, if you will. And Aster only sees this as abandonment.

In real life, as in the show, it’s just not so simple as suddenly being more outgoing, or anything like that. For one thing, you can’t just change yourself, and even if you could it wouldn’t necessarily be better!

It’s all just just one hurdle, one decision at a time, and Vivian needs to find her path among them. Hopefully without driving the people she cares about away.

Things I liked:

  • Vivian yelling at the surprised bystanders – one again, no problem expressing her emotions!
  • The overall realism. Breakups aren’t all about angry yelling and dramatic exits. And sometimes they just drag on and on.
  • It’s good to see that the homophobes are out in full force. I was beginning to thing that Viv was overreacting to the whole situation.

Things… not so much

  • I’m confused about Sophie. Hopefully, her story thus far will be cleared up soon.
  • The scene on the bench. I think it might have been the camera angle, or the sound, or something, but it felt a bit disconcerting and distracted.

The one-off weird bit:

  • “Get me another drink?” Really? Really? Loser.

What made me cry a bit:

  • Vivian in bed alone near the end, as the counterpoint to the opening of the two parter.
  • “Pride.”

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TV Roundup – with a moral!

May 21st, 2009 by Brianna

I’ve been traveling and didn’t have time to work on anything, so…

First, Legend of the Seeker:

I really, really wanted this show to be good. The first episiode was good enough that I started reviewing it… but it never got any better, just kind of sat there. I’ve officially lost interest. Which is a shame – I love high fantasy. Someday there will be a good high fantasy TV show. LotS just wasn’t that show.

Oh, well.

Sarah Conner:

I wasn’t really sorry to see T:SCC canceled. It never seemed particularly… focused, I think. Was it supposed to be about Sarah Conner? Or John Conner? Or Cameron? Or The Future Aussie Chick who’s name I can’t remember? In retrospect, the problem with T:SCC was that neither Lena Headey nor the actor playing John Conner were suitable to focus an entire show on. So they brought in Brian Austin Green (who stole far too many scenes!) and lots of other characters to spice it up. And the best actor on the show (Summer Glau) was playing the robot! (I would have liked to see Glau as Sarah Conner.) As a result, the show wasn’t really about anything or anyone, and the only reason to watch was to see Summer Glau beat up everybody!

Nothing against Lena Headey, by the way – she was amazing in Imagine Me And You, but she’s not great action hero material. She did a solid job as Sarah Conner, of course, but unfortunately she didn’t do an outstanding job. And the show needed an outstanding job.

Dollhouse:

I’m not crazy about Dollhouse yet. I don’t hate it, but it’s no Buffy or Firefly. Perhaps it will be eventually, but in the mean time it annoys me a bit that of the short-lived almost-canceled shows I like (Firefly, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daises, etc.) the one that makes it is the one I like the least!

In Plain Sight:

I love this show! For one thing, the protagonist is a badass woman who’s NOT supernaturally gifted in any way. For another, the show manages to be entertaining without always being serious, and yet not making overt jokes. The only bad part of the show is Mary’s family. They who make no sense to me, and the drama is seems senseless and overblown. Happily, it doesn’t take up the bulk of the show.

Bones:

Speaking of jokes, I am competely ticked off at Bones (the show, not the character!). Bones was an unusual and interesting show once upon a time. It featured a highly rational woman who, while lacking certain finer social graces, managed to show an uncanny understanding about the world. Sure, her awkwardness was played for laughs, but if she told somebody, “You’re only saying that because you want to have sex with her,” or “Love is only a chain of chemical reactions in the brain,” it was probably true! She was blunt, but often right. Booth was sometimes right as well – and the mutual learning between the two kept the show interesting. Now, the writers have seemingly become scared of the rationality. They constantly go out of their way to show that Booth (equals feelings!) is right and Brennon is wrong. Brennon is nothing more than a big joke. Worse, they are also trying to show us that Booth is smarter than he looks – i.e. it’s possible for a ‘lab rat’ like Brennon to be just as successful without the rationality. Thus her need to change.

As a moderately rational person, I strongly resent this!

Fear of reason (on the part of the writers, in this case) belies an essential insecurity about one’s environment and nature, leading to unintended negative results. (In other words, I’m not watching Bones anymore.) Bah.

Fringe:

…is the best show on television.

It does have its moments. Walter’s sense of humor is just annoying. Peter serves no function at all. And the boss-man having to talk Olivia down only worked the one time! But it’s all worth it to see Olivia either: A. find some piece of the puzzle, or B. beat the crap out of some really evil guy.

I only wish that Fringe wasn’t quite so disgusting. It’s as if they are overpaying their FX crew, and want to get their money’s worth!

So finally, the moral is:

Anyone But Me is officially better than anything currently on TV. I’ll review the latest episode tomorrow!

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Afterellen vs. Maxim, round n + 2

May 15th, 2009 by Brianna

Afterellen’s Hot 100 list came out earlier this week. Maxim’s came out a day later. AE published a hilarious comparison of the two a day later.

Salient features of the AE list:

  • Portia is #1!
  • Lena Headey’s request was answered (#3).
  • The separate 10 hottest WOC, woman over 40, and out women lists predictably caused the 100 list to contain more people from those categories.
  • Jill Bennett’s stay in the top 5 was short-lived. (Yes, it was a bit weird having her there, but I’m still sad!)
  • Math Geek alert! I think Jennifer Beals and Leisha Hailey are now tied (at 3.33) for highest average.
  • This page contains the hottest photo of Lucy Lawless ever!

I’ve already commented on the futility of comparison between the AE and Maxim lists, and I still think it still stands. Yeah, yeah, we know, gay women watch gay TV shows, and Maxim editors make their picks while drunk. (Another interesting tidbit from that page – one of their criteria is ‘hotness’ as in ‘how hot is their career?’ So… the popular people are guaranteed to win!)

I have just three further observations:

A. Certain AE readers: It’s just a couple of silly lists. There’s no way anybody can say that one list is ‘hotter’ or ‘narrower’ than the other. And the relative hotness also is not a personal insult to you! So just look at the pictures and be happy, please?

B. All of the Maxim pictures were of the women in lingerie. Which isn’t as hot as they think it is. It’s just boring. And objectifying.

C. Sarah Warn must feel really weird counting the votes. AE staff exclude themselves from the list, of course, but you just know people vote for her (and Lori), anyway. I’m imagining her sitting in front of her computer, deleting her votes, <Sarah Warn voice>”Dammit people! Stop voting for me!</Sarah Warn voice>

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Anyone But Me – Episode 7

May 12th, 2009 by Brianna

It’s back! Anyone But Me – Episode 7 is here.

Aaaaand we’ve got drama! Or at least drama, ABM style.

Episode 7 was the mirror image of episode 4, only more so. Both began with Aster and Vivian in bed together. In both, there was a party, which Vivian did not want to attend. And both ended with a fight. In ep4, Vivian was sad and hurt that Aster didn’t want to spend time alone with her. In ep7, Aster is more than hurt – she seems almost devastated. She says “I won’t be the friend again. Not even for you.” And she walks off. It seems this has happened to Aster before. And she won’t let it happen again.

To make things even worse, there’s something… not really flirting, but just something, between Vivian and Sophie. (Don’t do it, Vivian!)

I was hoping (but not really – that would be boring!) that this wouldn’t happen. It almost seems inevitable, though. Vivian was completely out in NYC. She moves, and she’s not out anymore. I get the impression that it took her a long time to come out in the city – perhaps she didn’t start with Aster until after she was out. Now, she wants to do it slowly all over again, but Aster’s not having it. It’s almost like Vivian is trying to start a new relationship with Aster right on top of their old one.

Fascinating.

I personally can’t blame Vivian. New places are scary, especially for an introvert like Vivian (or me!). I can hardly blame Aster, either – she is ‘right’, after all. It’s just life; a bad situation.

Things that were wonderful:

  • The opening mirror shot – which, now that I think of it, reflected this episode’s relationship with ep4!
  • The aunt’s question. I take it she bit her tongue and said something else?
  • Archibald. Can’t dance. That was so me, it’s not even funny.
  • The overall feeling. I know I’ve said this a million times, but it’s even better than ever. Some of the early episodes had scenes that just seemed… awkward, especially in the camera and sound work. This episode had no such problems.

Things that were not-so-good:

  • The scene with the Dad and Aunt seemed out of place. I wish there was time for more about Dad, but you can’t have everything!
  • Is Jonathan really that big of a jerk? Yuck.

Little touches that made me laugh:

  • Archibald trying to dance.
  • Aster’s relationship advice. “She knows.”
  • The expression on Jonathan’s buddies’ faces when Sophie started going off.

Little touches that made me cry:

  • Vivian pushing Aster’s hand away from her waist as they walked into the party. It all went downhill from there.

Amazing as usual.

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IRMouse update – One Last Time

May 9th, 2009 by Brianna

I am apparently quite stupid, and released the IRMouse code with a serious, serious error in it. (The whole thing wouldn’t work. At all) So, on the off chance that someone actually downloaded it, they’ll need to again.

Whoops!

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Sampi: Useful Compexity

May 2nd, 2009 by Brianna

One of the more interesting concepts I’m trying to implement in Sampi is one I’m calling ‘useful complexity’.

There are two basic schools of thought when it comes to item distribution in CRPG games. The first is the ‘puzzle’ mentality. If you find an item, it’s meant to be useful. You usually need to find and collect most of the items in an area before advancing, and certain distinct items are needed to continue in the game. Adventure games, most interactive fiction, and some other games (Resident Evil comes to mind) adhere to this quite strictly. It simplifies things, as there’s no way for the player to become distracted from the goal.

The other mentality is the ‘flavor’ pattern: Add as many items as reasonably possible to create a sense of immersion. The ‘Elder Scrolls’ series of games is a good example along with most roguelike games, as well as some games with procedurally generated content, such as ‘Elite’ (The old space-trading game). These games have many, many items, more than the player could ever collect or even see. But most of these are just for flavor. They serve no function, enough so as to be entirely useless. There might be 20 swords at a shop in Morrowind, but you’ll only want the best one. The rest are dead bits. There might be 30 commodities at a space station in Elite, but you’ll only care about the one with the best price difference to the next station. And Every time you come across a new piece of armor in a roguelike, you check to see if it’s better than the one you have. You’ll only trade up, so by the end of the game there are hundreds of discarded armor pieces left lying around!

There’s complexity, to be sure, but it’s all fluff. The ’solution’ is still a puzzle. You still have to find the ‘best’ item. And now you have to sort through a hundred lesser ones to find it. While these extra items can add interest to a game, make the virtual world a bit less artificial and sterile, I can’t help but think that it might be possible to do more with all of these items. Instead of having plates sitting on the shelf, make the characters use them, and have them become annoyed if plates aren’t available. Rather than having several hundred weapons, out of which only a dozen are useful, give the characters preferences for them, make them useful in different situations, make them break often enough to cause real problems. The complexity needs to be made useful.

This concept extends far beyond items. Let’s say you need to get through a door to continue in the game. In most games, this means finding the one item (usually a key, but also perhaps a battering ram or lockpick) that will get you through. Perhaps there might be a way around that you need to find. Sometimes there might be two ways to get through, but it’s still a *puzzle* regardless. With useful complexity, there would be a dozen ways to get in a door. Find the key, hide and wait for someone to come out, drill the lock, smash it down burrow underneath, etc. And most would be valid for any door, so that you don’t have to hunt and guess. More importantly, with useful complexity, you shouldn’t feel the need to get through the door at all, if you don’t want to. You could go make your own door. Or stage a protest outside the door.

The idea is to reward creativity, rather than luck and perseverance. There is enough value placed on those two in real life as it is. I don’t see why we would want it in our entertainment.

The whole problem with this approach, of course, is that nobody wants to micromanage that kind of detail. If there are a dozen way to get through a door, you’d have to remember all of them, and then choose the one you actually have available at the moment. And nobody has that kind of time or concentration.

My solution is to have the game do the memorizing for you. You’ll walk up to the door. It’s locked. The game will remind you of the possible options, suggests several salient ones, and then give advice on how to best accomplish the one you choose. Thus, rather than trying to ‘beat’ a puzzle, the player is only left to decide which option is the most interesting!

In other words, the player will try to pick the option that makes the best story. Which brings me to the next concept: I want Sampi to be an interactive story more than I want it to be a ‘game’. More on this later.

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