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autolenaphilia · 3 months

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Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider from 2018 pleasantly surprised me.

If you follow my blog, you might remember I wasn’t much convinced by its two immediate predecessors by Crystal Dynamics, see my reviews for the 2013 and 2015 games. Now this game wasn’t developed by Crystal, but in circumstances that don’t inspire confidence. The studio’s corporate owners Square Enix bizarrely decided Crystal’s time and effort were of better use on a Marvel’s Avengers licensed game, and instead gave it to another studio they owned, Eidos Montreal, with Crystal only having a supporting role. Lead writer Rhianna Pratchett had already left Crystal by this point, so her stories had to be concluded by other writers. By the way, the Marvel’s Avenger game Crystal developed was delisted from Steam only three years after release.

Now all this corporate nonsense doesn’t bode well. Even the name Eidos has a dark history with the series, even if probably no one working at Eidos Montreal today or on this game had anything to do with it.

But Eidos Montreal surprised me. Shadow of the Tomb Raider is actually the best game in the series since Underworld released ten years earlier. The game is very similar to its predecessors, using the same engine, and basic gameplay. But there has been important changes, a rebalancing of the gameplay and environment of the 2010s trilogy, all to the game’s benefit. Tomb Raider ever since the first game has been a mix between action, platforming, exploration and puzzles. And the main problem with TR 2013 and Rise was an overemphasis on action. The main storyline was just action setpiece after setpiece, which got wearying, while tombs with puzzles were relegated to side content. Even Core Design made that mistake sometimes, the mix of gameplay styles can be delicate, but Crystal’s 2010s games took that focus on action to extremes.

And Eidos Montreal seems to have realized this. Shadow dials back the action, if anything it’s the least action-orientated Tomb Raider game ever. There is action, but it’s more occasional than anything, which honestly makes it more fun. Instead the focus is on exploration, platforming and puzzles. This comes with a welcome re-orientation in environments: the tombs are back, baby. In force too. Eidos Montreal remembered the title of the franchise is litearlly tomb raider and so we get a game where Lara is in the jungle, raiding tombs. Most of the main storyline takes Lara into various tombs (well, also old ruins, temples, you know) to solve puzzles and evade traps. And a lot of the extra content is even more tombs. That was the case in previous games, but that comes off better here where tombs are integrated into the main storyline. Instead of a slightly condescending tribute to old fans, while the main storyline is all action, they recognize that good extra content is for those who like the main game and want more of it.

The puzzles are fairly simple compared to the classic Core games, but not entirely trivial, and they are far more welcome as main quest content than whambang action setpiece after setpiece. These puzzles more than anything convey a mood and it’s the mood appropriate for this game series.

The exploration is also made much better, and that’s thanks to the difficulty settings. Shadow has a similar system to System Shock, where you can set the difficulty of various gameplay elements separately. So you can set the difficulty of combat, exploration and puzzles independently of each other, allowing the player to tailor the experience to their interests and skills Setting puzzles to hard removes the hints Lara gives in dialogue, for example, while on easy she outright explains what you need to do. And setting the exploration difficulty to hard removes the “white paint” on climbable ledges. “White paint” is in scare quotes, because they are clearly birdshit to my eyes.* This birdpoo has been a feature of the series ever since Crystal released their first game in 2006. They make it easy finding out where to climb, but in my opinion they make it too easy and remove the immersion of the environments and a lot of the fun of exploration. And now the player can keep the birdpoo or get rid of it as they desire. It’s great.

(* Ex-Core Design dev Andy Sandham agrees with me about the ledge whiteness being birdpoo in a TRIV stream, and was proud Core Design never used them, and he’s right)

It helps that Eidos Montreal has expanded upon the platforming and climbing mechanics of the two previous games in good ways. Lara can climb on horizontal rock surfaces now, and rappel off rocks, and swing or wall-run on her rappel rope. This makes Lara’s moveset really varied. The climbing and platforming sections in this game are so three-dimensional, varied and extensive that they feel exciting, like you are doing something really daring and dangerous.

It helps that this is a pretty game. The jungle Lara explores looks so warm, vibrant and inviting, and the tombs are moody and atmospheric. It’s a nice game to look at. This is partly a product of technology, of course, which is why this game has GPU-melting specifications. Yet it is also a product of great art design.

And is is fundamentally because of the intelligent choice of setting. This game is primarily set in the jungles of Peru. Peru is also the setting of the first part of the original Tomb Raider, and the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, so it’s a setting of importance both for the genre and the franchise in specific. And as I gushed about before, the tombs are the focus once again.

Not that everything is good. This game suffers from a bunch of the bloat typical with open world games, with some very boring busywork sidequests that I only accepted in the hope they would lead me to extra tombs, which admittedly they sometimes did. Also some of the extra tombs are DLC, which is a format I don’t like. Though buying the “ultimate edition” or whatever it’s called in a Steam sale five years after release helped with that, I got the whole package in one go.

And the obligatory RPG-like skill tree system feels kinda redundant in this game. The skills are carried over from the two previous games and thus mostly combat-related, but this is not a combat-focused game, so they feel kinda useless.

The writing is once again garbage. I won’t say it’s worse than the two previous games, which were pretty badly written, but it definitely isn’t any better either. There is a basic tension here, which has existed in the series for a long time, between wanting to tell a classic adventure story and simultaneously not wanting to affirm the genre’s inherent colonialism in the modern day. So we get in many ways a classic adventure story, complete with a lost world and the white heroine saving the day. And there is simultaneously a clear attempt to ameliorate the colonialist implications of this, but it never gets there. This game ends up trying to eat its cake and have it too. And it doesn’t quite work that way.

So as one of the most common enemies, we get a textbook example of evil natives, dressed in tribal gear and masks. motivated by their fanatical worship of a pagan god, who the white heroine must gun down with her superior firepower. But then the story is about saving a tribe of noble indians, living in the lost world and threatened both by the pagan cult and western civilization outside. Again the game wants to enjoy its evil natives, but doesn’t want to come across as racist and as painting all south american indians with one brush. But such an attempt forgets how utterly stereotypical its native villains are. And colonialist adventure fiction has at least since James Fenimore Cooper used the same setup of noble but doomed by western civilization natives who fight on the white heroes side and evil savage natives who oppose the white heroes.

It doesn’t help that the villain actually is motivated by anti-colonialism, he wants to save the lost world city he comes from western colonialist destruction but of course “he takes it too far.” So the game ends up making an anti-colonialist native the villain.

And Lara’s arc is just a way worse version of the story of the fourth game in the series, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. Same plot setup, Lara takes an artifact she shouldn’t have, and sets off an apocalypse she spends the rest of the game preventing it. In TRIV, it’s implied Lara was just being greedy. But Shadow makes the mistake of having Lara not take the artifact out of greed, but with noble and heroic intentions. She takes it because she wants to keep it out of the hands of an evil organization who wants to use it to remake the world to their liking. Her setting off the apocalypse instead feels like an honest mistake albeit with colossal negative consequences, instead of indicative of some massive flaw within Lara’s character. Her action is a failure, but a noble one. The lesson can’t be that Lara shouldn’t be so arrogant as to believe she can save the world, because in the game’s climax she quite literally does.

Also the evil organization Trinity returns from Rise, and they are even more incoherently written in this game. We learn nothing substantial about their ideology and motivations. Rise implied Trinity are Christian fanatics, but here they are mixed up and possibly identical with a cult that worships the mayan god Kukulkan (what mayans are doing in Peru is at least explained by the lore). The interpretation I landed on in the end is that they are essentially cartoon villains who do evil for evil’s sake.

Lara’s maori friend Jonah returns, the only recurring supporting character in this trilogy of games. But again, I don’t like him. In part that’s because he replaces Sam as Lara’s best friend and all the interesting sapphic implications of Lara/Sam. But it’s also because he is just a boring character, he has basically no personality traits beyond being Lara’s buddy. This makes him feel like a modern-day variation on Robinson Crusoe’s Friday, the ever-loyal native sidekick to the white heroine.

These are serious flaws to be sure, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is not a perfect game by any means.

Yet there is much that it does right, and it feels true to the franchise’s roots. Play it to explore the lush jungle, to explore the tombs and solve their puzzles, to do daring climbs and jumps. This game felt like a necessary course correction after the last two games.

#tomb raider #my writings #game review

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petwhispererworld · 4 months

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Smart Fun for Furry Friends: Interactive Dog Toys Reviewed

Welcome, fellow pet enthusiasts! If you've ever wondered how to inject some smart fun into your furry friend's playtime, you're in for a treat. In this comprehensive guide, we dive into the world of interactive dog toys—innovative gadgets designed to engage, entertain, and stimulate our canine companions. From puzzle feeders to tech-savvy toys, we've scoured the market to bring you the ultimate review of interactive dog toys. So, let's embark on a journey to discover the perfect playmate for your four-legged friend.

Wagging Tails and Smarty Paws - The Charm of Interactive Dog Toys

Before we delve into the reviews, let's understand why interactive dog toys are the next big thing in pet enrichment. Dogs, like us, need mental stimulation to stay happy and healthy. Interactive toys provide a cognitive challenge, keeping those tails wagging and minds sharp. These toys are designed to mimic real-life scenarios, promoting problem-solving skills and preventing boredom-induced mischief. Now, let's explore the diverse world of interactive dog toys that promise to turn playtime into a brain-boosting adventure.

The Kibble Quest - Puzzle Feeders as Interactive Dog Toys

First up in our review is the fascinating realm of puzzle feeders. These interactive dog toys not only satisfy your pup's hunger but also engage their problem-solving abilities. Take the Maze Muncher 3000, for example—a maze-like contraption that dispenses kibble as your dog maneuvers through it. With its adjustable difficulty levels, this toy grows with your furry friend, providing endless hours of mental stimulation. The market is brimming with similar options, each adding a unique twist to mealtime.

Tech Tails - Interactive Dog Toys with a Technological Twist

For the tech-savvy pet parent and their equally intelligent pooch, interactive dog toys with a technological edge are a game-changer. The SmartFetch Ball Buddy takes the classic game of fetch to a whole new level. Equipped with sensors and a built-in speaker, this ball engages your dog with unpredictable movements and playful sounds. It's a futuristic take on the age-old game, ensuring that your canine companion never gets bored of the same old routine. The integration of technology in these toys brings an element of surprise and excitement, keeping your furry friend on their toes.

Plush Puzzlers - Soft and Stimulating Interactive Dog Toys

Not all interactive dog toys need to be made of hard plastic or high-tech materials. Enter the world of plush puzzlers—soft, cuddly toys that double as brain-teasers. The Squeaky Seeker Mat is a prime example, featuring hidden pockets where treats can be tucked away. As your dog explores the mat, they are rewarded with delightful squeaks and tasty surprises. These toys are perfect for dogs who enjoy a gentler playtime experience, combining comfort with mental stimulation.

DIY Delights - Crafting Interactive Dog Toys at Home

For the crafty pet parent who loves a good DIY project, creating interactive dog toys at home can be a rewarding endeavor. Grab some old tennis balls, a muffin tin, and a handful of treats, and you're on your way to crafting a homemade puzzle feeder. Not only does this option provide mental stimulation, but it also allows you to customize the difficulty level based on your dog's skill. It's a budget-friendly and creative way to enhance your dog's playtime.

Conclusion: Tail-Wagging Triumphs - Choosing the Perfect Interactive Dog Toy

In conclusion, interactive dog toys are a fantastic addition to your pet parenting toolkit. Whether you opt for a high-tech marvel or a simple DIY project, the key is to keep your furry friend mentally engaged and entertained. As we've explored the diverse world of interactive dog toys, it's evident that there's something for every canine personality. So, go ahead, unleash the joy, and watch as your dog's tail wags in appreciation of their newfound smart fun.

Must Read: Playtime Revolution: Interactive Dog Toys That'll Wow Your Pup

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resinflooringcontractor · 4 months

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Decoding the Expertise of Resin Flooring Contractors

So, you're on the hunt for the wizards of the flooring world – resin flooring contractors. These are the maestros who turn mundane floors into sleek, durable marvels. Let's uncover the enigma surrounding Resin Flooring Contractors and how to find the perfect match for your project.

The Role of Resin Flooring Contractors

Resin flooring contractors – envision them as the architects for your floors, the artists who blend chemistry and craftsmanship to create surfaces that exude both style and resilience. But how do you find these flooring gurus who can turn your flooring dreams into reality?

Qualities That Define Top-notch Resin Flooring Contractors

Navigating through the multitude of contractors requires a discerning eye. Here are some key qualities to seek when scouting for the ideal resin flooring contractor:

Experience Speaks Volumes: Seek contractors with a rich history in resin flooring. Experience isn't just a number here; it's a testament to their expertise and reliability.

Portfolio and Testimonials: Delve into their portfolio, akin to flipping through an artist's masterpiece collection. Reviews and testimonials are the breadcrumbs guiding you to their skill and professionalism.

Transparency and Communication: Contractors who communicate openly and clearly about the process, costs, and timelines are akin to trustworthy partners in your flooring journey.

Where to Discover Resin Flooring Contractors

Now that you know what to look for, let's explore where to unearth these flooring virtuosos:

Online Platforms: Utilize search engines with phrases like "resin flooring contractors in the US" or explore directories like Yelp or Angie's List to unearth a plethora of options.

Social Media and Forums: Platforms like Facebook groups or Reddit threads might harbor insights or recommendations from homeowners who've trodden the resin flooring path.

Local Networking and Trade Shows: Engage with contractors face-to-face at trade shows or events in your area. This direct interaction can provide firsthand insights into their expertise.

Navigating the Evaluation Process

Congratulations! You've spotted potential resin flooring contractors. But before finalizing, here's what to expect during the evaluation phase:

Site Visits and Assessment: Anticipate contractors to visit your space for a detailed evaluation. This step is crucial to understanding your specific needs and constraints.

Detailed Proposals: A breakdown of costs, timelines, and materials involved should be presented. Beware of vague estimates – clarity is paramount.

Negotiation and Contract Terms: Engage in discussions about terms, warranties, and any queries before sealing the deal.

Choosing the Right Resin Flooring Contractor

Selecting the perfect contractor is akin to finding the right puzzle piece – it completes the picture. Remember these pointers before making your decision:

Trust Your Instincts: If something feels amiss, trust your gut. Your comfort and confidence in the contractor matter.

Clarity in Communication: Ensure both parties are aligned on expectations, timelines, and costs. Effective communication minimizes future misunderstandings.

Embracing the Transformation

Resin flooring contractors are the conductors orchestrating the symphony of style and durability in your space. Finding the right one is not just a search; it's an investment in the aesthetics and longevity of your floors.

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So, embark on this quest equipped with discernment and patience. With the perfect resin flooring contractor by your side, your floors won't just be surfaces – they'll be testaments to craftsmanship and vision, embodying durability and sophistication.

Remember, the journey to finding the ideal resin flooring contractor is more than a hunt; it's a collaboration, a partnership in creating floors that go beyond mere functionality, becoming a blend of artistry and strength. Choose wisely, and let your floors speak volumes about your style and reliability.

#Epoxy garage floor installers #Epoxy resin garage floor installers near me #Resin floor cost per m2 #Epoxy flooring uk cost #Resin flooring near me #Rresin flooring uk cost #Youtube

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gmatclub · 5 months

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Thinking Outside the Bubble: Unconventional Tactics for GMAT Triumph.

Stepping into the realm of GMAT preparation isn't just about books and formulas; it's a chess game of strategies, a symphony of unconventional approaches, and a dash of mind-bending maneuvers. Forget the standard study routines – today; we're diving into a realm where innovation meets preparation, where mindset meets mastery, and where Target Test Prep Reviews spark the magic. In this journey, we'll unravel inventive study techniques, explore the power of a resilient mindset, and showcase the practical application of knowledge in ways that transcend the confines of traditional learning. Join us as we uncover the untapped potential beyond textbooks and embark on a transformative approach to GMAT readiness.

Unearthing Unconventional Study Methods

The GMAT isn't just a test; it's a quest for mastery. While traditional textbooks and practice problems have their charm, let's shake things up a bit! Imagine discussing geometry over brunch or teaching algebra to your dog (who may not understand but is a great listener). Unconventional? Absolutely! But these quirky methods can glue concepts to your brain better than your favorite song's chorus.

Crafting the Mindset Marvel

Picture this: you, as a GMAT superhero! Capes aside, a positive attitude and resilience are your superpowers. It's not just about formulas; it's about the mental game. Meditate like a yogi, visualize success like a movie star, and tackle challenges like a boss. A growth mindset isn't just for CEOs; it's your secret sauce for acing the GMAT.

Real-World Applications in Study Sessions

The GMAT isn't just an assessment of academic knowledge; it assesses how well candidates apply their skills to real-world scenarios. Incorporating real-world applications into study sessions bridges the gap between theoretical concepts and practical use.

Relate quantitative concepts to real-life scenarios or business problems. For instance, practice interpreting graphs or analyzing data sets that mirror business reports. This approach not only enhances understanding but also enhances critical thinking skills crucial for the Integrated Reasoning section.

In verbal sections, analyze articles from reputable business publications. Break down arguments, identify assumptions, and evaluate evidence—a skill set directly applicable to the Critical Reasoning section.

Embracing the Extraordinary for Success

The GMAT is more than a multiple-choice exam; it's an adventure waiting to be embarked upon. Embracing unconventional strategies adds color to your preparation palette. Imagine group debates on probability theories or creating rap songs about sentence correction – it's not just learning; it's an experience!

The Mindset Manifesto

The secret ingredient? Mindset magic! Developing a growth mindset isn't just about believing; it's about thriving. Challenges aren't roadblocks; they're detours leading to growth opportunities. A positive mindset isn't just your ally; it's your GMAT guardian angel.

Real-World Rendezvous

The GMAT isn't an isolated bubble; it's a mirror reflecting the real world. Align your studies with reality; relate theories to real-life scenarios. Suddenly, those abstract math problems resemble everyday business dilemmas, and those verbal puzzles echo professional communication challenges.

Conclusion

GMAT preparation is a multifaceted journey that extends beyond conventional study materials. Incorporating unconventional study methods, nurturing the right mindset, and integrating real-world applications are pivotal in achieving success.

Embrace technology, collaborate with peers, and explore various content formats to diversify your learning experience. Develop a resilient mindset that views challenges as opportunities for growth. Blend theoretical knowledge with practical applications to bridge the gap between academic concepts and real-world scenarios.

Target Test Prep Reviews offer a unique window into alternative study methods and strategies. They serve as a valuable resource in exploring innovative approaches aligned with your individual learning style and goals.

Remember, while books lay the foundation, it's the innovative strategies, mindset cultivation, and practical applications that elevate your GMAT preparation, setting the stage for success in this critical exam.

#Target Test Prep Reviews

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theuntitledblog · 5 months

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Spider-Man 2 (PS5) - REVIEW

SYNOPSIS

Peter Parker and Miles Morales are struggling to balance their lives respectively as Spider-Man and each are put to the ultimate test when Kraven the Hunter designates New York City as his new hunting ground.

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Spider-Man 2 is a game I've waited a long time to get my hands on following the experience I had with the 2018 game which I described as "a joy to play". Spider-Man 2 doesn't stray too far from that established formula as tonally and aesthetically it's near enough identical while other mechanical aspects such as combat, web slinging and levelling up are also very familiar. Like any sequel, it offers up new elements including a larger open world, web gliding, new side quests, missions, abilities and suits. The balancing of 2 Spider-Men works seamlessly within the game as is the switching between both Peter and Miles depending on the mission you're playing. Both are compelling in their own right, charismatic and enjoying great chemistry with Miles in particular getting more out of this larger game and keeping the story more grounded with his side missions. Each also have their own Skills Tree abilities to unlock as well as a shared one that you need to work through to increase your move arsenal and develop. Gone are the Suit Powers of the previous game in favour of Suit Tech upgrades while the number of Gadgets to acquire and use have also been reduced and in some instances have been merged together as you progress. It's a generally familiar set up but accessing gadgets and abilities via either the L1 or R1 button does make combat more straightforward than switching between equipped gadgets.

The PS5 format allows for an improved performance and it certainly makes for a more refined gameplay experience rather than radical overhaul or progression but where the game truly shines is with its story. Spider-Man 2 tells another enthralling story that blends gaming with cinematic scale set pieces and confrontations with incredibly personal stakes. As an overall experience, I can't honestly say that I preferred Spider-Man 2 over its predecessor but it is a game filled with plenty of 'WOW' moments.

The game is a technical marvel with incredible graphics, instant load times and a smoother control system. On paper this screams superiority over the last two games yet throughout my runtime I couldn't help shake the feeling that something was missing. You have both the 'Just the Facts' and 'The Danikast' returning during free roam sections but there were less of them. A far more subtle and perhaps personal observation was that Crime reports that were previously called out on the Police radio channels now pop up through the in-game FRND app which made the city feel less lived in for me. The 2018 game itself wasn't exactly groundbreaking with its open world and some of the side content was pretty standard stuff but it did at least provide breaks in the gameplay with time trials, puzzles, stealth missions and other challenges that offered up more variety to the gameplay. This is something I felt Spider-Man 2 was sorely lacking at different phases of my play through especially when not all of the side content was fully available did my options feel limited with some parts of the map having nothing to do. An unexpected consequence for me is that it took me out of the experience rather than having the more immersive experience I had with the first game.

Most of the side content in Spider-Man 2 is primarily combat focused with only a few tasks such as the Emily May Foundation, Prowler Stashes and Unidentified Target chase missions (a challenging highlight) offering up non combat based challenges. It's not exactly like these other options aren't in the game because they are, my issue is simply there's not enough of it. In fairness the combat in Spider-Man 2, like the previous games, is excellent and has seen improvements with smoother controls, more challenging enemies with even more enemy types to overcome. However given the increased size of the map, I found it noticeable that there seemed to be less content outside of the main story. One of the more unusual aspects late on in the main story I noticed was how suddenly leveling up awarded you 2 Skill Points rather than the standard 1 point you recieve all game long. It's almost as if the developers realized that they had run out of content and doubled it to ensure you can unlock everything. It felt rather strange and as a whole, I found the game somewhat disappointing and feel the developers could've done more.

Spider-Man 2's greatest selling point is undoubtedly the story which brings both Kraven the Hunter and Venom into the Insomniac Spider-Man series for the first time and neither disappoints. The story takes its time moving its various pieces into play so that when the big dramatic moments do occur, they feel rightfully earned and pack a mighty, emotional punch. Spider-Man 2 is also a significant set up in terms of incorporating gameplay into large cinematic set pieces and boss battles against the likes of Sandman, the Lizard, Kraven and of course Venom. But the most notable change in this regard is with the difficulty level which goes hand in hand with the refined combat thus ensuring that Spider-Man 2 is not just about cinematics. Each boss battle resulted in death several times and required me to improve my anticipation and response time to enemy attacks making my triumphs all the more rewarding and improving the overall experience.

OVERALL

To say that I'm disappointed with Spider-Man 2 would be a disservice to the overall quality of the game because it is a very good game that I enjoyed playing. But I think more could've been done to make better use of a larger open world, more variety could've been added to the gameplay to make it a more rounded experience. The characters and story however are oustanding, Spider-Man 2 delivers plenty of thrills, satisfying moments and leaves you eagerly anticipating the inevitable third game.

4/5

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jcmarchi · 6 months

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New Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Update Includes Several Bug Fixes, Increased Stability, And More

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/new-marvels-spider-man-2-update-includes-several-bug-fixes-increased-stability-and-more/

New Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Update Includes Several Bug Fixes, Increased Stability, And More

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 hit PlayStation 5 exclusively on October 20 and quickly became Sony’s fastest-selling first-party game. While we loved the game – read Game Informer’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 review here – players have discovered bugs and issues leading to laughter and, in some cases, progress impediment. Fortunately, developer Insomniac Games has been quick to fix issues with updates, like one last week that fixed an incorrect flag and the infamous white cube model issue.

Now, the studio has released another update targeting various bugs players might be encountering in the game related to specific missions, shortcuts, tutorials, and more.

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Here’s the full Update Version 1.001.004 release notes:

Addressed an issue where players could become stuck during the finale of Marko’s Memories

Addressed an issue where a boss could become stuck in geometry

Addressed multiple issues where the player could become stuck during the Galvanize tutorial

Addressed an issue where players with shortcuts enabled could become stuck in a puzzle during the New Threads mission

Addressed an issue where the Charge Jump would break when assigned to a shortcut

Addressed an issue where the Upgraded Classic suit had duplicate eye details

Further addressed issues where models would not load properly after long play sessions

Improved stability

Hopefully, if one of these issues has stopped you from progressing past certain points in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s various quests, you’ll be able to advance after installing this update.

For more about the game, read Game Informer’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 review and then read about how Insomniac updated New York City for the sequel. Then check out this story about this missing NYC landmark in the game. After that, read our guide for the best graphics mode in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and then check out our spoiler-free tips.

Are you still playing Marvel’s Spider-Man 2? Let us know in the comments below!

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arduinopromini328 · 8 months

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Details On Arduino Pro Mini 328

Step to the digital realm of trusted online retailers, and you'll find yourself immersed in a vast array of electronic components products, each beckoning you with promises of excellence and affordability. Navigating this electronic wonderland could be overwhelming, but fret not. First and foremost, reliability stands as the cornerstone of electronic components. You yearn for products that endure the test of time, providing steadfast performance without faltering. It is similar to seeking a trustworthy companion on your own technological journey, one which never fails you once the stakes are high. Affordability, too, plays a pivotal role. Budget constraints are familiar hurdles, and finding economical components is similar to discovering hidden treasures. Everyone loves a great deal, specially when it doesn't compromise on quality. As you traverse this digital marketplace, watch out for products boasting versatility. These chameleonic marvels conform to various applications, serving as multi faceted tools in your hands.

Whether you're an experienced engineer or perhaps a curious hobbyist, flexibility in components proves a priceless asset. Remember, compatibility is key. Your chosen components must seamlessly match your existing setup like missing pieces of a puzzle finally found. Navigating the intricacies of compatibility ensures a harmonious and smooth sailing experience. Amidst the sea of offerings, you'll stumble upon innovation personified. These trailblazers push the boundaries of technology, ushering in a fresh era of possibilities. Embrace these visionaries, for they illuminate the road toward the future. It's not merely about the products; it's also in regards to the experience. Look for retailers who prioritize customer care, delivering an easy shopping journey from begin to finish. An easy to use interface, secure transactions, and reliable support will be the pillars of a delightful experience. Navigating the entire world of electronic components, you could encounter a beautiful choice of extras and addons. These value added components enhance functionality and supply the icing on the technological cake. Embrace them should they align together with your needs. Aesthetic appeal is not to be underestimated.

While functionality reigns supreme, some elegance in design can make your heart skip a beat. The pursuit of eco friendliness is really a noble quest. Supporting components that embrace sustainability fosters an improved tomorrow. So, watch out for products that align along with your environmental values. The final touch in your final decision making process involves exploring the experiences of fellow shoppers. Customer reviews offer valuable insights, painting a vivid picture of each component's real world performance. Embrace the collective wisdom of the community. As you attempt this journey of electronic discovery, remember to savor the experience. Every component holds the promise of transforming the abstract into reality, propelling you toward your goals. Each click draws you closer to the realm of endless possibilities. So, dive into the digital expanse of electronic components products, armed with the knowledge of reliability, affordability, versatility, compatibility, innovation, and experience. Unravel the mysteries with this realm, and let technology weave its magic into your life. Happy shopping!

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wonderlandfandomkingdom · 1 year

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I posted 3,652 times in 2022

That's 1,645 more posts than 2021!

21 posts created (1%)

3,631 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@spongebobssquarepants

@phoenixyfriend

@theresawritesstuff

@shakespeareanqueer

@urbanfantasyinspiration

I tagged 29 of my posts in 2022

#reblog - 7 posts

#always reblog - 5 posts

#writers on tumblr - 3 posts

#question - 3 posts

#tumblr staff - 2 posts

#free iran - 2 posts

#smut - 2 posts

#marvel fanfic - 2 posts

#all queued up - 2 posts

#fanfic rec - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 54 characters

#forget watching a show in a day lets do books in a day

My Top Posts in 2022:

I'm sorry but I started watching Hunter x Hunter

I'm on season 2 and I have a few things to say

My precious cinnamon roll I thought you where such a sweet boy but I see you and I still love you

My little demon baby I love you so much you have friends 😭😭 best friends

I swear if they ever end up not being friends I'm going to cry full blown bawling

Pyschos clown... De fuck... Literally how, why, how thought of him. Like 1st he gets turned on and the animation around it is just uncomfortable also he's crazy so crazy "Don't look at me like that it's really turning me on" he says while being death glared at

I'm only on episode 10 of season 2. Do no spoilers please but I am so invested right now.

1 note - Posted April 4, 2022

Is anyone else seeing these all over Tumblr lately? They keep using the most popular tags

I've been reporting when I see them since there's so many accounts that are doing it

1 note - Posted September 24, 2022

Help me save Dragonia!

Come and join me in Merge Dragons! Use this Tag to add me to your friend list: AGUNGAQXGZ

Tap here to start playing!

http://mergedragons.com/invite

The dragons need rescuing and we’re the only ones that can help:

. Hatch your own dragons by merging mystical eggs

. Build a camp for your dragons to live in

. Restore life to the land by harvesting essence

. Make your dragons more powerful by merging them

. Over 200 unique puzzles to complete and 600 quests to overcome

. Merge three of anything to make them bigger, better and more beautiful

. Over 200 dragons to discover

What will you discover?

1 note - Posted July 9, 2022

How anyone can watch this scene in the Princess Bride and not think they are lovers or something similar then I have no idea

3 notes - Posted November 13, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I'm sorry did Tumblr break?

All the posts are now white instead of my goth / dark mode. It literally hurts my eyes to see nothing but white backgrounds (gotta love medical conditions)

Is this happening for anyone else?

4 notes - Posted November 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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marvelgame2020 · 4 years

Link

#marvel puzzle quest ios review HACK

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 3 years

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Episodyssey: What If... Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?

[DISCLAIMER: Links provided may be unsuitable viewing for public places, if you catch my drift. Click at your own risk.]

Wow, bet you never thought you’d see this series again!

I don’t watch a lot of TV (I mostly watch movies) so this series fell by the wayside because I couldn’t really think of any episodes to talk about. I didn’t want to recount some Courage the Cowardly Dog episode I watched twenty years ago using nothing but my memories and wiki pages, because that would be boring, and I worried about my running gag of using cropped Rule 34 would cause problems, so I kind of just sat on the series. I also didn’t think I was particularly funny with the captions, so there’s that. The whole series was only just a mess.

But during my long hiatus from reviews, I came up with a lot of ideas, so this series is resurrecting! My big idea is, as you can see from the title, reviewing the episodes of the MCU’s animated anthology series, What If...? But I have even more ideas, which will come whenever the fuck I stop being lazy and write them! Episodes of Epic Rap Battles of History I didn’t cover, cases from the Ace Attorney games (which will cross over with Psycho Analysis),I finally figured out interesting things I can use Episodyssey for!

Oh, and I’m still keeping in the cropped Rule 34 joke, though I’m going to make sure to link the artist this time. So this is your warning kids, don’t click that link or you might see boobs. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Anyway, let’s get into talking about Marvel’s first foray into the multiverse! What If…? is based on the comic series of the same name, where fans would get to see alternate takes on moments in comic books, all while the omniscient narrator Uatu the Watcher sat back and, well, watched. These kind of stories could be almost anything, from showing what would happen if key moments in famous storylines played out slightly differently to gags like “What if the Fantastic Four were bananas?” It’s an interesting premise for sure, and has unlimited possibilities for storytelling, so it’s easy to see why as soon as they got the rights to Uatu back from Fox and had Loki and Girl Loki kill Kang #1 and then fuck the multiverse up they’d decide to dive in and show us what sort of crazy shenanigans would happen for want of a nail.

The first episode, What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger? is a far cry from crazy shenanigans, though. I’m going to be giving my own take on each episode’s title, and this one I would call What If The First Avenger… But Girl? Now don’t get me wrong here. I love Captain America: The First Avenger, and I feel like a lot of people sleep on that movie. I also love Peggy Carter, and in this episode she is just ungodly hot, with her muscles and her wholesale slaughter of Nazis. If I was Steve I’d go back in time for this woman too, goddamn.

It also helps that this whole concept came from one of my favorite games to play when I’m bored on the bus, Marvel Puzzle Quest. It’s your standard matching puzzle game with light RPG elements and all the character have powers you can use to help you out, and for the 75th anniversary of Captain America they introduced a version of Cap who was Peggy. This version was entirely their creation, and later made it into the comics, and then from there into this show.

So, on the basic conceptual, I should like this episode. But I think that’s the issue here, this episode isn’t really anything new or exciting. Yes, seeing Peggy as a buff woman who could break me over my knee is cool. Seeing skinny little bitchboy Steve become the fucking Iron Giant because they couldn’t get the rights to the Rocketeer is cool. But I don’t really think just being cool is enough to sustain a story in a series whose main conceit is showing us strange alternate takes on things we’ve seen before. Eveything here is just too samey to the movie it’s based on, with Peggy doing basically everything Steve did despite the differences that should crop up. Sure, there’s some cartoonish sexism tossed in but the episode’s length doesn’t let it get focused on too long, which is also a problem for Red Skull, who is barely in the episode and is then unceremoniously killed by a kraken he summons. Peggy even ultimately ends up in the same place Steve did in the main timeline. This episode most feels like it’s trying to ease us in to the concept, but I think it may have pulled its punches a bit too much.

As a showcase for the animation, it works very well, because the cel shaded 3D animation is mostly pretty cool. It’s also neat that they got a lot of the original actors back for their roles, with Hayley Atwell voicing Peggy, and actors like Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, and Dominic Cooper reprising their roles as well. Chris Evans didn’t come back, but his replacement voice is former Spider-Man Josh Keaton, who does an excellent job, so can’t complain there. What I can complain about is Sebastian Stan as Bucky, who gives one of the worst performances I have ever heard in my life and is now the poster child of everything that can go wrong when you hire celebrities who can’t voice act.

Ultimately, while this isn’t the absolute worst foot forward for a series, it’s not really the best foot either. It does set up a lot of the ideas and a lot of the things you can expect to see, but it wraps them up in the MCU’s leftovers. It’s a decent episode on its own, but as an alternate take on The First Avenger, it doesn’t do enough to differentiate itself from that movie to really stand tall. Still, if you just can’t get enough Peggy Carter and want to see her beat the shit out of people with a buff Captain America bod, by god does this episode deliver.

#Episodyssey #What If...?#Marvel #MCU #Peggy Carter #Hayley Atwell #animation

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elgaberino-mcoc · 3 years

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MCOC Wishlist Blog Character Spotlight KNULL

by Marco “Prophet of Knull” Garcia ed. Other Gabe

BACKGROUND

Knull is an ancient malevolent deity whose existence predates the universe itself, and was originally content to drift through the endless abyss that existed before time.

He used his weapon, the Necrosword, to combat the Celestials who disturbed his darkness. With this sword Knull severed the head of a Celestial. That head is now Knowhere, a popularly-known Marvel location and a battle zone in the Marvel Contest of Champions Battlerealm.

Wanting an army, Knull then constructed the aliens we all know, love, and sometimes hate, the Klyntar race of gooey symbiotic aliens.¹ Later, after a debacle with the Mighty Thor, the symbiotes rebelled against their “God” and trapped him on a desolate planet, later known as Klyntar. There the God of Symbiotes waits and plans his escape, hoping to one day lay waste and bring Darkness to the universe.

“The End is near. God is coming….”

Editor’s note: the next several sections are designed to familiarize the reader with Knull’s worthiness to be featured in a video game, compared with the myriad other Marvel characters from whom Kabam could choose.

POPULARITY

Technically, Knull has been around since 2013, and appeared in Thor: God of Thunder Vol.1 #6 by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic, as he was a shadowed figure from whom Gorr the God Butcher steals All-Black the Necrosword.

He was then revealed by name by his creators in Venom Vol. 4 #3 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman in 2018.

Knull has had huge fan buzz around him since his inception and his name is only getting bigger. Despite fewer than a dozen appearances initially, Knull headlined the King in Black line-wide event that began in December 2020, from the minds of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman.

Editor’s note: Arguably named after Knull, the King in Black initial release was considered critically to be a high-stakes situation, due to the perceived hype. Its comics made regular appearances in bestseller lists after the event launched, suggesting the Knull name and story, in conjunction with the strength of his creators’ reputations, was strong enough to sell books. Overall the King in Black arc has also gotten good critical reviews.

KNULL AS MATERIAL FOR OUR MARVEL GAME

Editor’s note: these character spotlights usually explore several factors to determine whether it is reasonable to expect Kabam to seriously consider the character as a candidate for addition to Marvel Contest of Champions. Among these factors are inclusion in other similarly-marketed games, mainstreaming in comics and other media, mentions in MCOC lore, Kabam conversation, or community rumors, and pure hype among summoners.

OTHER MARVEL GAMES

Knull has been featured in other games already: first in the Spider-Man Unlimited mobile app,² then in Marvel Future Fight. In Marvel Puzzle Quest, Knull was originally only part of the backstory description of the playable Prophet Carnage character, but was eventually released in his own right in May 2021.

KNULL AND THE BATTLEREALM

Arguably no direct mention of Knull has happened in either [Marvel Contest of Champions or Marvel Realm of Champions], but it can be said he was alluded to in the motion comic that accompanied the release of Cosmic Ghost Rider and Red Goblin in October 2020.

Then, when story mode Act 7 was released in December 2020, this dialogue was revealed, which has been strongly speculated to be a reference to Knull.

CLAIM TO FAME: KNULL IN OTHER MEDIA

Knull has not enjoyed a reference in any Marvel Cinematic Universe content to date. Hel has only been mentioned in the Disney XD cartoon Spider-Man: Maximum Venom with a retelling loosely based on his comic book origins.

UNIQUE WAYS KNULL COULD FIT INTO THE MCOC META

Knull could be a massive boost (editor’s note: synergy hub) to many Symbiote champions or champions in general. I see him as a Cosmic [based on what I was told by co-creator Ryan Stegman], with massive damage. Being the creator of symbiotes, Knull could outfit any [non-#Symbiote] champ with a “Klyntar symbiote” of their own to enhance their kit or base numbers. He could also operate with #Symbiote champs similarly to the way Apocalypse enhances Mutant champs. He could also work as a counter to Symbiotes or anyone who would have ever been bonded to a Klyntar before in canon, which would include most of the Spider-Fam!

Knull’s kit could alternately introduce a #Codex tag to add to certain non-#Spiderverse Hero champs who have famously bonded to symbiotes (paging Red Hulk or even Deadpool).³

A PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN?

No mention of Knull ever came out of the Kabam team or anyone related to MCOC. Then again, Kabam never likes to tease big-name additions like Knull would be. Mid-September 2021, one data miner claimed that Knull is forthcoming.

WHAT DO SUMMONERS THINK?

Summoners seem to dig Knull. He was the winner of the first Tournament of Battlerealm Future, March Addness 2020, which was co-hosted by MCOC Wishlist creator Other MCOC Gabe and Unofficial MCOC Podcast veteran UMCOC Deacon on Twitter. The tournament pitted hundreds of characters against one another for votes from Summoners expressing who they would prefer to enter Marvel Contest of Champions. He cleaned house throughout most of the tournament, earning his addition to the MCOC Wishlist, where he has risen into the top 50 most wanted champions.

Due to recent ramblings by the author, and the introduction of Red Goblin to Marvel Contest of Champions, people have warmed up to the idea that Knull might actually be coming to the contest. (Even community-renowned comics expert CTMCOC agrees!)

Once below rank 250 on the MCOC Wishlist, Knull now stands as the #31 most-wanted champ, with over 550 Summoner upvotes as of this writing.

KNULL: CHAMPION BUILD IDEAS

PROBABLE CLASS

As mentioned above, Knull is a canonically cosmic entity or deity who purports to predate the universe itself. This forms a strong case for the MCOC Cosmic class of champions.

POSSIBLE ABILITIES

Like many Cosmic champs’ builds, I can see his relying on many Active Buffs with massive damage and defensive potential due to Symbiotic Armor. Perhaps as Knull collects Codices, he gets stronger and this mechanic could be used in game as persistent charges. The more Codices he gathers, the more potent his Buffs could become. He could utilize Fury, Aptitude, Armor, Cruelty, Precision, and other critical-damage-enhancing Buffs. Bleed and Armor Break Debuffs are likely as Knull breaks down his enemies with bloodthirsty ferocity.

POSSIBLE SYNERGIES

Knull's status as the God of the Klyntar could enhance all #Symbiote champions just as Apocalypse does for Mutants.

Venom could get a unique synergy called “Daddy Issues,” allowing Venom a 2% attack boost for every Buff converted on his sp2 but as passive Fury stacks. I imagine Carnage with something like a “Prophet of Knull” Synergy allowing 95% resistance to incinerate effects, allowing him to heal from Incinerates, since Carnage has no weakness to fire when he is operating as Knull’s prophet in the comics.

Knull could also be built to spend Persistent Charges to enhance #Symbiote champions in order to increase their stats and enhance their buffs.

It would also be clever to have a Synergy with Void called “Knull and Void” allowing Void access to a non-stacking Armor Break Debuff, such as on his Heavy Attack. More debuffs for Void would be devastating.

Knull could also enjoy a basic “Enemies” synergy with Thor and Silver Surfer. A great champ to release in conjunction with Knull would be Gorr the God-Butcher, a notable Thor villain, played by Christian Bale in Thor: Love and Thunder, and the other best-known wielder of All-Black the Necrosword.

•.•.•

Editor’s note: this concludes Marco’s commentary and notes on Knull as a potential champion. Anyone tracking the conversation about future champs knows that the name of Knull comes up frequently among Summoners, and his rise in every voting event in the community tends to support the notion he is greatly demanded by Summoners and would make an excellent addition to the game.

This article was originally drafted almost entirely in late 2020, and has been dug up and completed in September 2021 after MCOC Trucos released a purportedly datamined leak suggesting Knull “is Coming” to Marvel Contest of Champions in October 2021. -OG

________

NOTES 1. The Klyntar alien race is most popularly represented by Venom, and his fellow Klyntar aliens Carnage, Scream, and the other names associated with their stories of superhuman symbiosis and “Venomization.” 2. Spider-Man Unlimited was well ahead of the curve announcing Knull for a video game in 2018. It got there by virtue of attempting to release almost every noteworthy Spider- and symbiote character as playable video game characters. Knull was not yet a character most people would consider important for gaming. 3. A codex (pl. codices) is the term for the biological traces a Klyntar symbiote leaves in its host’s system after separating from that host.

#Knull #All Black the Necrosword #Klyntar #Symbiote #deity #mcoc class cosmic #cosmic entity #cosmic being #immortal #synergy hub #character spotlight #Venom rogue #Silver Surfer rogue #Thor rogue #October 2020 Recursion #Act 7 #MarcusPack16 #summoner write up #summoner guest feature

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p-artsypants · 3 years

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I Do...I Guess? (Chapter 3)

Djose Temple

Ao3 | FF.net

In my mind, Zanarkand is just like...Los Angeles, or New York. Just a big city with modern day technology...with slightly questionable fashion statements?

And OMG I’m so happy to get reviews! I knew writing for FFX was like shouting into a void, but I got responses! And they were good! So I guess I’ll keep going??

—

In the morning, the team braved the Djose Highroad to the temple. Along the way they came across a smattering of survivors. They had endeavored to reach the temple but had succumbed to exhaustion from fiends.

Thankfully, they had yet to find any casualties.

Djose Temple was a magical marvel. Theme parks in the ancient Zanarkand had similar awe inspiring attractions, but nothing as amazing as the suspended rocks with lighting bolts.

“That happens when a summoner reaches and convenes with the fayth,” Lulu explained.

“So there’s a summoner here already?” Tidus asked aloud. He wondered if it was Dona, or heaven forbid Seymour.

Dona hadn’t seen the devastation of the failed operation. Her callous, holier-than-thou attitude would be anything but a balm to the wounded and dying.

And Seymour? Well, he was just creepy enough that Tidus just didn’t like him.

“Let’s see if we can help while we wait for them to finish,” Yuna suggested.

The others agreed, and they volunteered to help where they could.

Tidus watched Yuna rush into a room where there was much groaning. Her hand rested on the doorframe, and the ring he had given her glinted on her finger.

No one seemed to notice.

Even when they returned to camp last night, no one noticed. Lulu and Wakka were already asleep, while Kamahri and Auron took their first watch. Pleasant greetings were exchanged before Kamahri offered some of the cooked fish they had left over from dinner. Then they fell asleep shortly after.

Now it was the next day, and their engagement was official. Who did he talk to about that? They did say he had until Djose Temple to figure it out. And he did.

But it didn’t seem like a good time to bring it up. Would Yuna do so? It was her idea after all.

Tidus was directed to a cot with a wounded crusader on it. The man had a piece of shrapnel in his stomach, and Auron, one of the only others in the room with a strong stomach, was tasked to pull it out.

Tidus was to hold the poor bastard down by the shoulders, while Wakka had his legs.

And it continued like that for a few hours. The patients were different, but the job was the same. Some were being amputated, while others were just getting stitches.

But no matter what, it seemed like Operation Mi’ihen’s casualties were far from over.

By mid-afternoon, the summoner in the cloisters finally emerged. A man named Isaaru, and his brother-guardians.

Finally, a polite summoner. He did rib Yuna a little, but it felt like friendly rivalry compared to Dona’s outright harassment.

“The cloisters are empty, you two should go.” Auron urged Tidus and Yuna.

“But there’s more people to heal...”

“We can spare some potions. Now, go.”

Hard pressed to argue, Yuna simply turned to Tidus. “Will you come to the trials with me?”

“I did the first two on my own. I think I can handle another.”

“Oh, I’ll help too.” She smiled.

“Oh then, I have nothing to worry about. After you?”

They still didn’t speak of the impending wedding, but Tidus still tried to be the best fiancé/guardian he could be. He didn’t allow her to lift a finger, though she figured most of the puzzles out on her own. He moved the pedestals, he inserted the spheres, and when it came to leaping across a live electric pit, he gladly made the jump for her. They then reset the puzzle and activated the floor panel, which allowed them to go up to the next level. This time, Yuna helped him push all the pedestals into place and revealed the stairs to the Fayth.

He followed behind her as she ascended the stairs.

The door to the chamber opened for her, and she turned to look at him in question.

“I’ll wait right here for you,” he promised, sitting on the floor.

She offered a smile, and went inside.

And so he waited. Patiently, ankles crossed.

This would be the first time he waited the entirety of her prayer. The last two times, he came in at the end.

This time, he was alone in his waiting. The other guardians were busy helping downstairs.

Besaid had taken her two days, but Kilika was only about an hour. Was she getting better at whatever happened in there? Or was it based on the Fayth itself?

His ignorance to this whole situation was like a punch to the gut.

Wakka was right. Yuna needed someone that was more educated on Yevon, who could help her.

And yet, he could only believe she needed someone to remind her to be human more. Sure, if he knew more, it might help. Maybe he’d try a little harder to learn the religion. If only to stop embarrassing her with his ignorance.

Yuna emerged two hours later, sweaty and panting. He caught her before she could faint, and brought her back down into the temple.

He sat her on the stairs to the cloisters and retrieved a flask of water for her. “Better?”

“Yes, thank you for taking care of me.”

“As a fiancé should,” he smirked.

There was a loud gasp at that, and they both turned to see—Shindig? Shanda? The pious lady they had met on the Mi’ihen Highroad, standing not too far away. “Truly?! Is what I hear correct? You are to be married to Lady Yuna?”

The other guardians, who had not been informed that he had made his decision, all came closer to listen.

“That’s right.” Yuna smiled softly. “I asked, and he accepted.”

Auron gave a thumbs up, while Wakka shook his head. Kimahri and Lulu were unreadable, but didn’t look angry at least.

“This is wonderful news! The wedding of a summoner is always a blessed occasion! Will you be waiting until you reach the temple in Bevelle?”

“Well,” said Tidus, “we were going to do it here, but...”

“An even better idea! The survivors could really do with the hope!”

Yuna sputtered. “I don’t know if it’s an appropriate time—“

“Nonsense! I’ll take care of everything! Leave it to me!” And she hurried off to find the head priest, leaving Tidus and Yuna to face the other guardians alone.

“So, were you going to tell us you said yes?” Wakka asked, arms crossed.

Tidus sighed. “We made it official last night, after all the sendings. I wanted to give Yuna something to be happy about, but we weren’t going to push it. Especially with everything that happened.”

“We did give him until Djose to reach a decision,” Lulu reminded patiently. “There’s no reason for you to be angry.”

“I just wish he had the common sense to say no.”

Tidus frowned at Wakka, crossing his arms.

“So what made you change your mind, ah? Wanna get in on that post-sin glory?”

Tidus’s heart raced a little faster as he confessed. “I just wanted to say yes. I don’t want her to be lonely.”

Lulu smirked. “Sounds as altruistic as can be. If Yuna wants a companion that doesn’t interfere with her quest, I’m for it.”

Yuna blushed. “Well you didn’t have to say it like that.”

Before more teasing could ensue, the head priest arrived. “I hear there is a couple wishing to be wed?”

Yuna bowed to him. “Yes sir, my guardian and I. But if you’re busy with the operation, we don’t want to intrude.”

“Nonsense. Everyone is stable, and you have done so much to help us. It’s the least we can do for repayment.”

So it was happening. It was really happening. Marriage. At seventeen. And he hadn’t even gotten her pregnant first.

Were they going to have sex tonight? Yuna didn’t seem the type. Would she try for the sake of legitimacy? He certainly wasn’t going to force her into anything. He’d let her take the lead. This was her idea anyway.

A stone pillar, much like the ones in the cloister, raised out of the ground. It had a little dome with two holes on either side.

“Now reach inside and clasp hands, so the soul scryer may tell if your souls are compatible for the soul bonding ceremony.”

Tidus blinked several times, hearing things he was not prepared for. “The what what?”

“Isn’t a soul binding ceremony...a little antiquated?” Asked Auron.

Shalinda, who had returned with the priest gasped. “Oh no! It’s a beautiful and sacred ceremony!”

“Huh...just for some of us who are a little...out of practice...” Tidus mentioned sheepishly.

Lulu explained. “The soul binding ceremony is an ancient wedding practice, in which the souls are joined in life, so the beloved can find each other in death.”

“It’s not to be taken lightly.” Wakka urged.

“It’s just for show,” Yuna whispered. “They can’t actually bind our souls. But if the idea bothers you—“

“No no, it’s okay. It’s not going to, like, hurt or anything, right? Or change me as a person?”

“The more compatible you are, the less of an effect you should feel on yourself.” The priest explained. “Come, present yourselves to the soul scryer.”

No point in putting it off any longer. He put his hand in on one side, and Yuna put hers in the other. They met in the middle and entwined fingers.

Immediately, the scryer turned blue, then a blinding white.

Tidus spoke while covering his eyes, “is that a good thing?”

“Blessed be this day! A summoner is a perfect match for her beloved! This union will be wonderful and prosperous in love!”

Okay. So a good thing it was. He and Yuna a perfect match? What were the odds?

It seemed pretty low, considering the bright blush on Yuna’s face.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yes—just—“ she rested her free hand on her face. ��Perfect matches are really rare. I didn’t know...”

He squeezed her hand. “Hey, it’s alright. I’m not upset. Actually, quite the opposite! No need to be embarrassed!”

She gave him a weak smile, obviously still embarrassed despite his reassurance.

“Let us begin the ceremony. Did you bring a change of vestments?” Asked the high priest.

“Ah, no. Please, we’d like to be as streamlined as possible. We don’t want to take up any more resources than necessary.” Yuna bowed again.

“Very well.”

Both of them removed their hands from the scryer, as it lowered back down into the floor. Then the head priest urged Yuna and Tidus to follow him to the door to the cloisters. They stood at the top of the stairs, while the other guardians and other witnesses gathered around to watch.

Yuna raised her hands for him to hold. And he did so daintily.

“O Fayth, O song of the Farplane. Hear as we call out to you in prayer. This couple has sought to be joined in the holiest of traditions. In soul, love, and flesh and bone. Knit them together in a tapestry of absolution. Bind their souls so that they may find each other in the end. May their love be pure and strong, and may they find peace and strength within each other.”

He looked at both. “Do you have the rings?”

Tidus took out his, and Yuna awkwardly took off the one she was wearing, then they traded.

“Tidus, please repeat after me: ‘I, Tidus,”

“I, Tidus,”

“Do take Lady Yuna, to have and hold, in sickness and in health, to the Farplane do we part.”

“Do take Lady Yuna, to have and hold, in sickness and health, to...not even the Farplane do we part.”

The wording change was not lost on those assembled. Especially Yuna, who smiled bashfully.

“You may place the ring on her finger.”

Tidus took off his gloves, and then very delicately slid the ring onto her finger.

“Lady Yuna, if you will repeat after me: I, Lady Yuna,”

“I, Lady Yuna,”

“Do take Tidus, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to the Farplane do we part.”

She smiled. “Do take Tidus, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to not even the Farplane do we part.”

“Non Traditional vows, but lovely nonetheless.” The priest praised. “You may place the ring on his finger.”

Just as he had done, Yuna slid the ring onto his finger. Then she squeezed his hands affectionately.

“I pronounce you, in the name of Yevon, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Yuna blushed again, then whispered, “I’ve never kissed before.”

“Well, do you want a normal first kiss? Or a traditional Zanarkand wedding kiss?”

“Hmm, I’ll try the Zanarkand wedding kiss.”

He winked at her, before holding her close. “Hang on to me.”

Yuna only had a minute to hold around his neck, before he lowered her into a dip, and pressed a deep and meaningful kiss to her lips.

Those gathered either gasped in shock or wolf-whistled. Either way, Tidus realized maybe these people weren’t used to such public displays of affection.

But still, her kiss felt incredible. She was warm and soft, she smelled of flowers and this unnamed spice that tingled his nose.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but when he righted her, she had a contented and gleeful smile on her face.

Then applause broke out, and they returned to reality.

Married. They were married. Officially. There was no going back now.

Not that he wanted to. Yuna was wonderful. She deserved as much support as she could get, and he was honored that she picked him.

“Presenting Lady Yuna, and her husband, Sir Tidus!”

The ‘Sir’ was a nice touch. Did he get to keep that name?

They descended down into the crowd, receiving heartfelt handshakes and pats on the back of congratulations. People were genuinely happy, and it was a relief to see people smiling. Maybe getting married now really wasn’t a bad idea.

“Many congratulations on your marriage, Lady Yuna.” Isaaru bowed. “I hope your husband aids you on your pilgrimage.”

“Of course I will!” Tidus exclaimed, like suggesting otherwise was ludicrous. “I’ll do anything to help Yuna.”

“Glad to hear it. Well, may the first to Zanarkand be the winner. We’ll be moving on to Macalania.”

“Oh, and a word of warning for you and your guardians,” his guardian added. “Rumor is that summoners have gone missing on the road to Zanarkand. Best keep sharp.”

“Well, thank you for the warning! We’ll be extra diligent!” Tidus saluted.

“Glad to hear it. Now, we’ll let you go. Heard you did a lot of sendings for these poor folks. You must be exhausted.”

“It’s always an honor to perform such a ceremony. Thank you for thinking of my well-being though.”

After marinating in the glad tidings of the crowd, the head priest approached the couple. “The ceremonial cleansing is ready for you both, if you desire it. I assume you’d like to get cleaned up after the ordeal you’ve been through.”

“Oh!” Yuna blushed. “Ah, yes, well, that would be nice...”

“What’s wrong?” Tidus asked softly.

“The ceremonial cleansing is basically a bath that the wedded couple share. The temples are almost all built on hot springs for this reason, and for summoners to take baths on their journeys. We really don’t have to...”

“I mean, I would like to get cleaned up. I wouldn’t want to offend my ladyship’s nostrils.”

Yuna giggled and then glanced at the priest, who was looking at them curiously, either concerned that Tidus didn’t know about the hot springs that everyone else knew about, or that this newly wedded couple wasn’t absolutely ecstatic to be bathing together.

“Alright. Let’s try it.” Said Yuna, with a little forced optimism. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing...a lot of each other, from now on. Might as well get used to it.”

Tidus held out his hand to her, and followed the priest outside the temple. He had remembered seeing a river when they had arrived here, and they weren’t too far from the ocean. The hot springs, however, were inside the rock on the back side of the temple. The priest led them into a little alcove in the mountains. There was a single, wide tub, where milky water was already steaming. There was a collection of soaps and perfumes near the edge, and a pair of towels and robes hanging nearby.

“If you leave your clothes in this basket, we will make sure they are cleaned and returned to you in the morning.”

Yuna bowed in gratitude. “Thank you for all of this. It is much appreciated.”

“You are most welcome, Lady Yuna, and Sir Tidus. If there’s anything else we can do, do not hesitate to ask.” He bowed at the waist, and exited the room.

“I could get used to being called ‘Sir’, that's very fun.” Tidus said with a laugh.

“I’m glad you enjoy it. I worried that the attention would make you uncomfortable.”

“There’s still time,” He chuckled. Then he glanced at the water. “How about I turn around so you can get undressed, and then once you’re in the water, I’ll join you?”

“Alright.” She agreed with a relaxed sigh.

Tidus turned around, and waited patiently for her to give the okay. Instead, she gave a series of frustrated grunts. “You good?”

“Lulu tied my Obi too tight, and I’m having a little trouble getting the knot out…”

“Can I help?”

She chuckled, “you can try.”

He turned around, seeing the problem immediately. She had pulled on the bow, but the knot remained.

“You’d think I’d know how to undo this stupid thing, but in my haste, and I pulled the wrong side.”

“No judgement from me.” He dug his fingers into the knot and slowly got it untangled, and then completely undone. With the obi gone, a lot more skin was visible, and he awkwardly tried to avert his gaze. “Is that good? Need help with anything else?” He cringed. “Not that I want to undress you, just if you were having any other wardrobe malfunctions…”

She giggled. “I understood. No, I got the rest of it.”

Glad that he hadn’t offended her, he turned back around and began to unbuckle his bracer.

Once he was down to his shorts, he heard Yuna get into the water.

“Okay, I’m decent.” She claimed.

She was just a head above the water. She was so cute that he let a giggle out.

“Why are you laughing?” She pouted.

“Nothing. I’m just surprised you’re letting me see your neck!”

“I’m modest!”

“And it’s very becoming.” He kicked off his boots and socks and went to remove his pants. But he glanced at her beforehand, and noticed she was completely turned away.

“Oh come on now, you don’t have to look away. We’re married after all.”

“I need to work my way up to that point.” She urged. “You may be my husband...but you’re still sort of a stranger.”

Now fully naked, Tidus splashed into the water, and scooted closer to her. “I think you’re the strange one. You proposed to me after all.”

“And you accepted.”

“Touché.”

“And maybe I did rush things. Maybe proposing was impulsive.”

“You’re not having cold feet now, are you?”

“What? No, my feet are very warm!”

“Is that not a phrase these days? Where I come from, ‘getting cold feet’ means that you’re regretting a wedding. Usually before the ceremony.”

“It’s a common thing?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Lots of people get married for all different reasons. And not all of them are good.”

“Do you think we got married for the right reasons?” She looked at him with big, sad eyes.

“Well, I hope so. You wanted a companion for your journey, right? A taste of romance?”

“If I hadn’t been a summoner, I would have just asked you to dinner, and see where things went. But...I’m on a bit of a tight schedule, you see. I don’t get to watch things unfold. If I want something, I have to take it.”

“So you wanted me?” He moved his leg, and his knee brushed against her bare thigh.

She blushed. “When you put it like that, it makes it sound like...like I was lusting after you.”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you were. I know I’m irresistible.”

She smiled at him. “You are pretty cute.”

“Hey! I’ll take it!” He glanced over the shelf of soaps, and popped the caps to sample them. There was a really nice fruity one. “Would you mind if I washed your hair?”

At this point, Tidus was worried she was going to pass out from how red her face was. “I—if you want to? You don’t have to!”

“Think of it as a bonding activity.”

“...okay...”

She settled in front of him, arms wrapped around her chest (though he had no way of seeing). He took a pitcher and wetted her hair, then very carefully started to massage the shampoo in.

The sensation sent chills up her spine. “It’s...weird. But nice.”

“Just like me.”

She let out a very unladylike snort.

“Cute.”

“No it’s not! I used to get picked on for that all the time when I was younger. So embarrassing!”

“Well, I think it’s cute. And my opinion is the only one that matters.”

She just snorted again. “Quit making me laugh!”

“I can’t help it! It’s my natural charm!”

He scrubbed at her scalp, doing his best to get the sand out from the beach. Then he used the pitcher to rinse, before applying conditioner and rinsing again.

“There we go. Squeaky clean.”

“Then it’s only fair that I return the favor,” she announced.

Now it was his turn to blush. “Well...I guess that’s fair.”

“Are you afraid I’m going to find out you aren’t actually this tan? Just dirty?”

“I am tan! It’s from training in the sun. Even then, I have naturally darker skin.”

“Did I hit a sensitive topic?” She couldn’t help but laugh.

“No, I’m just usually very hygienic, so your world with no showers or deodorant is making me uncomfortable.”

“I truly am learning so much about you in just a little time.”

“I have nothing to hide from you,” except one major thing, “so feel free to ask whatever you want.”

It continued like that. Yuna washed his hair, and then he washed her back and shoulders while she returned the favor. They talked, they laughed, they teased and flirted, all until they turned pruney and Yuna yawned.

“I’m sorry, you’re probably exhausted, and I’m keeping you up. Let’s get ready for bed.” Again, he stayed turned away so that she could get out and get dressed in the silk robe provided by the temple. He followed along soon after, and they returned to the temple. They were then escorted to a private room reserved for summoners. It had one big bed, and a stone floor.

Tidus frowned, but got to work searching through the cabinets. They were mostly empty, as the supplies had gone to all the survivors in the other parts of the temple.

“What are you looking for?” Yuna asked.

“I was looking for another blanket and pillow. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Oh!” She sounded horrified at the idea. “You don’t need to do that! There’s plenty of room on this bed for both of us! We might not even touch!”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course! You were working just as hard as me today. You don’t need to sleep on the cold ground!” It was rather endearing how indignant she was. She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “I can’t have my guardian having a poor night’s sleep.”

“Alright, alright.” He chuckled. “You get in first, and I’ll take the outside.”

She crawled in the bed, and tucked herself close to the wall to make sure he had plenty of space. Then he scooted under the blankets and turned his back to her, and then turned out the bedside lamp.

“Goodnight, Yuna.”

“Goodnight.”

After a moment, she spoke up. “Tidus?”

He decided to mess with her a little and didn’t answer.

“I know you can’t already be asleep.”

“Ahem,” he cleared his throat.

“What?”

“My full title, please.”

She snorted. “Sir Tidus?”

He rolled over. “Yes, My dear Lady Yuna? What can I do for you?”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m only kidding. You can call me whatever you like. I’ll make everyone else call me ‘Sir’.”

“What if I want to call you something cutesy? Like Snookie Wookums?”

“I love it, because everyone else will hate it.”

She giggled.

“What were you going to say earlier? When we said goodnight?”

“Oh…um. I was just wondering…if you would give me a goodnight kiss?”

He sat up a little on his arms. “Yuna, I would love to give you a goodnight kiss.” Since it was dark, he reached out for her, and cupped her cheek with his hand. Then he slowly leaned in and kissed her lips, oh so gently, oh so sweetly. “How was that?”

She hummed, and then answered. “Perfect. I’ll be able to sleep now. Thank you.”

“Anytime…Snookie Wookums.”

She snorted.

#Final Fantasy X #Final Fantasy #ffx #final fantasy tidus #tidus #tidus x yuna #yuna #fanfiction #I Do I guess

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Marvel’s What If…? Episode 1 Review: Peggy Carter Changes MCU History

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This review contains spoilers for What If…? episode 1.

What If…? is the latest Marvel Studios small screen project to arrive on Disney+ after much fanfare. The animated anthology show, created by Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia writer A.C. Bradley and Marvel storyboard vet Bryan Andrews, aims to explore alternate timelines in the MCU multiverse. In order to fully grasp the basic premise of What If…? as a whole it helps to have watched Marvel’s Loki, which recently introduced the multiverse to the MCU.

What If…? episode 1, “What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?,” focuses on a (mainly) WWII-era version of Peggy Carter who made a key alternate choice that affected the creation of Captain America in a major way.

It’s a fun episode! Your mileage may vary depending on how much you love Peggy Carter, but since I love her a whole lot I had a good time watching this. The main downside, I suspect, to any of these installments, is that they’re inherently redundant. As far as we know, none of the fantastical concepts here will bleed into the live-action MCU. But if you’re here for a good time and not a long time, What If…? should make for a neat weekly diversion.

Our What If…? reviews are going to adopt a different format. More of a “breakdown” that we hope will still satisfy regular readers but also help younger viewers and those less familiar with the MCU keep up.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at “What If… Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?”

Required viewing

In terms of understanding the central characters and how things changed inside the branch timeline featured in this first episode, we would recommend revisiting Captain America: The First Avenger, Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter, and the opening act of The Avengers. If you’re on a full Peggy Carter binge, why not add both seasons of ABC’s live-action Agent Carter series to your watchlist, too?

What’s different?

This episode explored what would have happened if Steve Rogers was unable to take the super soldier serum during World War II and Peggy Carter volunteered to become Dr. Abraham Erskine’s lab rat instead.

Peggy’s “what if…?” was deciding to stand her ground and stay in the room while the serum was administered during the iconic transformation sequence featured in Captain America: The First Avenger. She then had a chance to intervene in the Hydra bombing, but Steve got caught up in the action and was subsequently shot.

With time running out to perform the super soldier process, Peggy jumped into the machine and went on to become Captain Carter, having all the physical powers of Captain America along with a different costume and an altered shield with a Union Jack at its center.

Steve was badly injured and had to undergo intense physiotherapy while Peggy trained to be the best she could be. Their relationship blossomed and, thanks to Howard Stark, Steve took on the role of her sidekick in a Tesseract-powered Hydra Stomper – basically an early version of the Iron Man suit. Meanwhile, Peggy faced interference from Colonel John Flynn, who was regularly on hand to pour out a stream of misogyny regarding her place in the fight.

In a familiar First Avenger train sequence, Peggy went on an altered mission with Steve, Bucky Barnes and the Howling Commandos to take out the Red Skull, however it was Steve who ended up falling from the train in this timeline and not Bucky, so it stands to reason that Bucky wouldn’t then go on to become the Winter Soldier.

Other more minor changes include Peggy probably not making out with her own niece during any Civil War shenanigans in the future – and please do not direct me to any fan art depicting that scenario in the comments, I beg you.

In the end, the Red Skull used the Tesseract to summon a tentacled “champion of Hydra” and Peggy had to sacrifice herself to push it back back into the space portal from whence it came. She emerged from the portal pre-The Avengers’ Battle of New York.

Who are the voices?

Jeffrey Wright plays the show’s narrator, Uatu The Watcher, and he’ll be here for every episode.

Returning to voice their characters from Captain America: The First Avenger were Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark, Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan, Toby Jones as Arnim Zola, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Stanley Tucci as Dr. Abraham Erskine. Other MCU actors joining in were Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and Ross Marquand as the Red Skull, reprising his role from Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame.

Bradley Whitford may seem like a new addition as the arrogant Colonel John Flynn, but he previously portrayed the character in the live-action Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter released back in 2013, so even in the Sacred Timeline Flynn continued to be a thorn in Peggy’s side for quite a while.

The elephant in the room here is Steve Rogers. Chris Evans did not add his voice to the What If…? mix, so it was up to Marvel animation alum Josh Keaton to stand in for Evans, and he honestly did a really good job of it all things considered.

Standout moments

I gotta say it was truly wild for me to witness Captain Carter have adventures onscreen at all! It was obviously great to see Peggy kicking ass with her enhanced strength – the serum only beefed up her already brave and competent nature – but this version of the character has something of a unique origin, having been concocted as a kind of throwaway addition to the match-3 game Marvel Puzzle Quest in 2016. A couple of years later, Saladin Ahmed added her to the pages of Marvel Comics in Exiles #3, and it clearly didn’t take Marvel Studios long to figure out how to apply the enthusiastic Captain Carter fan response to an MCU project.

Peggy riding Steve’s Iron Man-esque Hydra Stomper into a dogfight during the WWII montage sequence was a delight, frankly. The animation in most of the fighting sequences was terrific and really took golden opportunities to reach for the kind of punching, kicking, shield-throwing ballet that the live-action format could never quite achieve with its restrictions of reality.

I found myself slowly warming to What If…?’s animation style, which I probably still wouldn’t describe as my favorite if I’m honest. I love the What If? comics, and this series felt like an opportunity to really push the weirdness envelope a little more. You only have to look at what Netflix accomplished with its anthology series Love, Death & Robots to see how differently a What If? series that embraced other styles and voices could have gone, but I grew up on Saturday morning cartoons, stop motion, Fantastic Planet, and Heavy Metal, so forgive me for briefly imagining the possibilities of this project in a wilder sense.

One of the oddest standout moments for me was when the episode subverted my expectations somewhat. After Steve was seemingly killed during the train heist, I thought the creators of the show were all set to explore him becoming the Winter Soldier, and I have to admit the idea intrigued me a little! However, it didn’t go down like that, and I was left to mentally wander down a different “what if…?” rabbit hole alone.

How does it work out?

In the future, Nick Fury used the Tesseract to transport Peggy back from wherever she ended up after she entered the portal, and it looks like she joined the Infinity Saga-era Avengers Initiative in Steve’s place. Whether it all worked out well for this episode’s specific MCU timeline remains to be seen, but it would be really fun to see if Agent Coulson had a pack of Captain Carter trading cards!

More to come

Episode 1 played like a pilot for an ongoing Captain Carter series for good reason: What If…? has been confirmed to include at least one Peggy Carter installment in every season going forwards.

“A lot of the season one episodes are riffing off certain points in the cinematic universe and maybe even delving in a certain phase, but we need to expand and explore more things, so we had to come up with other ideas that were a little further down the timeline,” director Bryan Andrews told us, later adding “Peggy Carter is pretty awesome; Captain Carter is pretty awesome, we’d love to see more of her.”

Marvel’s What If…? is now streaming weekly on Disney+ every Wednesday.

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The post Marvel’s What If…? Episode 1 Review: Peggy Carter Changes MCU History appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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musicollage · 4 years

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Joanna Newsom. Divers, 2015. Drag City. ( Recorded By – Steve Albini ) ~ [ Album Review | Pitchfork ]

On her fourth album, Divers, Joanna Newsom comes down in size if not scope. A love letter in the form of a reckoning with death, Divers deals with making tangible the huge mass of impending doom about the loss of love. You know, the small stuff. It's a gorgeous record, full of her usual harp wilyness and baroque rhythms.

Joanna Newsom's Divers is an album about a profound love, but it hardly features any love songs. The singer/songwriter recently explained to Uncut that her marriage in 2013 had invited death into her life, "because there is someone you can't bear to lose," she said. "When it registers as true, it's like a little shade of grief comes in when love is its most real version. Then it contains death inside of it, and then that death contains love inside of it." There is only one domestic vignette on the record, towards the end of "Leaving the City", where Newsom and her love go running on a beautiful day. Immediately, though, her high dims: "The spirit bends beneath knowing it must end." 2010's Have One on Me traced the death of a relationship as Newsom tried and failed to defeat a proud man's human nature. On Divers, she attempts to defeat time to stave off death.

To bear the weight of its subject, Divers fits to scale, ornate and roaming after the intimacies of Have One on Me. The arrangements—tackled by Newsom along with eight different musicians, including Nico Muhly, Ryan Francesconi, Dirty Projectors' David Longstreth, and her brother Pete—cover the ground of all her past work in a fraction of the time, making this her most dynamic and exhilarating album. The first half in particular veers between baroque poise, jaunty blues, and rococo beauty, as if searching for answers in disparate places. Landlocked between the dry, acoustic arrangements of "The Things I Say" and "Same Old Man", the lilting harp and piano of the title track casts her lover as a deep sea diver and measures the distance between them, "how the infinite divides." The meticulous internal rhymes in the chorus of "Leaving the City" contract against the tug of her harp, a cascade of tiny parts that form a huge, billowing whole, like tiny bones in a vast wingspan. "The longer you live, the higher the rent," she sings inside the frenzy.

Divers makes a landscape out of this abstract fear of loss. On the courtly "Anecdotes" and "Waltz of the 101st Lightborne", she is part of a battle fought by birds to try and wrest control of time. "You Will Not Take My Heart Alive" is the most Ren Fair piece here, on which Newsom contemplates ascension to some transcendent plane, "[severing] all strings to everyone and everything." Its sister song "A Pin-Light Bent" descends sadly back towards reason and reconciliation of her unsuccessful quest to outrun time. "In our lives is a common sense/ That relies on the common fence/ That divides and attends," she sings with palpable mourning, accepting that her life, "until the time is spent, is a pin-light, bent." Where this kind of cosmic existentialism could come off like a stoner marveling at the moon, Newsom pulls it off with balance of poetry and reason. Her fantastical world is sometimes hard to get your head around, but it brings surreal, sometimes sci-fi delight to a record that's otherwise often lyrically despairing.

Where Newsom's second and third records each overhauled what came before, Divers is a refinement that draws on elements of each of its predecessors. The shapes of her records often get misinterpreted as concepts themselves, rather than the sign of a writer attuned to her work's needs. Ys from 2006 was the five-song suite; Have One on Me from 2010, the three-disc opus. On its surface Divers is more conventional, a single disc where nine of its 11 songs are under six minutes long, but it also happens to be a wild, genuine concept album. The final song, "Time, As a Symptom", ends with Newsom in raptures, commanding white stars, birds, and ships to "transcend!" On the very last burst, she clips the word to "trans—". The first word on opener "Anecdotes" is "sending." It is a perfect loop.

Most artists on their fourth album settle into atrophy, or at least comfort, Newsom delivers such complex, nuanced music, filled with arcane constructions, that she is only her own yardstick. (In a recent interview about Divers, David Longstreth cited The Milk-Eyed Mender as one of the reasons he quit college: "[What] am I doing here if someone is already out there making music like this, on this level?") Her consummate craft is a given; what surprises every time is her ceaselessly renewing sensitivity for life's vicissitudes and the fantastic ways she finds to express them. D**ivers is not a puzzle to crack, but a dialog that generously articulates the intimate chasm of loss, the way it's both irrational and very real. Nothing will stem the fear of a loved one's death, which western culture does little to prepare us for until the very end, but by pulling at the prospect of mortality from every angle, Newsom emerges straighter-spined, and invites you to stand alongside her.

#folk rock #rock music #singer songwriter #pop music #female performer #joanna newsom #drag city records #steve albini #2015 #2010s #2010s rock #pitchfork #review

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bean-n-shroob · 4 years

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The Origami King Review/Opinion

(I sorta hate that it has the word The in it cause when I did impressions or this review, it sounds strangely official)

I’m gonna review but if people don’t want spoilers here’s some Pros and Cons that I felt

Pros:

+ Music is fantastic! I love how the battle theme changes with every area/sub-area you go to.

+ Writing is good, it gets you invested in enough to sorta care. Humor is top notch as expected!

+ Olivia is a sweetheart! I love her so much and how she’s so marveled by everything.

+ Boss Battles are fun to figure and deal with.

+ Finding Toads is actually kinda fun, I enjoy figuring out where they’re hidden

+ Badge system is intriguing if not a bit clunkly put together (sorry, this is suppose to be Pros)

Cons:

- Regular Battles get old quick if puzzles aren’t really your thing and its a bit too easy to just not depend on the coins, thus making them pointless.

- Story sorta flops, it starts strong but then just sorta fizzles and all we got left is... fun experiences (I know this sounds like a Con, but while the experiences are fun, it is disappointing the story sorta flops hard)

- Character Design is very meh. The most well written character can’t save it from its extremely generic design

- But also Olly is not... that well written... so...

- Partners and Vellumentals are kinda under utilized to a disappointing degree (baby steps, baby steps ugh)

Anywho, that’s all my feelings (that I can remember and feel I can say without spoilers)

6.5/10 (I’ll explain the scoring under the cut)

Spoilers Under Cut

Hello and welcome to the Spoiler Bits of this Review/Opinion

Buckle in, this is a long one

Now y’all may be a bit curious as to why, with so much big things (music/writing/bosses/Olivia) being good and so little being bad, why a 6.5/10?

Well, I felt a 7 was too generous and would make people think “Oh, its good!” but a 6 is like “Eh... its mediocre” and a 6.5 is more like a “Its Good, But” and I feel that But is important! I know how this may sound, but TOK could’ve been WAY better and Chapter 2 was an example of how good this game could’ve been!

You know how people always bring up Huey, or the “Morton Leston” joke, or the “I would do things that would raise this game’s rating” line as examples as why Color Splash is actually really good and we’re all in denial?

I feel Chapter 2 will be that for TOK and its all because of Bobby! I like Bobby, I like Bobby a lot! I wish he stuck around! I loved how he and Olivia interacted together and how they formed a bond!

But

I sorta hated how overall useless he was to the action and adventuring. He’s the most useless partner that somehow leaves a deep impression on the player!

He leaves such a deep impression that I don’t think anyone noticed how badly written Professor Toad was! He was such a let down as a follow up to Bobby! And worst of all, he was like way more useful than Bobby! He can dig holes, he can wipe out a whole role of enemies, he has a function outside of battle and story.

Seeing how useful Professor Toad was, sorta put into perspective Bobby and his eventual sacrifice to save Olivia (I told ya this was spoilers). He just dies, in a shockingly emotional moment, giving a speech about how Bomb-Ombs live relatively short lives and are always trying to make the most of it.

Wow... I really wish Chapter 6 didn’t have a segment where you were half hazardly shooting bomb-ombs out of a cannon, cause otherwise, this could’ve been way more impactful!

But it also made it seem like "we can't make Bobby too useful, he's gonna die. So just keep him extremely simple and useless in every other aspect of the adventure, besides story."

I don’t get how TOK started out so strong! The intro and Chapter 1 introduced us to the basic loop how what we’d have to do and how stuff will play out and Chapter 2 took that and showed us how far we could go with this loop and how involved the world will be with this loop!

Only for Chapter 3 to just give up on everything and give us 1 expansive dessert to explore, a very one note partner who doesn’t leave a lasting impression, a boring quest of solving an ancient riddle and a very annoying boss dungeon segment that went on longer than it should’ve! And above all else, a very half-assed excuse for why he won’t be joining your journey! Especially since Chapter 4 doesn’t have a partner!

Chapter 4 feels like an overly-long intermission of Mario n Olivia’s adventure to Chapter 5. Legit the purple streamer of 4 could’ve been the green streamer of 5 and it would only flow just a little bit less smoothly. Chapter 4 has this weird send off to the Vellumentals, with the boss dungeon being a mixture of the last 4 Vellumental chambers you’ve explored. Which feels out of place especially since there’s like 2 more chapters of stuff happening afterwards! And like a thunder elemental like boss fight in 5 but I guess they just couldn’t be bothered to create a Thunder Vellumental fight to tack onto the story and just gave it to this Origami Sumo Bro! Okay!

And then the Bowser Castle segment is right when they decide to get creative with enemy encounters, but only 2 enemy encounters (you can fight these two multiple time if you’re neither a chicken nor annoyed with the battle ring system) but then just stop right after cause Scissor makes cut out soldiers was the only excuse why that happened.

Again... I like TOK, I do. If I didn't, I'd rate it a 4 or 5 outta 10. I'll talk about the good, I will, but lemme just rant about 1 thing first! Its actually 2 rants but its gonna be about 1 topic I'm rather passionate about.

Character Design

I hate how generic the Legion of Stationery are! Once again, Chapter 2 wins by giving Rubber Band a very unique design, but everyone else is so generic looking! Remember how I said the personalities couldn't save them from their generic design? The Legion have such fun personalities, its so tacky and fun! But I cannot get over how it contrasts with the fact I'm staring at an object hoping in place or wiggling or jiggling as they talk! It kinda sucks, honestly!

I wish these guys had more creativity behind them, and truth be told it wouldn't have bothered me had Rubber Band not been an outlier! Why them and not everyone else! Its baffling!

But above all else, the worst offender, is the Origami Craftsman! The dude who folded Olly! Is a TOAD! That's it! A toad in an apron! WHY

And I get it, there's story reason behind it! Olly wants all Toads gone cause they all look alike and thus everyone reminds him of the Craftsman who wrote (a very touching message) on him!

And that SUCKS!

(uh oh, i forgot about Olly and his terrible terrible motive to be evil)

Speaking of Olly! Remember when I said he wasn't well written? Well besides being an evil prick who enjoys messing with the heroes (i dont mind that, evil just to be evil is fine), it sorta randomly just comes up that he hates Toads near the end! It just comes up!

And I THINK it was suppose to be hinted at by the fact all the Toads gets attacked and folded by Paper Macho and Folded Soldiers. But my problem with this is:

1. Would they have been daring as making Folded Toads as enemies? Thus the lack of Folded Toad enemies should've hinted at this

2. The enemies were origami version of Mario enemies! So enemies still being enemies but folded would've just strengthen the fact we'd be fighting bowser minions again, making the previous Toad hint moot.

3. Toads have always been in peril in previous PM games so the fact they're in peril again wouldn't have been a point of interest!

I GUESS the fact Folded Peach specifically asks whether Toads should be silenced could've hinted at this, but people just took it as "hah lol Toads annoying" and not "oh, this villain has a thing against toads~". Its just, who else would the villain have pointed out? There's only Toads here! Maybe if there was a bigger variety of npcs and we saw other npcs either becomes folded soldiers or be spared from the folded attack, we could've wondered "hey, why are only the toads getting stuck in places?"

But we don't!

Anyways, huff! Lemme count all the good, spoilery things in the game (that's not in Chapter 2) to end on a good note

I love how Olivia is so sweet, no one could bring themselves to be mean to her (except Olly), even Kamek has a hard time being mean cause she's so bubbly and caring (except for that weird bit in the forest where Kamek had to be all rivalry about it but I digress)

Bowser backtalking Olly was very funny, I loved it a lot!

The fact Olivia asks Olly to come to his senses before Mario smashed his face with the Olivia hammer (i need to specify this cause otherwise it'll look like Mario interrupted this scene with a hammer smash but no, Olivia fully knew her hammer weight was gonna fall on Olly's face and just gave some last words of pleas before not even letting him respond) I loved that.

I liked how sweet Olivia was to Luigi despite how much he kept screwing up (i forgot to rant about that but tl;dr, he's a bit of a buffoon and its a bit annoying) i thought it was very touching how Olivia kept rooting for him regardless.

The Tape talking like a Gangster was actually really funny, I liked that a lot.

Bowser's pep talk to Olivia was very funny, it was basically "dont be sad, look at me, my muscles are massive and I can punch through walls!"

As jarring as they were, I actually liked a lot of the singing and dancing that occurred through the game.

Olly having his own color scheme for his Vellumental forms was super cool!

The ending was really touching. Olivia wished for all of Olly's creations to be undone, and because you find out in Chapter 4 that she's also a creation of Olly, she is undone too. And they don't spell that out! You just find out she's not around and connect the dots. I think that was very well done.

And these are some of several reasons I liked TOK and why I couldn't rate it lower than 6. It has a lot of things that just doesn't live up to Chapter 2 and its disappointing to realize halfway through that the game peaked in Chapter 2. Its so weird, they showed us how good it can be and then never lives up to the expectationd set by Chapter 2. I wish it did

Thats why I rate it a 6.5/10

#The Origami King Spoilers #The Origami King #review #opinion #mod speaks

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