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cosmic-navel-gazin · 4 years

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In which I chronicle my Legacy of Kain journey and bridge it with your boy Adam Warlock! (Part 5 of many, and MASSIVE, I MEAN, HUMOUNGOUS SPOILERS for Soul Reaver 2 and the 1970’s Warlock)

Awwwwwwwww yeah we are going there, these compositions are most definitely on purpose.

This is where I realize that my true purpose in this world is to draw and talk about obscure or forgotten works of fiction, and I embrace this destiny.

Ladies and gents, laughing times are over (not really though), sh*t gets very real again.

I guess it’s a bit late for this but if you have even the slightest interest in checking any of these properties out, do yourself a favor and go experience them first hand. If you just want to see me lose my mind and don’t really care about spoilers then please, proceed.

You know, when I started this little crossover of sorts, I was just having a laugh you know? It was just a cute little thing, I’ll write this one post and maybe I’ll get enough material for a second one and that’s it. THIS IS THE SEVENTH POST (even though it says Part 5).

Never, and I do mean never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be here one day, talking about having your past and your time-travelling-future selves meet and clash, of seeing your sanctimonious attitude and overall the worst about yourself personified and given free reign to go on bloodthirsty crusades showing off how much of a hypocrite you’ve bee- but wait, I am getting a bit ahead of myself.

I’ll get there I promise, let’s go back a bit.

Where we last left off, we managed to travel back to an even more distant past than we’ve been before. To the time of the great Vampire Purge, so that Raziel can meet this infamous ancient vampire who knows all the lore and might have the answers we seek on what exactly is causing the corruption of our world.

As we step out into this era of History we notice the fields covered with the Sarafan Order banners, and the impaled corpses and chopped-off heads of vampires. No different no doubt from the kindness vampires showed mankind later when they gained the upper hand during Kain’s 1.000 year old reign. Raziel seems a bit distraught by the sight since he assumed the Sarafan to be virtuous and heroic:

“For all the butchery of Moebius’s crusade, this massacre was somehow more chilling. The killing fields of the Sarafan betrayed a kind of orderly ruthlessness, the cold-blooded righteousness of the true believer.”

“Here at last in the flesh, I beheld my former brothers-in-arms, the warrior-priests of the Sarafan order; their lives devoted solely to the annihilation of the vampire plague. And while I confess I felt a twinge of longing, a pang of grief for what I had believed was my lost virtue, I regarded them now with none of the reverence I formally felt. For I had seen the human face of the vampires, and now I beheld the monstrousness of these men.”

While on the topic of genocidal holy wars, my boy Adam here had a bit of a run with a similar pious little group that goes by the name of Universal Church of Truth, who were going about doing a bit of cleaning throughout the galaxy:

Things don’t go so well:

Interestingly enough, I’ve learned of a deleted cutscene for Soul Reaver 2 that plays out very similarly to Adam’s first encounter with this “holy” order. There was this minor female vampire character that was being hunted down and would be executed by vampire hunters right in front of Raziel.

This scene was probably removed because they knew that almost 20 years later there would be some asshole on the internet trying to compare their games to obscure marvel comics of the 70’s.

But yeah bummer for Adam here, we’re a couple of pages in and he’s already failed to save someone. However, through the power of the Soul Gem, he’s able to retain her soul for a brief moment, letting us know more about these holy inquisitors:

Some of these methods don’t seem that far off from the Sarafan, especially on the twisting of good intentions part, but on a galactic scale:

Aye, a great bunch o’ fellas all around, if you submit and “fit in”:

Damn.

Hush Adam, I’ll get back to your predicament give me a moment. I just want the good people at home to keep both this church and the Magus, the god they worship in mind for later.

Now, back to the game. In the Sarafan Stronghold during the first hour of gameplay, Raziel made comments on the vampire he’s currently seeking while looking at some stained glass depictions:

“So this was the legendary Janos Audron - reputed to have been the most ancient and diabolical vampire to have ever existed. According to folklore, he lived high in the cliffs of Nosgoth’s northern mountains, and preyed mercilessly on the defenseless villagers below. His reign of terror ended when the Sarafan finally hunted him down and tore his throbbing heart from his still-living body. (…) But I wondered - could Janos Audron truly have been as monstrous as depicted here? Or was this merely artistic licence by the Sarafan, who sought to lionize themselves by demonizing their darkest enemy?

Keep these stained glass images in mind, they’ll also be important shortly. Neetheless to say, the hype was very real to meet this Janos Audron.

And as I kept hearing about this gentleman, I thought: “I really love this cast of pricks, where everyone speaks in half truths and is hiding something and has some hidden agenda, but you know, I kind of wish there was some slim ray of hope, of goodness and honor, just some good old plain chivalry and honesty. Maybe this Janos lad won’t be as bad as he was depicted back in the Sarafan Stronghold.”

It took us a while but we’re finally make it to his retreat.

I really love the entire segment, the hopelessness and feeling of dread while making your way through this place, probably my favourite puzzle area of the game. I also really love the music and architecture here.

When we do make it to the top, BOY OH BOY were my prayers answered!

Lo and behold, enter Raziel’s new daddy/mentor figure, my man JANOS AUDRON! Proabably the one decent and kind creature I’ve seen yet in these games (if you don’t count helpless human npcs who are just trying to live their lives but are caught in all these wars, slaughter and destruction).

FINALLY an understanding, moderate, compassionate man in the midst of all the lies and deception. I love him! Oh and he has what seems to be a Romanian accent. Maybe a nod to the granddaddy of all vampires: Dracula? I think his design is cool as well, so that helps.

Before we go into huge lore dumps and while on the topic of having a brief father/mentor figure for your protagonist when he’s utterly lost, alone and confused, I thought I’d bridge it with Adam’s own once foster parent, the High Evolutionary:

From the few minutes you get to know these dads they’re very different characters with different backstories and motivations. Janos is this sad lonely old man, the last of the ancient vampires and one who has been keeping himself alive solely for his sense of duty.

While the High Evolutionary was once a man called Herbert Wyndham who performed an experiment that evolved him into a godlike being. This experience proved to be such an assault on his senses and perceptions that he chose to encase himself in this armour. Like the name suggests he is obsessed with genetic manipulation and tampering of various kinds, it is his life’s ambition.

Despite his somewhat villainous appearance, he’s never portrayed as such from what little I’ve read, he’s just…a bit creepy. Like, he takes Adam in and is super stoked about adopting him, but he also values him not so much as a person per se as you and me would, but more as one would value an impressivly carved piece of work:

I don’t know, maybe it’s his metal face that doesn’t emote much; his sometimes questionable morality; maybe it’s the fact that Adam was 5 years old at this point, a baby boy, and this pink armoured deity is super hyped about him; there’s something a bit unsettling about this guy. Have some more dubious quotes I’ve stumbled upon:

All in all, I think he did care about him, in his own strange way:

Anyway, what’s important is that these adoptive dads serve a somewhat similar purpose, and that is to push/urge our ”“”“"heroes”“”“” (I say with many quotation marks) into a more benevolant role: to guide them in their messianic mission and save a corrupted world. Basically there to provide a chance for them to be good boys. Up until now their track record leaves much to be desired, and they’ve been quite lost on what they’re supposed to be and do.

Raziel:

“So it’s all true, then - what Kain and Vorador have told me - I really am some kind of unholy vampire messiah…”

Janos:

“Unholy? -no. Messiah… perhaps.”

Raziel:

“I don’t like that word - it smells of martyrdom.”

Janos:

“Raziel, your role in this world’s destiny is more crucial - and more benevolent - than you’ve allowed yourself to believe. Your journey will not be easy - dark powers are allied against you.”

Oh and both dads give their sons their toys (Soul Reaver and Soul Gem):

Back to the meeting with Janos, we finally learn tons of things, both new and others that have been hinted at throughout, namely:

Janos has been living a life of a recluse, alone, on top of the Aerie;

Janos knows of Raziel (some old legend I think) and has been waiting for him to hand him over the Soul Reaver, saying it is the key to save Nosgoth;

The Pillars of Nosgoth were erected by the ancient vampires and they were the rightful guardians. Janos was called to be th 10th guardian, the Keeper of the Reaver;

Over time this ancient race started to die out, with their history slowly being forgotten;

Humanity prospered and since the Pillars choose their guardians from birth and vampires were no longer born, humans were called to be their guardians but were “wholly ignorant of their true purpose.”

The Circle of human guardians is led to believe (by whom we do not yet know) that vampires are a cancer in the world. Janos warns that “with their vampire purge, the members of the Circle have assaulted the very architects of the Pillars they are sworn to protect (…) With every vampire they kill, the humans are slitting their own throats.”

Janos being a cool level-headed guy here when Raziel says he must hate mankind for all the suffering they’ve brought to him:

“They fear what they don’t understand; and they despise what they fear. But no - I do not hate them.”

I find it funny how Raziel asks if humanity should be forgiven for trying to exterminate the vampire kind and doesn’t realize that: one, he himself was exterminating vampires just a couple of moments ago back in SR1; and two, how he is just like how Janos describes humanity to be:

“They don’t understand what they’re doing. They are simply unenlightened… and vulnerable to manipulation.”

Again, this last line, completely unlike a certain blue shambling corpse I know. Not like him AT ALL.

Then, as they head inside, we learn something odd as Janos presents Raziel with the Reaver. You see, the two times Raziel has been close to the Soul Reaver still in its physical form, reality started to bend and distort (I show it off in this previous post).

When we met Kain and decided not to kill him, he explained that when: “two incarnations of the blade meet in time and space, a paradox is created, a temporal distortion powerful enough to derail history”

This distortion, or sense of displacement however, is nowhere to be found now when Janos presents the blade to him. Raziel feels nothing and says that “this nothingness is somehow worse…” and to get it away from him.

We learn the Reaver was forged by the same ancient vampire race that erected the Pillars (which we’ve seen hinted at when we explored the land and came accross all sorts of old murals).

But now THIS is when the game first impales me through the heart.

Me and Janos are interrupted by the Sarafan warriors who arrive carrying Moebius’ Staff (which disables vampires to the point of being barely able to move at all).

And of course! OF COURSE! Of course the moment my boy Raziel finds a truly positive influence in his life to guide and enlinghten him, and that was willing to put himself in danger in order to save him… he is axed! HEART RIPPED FROM HIS CHEST!

And by whom you ask? Who would do such a deed and kill my last ray of hope?

WHY, ME!

TWICE!

“Me” because I was the one to open an entrance to Janos’ up until then impenetrable retreat, and literally me: human Raziel of the Sarafan that lived during this time period and was head inquisitor!

A bit different from what was depicted back at the Sarafan Stronghold, we found several centuries later (putting the same image here again so you don’t have to scroll up to compare, am I swell or what?):

The Sarafan escape with Janos’ heart and the Reaver, while wraith Raziel has a final moment with Janos.

This part destroys me:

Raziel:

“Forgive me; I’m sorry… I failed you.”

Janos: (gently)

“No, Raziel. Perhaps this was my true purpose - simply to save your life this once.”

Raziel: (distraught)

“While I have taken yours…”

That last bit is probably my favourite line-read in the entire series so far (which is the most impossible thing to choose since there are so many great ones). But I think it’s the overwhelming sadness in Raziel’s voice that makes it memorable, you’ve never seen him feel like this for another creature.

Breaks my stone hardened heart every time I listen to it. And here’s why I think it’s an effective emotional scene, even though we only get a few minutes with Janos before he is murdered - it is because of contrast. Up until now everyone you meet is some degree of a bad or manipulative person, and you don’t really have a true friend or someone to confide in, there’s no one that really brings out the best in Raziel and it sucks because there is potential there. So when you introduce the apparently only decent and noble person in this god forsaken land and you’re so used to by now suspect and mistrust everyone, it is impactful because he was truth and honesty in a sea of deception and moral relativism. He was my light in the midst of the fog and the one who saw good in me. And right when you’re finally relaxing and getting confortable the game pulls the rug from under you.

Now, while on the topic of having your past and future meet, there was a little something about the meeting between Adam and the Universal Church of Truth that I’ve been saving up until now. If you remember, Adam was interrogating the young woman who was killed by the inquisitors about the church and the god they worship. When suddenly:

Good news is, Adam must’ve taken a left turn somewhere and ended up on the set for “Monty Python’s Life of Brian”, where he learned some latin:

This helped him quickly figure out the Magus’ identity:

Learn your dead tongues kids, you never know when it might come in handy when meeting your time travelling, thousands of years old future-self:

So as you can se, we have a similar self-discovery journey going on but reversed in a way. In Raziel’s case you play as his future self, who time travels back in time, meets his past self and sees what a hypocrite he’s been his entire life. In Adam’s case you follow his present self, who meets the Magus (his future self), who has travelled back in time 5.000 years, in which time he has built his empire. Meeting and confronting said empire/future self, leads Adam to see what a hypocrite he’s been his entire life. You see, both Adam and Raziel have always been their own worst enemy (their own shortcomings and character flaws). So it would be only natural that we get embodiments of the worst in them: Raziel, the human Sarafan Warrior and the Magus, their past and future selves respectively.

Oof, this was a long one, and I’ve reach the character limit. In the next post I’ll elaborate more on their characters and different selves; and we go through the roller-coaster of emotions that is the endgame for both these stories.

Look foward to me losing my mind even further while I go into time travelling, paradox shenanigans… oh, and look foward to happier times with COSMIC SUICIDE! See you in the near future.

#the infinity legacy #legacy of kain #soul reaver 2 #raziel #adam warlock #the magus #marvel comics #marvel cosmic #this post drained my spirit #my fan art

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purplerose244 · 4 years

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Thinking journal for season 12 Prime Empire 😎😎😎 (1/2)

So, I'm keeping this during all of season 12 to put down my thoughts as they appear. It's mostly for not ranting every single time a new episode comes out so please don't mind me too much 😅 I'm following the English release so please no spoilers 😙

I'm gonna split it in two, since apparently the season has 16 episodes. So this is the first part, enjoy my rambling 💜💜

It's the 30th of March and here we go!

IN GENERAL

I'm so, SO HAPPY, we have a theme for this season. For my experience apparently silly themes (tech ninja, ghosts, pirates) had brought very surprising results so I'm SO DOWN FOR THIS 😍😍

It seems that they fixed the mood, there is a specific mystery and a specific mission to follow. I like it too

THE NEW WHIP IS DOPE AS ALWAYS

I'm really glad there are plenty of references to past episodes, comebacks are my jam

The only thing that still kinda bothers me is the length of the episodes. It's not all bad, I just think the 20 minutes format was better. One thing is splitting 20 in 10 minutes, another is putting together 11 minutes of important stuff. Doesn't bother me too much, I just wish there was more time for my favorite show 🤷‍♀️

WOULD YOU LIKE TO ENTER PRIME EMPIRE?

Is it normal for me to feel really old after they made the "what is a VCR?" joke? Like, I'm a uni student so still pretty young, but I lived through the transition from that to the DVD so... eh, I laughed anyway👵

Jay is smart, I really believe he is. Yet I saw him putting a possibly corrupted motherboard into a legendary game randomly found into a villain's lair, and I was like "Of course he did that, I love you you dumb*ss" raising my glass of juice towards him 😎

Okay, I'm down for this Lloyd. I'm down for a season with Lloyd being creeped out just because, being silly, just a ninja helping his friends and- (remembers there's a Harumi avatar in the sets) I'M NOT READY

The ending was actually nicely creepy. Cool nods in approval

DYER ISLAND

THAT INTRO THOUGH, THAT WAS EPIC! Love the techno sounds, love the clear gaming connection, I rate it 10/HECK YEAH LONG LIVE THE FOLD

I was scared about how the shorts were supposed to play along with the season, but it looks fine so far with the mechanic and later for Scott. Good 👍

Ah, Fist to Face, that game came all over from the nostalgic season 1. That's what I'm talking about 😎

So they just associated that Unagami is probably Dyer's avatar like that? Like sure, I thought about it, but it looks a little rushed. Mm, I wonder if there's something more behind it?

LEVEL 13

Cyrus Borg is back and he TALKS!!! Finally, he gets some action! Go tech dad!

I'm so happy he referenced the Digiverse, I would have been very disappointed if he hadn't. Time flies Borg...

Not gonna lie, I thought the next to follow up Jay's spot as best in videigames was going to be Kai or Lloyd. It's not disappointing though, since pretty much all the ninja have been seen playing, and to be honest I like the implication that Cole and Jay probably played a lot together. As bruiseshipping or as BrOTP, I still love them together no matter what 💙🖤💙🖤

Ooooohhhhh, that's why Zane and Pixal are left behind. It makes sense, sure, but I don't understand the implication of the plan: they saw Dyer entering Prime Empire, so why looking for him in real life? Mm, maybe they will investigate about his life and what happened... PIXANE ON THE CASE 😍

Already saw Prime Empire's world in the shorts, of course it looks DOPE, still very happy to finally being there!

SUPERSTAR ROCKIN' JAY

I don't know why, but Kai questioning the double jump made me laugh. Also poor him, he just got his powers back from last season and they're already gone again 😂

And of course. Them. Wow. It must be the most amazing and CURSED thing I've ever seen so far, the League of Jay 🤯 I'm so happy they exist and they freaking use past seasons' suits!!! Awesome!!! Never thought I was going to see Jay's old plain haircut again... yeah, he got better with the curly one, but I'm feeling nostalgic 🤷‍♀️

Their nick are histerical omg, Jaybird, Dee-Jay, Jaywalkin, I'm loving this way more than I should 😂 Also they freaking screamed "JAY-NJA GOO!!!" and I don't know what to do with that, it's too great for me to comprehend 👏👏

And then, THIS happened:

Your Honor, I would like to confirm this as THE MOST SECRET DREAM I'VE EVER HAD FOR THIS SHOW FINALLY COMING TRUE!!! A NINJA FROM NINJAGO DOING THE NARUTO RUN!!! 🤯🤯🤯 Done, I'm done, conclude the season, this is more than enough for me 😍

First Kai gets hit and fall from a building, DYING, then Lloyd gets desperate for his brother (MY BROTP 💚❤💚❤), then Kai respawns and Lloyd looks so relieved and Kai is all panting while slowly realizing it's a game and MY HEART CAN'T HANDLE THIS MUCH OKAY???

As a very passionate Kai fangirl I always expect the cringy moment, it really is inevitable for my favorite hothead. I love that idiot so much it's unbelievable, even if it's an absolute and costant suffering 😅 Holy Garmadon it was painful seeing his VERY slow realization that in this game you only have four lives

... SO HE HAS ONE NOW!?! NINJAGO CREW YOU ALREADY KILLED ZANE, NYA AND LLOYD ONCE AT THE END OF A SEASON, DON'T YOU DARE PLAY WITH ME AGAIN 😱😱😱

Okay, I did not expect to hear about Mr. Cuddly Wamp ever again since Hands of Time and BOY if I'm happy it was actually a password, I love this show 😂

SCOTT FINALLY!!! YESS!!! 😍😍😍

Okay, for as long as it is not debunked, I will hold onto the Scott is Jay's brother/twin theory. I'm sorry but: his jacket has dragons AND lightnings on it, they have very similar skin in avatar mode, he said he was waiting for him in the short, he could very well have his same hair under cap and hoodie and he's a mechanic too. I know, I know, they could have the same skin because Scott helped him for the avatar, and there might be shadier reason behind the 'I was waiting for you' thing, and there are tons of good mechanics in Ninjago... STILL HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE??? 😍

SCOTT HAS ONE LIFE POINT TOO??? NO! NOOO!!! NOOOOOOO!!! Don't you dare appear and steal my heart only to die at the end of the season, come on!! 😭

So for now it seems like he just wants to survive. Can we actually confirm he's an avatar and not an NPC? I mean he could be, but I don't see the point of an NPC self aware of his life points. Idk, maybe I'm overthinking this 🤷‍♀️

Lol, Kai is the only one weirded out by the Jay-con all around him. Probably because he hasn't heard from his fans since Skybound 😅 (I'M STILL HERE MY FLAME BABE, ILY ❤❤❤)

And in all of his glory, freaking Superstar Rockin' Jay!!! 😎😎 Okay, I loved the design since the first time I saw it, but it looks possibly even better in the show 😍😍😍 And Jay looks absolutely adorable in it, and he's got a guitar, and he was waiting for his friends, and he hugs them (I'm weak for LEGO hugs for some reason) and he is so happy and AAAHHH 💙💙💙💙💙

I'm very curious about how Scott will play into the situation, clearly he will provide some kind of insight about Prime Empire. I can't wait to know more about him!! 😍

I AM OKINO

I did not expect this when I saw this Okino guy in the trailer... and I'm so happy I was surprised, I love him 👌

And he's voiced by Alessandro Juliani?? HECK YEAH!!! With all the hype about the DnD 13th season, and consequentially the knight theme, I really miss Nexo Knights and having Aaron's VA around makes me happy... any hope to have Giles Panton as well? I miss Clay the most 💙💙

This is what I'm talking about, the game theme needs this stuff! I was already happy to see life points, double jumps and respawns, but this? The NPC guide? Awesome 👍 It's nice to see the take on the matter, the guide seeing so many players getting killed, first because they did not listen, then because they were actually just unlucky. The touchy matter I always expect watching Ninjago 👏👏

At least I THINK he's an NPC? For now I don't really see a way of knowing, and it doesn't look like it matters. He didn't show life points so maybe? Does this mean he can't die? I have questions people

Which brings me to the cube thingies. That's what happens to the dead players? I mean, I would understand if they just become pixels, but there's also the drone that takes the datas every time. Idk, feels like there's more behind it. And honestly? It looks like great material for angst, like one of the ninja dies but then they discover they just need to get where Unagami stores all of the players! I hope it's something like this!

They designs of the players are really cool, I already saw them in the other episodes, but seeing them this close just confirmed it. Between this and Jay's awesome avatar, I see lots of great cosplay ideas coming 😍 I wonder when will Kai and Lloyd use their avatars, and why would they since I'm guessing Jay did for disguise and to distinguish himself from his fans

PLEASE TELL ME WE'LL SEE SCOTT SOON, I ALREADY MISS HIM!!! 💙💙💙 I have too many theories about that tech dude, I'm so excited about who he might turn out to be!

I was a little skeptical about the new ninja suits, but seeing them in the show convinced me, very cool! Especially on Nya 💕💕💕

THE GLITCH

Alright, Okino is indeed an NPC. Cool the fact that at first he could not understand the fact that he was in a game, but when reality changed he was forced to. Welcome into the crew! 😙

I'm kinda worried about it though, either they will shut down the game and he will stay inside or he will sacrifice for them. He's a very loyal samurai, I can see that happening and I'm SCARED

I WAS SWEATING BULLETS AT THE AMBUSH!!! I 100% saw it coming, we all freaking saw it coming, even the ninja did but where like 'we can walk and die or we can risk and die so might as well'. But still, my babies DYING and respawning so fast was not pretty 😱😱

Nya got the scariest death until now in my opinion, holy Garmadon Dyer DOES have a twisted mind...

Seeing Kai so scared of being in a new situation and with one HP reminds me A LOT of the Digiverse, and that's actually a nice touch. Give him a cellphone, hothead is a social media expert, but put him in a game and... huuhhh... 😅

Have I mentioned I love the ninja's new emoji masks??

BECAUSE I DO!!! 😂😂😂😂

So Unagami knows about them trying to stop him and he sent the rat people because of it. Considering how little we know about this guy, I'm wondering what we are about to discover

Alright, going to the next challenge, very curious about this adventure. So... beware of the rats, ninja? Still not sure what I think about the rats 😅

THE CLIFFS OF HYSTERIA

I would like to say Okino is the edgiest character of the show I've ever seen... but I've seen MORRO. But still poor guy, he got a case of the Matrix

Oooohhhh, the major question in videogames: better go grinding for more money to get the better stuff but while losing lots of time, or get the least expensive just to go on with the story but definitely risking to lose lives?

Ah there we go, so the energy cubes mean something! Also reference to the Sushimi guy of the set (gosh that name, I can't 😂). So do people actually die in Prime Empire or they are just kidnapped kinda? Can the ninja just bring back? ANGST POTENTIAL

Cole please don't die please don't die please don't die for the love of Garmadon please don't die somebody help-

HOLY FSM KAI I MEANT HELP FROM SOMEONE WITH MORE THAN ONE LIFE DON'T DO THAT BE CAREFUL PLEASE I FREAKING LOVE YOU YOU RECKLESS HOTHEAD ❤❤❤

Nya giving Kai a sweet look after seeing her brother is okay, that's what I live for 😍

So apparently Unagami is trying to build some kind of device using the energy cubes of the dead players (sounds kinda creepy like this 😱) to create some kind of portal? To Ninjago? I don't understand, if Unagami is Milton Dyer then why this? Just to bring his army and conquer? I mean I guess, sounds a little simple though. Then again, if it turns out it's not Dyer, it could be Unagami wanting to be real and get into his creator's world? Mm...

I like the message, having the ability to choose your own path. Very fitting for a game themed season, I hope it gets explored even more!

More for the "I love the ninja emoji masks of this season"'s compilation 😂😂😂

THE MAZE OF THE RED DRAGON

Duuuude, Jay being good at mazes comes all the way from Possession, the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master! 😍 ... or maybe I just rewatch this show too much... could be both really 😅

Unagami is NASTY!

Confirmed the thing about going into the real world, what scares me is how much powers Unagami seems to actually possess. Like, can he do the block thingy whenever he wants? Just straight up pause and do whatever? Wow...

Jay being extra 😎

I mean, of course he is, he's got better statics! 😂 I like how he seems so focused and in charge, I still hope we see more of him... and Scott... WHERE IS SCOTT???

I love dragons, this metal one is cute 😍

So now we have two ronin: a samurai looking for a path on his own in a digital world... and a shady guy named Ronin 😛 Total respect for Okino, he really showed the values he believes in. No matter he was programmed his way, I hope he finds what he's looking for. Better come back for the final battle!

One Keytana down, two more to go. I know one is the price of the race, while the last one... I don't really know.

More of the masks because I love them 😂 Here we have Vegeta Lloyd and Kawai Cole ✌✌

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macgyvertape · 3 years

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50 or so hours into Cyberpunk 2077

This should be roughly the correct amount of time, ive been leaving the game running as I get up to get food or do stretches. Quests are roughly in order I did them

non spoilers above cut:

i haven't found a single hat/helmet i like, and since you can't hide them I just am not wearing any. It matters that much.

I posted the other day about bugs, every few hours I play I find new bugs. some require me to go back and reload a save others I honestly can’t tell if it’s a bug or just really poor development

there are several perks that don’t quite do what the description says, like the Anamesis perk. Based on reddit and trying it out it seems to just not do anything.

sometimes in car chase segments the passenger will say “look out” as cars spawn in my path and hit me. Can’t tell if that was deliberate or a pop in issue

Yeah I’ve just totally given up on doing pacifist things unless required by a mission. Given up on doing stealth too unless a mission objective, except for sneaking around to set up a fight.

:readmore:

the delemain car quest is fun. From the shock of the one going "beep beep motherfucker" and doing a hit and run to start it off, to the GLADOS car i see a lot of people talking about. It was fun to explore the city when i might have missed places like the landfill apparently there is follow up on T-bug's death if you go back to the quick hack shop in Kabuki. It's not much but better than nothing I made the pass with Panam of "what if the room just had one bed". I know she won't do a wlw romance, which is fine since I wouldn’t have chosen her. I enjoy her as a character, don’t get me wrong, my V considers her as a friend, but it seems like theres always drama going on which would be tiring. I would have gone for a fling, i like her leotard-pants combo with all the straps

but also her questline was buggy as hell. Multiple cases of having to reload due to clipping into objects, including her in a driving section, or just insta-dying when collision physics with some rocks broke "your neural network can no longer function independantly of the chip" me slapping my desk: s y m b i o te!!! come on lets have some s y m b i o s i s

in the scene with hellman i really liked how Johnny moved around the room. It made him feel like he was really there. it was hard to follow the convo as I left the room, i would not have understood it without subtitles. But i guess Takemura fucking waterboarded hellman. :|

lol I hope the dialogue is different b/c i refuse to smoke for Johnny

i am level 18 and still can't beat the first opponents in the fist fighting quest. ffs

I looked up the romances options so I went to do the I fought the law quest as soon as i got it. ACAB, but like I literally just met River Ward 2 minutes ago, and I really like him. His earring and cyborg eye, his big fluffy coat. I'm definitely gonna sleep with him Ok i like how when River Ward is dealing with the tiger claws if you interject it leads to a fight. It goes better if you follow his instructions and let him deal with it. Seriously I enjoy that sometimes its good to not pick a dialogue choice.

during the red queen club part, there was no dialogue over the phone. So i reloaded a save and got myself spotted and attacked. Then River showed up to help me <3 and it was more enjoyable having him there. I honestly am not sure if him not going to the club level is bug or not.

then uuuuuugh the worst of irl police "cops are my family" from Detective Han. Again ACAB "FRATERNITY OF CITY COPS RESEMBLES A [Nomad] CLAN NOT AT ALL" ok a few minutes ago i was complaining about bugs, but the character modeling in this game is good (when they're there). You can see body posture, characters jiggle their legs when they are nervous. Like I though character A was just throwing a cigarette on the ground, but then character B flinches back; I realize Char A threw it at B as a fuck you

I'm honestly curious if "I fought the Law" quest will have any impact later on. My choices were that I thought there was more going on than Holt being the only person behind this (based on how complicated the main questline heist is, and keeping an eye on some of the in game news), and told him not to take it to internal affairs, and I loved his response of how he doesn't give a shit what we think, he's doing it anyway.

In the elevator to report in, Johnny said "this muck is deeper than you think, tell them nothing", so i just said that the case was complicated. anyway i love how much of a sarcastic asshole V is

I thought i was being nonlethal with the monk quest, but it seems i accidently killed someone. RIP, but thats kind of the problem with this game. Like when i do the non lethal cyberpychosis quests I equip my non lethal modded gun and hope for the est. I like how a go here kill things quest led to Charles the ripperdoc. He's getting all his parts from scav gang members so I felt obligated to take him out. I got a police bounty for it but w/e.

I merged the Delemain fragments with the whole. Guess he's the meta now. (Side note: some of my favorite rvb fanfic plots are Ai consiousness/memory merging with the humans, so I’m having fun with this game and look foward to introspective fanfic)

Honestly Jonny made some good points, the fragments didn't deserve to die; but also destroying the core and freeing the fragments, they couldn't really function alone.

I was able to rescue Saul fine with stealth. Using cameras and the synapse overload really made it easy. Can't use the sniper rifle reward b/c I don't have the stats for it, and while it has a silencer the fact that it's a ricochette weapon and not a shoot through walls weapons, makes it not as good imo; and theres a legendary one that is stats free for only 100k.

Lol made a pass again at Panam, and she immediately shut me down. I then did Mitch's quest and I love every time someone tells V they area good person.

I hacked the operation carpe noctem shard, and wow the corporations are using ai to make people have cyberpsychosis, or something like that. What a shocker /s, I've played Deus Ex HR before

lol driving through the unifinished interstate, past the fight from Panam's first quest I found a "batcave" with a very nice car, and a manifesto written by "muckman'. But here's my complaint about the loot, there is a legendary top, but it had 16 armor. My current top has 84 armor, like why would i switch?? then later i found a bunker with soviet spies in it. Wild

Doing River's second quest, love the timing of as soon as you ask, why are we breaking in, someone shows up to tell you he got kicked off the force. It's funny how Johnny comments how maybe River's into you, and V just doubts Johnny's words. Love how the first kid asks River if I'm his girlfriend. also wow like oof both the second parts of Judy and River's quest are SUPER fucked UP!! oof like i stopped doing first person mode on the braindances for those quests as soon as i could, just made me too uncomfortable seeing that in first person.

DRIVING IN THE GAME IS BAD! nowhere is it more apparent than the sinnerman quest, which took me 3 times to get the driving section done, as cars spawned out of nowhere to hit me. Then when you restart, there is a bunch of dialogue it doesn't let you fast forward through. The rest of the Sinnerman questline is interesting. My V took every option to tell the dude that he was messed up, and what he was doing was wrong. idk, I was surprised how much dialogue there was that let you buy into his whole "forgiveness thing" and how there wasn't any real dialogue to call him the fuck out, that in seeking forgiveness he continues to do harm both emotional to the mother of the man he killed, but also that he got the husband killed via cop. The later follow up quest, I told him that what he is doing is crazy, studio is just going to profit off this vid. Then I refused to join him prayer, and told him fuck no i wasn't going to hammer him to the cross, or even watch. Yes, the man is scared of dying, and the corporation is exploiting him, but he keeps creating burdens for others. I think the discussion on this quest will be interesting to read, it's definitely my own personal experience with religion coloring my view. Anyway back to a main quest, yeah i don't trust Placide, especially in that scene where he grabs my hand, then jacks in. I ran off to do most of the sidequests here and got some criticism from him. I do love how in the cinema the western movie switches to a mission brief as the netwatch agent talks. its a fun enviromental detail. I took the netwatch offer, i don't think he's being fully honest with me, but he didn't put a virus in my head. As I told Placide later, I didn't pick a side. I like how you can then talk with the agent, who is a fan of Western movies, b/c they show "a simpler time where all good guys carry badges" :eyeroll:, and then V recommends Unforgiven, which from the wiki summary goes against that theme.

Looks like the Voodoo boys all got killed by Netwatch, but I as revenge for them trying to set me up I'm fine with it. Honestly after speaking with ai!Alt I don’t believe their plan of trying to be on good relations with AI would work.

doing the johnny flashback 2, and wow Johnny really is an asshole. Like I had gotten so used to him in side missions I forgot how self centered and unlikable he was.You constantly get prompts to drink or do drugs, which I ignored. But i do love the goth/punk love Rogue and others have.

lol i called it, when Hellman said that the engram would seek to override the host, put V on the engram. I really like how as the relic malfunctions, you wind up in the chair with a cigarette, which you can either smoke and say you are turning into Johnny or throw away. My dialogue "your problem is the ends justify the means", which is true!!! He and Rogue detonated a nuke downtown, does anyone know that, and like ask Rogue about it????

(Funny you can ask Rouge about Johnny silverhand, over the phone, then the game bugs out and spawns her npc where you are. She doens't say much about the nuke, but she does say no one trusts you for jobs). The line of no one trusting you for jobs is pretty funny at level 46 street cred where im at “respected” status. really loving the family atmosphere at River's 3rd quest. Also his big strong arms, and the fact he is no longer a cop. I totally let the kids win, and wow the family dinner where they GRILL YOU over the relationship and try to set the two of you up, then the water tower scene!!!!! I don't love the first person sex cutscenes but they do have personality. I'm glad afterwards you got to tell River about the biochip and that you might die. Because he's so far removed from your personal plot. So I took that option to back out of a relationship.

I do love that you wake up with "river's tanktop" that says "fuck the police" It actually has extremely good armor stats, so thats what I'll wear now.

panam 3rd quest, when shes like why did you help me, I'm like "because it's important to you". Basically the closest you can get to "when a friend asks for help you help them", which as an ex-nomad backstory I really choose the nomad options when ever i can Paralezes quest part 2! I love the piano song but I always think of it as ocean's 11 music. It's also fun to see the computer and see Judy recommended you for the first quest. The emails talk about "forgetting" to hire a staffer, on the balocony a strange antennia was scannable, the color of the roses was remembered wrong... lol guess i was right with those giant wall screens. Its fun environmental details that spell things out before you can notice, and it ties into some other quests where people's behavior is being altered. Actually, this quest "Dream On" I love it! For a while I've been like "wheres the illuminati conspiracy! Here it IS! I chose to follow Elisabeth's wishes and not tell her husband he was being brainwashed. In best case they program him to forget again, in worst case he ends up dead. The gaslighting Elisabeth described is CHILLING, her husband describes a vacation she can't remember and she doesn't know whose memories have been messed with. On your way to the plaza you get a call from someone/something that says the know exactly WHAT you are, any you black out!!! It's such a great feeling of helplessness that you're just one person in a world so big that you can't fight every power. As Johnny said, could be a corporation, could be a rogue ai, either way Jefferson is fucked (and so are you).

#cyberpunk 2077 #mac plays video games #a lot of this journaling i do #so in a few years i can look back #and see my first impressions

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nanakibh · 4 years

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KH3 is the True Ending of Type-0

I can sense your skepticism. Fear not. I’m going to explain. I HAVE TO EXPLAIN. YOU HAVE TO HEAR THIS.

Ever since I found this Famitsu interview with Tabata and Nishida (director, level designer) from 2014 about the Agito mobile game, I’ve been broken. My mind was crushed. I could not believe what I read. I’ll translate the important parts here for you.

This interview explains what Tabata’s original intentions were for the mobile game. However, the game was forced to prematurely end service only a year after it began and this ambitious ending never got the chance to happen. ...UNLESS?

Necessary context: Agito is the name of the legendary savior of the world. Despite being a core part of the original Agito XIII concept, this savior never came to exist in the story. In fact, many players have assumed that “Agito” is just a metaphor. This mobile game took place at the very beginning of the Spiral. In other words, in an early timeline in the extremely distant past, before the timeline of Type-0 occurred.

Out of All Players, Only One Agito Will Arise!

Interviewer: Before, you were talking about “one arc” and “two arcs”, but if Agito has a regular release where the story progresses toward the ending, it has to loop around from the beginning each time, doesn’t it? So, from the beginning to the end, that’s one arc. Could you tell us more about that?

Nishida: The story is released in chapters. In about three months in our time, one arc of Agito will be complete. As everyone who’s played Type-0 knows, from the beginning to the end when the world is destroyed, that’s one arc of history. During that time, the story changes depending on the choices of the player. In Agito, when the players’ “will” is introduced, history will change from Type-0 and Agito will arise.

Tabata: Yeah, that’s right. (laughs) In Type-0, it was said that Agito would be born, but Agito never appeared, did they? Even after the cycle repeated hundreds of millions of times, the Spiral ended without Agito being born. I thought… Wouldn’t it be bad if it stays that way? So, I want Agito to properly be created. (laughs)

Tabata: Going forward, history will change somewhere in the future and we’ll head toward a history where Agito was born.

Nishida: This is an experiment to find Agito from out of all of the players, and to place them into the history of Type-0.

Interviewer: Very interesting. So then, Agito isn’t born from one of the characters from Type-0, but from the players of Agito.

Tabata: Rather, it feels like every player of Agito is doing their best to become Agito.

Interviewer: What does it mean to become Agito? They’re referred to as a “savior”...

Nishida: As a game mechanic, it might be a spoiler if I talk about it. (laughs)

Interviewer: Well then, out of all of the players, how many will be able to become Agito?

Nishida: Only one. Eventually, out of all of the players, only one Agito will be born to rescue the world from its repeating history.

So. There you have it. The Agito mobile game was supposed to rewrite history and produce what I can only interpret to be a new ending for Type-0. (Further responses in the interview make it seem as though there could have been multiple new endings depending on which member of Class Zero’s strategy you followed. And apparently that would have led to unexpected outcomes where some of the characters might seem “OOC”, such as a “very heroic and gallant Nine.” lol)

If you aren’t picking up what I’m putting down... This concept of choosing Agito from the players sounds a lot like what khux did right before KH3, where players were chosen to have their names displayed in the game during the part where Sora helps save the world with the help of the “light of the past.”

The past changed the future, just like Tabata wanted. Am I crying? MAYBE.

At the very end of Type-0, after Class Zero sacrificed themselves to end the war, we get this tragic message which states that despite their best efforts, the prophesy of the Nameless Tome still came true:

In the same way, when it seemed as though the guardians of light had fallen in the Keyblade Graveyard, we saw that the MoM’s prophesy came true...

But then that future was overturned by the light from the past.

Maybe the players of khux became the spiritual successors of Agito. Or maybe it was Sora. Maybe it was both.

Either way... Holy shit.

#final fantasy type 0 #ff type 0 #final fantasy agito xiii #kingdom hearts #kh3 #khux #sora

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hellyeahomeland · 4 years

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[Assuming I can count right, this is the tenth and last debrief. Thank you to everyone who participated. These questions are harder than they seem! See you all on the other side. --Sara]

Name: Sara (@carriemathison)

Answered on: various days over the last two weeks

1. What is your idea of a perfect Homeland ending?

It needs to feel right. I need to look back and think, “yeah, that was right.” What is “right” though?… I mean, I have no idea. I’ll know it when I see it and I’ll know when I don’t see it. How’s this for not answering a question?

2. Which Homeland character do you most identify with?

This is a tricky question because I don’t really relate to any character on this show. Their lives and circumstances are all so extreme. That said, I’ve spent the better part of a decade thinking about and trying to understand Carrie Mathison in all her maddening complexity, so at this point I do identify with her.

3. What has your experience as a fan of the show been like?

A rollercoaster, start to finish. This fandom has gone through so many iterations. It’s evolved in much the same way that the show has. I could never in 400 gagillion years imagined that after seven years we’d have amassed over 22,000 posts, five seasons’ worth of podcasts, and so many friends from all over the world. It’s been a ride. We really did have a time.

4. What is a moment on Homeland that made you sit up out of your seat in awe or shock?

There have been quite a few over the years. These stand out most vividly in my memory.

Carrie going New Car Smell on Brody’s ass in “New Car Smell.” I have vivid, vivid memories of watching that in my apartment in college. This was before the days of the blog and the only place I had to discuss this show was TWoP.

Brody dying. I remember watching that episode at my desk, in that same college apartment, and having an actual physical reaction to him being hanged. I think I started to shake. That hasn’t happened before or since.

Strangely, the end of “Long Time Coming” really caught me by surprise. I felt that ending was actually kind of cliffhanger-y, because when the screen cut to black amid that familiar jazz music I think I stood up and screamed. It might also have been a delayed reaction to The Kiss, which was legitimately shocking at the time.

5. If you could have the writers redo one storytelling decision, what would it be and why?

The popular answer seems to be that they should have killed Quinn in season five, which is correct. But let’s just assume they’ve already done that since we all agree they should have.

I’m going to go with a left-field answer and say that I want a redo of the storyline with Carrie’s mother. In two straight season finales (“The Choice” and “The Star”) there are allusions to Carrie’s mother and to Carrie feeling abandoned. They set up all the right pieces in season four, a season that is largely centered around Carrie coming to terms with being a mother herself, with being a mother to this child she kept for a number of reasons that felt more and more tragic (and ill-advised) each day.

Instead of focusing on the resolution of Carrie’s own anger and resentment toward Ellen Mathison in light of Carrie finally understanding what it means to abandon a child, they decided to make it about Carrie’s secret half-brother, her mother’s series of affairs, and the revelation that Ellen didn’t leave Frank because he was bipolar. The last, by the way, is important, but it’s framed in such a way as to provide context to her initial rejection of Quinn post-The Kiss (“I’ll just fuck it up”), and it all adds up to a jumbled, overwrought mess. We all deserved better. That scene is I think the only time while watching this show that I thought, wow Claire seems to be really struggling with this.

6. If you could be a Homeland character, which one would you like to be?

I would like to be Carrie for... let’s say a month. It would be supremely painful and dramatic, but imagine being that fucking awesome? That smart and powerful and fearless?

7. What is your favorite episode of Homeland?

“Marine One” and that’s been my answer for over seven years. I think it’s my favorite episode of television ever. Beyond it spawning twin years-long sartorial obsessions, I think it is really a masterpiece. I love the structure of the episode. It starts off very quietly. Brody’s tape is haunting and then the scene where Saul visits Carrie is disgustingly heartbreaking (“But Saul…” … I will never get over that). Then it ramps up into this anxiety-filled clusterfuck. Carrie realizing what’s happening but no one will listen (yes, I know all the words in that phone call scene, what about it?) except Dana. That’s irony. The Carrie and Brody cat/mouse game continuing outside the police station, Brody just digging and digging even after Carrie cries uncle. Carrie remembering who Issa is right before they erase her memory. These are all sentence fragments because I’m bad at articulating my feelings about this episode. Except that I can basically only ever watch it on an airplane because I have nowhere else to go. I build up some episodes of this show in my head, remembering them as better than they actually are. This is one of the few that is just as good. Legendary, iconic, will never be topped.

8. What is your least favorite episode of Homeland?

There are some episodes of this show that are boring and nothing to write home about (or blog about, for that matter). Other episodes have gotten a reputation over the years as being some of the show’s worst (“Broken Hearts,” “Tower of David,” “America First” -- all of which are better than you remember). I can deal with all of those episodes well enough. In fact I’ve been quite shocked at all the “Tower of David” slander in these responses over the last few months, but now is not the time for me to defend “Tower of David.”

In keeping with this blog’s motto for the last seven years, I’m gonna go rogue on this one and say that I absolutely hate the double whammy of “Why Is This Night Different?” and “Better Call Saul.” Those episodes suck. In all our years of podcasting, the only episode that I have outright refused to do a podcast episode for is “Better Call Saul.” (At the time I made up an excuse, but guess what I LIED because I hate that episode.) Quinn leaning pathetically on Carrie’s shoulder after he gets shot and later tying himself to a cinder block to drown himself in a river will never not be legitimately, horrifyingly terrible. The only saving grace of these episodes is HAIR IN A BUN but they had to fuck it up with that awful wig. Bad.

9. If you could bring back one character, dead or alive, from the Homeland graveyard, who would it be and why?

David Estes. Gone too soon and we deserved to see a Carrie/David romance redux.

10. What will be your most enduring memory of Homeland?

I’ve met so many amazing people as a result of this show and this blog. Real and true forever friends. There are so many fantastic memories, and not-fantastic ones that will nevertheless endure.

Of them all, I will never forget going to Chicago the weekend of the season six finale with Ashley; seeing Hamilton on Saturday night; realizing that there was not an HDMI-equipped television in the Airbnb; buying a television at Best Buy on Sunday morning; going to a Chicago White Sox game where we proceeded to get pretty tipsy on alcoholic root beer; buying lots and lots of alcohol at a liquor store, including some trademark Carrie pinot grigio, because we were having a great ol’ time; maintaining the buzz throughout the finale; whispering “oh my God they killed him” when they killed Quinn, after which Ashley reflexively replied “no, he’s not dead”; recording a drunk podcast in the immediate aftermath that is sadly lost to the sands of time; realizing that everyone was freaking out about the episode; calling it a night at 10:30pm; groggily waking up a few hours later to Ashley telling me she was leaving the Airbnb; being hungover the next day and listening to Ashley tell me about how she did some light breaking and entering the previous night; driving back to Madison while we tried to make sense of anything Rupert Friend was saying in his post-finale interviews; and keeping the aforementioned television in the back seat of my car for the next six months before I finally sold it to a friend (“only been used one time!”).

#*#by: sara #homeland debrief

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mfackenthal · 5 years

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The MFackenthal Show with Special Guest @choicesarehard

banner created by the amazing @choicesarehard

Disclaimer: This interview was conducted on July 1, 2019.

Megs: Welcome, welcome everyone to my 10th show! I am so blessed that this show has done so well and the network has given me a full 23 episode slot. I have to tell you - the remaining 13 slots are currently filled! Which just means that my producers are working on a season 2. If you want to be on the show - please let me know. And if you think someone else should be on the show - let me know that too. In fact, today’s show couldn’t have happened without the help of @leelee10898.

Tonight, I have a wonderful special guest with me tonight, everyone please give a round of applause to @choicesarehard!

Ellie: stays seated next to Megs on the couch, gives a little smile and waves to the audience.

Megs: Ellie, I am so excited to have you on the show tonight. When we were chatting backstage, I promised I would start today’s show with a story - something to help you forget that my amazing audience is staring at you. Hmmm .. I’m trying to think of an embarrassing one … let’s see ... I’ve been taught to always sing loud and proud … but that means people often catch me not quite knowing the words to the song I’m singing. That’s not terribly embarrassing though … Oh! I understand that you like to travel … I have to be really careful that I don’t sing when I’m on a plane. It’s harder for me than it sounds. Ooooh oooh oh - idea forming right now! We should have plane karaoke. I really think flights could be more fun if we had a little more to drink and a few more songs to sing together. Plus I never forget the words when I’m singing karaoke - the words are always right there on the screen.

Ellie: laughs. You would certainly have a captive audience.

Megs: Exactly! Okay, your turn. Tell me a travel story.

Ellie: Hmmm ... well, Megs, you see, I’m a Texan, and we tend to be really friendly people. Sometimes, a little too friendly. On a flight home from London recently, a British man in front of us was struggling to fill out his immigration form. He asked the flight attendant “What if I don’t know where I’m staying?” This Texas woman next to me, who does not know this man at all, immediately pipes up, “Sugar, don’t give it another thought, you’ll stay with us. We have a spare room.” And the British man looks absolutely terrified, and squeaks “I meant I don't know the address!” It was the most perfect culture clash I’ve ever seen, and I loved every second of it.

Megs: Oh, that is a great story. Gotta love Texans.

Ellie: Agreed!

Megs: Okay, so Ellie, tell me, when did you join the fandom and what brought you here?

Ellie: I joined Tumblr in January, after reading every single Damien x MC story on the Choices Fan Fiction Archive. No, seriously, like, all of them. I was desperately Googling for more content, and discovered all the amazing creators on here. I made an account that night!

Now, as I can be pretty shy, I didn’t make a single post or even comment on stories my first month on Tumblr. I probably would have stayed a wallflower if @walkerismychoice hadn’t written a story so amazing I had to say something. So I sent her a DM and panicked until she responded. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. Maggie took me under her wing, showed me how to tag and post, sent me my first Ask, and even encouraged me to write my first drabble! Friends like her and what really brought me away from the metaphorical wall and onto the fandom dance-floor.

Megs: And we’re so glad you are here! Megs turns to the audience. As there may be a few of you here who don’t know Ellie very well, let me tell you - she is multi-talented. Not only does she write, but she also creates gorgeous edits. Seriously, did you see that banner of us when you first turned on the show? That was all Ellie! She’s amazing.

Ellie: Megs - stop, you’re making me blush!

Megs: Nope, won’t stop. Seriously Ellie, you should charge a commission fee! I would have paid for my icon and banners!!! *wink* Ellie: Ha! You are the sweetest, and I actually get that a lot. But edits are my little way of saying thank you to the fandom for being so kind to the new kid!

Megs: Awh, you’re not so new anymore, friend! So tell us a little about your work. What’s your favorite work that you’ve written?

Ellie: Oh goodness, I can be pretty critical of my own work, but I’m trying to shake that habit. And I am definitely proud of His Hands. Sometimes the things we hate about ourselves are the things that draw others to us, and it was fun to show both those perspectives in one piece.

Megs: Oh, that is so beautiful! Can you tell me more about your edits?

Ellie: The edits started as a way to illustrate one of my Outfit Drabbles — these kind of insane little stories I write about the worst outfits in the game. But I started doing edits seriously about two months ago! Clearly, it has kind of spiraled out of control since then, and I’m slapping wrinkles and tattoos and prison uniforms on everyone. I’ve also started making Choices Aesthetics recently. I love trying to capture the feeling and mood of a book or character in just six panels. My Wishful Thinking Emu board is probably my favorite thing I’ve ever made.

Megs: Everyone should check those out. That Wishful Thinking board is amazing! So, do you prefer writing or the edits?

Ellie: Oh Megs! Don’t make me choose! Oh goodness, let me think. Making an edit is definitely more fun than writing. I’m giggling almost the entire time I’m creating one. And it’s a much, much faster process. But I pour so much of myself into my stories, and I really love getting to share them with other fans. And I think my stories mean more to me on a personal level. So uh...both? Can I say both?

Megs: Of course! I mean, I should probably share something really fast ... if ever I am playing a game - I will look for a way to cheat. So in either/or questions - I highly respect an answer of both.

Ellie: That does explain so much about you, Megs.

Megs: Laughs. Okay, well, getting back to you sharing your work with this fandom. What do you love about this fandom? Is there anything you’re less than happy with?

Ellie: I love how welcoming the fandom is to new writers and artists. My first drabble was literally 77 words… and I had a whopping 13 followers. It should have been totally lost in the noise. But wonderful people like @bobasheebaby @sinclaire-made-me-sin and @ritachacha were so supportive; it made me feel brave enough to write a second story, and a third, and…well, here we are!

And listen, I know no online experience is going to be perfect, but if I don’t like a given topic or series I just filter it from my dashboard, or unfollow the user. Beyond that, I just try to surround myself with people who are kind.

Megs: Do you have any advice for other people in the fandom? Especially other fanfic writers?

Ellie: I’m an incredibly slow writer. Seriously, trees grow to maturity while I finish a single drabble. And it can be intimidating to see a flurry of new content appear as I’m writing. But I’ve had to teach myself not to worry about what stories have already been told or are being told as I write. Our voices will always be unique, so even if the trope or setting is familiar, our work will be something that only we could have created.

Megs: Well … I can’t say much about anyone’s speed of writing. I’m lucky if I get something out every other week. Those are truly beautiful words about uniqueness. Thank you, Ellie! What’s your writing process?

Ellie: Simple - I write three words. Then I panic. Erase two of them. Panic some more. I’m kidding…mostly. In all seriousness, most of my writing wouldn’t exist without @brightpinkpeppercorn. We’re both night owls, and tend to brainstorm ideas long past midnight. Telling a story’s concept to a friend helps me develop the idea without the pressure of formatting or picking the perfect words — especially when that friend has an incredible sense of narrative and how to move a story forward. I really do think writing takes a community sometimes, and I’m so lucky to have one on Tumblr.

Megs: I love hearing about the community really coming together. And speaking of community and coming together … fangirl with me about Choices for a little while. Have you read all the books, what’s your favorite book, favorite One True Pairing (OTP), etc?

Ellie: Well, Megs, don’t tell anyone but … I actually haven’t played three of the biggest series — The Crown and the Flame, Endless Summer, and It Lives Beneath. I really want to, but there’s so much amazing new content each week, how’s a girl supposed to find the time?

Megs: I don’t know! I often whine about not being paid to read all the fanfiction out there. I’m behind right now on both canon and so much fanfiction ... and that is so weird for me. Oh, but I saw that you’ve decided to read Veil of Secrets next. Everyone, check out this post on how you can read or reread it with Ellie, if you want!

Ellie: Awh, thanks Megs. Yeah - everyone should read it with me. As for a favorite choices book … Saying this in an interview makes it real, doesn’t it? gets up and starts to pace in front of Megs Oh gosh, oh gosh … sits back down and takes Megs hands … I’m so sorry Damien, but...it’s Ride or Die. Releases Megs hands and faces the audience. Listen, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Ride or Die was supposed to be a fluffy little story I’d play for diamonds and laugh at. But the narrative has so much more depth and nuance than I’d expected, and your decisions have real consequences. And did I mention the three incredible Love Interests?

Megs: You actually didn’t no.

Ellie: Oh - shush you! Laughs. Well, let me get back to my OTP - It will always be Damien and Kai from Perfect Match. Damien is a man who loves every part of you — your bad jokes, your terrible cooking — and has loved you for years. Besides, his banter is hysterical, and his ability in bed is literally legendary on Tumblr. I mean, come on. It’s a no brainer.

Megs: I do miss Damien! Sigh And, on that note, we are out of time. Thank you, Ellie, for joining me on today’s show. It was a pleasure to have you on the show.

Ellie: Wait, wait - Megs. Before you go, I have one thing I have to give you.

This is an edit of us on today’s show. Thank you for having me and for helping me through my shyness.

Megs: It is gorgeous, Ellie! Thank you soooooo much! I love it!

Ellie: You’re so very welcome.

Megs and Ellie hug then turn to the audience and wave.

Megs: Have a great weekend, everyone!

~~~~~

And now for the tags. If you want to be added to the tag list for these or removed, please let me know!

@hopefulmoonobject @queen-among-writers, @hopelessromantic1352, @lilyofchoices, @msjpuddleduck, @theroyalweisme, @lady-kato

#Guest Star Choicesarehard #Episode 10 #13 more in the season #I love glasses #She created my icon with Ethan #I wish I actually had that shirt and necklace #And the necklace she is wearing #The Mfackenthal Show #I almost forgot to tag my own show #Oops #If you hear singing on a plane that will be me #Plane karaoke

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outroshooky · 4 years

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song rec tag game!

thank you @ayixha for the tag! you’re an angel and i adore you!

rules: you can only repeat one artist and only one time, so we can all kind of spread new music to the people we tag. try to listen to at least one of the songs people rec here.

i’ll tag @hobiswitch, @guksheart, @yoonsgiggle, and @minghaoss!

one song you loved the first time you listened to it and never got tired of

don’t you worry child by shm. it is such a nostalgic track that was produced at the end of their legendary career-- literally, the last track they ever released as a trio. there’s so much emotion contained in it, but at the same time it is so uplifting that i can’t help but crave something older than myself. it is car rides to nowhere and staring at my bedroom ceiling and feeling my heart burst listening to that last drop.

one song you cry every time you listen or makes you emotional?

oh goodness, happy now by kygo. on a surface level, it sounds like a broken relationship coming to an end; however, it was written in memory of avicii after the late dj passed away. watching kygo talk about tim in interviews makes it clear how devastated he is, but how at the end of the day, he is prepared to move on while always taking a piece of avicii’s legacy with him. as a huge fan of both avicii and kygo, my heart breaks every time i hear this track.

one song that always makes you happy?

for sure, chilli by seventeen. at ode to you in newark, hip hop unit performed it and since seungcheol is on leave currently/was at the time, hansol took cheol’s verses along with his own. he rapped his way across the stage with so much confidence and passion, with a smile written clear across his face. my heart grew about fifty times with that performance, and i’ll never forget him looking directly at me in the pit right at the end of it. that, by the way, is the moment i realized i’m a hansol ult.

one song you would dedicate to your best friend and/or family member

i’m going to tweak this one a little bit: rather than dedicating a song to a best friend, i’d like to dedicate karma by ajr to my current therapist. i used to listen to this song after each session, having switched to a trauma therapist at my mentally lowest point. it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it’s a reminder of the place that i started at and just how far i have come with her help. the song samples a line of another ajr song called 100 bad days, a reminder that this is not forever and you will persevere on beyond this feeling and this moment. i’m really proud of the progress i have made with the help of my therapist; i could not have done it without her.

one song with a production (the sounds, the beats, the mood) you love?

*cracks knuckles* i, an edm librarian, have aSCENDED WITH THIS QUESTION--

okay pun unintended but i would have to say good things fall apart or that’s why by illenium! anything on his ascend album is fantastically done; there is no other producer who can create the kind of drops that illenium does. they blend these organic sounds with a melodic bassline and meaningful lyrics; it’s so impressive to listen to. two truly legendary tracks in terms of production.

one song with perfect, amazing, outstanding lyrics?

going to the complete opposite end of the spectrum: i’d have to pick this girl by lij. it is his most popular song (of many equally wonderful other tracks), but for good reason. i’ve never heard wordplay quite like his rhymes, nor a song that so accurately sums up the love letters that i write in my heart because i’m too scared to pen them on paper.

you're my actuality, all my sincere apologies / you're my imperfections, but a figure of mythology / i wanna give you all of me, come fulfill this prophecy / attention's hard to catch, but you capture it so flawlessly

this world is kinda shitty, but you're pretty kind and witty / i'll write love songs to the moon and back; let's get out of this city / we got one hell of a something; yeah i'm smitten with your loving / i had nothing till you came along, but now i feel like i belong

one song you would recommend to anyone?

way back home by shaun. shaun is another underrated artist who deserves so much love! no matter who you are, i feel like this song appeals to an element of the human soul, some bit of summer nights and nostalgia and feeling like you could eat the world raw. it’s work shifts in midsummer and riding with the top of the car down and running in warm sand with the love of your life. i love this track so much.

one song that you don’t understand why you like it so much but you do anyway?

oof, this one goes to ball for me by post malone. i used to not be a big fan of it, but it grew on me over time. the other day, i walked through new york city to it and it had a Vibe to it that i’ll think of every time i listen to it in the future. i also despise nicki minaj, but her verse in this song slaps.

one song you think that people, in general, wouldn’t like but you do?

ooh i’d have to pick cinderella man by eminem! to be fair, i do associate this song with an old friend of mine; i probably wouldn’t like it if i didn’t have that association. it’s a bit on the heavy side; there are some sketchy lyrics that my mom might not approve of, but that’s eminem for you. this song is feeling very small but on top of the world all at once, black curls and familiar strangers in the middle of nowhere.

one song people normally like and you don’t like or hate?

the middle by zedd. i despise zedd’s newer music. his older music, more specifically, his true colors album, should be celebrated in a museum. his new music is disgustingly mainstream.

one song you would call a masterpiece

lights down low by max. no matter what remix (latin urban) or featured artist (gnash), it remains one of the most stunning songs i have ever heard. the fact that the artist wrote it to propose to his wife with is fucking adorable. the fact that the music video is their wedding video is even cuter. it is so raw and open and honest, no matter what artist remixes it or writes their own verse. it is literally an eternal masterpiece and i refuse to be convinced otherwise.

one song you listen to (last 30 days max) discovered and really liked it?

surprisingly, fire on fire by sam smith! there’s something about the raw invocation of love on this track that touches a piece of my heart. it is yin and yang, passion and quiet adoration, a soft string line and a dramatic background. i’m starting to really like sam smith’s music; it has a special place in my heart.

one song you listen to to get pumped like you want to tear down the fucking government or something?

okay, this one (unsurprisingly) goes to n.o by bts. i used to listen to this song and scream the lyrics at my bedroom wall when i was especially frustrated. if you’ve never had the experience, i recommend it.

#i'm genuinely surprised at how all over the place my music taste is with these recommends but #i hope you guys enjoy!!#thank you ayx for the tag i really enjoyed doing this!!#tag game #mutuals 💕💖#music recs #about

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loopy777 · 4 years

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You've got me curious now as to what anime youve seen, enjoyed and why.

Oof, I don’t track that type of thing. I’ve been asked about anime I like previously, and I feel like I always forget something. I suppose I should start a MyAnimeList one of these days, just for reference.

So let’s list everything I can remember, as well as a pithy reaction.

Baccano!This one is just so much fun. It’s violent and crass in a classy way, it’s funny in a weird way, and it’s a great example of a non-linear narrative. I love it.

Code Geass (Season 1)Ugh, I only watched this one because people solicited my opinion on it. Well, my opinion is that it’s not as smart as it wants to be, there’s too much contrived melodrama (and considering the wild premise, that’s saying something), and Kallen would be a wonderful and interesting character if she wasn’t always being demeaned for fan-service. I quit when the first season finale kicked off, because I felt things were just getting too contrived. I hear it really fell apart in the second season.

Cowboy BebopI found this a bit pretentious. It had good episodes and bad episodes. The production quality is good. But I'm not sure why it's legendary. Still, I liked its sense of humor, and enjoyed it when it wasn’t trying to be super serious. My favorite character is Ed.

Demon SlayerI'm mainly watching this because my brother wanted to give it a try on Toonami, but I kind of checked out when it unceremoniously removed everything difficult about the sister being a demon and made her into an order-following sidekick that fits in a suitcase. Now the latest episode introduced a loud annoying side character, so we may quit. I have no idea why this one is so popular.

Fullmetal AlchemistCovered

Gatchaman CrowdsI was asked to watch this one, as well, but it went a lot better than Code Geass. It’s a bit weird, and I think it's naively optimistic about the internet in many ways, but I still found it's exploration of Internet-age superheroes to be interesting, and it's the best, most mature take on the Power Rangers-style ‘sentai’ genre that I've seen. I don't know how well it matches up with its Gatchaman legacy, but as its own thing, it's pretty good.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (including 2nd Gig)This is another legendary one that I think is good but a bit over-rated. It's a good piece of modern Cyberpunk, but it's very talky, and very jargon-filled. I'm almost convinced that the viewer is not meant to follow half of the conversations, that they're just part of the ambiance. I tended to like the stand-alone episodes better than the storyline episodes. Still, it’s a very smart series, and probably the best thing in the franchise, from what I’ve heard.

Log Horizon (first season only)I’ll tell you what- I think it’s possible to make a good anime with the premise of people from the modern, real world entering a fantasy realm (either another dimension or a VR video game). Log Horizon did not end up being that ideal. The main character is a Gary Stu, his romances with girls who are either ten years old or just look like they’re ten years old are creepy, and it got boring seeing the protagonists’ plans always succeed without much of a hitch.

Lupin III (series 4 and 5)I like this franchise when it's being clever, when it's springing a twist while playing fair. Sometimes, though, it doesn't play fair with its twists, leaving me underwhelmed. And while the regular cast is amusing, they're fairly shallow characters; this isn't always a bad thing, as that allows them to slot into all kinds of genre fare, but does limit the storytelling ambitions. It’s fine.

Macross franchiseSuper Dimensional Fortress MacrossI still like the original, despite how dated it is. It's probably the best possible implementation of 'soap opera in space.'

Macross PlusI'm not sure why this one is so revered. I feel like it doesn't play fair with its mystery, despite being such a short story, and whole thing with the killer popstar AI just left me cold.

Macross 7I like the music, but the story really drags for the first half with a formula that’s repeated far too long, and then falls apart in the end. The love triangle isn’t resolved, and in fact I’m of the opinion that two of the participants didn’t even know they were in competition. The bad guys are allowed to sail off into the sunset, forgiven, despite still inhabiting the bodies of kidnapped humans. But this isn't a series you watch for the story; this is a series you watch because you like the idea of a rockstar flying into space in a transforming mecha, controlled by an electric guitar, to sing at alien invaders. Personally, I think the idea is dumb. Plus, this ruins the premise of the original series by adding in what is effectively magic.

Macross ZeroThis is pretty good and has the best dogfights in the series, but it has one of those weird arty endings that anime sometimes likes to do where no one can tell what actually happened and we need to find translated interviews with the creative team to get it explained.

Macross FrontierBy this point, I was wondering why everyone is so eager for the Macross franchise to get American distribution. It’s better than Macross 7, but feels like a first draft of the intended story, and the creative team lost track of their own subplots. The two AU movies do a more satisfying take on the same basic story, but sometimes they come across like an abridged recap of the series, so you really need to watch everything to get a satisfying experience. That said, the final experience was indeed fairly satisfying, making this the second best thing in the franchise for me. Still, I wouldn’t say it lives up to the original in any way.

Macross DeltaBoy, this one was dumb. Everything wrong with Frontier is worse here, with none of the good stuff.

The Melancholy of Haruhi SuzumiyaI still want an ending for this, despite nothing worthwhile coming from it since 2011. It wouldn't even be hard to pick it up again; set it in modern times, and explain the fact that everyone has smartphones now to be a result of some weird off-screen Haruhi antics.

Mobile Suit Gundam franchiseMobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded OrphansI've only ever experienced the Gundam franchise because my brother wants to get into it and he keeps trying to find a vector. This was my first experience with it, and I found it very 'teenage boy,' in both tone and story. I was underwhelmed.

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096Another case where the storytellers reached the end only to have forgotten the rest of the story. Why does that happen so often in anime? And I think it assumes the viewer is familiar with the whole rest of the franchise, because there was a lot that just went straight over my head but didn't seem like it was supposed to. Nice animation and art style, though.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin - Advent of the Red CometEverything I said about Unicorn, only more.

My Hero AcademiaCovered

NichijouThis thing is still hilarious, even after a rewatch. Stick with the sub, as the new dub's voice-acting doesn't have the same range and power of the original, losing a lot of the humor.

Outlaw Star I'm struggling to remember a lot of this one. it’s another I watched because my brother was interested in it. I do recall that it was a fairly standard Space Western that ends in a way that's more like serious science fiction, and that for some reason a Japanese swordswoman in classic clothing was part of the cast. Now I wonder if that was an homage to Lupin III. Or maybe Japan just really loves throwing classic samurai into everything, regardless of setting or genre.

Pokemon (part of first series)I was in high school when this franchise first came to America, and for some reason all the geeks in my high school thought it was the greatest thing. The games were good, yeah, but the anime? I don't think it's bad for a kiddie cartoon, but it obviously has no greater ambitions than pleasantly occupying the kids for 22 minutes. Personally, what I really want is a series about Team Rocket done in the style of Cowboy Bebop.

Princess TutuCo-owner of the Best Magical Girl designation. I forget who asked me to watch this, but I owe them.

Puella Magi Madoka MagicaCo-owner of the Best Magical Girl designation. I still haven't bothered with anything but the original series, and I continue to be happy with that choice.

Samurai ChamplooI liked this better than Cowboy Bebop, but only because its ambitions were lower. It leaned more into its genre, had fun with its style more even when being serious, and as a result became more enjoyable. I overall liked going on a journey with these rascals, but I think it ended at a good point. I don’t need more.

Spice & Wolf (first season)I watched this on someone's suggestion, and found it a little underwhelming. What I really appreciated were the two main characters, especially that they seem to be into each other, romantically and sexually, and aren't freaked out by it while at the same time not being in a hurry to become a couple. It was just a kind of, "Yeah, this could really be something if we ever find the time." It was so amazingly mature and real. Too bad the main Economics plotlines just wound up being tepid.

Tekkaman BladeMy thoughts haven't changed on this.

Tiger & BunnyI'm still fond of this one, and I'm actually kind of curious to revisit it in light of My Hero Academia.

Transformers ‘Unicron Trilogy’These three cartoons are true anime, produced by and for Japan. (The other cartoons in the franchise were written, and sometimes animated, in the west.) It's garbage that assumes its child audience are morons, and on top of that the first two series wound up with laughably bad dubs. How this trilogy revitalized the franchise, I have no idea, and thankfully I'll never have to worry about it.

Volton (original)Either this or Robotech/Macross was my first anime; I was too young to say which I discovered first. I'll admit that the original Voltron isn't good, despite the toy being neat, but I have a soft spot for it. I tried the Netflix reboot, watching the first three episodes, and found it to be vacuous junk. Maybe some day a version of this will come along that will do justice to the toy.

And I think that’s it. If I remember anything I left off, I’ll reblog with the addition.

#Anonymous

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aliypop · 4 years

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Be With The Stars

Wordcount: 2,179

A/n: So here’s a rewritten version Of how Alana became a smuggler and met han!

"Cantina... I've never been to one of those.." she whispered to herself, walking in she saw so many people of so many different planets that she couldn't help but stare in aw from taking it all in,

"Your kind isn't welcomed here,"

Alana looked at the waitress a bit angry at what she just said to AL-1 "She's with me, " she never did understand the hatred towards droids they were the kindest things ever, at least that's what she knew her AL-1 to be,

"You cheated!"

"You lost the game, and you lost your -"

" I wanna play.." Alana said sitting at the table of what looked like a group of roughings, thugs, and well mostly smugglers, but the person that stood out to her the most was a man wearing the most obnoxious colored cape she had ever laid eyes on in her life with a bright neon shirt to match it, her eyes were already studying the deck of cards although it wasn't like she had never played the game before,

"Why would a beautiful girl like yourself want to pla-"

"Deal me in.," she smirked, tossing her tiara in the pot, "A Nabooian tiara.. nice steal there," Alana looked at the young man confused by what he meant as a nice steal when it was, in fact, her own,

"Y-yeah stole it from the queen!" Alana smirked looking around the table,

"The queen is dead, anyways what's your name," he said trying to change the subject, there was something about this girl that had a mystery to her,

"Um... Lana Corge Clargo .." she stuck her hand out smiling,

"Call me Lando," he smirked kissing her hand, a waitress walked by winking at Lando, "Get her a Jawa Juice," he whispered, Alana was excited already making friends, and she had just landed on the planet, playing the game Alana began to learn more about Lando, he believed in luck, smooth-talking, and lots of flirting,

"So Clargo.," he smirked the two were the only ones left playing,

"Yes Lando.." she smiled shifting through her cards, she had already won 2 matches, but this one was for the big win, "Ever won a big bounty before," he asked as her head shot up from her cards," No.." she ignored his question,

"Why not go on an adventure.. go see the Galaxy.."

"-23!" she slammed the cards down on the table, taking everything in the pot since, after all, she did win, but the thing that struck out to her the most was a pair of golden Corellian spike dice, "I could take the Naboo Impulse out for a spin.," she replied to him, Lando looked at her, his eyes wide from what she had just said, every smuggler just about knew the existence of the coaxuim carrying machine that used to be named the Corellian Fury,

"So you're Clargo's daughter," Lando smirked, "Well why didn't you say so.," he laughed as Alana rolled her eye's, "Because .. wait you know my dad," she blinked at him Lando nodded as the two walked out of the Cantina,

"By the way, I like Corge better.."

"Y-You do?" she stuttered, Alana was new to this and very naive to the ideas of adventure, but she knew that this would work out for her in the long run, or so she had hoped, "It'll catch on quick," he winked, walking back to his ship, it was spacious bigger than a few ships she had ever seen,

"So why Tatooine of all places to run away to," he asked flipping the switches on, as she found her ways into his assortments of capes and cloaks, " Moisture farming sounded pretty nice," she shrugged her shoulders,

"And not the limelight of Royalty," he said as she poked her head out from the closet, "Pretty soon they'll be guards waiting for ya.."

"I left that life when I got here okay!" she sat in the co-pilot seat as Lando stared at her, "What's wrong.." she asked looking up at him naive eyes looking at ones with more experience, " L3.. is not gonna be happy about this.." he mumbled to himself, Alana looked out the from the ships window seeing the stars, but this time it was different, they shined brighter than what she was used to, her eyes wide filled with the galaxy in them, Lando couldn't help a bit but to smile,

"I take it you've never seen the stars before?"

"I have just not like this," she then turned to look away from her wondering child-like eyes fading away, "It's different when you choose to adventure rather than someone choose them for you," she laughed, looking around,

Months had passed, and Lando and Alana had begun to understand each other or at least he had liked to think so, "Is everything okay.. you haven't been yourself since Bespin," she asked not wanting to get on his bad side, she cared about the gambler, but she didn't know why maybe it was their long talks at night or the way he would try to sweet-talk her, whatever it was she couldn't explain it and she didn't know-how,

"I don't want to talk about it, Lana,"

"I thought you could trust me," she mumbled,

"Lana in this business you can't trust anyone," he laughed,

" You're too vulnerable to be a smuggler, You'll never be.." he stopped talking as Alana looked at him brows furrowed "Never be good at it.." she growled leaning closer towards him, her heart shattered at what he was implying,

"That's not what I was going to say.." he rolled his eyes at her, "But you're so quick to think with your heart and not with your head!" he leaned closer towards her, his hand around her waist pulling her more towards him, soft lips landing onto hers as she kissed him back, hands in his hair, pushing herself away from him,

"I can't do this.."

"Do what.."

"I can't like you, I know you don't believe in me, and that's fine I don't need you!" she laughed at him, "I can do this myself, "

"Fine, but don't come crawling back to me!" he laughed, "I never wanna see on my ship again!"

"I never wanna see it again!"

Lana was back on Tatooine with her droid, and so far things were going good for her when she wasn't on the run from bounty hunters and stormtroopers or smuggling spice for the Hutt mob and making runs for Voss, instead, she spent her time in the Cantina playing Sabacc and drinking Jawa Juice,

"Why the long face Corge.." the bartender asked, pouring her another drink, "You're in your prime, you're doing great, Hutt trusts you.." he smiled as she smirked a bit,

"Yeah, I just want something more than just that though, an adventure ain't worth anything if you can't share it with someone.." she laughed,

"No one interest you," walking in was a Wookiee and a disgustingly handsome young man with a blaster on his hip, something about him, gave her an odd feeling, she just didn't know where to pinpoint it,

“You know, sometimes I amaze even myself,” he smirked, he was charming and handsome, probably twenty-two at most,

"That's what you think," Lana mumbled under her breath, not caring if he heard her, his brown curls glowing like an angel, he must have been Corellian she could tell by how cocky he was,

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the legendary Lana Corge.." his eye's met in her direction, "Or the missing daughter of Na-"

PEW!

"Do you believe all rumors to be true Mr,"

"Solo, Han Solo," You've got good aim there.." he smirked lost in her eyes already, Chewie by his side, while her droid was right by hers, he looked like troubled, and she secretly loved it, she could tell he was new to the business, and she felt no remorse for him,

"Trust lightly.." she smirked, "AL-1 let's go-",

"Did you learn that from Lando.," he smirked, watching her stop in her tracks, her eyes were wide when he spoke the name, " What's it to you kid," she asked turning around to face him, "I should be calling you kid.," he mumbled, knowing that she heard him, walking away as he grabbed her by the wrist, " Let me go you nerf herder," she grumbled twisting her wrist out of his grasp, " let’s get one thing straight, I take orders from just one person.. me,” He whispered in her ear as she glared at him,

"Oh, that really scares me.." pushing past him as she began to walk back to her ship, she had always loved it, the beautiful seats, the soft Nabooian touches, and her father's lucky dice a rusting gold color from all the times he used them, holding a small bottle of spice in her hand as she looked at her droid she couldn't help but smile,

"We still got it.." her droid speaking back at her, a smile on her face, starting up the ship, "Something's missing.." Han said, looking around for his prized smuggled possession, he was looking for the small bottle of spice that was in his vest pocket fuming with anger as Chewie laughed at the slight idea of who might have stolen the bottle, racing outside the Cantina, he had seen a ship, it looked much like the Corellian Fury, and he was sure that it was,

"This damn ship! AL-1 hand me a tool!" Alana shouted under the control pannels as she hit her head "This ship is farkled," she mumbled under her breath, tired of the fact she had to fix up again, Han sat there listening to the younger woman cuss a slight smile on his face,

"Strong words there princess.." Han smirked watching her brows furrow, "The spice where is it, I know you have it somewhere," he began to walk towards her,

"I don't know what you're talking about." she shrugged, "You've got the wrong girl," laughing as she stood up, "And if I did do you know how much it's worth for Jabba to have it," she asked looking at Han,

"Of course I do, that's why I need it!" he shouted as Alana gave him a sly smile,

"Then why did you lose it," she asked getting closer to him,

"I didn't lose it, you took it," he growled, "And I want it back." cornering her against a wall, "You don't understand how important this is to me." Alana rolled her eyes, leaning under Han's arms to get back to fixing her ship, "If it's so important you should have hidden it better Mr. Solo, " biting her bottom lip as she winked at him, "Even if I did have it, it doesn't mean that I'd give it back to you!" she squeaked feeling the hard wall of the ship against her back, "Is that so.." he whispered, his hand now on her hip. Alana grabbed him by the wrist before he could get it. She began to like how clever he was, very much a street smarts kind of guy and she knew she liked it,

I should kill you," he gave her his most charming smirk,

" But you won't.. " she chuckled,

"Whys that sweetheart," he asked her leaning in closer towards her,

"You like me because I'm a scoundrel, there aren't enough scoundrels in your life.." Alana said pulling him by the collar, watching his eyes get wider by the second Han stood there almost frozen thinking as if he might have just met his match, and from what he witnessed he did,

"I think it's time for you to head back to your ship Mr.Solo," she smiled looking up at him her back still pressed to the wall, "Now if you excuse me-"

The taste of wine and strong remains of blood was stuck on the rough lips of Han Solo, Alana knew that deep inside she was enjoying the kiss, but she couldn't let him win just yet, she knew what he was doing and she was one step ahead of him, Han could taste the lingering remains of Jawa Juice on her breath, with the feel of lips smoother than any Nabooian fabric he'd ever heard of, hands resting on her waist finding the bottle,

"Not so fast Mr. Solo we've only just met.." she laughed, pulling away, "Maybe I could come with you," she whispered, "This is gonna be a big bounty, and I want in,"

"Listen, kid, I fly solo," Han smirked looking down at her, as she looked up at him, "Besides You'll get hurt.." he added on, seeing she wouldn't listen,

"Bruises add character besides you need a good luck charm.."

"You think you're a good luck charm,"

"I'm experienced, and besides you'll need me, I'm quick on my feet and I never get caught-" the two stopped talking as they heard laughter,

"Shut it Furball!"

"Shut it you sack of wires!"

#star wars #landocalrissian #han solo #alana mabecorge #fanfiction #hanxoc

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eastofthemoon · 5 years

Text

This is both part of my Witch Allura AU and also part of @gentronlegendaryfriendships for the prompt Hanahaki Disease. Couldn’t resist writing this once it got into my head.

Petals

Rating: G

Series: Voltron Legendary Defender

Part of Something Familiar

Summary: Shiro would be the first to admit that as a witch’s familiar, one had to expect the unexpected. Yet, every now and then, something would throw him off. Coming home to see scattered flowers on the floor wasn’t exactly bizarre, but it wasn’t normal for their home either. He raised an eyebrow as he followed the trail of petals into the living room.

Shiro would be the first to admit that as a witch’s familiar, one had to expect the unexpected. Yet, every now and then, something would throw him off. Coming home to see scattered flowers on the floor wasn’t exactly bizarre, but it wasn’t normal for their home either. He raised an eyebrow as he followed the trail of petals into the living room.

Someone coughing as he entered. More petals were spread in disarray across the floor and in the centre of it all was Lance, in his cat form, hacking non-stop.

“Lance,” Shiro asked in concerned as he kneeled, “buddy you okay?”

The cat froze, slammed his mouth shut and attempted to raise his head as if nothing was wrong. Shiro narrowed his eyes. Lance didn’t seem to be in dire stress, but Shiro recognized a guilty look when he saw one.

Shiro crossed his arms as Lance seemed to struggled to keep inside whatever it was he had in his mouth.

“Alright, what’s going on?” Shiro asked.

Lance tried a meow but then began to hack again. Then, suddenly a blue daisy dropped out of his mouth. Shiro blinked dumbly as Lance sheepishly tried to hide his face behind his paws.

“Did..did you just cough up a flower?” Shiro asked.

Being cats, it wasn’t uncommon for them to cough up a hairball or two, but everyone tried to do that kind of thing in private and clean it up afterwards. Coughing up a whole flower...that was new.

A sigh was heard from the other room. Shiro raised his head as both Hunk and Keith entered.

“Lance, I thought Coran told you to say stay in the kitchen,” Keith scolded as he kneeled to scoop up the flower.

“Yeah, no offense but easier to clean up if you stay in one spot,” Hunk said as he patted Lance’s head.

Shiro frowned as he stood back up. “Okay, could someone tell me why Lance is coughing up flowers?”

Keith and Hunk both glance to Lance like they were wondering if he would speak up, but when he didn’t Keith volunteered. “Lance got himself cursed.”

Shiro blinked. “What?”

“It’s a weird curse that apparently causes people to cough up flowers,” Hunk continued.

Shiro raised and then lowered his hand. “How did he get himself cursed?”

Seriously, Shiro had barely been gone an hour. There were days he swore he couldn’t his eyes off the other cats for five minutes.

Keith pointed over his shoulder at Lance. “SOMEONE had the grand idea of going exploring in the attic.”

Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose. Oh, now that made sense. “And I’m assuming that someone accidentally set off a magical item from Alfor’s old collection?”

They had a good reason to avoid the attic. Allura’s father had a huge collection of magical artifacts. Some were useful, but most were weird due to the curses that was attached to them. Walking in there could be equal to walking into a magical landmine.

Lance’s fur went up before he swiftly changed into his human form and tossed his hands in the air.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Lance cried. “I was just trying to find a spare game controller to play that game Pidge found when I just happened to touch this dumb amulet by mistake.”

“Why would we have a spare game controller in the attic?” Hunk asked.

“Hey, Coran is always tossing old junk up there,” Lance argued. “I figure there was a chance that-”

A cough came. Lance covered his mouth as he continued to do so. Instinct taking over, Shiro patted his back until another daisy tumbled out.

Lance took a breath as he glared at the flower. “This..is so gross.”

“Just be glad you’re not coughing up roses,” Keith said as he crossed his arms. “Those would probably have thorns.”

Lance grumbled just as Allura, Pidge and Coran entered. Allura held one of her spellbooks in her hands as she looked to Shiro.

“Oh, you’re back,” she said as she shut the book. “Lance has-”

“Been cursed, yeah I just heard,” Shiro finished as he approached her. “Do we have a way to break it?”

Pidge adjust her glasses. “Technically we have two ways, but it’s a bit tricky considering how this curse works.”

“What’s so complicated?” Lance said as he slumped on the cough. “I am vomiting up plants.” Another cough came and another daisy dropped to the floor. “See?!”

“It’s called the ‘hanahaki curse’,” Coran said as he sat next to Lance. “It causes it’s victim to have flowers grown inside them and then forced to cough them when they experience unrequited love.”

Lance’s scowl vanished as he tilted his head. “Huh?...Unrequited…” He pointed to himself. “But I’m not in love with anyone.”

Hunk raised a hand. “Uh..don’t you have a crush on that movie star you like?”

Lance blushed. “Well, yeah, but I’m not in love with her. That’s just a plain old crush.”

“That doesn’t matter to the hanahaki curse,” Allura said as she flipped through her spellbook. “It seems the curse lumps crushes and actual feelings of love as one thing.”

“WHAT?!” Lance said as he jumped to his feet. “But that’s not fair!” He clearly wanted to yell more, but kneeled over as more daisies fell from his mouth. “I am so sick of this.”

“Calm down,” Shiro said as he gently forced Lance to sit down and looked to Pidge. “You said you had a cure?”

“Well, we got a couple of options,” Pidge said as she paced. “First one is to get the person to also feel romantic love to Lance...but that’s not an option for obvious reasons.”

Shiro nodded. He couldn’t even imagine how to get a movie star interested in Lance, even if he was actually in love with her. “What’s number two?”

Allura cringed. “Um...according to the book we could either try to remove the flowers by magic or even by surgery.”

Lance paled. “What?! You’re going to cut me open-”

“Calm down, we’re not doing that,” Allura said as she patted his head, but then sighed. “I could try my magic but I rather not.”

“Why not?” Shiro asked. Allura was usually chomping at the bit to use her magic.

“That would be because there’s a high risk of Lance losing all sense of his emotions if not done carefully,” Coran said.

Lance paled again. “What?!” His hands shook. “So...are you saying that I’m doomed to either no longer feel any emotions or to cough up flowers until I’m old and grey?”

“No, no, of course not,” Coran said as he patted his shoulder. “The roots of the flowers would tangled up in your throat and kill you long before then.”

Lance’s jaw fell as Shiro, Hunk and Keith exclaimed in unison “W-what?”

Shiro paled as he looked to Allura. “Is that true? We can’t let-”

“It’s true, but it won’t happen,” Allura cut in briskly as she shot a glare at Coran, “because we have a reasonable third option.” She pointed to a page in her spellbook. “There’s a potion we can make and give to Lance that will cease the flowers blooming.”

Colour returned to Lance’s face as his hands stopped shaking. “So...I just need to drink some weed killer?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Allura said as she chewed her bottom lip. “The only issue is that this potion is beyond my skill. We’ll need to call in an expert on the matter.”

“An expert,” Shiro muttered, but then the meaning dawned on him. “You’re not suggesting-”

“That we call Slav, yes,” Pidge said with a nod. “That was what we were thinking.”

In other words, Slav would be coming here. Shiro would have to deal with his annoying antics and criticisms face to face again.

Shiro went quiet as he turned to Allura. “How high of a risk was it again for you to use your magic?”

“SHIRO?!” Lance called out.

Shiro sighed as rubbed his neck. “I know, I was just joking.” Well...he was mostly joking.

0808080808080808080808080808080808080

Slav and Sven weren’t able to arrive until a few hours later. It meant they would have to spend the night at their place. Shiro wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but he was willing to put up with it if it meant to cure Lance.

Even if Slav did complain the shade of blue in the walls of the guest room. Yet, Slav seemed to be in an oddly chipper mood as he watched Lance cough up another flower.

“Fascinating,” Slav said as he wrote in his journal. “Truly fascinating. I have read about this curse, but to witness it is a sight.”

Lance growled as he wiped the petals off his lips. “Yeah, yeah. Can you please just cure me already?”

“Working on it,” Sven said as he read over Allura’s spellbook. “Although, we will require to boil some of the ingredients listed here.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “And how long will that take?”

“Including boiling the potion itself, a couple of hours.”

“Great,” Lance moaned as he buried his face in hands.

Shiro gave a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “It’s just a bit longer.”

Lance narrowed his eyes. “Easy for you to say, you’re not gagging on petals-” Another cough came and another flower instantly popped out.

Slav scratched his chin. “Truly intriguing. I will have to take some notes in the meantime.”

Lance twitched an eye. “I’m glad someone is getting some use out of this.”

0808080808080808080808080808080

Lance swished the blue potion in the cup. “You sure this will end the curse?”

“Yes, yes, but stop shaking it,” Slav scolded as he seized Lance’s wrist. “Honestly, you’re as bad as Shiro.”

Shiro rolled his eyes as patted Lance’s shoulder. “The only way we’ll know is if you drink it Lance, but this is the field Slav is known best for.”

“Worst case being poison is probably better than choking to death,” Keith commented with a smirk.

“Oh, ha, ha,” Lance glared before he sighed and held up the cup. “Bottoms up, I guess.” He braced himself and poured it into his mouth.

Surprisingly, it had a sweet taste to it, but it did cause his tongue to tingle and the sensation continued to do so as he travelled down his throat. Once the cup was empty, Lance smacked his lips as he leaned back.

“How do you feel?” Allura asked.

Lance shrugged. “Nothing, I feel-”

Suddenly, he felt another cough come. He slammed a hand over his mouth as he coughed non-stop until he felt something fall out of his mouth. Lance felt Shiro pat his back as he stared into his hands. There were no flowers, but his hand was covered in tiny white specks.

“What are these?” Lance exclaimed as he pointed. “I thought that potion was suppose to cure me.”

“It did,” Sven said as he pulled back Lance’s hand to check. “The potion stops the flowers growing and they turn into seeds.”

“And now all you do is cough them up which you will only have to do at least two more times, or a ten percent chance a three times,” Slav said as he brought out a small bottle. “If it’s fine with you, I would like to collect these seeds. I imagine these flowers will make excellent ingredients for my research.”

“Sure, fine, fill your boots,” Lance said, but was stopped as Shiro took his hand.

“You can take most of them,” Shiro said with smirk, “but we’ll want to keep a couple.”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “And why do we want to do that?”

“To plant in a small pot,” Shiro said as he crossed his arms. “Maybe if we put some of those flowers in Allura’s room you’ll remember why you shouldn’t go in the attic.”

Everyone gave a laugh while Lance blushed. He was not going to look at flowers the same way again for a long time.

#gentronweek #vldgen #witch allura au #voltron #my writing

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eggoreviews · 5 years

Text

E3 2019 Nintendo Direct - BREAKDOWN

Oh wow. That big ol direct sure was something. So now I’m here to break down everything that happened in unnecessary fashion and give my personal reaction to everything that happened with my tried and true Excitement Rater. Want to see my heavily scientific and not at all arbitrary process? Then click down to see the deets.

Before we kick off my (very very scientific) breakdown of this year’s packed direct, I thought I’d briefly go over how I rate things:

A random string of letters/numbers = Immeasurable excitement

YEEHAW BABEY = Big excitement

Heck Yeck = Vague excitement

Yeah! = Not really excited, but still could be good

Sure, why not? = I’m more confused than excited but sure

Oh = The excitement isn’t there

Oh no = Used on the rare occasion I really don’t like what I’ve seen

The Hero from the Dragon Quest series in Smash!

After a brief montage of some games that already came out I guess, the direct jumps straight into an ominous shot of World of Light baddie Dharkon, followed by a seemingly hopeless fight between Link and one very possessed Marth. Then the Luminary turns up gloriously on his horse. With all the leaks that had been flying around for so long, I think pretty much everyone had accepted the presence of Dragon Quest at this point and I was totally stoked when this happened! I love Dragon Quest! And my boi from 11 is here, along with a few other DQ veterans as alt swaps and a pretty awesome looking stage overlooking what seems to be the land of Erdrea and the World Tree. Now to wait until summer and hope the Smash team have some sick ass remixes for us when the time comes!

Excitement Rating: YEEHAW BABEY

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition

In a move that makes it a lil obvious that DQ’s Smash addition was more than a little commercially minded (not that I really care I’m still big hyped), a trailer for the expanded edition of the series’ latest installment follows. Seeming as I’ve already played this, I doubt I’ll be picking it up again but I still heartily recommend the game to any JRPG fan. Admittedly, the fact you apparently get to explore worlds from past games is pretty exciting.

ER: Heck Yeck

Luigi’s Mansion 3

In a way I thought was surprising, Nintendo’s first proper focus of Luigi’s Mansion 3 actually took up more time than Animal Crossing, but I guess that’s because it’s further along in development. We now know that the game is set within a haunted hotel and had some new gameplay features shown off, including the various ways Luigi can succ a ghost. Most exciting I think for me was the various multiplayer aspects, such as the local co-op option to play as Gooigi and the seemingly challenge and minigame-based ‘Scarescraper’ which I think incorporates online co-op too. Overall, this is looking to be a creative and well thought out entry in the series and I’m here for it.

ER: Heck Yeck

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance - Tactics

A licensed tie-in game for a thirty year old film feels a little odd, but I suppose stranger things have happened. This looks to be a sort of top-down tactical thingy involving the various characters from The Dark Crystal and for some reason Netflix is involved, I don’t know, but I guess it could be interesting.

ER: Sure, why not?

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

The adorable remake of this classic Game Boy title seems to be coming along great and this direct’s extended trailer gave us a good look at what we’ll be exploring come September 20th. The overhaul Koholint Island has had is phenomenal, giving us designs for Link and various other characters that we’ve never seen before and that makes this remake look especially unique. Another very exciting aspect for me was the dungeon builder that looks like great fun! You collect different dungeon parts as you go and then you can build and explore your own! Am I a goblin child or does that sound like the best thing ever?

ER: YEEHAW BABEY!!

Trials of Mana / Collection of Mana

I’ll admit I’m not really familiar with the Mana series, but from what I was shown in this direct, it looks to be a fairly standard JRPG. That’s definitely not a bad thing, as most JRPGs are amazing, but nothing in this trailer really stood out and came into its own. That being said, the gameplay and graphics look pretty solid and I’m sure the Mana fans have been fairly starved for content for a while so that’s something to look forward to. On top of this remake/new game with the same title as an older game (I really don’t know), the Collection of Mana containing the series’ first three games is being released real soon on the eShop.

ER: Yeah!

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition

Following a few scattered rumours, we finally have confirmation that a Witcher 3 port is in fact in the works, coming packed with all the game’s DLC. This basically legendary RPG is not one I personally had a great experience with, but I’m sure a lot of people are gonna be happy to play this in handheld. I’d keep expectations tempered however, with the likes of Assassin’s Creed 3 and Saints Row the Third proving that these ports don’t always function brilliantly on this platform.

ER: Yeah!

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Yet another and probably our last Fire Emblem trailer was shown in this direct, giving us a better look at how the story might play out and what our villains are going to be. With most of the gameplay features explored in the previous February direct, it’s good to have a slightly better idea as to what’s actually going on in terms of story and, to me, the results seem pretty damn good. Definitely one to keep an eye on!

ER: Heck Yeck

Resident Evil

In a slightly unnecessarily convoluted advert, we were given a two minute reel of two teenagers playing the original RE in tabletop mode in an abandoned house (??), along with the kind of less than exciting announcement that we’re getting the two weakest entries in the series for Switch, RE 5 and 6. I probably wasn’t the only one who felt a little passive about this whole thing. That being said, definitely not complaining about 1 & 4 being ported over.

ER: Oh

No More Heroes III

After the very slightly disappointing Travis Strikes Again, I really wasn’t expecting them to drop a trailer for the series’ third mainline installment so soon after. What we’ve seen looks pretty much like classic Travis, with a smidge of gameplay seen that looks just a bit more like what we’re used to. Of course, with this being the first reveal, there’s still a lot to find out but this looks very promising.

ER: Heck Yeck

Contra: Rogue Corps / Contra: Anniversary Collection

I’m not gonna pretend to be familiar with the Contra series, but this doesn’t at all look like what I’ve seen in the past. Honestly, this seemingly tactical shooter didn’t elicit much excitement from me and neither did its rushed character drops or its oddly rough textures. I’m unsure of actual fan reactions to this, but in my mind this one kind of sits in the ‘guess this exists’ category. As well as this, we got a shadowdrop for the Contra Anniversary Collection, whereas Rogue Corps comes on September 24th.

ER: Oh

Daemon X Machina

In what seems to be almost a mainstay in Nintendo directs, we’ve got another vague trailer for this mech shooter that finally has a confirmed release date of September 13th. The gameplay looks harmless enough, with the mechs seeming to be a blast to pilot, but beyond that, I can’t really see a lot of substance that would draw me in beyond the cool robots. I’m sure it could be good, but not really one for me.

ER: Yeah!

Panzer Dragoon

I was completely unsure of what this one was, but it looks a bit like a cross between The Last Guardian and those bullet hell sections from Kingdom Hearts 2. They’ve certainly nailed the smooth graphics and the cool looking creatures, but this one is mostly a case of needing to know more.

ER: Yeah!

Pokemon Sword & Shield

This one’s obviously a title so monumental that it consistently needs its own directs, but there wasn’t any *real* news about it in this direct. We were given a brief explanation as to how the Pokeball Plus works in conjunction with the games (something to do with taking your Pokemon for a walk) and the fact that we’ll see more gameplay during Nintendo’s Treehouse streams. Still, excitement remains pretty high for these titles.

ER: Heck Yeck!

Astral Chain

This game, to put it bluntly, looks awesome. The newest Platinum Games IP seems to be set in Blade Runneresque futuristic city with an alien threat and some cool ass looking fighting police people. Our second proper look at this game has cleared up a few murky doubts as to what exactly is supposed to be happening, so now we’ve got a much better idea of what this game is going to be. The story seems pretty full and polished, the gameplay looks like brilliant fun and I’m definitely not mad at the cool monster designs. This is one I’m definitely watching.

ER: Heck Yeck!!!

Empire of Sin

I know very little about what this game is supposed to be, but it looks to be a 40s gangster XCOM, substituting alien fighting marines with gun toting mafia dudes. The trailer went for style over substance, giving us an edgy visual thing of some burning playing cards and broken bottles, but the little gameplay we saw looked decent enough and may just end up injecting more variety into this genre.

ER: Yeah!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

An obvious pick for any Marvel fan, this hack-and-slash is jam packed with various heroes and villains from the comic series’ rich history. Ghost Rider and Elektra were among those revealed to be playable, while the likes of Mysterio, Hela, the Destroyer, Doctor Octopus, Surtur and MODOK are seemingly part of growing cast of villains. Looks like a good bit of fun if nothing else, though the immediate presence of a season pass is a tiny red flag.

ER: Yeah!

Cadence of Hyrule

In an unexpected but greatly welcomed crossover between Nintendo’s RPG titan Zelda series and the indie developed Crypt of the Necrodancer, a new rhythm based dungeon crawler with some brand new Zelda remixes and the presence of Link and Zelda as playable characters. This game’s retro graphics look totally adorable and the addition of the Gohmaracas were a definite highlight.

ER: Heck Yeck!!!!!

Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Tell you what, this definitely looks like a Mario and Sonic Olympic Games game. There looks to be a decent amount of variety in terms of what sports are involved and with its online multiplayer, there’s no shortage of vaguely cartoon sportyness to be had with friends both real and virtual. I’d be lying if I said I was totally disinterested because it does look a bit fun, but we all know it won’t be anything groundbreaking.

ER: Yeah!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

In a fairly drastic formula change, Nintendo have decided to strand us on a desert island rather than move us innocently to another village, but Tom Nook is still here and oh yes he’s coming to collect his bells. From this surprisingly brief trailer, most of Animal Crossing’s core gameplay seems to be intact, with the return of craftable items from Pocket Camp, and the sudden bombshell that the game has been pushed back to March next year. Never going to be a bad thing if the finished product is all the better for it, but I guess that just means more info is to come!

ER: Heck Yeck

Highlight Reel

In what looks like a list of honourable mentions, Nintendo gave us a laundry list of other titles coming to the system:

Spyro Reignited Trilogy is joining Crash on the Switch with his acclaimed remaster trilogy.

Hollow Knight: Silksong, the prequel to the original game, looks just as charmingly dark as its predecessor.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is showing up I guess, but I’ll come out and say I know nothing about it except that it looks cute.

Minecraft Dungeons looks better than it has any right to be and looks a bit like blocky Diablo I guess

The Elder Scrolls: Blades sure exists and I’m unsure of what it’s trying to be, but whatever quells off the need for Elder Scrolls 6 I guess.

My Friend Pedro, another strangely unique title from Devolver Digital, looks like it somehow incorporates banana peels into its combat system.

Doom Eternal looks like Doom always does, but a distinct lack of gameplay may put its dual release with the other consoles into question.

The Sinking City with its Lovecraftian inspiration looks totally brilliant and looks to be a unique experience for sure, so eyes firmly open for this one

Wolfenstein Youngblood definitely looks all Wolfenstein-y, but rumours of Dishonored-like sandbox levels has definitely piqued my interest.

Dead by Daylight still looks unfortunately a bit eh, with its slightly not great graphical quality from what we’ve seen in the trailers.

Alien Isolation was an extremely odd one, but I’m not gonna say no to more good horror content on the console.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles seems to be continually delayed, but they’ll probably get round to it eventually.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 looks adorable and I’m very into the idea of Dragon Quest Minecraft, so sign me up.

Stranger Things 3: The Game looks a little more SNES-like in terms of graphics than its 8 Bit mobile predecessor, which is definitely a decent step. An obvious pick for fellow fans of the show.

Just Dance 2020 is definitely a Just Dance game. Yep, sure is. I even checked. And it is.

Catan is a tabletop game of sorts, but I really couldn’t figure out what kind from that few seconds of vague footage.

New Super Lucky’s Tale looks like Bubsy, but actually good and worth real money

Dauntless looks like a bit of a Monster Hunter clone, but you know, doesn’t look terrible.

And lastly, Super Mario Maker 2 was tacked on the end there to remind us all that Nintendo is taking our money in 2 weeks.

Banjo-Kazooie become Smash Ultimate’s 3rd DLC Fighter

Just when we all petering out a little and the hype seemed all but dormant, they go and drop this on us out of nowhere. While I personally don’t have an attachment to the bear and bird, I’m fully aware of their significance and how much they mean to a lot of people out there. And that excitement ended up being contagious, so this fact coupled with a pitch perfect reveal trailer has got me hugely hyped to see these guys join the fight come autumn.

ER: YEEHAW BABEY

Sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

And now, dear reader, for the reveal that removed my scalp and cut out my eyeballs. At first, I was totally confused as to what this could be. And then I recognised the symbols, and then my perfect lil Hyrule eggs come on the screen and it’s all spooky and there’s dead Ganondorf and I don’t clock the fact that I’ve just screamed out loud. A direct sequel to my absolute favourite game of all time is happening and it’s real and I get to live another adventure in the best game world ever crafted all over again. I think it’s safe to say I have transcended the definition of hype when it comes to this one.

ER: AAA!!! AA!!! GFFGF!!! THIS!!! ZELDA!!!! HGGGG!!!!

So there’s my probably a little stupid breakdown of everything Nintendo bestowed upon us this E3. Guess I’ll jump in after the next direct to give you yet another heavily scientific analysis of its events. Or I’ll babble at you until I start punching the keyboard. Either way, happy trails my dudes. Don’t let the hype bugs bite.

#e3 #e3 2019 #zelda #loz #the legend of zelda #mario #smash #super smash bros #super smash ultimate #astral chain #fire emblem #animal crossing #pokemon #Luigi's Mansion #dragon quest #final fantasy #nintendo #marvel #resident evil

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ghostmartyr · 5 years

Text

Pokémon Black 2 Randomized Nuzlocke Run [Part 5]

Half the badges means halfway finished, right?

No. No, it never means that.

The squad:

Caspet (Haunter)

Puff (Dratini)

Nessy (Milotic)

Boruto (Ninjask)

Omchomp (Eelektrik)

I’m rooting for you, team.

Hello Pirate Plasma.

One of them has a Watchdog.

Caspet, kill.

Good Caspet.

And so the day is saved! Thanks to... Me and Russell!

Oh, wait, hold off on the exclamation points. Russell is giving the sad backstory talk about how his little sister was given a Purrloin as a gift, then Team Plasma stole it. Cue Russell feeling so sad and helpless, and now he wants to be strong and not helpless, and believes in the power of friendship backing him up.

It’s like Nintendo took every single villain code it could get its hands on and threw it on a good big bro who depends on his buddies.

Aw heck I think I need to have a Rotation Battle with Hearbreaker Charles before the bridge opens up. Also known as that battle type that takes three pokemon. Hoo boy. Okay. Let’s. Let’s try this.

It could and has been worse.

Hey, success. Nice work, Caspet. Sorry Puff gets all the exp from it. He’s smol. He needs it.

Bridge opened up, so that means... new friend time!

Duuuuuuude!

Want.

Hey hey hey hey I caught him!

Now what’re we naming you... Vertex!

Say what you will, Pokemon mook villains are charming as heck with some of their dialogue. You kids would have so much fun larping. Stop bringing real theft into it and have a grand ol’ time.

The Knight Plasma promises to tell me a story about the conflict if I visit their house. I shall do that momentarily. For now, the Pokemon Center calleth.

Okay it’s been a lot of weeks since that last sentence, so I really need to read up a bit and see where I’m at.

Hm.

I’m gonna wander around training stuff. Boruto needs a move that isn’t Leech Life.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT’S WINTER! THE GAME SAYS IT’S WINTER!

SNOW!

SNOW.

Oh, and I guess I should check that I have Poke Balls.

Yeah, okay, good.

Exploring time.

There’s this hotel on this block that I have zero memory of.

Exploration indicates that’s because there’s nothing of value in it.

We ended up fighting Charles again and now Caspet knows Shadow Ball. I might cry. Thank you, Caspet. Thank you for being alive.

Hope. It beckons.

But that means it’s time for Boruto to have the Exp. Share.

Cool, I don’t care.

Oh, in a battle.

Hoo boy. Fingers crossed.

Sure, let’s do this.

Level 27 Herdier. Not too bad, then.

...It knows Crunch.

That takes Caspet down to almost half, so Vertex can start earning his keep against the Swoobat. Good boy, Vertex, you didn’t die. Yay.

Russell appears and sad talks about former Team Plasma folks trying to do right happen. They are sad and Russell is sad and it’s all very sad.

Aw dang it. Rood offers us a Zorua. We don’t get to take it because it isn’t randomized. So much sadness all in this one building. In a weird way I’m sort of happy to see more of Knight Team Plasma. Some of them really were on N’s side, and some of them really did realize that pokemon could be their friends. It’s an oversimplification, but it’s really sweet.

I can’t go south until I have the town badge, which I can’t get because Clay’s off doing Clay things somewhere.

Gimme something that won’t die, game.

My team is going to be nothing but Electric types by the end. Also lol I forgot to heal I am suddenly much happier that this is a Pikachu.

Pikachu’s new name is Rynalds. Bye forever, Rynalds.

Cofagrigus was also an option.

Welp.

There’s also Exploud. And Alakazam.

Cool, I have a Moon Stone now.

...How the heck am I supposed to train my party. Exp. Share and letting the big kids handle it is the surest path to insanity I can come up with, but I seriously need my team to be useful beyond its top two.

Boruto still doesn’t know anything useful.

You know what he does know now?

Swords Dance.

You are a disappointment to Boruto’s Dad, Boruto. Which I guess is me, in this universe.

I’ve reached the dark grass, so let’s see if there are easier training opportunities here.

Dusknoir! Hey, I had one of you! Flaffy, Bastiodon, Tirtouga, Volcarona

Puff’s going to take the lead and Dragon Rage things to death while I’m next to a healing house. He’s going to need a ton of exp anyway, he might as well contribute to the cause of his friends.

None of you have good moves. Caspet better not die.

...Okay, five minutes into this, do I have any good TMs...?

No. I do not.

We enter the cave for hope of a change in fortune.

And it’s a male Ralts!

...Wait. Do I have a Dawn Stone?

I see this theoretically ending very sadly for me.

Caught, though. His new name is Diego and he will be very loved.

. . . . . . . .

-stumbles through the door several months later-

Ultra Sun possessed all my interest and my Nuzlocke ways got put on hold for flying through wormholes. So it’s been way too long, but since this is done over text that’s not too obvious, right?

Oh, and during my off-time, it wasn’t something I looked up thanks to that being against the rules, but I remembered that it’s Caspet’s Poison typing that’s a problem against Psychic. Yay for that brief mystery concluding.

Now where the heck am I.

Right. Grinding and caves and not quite ready to talk to Bianca.

And it’s Summer now, according to the game’s clock. I wish that were true in the outside world as well. It’s cold.

If I had a Dawn Stone, I think I would add Diego to the squad. Omchomp is beloved and etc., but I won’t claim to be horribly attached, and Ralts’ every evolution has a spot in my heart that Pokemon Go can’t fill because I’m not wasting 100 candy on anything less than 93% perfection.

Only as much as I love Gardevoir, Gallade is so cool and I only get to pick one, aaaand... Yeah, okay, nothing’s being swapped out yet. Back to grinding. Back to hoping that Boruto learns literally any STAB attack.

Why does this keep happening. Ah, and this is not something Puff should be anywhere near. Arguably nothing on my team should be anywhere near it. #grinding_problems.

You know, I’m beginning to remember why I wasn’t in a hurry to pick this run back up.

Boruto learns Slash.

Heck, I’ll take it.

Uh oh.

Oooooooh I am become error.

The logic behind this was that Puff’s been in front against Kyurem constantly before Nessy gets switched in, and all it ever uses is Ancient Power. If it had anti-Dragon stuff, it’d be using it, right?

Hoo boy.

Sorry, Puff.

Like. It’s been a while, so I don’t remember much of you, and I’m kind of relieved I’m not stuck with something that takes so long to gain levels anymore, but ow.

K, Vertex goes in and we are running now.

All the way back to a Pokemon Center.

Really, really sorry, Puff.

What am I going to do without Dragon Rage... the one true grind power.

Rynalds, Frill, or Diego. Those are my choices.

In you go, Diego. I would prefer a Gallade, but that doesn’t much matter at this point.

It could be much, much worse. This run started with way worse. This is fine. It’s fine. Absolutely fine. Does not make me dream of Exp. Share that affects the entire team at all.

These are my happy tears. Obviously.

...

See. I thought to myself, “It probably knows Fire Blast.” Then I thought to myself, “Sure it can learn it, but it’s a low level legendary. Speaking from experience, those things have jack for moves. Boruto will be fine.”

Then Boruto was not fine.

Lava Plume.

Oh, and a critical hit for good measure.

I have nothing to say.

But Omchomp is going in the designated survivor box, and I’m not replacing anyone in the current lineup. I’m just. I’m gonna train these four. And. Make that work somehow. It’s too early to get caught up in everything dying during grinding.

Neat, Diego’s cave has Charizard. And Seviper. Bayleef. Probopass.

Vertex could maybe handle being Diego’s training partner... let’s give that a try instead of bloating Nessy’s level even further.

And the first thing a Charizard does is Dragon Rage the 84 health thing.

This continues to be a very long trial.

Back to Autumn.

My son. You shall be the most beautiful ballerina.

Okay, things starting to feel a bit more positive? A bit more like it might all be okay? Yeah! Let’s go! Grind them feet into the field!

Did I know there was Alakazam in the normal grass outside Chargestone? Because there is. And I have a Gardevoir in need of tutelage. Well great, at least now I know where I’m grinding.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I DID THE RANDOMIZER SETTINGS RIGHT!

GENGAR GET!

No more Eviolite for Caspet, which. Well, sure, it stresses me out to only have as much Defense as Caspet really has, but maybe I’ll pick something up along the line that helps with that. You never know.

Back to the grind.

...With the stray thought that this is much less necessary with the four I have. I’d like Vertex over 30, but realistically, Caspet and Nessy are enough to deal with a lot, and Diego’s getting there.

I’ll get Vertex over 30 and hit go on the plot button.

Oh wait. Diego’s only offensive move is Magical Leaf.

Aaaaah, ghosts of Boruto’s past...

Eh, let’s just talk to Bianca.

She says nothing of interest to those who already know you can push Chargestone Cave’s rocks around.

So, I’ve just realized that I can fight Clay now, probably, and because I’m largely making myself sad doing non-plot activities, I’m going to give that a go. Nessy is overleveled and suited for it. I’ll give her a Mystic Water. Vertex can carry the Exp. Share for a bit.

And down we go.

I have no memory of this place. It is dark.

Better, but I think I like the previous games’ setup of this gym more. Aesthetically. I hated moving around it, but it was all very pretty. This has too much dark to roll with the pretty much.

Okay, first fight! Let’s see if I should actually be trying this.

First and only pokemon is a level 31 Baltoy. I think we’re good.

Geez. There are too many platforms here. Gym, I am disappoint.

Nessy.

Carry.

First out is a level 31 Krokorok. One Water Pulse downs it. Following that up is a level 31 Sandslash, and in the spirit of optimism and needing exp, Diego’s going to try to Magical Leaf it into submission. One isn’t enough, and Clay uses a Hyper Potion on his next turn. Next Magical Leaf after undoing that does the trick, and I think we’re bringing out Nessy next to contend with the Excadrill.

The level 33 Excadrill.

Nessy’s 38, if I haven’t mentioned it this post.

...Wow. One Water Pulse later, and we’re done with Clay.

Yaaaaay.

#Pokemon #Nuzlocke Challenge #Nuzlocke

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wcamino-confessions · 6 years

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Phantom talks to damn much

Seeing how the clan leadership reacts to the confessions blog isn't surprising. In fact,I I'm stunned that a screenshot leak hadn't occurred sooner considering the popularity of the community. However, I can say it's very easy to judge what the community and its participating members are when sitting in an onlookers perspective. Before the discord chat in particular, it was more common to find people who viewed the confessions community as a location of pure toxicity and mindless hatred. I have had Moonfur speak to me in a conversation in the past about my own and others usage of the blog.

At the time, we used it mostly to vent and I can say that the blog has evolved in it's silent and progressing evils. These are toxic and generally harmful members of the confessions community. Denying that is the same as denying the foundation in which the blog itself was built on. However, this toxicity is born from the community itself. The blog did not come from nowhere. Keep in mind that the WA leadership team IS ACTIVE in the discord. The true community are the ones who come off anon and participate actively within the discord and uphold rules that prevent immense negativity. In fact, the mod actively manages mindless witch hunts by removing the ones that contain obvious bullying with ZERO reasons behind it [though I do enjoy the ones that go, “this person sucks, don't argue or @ me about this because I don't want to hear it”].

However, negative comments regarding dissatisfaction with certain existences within the community is not by any forms of “bullying”. It's very easy to mess up, but it's a thousand times more difficult to redeem your public view once a standard has been set. Confessions send warnings of caution to users to re-examine and consider relationships and the personalities of those in question. Some are obviously bullshit if we're being realistic about it. “This person's commission prices are too high,” or “such and such a person treated me poorly, but there are probably some hidden circumstances that we're not mentioning.” These exist everywhere in day to day life and it is the fault of viewers if they take everything they hear at face value. Anyone who has seen Fox News versus CNN should be aware of how everything that is stated can be biased and questionable in context. You always hear number 45 mentions taking down CNN and the New York Times because they broadcast a different view than they would like to see printed. Another example is the ever so popular Pkrussel argument that swamps the Warriors community as of late. Some claim that Pkrussel's “critiques” are valid and become defensive when others point out the other side of the argument.

The reality is, there will always be a separate viewpoint that may make others unhappy. Yes, they may paint users in a bad light. However, recognizing that you've changed or the whole story isn't being told is on YOU. It's not the fault of the users who speak out to make sure they are 1 on 1 buddy buddy and know everything that's currently going on in the lives of the person they're speaking of. Hell, what happened to Astro should prove this well enough! There were people being SCAMMED while those who were close to and defending Astro potentially didn't know. That's not to say that Astro is not a great person outside of what they did, but is it hard to understand why others might see things differently? People who had run-ins with people on bad days will have a different perspective and understanding than others who didn't since first impressions do mean everything. Another good way of looking at it is school. Ever heard an F is heavier than and A? You could be a straight A student, but I assure you if you don't do too hot on a few assignments that will change really quickly. Doesn't mean you're a bad student, but that's just how it works. You have to be held accountable for your failures and it's up to you to make enough A's to win back favor.

It's also not anyone's job but the followers of the blog and maybe their parents [if you really want to play that game] to ensure that kids are aware of how to judge the truth of a situation. I don't give a hot diggity god damn what regular members say about leadership team activity of clans or WA itself because we have no way of knowing if they aren't focusing more on management of higher issues that we have know way of knowing about. Maybe it's an age or experience thing, but it feels like common sense to take certain things with a grain of salt. Now if another LT member starts talking, sure I'll listen. They are someone who is a far more reliable resource than LittleBittyKitty69 the whateverclan warrior because they have access to the information that under normal circumstances, no one else in the clan would know. Why do you think people are always asking for screenshots on the blog when people start claiming stuff is going on? Because more people than you think get that taking everything you see and hear at face value is far more idiotic than it may be presented. Remember Lionclan and the edited screenshots that Nightfur, Four and Goldeneyes presented to incriminate Primal and Rain without revealing the context behind what was really going on behind the scenes? The cultish mindsets that they put in the members to make them vulnerable and more open to their influence? The way they victimized themselves without ever showing their own or others responses? Sure, there are people who will lie to you on this blog, but really it happens everywhere. If you can’t make decisions yourself on how to handle these presented issues then honestly you probably need to take a break from the internet and examine the important details you might have missed as of late.

Finally I’m going to be real with you. If anyone views Warriors Amino Confessions as a blog centered around “bullying”, I’m terrified to see how you handle real bullying. Everywhere you go, people are going to call you out on mistakes. WA Confessions may be a blog dedicated to prioritizing problems within the community, but that’s not to say that we don’t do the same on a day to day basis. Complaining about rules and negative experiences that we witness and deal with are the way to protect yourself in this community of thousands of users. Scammers, pedophiles, disturbing content, individuals with potentially dangerous viewpoints and more can be tracked within this blog. Sure, there’s definitely hate, but at its core, the blog can function as a clear and concise support system that benefits far more than harms. Yeah, there are people who are only here to cause harm, but when have you not seen the blog turn around and call them out on it.

1-800-boi is a flawless representation. This was a new member no one knew, who was targeted because someone had their own opinions on their artstyle. They were an asshole about it and the good majority of the blog called them out on it. The blog has a system, even if onlookers can’t view it themselves. As an “active member” of sorts, it’s much more clear. You’re entitled to your own opinions and no one is going to judge you for confessing what’s on your mind. However, if you attempt to harass, verbally assault or discriminate against, manipulate or scam anyone, you will be called out for it. We argue amongst ourselves all the time, but at the end of the day we have more than enough sense to recognize problems. The Mod [our great saviour, Lord Eris] actively limits openly recognizable attacks on a person(s) that may be hazardous or unlawful in nature, along with people who are clearly just trying to start things. The discord is legendary for actively calling out and being aware of users and opinions that mean nothing but trouble and the Mod doesn’t hesitate to subdue these problematic topics. If anything, confessions community is a thousand times safer than the amino itself BECAUSE the users aren’t afraid to tell you how it is. The regulars are more than certain to do a bit of digging to ensure they know as much as they can before they dip their toes into issues that they may not be fully able to comprehend at face value.

The community hold no power. The only power we hold is over ourselves and what we choose to perceive as the truth. Users of the Warriors Amino app have a right to know where or towards whom we need to be aware of; stop acting like this is some sort of political game! If the community chooses to side against you because you cannot prove yourself to them, are you even in a position to feel wronged? No one is holding a loaded gun to anyone’s head or threatening them and telling them that they have to believe everything stated on the blog or else. If so, the leadership team would be very quick to deal with publicizing the incident like they did with Lionclan over a year ago. No one has the right to claim the entirety of this blog to be an uprising of evil when they do not witness the full conversation. A few assholes want to do something to make someone else miserable, then focus your emotions on them. It’s illogical and restricting to forcefully disregard an entire peoples based on your emotional standpoint towards a minimum. There are 200 or so followers of the blog compared to the 1608 members active on Warriors amino at the time of me writing this essay of a response, and that’s disregarding the listed 172,867 members in total. Some of these members are banned, former members, and random users scattered across the interface. Some aren’t even in clans or positions of leadership.

If I were to compare the blog to anything, I’d advise members to watch episode 1 of an anime called Kino’s Journey [spoilers for those who haven’t watched]. It presents a country where murder isn’t illegal and a man Kino encounters who longs to seek asylum within its walls due to his rebellious nature and desire to disregard the rules implemented in society. Within the walls however, the city is strangely tranquil and Kino finds little to no security measures in place despite what he imagined would be a place of endless brawls and bloodshed to meet an end. The only oddity is that everyday citizens carry weapons and acknowledge that they are all meant for murder. When Kion encounters the man later, he has become a citizen of the town and targets Kino as his first murder victim. However, before he can fire his gun, other citizens of the country pull out their weapons and kill the man, protecting Kino. Why? The answer is simple. Legal does not equate to socially acceptable. In order to keep the peace of the nation, those who murder, have murdered or intend to murder must be eliminated before they disrupt the harmony of the nation. If a person is presented with a place where you can commit murder without legal ramifications and suddenly are willing to do it, are they really in the right?

Note: I’m not coming after anyone when I say these things, however those messages do rub me the wrong way as someone who has grown to love our small blog home despite the hiccups and less than welcome posts that do appear. Have your own opinions, but don’t conspire to eliminate those who see things differently than you based on your own emotional standpoint. As a member of a volunteer leadership team, there shouldn’t be a reason to start such a witch hunt just because some less than desirable people are showing out. Be better than them and PROVE them wrong with your actions. It’s hard to overlook these comments are simple “lies” when you are incapable of standing up straight and performing without melting down over a collected group of silent opinions. Let them talk. The ones whos opinions matter are the ones judge you for your actions over a bunch of silly chats on a confessions blog.

TL;DR: WA confessions is its own separate entity from WA that follows its own set standard of rulesets. However, do not be deceived by outward appearances. If you come of our community with the mindset that you are free to be toxic and controlling, you are incredibly misinformed. We protect ourselves and our rights by flushing out those with malicious intent. If you cannot handle that what happens here can be a bit rough, that’s fair, but bullying, harassment, discrimination and abuse IS NOT WELCOME HERE. We don’t want you, nor do we tolerate it. If your feel hurt by what is said here, reevaluate your own shortcomings and work hard to overcome the stigma that you potentially dug for yourself to prove those opinions wrong. No one is here to damage you, but it’s unfair to silence the viewpoints that you are too shamed or simply unwilling to acknowledge and address because you don’t like them.

#submission

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lostsolsdestinyblog · 5 years

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What is Destiny and Who is it For?

What is Destiny and who is it for?

Such a weird question for people to be asking 4 years and 4 months into the life of this franchise, and yet that’s what is happening after another complete meltdown day yesterday. I’ve written tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of words on the game on the forums over the last 4 years. I spent 2 ½ years discussing it on a podcast. This game, this franchise, have been an integral part of my life and I’ve made (and lost) friendships over it as well as experienced things I never would have dreamed possible when I first logged in back in September 2014.

It’s been a journey filled with ups and downs, not only for myself, but for the game, the company, and the community as a whole. Anyone who’s spent a modicum of time on these forums know the trials and tribulations and how the game has constantly been in a state of flux, reinventing itself as the decision makers at Bungie (and Activision) try to figure out what it is they want this game to be and what they think we want it to be.

I’m not going to recount the story for the hundredth time of how they came to make decisions they did throughout D1 and into D2 or the part the community itself played in sabotaging ourselves with the way we’ve handled giving feedback and communication on our end, but I want to look at yesterday and the meltdown that began 24 hours ago with a single tweet that ignited all the anger and resentment that has been building up within the everyday player population since Forsaken released.

I don’t know what anyone else was expecting Niobe Labs to be. Bungie had stated that it wasn’t going to be a Dungeon, but that was all the information that we had gotten ahead of time. From the way the quest chains to unlock the first 3 Forges worked and then into the 3 week break between Izanami and Niobe Labs, I was expecting another quest chain, but deeper and on a more epic scale. Where the first 3 forges had ended up being more leveling content rather than endgame, I expected Niobe and the next Forge to get into the real meat of this content release.

My friends and I were genuinely excited to log on yesterday morning and speculated how difficult whatever tasks we had to run would be in a fireteam with a random or run solo or in twos. So we log on and I fly to the tower just as soon as reset happens and before I even landed Bungie’s tweet goes out.

“Niobe Labs is waiting to be discovered with a puzzle that needs solving.

Once completed by a fireteam, Bergusia, the final forge, will be unlocked for all.

Watch the best and brightest attempt the puzzle”

And just like that I knew it was a failure and what the day would become, but what I can’t figure out is how this keeps happening and where the disconnect is between the studio and the silent majority of their player base.

I was fortunate enough to have been at the Summit. I listened to the backlash about who was invited and the speculation of what the purpose of it was. I had my own thoughts on why it was happening and from what I experienced over 3 days in Bellevue, I was really happy with the experience and thought it was exactly what I’d hoped it would be, which was step to healing the giant rift that had developed between the developers and the community over the previous year. I understood the community concerns over the presence of mostly streamers and high profile content creators, but I also knew they were integral to repairing that relationship as they have so much influence and their negative takes had been so amplified and damaging to the game on a PR level year one.

I didn’t expect a complete 180 from all the progress D2 had made in creating a game that was so accessible to everyone. A game that I had spent 850 hours playing year one and still enjoyed the hell out of. Destiny 2 year 1 was not a dead game and it didn’t suck, but that was the mantra we heard repeatedly throughout the year from players that streamed the game or were heavy content creators, including leading up to and going into the Summit.

Destiny 2 was not perfect and had a laundry list of areas it needed to improve and had been improving since launch. It needed

· a better story and a return to lore

· more extended endgame content with rewards to chase after the initial content was finished and just more things to do with the gear and weapons we had

· most players felt a return to rng weapon rolls, I still contend that just more unique weapons would have been a better option as seeing our 10th Better Devils is still our 10th Better Devils regardless of the random roll

· a return to 6v6 in Crucible and a new sandbox

· more new cool content and less bringing back things taken away when D2 reset the franchise

· a better mod/perk system for weapons and armor

· better realized content like Iron Banner and Faction Rallies

· better raid development for hard/prestige mode. These excelled in D1, but got progressively worse throughout D2

· more accessibility and thought to solo players

And here’s the thing. Forsaken delivered on most of that in spades.

· It has a much better story and incredibly deep lore.

· It not only had the more expanded endgame with content like the Shattered Throne and constantly evolving Dreaming City, but a 2-3 month climb just to level to endgame to begin with. Then add in all the exotic quests and pinnacle weapons, titles, etc and there is a ton more to do.

· Random rolls are back and they do make us look at drops again, I’m not sure how much more exciting they are, but it didn’t take anything away from the game really and has been a plus.

· 6v6 returned to QP and the new sandbox might be the best ever in my opinion.

· There are tons of new cool things in the game from the Shattered Throne, to the Dreaming City itself, bows, new supers, and even the forges can be cool

· The mod system is light-years better than year one and weapon perks much better. Armor still needs work and desperately needs the ability to re-roll perks, especially on exotics

· Faction Rallies hasn’t returned, but Iron Banner has been so much better than year one and even events like Festival of the Lost and The Dawning have been incredible steps forward from what we saw in previous iterations

The only areas on the list we didn’t see things get better was with the raids and solo experience, but they tie directly into my next point. We had all that positive change and all those things to make what was already a very good base with D2 (despite the over-the-top hate), and yet Bungie also decided to add a bunch of changes that seem geared completely to the streamer crowd that significantly in some cases and completely in others, undermined all the positive changes that had been made.

· “Meaningful infusion” requiring Masterhancement Cores was the biggest mistake. For all we needed more to do with the cool weapons and armor we had year one, once we got those cool new things to do, we couldn’t play any of it with the weapons and armor we love. So honestly what was the point and why are we playing and grinding for “sweet loot” if we can’t even freaking use it? And all the comments of “just wear lower gear and don’t infuse everything” are bullshit. I’m sorry, but constantly getting and holding onto weapons and armor in my inventory to maybe eventually be able to use or infuse is goddamn ridiculous. I don’t play this game to carry crap around in my inventory; I play to use the things I find fun.

Add in the fact that apparently it was Gothalion who championed meaningful infusion while at the Summit (must have been in his groups sessions) as well as he and Broman’s responses to infusion compliants that “we need to wear trash to appreciate good drops” and “it’s good that players get bottlenecked by infusion” and yeah, you can start to see where yesterdays tweet wouldn’t sit well with the community.

· The leveling system and 2-3 month grind were different and not necessarily a bad thing, but combined with the constant battle to be able to infuse and use anything, along with the decisions to make regular legendaries drop way too low and to not allow us the choice to just play the content we love, be it Crucible, Strikes, Gambit, patrols, adventures, whatever, and still make progress leveling, ultimately made leveling more of a chore and less fluid than it could have been. Add in the decision to then immediately make us start leveling again as soon as we finally got to 600 and it was too much. For myself the fallout from that is I don’t play my Titan or Warlock anymore and doubt I will for a long time, if ever again. It’s too much. I hate playing when I don’t like how my character looks or feels and I have a fully leveled Hunter with weapons and armor I like and I’m done with the BS that is infusion.

· RNG. RNG. RNG. On top of RNG. Titles were an awesome addition and something that had been suggested going back to D1. The RNG nature of the requirements really soured the experience. Getting exotics to drop is ridiculous. Some got them all in weeks and others went over a month between drops. It’s awesome we have all these cool perks on armor, but it’s almost impossible to put together sets of gear we actually want to wear with perks that work for how we want to play (Auto Rifle perks on arms that let you hold a bow drawn indefinitely isn’t ideal)

· Freaking power-gating and the raids. D1 raids were awesome. They were challenging, but the normal modes were still incredibly accessible and seasoned raiders could take new players into any of them and teach them the mechanics and allow them to experience that content too. Then there were the hard modes with the challenges for the hardcore raiders and they were all on point and true endgame for the most hardcore. Leviathan still hit that combination pretty well although the tuning made it where the Prestige mode never got any easier even when we got full sets of drops from the raid. The Lairs then turned gimmicky to handle Prestige modes, but even that was better than what Forsaken brought. One difficulty that isn’t even really that difficult at level, but the fights are ridiculously mechanic heavy to where they take 5 time longer to explain than to actually do the encounters and the only real difficulty is in the power-gating. Power-gating which kept 99.99% of the community from being able to even beat boss #1 on release day whilst setting up the Chase for the World’s First for the big name streamers. It’s a decision that not only made raid release day, which was basically Destiny Christmas for tens of thousands of players, into a massive letdown, but it ultimately transformed Destiny raids from the true endgame they were with VoG, Crota, King’s Fall and Wrath, to mid-tier leveling content that was pointless after hitting 600 outside players grinding 1KV. We all took off work only to not be able to do shit in the raid and those complaints were met with disregard and/or disdain, but then what happened? Black Armory release day did the exact same thing. Here’s the release day for the first DLC of the year 2 season pass and “Oh sorry, you can’t play it for a couple weeks, but hey let’s go watch the streamers who can insti-level and have limitless time and resources go run it while we go back to leveling the same content we just got done leveling. Players were pissed and it was yet another embarrassing black eye for the studio that they had to address and walk back. I have tons of respect for the people who work at Bungie. I have been given tremendous opportunities by them and have friends within the studio. I feel guilty and bad in my critiques at times because I know they genuinely care about Destiny and the community, but I also hate seeing the game and the studio constantly trip over their own feet like they did yesterday and I hate that this game is being so dictated by trying to appeal to and appease such a small segment of the population. After the Last Wish and Black Armory release day failures and disappointments, how did yesterday happen? Like I said, the instant I read that tweet, I knew exactly what damage had been done and where this was going to go, so how did it get sent? How did this “event” get put into a timeline as upcoming content to play, rather than left unannounced for player to discover and dig into? Or if Bungie wanted to still announce it, why not give details stating it would be a massive (and massively difficult) community ARG to figure out how to unlock the final forge? No one went into yesterday expecting what we got, not even the streamers; and I know they’re getting a lot of heat, but honestly after all the shit-takes from them year one and the cesspool they turned the community into, I don’t feel much sympathy for the negative reactions they’re getting to this game they have apparently pressured Bungie into making Destiny now.

· PvP. I have no qualms saying pressured because we’re living with a Crucible that is the product of a massive high profile player campaign to keep sbmm out of QuickPlay so the top players could have a farming ground to stream 7th Columns and 50 kill games. I’ve put up the statistics of how only 7.8% of the players I face or top 10%, but in 195 games 7.8% is still 193 top 10% players and they’re in over half our games running full pinnacle meta in most cases. It makes me not want to play and none of my friends want to play it, but the streamers are happy.

So yeah, that’s why people are pissed and that’s why yesterday’s tweet went over like a lead zeppelin. Yesterday never should have played out like that and by simply communicating what the event would be or leaving it a secret to be randomly discovered would have avoided all the drama, anger and resentment. Hyping it up and then posting a link to go watch it streamed made it appear to be a set-up to boost the streamers and not actually an event for actual players.

Destiny 2 is still a great game and it would not take much to make it a great game for everyone and not just the top 10%. I really hope that Bungie is listening; paying attention and learning, and I hope that someone with decision making abilities starts advocating for the silent majority again.

Thank you.

#lost sols #Bungie #Destiny2 #Forsaken #black armory #niobe labs

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