{"id":11288,"date":"2024-11-28T09:14:08","date_gmt":"2024-11-28T17:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/?p=11288"},"modified":"2024-11-28T09:15:25","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T17:15:25","slug":"ass-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/?p=11288","title":{"rendered":"Ass Man."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Which is what we called \u201cAsset Management\u201d behind the scenes, while I was writing it. Of course, back then I didn\u2019t know I was writing it for Keanu fucking Reeves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Apparently they mentioned my name on some ComicCon panel about a month ago, which effectively lifted the embargo (\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/?p=11189\">Brag #2<\/a>\u201d was as far as I could go back in September). Now they\u2019ve released a couple of meaty clips over on YouTube. I am\u2014I suppose the word is <em>psyched<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Secret Level - Official Armored Core Sneak Peek Clip (2024) Keanu Reeves\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/looshS5Aci4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Secret Level - Official Armored Core Teaser Trailer (2024) Keanu Reeves\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lo9rA047XwE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can see me in there, kind of. My dialog didn\u2019t make it through unscathed, because \u201cAsset Management\u201d incorporated specific game\/plot elements that were declared off-limits post hoc (not really sure why; spoilers can\u2019t be much of of an issue for a game that came out over a year ago). The folks at Blur had to strip out a lot of details to make that work; they changed the ending entirely. But\u2014and you don\u2019t see authors admit this very often, so take it to heart\u2014I think their changes were for the better. I\u2019d been writing within the constraints not just of Rubicon the world, but also of Armored Core VI\u2019s specific plot. Those constraints forced the story into a specific and complex mold. Unbound, though, it could assume a simpler and more natural shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the dialog in one of these clips expresses the essence of what I wrote with slightly different verbiage. The dialog in the other is pretty much all me, but there\u2019s only one line of it so that\u2019s not saying much. The mech, as Keanu mentions, is called <em>Shrieker<\/em>\u2014 but that\u2019s just a phonetic simplification of a much more awkward spelling, with much more world-changing implications. I look forward to seeing whether we get to see the actual name stamped onto a breastplate or something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-17-38.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"511\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-17-38-1024x511.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-17-38-1024x511.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-17-38-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-17-38-768x383.png 768w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-17-38-1536x766.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-17-38.png 1902w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption style=\"font-size:80%;\">A Boy and His Mech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because I still haven\u2019t seen the whole thing, you see. Blur tried to slip me a copy, but Amazon was only willing to let it stream via a service that only supports two of the most pernicious and surveillant browsers on the planet (Chrome and Edge). It wouldn\u2019t play nicely with Firefox, Brave, and\/or their associated privacy plug-ins\u2014 and there was no way I was gonna let <em>those<\/em> guards down. Hell, Amazon\u2019s one of the reasons I have them up in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-12-00-12.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"511\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-12-00-12-1024x511.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11306\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-12-00-12-1024x511.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-12-00-12-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-12-00-12-768x383.png 768w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-12-00-12-1536x766.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-12-00-12.png 1902w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption style=\"font-size:80%;\">A Mech and Its Boy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So once you check out the clips you\u2019ll have seen all I have. But the good news is, those moments are totally in sync with the vibe I was going for when I wrote the treatment. And the changes that make any difference at all are improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a proper assessment, of course, I\u2019ll just have to wait until December 10th with the rest of you. Steal the ep when it drops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-15-45-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"511\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-15-45-1-1024x511.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11304\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-15-45-1-1024x511.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-15-45-1-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-15-45-1-768x383.png 768w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-15-45-1-1536x766.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-from-2024-11-28-11-15-45-1.png 1902w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption style=\"font-size:80%;\">You and me both, Keanu. In it to the end.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Which is what we called \u201cAsset Management\u201d behind the scenes, while I was writing it. Of course, back then I didn\u2019t know I was writing it for Keanu fucking Reeves. Apparently they mentioned my name on some ComicCon panel about a month ago, which effectively lifted the embargo (\u201cBrag #2\u201d was as far as I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ink-on-art"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11288"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11311,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11288\/revisions\/11311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rifters.com\/crawl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}