#like which crime is my section going to commit next?

[squnna]

Look, I knew that shit was going down, but I didn't know HOW shit it was like a CRIME was committed like what??!??! What is my school😭 and I just found out, bdw all of this was apparently happening for quite a while.

[hpowellsmith]

Honor Bound is in copyedit!

I’m delighted to let you know that I’ve sent the full draft of Honor Bound to my editor Abby!

Play Chapters 1-3 of Honor Bound here, and read all about the game here.

More about the testing and revision process, and wordcounts after beta testing, below:

Beta testing started in mid-August and since then I’ve added around 50,000 words to the game. Some of this was expanding things throughout the game, and most of it was expanding the epilogue sequence to include LOTS more detail about where the PC is living at the end, their career choices, who they’re living with if anyone, letters from friends and loved ones if they’re living in different places, and rundowns of what major characters are up to if the PC’s living in the same town/location as them but not living in the same house.

That whole section ended up incredibly branchy and complicated, but I’m really proud of it - I think it caps off the game nicely. Yesterday I played through several of the ending scenes and felt really good about them, which is a nice feeling to have.

Honor Bound is now going to copyedit, and it’s looking like the release should be somewhere in early December, depending how long the copyediting takes. Copyediting is certainly a big job, because right now the game stats are:

Total wordcount: 592898 words Average playthrough: 98553 words

So each playthrough sees about 16% of what’s there, which means a ton of variety from playthrough to playthrough… and there’s a huge amount there to see even on one playthrough.

I’m incredibly grateful to all the testers from start to finish and everyone who has cheerled, supported, and given feedback that’s helped get this game into shape. I massively appreciate everyone here who subscribed which gave me a real helping hand, and who gave feedback on early versions of the drafts.

I’ve learned a huge amount from making this project, and have stretched out of my comfort zone in a variety of ways. It’s interesting seeing what writing-process-mistakes I didn’t do because of learning from Royal Affairs, and where I committed whole new coding crimes. (Next project, I am going to go easier on the nested *gosubs so it’s easier to troubleshoot and read. I am sure I will do something else that makes the code horrid to read.)

It’s the largest and most ambitious of my CoG games, and I’m proud of how the plot’s paced and pulls together. I’m incredibly fond of the characters - even if I put them through horrible things. It was so different writing characters who were older and more mature in various ways than the teenagers in Creme and Royal Affairs (and the young adults in Noblesse Oblige, who are all going through… a lot), but still with plenty of flaws, foibles, and hangups. I was delighted when characters surprised me, as well as when I could feel “oh, this is classic [character]” and their dialogue came naturally. There are some personality nuances that I’m not sure anyone will end up noticing, but felt lovely to put in because I had such a strong sense of who the characters were.

I’m also really pleased with how much I’ve personalised the PC’s dialogue and internal voice. When the PC speaks in the text (and often in the dialogue options), their tone and vibe is almost always informed by how their personality has been expressed by the player, which works with the choices the player’s making to make the PC feel their own. I really wanted to make the PC feel like an adult who’s gone through Some Major Stuff and is in a position of figuring out their principles and purpose because of it: there are a ton of different ways in which they can respond to what’s happened to them and to what happens throughout the game.

I’ve really loved exploring a new part of the Creme de la Creme setting and show such a different culture to Westerlin. I hope you all enjoy Honor Bound once it’s out!

(and… please wishlist on Steam if you haven’t already - it really helps!)

[kookidough]

random rant about tbp tiktok cause i’m actually Sick of it at this point💆‍♀️💆‍♀️ these issues probably exist Outside of tiktok as well but i only ever see them on there so thats the platform i’m gna talk about

before you read i just wanna say warning for mentions of sa!!!!!

first of all i dont want to jump straight into the serious shit so the unoriginality is actually INSANE like ive been seeing the same jokes since 2022, can we Please get something funnier than “griffin does gymnastics / is a ceiling fan” 😭 the amount of times recently i’ll see a tbp tiktok and then get someone copying the idea and making the Same exact post like 3 scrolls later is insane like Pls can we be original Pls this movie is so sad i need something to laugh at

outside of being totally unoriginal some of the jokes tend to be Really Fucking Disgusting like straight up joking about assault, i shouldn’t even have to explain that thats not funny in the slightest?? this one person made a bunch of really gross ones and kept blocking people who called them out in the comment section, my friend had to dm them Several times and all they did was take down one post, the rest are still up with a ton of views :/ i know its like shock humour or dark humour or whatever but i dont see the ‘funny’ side of a grown man forcing himself onto a child and i think if youre laughing at that you should sit down and ask yourself why you think thats so funny.. people in the comments are always like “i shouldn’t laugh” so they Know its wrong as well which just ugh the whole thing just really gets on my nerves

another thing that gets on my nerves is the lack of media literacy and straight up spreading misinformation, maybe on the media literacy part i’m just a hater but i see so many questions being asked or theories being posed when all of the things mentioned were… literally answered in the movie?? “whats up with finney and gwen’s mother” it’s literally said in the movie that she has the same ability as gwen and she killed herself bc of it, next question, “why was max so interested in finding the missing boys” maybe because he was a coked up conspiracy theorist who saw a serious crime happening in his brother’s area so he decided to be a genuine concerned citizen who wanted these boys to be found💀 “why did the grabber kill max” because he had evidence of the highly awful crimes he’d been committing and was about to let his latest victim free?? the list goes on and on but those r the main ones i see all the time

as for the misinformation. Ough. it annoys me So much this is a hill i will die on😭 i dont know if its people’s half-baked theories or personal headcanons that just got way out of hand but i see so much stuff being spread that just Isnt true, it gets spread so far that when you google these things it appears as true when its not which is annoying !!! i actually was gonna make an entire rant about one theory in particular that pisses me off so bad but i can fit it in here alongside my list of “other theories presented as facts that i Absolutely Despise”

first theory, the one i was gonna make an entire post over, is the theory that vance is the grabber’s son. if i see one more tiktok of those two with that marina and the diamonds song im going to fucking lose it😭 i have no idea where people got this from but its so fucking popular that it comes up on google and i Hate it, i think it comes from the fact that in gwen’s dream sequence, which, might i add, WAS A DREAM, it looks like the police drop vance off outside the grabber’s house and he goes inside there, which… apparently automatically makes them related…?? it takes like one ounce of media literacy to realise that Obviously he’d be getting dropped off at his own house in real life, but as a ghost he’s centred on the place he died and is showing that house to gwen in her dreams, like how every other ghost shows that house to her. awful theory awful take i hate it, if its ur personal headcanon sorry but i do Not fw that

the other theories i have like. not much to say about other than the fact that they’re Not true, i see a lot of stuff about griffin for some reason? the number tends to change but a lot of ppl say “he was kept in the basement for 4 years” like . Huh. where is your proof???? i know the missing posters are insanely unreliable but if you literally read them griffin went missing on april 2nd and billy went missing on may 4th so highly likely griffin was only in the basement for like. a month at most, no idea where ppl are pulling 4 years out of💀 i also see people say griffin has broken legs or a broken back Just because of the first scene where we see him doing a backbend but . if that was the case then he wouldnt be able to stand with the other ghosts when they show gwen the house, i think the backbend was just the position he died in and thats why he first appeared that way to finney but Hey thats just my opinion! last two i have like no rants over but just. firstly people saying robin never made it to the basement for some reason but clearly he did otherwise his ghost would not be down there with the rest of them😭 secondly the theory that vance was kept there the longest “because he’s the most feminine” which. just makes absolutely zero sense to me whatsoever idk whos random headcanon got popularised but i dont like it

okay getting serious again, while this one does not make me angry its like. just really weird to me? i think its common knowledge at this point that both the book and the movie are inspired heavily by the john wayne gacy case, with the grabber literally being inspired by john wayne gacy himself (you Cannot argue with me on this one its literally confirmed and theres a boatload of evidence supporting it). i guess its natural to see people making comparisons between the movie and the case because of the inspiration but i’ve seen Several videos recently of people taking photos of jwg victims and putting them next to tbp characters and saying thats who theyre inspired by and i think thats . Really coming across as insensitive i cant lie😭 we know the grabber was inspired by jwg and its heavily thought that billy was inspired by johnny gosch but theres not much about the others and i think its just really distasteful to compare real life murder victims to fictional horror characters just to get views/likes on tiktok, it comes across as insanely disrespectful to me but idk i havent seen anyone else talking about it so i might just be being sensitive

last thing that really really bothers me is grabber simps. while i do see it on tiktok i see it on here, tumblr, most often and its… so odd to me…. like why are you thirsting over the paedophilic serial killer… so so strange to me… i want to see art and character analysis and silly little posts about all the characters but every time i open the tbp tag i’m jumpscared by someones weird ass grabber x reader oneshot and its SO GROSS get that shit away from me😭😭😭😭 also saw this one girl on tiktok one time whos literal entire account was dedicated to the grabber and she defended this by saying the sa in the movie was “just a theory” which is so victim blamey girl i do not trust you there is so much evidence for it in the movie, again w the media literacy point, just because something isnt directly shown to you doesnt mean it isnt shown in other subtler ways… anyway i get if people like the grabber as a villain but actually like. loving him and thirsting over him is weird as fuck to me

so um ya the fandom is a trainwreck can we go back to there being like 3 of us please and thank u. if you actually read all this then Wow thank you its literally just me being chronically online and ranting about stuff that doesn’t matter in the real world at all

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Mosley Lane: Part One

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.8k

Summary: This is the last piece of the puzzle. The piece before you can finally be set free from all this pain. You're going to do whatever it takes to help your friend and more importantly, yourself.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Season Five Masterlist

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them.

x

"Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man." - Friedrich Nietzsche

"Hey, I came in as soon as I heard," you say and step into the briefing room. "There's an abduction?"

"Yeah. Aimee Lynch, eight years old, was taken an hour ago from a winter festival in Ashburn."

"Any witnesses?"

"Her mom, Barbara, was right next to her when she vanished."

"There must have been hundreds of people there. No one saw anything?"

"We're not completely void of hope. We have a few witnesses who gave descriptions of an older man and woman around Aimee when she disappeared. Here are the drawings from the sketch artist."

JJ puts the sketches on the screen and your heart immediately drops to your stomach. You recognize the people in the sketches.

"No way," you gasp.

"What is it?"

You look at JJ and immediately shut your mouth.

"Excuse me." You get up and leave the room while pulling your phone out and dialing Hotch's cell. "Hotch, listen, I know who the abductors are. When I was in prison, my cellmate told me why she was in there. She worked for this couple as a babysitter and long story short, she went down for the crimes they committed. She knows this couple. I'd like to talk to her."

"Good. Follow the lead."

"Can I take Spencer with me? I have to go back to that prison."

"Yes, that's fine."

You hang up and walk back into the briefing room.

"Alright, Reid, you and I are going to head to the family's house. The two of you," he says to Emily and JJ, "I want you to work with Garcia. We need to look at every local abduction or attempted one in the past year and see if there's any overlap."

"Actually, I need Spencer. I'm following a lead. Something to do with my cellmate in prison. I'll explain later but it relates to this case. I need him with me."

Spencer and Derek look at each other while Emily and JJ stay quiet.

"Okay, yeah. Prentiss, you and I are going to the family's house. JJ, work with Garcia."

"Sure," JJ nods.

"Oh, and the suspect's names are Roger and Anita Roycewood. Just trust me on this one."

Spencer leaves the briefing room with you, waiting for an explanation you're not sure you're going to give. He pulls you into an empty office and blocks your way out of this one.

"Spencer..."

"What is going on? I'm more than happy to go with you, but what is it?"

"My cellmate was arrested for the crimes of the suspects. I know who they are. Anita and Roger Roycewood. She was their babysitter. I have to talk to her which means I have to go back there. I feel like I'm doing better but if I go alone, I'm afraid I'll take ten steps back. You make me feel safe."

Spencer pulls you into a hug and you wrap your arms around his neck. He allows you a few minutes of being in his arms until he pulls away from you.

"You're always safe with me."

He leans down and kisses you, and you welcome the comfort by kissing him back. After allowing yourself to feel content, you and Spencer take one of the FBI standard vehicles up to Goochland where you were imprisoned. The closer you get, the more you can feel the familiar fear creep in. You get through security after showing them your badge and park in the visitor section. You grip the steering wheel but don't move to get out. I can't do this. I can't be here. I shouldn't be here. I should move on and stay as far away from this place as possible. What good is it going to do me to be back here? What if—

"Darling?" Spencer asks when he sees your knuckles are white from how hard you're gripping the wheel. He places his hand on your shoulder and you snap out of your own mind. "Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? I could go in there."

"No, I made a promise and I have to do this."

"Okay. Whenever you're ready."

You feel like you're ready in ten minutes, and you slowly climb out of the car. Spencer follows you inside and to the check-in desk.

"Hi, I'm here to visit Ashley... Um, I don't know her last name." You turn to Spencer. "I never asked."

"I need a last name, ma'am," the clerk says.

"Um, I'm sorry," you chuckle nervously. Being back here is making your head swirl. You try to remember what the guards called her since everyone refers to everyone else by their last name. There is a cloud in your brain blocking this information. Spencer rubs your back and the cloud suddenly clears in your head. "Parks. It's Ashley Parks."

"Take these badges and keep them visible at all times. Go through this door and Officer Medley will take you back."

You and Spencer take the visitor badges and clip them to your shirts. You follow Officer Medley to the room where the visitors can speak to inmates through a thick pane of glass and through phones on either side. You and Spencer sit down and look at each other while waiting for Ashley to come out. You're bouncing your leg and Spencer places his hand on your knee to get you to stop.

The door opens and Ashley walks through it with handcuffs on her wrists. You get tears at the sight of her after so long away. The guard removes the cuffs and allows her to walk to the seat right across from you. She smiles when she sees you and picks up the phone.

"It's so good to see you. You look well," she says. Her words bring tears to your eyes. You feel so guilty for leaving her in here. "No, don't do that. If you start crying, I'm going to cry."

"Okay," you sniffle and force the tears away. "Ashley, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Spencer."

"Ah, the man who taught her chess," she grins.

"Yeah," Spencer nods.

"Well, I don't think you're here to just say hi to me. Did something happen?"

"Remember that promise I made to you?"

"If I am found innocent and I don't return, just know I'm going to do whatever it takes to get you out of here."

"Go, you have court," she smiles with tears in her eyes.

"I promise, Ashley. I'll get you out of here."

"You don't have to do anything for me. I made some friends here. There's a group of ladies who are kind of nice."

"Roger and Anita are here. They're in Ashburn."

"What?" she whispers.

"They've kidnapped another child. Her name is Aimee Lynch and she was taken from a festival two hours ago. There are people there who saw Roger and Anita. We have their sketches."

"I can't believe this. How can I help?"

"I have to get in contact with your lawyer and get a retrial for you. We have your file, the fact that you babysat for Roger and Anita, the claims you made, and the 911 call you made for one of the families. My team is going to catch them before they can hurt anyone else. This might be enough to grant you your release."

Ashley has tears in her eyes and she looks between you and Spencer.

"Don't give me hope."

"Ashley, you're going to go home." Ashley puts her head in her hands and cries, allowing herself to feel the hope after so long of not having it. "You're going to see your parents again. I just need one thing."

"Anything," she sniffles and looks at you.

"I need to know everything about Roger and Anita, and the way they kidnapped children."

Ashley tells you what you need to know, and you and Spencer leave the prison. You call her lawyer, Abel Jefferson.

"Hello?"

"Abel Jefferson? My name is Y/N with the FBI at Quantico. Listen, I'd like for you to try and get a retrial for your client, Ashley Parks."

"I can't just demand for a retrial. There are things that need to be done--"

"Like new evidence?"

"What new evidence?"

"Roger and Anita are in Ashburn right now. They've kidnapped another child. My team is already on the case, but I'll get what you need for a retrial."

Abel sighs and doesn't speak for a solid minute.

"Bring me the evidence first, and then we'll talk."

If you're going to get this retrial, you have to know where they're staying. After they parted ways with Ashley, Roger and Anita left the house they had been staying in before. You don't have a clue as to where they are staying now but you have faith your team will figure it out in no time. 

JJ and Penelope work to put everything they know onto the bulletin board. Aimee Lynch was last seen at a winter festival this morning at ten. She is four-foot-eight with blonde hair and green eyes. You're nervous for her since temperatures are dropping with chances of snow. If Roger and Anita have her outside, she'll be dead soon. Reporters have put this AMBER Alert on their news channels, and one woman came in to talk to JJ.

Whoever took Aimee, took her son.

Well, that's what she says every time a child goes missing that's her son's age. Charlie went missing eight years ago, and she comes into the station claiming that her son is alive and he is missing just like all the other kids. She stays in the station for the first twenty-four hours.

She now has eight left.

You pull into the BAU parking lot and stay seated with your hands on the wheel. They're not as white as before but you're still tense.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asks.

"I'm out. I'm not going back to that cell. I'm free."

"Yes, you are. You did so well. I'm proud of you."

You look at Spencer with tears in your eyes.

"I want to cry so bad right now. Being back there brought back not only memories but everything that was placed onto my shoulders.

"So do it. Cry."

You do. You crawled over the center console and into Spencer's lap and just cried for ten minutes. He did nothing but hold you, rub your back, and comfort you. God, you're so in love with him. After your moment, you two head back into the BAU and up to JJ and Penelope. You quickly explain to them what is going on so they're aware of what you're doing.

"So, I talked to Ashley's lawyer and he needs evidence before he can get a retrial. Ashley told me how they kidnapped children but maybe their routine changed?"

"What did she say they did?"

"Anita would be around calling for a lost son, distracting the parents of the child they wanted. Roger would swoop in and take the child before the parents ever knew they were gone. When Roger got too old to handle a squirming child, he'd use one of the older kids. Threaten their family or something if they didn't help."

"Sarah said the same thing when Charlie was taken," JJ says to Penelope. "There was a mother looking for her lost son."

"Well, if it's the same people, they've been doing this for close to a decade."

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[live-from-flaturn]

Alright, trying this again 😂

Number 37 for the Spotify wrapped

😘

Oh, this is gonna be fun. "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister.

*MCR was another track around this section and I violently remembered that the villain from the Danger Days comics was "Korse". So my brain said "Ah. Evil K-Name guy" and once again Chay is commiting war crimes for love.

*This is for fun and therefore not proofread or highly edited. If you see a mistake, no you did not.

---

Chay flew from the passenger seat before the car had even slid to a complete stop, laser pistol already raised and aimed across the short distance. At Korn.

"Let. Him. Go."

Behind him were the sounds of muttered swears and scuffling footsteps. The others would catch up; Chay had more important things to focus on.

Like the evil bastard smirking down from his spot on the dune ahead.

In one hand Korn held a gun not unlike Chay's own stolen weapon and clutched in the other was the person still tethering Chay's heart inside his chest. His beloved. His precious P'Kim.

Korn's smirk evolved into a leer as the furious rebel covered ground. "I'd slow down if I were you... And if I wanted him to live longer than the next ten seconds."

"Why the fuck do you think you can get away with this?" Chay's weapon remained leveled at Korn's stupid face but his pace slowed from a clipped jog to a walk. He watched the tense line of Kim's shoulders for some kind of sign or signal that he was in direct danger. Nothing yet. "What kind of audacity do you have that gives you courage to enter our territory, huh? What the fuck do you want?"

"I want my family back. I want order to return."

"Pfft," Chay didn't bother masking his disgust. "Order? You mean a family that lives in drug-induced waking comas? They could barely speak or function!"

"They were happier that way." Korn's grip tightened in Kim's hair; Chay watched the muscles in his handsome face struggle to hide a pained grimace. "Weren't you, son?"

Kim spat something that sounded very close to "fuck you" but Korn pretended the gag had muffled everything. He offered Chay a disappointed shake of the head and a matching sigh.

"Young people these days have no respect for their elders."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Chay saw his chance. Korn leaned slightly further out of Kim's orbit than he had been in order to torture his son more efficiently. Unfortunately for Korn, this choice significantly reduced his cover and gave Chay the perfect shot. "I respect you enough to put you in the ground."

Pew.

It only took one shot to drop the most powerful man in Thailand. It took twelve steps to reach Kim and less than two seconds to pull off the gag. Their lips crashed together with more urgency than a castaway finding water after days at sea. Chay's soul stopped trying to flee his body and find its other half.

"I couldn't take it," he gasped into Kim's mouth. They hadn't even gotten around to fully untying his hands yet, but neither seemed to notice or care. "Being without you, knowing they might drag you back to that awful place and-"

"I'm here, now." Kim rested their foreheads together for a brief moment to give them air. "It'll be alright."

"Are you done?" Kinn called from back near the car. Neither he or Porsche had gotten the chance to shoot anyone and were looking annoyed about it. "Or do you need to wait until his cronies get here and trying gunning you down in revenge?"

"Revenge?" Porsche scoffed. "They'll be too busy trying to figure out which one is next in line for the throne."

"Me," Kinn snorted. "But maybe we can use that power vaccuum for the best..."

[kandayuu]

going through vol 28's q&a section again and like

what the fuck did he mean by that what's suspicious about lenalee's records i was under the impression that everyone knew about her order origin story like is her past just a secret to the people in universe or is there something else about her files that's odd that we the audience don't know about yet what's in them that's got lavi suspicious in the same way that he was about kanda's

which by the way makes total sense that the order would cover that up in kanda's files they were committing crimes against humanity in a very literal way but last time i checked there wasn't anything of that sort in lenalee's past unless we just don't have the full picture

which leads me to my next thought of like. if we're getting this hinted at now. does that mean we're going to be seeing more of best girl lenalee. does she have an upcoming arc. that would be nice ;;v;;

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Percy Jackson Series Review (Spoilers for Whole Season 1!)

I finally watched the finale for the Percy Jackson series and figured I'll write a review for the whole season. Overall I think it was a good season, there were some really great moments and I think the cast did a really good of capturing the characters and the relationships from the books. However for me there were a few issues with the first season. So before getting into it, these are my own thoughts and opinions and there is a spoiler warning in effect from here on out, you have been warned. I'm going to start with my critiques first to get them out of the way and because I think its better to end on a good note. If you are someone who loved the show, believe it could do no wrong and don't want to hear any criticisms, feel free to skip over this section. For me personally though my critiques were enough of an issue for me that it did effect my enjoyment of the show at times which is why I want to talk about them, this wouldn't be an honest review if I didn't. But don't worry as long as my critique may be, my list of things I loved is even longer.

Critiques

Ok I'm sorry but I hated how whenever the heroes would show up at a monsters lair, eg medusa, the lotus casino and crusty's, they would instantly announce whose lair it was and how they trap their victims. To me this was just boring. In the books part of the fun was that they wouldn't immediately know but there would be little clues as to who they were dealing with. It added suspense, a sense of stakes and danger to those scenes in the book because you knew it was likely connected to a greek monster and you were waiting for the reveal, if you were a reader who knew greek mythology it was also fun to try and guess who the monster was before the reveal as well. But none of that was transferred over to the show. I have seen the argument made that well Sally taught Percy Greek Mythology in the series and Annabeth knows about Greek Mythology from camp so it makes more sense that they would know instantly and yeah doesn't stop it from being boring, sorry. For me I would rather something be suspenseful and exciting and have build up and have to adopt a bit of suspension of disbelief than have something that is technically realistic and makes sense and be boring, for me the worst crime a show can commit is to bore me. Besides them knowing Greek Mythology would be what allows them to figure it out just in the nick of time. After all the whole point is that these monsters have disguised themselves within the real world so that they can trick demi-gods etc, what would show these kids skills is them figuring out and defeating the monster just before they fall victim to them unlike the monsters other casualties. I guess what I am saying is there was a better way of showing that these kids were myth savvy and smart whilst still keeping the suspense and sense of danger. The way they did it made me feel like the characters were just hitting pause on the scene then going hold on let me just give the audience the cliff notes of this particular greek myth and then we'll get back to our regular scheduled viewing. It felt out of place, the dialogue was awkward to me and it was just the epitome of telling and not showing. The first time it happened I was a little disappointed but I shrugged it off, but as the season went on and it kept happening over and over I just got more frustrated with it, to the point that when Percy walked into Crusty's and announced 'I know who you are' I just rolled my eyes.

So the next criticism I have is the whole Lotus Casino scene. This scene was just a huge disappointment to me because once again it was boring. It started with our usual cliff notes break down of who the lotus people are and how they trap people with food (lotus flower) and then it was just them walking through the casino. Again in the book this scene is fun, the whole point of the casino is that it is so fun, so intoxicating that it distracts our heroes from their quest. They get taken in by it all and just become twelve year old kids, like that moment in the finale where Annabeth talks about how her dad wants to take her to Disneyland and Percy replies 'just be a kid' well the casino was supposed to be disneyland ok. It was supposed to be the fun place that every kid dreams of going and the place where a kid can just lose themselves in the fun and the wonder of it all. Instead in the show it was just lacklustre and underwhelming. Don't get me worng the scene with Hermes was amazing and I will talk about it more later, and I get the whole idea they were going with by having Annabeth and Percy not forget each other because they were together but Grover does forget because he was alone, I love that idea, it was a nice sentiment and good lesson but again I feel like it could have been done in a more exciting way. Percy and Annabeth could still have been distracted from the mission and had fun at the casion but maintained their memory of each other because they were together, they could have broken out of the 'spell' because they weren't alone and they could have had it so Grover finds it harder to break out of it because he was alone. Same message but whilst still keeping that sense of child like fun and wonder and excitement. I know many will hate me bringing the movies into it but in my opinion the movies did the casino scene better and I do wish the show had kept that level energy and excitement that the movie had in that scene, I do wonder though if part of the reason why they didn't go the route of showing the heroes having fun was because they didn't want there to be any comparison to the movie scene, like they wanted it to be so different that you wouldn't be able to make any connection between the two, but that's just me speculating.

Another thing is the whole deadline already passing change. Now the change itself I'm not upset by, I don't need the show to be an exact copy of the book and it was clearly set up to have that scene where Poseidon surrenders to save Percy, which I am definitely talking about that scene later in the things I loved part because that scene was just amazing. But my issue was first off the reaction of Percy and Annabeth when they realise how long they've been in the casino and they later learn that the deadline has passed. There is no sense of urgency or panic, they announce it like they are announcing a weather update, like oh we've wasted a load of time, we've missed the deadline, bummer. I just wish they had put a little more energy and urgency into that scene. Though to be clear I don't think this was an issue with the acting, as I said before I think the entire cast did an amazing job, but I do think there was an issue with direction and writing somewhere. Another issue I had with the passed deadline change is that we don't see the effect it has on the world. What I mean by that is in the books and I'm pretty sure the movie as well, it is made very clear what a war between the gods would look like to the human world, its natural disasters, storms, earthquakes, fires, tsunamis, you name it. In the books and movie, even though the deadline hasn't passed yet we see the effect of the gods merely preparing for war, it shows the stormy seas, the thunderclouds etc. But in the show nada, not even a grey cloud in sight.

Ok so those were my major criticisms, I know its a little long so apologies. The only other critiques I had were much less of an issue, I am a bit disappointed that Percy never spoke to the Zebra. It was a bit odd seeing as they mentioned the Zebra in the title of the episode, so I am not sure why they didn't include it, who knows maybe now that the show is on disney they thought Percy talking to horses and sea creatures was a little too disney princess and decided to remove it, again that's just speculation on my part, but I hope they do include it in season 2 if we get one, let percy jackson be a disney princess and talk to the flying ponies and fishes ok.

I also did feel like the pacing was sometimes a little off in places, it sometimes felt a bit rushed and like they could have added a little more context to some scenes even if it was just a couple of lines of dialogue, but these are very minor issues.

All The Best Bits.

Ok so now the criticism is out of the way lets focus on the good bits because there were plenty of them. First I want to start with the Greek Gods themselves because I really do think the show nailed them. I do think they tried to make them a bit more sympathetic in the show than they were in the books, because in the books it was very easy to hate them and it took a bit to warm up to them, as they were very dismissive and detached. Whereas in the show I think they found the perfect balance between showing their flaws when it comes to their children and in general but also adding some nuance and showing that they do care and love their children and they do struggle with having to stay away from them but also in showing how their absence effects their children. So first lets talk about Hermes.

Hermes

The scene between Annabeth, Percy and Hermes I think was one of my favourites of the season. I loved how when we first meet Hermes there's this fun, laid back feeling to him, he's just chilling in the casino with not a care in the world, but his entire demeanour changes the moment Luke is mentioned and you see how much of an emotional effect it is having on Hermes. The actor played that moment so so well, it really was great.

There was so many layers to that conversation between the three that made it so interesting to me. First it gives us some backstory on Luke and how the last time he saw Hermes they got into a fight but also how Hermes was warned to stay away but didn't listen and in the end made it worse for those he loves, then you've got the reveal that Poseidon was the one that warned Hermes to stay away and the reason why was because its too hard to watch your child suffer and not be able to do anything to stop it, which brings in the whole even gods feel powerless and how hard that is for a god to accept, that even they can't protect the ones they love and how that leads to the struggles of parenting. I mean the whole conversation was just layered with interesting topics and themes that you could spend hours picking apart. It genuinely made me feel so sorry for Hermes, which was new for me, because you could see what he was feeling, you weren't just hearing him say it, you could see how much he loves Luke, you could see how much it hurt him that his son hates him, you could see that he felt helpless to protect Luke and his mum, you could see the guilt he felt that every time he tried to help someone get to the underworld it always ended in them dying and you could see the fear that if his friends died Luke would only hate Hermes more.

I also loved that despite deliberately delaying them and saying he wouldn't help, he still does ultimately help them. He knew that Annabeth had picked his pocket and instead of stopping them he lets them take the car and leaves them instructions. I just really loved what they did with Hermes character and how much they did with his character in such a short scene.

Ares

Ares was another fun character, like he was surprisingly comical, I couldn't help but laugh when he started a fight on twitter and when he's describing the coming war between his father and uncle and he's practically got tears of joy in his eyes, like he is legit giddy at the idea and honestly does seem very in character for a god of war. But despite having those comical moments he was still threatening and terrifying when he needed to be, you still knew that this was a powerful being and that our heroes needed to tread carefully around him and that when he does threaten our heroes that threat is real.

The growing antagonism between Ares and Percy was also interesting to see, its very clear that Percy isn't a fan of Ares and that mutual dislike very quickly grows into hate between them. I loved that scene at the end of ep 5 when Percy says 'You think you know who I am but you don't. And if you're not careful you're going to find out.' It takes alot of guts to stand up to the literal god of war and I think this scene says alot about Percy's character and how he has this defiance and fight in him but also alot of bravery. Also this scene could have come across very silly and cheesy, its very difficult to have a 12 year old threaten a god and not have it come across as a bit ridiculous but I actually think they pulled it off and to me Percy seemed believable and intimidating in the moment.

I also think this scene leads really well to the fight between them on the beach at the end of the season. When Percy first suggests single combat, first blood wins, its understandable that Ares laughs at him. I mean when you look at it from Ares' pov he's an all powerful god of war and percy is 12. Of course Ares thinks the notion that this 12 year old, new demi-god could possible beat him and make good on his earlier threat, is utterly ludicrous. So Ares wasn't careful and then he found out. Course if you choose to fight a son of Poseidon on a beach right next to the ocean you deserve what's coming to you. But I still loved that moment when you've got little Percy being towered over by Ares, this tall muscular god, and then that wave just builds and towers over them both before it takes out Ares, allowing Percy to draw first blood whilst Ares is trying to regain his bearings. That was some top notch imagery right there, 10 out of 10.

Of course Ares doesn't take the defeat humbly and instead announces that Percy has made an enemy of him which honestly not an ideal situation for Percy to be on the bad side of the god of war, I do hope that doesn't have any consequences later on down the road, nah I'm sure it'll be fine, right.

Hephaestus

Another scene I really enjoyed was the scene between Annabeth and Hephaestus in the water park. Don't get me wrong I really loved the original scene in the book, it was actually one of my favourite book scenes and I loved how when all the cameras started recording Percy took a bow and said he hoped they (the gods) enjoyed the show. But I also really love this change they made with the golden chair. Not only did it add more greek mythology to the story it created that scene between Annabeth and Hephaestus. Like the scene with Hermes this scene told us alot about the gods and the kind of rules of that world. Annabeth says in her speech that its eat or be eaten, power and glory and nothing else matters. With just that one line we are painted a picture of a family and a world who backstab each and who only seem to care about how much power they can claim and how much glory they can gain. This ideology is also pushed onto the demigod children. You want your parent's attention well then you have to gain power and glory to get it and if you have to push others down or out of your way to do it then that's just the way it is and the way its meant to be.

You could see that Annabeth's speech really got to Hephaestus. When you think about his backstory, how he was thrown from mount Olympus by his own mother, how his wife is having an affair with his brother and they flaunt it in his face, how he tells Annabeth that despite what his brother may have said he is not a push over, its not surprising that Annabeth's words had an impact on him, he in particular has, quite literally, been injured by his own family and their ways, so it makes sense that he has sympathy for Annabeth. I think you can see this sympathy when he admits that he thought Athena had gone too far in her anger at Annabeth, I think he relates to Annabeth because he has seen her be rejected by her mother the same way he was rejected by his own mother. I also think the fact that he does show sympathy to Annabeth, that he does openly admit that some of the gods, himself included, don't like to be that way and the fact that he lets Percy go when Annabeth tells him that Percy is different, that he's better than that, all tells us alot about Hephaestus and makes him a sympathetic character. I am hoping to see more of him in future seasons and see where they take his character.

Hades

Hades was another one that was fun to watch. I mean you've got to admit he's a great host, he was very welcoming, he offered them snacks and beverages even threw in a few jokes to lighten the mood. He even waits politely for Percy to finish talking about how Hades and Ares stole the bolt before correcting him. I also found he was very relatable when he said that he wanted nothing to do with Zeus and Poseidon's drama over the bolt, my siblings also often get into dramas that I want no part in, Hades just wants to make an honest deal with Percy to get his helm back and then he'll happily return his mum.

What is really interesting though is that shift when he learns that Kronos is on the rise again. He becomes so afraid that he changes tact immediately and now feels like he needs the bolt to protect himself from Kronos. I feel like all these conversations the heroes have with each of the gods adds another layer to the gods. With Ares we learn that the gods like to backstab each other and claim power no matter what. With Hephaestus this is reinforced but we learn that not all of them want to be that way, with Hermes we learn that the gods can feel powerless, especially when it comes to watching their children struggle and with Hades we learn that even gods can fear. It also helps establish just how terrifying Kronos is that even the god of death is afraid of him.

But yeah, Hades was fun to watch, I think he often gets a bad rep in alot of modern media as being this evil villain but actually he's not in most greek myths, so its good that they show him here in a more nuanced light than just a villain, he just wants his helm back and when he does get it back he makes good on his promise and returns Sally. He's another character that I can't wait to see more of in future seasons.

Poseidon

They really teased us with Poseidon's character throughout the season, like we learned alot about him through other characters before we ever met him and it was interesting how Percy and his father's relationship grew even before they meet for the first time. To start with Percy is very understandably angry at his father, angry at his absence and believes that his father doesn't care about him or his mother. Despite that as we see from the way he is so determined to do well at capture the flag and win enough glory to get his father's attention that some part of him is still desperate for his father's approval and attention despite his anger at him. Things shift for Percy though after he falls from the arc and his father saves him and he has that conversation with the nymph or naiad where she relays a message from his father telling him he's there with him and that he's proud, that everything is going to be ok. Also this happens at a big moment for Percy because its the first time he realises that he can breath underwater. At the start of that underwater scene you can see how panicked he is and how he's desperately trying to pull his foot free, the fact that they paired that imagery with the voiceover saying how hard it is for his father to watch him struggle was really impactful, but this moment really shows the audience that Poseidon was not the uncaring and absent father we thought he was, he does care about his son, and in this moment when it wasn't possible to come himself he sent someone to speak for him, to reassure Percy that he was ok that he just needed to breath. For Percy this was the turning point for his relationship with his father and I think that was not just because his father saved him but because his father asked him to trust him and when Percy did he really was ok, he realised he could breathe underwater and was then able to get himself out of the water safely.

I think the fact that his father does care and is looking out for him and that it is hard for him to see Percy struggle is then further solidified when he speaks to Hermes, not only does Hermes repeat what the nymph said about Poseidon feeling powerless when watching Percy struggle but I think hearing the backstory of Luke and Hermes helped Percy understand how complicated the relationship between a demigod and their godly parent really is, helped him understand his father a bit more. I think it only made Percy more excited and eager to meet his dad though and we the audience were also excited that we'd finally get to see Poseidon, because they built that anticipation up over those first few episodes, just like Percy, we the audience were also disappointed when Poseidon isn't there because the Solstice passed.

Despite not physically being there though, the conversation between Percy and Nereid still told us alot about Poseidon as she was speaking his words, and I think it was very telling that the first thing Poseidon wants to tell his son is that its not his fault that he didn't get there before the deadline passed, that he was brave and strong and that Poseidon is still proud of him. I also love that even though he was released from his quest Percy is still determined to see the quest through and that Poseidon waits for him to make the choice himself and then gives him the pearls. I also love the change from the book where there are four pearls, I think they did this to show that Poseidon also cares about Sally.

Speaking of Sally, that flashback scene in ep 7 where she talks to Poseidon was so heartbreaking. Seeing her so broken and feeling like she is failing as a mother really pulls at your heartstrings but then when Poseidon does come he immediately reassures her. I also loved how when she says he doesn't want to know why she doesn't want Percy to go to camp, he still encourages her to tell him because he knows that she needs to get it off her chest and that she doesn't have anybody else to talk to. So even though it'll be painful for him to hear he still bears it for her sake, he allows her to talk it through and helps her come to a decision about their son's future. He doesn't get angry at her when she tells him that she wants Percy to know who he is before his family tries to tell him what they want him to be, he knows that she is right so instead he reassures her as best as he can and assures her that Percy will be stronger for it in the end because she, his mother, raised him well.

The moment when she asks him if he wants to talk to Percy just so he can hear his voice was another heart wrenching moment because its clear how much Poseidon longs to speak with his son. But then there is that rumble of thunder, almost like Zeus is warning him not to dare. But despite not speaking to him in that moment Poseidon says one day, when Percy knows who he is, where he belongs and what his true path is then he'll be right by his side. I think when he says this he is not just making this promise to Sally or to Percy, he's also promising himself it.

One little detail I did notice in this scene that kind of got at me though is that throughout their conversation Poseidon doesn't look at Sally once, it's like he can't bear too, she doesn't look at him either and its like its either too painful for them to make eye contact or like they feel its forbidden for them to look at each other. So instead Poseidon just stares either straight ahead or down at the bar, he doesn't look at her or at Percy. That is until Sally asks that question of does he want to talk to his son and that's when Poseidon looks over to Percy for the first time, he just can't help himself, he needs one glance and its such a simple gesture but in this context it is so emotional and moving, like honestly it was genius writing and the actors really sold it.

So now we are at my favourite scene in the season and that is the moment when Poseidon shows up to protect Percy from Zeus. This scene was just so amazing, like the significance of Poseidon surrendering to Zeus, it was more than just him surrendering the war and giving Zeus victory and glory, in that moment he was laying down his pride for the sake of his son. His son's life was more important to him than power or glory or pride and the significance of that moment is shown by Zeus' disbelief that Poseidon is doing this. For me I think it was a great emotional payoff and definitely worth them changing the plot so that the deadline had passed and that they were actually at war and not just preparing for it, allowing this surrender to happen. I think this moment also really proved to Percy that not only does his father love and care for him but that he is his father's top priority, that he really will do anything for him.

l also love how Poseidon calls Zeus out when he says Percy is forbidden and shouldn't exist, by pointing out that he had Thalia and like Thalia, Percy is a hero who will inspire others.

The conversation between Poseidon and Percy is also really moving, when Poseidon notes that obedience doesn't come naturally to Percy and that the sea doesn't like to be restrained I actually think he was proud to see those qualities in his son, that he very much does have the nature of the sea, like his father. The part when Percy asks if gods dream and if Poseidon ever dreams about Sally was very sweet and even though Poseidon doesn't say anything I think we all know what the answer is.

One thing that did strike me about the dynamic between Poseidon and Percy is that whenever Poseidon appears to Percy, whether that's through Nereid or himself directly, he is always there in a form of protection and reassurance. The first time when Percy falls from the arch, he physically protects him by saving him and then when Percy is panicking whilst trapped he reassures him, in ep 6 when Percy reaches the meeting place too late he protects him emotionally by reassuring him that its not his fault and then gives him the pearls as further protection to allow him to escape the underworld and then in the moment in the finale, he physically protects him from Zeus and also reassures him when Percy admits that he isn't obedient, adding the sir trying to be respectful because he's afraid his father might be upset with him, but Poseidon reassures him by saying that basically its the sea's nature to be untamed and Percy is of the sea. But yeah, I really do think that with Poseidon they really wanted to embody the idea of a Father's protection.

Zeus

Honestly we saw so little of Zeus that I don't have much to say. I think the actor did a good job of making him seem powerful, vengeful and terrifying. It was interesting that unlike Hades he seemed somewhat unbothered by the news that Kronos is trying to rise. I do think that this may have been a bit of a front though because Percy definitely hit a nerve with that line about Kronos coming to put Zeus back in his place and the whole your family only obey you out of fear not out of love.

The Luke Reveal

I'll be honest. I was a little worried about the reveal, having read the books I already knew that he was the true lightening thief and so knew the reveal was coming and my concern was that we hadn't really seen much of Luke or his friendship with Percy so I was a tad bit worried that the reveal wouldn't be all that impactful. But I am happy to say that I was wrong I actually think they did a really good job with the reveal and I would actually argue that it was better than even the book.

I am really glad that they added in the flashback scene of Luke helping Percy with his sword work in the beginning of the episode. Not only did it set up Percy defeating Ares but it also reminded the audience of that friendship between Luke and Percy. I very much got a sibling vibe from them, like Luke was an older brother that had taken Percy under his wing.

I feel like the way the wrote the reveal scene in the show added alot more nuance to it, in the books it was like yeah I betrayed you scorpion attack, but here it seems like both Luke and Percy are more conflicted. I believed Luke when he said that his actions weren't meant as a betrayal but a recruitment and that he was Percy's friend but that the god's were his enemy. It also seemed like Percy partly understood where Luke was coming from and hoped he could convince Luke to change his mind. The whole scene was very emotional and very tense and it went down hill fast after Percy mentioned Hermes and this brought out Luke's rage.

I think adding Annabeth to the scene and having her reveal herself when she did and announce that she heard everything, only heightened that tension and made it even more emotional. Now it wasn't just the betrayal Percy felt but we got to see the betrayal Annabeth felt. Also when Luke sees Annabeth, that look he gives her hits you right where it hurts and only adds to the heartbreak of it all, again the cast just did an amazing job, I don't have a single bad thing to say about any of their performances.

Another interesting detail in this scene though was the lighting. Because of the fireworks going off in the background it really did make some intriguing lighting choices. Like I noticed that as Percy is figuring out that Luke was the one who betrayed him, Luke was mostly lit in a red colour but around Percy the lightening was mostly greens, blues and that same golden colour that nereid glowed. Red associated with blood, war and danger and the blues, greens and golden colours associated with the sea. The changing lights also made it seem a little more creepy, like you are in one of those haunted mansion rides with flickering lights.

The Trio

The dynamic between the trio was also great to watch and to see grow as the season continued. I think each of them had their moments to shine and they worked really well off each other. I particularly loved seeing the friendship grow between Percy and Annabeth and seeing how close they became, their hugs were really cute and the comment made by Luke saying that they were like an old married couple was funny too and kinda accurate. I liked that at the beginning of the quest they were all kind of at odds with each other, Percy and Annabeth didn't particularly like each other and were very much strangers, Percy was still feeling a bit betrayed by Grover after the whole Nancy fountain thing and I think there was still tension between Grover and Annabeth because of Thalia. Having that tension at the beginning made it all the more satisfying to see them work through those issues and become stronger friends come the end of their quest.

Now some might think I am being negative about Grover here but I want to assure everyone that I mean this as a compliment not a slight but one thing that surprised me and that I thought was a great addition to his character is how manipulative and calculating Grover could be at times. And what I mean by that is like when he manipulated Ares into pretty much revealing that he was in on the theft of the lightening bolt, it was a really interesting side to Grover's character and honestly I hope we see more of that side of him in future seasons.

Another that I thought was interesting was Annabeth's relationship with her mother, especially as we never actually see Athena. It is clear that her mother's respect means alot to her and when her mother turns her back on her you can see that it really hurts her. I loved Annabeth's growth throughout the series, at the start she is very much chasing glory and wanting to go on a quest and prove herself, she's living the life the gods want her to live. But I think the more time she spends with Percy the more she sees that it shouldn't have to that way, which is why I love the moment when she chooses to stay after Percy is trapped in the chair and try to get him out, she chooses her friend over the glory she could win by completing the quest and over winning back her mother's approval.

Now when it comes to Percy I just think Walker really brought that character to life, I really cannot praise his performance enough. I loved his sass and his defiance and the fight he had. He had so many great moments throughout the season, I loved it whenever he stood up to the gods, like he knew no fear, they tried to say this is how its going to be and this is what you are going to do and he just said no, I'm going to do what is right, what my mother raised me to do and you're all going to have to deal with it. I mean its not necessarily the smartest move to speak back to god but I still admire his gumption.

Special Effects

I also really loved the visuals in the series, all the monsters looked great and I loved the aesthetic of camp, Olympus also looked amazing. The stand out for me though has to be Nereid. The glow and her seaweed hair, it just looked so beautiful and bewitching, so shout out the the special effects team.

There is probably so much more I could talk about, but this is getting really long so I am going to leave it here, my ask box is always open so if I missed anything feel free to message. Overall despite there being a couple of issues I think they could work on, I mostly really enjoyed the series and I really hope we get a season two, I'd definitely be interested in watching it.

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1126 review

After like four more chapters of Egghead loose ends than expected, I think we can finally call the transition to an Elbaf arc complete. But we still spend most of the chapter on things that follow up past arcs. Shanks has been waiting to check Barto off his to-do list since Wano, the Blackbeard sections reference the cutaway sequence and events from Egghead's final set piece, there's a Bonney and Kuma moment, and more updates on the Revolutionaries' siege. Any of those things, I think, you could justify grouping as part of Egghead's epilogue if not for the obvious first plot hook of Elbaf in the final pages of the chapter.

But that's just One Piece sometimes. Look back and think about where Thriller Bark and Sabaody separate. Chapter 490 contains all together Brook's new crewmate toast, Kuma's debrief about letting Luffy go, and the giant mysterious figures in the Florian Triangle - all important story or theme points for Thriller Bark - but also the arrival at the Redline and the introduction of Camie - vital setup for Sabaody. The transition of arcs happens kind in the middle of the chapter. Such is the nature of a serialised story after it gets big enough.

And what an opening to an arc. The crew gets smashed on hallucinogenic booze and loses a day or two and end up separated, left to piece together what they missed. It's fairly unique. You might compare it to Zou, where the reader's POV starts at the end of a normal arc and we get the main events filled in via flashback. But after Egghead's cutaway, there's precedent for not circling back to the skipped day as well. It's going to take a lot more than one chapter - and probably the next one - to be fully sure what Oda's building up to here and how he plans to structure it.

The opening party has two moments I really like. Nami being driven to drink by the giants' warrior customs, and Bonney and Kuma finally reunited and able to enjoy the open sea they dreamed of. Kuma's even smiling. He's going to make it!

On the other hand, it really handwaves away the timeline discrepancies with Dory, Brogy, Oimo and Kashii's journey. Maybe they could have waved that hand a little faster to say the duo from Ennies Lobby at least reached Elbaf and decided only recently to go check in on the captains. Oh well.

And then we have Shanks and Bartolomeo. This is a much darker side of Shanks than has previously been shown, or at least than has previously been directed toward anyone we like. I think with so long offscreen it's been easy to fill in the blanks with what we want to see of the man, and it's inevitable some fans are going to be shocked, surprised and even disappointed by the reality. Personally, I like a mentor with a secret or two to dramatise the relationship. I'm interested to see what Oda does with it.

Shanks acts like a pro pirate here, a seasoned pillar of the criminal underworld. The importance of respect, reputation and the risks that come from people thinking they can get away with crossing you all speak to historical piracy and even more modern organised crime. But his expressions stick in my mind. The blacked out and shaded-over eyes could simply be a sign he's in serious mode, but his close up when Bartolomeo expresses regret that he won't see Luffy be King of the Pirates betrays genuine sadness. Compare and contrast his encounter with Kid, which features the same darkened eyes early on, but a much angrier expression in the aftermath.

Does Shanks regret that he has to escalate a turf war with Luffy? Does he simply not like that the role of Emperor forces him to be ruthless for the sake of protecting his territory? The fast transition from appreciating Barto's loyalty to delivering the final lesson only amps up the ambiguity.

Props to Barto though. His commitment is real and wonderful. Hope this isn't the end of his story.

Blackbeard's sequence doesn't give us as much new, just a sense of plans and building toward the future. I enjoyed the details of the bandages on the skull and learning that Garp is still alive though. And poor Pudding. That's going to be an interesting source of conflict in the future, when Sanji gets wind of it.

It's also nice getting a view of the Revolutionaries' actual tactics through Laffite's sequence. The bombs and fires give the sense of kind of a geurilla operation, all sabotage and terror. From all the Dragon "…" and "looking east" memes that have been repeated enough to become insufferable, I think there's a chunk of the fanbase that needed to see this stuff to understand it.

We return to the Strawhats for the final new story hook. Bonney getting to act like a little girl again, clinging to Jinbei's side, is the cutest touch. But hang on, if we're acknowledging her as a kid here, she probably wasn't drinking with the rest. She might be key to figuring out what happened while everyone else was blacked out.

I'm looking forward to where this Lego-look castle is going to go next week. We've seen Oda toy with this idea for a colour spread many years ago (chapter 622) and it looked pretty good back then. Makes yuo wonder how long he's wanted to do this. I have no particularly novel theories about what's going on here - the same likely conclusions everyone else seems to be reaching - she's probably on Elbaf already, a plaything to some kind of child prince. Maybe Loki, but I don't know if the timing lines up him to act that young. The real question is how this happened while the rest of the crew remains at sea. Did an envoy sail on to meet them? Could the Great Erik have reached Elbaf then departed again for some reason?

And hey, no break next week. Three chapters in a row again! Looking forward to seeing where all this is going with you all!

[amalgamateofficial]

Hi!

I’ve been following the story for a while but more as a lurker (sorry) and just started checking out your tumblr and other projects (very cool art btw!!)

But I was just kind of curious—if you don’t mind me asking, how do you figure out how long a chapter should be? Do you sort of feel it out or is it about getting a certain part of the story in one section? I dabble in writing but can never figure out chapter lengths, and thought you might have a method when I saw you mention how long 20 was specifically.

Take your time with the chapter, I’ll be waiting patiently! Happy new year and hope life starts going more smoothly haha

Hiya! So nice to hear from you -- and thank you for checking out my art! I'm so glad you like it! :D

So, when it comes to deciding the length of a chapter, I like each one to have its own mini-narrative because that ensures that each chapter is satisfying on its own. I'm gonna use a few examples from Amalgamate, so I'll put them under the cut to avoid spoiling anything for anyone who isn't caught up :)

So, chapter 6 is probably a good example of what I'm talking about. The crux of chapter 6 is: "oh no, there's no antidote, what do we do?" That means the chapter can't reach a satisfying conclusion until we do find the antidote and Maki commits multiple crimes against the Geneva Conventions to make Kokichi drink it. After she does that, however, there's still a major story beat that's not resolved, which is "Kokichi drank the antidote, but is he actually gonna wake up?" The unresolved conclusion to the chapter 6 narrative is what'll make readers want to read chapter 7.

And then chapter 7 follows a similar pattern. The goal is: Kaito needs to tell everyone the entire hangar/Exisal story before Kokichi wakes up. So, Kaito tells the entire story, but the chapter still ends with the question of whether or not Kokichi's actually waking up. The main goal was accomplished in chapter 7, but it still opened up a new path for the narrative of chapter 8.

The mini narratives don't have to be blatantly obvious either, since that runs the risk of making all the chapters seem formulaic. I think chapter 13's a good example. My goal for the chapter was the same as Kokichi's: make a Searchlight speedrun happen. But new readers (and poor Kaito, bless his heart) don't know Kokichi's goal until he finally forces it to happen in the final third of the chapter. Regardless, the chapter's battle plan for me was: set up that Kokichi has a plan (which is secretly the speedrun), trigger the plan (which is to do the speedrun), and set up the next narrative (which is, "what in the world did the speedrun actually do to Kokichi and why is he suddenly acting like a wannabe discount Mikan post-DR2 trial 3?").

But when it comes to the length of chapter 20, I'll admit I didn't actually reach my goal XD Thankfully, that ended up not being a bad thing, though. I went into the chapter with a certain stopping point in mind, but every scene in the chapter ended up requiring so much more time than I expected, and about halfway through, I realized reaching my original goal would make chapter 20 the length of "War and Peace." But there was still a mini goal I could reach on the way, and when I got there, it ended up feeling just as satisfying as the original ending because it still sets up an "okay, and" for the next chapter. Or, at least, I hope it'll feel that way! I guess we'll find out soon ;;;;;

Sorry, I'm rambling way too much here! I get a bit too excited when it comes to writing, so I hope that accidental essay was actually helpful XD Feel free to ask me questions anytime, though! I really do love talking about writing :)

[if-i-was-a-cucumber]

my love for mew | only friends

to be absolutely frank, i was super hesitant to make this post because i’m a bit shy to make only friends (2023) content.

this is mostly because of its explicit nature? everyone on the planet has known that this is the Sexy Show™ (at least everyone in the bl community) and i’m very squeamish with that sort of thing. i’ve only been tentatively watching the show because i know it’s definitely going to be a mark on the community, just because of how popular it already is, but as a somewhat sex-repulsed asexual i sort of only started watching it because i knew it was making some sort of history, even if as just a small blip.

but omg i was wrong. on so many levels. and maybe i’ll make a post about the other levels someday, but for this one i want to talk about how wrong i was about specifically MEW.

1. mew as a character - my first impressions

six main characters in only friends, right? top, mew, sand, ray, boston, nick. basically everyone in this show has a “thing” about their except for mew. top is a sort-of asshole who sleeps around; boston is an even bigger asshole (like HUGE) who sleeps around even more, except he’s less rich; nick is kinda cute in personality but is actually a bit deranged; ray is needy and spoiled but everyone lets him get away with it; sand is responsible and tired of everyone’s bullshit, even his love interest to an extent.

but mew? since the beginning, all we ever got was “virgin.” he’s innocent, sexually pure. that really didn’t do it for me — meaning it didn’t intrigue me. i was fully prepared to go in and come out of this show with mew as my least favorite character, not because he was bad or evil or anything, but because he was boring. the worst crime you can commit in media is to be boring.

even his relationship with top, as the episodes progressed, was very bland. yes top was a cheater, but that didn’t quite affect mew’s characterization, other than that it reiterated that he was a little naïve in this field. great, more virgin mew. i just really wasn’t into this little perfect smart boy who’s never had sex before and is so sweet and innocent and kind to everyone that even his friend ray is in love with him.

there was a small beam of hope, though, in the episode 2 date with top. i liked his agency, i liked how he wasn’t so drawn in by top. and i especially liked the following line:

as quick as that hope came, though, it faded. that’s not what this post is about though, and i’ll get to it in a sec. for now:

2. book kasidet as an actor - my previous biases

before anyone says anything, this is not meant to be slander against book. the whole next section is talking about book specifically in the context of the characters he’s acted as before, not about him as a person. he is a great actor who portrays all of his characters exactly as they are. this is not really about him — the only real reason i’m bringing him into this is because he’s mew’s actor.

book’s only other main roles in a series have been as théo in enchanté (2022) and cher/laem in a boss and a babe (2023). which is amazing, considering how recently he debuted, but i digress. the point is, at least in the thai bl industry where i can probably recognize 80% of the actors in any given bl, who the actor is and especially who they have played in the past is really important to me when i watch a series.

forcebook has never quite been my cup of tea, in the least offensive way possible. i dropped enchanté on its first episode (because the plot annoyed me) and a boss and a babe on its second (i couldn’t get over the workplace unprofessionalism). i’ve never been super involved in the forcebook fandom, either. not to mention a part of force’s appeal is his physical sexiness and as an ace person, that really doesn’t appeal to me. what i’m trying to say is that i had no initiative nor care for either force or book as actors and had no previous attachment to them that would draw me to love their characters.

an example of this actor-bias working positively are a couple who are in this series: first and khaotung. the eclipse (2022) was one of my first ever bls and i absolutely adored it from start to finish. i rewatched it twice and have since gone through reoccurring phases of firstkhaotung obsession. and in only friends, sand and ray (played by firstkhaotung) are my favorite couple.

i won’t say this is strictly because first and khaotung portray them, because that’s not at all fair to how sand and ray are as their own individual characters and how much i love them as well. but i can’t say it doesn’t contribute.

an example of this actor-bias working extremely negatively was pond naravit from fish upon the sky (2021). i don’t know if i’ve mentioned it on this blog before or not but i have a very hate-love relationship with that series. for one, the approval of disgusting fan behavior icks me to no end and i can’t help but scream at mork in every scene of the later episodes; for two, mork’s disavowal of every one of pi’s rejections sends me to non-con city, without my consent. (and yes the above picture was taken out of context but mork deserves it.)

but on the other hand, for some god damned reason, i’ve rewatched the entire series not twice, but three times. but i’m digressing again. the point is that for a very long time, i refused to watch never let me go (2022) just because pond naravit was in it, and at the time, i thought i despised him because of how mork acted in fish upon the sky. of course i gave it a try and watched a pondphuwin interview or two and now i love him just as much as the next fan, but the actor-bias theory is real.

so, back to the original topic, a part of my initial dislike for mew was not only that his character was boring, but that i didn’t care enough for book kasidet as an actor or forcebook as a couple to carry me through that dislike. i really wanted mew to have personality, to have something special that differentiated him from a slab of cardboard, even if it was a negative trait.

3. the moment it all changed - only friends episode 6

the real meat of this post. the reason i’m posting any of this in the first place. it’s because i wanted to share the moment everything about my perceptions of mew as a character changed.

for a while i’d been thinking of mew as maybe a little more than the cardboard he appeared to be. he had some sense of agency, he wasn’t completely dependent on top, even if he did fall in love so soon. even if their romance had zero chemistry, at least mew was taking things on his own terms. i even supported him punching ray, at least in the context of creating character for mew, because that was something interesting that surprised me.

what really surprised me was THE SCENE. you all know what i’m talking about.

after mew’s birthday, after ray made a mess out of the whole thing and turned mew’s special day into a shitshow, after mew decided it’s okay and let’s spend sweet sexy time with my boyfriend, he pulls THIS:

AND WITH THAT SMIRK, HE PLAYS BOSTON AND TOP’S SEX TAPE RIGHT THEN AND THERE. I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW HARD I GASPED.

and then there was more.

their ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMIC has changed. they’ve been building up the whole past 6 episodes of mew trying to be in charge but top always getting what he wants in the end, like with mew trying to take things slow but eventually he does sleep with top. mew having his own reservations about LASIK but top eventually convincing him to get it, making him physically vulnerable to top for an entire evening.

no matter how much agency mew is trying to garner himself, top always, ironically enough, ends up on top.

but here? right here? there’s no question about it. this whole evening, mew achieves the control he’s been trying to find throughout this entire relationship, and it comes in the form of his boyfriend fucking his best friend. you KNOW top has lost control because we’ve never seen him look so blank and powerless, have we?

but it gets better.

because mew wasn’t only in charge once he started playing the sex tape. he’s been affecting the mood of the scene since the beginning.

he hugs top when he enters the room and gives him a false sense of security. he even brings up ray. he lit that candle in the back just a moment ago. he’s literally and figuratively setting the tone for everything.

“when we fuck someone like boston, it’s hard to stop fucking them. don’t you think?”

top tries to isolate mew from ray again. he takes every chance he can get to insult him. and mew lets him believe that it’s working. (of course top’s insults also make sense in the context that ray was being an asshole that morning but we’re talking about mew’s characterization right now.)

and most linguistically of all to contribute to the change of atmosphere: mew is on top of top.

fangirls, fanboys, and fanneithers of the jury, i believe mew is moving up the ranks.

[retphienix]

Many unpictured things as well, but doing all the construction terminal base stuff has some fun moments here and there.

Mech boy is a criminal who had his family killed which wasn't built up for like, emotional payoff, but was interesting to read especially in the following reveal that he washes his memory clean with nanites in order to either A: Better serve you or B: Live with himself after what his actions caused to his loved ones.

Even drops a nice bomb of "My old self dies here and now with my family, when we next meet I will be someone entirely different."

All in all his story has some nicely written pieces; In isolation it's pleasantly melancholic- plays with some sci fi stuff in a fun way, and even ends ambiguously in an interesting way where there are implications that part of him remembers (he is caught staring at old family photos) while still implying that his new life is downing nanites to prevent those memories from resurfacing and commiting petty crimes with us for units.

As a whole it's as I said, not really built up for a grand payoff- but it's a small side quest in the tutorial section of the game so like, that's okay?

I much prefer reading/playing stories that build up and pay off, but this is a small side quest that introduces cars so like, the fact this bit of interesting prose is here is in itself a net gain even if it didn't really get the chance to kick me in the gut with its heavy themes since it's effectively "Random alien I just met is a little rude and then in the same scene we find out his family is dead and he 'drinks' to forget".

I admittedly already forget some of farm boys, but I do remember he felt alienated from his people for his interest in creating life vs profits- he wasn't happy with being asked to kill animals if I recall (I might not)- he was told to return to the Gek and freaked out saying the leader was "Not who he appears to be" and maybe "not even a Gek" and claiming he was poisoned (intense paranoia) but then he just. Doesn't go back, and that's the payoff.

Another moment where some nuggets of interesting (or even present) writing is there and then because they wanted me to have an NPC to hang around my home he just goes "Well that's done, I'm hanging out here now."

I do rather like his slightly solemn mood about it though. He says he's staying and has nowhere to go, and nodding to him about this has him quietly smile and nod back, like a quiet acceptance/support being put his way.

Gun lad gets riled up for "one last murder job", his age kicks in pretty badly, and then he comes to terms with life in a way that grants him new perspective- namely he says he'll stop focusing on the dead (I forget the word he used- worshiping? fighting for?) and start focusing on the living.

I can't recall if he's the one that revealed more of his species lore to me, or if it was someone else, so I won't attribute it directly here and instead the parts of his story that were about him pretty much just said "I'm old now. Being close to dying is making me appreciate life more." in so many words.

Bot boy got broken off from the convergence hive mind and is now stuck in an infinite loop of recognizing this fact and freaking out about the loneliness this causes and asking to be reconnected.

His story structure is fun for me because it's a horrifying time loop involving AI- and his story had fun touching on the greater narrative more than most of the camp buds because both the convergence and Atlas talk about our significance which was fun.

And the most but also in many ways least interesting is the main construction lad because he kinda just doesn't have a story- he just becomes more and more cryptic and his mood shifts lower and lower as you progress until he's basically (and I'm assuming) spells out what the story of this game is in a petty voice like some spoiler gremlin on an old gamefaq thread lol

He starts out all nice and excited to help us- claiming they have helped us countless times and must do so again!

And I initially read that as a funny play on manipulation tactics some space cult might do- but no- he's for real.

As his dialogue changes he basically just starts saying outright "You're going to reset everything. Fuck you." so now I'm lead to believe getting to the center of the universe has us meet Atlas (again, because I've met once after these screenshots) and reset everything to start somewhere else in the universe.

It's weird to me just how heavy handed his dialogue gets when this is like, tutorial land.

I know I'm super deep in hour wise, but this is the "How a base works" quest and he's like "You're going to get to the end of the game and it's going to be like this." which is a bit much when most other hints towards the end are much more vague and cryptic and less blatant lol

Maybe I'm wrong though, hell if I know, I'll get there.

The writing in no man's sky is more often than not a bit heavy handed but since the entire game's mythos relishes in that tone, it works enough.

It's sometimes hard to take too seriously since 99% of the game is survival game collecting and building and then they drop like

"Cycles continue ad infinitum, death and pain become all you know as your flesh becomes entwined with the sting of cutting glass; Your friend was never alive, but are any of us? You ponder this question, attempting to convince yourself that surely that isn't so, but you know it to be true."

because you collected 150 chromatic metal and turned it in to try and save your traveller buddy.

The tone of the writing feels pretty consistent in the quests/big NPC talks, but it's alongside 9 billion randomly generated NPCs who all say "I'm gonna trade today." "Fight those sentinels" "I've been studying something you couldn't possibly understand." so it's hit or miss for when those nicely written lines actually get to carry their intended gravitas or if they come off a bit harsh or serious for a quest that had me open a door and hold E on a terminal.

And as implied above, sometimes entire mini-arcs are written... but attached to parts of the game where they aren't allowed to shine like at all.

None of these individual narratives for the camp crew are explored enough or emphasized enough to feel significant or impactful- they mostly just bring up well written 'ideas' that feel like drafts of what could be impactful stuff- and they all feel very.... "Mash through the text to get my reward"-able.

But~

I do like that they are there. Better than not, and I do like aspects here and there.

Still think this guy is too heavy handed in just outright saying "All the weird hints you keep seeing seep into the narrative on your travels- yeah here's the exact thing. Just gonna say it. Anyways welcome to No Man's Sky- congrats on beating the base tutorial."

I wonder if I'm wrong and all this INTENSE AND BOLD LETTERED foreshadowing is misdirection/misinterpretation by either me or the characters in the narrative.

I'm pretty sure when you get to the center you get chucked back out to do it all over again, but until now with this guy I hadn't too much of a guess on the story significance of the action- now I'm left to assume I'm factory resetting a simulation (another name dropped in some text), so I'll go forward with that assumption until I reach the core.

[secretceremonials]

i analysed the cassandra myth from a modern english and welsh legal perspective because i’m drunk, bored, and procrastinating (maybe this will be a good revision exercise? 

Apollo v Cassandra: Breach of contract

i want to preface this by saying that i don’t fully study contract until next year, so i’m not going into detail here. apollo and cassandra do enter a verbal contract to provide the gift of prophecy for the service of sex (if we go with that version, which is my go to), so cassandra may well be liable for her breach. i would argue that this contract had unfair terms however, making it void to the extent of those terms. again, i don’t know enough about this to say for sure. 

Cassandra v Apollo: maliciously administering poison 

i don’t see any reason why apollo’s saliva that causes casssandra not to be believed can’t be interpreted as poison (we have case law of HIV infected semen being treated in this way). following this logic, his spitting can be viewed as maliciously administering poison, contrary to either section 23 or 24 of the offences against the person act 1861. for a section 23 offence, the defendant must intend to cause grievous bodily harm or endanger life. i’m not really sure that applies here, although cassandra’s mental state is possibly bad enough to constitute grievous bodily harm, it may be difficult to prove that apollo intended to cause this. section 24 would therefore be easier. this section simply requires intention to injure, aggrieve, or annoy. intention to punish would absolutely fall under here, i think. 

failing that, spitting on people without consent is a battery, so we definitely have a civil route if not a criminal one. it is worth noting that it absolutely is possible to pursue an action on the basis of the intentional infliction of emotional distress. injury does not have to be physical.

Cassandra v Ajax: rape or battery, depending on your favoured myth

In some versions of the myth, Ajax rapes Cassandra in the temple of athena as the city falls. in others, he drags her away in a massive breach of sanctuary laws. which version you prefer will alter what wrong has been committed.

If she is raped, it is... rape. crazy, i know. the statutory definition of rape is the penile penetration of another without consent or without a reasonable belief in their consent (sexual offences act 2003, section 1), which is what occurs here. they have sex, cassandra absolutely does not consent. easy.

if she isn’t raped, there is still a wrong, albeit probably a tort rather than a crime. the tort of battery is committed when an individual intentionally (or recklessly) touches another without consent. obviously this happens here. assault is likely as well. this occurs when the defendant does something to make the victim think they are about to directly and involuntary apply force on their body. this probably happens, but we don’t have enough detail to know for sure. we can maybe convict him of a crime instead, but this depends on what injuries cassandra acquires. i think it is likely enough that she would suffer actual bodily harm (a bruise or worse- we know the attack was violent), but grievous bodily harm is unlikely. If she suffers actual bodily harm, this is common assault, contrary to s47 of the offences against the person act 1861. 

Cassandra v Agamemnon: unlawful imprisonment

because slavery is illegal and i am completely ignoring historical context here, agamemnon most likely unlawfully imprisons cassandra. false imprisonment is confining an individual to a restricted area without their consent and without lawful justification. the only issue with proving this would be that i’m not sure if cassandra is really confined to a limited space? but presumably she has to stay around agamemnon? i think it counts.

Cassandra v Agamemnon: rape

it goes without saying that, in modern law, slavery is illegal. so, for the sake of simplicity, i’m going to continue arguing that cassandra’s enslavement is akin to unlawful imprisonment. obviously, keeping someone as a concubine without consent is very illegal, but we’ll ignore that for now. 

bearing that in mind, it is probable (but not certain) that Agamemnon rapes cassandra. As we have already seen, the definition of rape in the sexual offences act 2003 is the penile penetration of another without their consent, or without a reasonable belief in consent. as cassandra does, in some versions, have children, I am going to assume that her and agamemnon have sex. so now the question is consent. 

In section 75 of the sexual offences act, evidential presumptions about non-consent pop up in some cases. the effect of these presumptions is that non-consent is assumed, unless the defendant can provide some evidence that is “More than merely fanciful and speculative” that the alleged victim did in fact consent. one case where this occurs is when the alleged victim was wrongfully imprisoned by the defendant at the time of the incident. this means that agamemnon would have to provide some evidence of cassandra’s consent before a full trial would occur. this isn’t a particularly high bar, but it is something. 

we don’t know enough about cassandra’s state of mind to know whether she consented (she did consent to the marriage in Euripides’ trojan women, and until 1992, marriage was taken as an express form of consent- not super relevant, but interesting anyway), and honestly, given the context, agamemnon may have had a reasonable (in his culture) belief in her consent. obviously now we would not assume that a woman would consent to a man who took her from her home and family, but bear in mind that this is the bronze age. i’m also not sure if we should apply the reasonableness standard of a reasonable man today or a reasonable one then? recklessness is also subjectively measured now anyway, so he may not even have been reckless as to her non-consent.

Cassandra v Clytemnestra: murder

okay, this one is probably the easiest. In (basically) every version of the myth, Clytemnestra kills Cassandra. murder is the killing of another with the intent to cause death or grievous bodily harm. Clytemnestra intends to kill Cassandra. She does so. It’s murder, she will really struggle to access a defence here. There is no self-defence or necessity present. There may be some grounds for a partial defence of provocation as she is faced with her sexual rival, but I honestly doubt there is enough of this to warrant a manslaughter verdict. 

Conclusion

Cassandra deserves a break. i hope you enjoyed my silly little law exercise :)

[pardoncaptainkidd]

We have news to share - The Ministry of Justice has responded with a denial for Captain Kidd’s Royal Prerogative of Mercy application. 

This does NOT mean we are done here! Mr./Ms. E Peck was kind enough to provide an outline when cases like this typically are approved:

“Use of Royal Prerogative powers are subject to the common law duties of fairness and reason and to support effective administration. There are a number of longstanding conventions that I consider when reviewing an application. These are:  

it is impractical for the case to go to court, or all other judicial routes have been exhausted. 

new evidence has come to light which demonstrates conclusively that either no offence was committed or that the defendant did not commit the offence. 

taking into account all the circumstances in the grant of a full pardon, that the person was morally and technically innocent of the crime.”

With this in mind, the Pardon Captain Kidd movement can confidently state that new evidence HAS indeed come to light proving Captain Kidd did not commit piracy. 

Additionally, E Peck was helpful in providing their thoughts on this movement and suggestions of other revenues we can take:

“I have considered whether to recommend to the Secretary of State that he exercise his powers under section 16 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 to refer your application on behalf of Captain Kidd for an exercise of the RPM to the CCRC. However, I have not found a compelling reason to make such a recommendation and I am mindful of the Commission’s finite resources which in my view are better utilised in considering current cases rather than a case which concluded 300 years ago and where there appears to be no public interest in the Commission devoting its limited resource investigating it at the expense of current cases.” “Until the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has been approached and made a finding on Captain Kidd’s case, the full range of judicial routes cannot be held to have been exhausted. It is convention that no recommendation of RPM will be made whilst there remains a judicial route available.”

This tells us that RPM does not consider this movement worth their time and resources. However, with both the Criminal Cases Review Commission and the Secretary of State mentioned, we think gathering more general interest and precise delivery of the new evidence for Captain Kidd’s innocence is still a hopeful revenue. Additionally, the Law Centres Network was recommended as an outlet to us as well.

SO WHAT’S NEXT? The Pardon Captain Kidd movement has more letters to submit - to the Secretary of State and to members of the Law Centres Network. Follow us here for more updates on this!

HOW CAN YOU HELP? We are once again requesting anyone interested in showing their backing and interest in this movement to please submit their full names for letters to these revenues. You can do so by filling out our contact form on our site here.

We also take donations that help us pay for supplies for physical letters and postage on our GoFundMe.

[the-hem]

"Coming Down." From the Narada Parivrajaka Upanishad, the "Exploration of the Mysteries of the Wandering Sugar Cane Root."

The next section is particularly harsh as to what a liberated soul can do and not do. I have learned to live with very harsh conditions, without any indulgences, and what I have learned is certain aspects of the Self cannot be willed away nor starved. They are worth knowing, they are what give us real life. So the track prescribed by the Upanishad comes highly recommended:

IV-5-6. An ascetic comes down (from his high position) if he has greed, anger, untruth, bamboozling, covetousness, delusion, likes and dislikes, (love of) fine art, explaining tendency, desire, passion, accepting (gifts), egotism, 'mine-ness', practicing medicine, enforcing right conduct (in others), expiatory acts, journeying abroad (into unholy places), and (the practice of) mantras, herbs, poisons and blessing (others) which are prohibited.

While I was not unsentimental in the past, the loss of my relationship and belongings to organized crime (AKA the Republican Party) has so far not been addressed by the police or the government, I retain my romantic ideals about love and belonging, the household and other relationships. These will not go away no matter how stark my conditions get. But this makes it sound like calamity is the mother of intention, and that is not at all my point.

My period of asceticism and extreme withdrawal from the norms of society was inflicted, nonetheless, I have done it. You must not enter into the hermitage because great suffering was inflicted. You must do it on your own. The promises made by the Upanishad are correct, they lead to liberation. All persons should train in them.

Once the Prohibitions are established the Self will dawn. Of this there is no doubt. I remain committed to the complete destruction of the Republican Party and its illegally sitting President. These are not a fit for any of us, and immense willpower is going to be needed to withstand and then rid ourselves of them. The study of the Upanishads will help.

[benis-chillin]

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered-2025 Backlog Special

Platform: Steam Deck

December 25th, 2024-January 13th, 2025

So as I mentioned in the 2024 look-back post, I was gifted a Steam Deck out of the blue for Christmas, which means the majority of my picks for this year's list were made within my old limits on PC games. I always leave room for whims, of course, but the majority of those whims will be in the 2025 post.

However, I've put so much time into THIS one that I figured I should make an exception. Hey, I did with Sonic Superstars last year, so why not? My blog, my rules.

I admittedly already knew the story somewhat going in, as I was a poor boy Spider-Man fan back in 2018 who didn't have no PS4. So, I just watched the cutscenes on YouTube like anybody would, and that made me a fan right away.

Heck, I have the 3.75 inch Gamerverse 2-pack Hasbro made in my collection. It's among the last Marvel Universe figures they made, and like most of the Gamerverse line, it was a pretty sweet last hurrah. Still need to get that Mega Man and Iron Man pack, though.

The knowledge going in didn't hamper the story, though. If anything, it helped due to a certain change I made that I'll discuss in a little bit. One thing cutscene compilations can't capture, though, is how dynamically you feel like Spider-Man during the main campaign. Frequently, most objectives are just the next step in PETER'S life, but a crime will spawn that SPIDER-MAN needs to stop, so Peter ends up being late to his personal obligations. Admittedly, the game just waits for you on these tasks, so I'm not sure it was intentional, but it DID help my immersion a bit.

Speaking of gameplay, it's good, but not without quibbles. One big thing I noticed is that it's very dependant on web zips. I don't crawl on the walls or ceiling that much, but rather zip around to perches to get a good angle to do a takedown. I frequently find myself without sufficient building height to swing from, so I just zip to get around. Hell, the web strike takedown is just a big zip.

But of course, there are random spots, especially during stealth sections, where you can't find a place to zip to in time, so you'll just be exposed for no reason. It's really annoying. Wall crawling is just overall unrefined, when even the Amazing Spider-man game on the freaking 3DS had it down just 6 years prior, so idk what was up with it here.

Combat is also very webbing dependant, I find. The more advanced you get, the more it just becomes a game of dodging, then webbing people to walls or other objects rather than fighting them. Well, either that or knocking them off of a rooftop, the old classic.

I make it sound a bit less complex than it actually is, but I can't deny that it makes me raise my eyebrow and go…"Huh."

(The near constant glitches did NOT help matters)

Though if you want me to talk about a low point for the game, look no further than Miles' and MJ's sections. I like them as characters(well, maybe a BIT less on MJ), but as PLAYABLE characters? HELL NO!

The game is built around being SPIDER-MAN. I do not want to play as Powerless McHuman, who dies if you look at them funny. I tried to tolerate them, but quickly learned how frustrating it is to mod on a Steam Deck to take these sections OUT.

And the mod STILL lied to me, because it made me do MJ's section in the Heist DLC anyway!

I suppose the biggest crime this game commits is having some of the most "modern writing" I have seen in a while. It's not ALL bad. In fact, I'd say it mostly works, but it has a few moments of "you really did NOT think of the full implications of this, did you?"

For example, Spidey setting up spy towers for the police. It's mainly an in-universe justification for a gameplay feature, but it comes off as Big Brother Spider-Man violating the privacy of New York's citizens. Overall, Spider-Man is just very cop-like in this game, to the point where even someone fairly moderate like me was put off by it.

They try to counter it via the Sable guys, being like, "Oh hey, they're…Kicking people out of their homes! Aren't they SO much worse!?" and I'm just like, "Guys, we can BOTH be terrible."

There was also the odd lack of consequences for MJ's actions. Like, she enters Fisk's art gallery under false pretenses, causing a legal kerfuffle for the Bugle…And they just go, "Alright, go ahead keep doing that!"

Huh?

And again, during the Turf Wars DLC, MJ gets all of this private information about Yuri, and is like, "Damn Peter, the actual crime in the city just isn't interesting enough, so I gotta pitch the personal life of your friend who's going through an obvious mental breakdown to my editor!" and Peter's like, "Aight, cool."

PETER, YOU SPINELESS SIMP!

Yuri's turn to vigilante murder is also a bit suspect. "The system works most of the time, but not in every case."

Well, yeah, duh! Everybody knows that! We mainly have it because "everyone gets their day in court" is the best we've come up with so far. If you're a cop, THAT should be your main motivation. You are agreeing to represent a system, whether you think it's flawless or not. Are you telling me you were the CAPTAIN and didn't know that?

And to finish our female bashing session…Screwball. I hate her wholeheartedly.

Her CHALLENGES are annoying, her VOICE is so annoying that I had to mute voices whenever she was on-screen, as I would otherwise be bombarded with, "PHOTOBOMB! PHOTOBOMB! PHOTOBOMB! PHOTOBOMB! PHOTOBOMB!"

And on top of all of that, HER CHARACTER MAKES SO DAMN SENSE.

She debuts in a story mission where she claims to have kidnapped someone, drives people to run out and cause mayhem in the streets, and doesn't tell that it's all a prank until the end. And then, they're like, "What can we do with her? She didn't break any laws!"

YES! YES SHE DID! SHE CAUSED A PUBLIC PANIC! If this doesn't get her arrested, it would at least get her booted off of any platform she's currently on(we know she's monetized, and nobody big enough to bring in the big bucks would want to advertise on a site where people are kidnapped and have bombs strapped to their chests, as we see her do later). Streamers who pull this crap get instantly cancelled, or at the very least, quickly demonitized. We have history for this. Nobody would be getting away with the crap she pulls. One way or another, Screwball would be tried in the court of public opinion, and digitally hanged.

This is not a commentary. This is a farce.

So, here's my reviewer quote:

"Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered will make you hate women."

-Benis Chillin, 2025

Overall, I'd say this is a good game, it's just that…Well, it ain't perfect, and I feel like the flaws show a bit more now that it's settled in.

8/10

And next time…I've nearly finished it, so probably Ducktales Remastered as we enter the actual list! See ya then!

UPDATE 1/23/25

DUCKTALES TOO LAME FOR NON-END OF YEAR LIST REVIEW, METROID PRIME 2, BABY!

[motiongraphicstheartofthetitle]

For our first assignment in class, we were tasked with finding two intros to any media we liked one that is digital and one that is analog. We were given a link to this website:

On that website, there are many different intros we can choose from. It asks for money to view them so I would click on the video and search it on Youtube. The first intro I found was my digital choice. It's the intro to Loving Vincent it really is beautifully made and the process is amazing!

I really love the fact that they took the abstract nature of Vincent's art and utilized it to make a hand-painted and computer-processed piece of art. It took over 100 artists to make the film and hand paint each frame (Absolutely insane I LOVE IT)! Then after processing the frames into a program (I'm thinking premiere or something along those lines) they have this breathtaking effect of moving paint that so clearly conveys the message of the film. A film centered around Vincent, his life, and his art. I haven't seen the film myself but, I can tell it will definitely explore his life in the town were he lived, possibly even just exploring his day to day life. To me it doesn't really matter because the title sequence has done it's job I AM HOOKED!

For my second choice (the analog), I actually had a real hard time choosing which intro I wanted to cover. In the end I chose Anatomy of Murder:

This one is so fun, basically they took what seems to be very thick paper and cut a shape that roughly resembles a person or the outline of a body from a crime scene. They then sectioned the cut out into about 7 different pieces each cut being made where a connecting joint would be in the body. From there they took pictures of varying distances from each piece o the cut out either by themselves or next to other pieces; moving them about as the intro goes on. I love it because it shows that this is probably going to be a detective movie where we find out who committed the murder. Something I really love about this is that some of the pieces get cut up even more as if to dissect them further which might be a clue to us the audience that there is more to this crime than the surface level we see. Or a least that's what I got out of it. It's a really creative way to make an intro during a time when we didn't have all these nice effects to use. I find it really affective as well and I will be watching both of these movies in the near future!