#she also got left on a cliffhanger here but she has lore after the experiments!!

[weedsmokingbfs]

WAHOO SOL BACKSTORY TIME. Well . More like Sols Deal with pandemonium. her entire childhood can wait for another day. this is her ass

First I need to give some context to the kingdom she lives in. Its a giant (and I mean HUGE. thousands of people live on it. you see those little lines of the sides? those are Trains to take you to each section. if thats a better size comparison) heres a drawing of it

Praecanema was founded and built by a supposed “great scientist” named Velda.

This giant hunk of metal roams around in a polluted desert, keeping the people inside safe from the outside air. Science is very important here, and your worth is dependent on your contributions. The kingdoms symbol is the trifecta, and its used to represent the scientific process (problem, effort, solution). The kingdom itself is anti magic, and has a superiority complex over magic users. Everyone here is kinda a massive asshole.

This was all instilled into their brains through Veldas propaganda. Why is she so anti magic? Because shes a Fraud. Infact, she uses magic Herself. She never was a great scientist, she has been harnessing the power of an entity to give her the intelligence to do any of this in the first place. This entity is also helping this giant machine to run. It was never organic fuel, it was Magic. To keep anyone from finding out, she turned her kingdom against the concept of magic entirely.

Time skip a couple of decades, and this entity is starting to grow tired of Velda constantly taking advantage of it. Veldas power over it id starting to slip. With no entity, theres no one to run the ship, and with no ship, theres no protection from the outside air. Everyone would have to evacuate, and Velda would lose her precious kingdom and reputation. She needs a new fuel source before this entity detaches from her entirely, but since shes a fraud scientist she needs Help.

This is where Sol comes in. Its not uncommon from people on this ship to be crazy, but Sol fits under the Crazy Crazy. Known to take her experiments to far, and getting herself hurt in the process. Shes also been in trouble with the law on multiple occasions. So basically, the perfect candidate for Velda to pull into her experiment. Not only has she been know to do crazy things in the name of science, shes also Completely Disposable if something goes wrong. No ones gonna miss the criminal.

Sol has constantly been belittled and is always fighting for peoples respect, so when Velda offered her to opportunity to work on a project with her, she was Thrilled. The leader? of our kingdom? wants to work with MEEE?? THAT’LL SHOW THE HATERS.. So, Sol accepts.

Sol is also currently living with her childhood best friend (they are yuri.. but its. Complicated…) Dia. Sol has only ever had Dia to rely on, so the two are very close. Heres an img of her . her relevancy will come later

Anyways. Sol was instructed to keep this project a secret by Velda. She said it was to keep panic off the streets, but it was definitely just to cover up all her lies about magic.

The experiments started relatively tame, trying to convert organic resources into fuel. Nothing was working, none of it was powerful enough to run the entire ship. Unknowingly to Sol, this was because it wasn’t built to run on organic sources, it was built to run on Magic.

After tireless research, Sol exhausted all her resources. Hope was Slim. Or so she thought🤓☝️. One night at a bar, Sol drunkenly gets into a conversation with another scientist. Vaguely mentioning how her project is failing. The scientist brings up the ideas of mixing magic and science offhandedly, but it sticks with Sol. (fun fact, the scientist was illusioned in by Pandemonium (lore here if u haven’t read it https://www.tumblr.com/weedsmokingbfs/732808761161465856/not-my-ass-already-forgetting-important-lore-he its probably best to read this rq if you haven’t already) in order to set up his plan for later)

Reluctantly, Sol brings up the idea to Velda. Velda pretends to be hesitant, but its Relived Sol brought it up First. Velda pulls the “well i wouldn’t usually want to.. But if its the Only Way to Keep Everyone Safe🥺” card. So she gets to work on experimenting with different types of magic.

Originally just with the idea of casting spells on the ship, but she quickly realizes this would require a constantly influx of magic that would just be to draining for someone to do. The ship is also so large it would require Multiple People casting spells all throughout the day, which isn’t feasible. Then she moved onto the idea of harvesting magic from magical plants, or items, but over time the magic would weaken or fade out entirely. She needed an Infinite Magic source.

During all of this, Sol was being horribly overworked. She was growing more irritable, and was being a massive dick to Dia lol. Dia knew she was snapping because of all the work on her, and told her that maybe she should step down from this mystery project. Sol lost it on Dia, saying they were jealous of her. She had worked so hard for respect for so long, and now, she “had” it. Why couldn’t they just be happy for her? The argument got worse, and ended with Dia saying until Sol gets her shit together, shes staying with her mom. Sol was back to being alone.

This is when things erm. start to get a bit dark. Sol has an encounter with an immortal magic user, and realizes hey Wait a Minute. This is an infinite magic source, they cant die because they have magic keeping them alive, so no matter how much magic you harvest from them, the source Renews itself. Sol brings it up to Velda, not fully sure about it, since it requires human experimentation. Sols crazy but maybe not torture an innocent person crazy. Velda who does not give a Fuck immediately pressures Sol into it. Hinting that things may not go very well for her if she Doesn’t Comply. Sol instantly starts to feel some regrets but Whoops we are in it now boys.

She gets to work and kidnaps the immortal, and begins experimentation. Harvesting magic from the immortal, as their body continually regenerated itself. Low and behold it Worked in powering the machine. The problem is One immortals magic is not enough. It could only fuel small parts. She needed multiple. But its not like a handful of immortal magic users are just lying around anywhere.

This is where Pandemonium comes in, striking up a deal with Sol. Promising with Sols help he could possess the bodies of people, making them immortal through his magic. As long as Sol promised not to kick him out of the bodies. He claimed he was trapped inside mirrors, (the surface he can Naturally traverse) so Sol letting him into these bodies would benefit him too. (he’s LYINGG!) She takes the deal, and helps him into the bodies of some innocent people to become apart of the experiment. Yayyyyyyyyyy.

Her mental and physical health massively declined during this time, turns out being around lifeless bodies all day n experimenting on them is Really Draining! But Sol is to deep in it now, and the pressure from Velda only grows. Erm. Things get worse though.

Dia, collecting some of her things from Sols house, stumbles across papers of the work shes been doing. (once again Pandemonium let Dia find these. just the next step in his story) Her curiosity wins and she reads them, they dont reveal the full situation, but raise concerns. Dia investigates further, not fully knowing what shes getting into. It ends with her finding out about the human experimentation, to her disgust. She has bigger problems now though, because she was Also Caught, she manages to escape in time but now Velda knows Dia knows. Velda knows the only way to keep this project safe, is to “dispose” of Dia. Sol, fights aside, doesn’t want Dia to fucking Die. So she tells Velda she will take care of Dia.

Sol isn’t sure what to do, or how to protect Dia, until Pandemonium comes to her with an idea! Oh boy. Pandemonium tells Sol to let him possess Dia as well, and add her to the experiment. She wont have to kill her, and Dia will totally be unconscious and not in pain!!! 😁 And once everything with Velda calms down, Pandemonium will let Dia go :3. Sol is hesitant, but sees this as the better option to her dying. She accepts, and Dia becomes another body in the experiment.

Time goes on, Sols practically at her limit. Overworked and guilt ridden. Anything would push her over the edge. This anything, happens to be one of the people waking up during the experiment, crying and sobbing about how much pain they are in. (lowkey… i think its Dia. because im Evil.) Turns out, everyone could feel Everything Sol was doing. She was unknowingly Torturing them. She fucking snaps, and decides shes Done. She doesn’t care what happens anymore she cant go on like this.

Erm. If you remember, the premise of the deal was that Sol wasn’t allowed to force Pandemonium out of the bodies, or else the deal would be broken. And thats exactly what she does. She frees the possessed people, and the deal is broke. Pandemonium now owns Sols soul and drags her off to puppet hell.

Erm. This feels like a depressing ending but um. her story is not over… its just not finished yet because she exsists in a dnd campaign 😅 so i have to. Wait. LMFAO. I have more lore for her puppet days, but ill wait to explain it till i get to chesils lore. THIS IS ALR SO LONG

[seddm]

What did you think about the s2 finale of Amphibia if you've gotten there yet? If not its all good!

AMPHIBIA S2 FINALE SPOILERS BELOW

I liked it a lot, it made me feel a particular kind of "hype" and interest I hadn't felt for an episode of something since SVTFOE, even if at a fraction of a fraction of the intensity (something that doesn't correlate to the objective or even perceived quality of the show at all, Star was the outlier experience in my life). It has some pacing issues in the first half, most things happen too fast up to Andrias being freed from prison, I feel like it'd have benefited greatly from being a two parts finale, or even just a 30 something minutes long episode, but that's super rare on mainstream channels since it's hard to air reruns, only Disney example I can think of it A Tale Of Two Stans from Gravity Falls. Pacing in the second part greatly improves, and it feels more like they chose what to put in the latter part of the episode, to then fit what they could in the first one. I'm assuming there's some studio-related bullshittery going on here rather than a conscious decision on the team's side (after all the episode is almost 25 minutes long so it seems they tried to squeeze every ounce of budget and timeslot they could).

As for the plot and characters arcs and all that, good stuff. We could all more or less see where Sasha and Marcy's parts where going - without knowing the details obviously, and Andria's reveal wasn't that big of a surprise, given, you know,

but as in most things execution is what matters the most, and Anne's reaction to both her friends' "betrayals" had emotional weight to spare, and it's interesting to see the degrees of "how messed up is this girl?" in relation to their experiences in a new world and or flaws (and screentime, obviously, but that's a given):

Anne found a supportive and loving second family and, as of Battle of the Bands, as so subtly implied by her song, she fully embraced and accepted the kind of person she has grown to be: her arc is obviously not done, with one more season left and a looot of emotions she and her friends need to deal with, but she seems to be fully equipped to potentially deal with everything the story might throw at her now (with all the realizations and pains and epiphanies she's undoubtedly going to go through).

Sasha found an enabler in the others toads, feeding on her desire to always be in control and on top of things, but she also found real friends who understand her and worry about her, and I'm sure she and Grimes are going to help each other become better persons.

Marcy found a manipulator who preyed on her biggest fears and... well...

I'm sure S3 is not going to be THAT plot heavy and the majority of episodes are going to be on the sillier side and a lot of lore hooks are never going to be solved, but I feel like Amphibia might stick the plot-related landing better than most comparable series did in the recent past, so far they ran a tight ship. As for the character arcs, I'm sure all the girls are gonna be able to become better and healthier friends once everything is said and done, and I'm very curious to see what they're going to do with Andrias: they made clear parallels between him and the girls, with being betrayed and hurt by one's friends, and he seems to be working for something bigger than him, so there might be more than blind ambition and lust for power behind the character, but chances for redemption get slimmer when you were more than eager to murder a toddler...

It's a pity they had to show earlier than they wanted the S3 intro because Disney is full of pathetic and cowardly higher ups, thus partially spoiling Marcy's fate (it's obvious she wasn't gonna die-die for real, but it'd still have been nicer to be left in the complete dark about her fate until S3), but I'm glad we got to see that Sprig, Hop Pop and Polly are going to interact with Anne's family, and it's not going to be (at least not for most of the season) a "ET hidden in the closet" kind of situation.

At least not with her family.

To conclude, an excellent season finale with a gutsy cliffhanger and big hooks not just for the plot, but for the characters as well.

I wonder if and how they're gonna handle Anne's reunion with her family from their point of view she disappeared for like six months that should leave some kind of mental trauma.

Also the series better end with a permanent and easy way of travel between Earth and Amphibia, I'm not here for some weak kind of bittersweet finale where the characters have to let go of their loved ones but they'll never forget what they experienced and what they learned, I'm here for a REAL MEN finale where Anne can jump over to Amphibia to play bugball after school and Wally can get arrested by LAPD for public intoxication.

[justgotham]

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read until if you have not yet watched the season four finale of “Gotham” on Fox.

The final moments of the season four finale of Fox’s “Gotham” essentially rebooted the series, with some characters leaving town, multiple villains rising from the underground and one series regular signing off for good.

In the episode, Solomon Grundy (Drew Powell) was shot but then healed and seemingly returned to his normal Butch state, only to be murdered by Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor).

Powell tells Variety after first learning he was going to be shot again, he wasn’t that worried. “This is the fourth time I’ve been shot on the show,” he notes. “Clearly I can survive a bullet wound.” But what made this one different was the fact that he got shot in the heart.

“[That] would probably take another dip in the Slaughter Swamp to recover from,” he admits.

Here, Powell shares with Variety the emotional moments while filming his final scene, what he will miss about playing the character, and if he would ever join the DC Universe again.

How did you learn that Butch aka Grundy wouldn’t make it to the end of the season finale?

I kind of found out by accident, if I’m being honest. I was at work. The process of Grundy is always a couple hours of make-up coming on and a good 45 minutes to take it off. So, I’m usually there before people and there after people. I was in the makeup room, and I read an outline, which sometimes you do. I don’t know if we’re supposed to do that, but any actor that says they don’t is lying. I glanced at it and I kind of got to the end and it said, “Blah, blah, blah and then Penguin shoots Butch in the heart.” I’m like, “Ooh, that doesn’t sound good.” …I called up [executive producer] John Stephens and he said, “Ah, well. I was just about to get on a plane to come tell you tomorrow,” which he did — I saw him the next day.

How did it feel to know you wouldn’t survive the season?

It was a mix of a lot of emotions. Obviously I’m so close to this group. This show has really been an important show in my career. I moved my family from one coast to the other. I’m now kind of forever linked in this really cool world of DC and Batman lore. It’s really special for me. But the cool part was that the overwhelming feeling I had was not anger or resentment or sadness — although there was some of sadness — but it was gratitude. I just felt so grateful that I’ve had four great years of this. Look, who knows what’s to come, but I can feel like I’ve done good work and had a great experience.

How do you think you’ll feel after the episode airs?

It will be very interesting to feel the catharsis of this coming to life and how people will react. It’s been very interesting the last couple of weeks. “Gotham” did a poll of which character they liked better: Butch or Grundy. I didn’t see the final results but with a day left it was 50/50. It was absolutely down the middle. That warms my heart. It was risky on the same level to take this. I believe what people love about Butch was that he was kind of the every man in the scenario. You have crazy Penguin, nutty Riddler, and all this craziness going on. Then, you’ve got the cops that are stern and hard. Then you’ve got Butch who has managed to survive in this crazy town. He ducks and weaves and survives and does it with a little bit of humor and a wink and smile. I think that was really important to have in this show. I think when Bruno [Heller] wrote this character, he told me at the beginning, “People are going to underestimate Butch until it’s too late for them.” It was really true. Even the fans were like, “Oh, he’s just some henchmen for Fish.” Then by the end of season one, they were like, “Oh my gosh. No, he’s way more than that!” It’s going to be really interesting to see the fan reaction. It’s very shocking. I would love to have a camera on fans watching that scene. I do think the reaction will be physical for a lot of people.

How far in advance did you know before you shot the episode?

That was the other tricky part. I was in the middle of shooting 4.20 (episode “A Dark Knight: That Old Corpse”) so we still had two more episodes to go which equals about a month. So I had three, four weeks of dealing with [it]. I think a lot of actors will tell you when you end a long-term job that you really like –particularly, because people feel like we’re a tight group, especially as actors but also crew — you have to go through the five stages of grief. By the time we actually got to that scene, I had been living with it for almost a month. I have to be honest when I say it’s been really tricky. It’s been a long haul to have a month before we shot it. Then we shot it — that was the beginning or middle of March. So I’ve been sitting on it to most of the people outside of my close circle for the last few months, so it’s been a long haul. There’s a part of me that will be very relieved as this comes out.

When did the rest of the cast find out? Did you tell them?

That was kind of a weird thing. Some of them, yeah. There were a couple people I saw the next day that were working the next day so we talked and grieved together a little bit. I don’t mean for it to sound so dramatic. It was definitely a bond that formed so you have to deal with that. But I think people found out through word of mouth. I told some folks, but it was kind of awkward. There’s no real easy way to do that. It’s been true for the other characters that have passed on from our show. It’s all a little bit awkward. But that was the good thing about having time. By the time we got to the end, we had all talked about it. There was a sense of closure on that last day.

How was it filming the final scene and having Penguin be the one who offs your character?

I’ll never forget it. I don’t think any of us will. It’s a beautiful scene. The one thing I said to John Stephens when we talked was what was most important to me was that we need to give Butch a proper death. I think [the] words actually were a “noble death,” and he agreed. Not some cliffhanger. I think the fans, who’ve really grown to love Butch as I have — and Grundy — [would want] a proper send off for him. I think they did that. I was kind of dreading it. We finally got there. The director was Nathan Hope, who’s just a great guy and one of our favorites on “Gotham.” …I don’t think we ever did it without crying, even Jessica [Lucas], who is way tougher than Robin and me. It was just so emotional and so hard. Robin and I are very good friends and have been since the very beginning. So, it was hard for him. It was hard for me. Jessica, as well — those are the guys I’ve spent the most time with over the course of the show with the exception of Jada [Pinkett Smith]. It was really powerful. It was a moment where we had a culmination of this incredible life experience. As an actor, it’s hard to separate [from] that because it changed my life. That’s true. I think it’s true for any actor that has a job that like that moves you from one place to another and you have over a period of years. But also the relationships and the emotion of the scene. I think Robin and I have always had this chemistry that was really special and it really made the Butch and Oswald scenes work. I was really glad to have a few more of those toward the end of season four. By the time we got to that [scene], he was crying and snotting, as he will admit. Jessica had some tears. Then, I’m dead on the ground with tears streaming down my eyes. We got through it. I haven’t seen it, but I’m hoping it cut together OK. We felt like we got it in the end.

Penguin apologizes before he shoots Grundy. Do you think he was being sincere?

I think the wonderful paradox about Oswald, particularly as Robin has brought him to life in this iteration, is that he is at once an emotional character, a passionate character, but also calculating and smart. He’s always three steps ahead of the game. I think after losing so many people that have been close to him and then I think his experience with [Edward] Nygma, the one thing he won’t let happen anymore is to let his emotions get in the way of what’s important to him which is revenge and power. It’s funny. We’ve talked about this. The fact that Tabitha [killed] Ms. Cobblepot was never going to sit well with him. He wanted to get back at Tabby for killing his mother, the most important thing to him. I always assumed that she would be the one to get it and not me, but I guess I had to be the proxy in this one.

What was the hardest part about saying goodbye to Butch?

It’s funny because I’ve said goodbye to him once. That took me by surprise. There was a moment after we did the Grundy scene — in episode five of the season, they dump Butch in the swamp and Grundy rises out of the Slaughter Slump. The way we shot that out in a pool in the middle of nowhere in Staten Island, we did the rising out of the swamp scene and then hobo scene, and then the last scene we shot was Butch getting into the swamp and then they kind of pulled me out of the water. So that was like the very end of Butch, at least at that point. I was surprised. [For] three years I’ve really grown to appreciate this character. Not often do you get that opportunity as an actor. One of the things I love about TV is that you can live with the character for a while and kind of inhabit him or her. I really did that with Butch. We’ve had a lot of different paths on this particular show. I surprisingly felt a sadness of losing Butch. Then, Grundy presented his own challenges. The makeup alone was something that really took some getting used to. There’s part of me that thinks another season of Grundy with all of that makeup and that wig and the whole thing would’ve been pretty tough. But I loved him too! The death of both characters at once [in the season four finale] was really emotional. It was emotional for all of us.

What is one thing you’ve learned since the start of “Gotham” that has helped you grow as an actor?

I think the experience has taught me to prepare. Not that I didn’t before, but the importance of thinking about what you’re doing [and] understanding that there’s an arc here. That there will be an evolution throughout time. It took me a while to kind of get the knack of who Butch was. To spend time in thought and contemplation and study of who this character is so that you can really bring him to life. I learned how cool it is to be a part of the world of comic book characters — the DC world, the whole general genre. I hadn’t had that experience before and getting to do some of these comic-cons and meeting fans that are so passionate and being a part of something that’s 75 years old — this American mythology — is really cool. That’s one of the things I loved about being Grundy, too, was to be a part of the canon, which was a creation by the brilliant Bruno Heller. It was great to be able to create that role. I secretly hope someday, somewhere there’ll be a Butch Gilzean in a comic somewhere. Being able to be this iconic villain, or anti-hero as I like to think of him, who started in 1944, boy that’s a legacy that it’s so neat to be a part of. That was really special. Also, you get to practice with incredible people. You get to do it over and over with really talented crew members and directors and writers and cast. I think that last part is the thing I’ll miss the most — the camaraderie we had. We’re like a family. I think about our trips to comic-con in the last couple of years in this plane together flying out and the laughter and the stories that we’ll have forever. That doesn’t happen on every show. I’ve been on a lot of different shows and you have sometimes different personalities that just don’t click. But for whatever reason, this group of people really did, and I’ll forever be grateful for that.

Would you take on the role of Butch again or another character for a DC film?

In the blink of an eye. Absolutely. Having said that, the last three months, I did the pilot for “L.A. Confidential” which was amazing. I did a couple of movies — the movie I’m doing now is about Ted Kaczynski. So it’s been fun to kind of explore other things. That’s something I feel very lucky to have got to do right away to kind of help clear my head a little bit and know there is life after “Gotham.” But of course, I’d be a fool to say no to getting back into the DC Universe. Every time I see Geoff Johns I’m like, “I’m in, for my career! Whatever you need, I’m in!” Not the least of which is I’m the father of a 7-year-old boy, so I get to be the coolest dad in the world since I get to work with Batman.

The finale ends in a way that could reboot the series. What were your thoughts when you first heard about the decision to potentially switch-up the show?

It was never really made clear to us that that’s what was happening. Not having seen the episode yet, I’m still unclear, other than what I’ve read, about what that really means. A good friend of mine, John Rogers, a writer and producer who I’m very fond of, tweeted that we’re getting to a point where we’re going to have to accept the fact that series are basically going to be five years and that’s what you’re going to get. I think he’s right about that with a few exceptions. You get to a point in storytelling in our society today which expands looking for the next shiny object or light button. Even something serialized like a comic book show which you feel like could go on forever. It’s also hard to shoot that show. There’s a lot that goes into it. This isn’t your procedural point and shoot and talk about whatever cop lingo is it — there’s a lot going on there. So, I understand the need to kind of give it a little jolt and see what happens.

[shinyzango]

Ok I mentioned this a few times in the past but here’s the thing with me and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.

I want to love DD, I really do. But I’ve grown with the first 2 games, played them hundreds of times, know them inside out. There is a reason why I consider this series one of my all-time favorites. Yes the games have their flaws (too much dialogue to say an example), but they’re charming. The Lore and characters are amazing. The music is powerful and memorable. The gameplay is fun for being your average JRPG game. And don’t get me started on the amazing sprite work (keep in mind, these cames were for the GBA. Think of Donkey Kong Country. It’s basically the same concept).

Now picture this. After a 8 years gap of no new GS games, Dark Dawn for the DS was announced. To say that I was hysterical is an understatement.

Now let’s not consider the fact that at the time I didn’t have money so I had to emulate it on a flashcard and I had issues finding a working rom file... I played it. I finished it.

...and I was left midly disappointed. There was just so much wrong with the game.

The story is a mess. The Overworld graphics are kinda sucky and it plays way too floaty compared to the past games. The characters are honestly not all that memorable. The gameplay elements that made the previous games so fun are kinda sucky. The music is honestly pretty forgettable (I’ve played DD twice and I can’t remember a single music from it :/). And guess what? Spoiler alert:

HUGE CLIFFHANGER AT THE END. OF AN PLOT ELEMENT THAT WAS WHAT STARTED THE WHOLE GAME AND NEVER GOT MENTIONED THROUGH OUT THE WHOLE GAME UNTIL THE END WITH A “AND EVERYONE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER--O SHIT WAIT THERE’S THAT THING FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME TO TAKE CARE OF REMEMBER? WELL TOO BAD GAME’S OVER U DOUCHE”

But despite all the hate I have for it, there are some things that I liked a lot.

For example, everything reguarding the battles. The inbattle graphics are outstanding, the flow is fast and fun, and the new mechanics introduced are super fun, making even the most basic weapons you get all that useful and interesting. Also loved how they finally designed every single Djinn instead of using the same default design for all of them. And on a side note, I honestly love Sveta’s design, but as a playable character... she’s waaay too OP imo.

Also another Spoiler Alert: I don’t like how they handled the introduction of the party members. I mean heck, you end up getting the last 2 members basically at the last part of the game so you don’t get the time to familiarize with them and experiment with their classes and their unique Psynergies. Case on point, Himi. As a playable character, she got a unique class type and super cool unique psynergies. But up to that point you already got used to have the other party members as your bread-and-butter squad, so she’s just... there. Also the whole Third Eye and Search Psynergy she got is literally a ripoff of Zelda’s Sheikah Tribe symbol and Lens of Truth respectively, and that has always been my biggest pet peeve in DD.

Oh that’s also another thing that pissed me off. They had this fantastic idea of “spicing up” the Reveal Psynergy from the previous games, my favorite Overworld psynergy, and split it into 2 useless psynergies. Now, for those who haven’t played the first 2 GS games, Reveal allowed you to see hidden secrets in the overworld. See a circle of rocks? There’s something in the middle of it. Use Reveal to see through the invisibility and pick the item. See a bunch of checkable jars and barrels? Use Reveal to see if they hold anything in them instead of wasting your time checking every single one of them. And this mechanic was also used to solve puzzles as it would allow you to reveal useful hints on how to proceed. Now, what did they do in DD? They split it into 2 psynergies: Insight and Search. The previously mentioned Search Psynergy, which is literally only used to open up specific areas in the Overworld and render visible hidden objects, instead of just opening a window upon the unseen. And the Insight Psynergy is literally a hint button. I just shows you what objects are interactable with which Psynergy. So yeah, I was pretty pissed off by these.

...OH YEAH, YOU KNOW WHAT’S ALSO VERY BAD IN DD?

NO BACKTRACKING.

You missed a Djinn or any unique item or equipment? WELL TOUGH SHIT, YOU LOST IT FOREVER. The game works on checkpoints. After you reach certain points in the story, something will make it impossible for you to go back to the older areas.

Now picture me, used to the previous games where even at endgame you could go back to any place in the entire map to recover Djinns or secrets I missed. I play through DD with the intention of going back before the end of the game to recover all the Djinns I missed. Just to discover that I couldn’t go back anymore. I was. So angry that day.

*ahem*

...so, to conclude this long rant over Dark Dawn: I really want to love this game, because it had potential. But there are just so many things done wrong compared to the previous games that just makes me cringe at the mere thought of attempting playing it again.

[daleisgreat]

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Seven

-Finally, after three years of watching mostly one episode a week, I have finished my re-watch of all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation (season seven trailer)! I am thrilled to present my final entry here chronicling my adventures with the crew of the Enterprise! For the final season I was able to slightly bump up my viewing habits and mostly stuck to watching two episodes a week, and thus I was able to make faster progress on this final season! Somehow, my horrendously outdated Samsung Galaxy S7 phone has managed to barely limp along this entire journey with me, and the gloriously awful pics featured throughout this article are courtesy of that wonderful device. -Season six wrapped with an enticing cliffhanger to “Descent” where Lore managed to work some sinister sorcery to recruit a squadron of Borg and hack into the code banks of Data (Brent Spiner) in order to recruit him to join his cause. Season seven had a great kickoff to resolve this new threat, and had a satisfying conclusion at putting an end to Lore once and for all. I would rank “Descent” on the higher end of TNG two-part arcs, as the Lore/Borg/Data combination proved to be an intriguing antagonist to see how they would be dealt with.

Picard is ready for combat on the left, while falling ill on the Enterprise leads to crew members tripping with some wild illusions on the right! -I was a little bummed to see a complete lack of appearances from Whoopi Goldberg in her role as Guinan in the final season. I am presuming it must have been scheduling conflicts as she has always been in high demand, especially around this time just a couple years after her Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress in Ghost. Whoopi would return as Guinan in two of the four Star Trek movies based on TNG cast.

-A pair of recurring characters that did return for their final episodes this season are Michelle Forbes as Ensign Lt. Ro Lauren and Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher. Ro is fresh off tactical training for an important undercover mission that conclusively decides her fate with Starfleet as she would never appear in another Star Trek series or film again after this. According to my research I was surprised to learn it took a last minute agreement with Forbes within a week before filming to get her to reprise her role as she was starting to distance herself from the brand after initial plans to make her a mainstay on Deep Space Nine fizzled. Wesley Crusher’s final appearance had a better payoff in “Journey’s End” where during a vision quest he finally is deemed ready by a previous guest character, The Traveler (Eric Menyuk), to join him on a mystical journey to see Wesley fulfill his supernatural potential. I had no idea they were going to payoff these vague promises The Traveler alluded to in Wesley way back in season two, so big props to the cast and crew making that happen! -Other past recurring characters returned, but only to see them casted in middling-to-disappointing episodes. This is the case for Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) in the head-scratching “Genesis” episode that has the Enterprise staff fall victim to a virus that de-evolves them into various primates. The love-or-hate mother of Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Lwaxana (Majel Barrett), has a major sendoff in her final episode where we learn all about her tragic backstory.

-Speaking of mediocre episodes, season seven has a bit more than previous seasons. A two-parter sees Riker and Picard go undercover to form a fake mutiny to sniff out a Vulcan double agent, and while it is not terrible by any means, the whole arc seems bloated and the second episode feels unnecessary. “Phantasms” is as bizarre as the dreams Data (Brent Spiner) has in the episode, but Data later has a redeeming character episode in “Inheritance” where he meets his mother…..then later hits another stumble in “Thine Own Self” where his radioactive experiments causes a planet’s population to become seriously ill. I will give season seven the benefit of the doubt for the noticeable bump up in lackluster episodes because several of the bonus interviews own up to this and attribute it to the cast and crew being spread thin with the final season of TNG, the second season of Deep Space Nine and being in pre-production of the first season of Voyager and the upcoming movie with the TNG crew, Generations. -The holodeck’s sendoff in TNG, “Emergence” is a decent affair that sees the crew go aboard the Orient Express to solve the mystery of how the holodeck becomes self-aware. The episode had a few promising moments, but could have been better. While I enjoyed the quality of holodeck episodes overall in TNG, from what I understand the holodeck episodes greatly suffer going forward and falls victim to holodeck malfunctions and sexual fantasy tropes.

Worf once again has a strong set of character-focused episodes this season. You have not lived until witnessing Worf adopt a cat for an episode, and experience a birthday party time-loop. -Worf (Michael Dorn) has one of the strongest slate of character episodes this season. Seeing Worf being a curmudgeon at his birthday party was pulled off to perfection! “Homeward” is a feel-good family episode where Worf resolves his rocky relationship with his foster brother, Nikolai (Paul Sorvino). The best Worf-centered episode is saved for last where he trains Alexander (James Sloyan) in the arts of becoming a Klingon warrior with the help of a mysterious Klingon friend.

-A couple other episodes that made strong impressions on me this season are “The Pegasus” and “Lower Decks.” In the former, Terry O’ Quinn of Lost fame, appears here as a higher-up from Starfleet to track down the lost USS Pegasus, but Picard (Patrick Stewart) eventually discovers a grand cover-up that has an enticing way of finding the truth of what Quinn’s character is hiding. “Lower Decks” is entirely focused on the background Ensigns and ancillary characters like Nurse Ogawa (Patti Yasutake). The last couple years saw the streaming service, Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) launch a Star Trek: Lower Decks animated series with the very same premise, and if you are a fan of the cartoon, you owe it to yourself to track down this episode as its source material. “Interface” and “Bloodlines” are both strong episodes dealing with long forgotten family members. The former has Geordi (LeVar Burton) risking his life with prototype tech to save his mother (Madge Sinclair), and the latter deals with Picard’s surprise of finding out he had a son (Ken Olandt) from a decades-prior relationship.

-Now to the moment of truth, it is time to cover the final two-part episode, “All Good Things…” The series finale naturally focuses on Jean-Luc as he finds himself constantly time-warping between three different time periods to solve a new challenge bestowed onto him by none other than Q (John de Lancie). I loved how they brought it back full-circle with one of the time periods emanating from the same setting as the original pilot episode of TNG where Q puts the then-newly assembled Enterprise crew on trial. The cast and crew hold nothing back for the final episode with an enthralling narrative as Picard pieces together Q’s final challenge, and has an emotional final scene where after seven seasons, Picard finally joins his crew for a round of poker. -Here is the paragraph with my obligatory kudos to the countless hours spent remastering TNG in HD for the BluRay set. I am not a video-phile and cannot immaculately explain with the proper tech verbiage on how they did it. All I can say is the staff painstakingly made it look like they shot it today, and it does not have any of the old fuzzy standard definition effects that would happen when forcing an SD resolution onto an HD set. Just watch this indicative video that overlays the remastered HD transfer over the SD version to see for yourself. I will also give yearly props to the podcast, Star Trek: The Next Conversation which chronicles every individual episode of TNG and has served as the best supplementary listening material to get the most out of every episode for me. The podcast took a hiatus during the pandemic, and only recently picked up again and are only a couple episodes into season seven as of this writing, so I will pat myself on the back at catching up to them when I was nearly a season and a half behind them when I started from the beginning of TNG.

-You guys know I love covering the bonus features, and season seven of the BluRay is absolutely jacked with them with previous bonus interviews and specials, and all new HD extras. According to my notes, it all added up for just over five hours of bonus materials, and that is not including a handful of commentary tracks on selected episodes. Going over each and every piece of bonus content will kill me, so instead I will highlight the handful that I got the most out of: -----Captain’s Tribute (16 min) – Stewart gives loving testimonials to the cast and crew. A lesson he learned from a dialog with Michael Dorn and LeVar Burton was a key takeaway here. -----In Conversation: Lensing ST: TNG (42 min) - This one is a new HD extra aimed at special effects enthusiasts where a roundtable discussion with camera operators and directors of photography reunite to talk shop of the many highs and lows of on the set production. While a fair amount of trade vernacular went right over my head, they provided ample context and their enthusiasm for their craft is irresistible!

I know it is asking a lot to dive into the many hours of bonus interviews, but nearly most of it is incredibly insightful and well worth your time! -----Starfleet Moments & Memories (30 min) – Awesome feature showcasing the camaraderie and humor between takes that indicates a true sense of friendship among the cast and crew. -----Closed Set: Tour of Real Enterprise (11 min) – The Okundas give a private, narrated, tour of the Enterprise filled with fun facts like how the set for sickbay gained a reputation among cast and crew as “nap-bay.” Every person should have their own nap-bay! -----Journeys End: The Saga of TNG (45 min) – Original 1994 TV special hosted by Jonathan Frakes celebrating the end of an era. ----Sky’s the Limit: Eclipse of TNG (89 min) – Three part special with part one primarily focused on the cast and crew having a lot of projects on their plate the final year and lovingly throwing shade at Picket Fences for stealing their Emmy award! Part two interviews various directors of episodes about their process, and Seth McFarlane shares a special moment he had with a fan on how the show saved their life. The third part interviews a lot of the cast on how they felt the show wrapped, with a couple highlights being Sirtis not being fond of the Worf/Deanna courtship, and Patrick Stewart remarking when asked about future projects that he would consider them, but thought they would ultimately be unnecessary. This was obviously recorded several years before Stewart would return as Picard in the current Paramount+ series, Picard.

-Suffice it to say, the extra features do not disappoint! As I foreshadowed above, there is an apparent dip in quality this season overall compared to the high bar set from seasons three through six, but I will cut the cast and crew some slack since they were seriously overworked during the 1993-94 season. There are still many excellent episodes though as I dissected above, and a terrific series finale that puts the best damn bow they possibly could on the TV series. Thank you so much for joining me on this ride over the past three years and bearing with me on my never-ending entries covering the series. If you missed out on previous entries, click here to see all my previous season recaps of The Next Generation, or click here to continue my journey with TNG crew with my reviews of all the Star Trek motion pictures.

Past TV/Web Series Blogs 2013-14 TV Season Recap 2014-15 TV Season Recap 2015-16 TV Season Recap 2016-17 TV Season Recap 2017-18 TV Season Recap 2018-19 TV Season Recap 2019-20 TV Season Recap Adventures of Briscoe County Jr: The Complete Series Baseball: A Ken Burns series Angry Videogame Nerd Home Video Collections Cobra Kai – Seasons 1-2 Mortal Kombat: Legacy - Season 1 | Season 2 OJ: Made in America: 30 for 30 RedvsBlue - Seasons 1-13 Roseanne – Seasons 1-9 Seinfeld - Final Season Star Trek: Next Generation – Seasons 1-7 Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle Superheroes: Pioneers of Television The Vietnam War: A Ken Burns series X-Men – The Animated Series: Volumes 4-5

[yoramkelmer]

Hogwarts Too Exposed Chapter 23: The Seer

Welcome back to the sporking. I know it´s been a year since the last time, but I finally got the energy to continue. I hope to finish the sporking of the second to last chapter of the fic today already.

When we last left off, there was (yet) another cliffhanger, and I´ll just say it now, it´s the Moaning Myrtle, as she also had to be dragged into this dreck. As she died as she was still a virgin, she is curious to what Jamie and Alex are doing. It ends with this here:

Myrtle was reluctant to leave, but decided that a descriptive conversation was better than nothing. "You won't forget; you promise?" Myrtle practically begged. "I'll come visit you in your bathroom immediately after my last class," Jamie promised. "Would it be possible for him to drop the towel before I leave?" Myrtle asked, almost pleaded. "I don't think so," Jamie said. "Alex isn't a naturist. He's rather embarrassed for his privates to be seen." As Jamie was speaking, however, Alex did something extremely unanticipated. He loosened his towel and let it drop to the floor. "Myrtle, if it's all right with you, I'd like to come and visit you with Jamie tomorrow," Alex said. Myrtle stared at Alex, her face carrying an expression that actually resembled a smile as she stuttered, "Th... that would b... be nice," before disappearing, with a swooshing sound, down the drain. Jamie just stood staring at Alex and shaking her head. "You never cease to amaze me Mr. Ward. What possessed you to drop that towel and tell Myrtle you'd accompany me tomorrow?" "Everyone makes fun of her; calls her 'Moaning Myrtle'." Alex said. "Jamie, she was no older than us when her life was taken from her. She never got to experience love like we have. What if that had happened to one of us? And now she's destined to spend eternity in the Hogwarts plumbing system. "I feel sorry for her. If dropping my towel gave her a smile and made her existence more bearable, I'm glad I did it," Alex admitted unashamedly. Jamie had a tear in her eye. "Add another entry to the long list of reasons why I love you," she said. "Meet me in the middle of the bed, and I'll show you just how much."

Jamie is such a speshul and selfless Mary Sue that she wants to teach a ghost about Sex. Yeah. Right.

*barf*

* * * * * *

Cut for a very boring and dragged out scene with Harry and Hermione talking about their past, whether Caitlin and Emily are “done with it” and a reminder of the court case regarding Amanadas pregnancy.

* * * * * *

"I can't do this!" Ron grumbled. "People are only supposed to be naked when they have sex or take a shower. Not when they sit down to dinner."

I feel for Ron right now, even though this strawman dialogue is terrible and forced. "You never seem to have a problem with me being nude the majority of the time," Samantha protested. "That's because you're a girl, a very attractive girl. Girls look good naked, but it's gay for a guy to parade around like this," Ron argued. "What will Timmy think?

You can really feel here how much Neil hates Ron. "I don't know," Sam admitted. "I only know that if we're going on this cruise, you have to start somewhere and being nude at home in front of Timmy and me seems the logical first step." "Maybe this whole cruise thing was a bad idea. Perhaps we should just forget it and see if we can get our money refunded," Ron suggested. "Is that what you really want to do?" Sam asked, dejectedly. "I'll have Hermione check into it, if you like." One look at the disenchanted expression on Sam's face and Ron realized he couldn't back out. "It's just.... Look at me! I'm a tall scrawny, pile of freckles. Maybe if I was some Greek Adonis it wouldn't be so bad."

Cut for more boring. And then Timmy comments on how big Rons penis is. Oh G-d is this terrible....

Friday, February 18, 2005 10:00 AM "Do you have any idea why the change of location for the meeting?" Hermione asked as Severus and she hurried toward the conference room. "It was made to sound like it was being done out of deference to you," the Headmaster responded, "but I imagine it's more of a surprise inspection of the school." Is Neil trying to make already out of character Snape sound like Dumbledore?

"I'm sorry Severus," Hermione said guiltily. "I didn't mean to make trouble for you. It's just that I couldn't sit idly by and let Amanda be tossed out of school without even trying to prevent it." "There's no need for you to apologize," Severus said. "I totally support your viewpoint. I'm just concerned that this meeting may turn out to be more about Professor Granger than Amanda Pierce. Of course they will make this all be about Hermie Sue. The board was rather backed into a corner and compelled to keep you on after the Playwizard incident. They might see this as an opportunity to vent their frustration." 

Be prepared for a totally clichéed court case filled with Strawmen, even worse than the custody case earlier in this fic.  "Amanda doesn't have a chance of staying in school, does she?" Hermione asked, aggravation evident in her voice. "I can't believe the Board of Governors would use her to get back at me." 

Come on, we all know that she is going to stay.  "I doubt they would allow Amanda to remain under any condition," Severus answered. "Phineas Buster -___-  and his wife will, however, take great pleasure in making you think the outcome is because of you." Hermione came to a sudden stop. "If they've already made their decision, why are we wasting our time?" "Because they are bland moustache twirling villains who do this all for the LOLs Hermione, I believe in miracles, and I believe in you," Severus said, putting his arm around Hermione, encouragingly. "If anyone can pull this off, it's you." 

Things Severus would never say #9784553  "I wish I had your faith."

* * * * * *

12:15 PM "I believe that concludes all the business before the Board with the exception of the Amanda Pierce issue," Phineas Buster announced. "I move that she be immediately expelled. Those in agreement please signify." 

It´s time to find a gif that pretty much illustrates this character:

"Excuse me," Severus said interrupting Phineas, "Aren't we going to discuss the matter first? Professor Granger has been waiting in the outer chamber for over two hours to address the Board on the subject. The governors exchanged glances of varying surprise, most seemingly unaware that Hermione was planning to testify. 

Why were they, though?  "Yes, I received your owl stating that the learned Professor would like to address us," Mr. Buster said patronizingly, just as he paused to twirl his moustache. "I really feel it is a waste of our valuable time." "It most certainly would be," Balla Buster seriously?, concurred. "The little trollop got herself pregnant and thus must pay the consequences. Hogwarts is a school of witchcraft and wizardry, not a school of sin and fornication." 

Here we have the stereotypical puritan strawman. For the sake of the LOLs I´m gonna imagine her like Aunt Lydia. 

"But if Professor Granger has been waiting that lengthy a time to address us, we should at least afford her the respect of listening to what she has to say," Amelia Bones urged. Much to the chagrin of Phineas Buster, many of the other governors agreed with Ms Bones. He paused again to twirl his moustache. 

"Very well," Phineas said reluctantly. "Headmaster Snape, will you please ask Professor Granger to join us?" As Severus stood to go and get Hermione, Phineas commented not the least bit softly to his wife. "This should be good; the tart defending the trollop." 

As Hermione entered the room, she glanced at the faces of the twelve governors, trying desperately to hide her feeling of total despair. She´s so beautiful, it´s a curse! At age fifty, Amelia Bones was easily the youngest board member; she at least acknowledged Hermione with a smile. As introductions were made some of the others gave her a polite nod, others simply glanced at her grumpily.

Hermione had immediately recognized Professor Tofty and Griselda Marchbanks from her O.W.L. tests and was shocked to discover that Neville's grandmother was on the board as well. The balance of the members, she had never met before, but they all shared one commonality; they were, for the most part, ancient. 

Now, I myself am not that big on knowlegde on HP-lore, and therefore don´t know these names, but I find it really annoying the way Neil just puts in random names to show off his big knowledge and trying too hard to sound like JKR when writing. 

His writing sucks.  "Professor Granger, the Headmaster informs us that you would like to address us prior to our expelling of Amanda Pierce," Phineas Buster echoed in an irate voice. "Please make it brief since it is already past noon." Hermione had intended to maintain her composure, knowing that it would serve no good purpose to anger the governors, but the way this arrogant bastard addressed her made it sound like she was an annoyance and that Amanda was already out. "I'm sorry that you feel I am wasting your time," she said, addressing the entire board, but directing her gaze at Phineas Buster, "but I feel a young woman's future is of more importance than stuffing our faces. I'm sure you can survive." Hermione looked intently at Buster's portly stomach. 

Beauty equals goodness, after all.  Severus grimaced. He had doubted that Hermione had any prospect of convincing the board to allow Amanda to remain, but had hoped the meeting would at least be civil. Evidently, neither Phineas Buster nor Hermione intended to restrain him or herself. 

But Hermie Sue is of course in the right when she acts this way.  "We have to guard the reputation of the school," Balla Buster said, smugly. "Perhaps Miss Pierce should have been more concerned about her future when she decided to act as foolishly as she did. Your alzheimers is dangerous!" 

Snip.

Then this:

"They should abstain," Bella Buster it´s hard to know whether this is what Neil originally wanted to name Ballabuster, but for several paragraphs her name was “Balla”, and for the rest of this scene, it´s “Bella” - it really shows how bad Neils writing is and how bad his betas are. If these betas actually exist, that is.  bellowed. "In my day a young lady never considered having sex before marriage." Hermione studied Bella, who had to be at least one hundred fifty. "Was yours a prearranged marriage," Hermione asked. Bella was caught off guard and became flustered. "Well, yes, but what does that have to do with it? Brides were all virgins. Our generation had morals." "May I ask how old you were when you and Mr. Buster were married?" Bella dithered before finally saying, "Thirteen."

This is the first time we hear about this kind of young marriages in this Saga - and keep in mind, in this scene it is treated as wrong and oldstylish, but in the next fic Neil has no problem with a 13-14 year old girl having a relationship with a guy in his twenties. 

And cut to the end of the trial, with Draco saving the day and Amanada can remain in school despite her pregnancy. 

The next part I think is a proof of Neil being a fan of the Draco Trilogy:

Hermione ran to catch up with Draco. "Draco," she yelled. He stopped and turned toward her. "Thank you," she said, kissing him on the cheek. 

The Draco Trilogy all over again.  "Don't go all mushy on me, Granger. It's still me, Ole Draco. I've not suddenly become one of the good guys." 

"But what you did in there," she said, looking confused. "Nothing has changed. At some future meeting, we'll undoubtedly be at each others' throats again," Draco said dismissively. "Some things will never change. I'm a pure blood and you're a muggleborn." 

This sounds so forced. 

And also Neil desperately trying to portray Draco as “in-character”. Not to mention that the blood status here seems misplaced too, considering this canon where Draco was abandoned by Crabbe and Goyle etc.  "But..." "I was concerned that you might have a fit and end up quitting," Draco admitted. "You might be an insufferable, know-it-all, but you're too damn good a teacher to lose." 

-_-  Hermione simply smiled. "Protest all you want, but I think there still might be hope for you."

You´re in Hogwarts Exposed, all hope is lost by default here. 

* * * * * *

Cut for a  boring scene with Quidditch info that goes nowhere. 

Now we get back to the actual plot again:

"I think perhaps I should have listened to you," what 12 year old talks like that? Emily said in a conceding voice as they seated themselves at the long Slytherin table. "I'll change clothes immediately after breakfast." "What made you change you mind?" Kim asked. "My bare bum against the wooden bench. If there isn't enough skirt for me to sit on, it must really be short," Emily admitted. "It's a weird thing about being a nudist. I'm not the least bit bothered if anyone sees me totally naked or even gets a glimpse of my so called private parts, but it does bother me if people think I am purposely dressing to expose those areas." 

Besides the fact that she talks like an adult, these are all LIES. Emily lives only to be seen naked by others!  "Most people probably wouldn't understand, but I believe I do," Kim said supportingly. She has been assimilated. "You don't dress skimpily in order to be sexy, but rather just because you hate wearing clothes." Repeating this Mantra won´t make it true. 

"That's it," Emily said, relieved that Kim understood, "but most people can't identify with how naturists feel having to be clothed all the time." Emily looked around the Great Hall. "Fortunately for me, most people either ate early or are skipping breakfast today." 

The dialogue, as you might have noticed, gets worse and worse each chapter.  The Great Hall, which on a school day was always crammed with students grabbing a good breakfast before the start of classes, was normally much calmer of weekends due to many students and even staff opting to sleep in. That was either apparently especially true today or everyone had eaten early, because with only fifteen minutes left before the end of breakfast, there were only about fifty students total at the four house tables. 

I though there were classes on weekends too? Remember last chapter? The Slytherin table was especially empty with huge gaps separating those present. Dick Bancroft and his ever present shadow, Dennis Crow were seated at the end closet to the staff table, so naturally Emily and Kim had sat at the extreme other end. The only other Slytherins present were the Scary Sues Denise and Janice who were on the other side about two-thirds of the way down the table and Tyler, who was on their side about mid table, sitting alone. Emily and Kim were enjoying this relative privacy; using the time to talk about the cruise. Emily had just taken a sip of her orange juice when it happened. UUUUUUUHHHHH At first Kim thought the glass had slipped for Emily's hand and broken, but then she saw the blood and realized that Emily had crushed the glass. 

Now we get to the thing that is the next oh so big point of the main plot that is mostly tossed aside for the boring soap opera bits.  Emily seemed oblivious to her injury as she stood up from the table, blood dripping from her bleeding hand. Kim tried talking to her friend, but Emily appeared to be in a trance, not even aware of her surroundings. When Emily spoke; it was with a voice not her own, but deep and raspy and so loud that her words echoed through the Hall. 

Remember the plot point about Jamie and Emilys father being a “seer”, who apparently couldnt foresee his own death? And how he definately was the last in his line with this power?

Yeah, it´s Emily who is the seer in the prophecy. 

Here is the full prophecy - be prepared for Neils purple prose:

"THE STARS PROCLAIM THE RETURN OF THE GREATEST DARKLORD FROM THE BLOOD OF INNOCENTS FOUR, THE GREAT LORD SLYTHERIN'S SPIRIT SHALL POUR. TWO OF HIS OWN, SEER AND HEIR, TWO OF HIS ENEMIES, HEALER AND HEIR, TWO DROPS OF EACH, NOT ANY MORE, WITH THEIR DEATH BY HIS HAND, TO HIS BODY HE WILL BE RETURNED, TO WALK THE EARTH A MORTAL MAN, BUT WHEN SLYTHERIN AND EVIL ARE JOINED, NOT EVEN THE COVENANT WILL BRING THE RESULT DOWN. THE DARKEST OF TIMES THEIR JOINING WILL BRING, SORROW AND PAIN WILL OFT BE THE FAME. MANY WILL DIE DREADING THE NAME, SALAZAR SLYTHERIN. THE WORLD WILL HAVE BUT ONE HOPE AND THAT IS TWO CUBED TO EIGHT WITH HEALTH AND SIGHT AND SPIRIT BRIGHT, THE HEART AND SOUL AND MIND WILL ADD THEIR WEIGHT BUT ONLY WHEN THE FLAMING DAUGHTER AND THE MOONCHILD JOIN THE FRAY WILL THE WORLD DEFEAT EVIL AND RETURN SLYTHERIN TO HIS GRAVE"

When she finished speaking, Emily collapsed to the floor in an epileptic type of seizure. Kim was at a loss as to what to do as her friend violently gyrated on the floor, shaking and tossing about. Since Emily and Kim had been seated on the wall side of the Slytherin table, none of the members of other houses were aware of what had happened to Emily. Of course. Yet no one could hear her oh so deep and loud voice. Most were discussing what she had said, thinking she had perhaps fainted and would be attended to by staff. That was until Denise yelled to her cousin. "Dick! Hurry, you can't miss this," Denise shouted. "Zacherley is having some sort of fit, she's tossing and turning about on the floor. Her skirt is nearly up to her waist and she doesn't have any knickers on." 

And no word about the prophecy. Neil, your writing sucks! Also shows how basically everyone in Exposed!Hogwarts is a perv.  You would have thought that she had announced that Honeydukes was giving away free candy. Not only Dick, but also every other student in the Hall, both male and female, ran frantically to witness the sight. But Tyler was nearest and, despite the fact that Emily hated him, he didn't hesitate to run and throw his body on top of hers to obstruct the other students from viewing her. "Her breasts," Kim shouted in panic to Tyler. He had successfully succeeded in covering Emily's lower extremities with his body and was doing his utmost to maintain that coverage despite her gyrations, but now her breasts were also exposed. Not knowing what else to do, he quickly covered them with his hands. "Just what type of perversion is going on here?" Professor Malfoy said, looking down scornfully at the couple on the floor. End of Chapter 23

Of course on a cliffhanger again. 

As always, I would like to thank those of you who took the time to review. Without your reviews I doubt the original Hogwarts Exposed story would have ever been finished, yet alone become a series.

Thank you also to my wonderful betas: Amber, Paul, Peter and Matt.

....who missed out the Balla/Belle inconsistency during the court hearing. 

[luminisvii]

So it’s pretty late right now and I’m liberally using the Bold function, but let’s talk about bad fanfiction.

Usually the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to bad fanfiction is My Immortal. Anyone who’s talked to me for more than five minutes knows that My Immortal is undoubtedly one of my favorite pieces of literature. And that’s not a joke, I think it’s an absolute masterpiece of bad. The misspellings, the reworkings of the characters to be goth/scene in an incredibly middle school way, to Marty McFly’s cameo to the chapter written by a self proclaimed troll--It’s a perfect storm of bad literature that makes for a hilarious read. I won’t get into a huge tangent but what makes My Immortal so funny is it has a certain level of naturalness to its writing where you’re never quite sure how serious the author is. The true joke is the mystery. We’ll never know who wrote the infamous fic and how serious they were when they did.

However, My Immortal is kind of scratching the surface. See, that’s a fic that’s actually funny bad. Most bad fanfiction is bad bad. Today, I intend to discuss the lesser known fanfic that I rank as being one of the most difficult reading experiences I ever had, and I only successfully pulled through after many years thanks to the love and support of my friends and us reading it out loud at 4 AM.

That fanfic is known as My Inner Life. Don’t let the title fool you, it was written well before our favorite goff showcase and it’s honestly a whole lot worse. This Legend of Zelda fic, written by one Jen and based on her dreams, features a young lady named Jenna who is a simple merchant traveling in Hyrule when one Link catches her eye and it goes downhill from there. The short version is that there’s a lot of overly dramatic sex, tedious clothes descriptions that include too many triforces, poor treatment of horses, Jenna getting praised and lavished with attention for no reason, and no research put into the lore.  After a while it straight up forgets about being an Ocarina of Time fanfic and launches off into some nonsense about griffins and an evil lord I can’t actually remember the name of (It was very late and I was very tired so I called him Lord Asshole after a while, it has the same effect) and also that The Griffins, who live just beyond the Black Mountains, do not trust easily.

If you wish to read it, you should probably quit now, but if you are too weak (which is honestly understandable) here’s my recounting of the story.

Where to start is a little bit hard, but a good place is the insane 2,000 word author’s note at the beginning. Jen, seemingly unaware of how thin skinned she’s being, goes on about how anyone who leaves her a negative review is being is immature and thin-skinned. Here’s a delightful excerpt that shows the author’s view on all of this!

“Also as a side note, I NEVER physically hurt ANYONE with this story. I got one reviewer that said. “Oh God please stop writing, your hurting everyone.” Now I want to know where I physically touched that person. I want to know how I’m twisting anyone’s arms to read this. I have never done anything of the sort in any way, shape or form and I DO NOT appreciate being accused of that! If you’re emotionally hurt over this, its your fault not mine.”

She spends quite a bit of time talking about how reviewers need to be more mature as she dedicates that much time to complaining about negative reviews and methodically rebuking everything they say from her poor grammar to Jenna being a Mary Sue. Now, props to the author for straight up saying that Jenna is the obvious author avatar that she is--Jenna is simply the dream persona of Jen, which okay, fine, that is not that bad. It’s what happens with Jenna that really makes me want to drink.

The other majorly telling factor is the first line of the story itself.

“Dreams come in many forms. Some good, some bad, some very realistic, even ones that feels very real.”

You may have noticed a redundancy there. That is only the beginning. If you get tired of hearing about the same things repeatedly, you will be VERY tired very quickly in here. Jen likes to constantly explain things to the point where she has footnotes in the story, and just after citing a footnote she explains what was cited in text anyway so now you have a double explanation.

“A tale of love, passion, despair and hope. I enjoyed my inner life. I looked forward to going to sleep to it every night. And I look forward to ones that will come, because LOVE WILL NEVER DIE.”

I love quoting that. I’m also not sleeping so I guess I don’t know the meaning of true love.

Anything beyond this point is where I start to die because I actually grew up playing Ocarina of Time and I’m quite well versed in its lore, so if you are too this is going to be about as pleasant as root canal.

Since me recounting everything in detail means we’d be here into the next year, I’m going to try to boil this down to its essence. TL;DR: Jenna meets Link and they fuck. Badly. A month later and they’re getting married so they can fuck more. This whole time you have King Hyrule who is treating a random merchant off the street better than Zelda, the Sages are just inexplicably back despite now residing in the Sacred Realm. Zelda also inherently gives up the throne because she will not marry and thus is no longer in the line of succession but this random guy from Kokiri Forest who married a random merchant is! Ruto is turned into a jealous harpy and the other sages hardly appear at all.

After they get married they go to the part where I quit the first time I started reading this fic which was the Bonding Ceremony. If getting married to a guy you met a month ago wasn’t enough, going to a monastery and getting telepathically bonded by drinking his piss sure is. Okay, it’s not JUST the piss drinking, but that was enough to make poor 2014 me stop trying and go lie down. They also fuck in front of the monks because that’s a thing straight people do, I guess.

Somewhere in there Jenna gets pregnant and has a child. She names the child Link Jr. I don’t have anything to say about that, I think it’s comedy in itself. On top of that Epona also gets pregnant so they get new horses named Midnight Star and Star Dancer. That’s not an important detail at all, my friend simply hates those horse names and I’m bringing them up on the off chance that she reads this.

Oh yeah, Dark Link is an antagonist at one point and he inexplicably talks exactly like a stereotypical villain and ties Link and Jenna up in a room and leaves them there for no reason like a small time crook leaving Batman in a cage with all his gizmos nearby. And turns out Jenna has magical powers and is from some ancient race of super people or whatever. They have to explain this over and over again in the same few paragraphs and I want to die.

Beyond all the bad sex that has tiger metaphors (Somehow Jen knows how tigers fuck) there’s the Original Material which had me crying more than the tragedy that was the remain of OoT’s story. Once we get tired of Link and Jenna’s love story and Tiger Sex, there’s suddenly an invasion from Lord Ariakas who is threatening the Griffins who live beyond the Black Mountains, just a day’s ride from Hyrule. He’s just some evil guy who threatens the Griffins, who do not trust easily, and who live near The Black Mountains. If you think redundancy is painful then prepare for the worst redundancy you’ve seen yet. I went insane when we were reading this and tallied all the times The Black Mountains are mentioned and turns out it was a whole lot less than I thought, but almost all of them happened in a short amount of time so it felt like an eternity of explaining The Black Fucking Mountains. Turns out I’m a masochist of sorts because this STILL didn’t shake me off. In order to repel Lord Arakias’ forces, Link and Jenna need to talk to the Griffins who like to make a big deal about how they don’t trust anyone as they instantly trust Jenna and let her into their royal court to give her support and magical gifts. It’s kind of incredible how Jenna does nothing and is constantly rewarded for it.

Sadly this ends in a cliffhanger, like all good terrible fanfics. But that’s a semi-coherent retelling of the actual plot. It takes way too long to explain any of these plot points in story. Characters constantly repeat themselves, there’s a bunch of small plot points I left out because we’d REALLY be here all year if we talked about this, there’s the original material where I have to give credit that she went and did this BUT ALSO DID YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS MANY TIMES WHAT THE BLACK FUCKING MOUNTAINS ARE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

I’m not okay. Time for some deeper analysis of particularly notable parts.

The sex scenes are sadly some of the less entertaining sections. They’re pretty boring for the most part, but then you have shit like “I turned tigress” and my personal favorite, “when I took his nut sack and caressed it with my hand, it was his undoing.” That exact sentence shows up TWICE in the fic, same wording and everything. Remember this, ladies, next time you have sex with a man, caress his nut sack. It’ll be his undoing. It’s not just the silly wording, though, there’s some stupid stuff in there too about how having sex makes your children stronger and also exactly how much fluid Jenna is ejecting which is a little bit alarming to say the least. Otherwise they’re a bit bland and use the same flowery language that you’d expect from poorly written erotica. Also they fuck in front of a bunch of monks. It’s for the bonding.

If you’re into LoZ lore then you’re going to have a bad time, too. My favorite thing is showing people the segment where Jenna explains how the OoT timeskip works because it makes zero sense to everyone, OoT fan or not. Let’s take a quick history lesson for OoT if you’re not familiar with it. In Ocarina of Time, a major plot point and element of gameplay is that Link travels between past and future in a seven year gap. From Link’s point of view, the change is instantaneous, right down to the fact that his age changes from child to adult and vice versa. To everyone else, they’re living those seven years. Time continues without Link there to observe it, and in Link’s absence Hyrule collapses. Thus is the plot--trying to stop Ganondorf from destroying the future with a power that Link and Zelda accidentally gave him. The point is all Non-Link people experience time normally, and the world moves on.

Somehow Jenna missed something that I inherently understood when I was a wee child of 8, barely able to play Ocarina of Time due to poor reading comprehension and lack of Zelda Puzzle Solving Skills™.

“Gannondorf tricked the soon to be "Hero of Time" into unlocking the door to the Sacred Realm. I even noticed that Zelda was a little older then I. Last I saw her she was four years younger then me. It was told to me that when Gannondorf went into the Temple of Time and into the Scared Realm, time jumped ahead in Hyrule seven years. Yet only two years passed in my land. And in the rest of the world.

After the "Hero of Time" defeated the King of Evil, the hero was granted to either return to the past or to remain in the present time. Since he chose to remain in the present Zelda jumped ahead of me in age by four years.  It seems that everyone in Hyrule jumped in age from the rest of the world.”

I’m not sure I really understand still. I’ve read this so many times trying to comprehend and maybe I’m just stupid but this doesn’t scan. But when you time travel it should affect the whole world or else that’d be pretty fucked. Back To The Future would be pretty wack if only Hill Valley was sent back to the 50s but everywhere else was still 80s.

God, I spent too much time on this. It still hurts my brain.

I also just have to have a section where I metaphorically hand Zelda a box of chocolates and a check for 5,000 dollars for even being in this mess. The real MVP of the story is Zelda for tolerating all this bullshit. She has to watch her father treat Jenna better than her, she gives Jenna a bracelet from her mother who is dead for Jenna’s wedding, she has to passively accept that because she isn’t married she’s lost her claim to the throne and it’s being handed over to Link and Jenna because despite both of them being nobodies they’re more legitimate heirs to the throne than the king’s own daughter. She also has to be the one to help Jenna birth her baby and it’s maybe a little bit weird to have the princess of a nation be your personal midwife. Even if she is your so called best friend. Were I ever in the circumstances of giving birth, I wouldn’t make my friends help. Please get an actual nurse. Also for some reason Jenna won’t stop calling her baby a miracle and it’s done so frequently it’s a little off-putting. Even the chapter where the child is born is called “The Miracle” like idk I know life is mysterious and miraculous but I’m not sure giving birth, something a lot of cis woman can do, is a “miracle.” Me not sobbing while reading this is a miracle. Zelda, honey, you deserve so much better.

I’m running out of things that will actually last a paragraph or so tangent wise, so time to wrap things up with smaller notes:

-Jenna thinks that you boot horses in the knees to get them moving. You are probably not riding a horse right if you can kick it in the knees while sitting on its back. That’s not even getting into other horse related mishaps like the fact that kneecapping them isn’t a good idea either.

-Link Jr. is capable of math at like, four months or something. I wish I was that talented.

-Ruto is my wife and I will not stand for this slander against her. Yeah, call me a fish fucker if you want, Sidon is cute too don’t @ me

-Take a shot every time Jenna mentions triforces on her outfit (actually don’t)

-Jenna makes a big deal about how Link has to go off to war and how she’ll miss him and he’ll miss her and it’s all very emotional but he’s back literally the next chapter

-One of my favorite moments is Mido rightfully pointing out that Jenna isn’t a Kokiri and thus has no right to receive a fairy but everyone thinks he’s being super rude for actually having common sense. They barely gave LINK a fairy and he grew up there!

-I inflicted this on my friends and it went as well as you’d think it would. Quote supplied by Jen who is not THAT Jen but a far superior one

-Somewhere in the fic suddenly Link and Zelda’s eyes are capable of changing color based on mood, or maybe they could do this the whole time and my eyes were changing based on mood alright, they were glazing over and I missed it

-Jen always types “threw” instead of “through” and it’s just enough to throw me off every time. Also every time a character starts a new sentence she starts another set of quotations even if they were already talking and occasionally she misspells “huge” as “hugh” which leads to some hilarious circumstances

-THEY DRANK EACH OTHER’S PISS

-Apparently when you are telepathically bonded with your Husband/Wife you aren’t allowed to be in a room with someone of the opposite sex AT ALL. Personally I think that reeks of insecurity

-Also because a good pal loses her shit every time we mention it, Jen couldn’t come up with a marriage ceremony that wasn’t just a christian one for a universe where christianity doesn’t exist, but she sure likes to put world building into those DAMN GRIFFINS

All in All? My Inner Life is not for the weak willed. It is INCREDIBLY long and redundant and while it’s still pretty funny, it’s mostly plain terrible. I consider is a much better showcase of what bad fanfiction is actually like, and also since it’s of a more standard awful, it means people can’t badly parody it while missing the point as to why it’s funny. So at least there will only be one My Inner Life and no imitators.

Seriously, I hate My Immortal imitators. Write your own terrible fanfiction, damn you! If I had a shot for every time a fanfic was compared to My Immortal I would be dead six years ago. Getting compared to MI is not a good thing, but not for the reasons you’d think. At least My Inner Life only shares the basic premise of a self insert character and the rest is a ride of complete bullshit that’s par the course for terrible Mary Sue fiction. Everyone loves Jenna for no reason and those who voice the valid concerns against her are seen as unreasonable and stupid. Characters are bent backwards to serve the threadbare plot and apparently Jenna’s love life alone is enough to constitute half of the story before we just plain forget it’s a Legend of Zelda fanfic and it goes off into some generic high fantasy horse crap with dragons and Griffins and some evil guy like what even is his name and it all ends without any real closure.

However if you are strong enough or maybe just a masochist (me) I highly recommend this fic for just being a test of endurance and also for all the funny little moments sprinkled throughout. It’ll certainly be a waste of time and it’s a good thing to read with friends. While it’s an oldie, it’s a goodie, and no one comes out unscathed.

Also the author apparently is a good sport about it now, although who knows. It’s just a thing I heard. While I like making fun of Jen throughout reading the fic, she doesn’t seem awful. Just perhaps young and unaware.

Truly, the real treasure was the piss we drank along the way. I’m sorry I will never be over that

[ogiga99]

Guess who’s back in the world of BlazBlue!!!

So I just finished playing Central Fiction’s story mode and HOOOOOOOOOOOLY CRAP was that a ride. It was so good I was in tears at certain points. However it was not perfect. After playing it I just have to get out my thoughts about the game out. So here are my ramblings about everything in no particular order.

1. Obviously I miss the dub. While I did get used to the Japanese voices and they were certainly capable of handling all the drama well, the story will forever feel weaker than it could have been in dubbed form. I think the comedy suffered the most because unlike the previous games I never broke out into a full blown laughing fit, even for the Gag Reels.

2. I loved the sub-scenario system. BlazBlue has always struggled with how to present its story in a complete package. CT and CS had individual character stories followed by a True Ending which did give every character a lot of focus but at the cost of us having no single timeline of events, forcing us to try and piece together what is ultimately canon. CP ditched individual scenarios and instead had three routes to spread the focus around but this led to a lot of conflicting or repeated events that had the same problem as the previous games. CF’s system is the ultimate compromise. It has one single path that leaves no room for conflicting material but with diverging points that focus on the various subplots mostly separate from Ragna. If they ever make a new BlazBlue game I hope they keep this system.

3. The events equivalent to Act I of arcade mode went on a bit too long. Ultimately we don’t learn that much from it and all the characters have regressed in their development so we don’t gain anything from them. It was an interesting plot point but it wasn’t necessary.

4. Conversely, Acts II and III went by way too quickly, being pretty much just Ragna’s arcade runs. While later events do treat things as if all the arcade events of other characters happened offscreen (several characters mention meeting Izanami and know to search for Noel) it seems strange to have them all glossed over. Act III in particular suffers because the “Noel witch hunt” that drives it was basically a non-issue. Kagura and Kokonoe find and hide her immediately and she never has a breakdown from everyone trying to kill her. Seemingly important events like Amane reviving Takamagahara (which just gets a token mention during his final conversation with Ragna), Hibiki being willing to turn against Kagura for his desire and Tsubaki learning Hakumen is Jin are ignored. What we got after that was great but I don’t see why we couldn’t have had a few more sub-scenarios about that stuff.

5. I’m impressed with how well they managed to handle the defeats of so many villains (with the exception of Relius who just leaves without consequence and Nu who gets easily memory wiped). Nine, Arakune, Azrael, Izanami, Hazama and finally Terumi all have dramatic and satisfying defeats that don’t feel forced. Before release I was expecting Hazama to simply end up in the background and be held as reserve for a sequel villain once he separated from Terumi but what we got was so much better (granted he’s not dead since he’s almost certainly going to be in Bloodedge Experience sequels). In particular Terumi’s was really satisfying after everything that he’s done.

6. I’m really glad with how the Litchi/Arakune and Bullet/Tager subplots turned out. Despite the game’s focus on Ragna they were both given ample time to play out to their fullest. Litchi finally can move on from her self-destructive mission and Bang was the one to defeat Arakune (like I always envisioned it) to spare Litchi from such hardship (further proof why he is the best character). While Tager doesn’t regain his memories, Bullet can find closure and move on, proving she’s truly grown since she was a rookie. Both endings are bittersweet but they are done really well.

7. I’m not sure how to feel about how well Naoto’s inclusion was handled. On the one hand his role in the climax was perfect, having just one job that doesn’t overstep his importance. On the other hand, I’m disappointed with how little we actually learn about him. Apparently he has been hopping between parallel worlds multiple times to find Raquel but we don’t know how he ended up doing that. We also don’t get any answers to the major questions about him (why is he so similar to Ragna and why does he overwrite Ragna’s existence, what is the relationship between Rachel and Raquel, why does Naoto have that symbol on his chest etc.). I can only hope BE gets some kind of sequel because as is I am unsatisfied.

8. Es was utterly wasted in this game. She probably has less than 30 minutes of screen time in total and doesn’t actually accomplish anything with it. Before release I went on and on about how there are so many questions regarding how she can be here (namely she couldn’t have the Murakumo and the Azure Eyes at the same time and she can’t be outside the Phantom Field while she is the Embryo Storage) and the game answers none of them. Apparently this Es was “created by the Azure” but what does that mean? Is this a different Es that was made with the XBlaze one as a template and if so why was Es specifically chosen? Es mentions her loved ones several times (although she never specifies names outside of victory quotes) so clearly she has the XBlaze memories in some way but how does that work with her very different origin? Why does she perfectly remember her past in story mode but seems unaware of it in her victory quotes with her being confused about search terms in her memories? If it is an Es from post-XBlaze then what happened to the XBlaze world? Was it a “possibility” like the Bloodedge Experience world that disappeared? Was it from the same timeline as the Prime Field War? Should the fact that Es remains the Guardian of the Azure at the end be a good thing or is she being separated from Touya and the others for the sake of her duty. But the worst part of all is that not once in story or her arcade mode does she meet Nine and Celica. The majority of XBlaze: Lost Memories is about Watashi (Nine) and Imouto (Celica) become friends with Nobody (Es) and the ending clearly hints that they will meet again. At the very least there should have been a sub-scenario where Nine ends up in front of the Azure Gate for some reason (like Mu and Naoto did early on) and the two meet again but as enemies. It wouldn’t need to go anywhere, just have Nine doubt herself a little because she would have to fight against another one of her loved ones (which was the focus of her fight with Ragna and her death) or something like that. Heck even seeing Es’s silhouette when Nine mentions her loved ones would be something. It honestly seems like Mori had no idea what to do with Es so he just threw her in with no regard for continuity and it is easily the weakest part of the story.

9. Aside from the Es stuff I did enjoy that there were a lot of references to the side materials since I’m a lore nut. I love how Makoto reminds Es and Naoto of their respective Yuki’s. Hearing more details about Tomonori and seeing Kajun in the ending were great. I was absolutely ecstatic when Nine sees Celica as Imouto during her fight with Ragna, FINALLY being the 100% undeniable truth that the Mercury sisters are the characters in LM. That said, I could have done with just a few more, particularly on the XBlaze side. We should have gotten some reference to Nine using the Phantom Field or had her use the XBlaze in her left eye. Nine’s Overdrive being Burning Red highly suggested that we would see her using the Crimson Grimoire from Remix Heart, which last we saw was with Hazama. Ragna or Naoto should have triggered some memories of Touya in Es (at the very least he needed one namedrop) but most of this is just nitpicking.

10. ALL THE RAGNAXRACHEL SHIPPING!!! After CP had almost no new support since it focused so much on Ragna’s relationship with Celica, this game was the jackpot for the best ship in the series. With the disappearance of Celica and Noel fully accepting her position as Ragna’s sister, the path was clear for Rachel alone. We got great things like Rachel pushing herself to the point where she is close to disappearing just to help Ragna, Ragna being the maddest he has ever been after seeing Hazama torturing Rachel (as in so made he nearly became the Black Beast) and that FREAKING ANIMATED HUG, which was one of the most heart wrenching moments in the game. And of course there is the ending, with Rachel going off to find Ragna again no matter what hell she has to go through despite not even remembering who he is and even leaving her hair ribbons tied around his sword. Just DDDDAAAAWWWW!!!!

11. Speaking of the ending, even aside from the Rachel stuff it was pretty much perfect. It completed Ragna, Noel and especially Jin’s development masterfully and was just the right amount of bittersweet. Every characters epilogue was so fitting. Lambda living as a Sister with Noel is just too cute and I’m glad Naoto got the closure of finding Raquel. Pretty much everything that needed to be resolved was resolved.

12. The ending also had great cliffhangers that felt natural. Relius is still out there trying to complete Ignis, Hazama is unaccounted for (again probably will be the one we saw in the end of BE2), Carl hasn’t saved Ada yet but has taken a major step towards being a new villain as Relius Jr,, Azrael is still alive, merely sealed, Tsubaki has apparently become some kind of new Hakumen (although I doubt she has the Susano’o Unit since Hakumen and Trinity sealed it in the depths of the Boundary), the aforementioned Rachel journey and of course the post-credits scene with Ragna’s sword missing from the grave (implying he might still be alive) and the text hinting at Alpha-1.

And that’s pretty much it for my thoughts at the moment. Despite some complaints I am overall really happy with this game and glad I can finally get back into the discussion.