Tag / Mabel

by WetheGeek

The fall of Telltale…

I don’t know if you guys are keeping up with the news but Telltale Games offically announced that they are closing shop last Friday.
This company is responsible for games such as:
The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead, Batman: The Telltale Series, and Tales of the Boarderlands.
With their recent release of the final chapter of The Walking Dead, it came as a shock to me to hear the news. In their most recent interviews, Telltale Games said that they had “No choice” since they had lost a big financial backer, causing them to cut more then half of their staff.
As of currently these are confirmed:
*Walking Dead might finish. Episode 2 will be released and episodes 3 and 4 will be completed.
*Netflix is still going to push on with the Stranger Things game.
*Everyone is upset.
The company seemed to have been doing well with their series but, according to reports, employees were well aware that the company was under financial strain for the past few years and was under fire from their previous Chief Executive but this hit hard and fast.

Twitter has been revealing a lot of information by not only Telltale but the developers and other employees. Many are upset at how fast everything has happened and some are straight out angry.

But all is not lost. Other game studios like Blizzard are offering to employe the former Telltale workers. So even as this storm continues the gaming community rallies around an amazing team.

Only time can tell what happens next since new information is coming out each hour.

-Mabel and RytheGeek

Sources:
Youtube: Philip Defranco show, Monday, September 24th 2018.

http://m.ign.com/articles/2018/09/25/telltales-sudden-closure-was-reportedly-the-result-of-a-failed-round-of-financing

by WetheGeek

Miraculous Ladybug

I like watching Miraculous Ladybug.
Yes, I know it’s a kid’s show and yes, I am well aware that I am waaaaaay past their target audience but hear me out.
No, I’m going to say this right now, Miraculous Ladybug isn’t like Steven Universe or Avatar: The Last Airbender with their story lines and underlining meanings beneath their cute art style nor is it like Gravity Falls or Adventure Time where viewers just want to know how it ends.
So, why do I, a twentysomething woman with two jobs, decide “Hey, I’m going to dedicate part of my limited amount of free time to watch a children’s program on Netflix.”?
My reasoning is pure and simple:
Miraculous Ladybug is Pure and Simple.
It is about a 14 year old girl in Paris who gains superpowers via a Miraculous and transforms into Ladybug and with her partner Chat Noir, they both must defeat the villainous Hawkmoth and his Akuma while dealing with their own high school problems.
“But wait!” You might say, “Shouldn’t you be stimulating your mind with thought provoking themes and good scripts?”
Of Course! I always will encourage people to watch or read something that challenges you!
However, there are times when something thought provoking and intense might leave you feeling more tired and even depressed at times. I’m not going to tell you to watch The Matrix when your brain is fried. Sometimes there’s just something about a pure and simple plot that lulls the watcher into a safe zone. You already know that Hawkmoth is going to appear and Ladybug and Chat Noir are going to save the day with their special abilities so you don’t really need to focus on anything except the characters.
Seriously, (with the exception of 3 episodes) the only intense thing about Miraculous Ladybug is the love square that the two main characters have (yes, you need to watch it to understand it). Also, because it is a children’s show, you get simple world truths from each episode that give you a nostalgic feel as you watch the characters learn and grow.

Pure and Simple…. Or until the creators decide they can make the show more than just a children’s show.

-Mabel

by WetheGeek

Death…

I remember the first time I watched Littlefoot’s mother die.
To give you an idea of how old I was: I remember thinking “So she’s going to take a nap and let Littlefoot go to the Great Valley?” and then hearing my brother whisper, “She’s dead… Right?”
One of the most frustrating moments of my first year as a teacher was being stuck in the middle of a very stressful argument about whether the 5 year olds could sing that a character was dead. It was the main teacher’s opinion that we could not because it sparked a lot of weird conversations within the classroom. Being a musician, I didn’t want to change the traditional song because it didn’t make any sense in context. In the end, it boils down to how willing are you to talk about death with the children and the teacher didn’t want to have to deal with it. Movies like “The Land Before Time” can be the opener on what happens when death comes and coping with it. This may be a bit much for children in the minds of most but it is important to talk about death, especially since it is a fact of life.

“Death does not discriminate between the sinners and the saints. It takes and it takes and it takes and we keep on living anyway.” ~Aaron Burr

-Mabel

by WetheGeek

True Love

Oh, the magic of True love and Love at First sight!
From a very young age, the power of true loved danced straight into the arms of my mind just like Aurora did into Prince Philip’s. However, very much like Aurora’s reaction to Prince Philip, my little mind was always confused by the concept of true love or love at first sight. I would always wonder about what came after the “happily ever after” in my stories.
It wasn’t until Middle School when I came across a short story that ended in “and they lived happily ever after more or less.” I don’t even remember the story but the concept of “more or less” has stayed with me for a long time.
The more I grow older, the more I begin to realize the importance of “more or less” on this society. Growing up, Disney and Princesses were what we wanted to be when we grew up: beautiful, lovely voices, and find our true love in a miraculous way. Unfortunately, this is further from the truth when it comes to reality as we soon discover as we grow into the bitter adults.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there is always room for a feel good story about true love, sometimes we need an escape from the harsh reality of the world. But, just like constantly eating sweets, it doesn’t do the mind well to be fed these stories all the time. You may not know it, but visual and audio are the best way to receive information and if you repeat it over and over again, the fantasy that is before you will turn into a unreachable goal that will only disappoint you in the future.
Give yourself a fictional reality check. And I don’t mean those popular stories that take previous fairy tales and remolds their “happily ever after” to a “BUT DID THEY?!” story, they interrupt the flow of the original story and usually aren’t that good. For every Cinderella (love at first sight) story, find yourself a Mrs. Pigglewiggle (old lady correcting bad behavior) story.
Rant Done.

-Mabel