#thankfully most characters are not plot integrated so can be shorter

[factorialsotherfandoms]

From @cubitodragon

I know nothing about xcom but I do love hearing all the au babble SO: how did the morning crew form in this timeline? Are animal hybrids a thing or is it more a unit/call sign reference? What brought the various teams into contact with one another? What order did egg children show up in their lives? (Do bad and forever still have dumb arguments about politics during not!date dinners?)

Hihi! Okay so I'm running with XCOM2 specifically, which is a turn based strategy game where you run a group of resistance members who live on an alien spaceship they stole, and fight against aliens who invaded earth ~20 years prior, recruiting people, making contact with other resistance cells, gathering proof of crimes against humanity, etc. For sake of the AU making sense I cut this time down to like ~10 years ago. There's the very basic premise.

Okay so question one! So we actually have a couple of answers here. The simplest is that there's a shift pattern for who is on comms and checking the airship is going the right way (and also shift sleeping as there's like 10 beds for the entire group), and they have the morning shift. Very basic. HOWEVER, at the start of the missions, Tazercraft are missing. Tubbo also doesn't go out on active combat duty, being Chief Engineer. Tazercraft used to have that job but, well, there's a reason they're both missing and the Chief Engineer no longer goes on combat missions... Tubbo was about 14 when Mike found him blowing up a Federation base via rewiring their electrics, and took him back with them. Pac and Mike took him as their joint apprentice, and he got forced into their job when they vanished. Fit and Philza both showed up a bit later. Fit and Philza knew each other before the invasion, but were split pretty soon after it began, each ending up being heavily involved in different resistance cells which later folded into the main one. Philza knew Tubbo as a kid, though lost contact a bit before the war. Fit and Phil have actually been on the ship a couple of years when shit kicks off for plot, just not quite as long as Tubbo. It's a little funny - if you need one of the five the place you need to look is the engineering quarters. At the start it's Phil dragging Fit to check up on Tubbo, once Tazercraft are back (because of course they will be eventually), it's Fit dragging Phil there on vague excuses of getting gear fixed to make puppy eyes at his crush. Either way, if its one of the five of them you need, you check engineering first. Philza's the least likely to be there, Tubbo is most likely, but even if its Tubbo sleeping in a cupboard someone will be there and will know where the others are. Forming wise... Well they just kinda stumbled together. I think you can piece it together from the above?

Haven't quite decided on hybrids and such. On the one hand, all human is more sensible. On the other hand, hybrids are fun and I'm soft for wingfic and it'd help the eggs settle in... Better. If human society is used to hybrids of some forms. They're a bit... *vague gestures* off.

At the start of everything the egg children have yet to show up at all! I am still in the process of placing them all but currently... Operation Shadow Tomb brings Chayanne and Bobby Operation Rotting Wail brings Pomme and Richarlyson Operation Pungent Father brings Trump Operation Crypt Hand beings Dapper, Ramon, and Leo Operation Dismal Paramore brings JuanaFlippa and Tallulah Operation Haunting Night brings Tilin While those words have no meaning to you, they are in order lol. There are reasons they go this order (mostly who has parents where when, but also some of them due to plot happening in specific places). All of the eggs are safe from death, you will be pleased to know. I also reserve the right to add Hope and/or A1 in, but... Well A1 would take Trump's place, who would instead have to end up with Flippa and Tallulah. Memory would take Tilin's place, who would be dropped back to with Pomme, or even back to Bobby and Chayanne. It's not really to do with their canon ages or aught (okay bar the triplets coming as a three), but yk. It's not actually until Trump/A1 that they actually have any idea what the eggs /are/, beyond slightly odd children. Their parents love them anyway.

Bad and Forever have dumb arguments about literally everything all the time, and when he's injured Bad /will/ use the fact he's one of the squad captains, and therefore writes reports, and Forever is the commander of the operation, and therefore reads reports, to demand Forever bring him snacks/attention while he's injured. It is, unfortunately, a little hard for them to get time and privacy to have not!dates. Living on a single airship with like 40-ish other people once vague background NPCs are accounted for

I've picked out characters I struggle with (Bad, Forever, etc) to have to write a lot of the in-universe documents, and the entire main plot is in-universe documents and then I flesh it out piecemeal like the one fic I did already as takes my fancy. In theory. Not much is written.

[popculturebuffet]

House of Mouse: The Stolen Cartoons Review (Patreon Review)

Hello all you happy people! It’s Patreon Review Time. Since my 5 dollar or higherr patreons get 1 review a month, Kevin my 10 dollar patreon is using one of his to celebrate the 20th anniversary of House of Mouse by having me review a random episode a month. And for this month we’re going all the way back to the start with The Stolen Cartoons!

I already introed house of mouse back when I reviewed “The Three Cablleros” episode but for a refresher: House of Mouse is a 2001 cartoon about Mickey and Co running a club. Mickey is host, Minnie plans the show and runs the books, Donald tends to the VIP”s and co owns the club with Mickey, Goofy is head waiter,  Daisy runs guest services, Horace is technical support, Clarabelle is a gossip monger with no clear actual job, and Max is Valet. The show was used to repackage shorts from the short lived show Mickey mouseworks, using the club setting as a wraparound and said club was attentend by all the various characters from the disney canon. It’s as awesome as it sounds. 

The voice cast, which I didn’t intro thorughly last time, was equally awesome with all the actors for the characters at the time, all legends in the industry. Wayne Allwine as Mickey,who played the character from the late 70′s to his death, Russi Taylor as Minnie and the Triplets, who did the same and was also married to wayne, Tony Anselmo, who should be thorughly familiar to readers of this blog and donald duck fans as his voice since Ducktales, Voice Actress Tress Macneile as Daisy, likewise,  Jason Marsden as Max and Voice Acting Legend Jim Cummings as Pete. All except Allweine i’ve profieled before on this blog in various other series, but Wayne, outisde of a very minor role in black cauldron, only voiced Mickey, and to me is the defntiive voice for the guy, though Chris is getting close. 

The other notable members of the cast i havent’ covered are April Winchell, who while tremendous, I will save for an episode Clarabelle is actually in more, and Bill Farmer. I have a great amount of Love for Bill and like everyone here, he was a vertran of the industry by the time he showed up in this series. His defining roll far and away is goofy, who was, to my delighted surprise his FIRST voice audition, having studided PInto Colving’s voice well to the point you can barely tell the difference between the two, and having inherited the roll around the same time as Russi and Tony. He’s the voice of Goofy I and most kids from the 80′s onward have grown up with and is the best at the roll by far, having chances for depth and nuance Pinto wasn’t allowed with the Goofy Movies and other works. IN general he’s just THE goofy to me. He’s also the voice of horace and pluto, and currently voices Hop Pop in Amphibia which is super noteworthy as looking at his filmography like a lot of the sensational 6′s va’s he’s only voiced goofy or Pluto for most of his career. But hey like Tony, if you only do one charcter might as well be the fucking best at it. He also has a show on Disney Plus with him and dogs I need to watch yesterday. 

So with our cast out of the way, and not much history to go into, join me after the cut and we’ll see how House of Mouse got it’s start and if it was a good one. 

Breaking from my usual format for House of Mouse and doing the shorts as they come up int he main story for two reasons: The first is that the shorts are integral to the plot and the second is that there’s way more main story this time around than usual, likely to properly set things up. 

So we open at the House of Mouse with Mickey Adressing the club and showing off the general premise of this being a club for all of the various heroes and villains of disney to hang out and what not. He also presents the house rules which are no smoking (Fair and should’ve always been a thing), no villianous schemes and no eating the other guests, all helpfully demonstrated as he says them. We also get to see the others in action: Minnie handling the schedule and the crew, Donald welcoming the guests, and Daisy running the desk and getitng brainwashed by Jafar into giving him a table. Max also is providing his job as Valet which surprised me because I genuinely thought he didn’t join the cast till season 2.. despite the fact he’s right there in the credits.. which are the same for ALL THREE SEASONS. 

So things are going well.. so naturally that’s when Pete shows up to try and ruin things. Look he’s having a hard time after the divorce.. several years ago. Okay maybe he’s always just been a dick and that’s why he’s divorced in the first place. Point is he naturally wants to shut the club down, boot them out, and wreck up the place like any natural cartoon villian or real estate scum bag landlord. Pete just happens to be both because he can multitask. .and because it’s basically the same thing you just have to be animated for one of them.  Thankfully whoever the previous Landlord was, i’m going with Shere Kahn given the setting, his roll in tailspin and the fact the obvious candidate, scrooge, would make no sense here given a later episode where he guest stars, wrote into the contract that as long as the show goes on, they can stay in business. Pete stews over this and naturally plans to stop the show while Minnie, in a cute bit, comforts a nervous mickey and just tells him to play some cartoons. So...

Pluto Gets the Paper: Wet Cement and Donald’s Dynamite: Magic Act I”m covering both of these at once. But as I said the animated shorts this time are one big sized one and two of the shorter ones to make more room for the story. Which is fair: this is the first episode, and thus needs to set up the premise. The series isn’t story driven but your first episode should still feel like one, ease you into the world and get you situated and THEN can do the normal format. It’s also in the episode’s favor as the heavier story focus meant a BETTER story than most season 1 episodes, on par with the two season 3 episodes i’ve covered so far. 

The shorts themselves are fine. So far this is the only Pluto Short i’ve liked as it has a neat enough gaga: Pluto has to get the paper in wet cement. Why did the paperboy throw it in wet cement instead of in the driveway, I dunno but given this short is well.. short and just meant to deliver on some quick gags, I’m not going to question it. It’s the first Pluto short i’ve covered without any dog sexual harassment, i’m not looking a gift dog in the mouth. 

The other short short played right after is part of a series where Donald ends up trying to get rid of a round bomb that shows up wherever he is....

It’s pretty damn funny, though being a huge Donald fan i’m obviously biased, but even removing my donald duck brand sunglasses, I will concede this was objectively fun.

But the cartoons stop as, true to the title, they’ve gone missing! Horace is found tied up, the cartoons are gone and Pete is obviously responsible. and hilariously so as the rope has his name on it and he says “I don’t know horace horsecollar” There are a LOT of good gags in this one, i’m leaving a lot out for time’s sake. 

So Mickey and Minnie come up with a plan: Mickey sends the.. Quackstreet Boys.... to stall. Now it may shock you but I actually LIKE the backstreet boys. Not to an extreme amount but I did grow up with them, and even now find their music pretty damn good. No my issue is this parody is weak, mostly running entirely on the title pun. The most I can give them credit for is using the outfits from their second album cover. No I wasn’t kidding I did grow up with them. You saw that everywhere so even if I didn’t enjoy their music then and now, i’d know it. But it just feels really weak, like they had no idea what to DO with the boys and instead just slapped them in a lame parody. It dosen’t help i’m not a fan of the classic version of the boys outside of the comics, as I feel later productions should’ve had them actually be distinct, and it took until 2017 to pull that off with the reboot, something I fear may be undone in future productions. Please.. don’t.. you can have Cristina Vee voice them all, I don’t care about the voice I just want to be able to tell them a apart. So yeah I don’t like it but it dosen’t drag the episode down. Just something I wanted to have a moan about. 

So they split up: Mickey, Minnie and Goofy go to shoot a cartoon while Donald runs the club. Naturally he rebrands.. but what really is telling is everyone boos him when he tries to mc.. just for not being Mickey. While Donald does have a massive inferiority complex here, desperately wanting to one up mickey.. with moments like this it’s hard not to see why> He’s JUST as big a star, just as talented , maybe not as nice but just as likeable. He even co-owns the club. But ironically only Mickey Himself, and Daisy of Course, treat him like an equal. To everyone else it’s Mickey’s world and he’s just the sidekick. It’s no wonder he spend sthe entire show desperately trying to outdo mickey: he doesn’t hate the guy, even if he wouldn’t admit it.. but he just wants to be loved too. Sure it’s part ego.

Mickey does return though with the new cartoon. And our only sizeable one so. 

Hickory Dickory Mickey: This is a REALLY good one with a simple enough premise; Goofy wants Mickey to take him to the airport at 6am tomorrow.. which Mickey balks at. 

Seriously i’ve woken up at 3-4am to go to the airport or on road trips. Waking up at 5:30 is pretty standard. Goofy also has good reason to ask as he once BROKE MICKEY OUT OF JAIL. And as seen up top the flashback is done in black and white AND with their old models. I just.. love everything about this and it had to have taken extra effort to make new models for the old models and thus extra money for a quick joke. So kudos best part of the episode. But with his hands tied Mickey is forced to take him and Goofy leaves him his clock which won’t stop ticking. So we get just.. nonstop good gags as Mickey tries to sleep with standouts being his trying to drown it out only to get the tick station, the tock station on the radio and the clock channel on the tv. He also tries to mail it and naturally it comes back thanks to a kangaroo when he ships it to Australia..a nd then get’s progressively batshit as he mails it to HADES (comes back in a puff of smoke) and to the 1920′s (It comes back in black and white with arms and legs). It’s just.. really damn good and I suggest seeking it out. I have liked other shorts better but this was a good one. 

Pete still gloats as they’ll need more cartoons.. only for one to fall out of his jacket and Mickey to shake the rest out. We then get a fun chase between the two, SO many good jokes, my favorite being him dressing up as a dalmation only for Cruella to take measurements, before being cornered by the three and the elephant from tarzan who throws him out.. right next to pepper-ann and her mom “Don’t touch the villian dear”. Good crossover.. and another show that like House of Mouse is not on disney plus don’t ask me why. 

So our heroes win, we get our usual sponsorship and unusually we see the guests leave, a nice bit I wish they did more. All’s well that ends well. 

Final Thoughts: This episode was fantastic. It introduces the cast well, sets up our villian, our basic premise and while only having one major cartoon, uses that as a plot point and it’s a damn good one. A fantastic start to the series and frankly the best place to start if your curious about the show. I’d like to thank Kev for sponsoring this review. If you’d like your own review you can look at comissoin details on my blog or get one guaranteed every month by becoming a 5 dollar patreon. You get one guaranteed review a month, acess to my discord server for my patreons, and to pick a short when I do birthday specials. And contributing to my patreon gets me closer to my stretch goals, even one dollar helps. Next goal not only gets reviews of the super ducktales mini series, but also a darkwing duck episode EVERY MONTH. And with the plug done, i’ll see you at the next rainbow. 

[helmes-deep]

Thoughts on Season 3 of Fuller House (3B):

Thoughts on 3A here. So just binge-watched all 9 episodes of it today haha and here are my random thoughts:

I LOVE THE GIBBLER FAMILY I LOVE FERNANDO AND KIMMY!!!! I JUST NEEDED MORE AND MORE OF THOSE TWO TOGETHER THROUGHOUT THIS SEASON AND/OR MORE GIBBLER FAMILY MOMENTS IN GENERAL THEY’RE JUST SUCH A WARM, LOVING, AND ADORABLY PERFECT FAMILY WHEN THEY’RE TOGETHER AND SO FUNNY WHEN THEY TRY TO OUTSHINE EVERYONE ELSE I LOVE THEM HAHA

Seriously, Andrea Barber is such a great actress!! Like honestly, she should really win an Emmy for this show I am not kidding haha. She is soooo entertaining!! and wickedly talented at acting!!!!

DJ AND STEVE YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! FINALLY!!!! I’VE WAITED SO LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!! I’m not exactly 100% down on the whole DJ x Steve thing; I’ve said before that I think currently, the actor who plays Matt has more chemistry with DJ, but DJ x Steve was how it was SUPPOSED TO BE and I’m 2000% down for that. Also, idk how, but I think the Steve actor guy (Scott Weinger) somehow got cuter/more likable over the Season 3 break. He just seems to look a bit cuter and has more chemistry with DJ now lol (the kind he should have had at the beginning of Season 1).

The wedding fiasco... didn’t go down as ideally as I would have liked it to... it was the ultimate break-up — a wedding break-up — so it was, in a way, what you would have expected: really sad and harsh-letdowns all-around... idk how it could have turned out better (although there really is no excuse for how Steve and DJ treated their significant others ://). I am glad they didn’t drag out the whole DJ x Steve thing, though. And the Japanese-set episode was really fun!! Really enjoyed seeing all of the different, beautiful sights and experiences!! Wish we had gotten to see more of those :33 (The Japanese episode was definitely a bit shorter than I had expected.) Also loved how the episode was shot.

The appearance of the Japanese boy group Sexy Zone made me think of K-pop, and how much I love it, so I could relate. Sorry, guys, I just had to put that in there :PPP 

KIMMY’S FASHION STYLE IS JUST SLAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! PROPS TO HER STYLIST IDK HOW THEY DO IT BUT SHE MAKES WACKY AND CRAZY LOOK SO AWESOME AND GOOOOD!!!!!

That alligator scene was top-notch. Great acting/balancing!

Seriously, as much as I love DJ and Steve, I will be so, so, so, so, so sad to see John Brotherton (the guy who plays Matt) go if he no longer gets a larger presence on the show. I have really, really appreciated the character Matt and have really enjoyed watching John’s performance.

Max, thankfully, is getting a little less annoying to handle on-screen (might have to do with his lack of scenes with the dog, which perhaps makes him less juvenile???). Also not exactly into his whole “I’m a smart guy”-type persona, but it’s not done terribly or maybe I’m getting used to it, so I can live with it. Idk, I just know I laughed more at and enjoyed his scenes more than I used to (he’s my least favorite character on the show, and probably still is).

Not really a fan of Max’s relationship with CJ’s girl, either (seems a bit forced), but whatever. If they want to make them that horrendously (I am not exaggerating when I use that word) cute couple, then more power to them.

Kinda sad/disappointed we didn’t get to see Popko for 3B, but he was a jerk, so it’s all okay. Ramona didn’t exactly get any love interests this time around, which is fine. And I really, really hope she doesn’t get with that high school dance-team guy, ugh. The dance-rival thing-y is cute enough, though, and I can see it being pulled off in the future.

I also don’t know why Ramona would skip out on SAFSPA: seemed like it was definitely her dream/goal as portrayed thus far, but okay, maybe it wasn’t. I thought the lesson we got out of that whole parent/kid situation was really good/nice.

Jackson and Rocki are a thing, and I AM LIVING FOR IT!!!!!! I’m just a sucker for nerdy guy/cool girl relationships, tbh :p :p

Still don’t like how Gia (a.k.a. Rocky’s mom) is sometimes cast as the “villain,” but oh well. I guess that discrepancy comes from us wanting post-Full House to be absolutely, 100% “feel-good,” but Gia was inherently written as a “bad” character, so she’s destined to be somewhat of the “bad” girl, no matter how far we get into the Fuller House world. At least she was written as less “evil” this time around.

ADORED Fernando and Tommy; ADORED Fernando, Tommy, and the race-car storyline; and ADORED Fernando and Tommy vs. Jesse and Pamela moment.

Tommy’s cute rn and had some really, really adorable moments this time around (funny enough, I enjoy him with Cosmo more than I do Max + Cosmo). I just really hope he doesn’t end up becoming annoying and unlikable like Michelle was on the original show. I liked Michelle as a baby/younger, but I didn’t enjoy her when she got older/was a toddler.

Honestly, I’ve never been a big fan of the “let’s be cute with babies” on TV-thing, especially on the original show, but I really liked seeing the guys or anyone holding and playing with the babies this time around. For once, I was like, “You know what?? I get it. This totally warms and melts my heart into a million pieces.” Idk, something cute and maybe more maternal?? within me just spoke :’pp

I STILL don’t think Stephanie should have a baby, especially when she has no job, no stable relationship, etc. I also kind of don’t want anymore babies lololol (first Jesse and Becky with Pamela, and of course, there’s already Tommy); there’s already so many people I have to keep up with on this show haha. But if that’s where they want to go, then hey, I’m glad the surrogate’s Kimmy and not someone else.

Needed more Stephanie and Jimmy. Or just Jimmy tbh.

When I saw Vicky, I gasped out loud. Could NOT believe she’s back, even though I already knew she’d be back/had a strong feeling she would be (idk if it was announced).

I DO NOT want the older guys (aka Danny, Jesse, Becky, and Joey) back for the majority of next season. It just seems like whenever the older guys come back it’s more of a static “callback” than actual progression of the episode/overall storyline. I enjoyed a lot of this season because there was less of the older guys; vice versa, I much more enjoyed seeing the older cast members visit this time because there wasn’t so much of them around. So yeah, reaaaalllly hoping we don’t see that much more of the older cast during the next season (if they get a next season), since they all announced they’re going to move back to San Francisco.

On the other hand, I’d really like to see Danny and Vicky finally get a news/television show together and get married already, lol.

I do like it when the older and newer generations are well-integrated, though. The Danny, Jesse, Joey, Steve, and Fernando scene was really funny and one of my favorites. Fuller House is basically just one big fanfiction that isn’t perfectly written, but it’s pretty snappin’ close, and it’s all TRUE AND Y’ALL GET TO CLAIM IT AND CALL IT CANON!! :P :P

Like I said, glad the whole DJ x Steve thing didn’t get dragged out, but a little disappointed it wasn’t exactly, totally resolved... But it’s okay; I can live with it, for the most part. At least they’ve decided they really do love each other, got in a good kiss, and want to try to pursue a real relationship again (hopefully that doesn’t get messed up next season). Excited to see what happens when they’re finally together after the “6 months” are over huehue...  

CAN YOU IMAGINE STEVE BEING A DAD AND HELPING JACKSON, MAX, AND THE REST OF THE BOYS OUT?!?!? LIKE MAYBE THEM COMING TO HIM FOR ADVICE ON “BOY/GUY STUFF” AND HIM ANSWERING ALL OF THEIR QUESTIONS AND/OR TRYING HIS BEST TO HELP THEM OH MY WORD IT WOULD BE SO CUTEEEEEEE!!!!

Happy that there wasn’t so much drama over “whether DJ would pick Matt or Steve”; I really didn’t want that plot point to drag on forever :V :V There was a lot more focus on the girls and family-interactions this time around, which I liked, even though it meant less of the adult pairings altogether.

TBH, there weren’t that many substantial main storylines or funny lines during this half of the season, imo (SHOUT OUT to that “ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM” EXCHANGE THOUGH; that scene was hilarious!!). A lot of it focused on everyday family interactions or Stephanie’s “surrogate/trying-to-get-a-baby” storyline (for those who are curious, I’d say the most we got this season was a solid on Stephanie’s storyline, and DJ and Steve confirming they will be getting together, but there really isn’t any further development toward their relationship. Also surprised they didn’t have a Christmas episode??) But tbh, I’m not mad. It was nice to not have to worry about any big romantic or whatever-else-possible drama, and just focus on seeing these characters interact with one another as a family. It was just ordinary, nice, and cheesy fun, and somehow kept me laughing and smiling like an idiot the entire time (which, in a way, is a nice nod to the original show’s purpose). This is really, really just a feel-good show. And you can see that reflected in the cast. You can just tell how comfortable everyone is with one another, and at times, you can see some real tears about to be shed during a couple of heart-felt scenes. It really is just about one big, ordinary, and optimistic family (although sometimes a bit too optimistic lol; I think they give themselves a bit of a dig about that at the end). So yeah, Fuller House is cheesy, ridiculous, lame, or whateverrrrrrrrr you want to call it, but I love it. And I enjoyed watching every episode of the entire second half of this season :’333

Please tell me they bring on Urkel as a special guest for Season 4.

Please tell me they will get a Season 4!!!! I KNOW THE SHOW SUCKS AND IS CHEESY AND LAME, BUT I AM LIVING FOR IT AND LOVING EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!!!

Yup, I think those are my thoughts for now. Might add/edit some more points in later if I can think of anything!! lol :P :P

[ramajmedia]

Spyro Reignited Trilogy PC Review: Gems and Dragons | Screen Rant

Spyro Reignited Trilogy releases on Nintendo Switch and PC, but will people who have never played the series before enjoy it? Short answer: yes.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a solid reminder of some of the best gameplay the 3D platforming genre has ever offered. A memory-perfect restoration of the original three Spyro games, this remastered compendium released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in November (read our review!) of last year but only just came out on PC and the Nintendo Switch last week. Although that extra development time has not led to any extra features or drastic gameplay changes from their mainstream console counterparts, at least Spyro cheats from Xbox and PS4 still work the same, and players who have not yet experienced these games since their original incarnations will find their return to the Dragon Kingdom to be both beautiful and challenging.

Originally created by Insomniac Games and published by Sony in 1998, Spyro was created to help Sony's PlayStation attempt to wrestle the attention of younger players away from the Nintendo 64. Compared favorably at the time to Banjo-Kazooie, Spyro was praised for its presentation and animations, although some critics reported the game had a relatively low difficulty curve due to players being able to reach the end of the game without completing all the worlds. Insomniac went on to produce two sequels in the following years, Ripto’s Rage and Year of the Dragon, both of which are featured in this remastered compilation, before beginning work on their popular Ratchet & Clank series and later moving on to the FPS genre with Resistance.

Related: 30 Things Only Gaming Experts Know About Spyro The Dragon

Playing all three games under one unified heads-up-display and title screen, the evolution of Spyro’s gameplay mechanics and story becomes increasingly apparent. In the very first game, Spyro the Dragon, the titular main character is tasked with rescuing dozens of his fellow dragons which have been encased in stone throughout the game’s many worlds. These worlds, which act as levels, are each filled with a certain number of collectible gems and frozen dragons for Spyro to find, and are connected to each other through larger hub areas. He is accompanied by Sparx the dragonfly, who indicates the player's health by his color. Spyro's moveset is minimal but precise, allowing a dash attack, a flame breath, and the ability to jump and glide. Certain levels allow him to properly fly for a limited amount of time, and speed decals on the ground can send Spyro into a battering ram-style rush. He cannot swim, and will drown instantly upon contact with water.

This is the most apparent change when beginning Spyro 2: Riptor’s Rage so immediately after playing the first game. The ability to dive under the water, something that would have been both unthinkable and entirely detrimental to the original’s level design, here becomes an entirely new way to traverse an area which, surprisingly, does not feel immediately sluggish and frustrating like water levels generally can. The addition of other non-playable characters is also a striking change. In Spyro the Dragon, dialog and plot progression was given to the player in the tiniest of chunks, delivered briefly by the dragons Spyro rescued before they disappeared into nothingness. The sequel, on the other hand, is much more character and story-driven, seeing Spyro being drawn into another world’s conflict with a dragon-hating villain and a ragtag group of anthropomorphic characters after attempting to go on a vacation immediately following the events of the first game.

Riptor’s Rage also changes the way in which the levels in the game are experienced. While the original Spyro gated off progression by forcing a number of gems or rescued dragons to be collected, the sequel adds in additional collectibles like Green Orbs and Artifacts, with each of them acting as different ways to progress through certain checkpoints. Gems are still distributed throughout each level, but now the game always shows the player’s total Gem count at the top of the screen instead of simply showing the number of Gems collected in that particular world. Although helpful in the situation that a player may need to pay, say, 700 Gems in order to progress past a certain point and it’s nice to know they have enough, it’s far more often that a player is wondering how many Gems are left to collect in any given world and now they must pause the game and check their total count there repeatedly, as opposed to simply pausing once and then glancing at the corner of the screen every now and then.

New moves and powerups are also introduced in Riptor’s Rage. Spyro can now climb ladders, allowing him to reach greater heights from which to glide from, and he can also pick up objects in his mouth to use as spittable projectiles. Powerups such as flight and speed are more frequently distributed and are now tied to enemy deaths, with each enemy defeated in a level adding to a certain in-game counter and powerup locations in that level only activating once a certain number of enemies have been eradicated. Another new move, the hover, allows Spyro to hop briefly after gliding in order to reach the edge of even longer distances. Combining all of these moves leads to a variety of creative puzzles Spyro must complete in order to discover all the Orbs, Artifacts, and Gems in each world.

Related: 30 Things Only Gaming Experts Know About Spyro The Dragon

Many of these changes are carried over into the game’s third entry, Year of the Dragon. The wacky characters introduced in Riptor’s Rage also return, now joined by newcomers who not only act as plot-delivery NPCs but instead offer their own unique forms of gameplay mechanics and challenges. While Spyro himself retains all the swimming, climbing, and hovering techniques learned in his previous adventures, in Year of the Dragon he is accompanied by playable accomplices such as a kangaroo named Sheila and a rocket-powered penguin named Sergeant Byrd, all of which are accompanied by select levels that utilize their particular skills. These segments serve to break up the usual gameplay players may have gotten used to by now and are somewhat simple in their execution but otherwise enjoyable.

Year of the Dragon ditches the Green Orb collectibles and Artifacts from its previous title and returns to the original game’s questline of rescuing named dragons, although this time they are in egg form. With no Green Orbs and no Artifacts, the third entry feels much more like classic Spyro, albeit with the thankful inclusion of not dying upon contact with water. In addition to the now-retro flying challenges, Year of the Dragon also nearly oozes nostalgia for the time it was originally created by featuring many snarky too-cool-for-school character expressions and mini-games that may be inane for a dragon but are on point for early-2000's marketing, such as skateboarding.

As far as the PC version of Spyro Reignited Trilogy goes, the game runs great most of the time. There are some ridiculously long loading screens during the first title, although they still aren’t as long as the loading screens in Wreckfest's PS4 release, and thankfully are considerably shorter in the subsequent sequels. All three games in the remaster feature some frame-rate hiccups at inconsequential sections, usually during the main title loading screens and the entering and leaving level animations, but otherwise play smoothly. Issues such as pop-up and janky animations, both popular complaints of early PlayStation games, are virtually non-existent here. The music, which can be switched between modern and retro versions at any time, is fantastic.

Replaying titles that felt good twenty years ago is an interesting experiment in the power of nostalgia. Everyone praises Goldeneye 007 on the Nintendo 64 as one of the greatest shooters of all time, but to go back and play it now is an exercise in both patience and frustration. With a few graphical and camera control improvements, as well as an ability to make Sparx the dragonfly hunt for missing gems, developer Toys for Bob has perfectly captured the memory of what the Spyro series was without having to drastically change anything integral from the original games, a feat which speaks to the quality of those first few titles. For anyone with a Nintendo Switch or PC who only knows Spyro from Skylanders, this remastered trilogy is the perfect time to experience three of the best 3D platforming games that ever graced the PS1. Just try not to pull any hair out during the mine cart minigame in Riptor's Rage, and remember completing EVERY Orb mission isn't exactly necessary to proceed.

Next: Spyro: Reignited Trilogy - Every Cheat Code in the Game

Spyro Reginited Trilogy is out now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, and the Nintendo Switch. This review is based on the PC version where a code was provided.

source https://screenrant.com/spyro-reignited-trilogy-pc-review-2/

[thereadherring]

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

I tried to avoid spoilers & specifics as much as possible but unfortunately there are some ahead. Beware~

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they'll never see. It's a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand. After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure. Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they'll first need to stay alive.

I just finished this book within 48 hours, and i have some Thoughts™. Honestly I’m a little disappointed, but I know that’s just because I’ve seen it everywhere lambasted with praise and the like, but also because of how much I really liked the author’s previous venture into adult fantasy, Vicious. Don’t get me wrong though, I really struggle to finish books I don’t like, let alone within 2 days, and this is mostly a solid & enjoyable fantasy.

This book started out way too slowly. I know this is to ease the reader into the complex world but the first truly exciting event only happened around page 80, so I kept trying to guess what the major plot would be (a quest? an escape? the possibilities are endless & all are more interesting than what I’m reading), which significantly detracted from my enjoyment. Thankfully the pace picked up in the second half of the book and things got more exciting as they journeyed between Londons.

Even though there was so much of the book dedicated to easing us into the world, I feel like it was just a tantalising and unsatisfying glimpse into their world. I like how she showed how different each London is, and how the politics and culture of each place is divergent from one another, especially the differences in language and how they can be a marker of class. However, the magic system presented is so barebones it seems like shitty avatar the last airbender fanfiction (the line about Kell being able to manipulate all the elements really stuck with me LOL), and I just want to know more about how magic works, how it differs between White & Red London. I have a feeling it’ll be expanded upon in the later books but not knowing the magic system confused me a lot because I didn’t understand any limitations beyond “oh, only Ansari can do that”, and a lot of the action scenes between non-magic, magic & Ansari people seemed very random and it’s easy to read certain magical consequences as merely convenient for the plot. Hopefully this is explained more later.

The characters are a joy to read about, particularly because there’s no “chosen one”, perfect human being to ever exist vibe about them. The plot hinges on them making mistakes and then them trying to recover, dealing with the consequences if they can. They’re fundamentally selfish people, even though the main plot is essentially them carrying out a selfless mission, and this morally grey nature makes their decisions carry more weight, because you just don’t know how certain things will turn out. In terms of secondary characters my fave is Rhy (he’s just a joy). I also appreciated Holland a lot, and both of them seemed to be full of unknown depth, like they’re people outside of Lila & Kell. The Danes are deliciously evil but devoid of any motivation that I can see, which is a shame because they are genuinely scary characters but I just dislike evilness for the evilness’ sake, especially if antagonists are people and not Evil Monsters or whatever. Their master plan, which was revealed near the end, was so contrived in my eyes, especially since… no one but the Ansari can travel between worlds?? But then maybe I just didn’t grasp the finer points of White London culture or magic.

One thing which is making me hesitant going into the other books is the potential romance I can see blossoming. I really liked how this is a book where romance doesn’t take centre stage (no shade to those that do, I’m just not in the mood right now), and it seemed for most of the book that Kell and Lila are allies and friends, and it’s nice seeing friendship being the focus. Unfortunately there’s a few throwaway lines hinting at something more, and I just do not feel it between them. It feels so platonic!!! I’m going to be disappointed if they get together & I have to read through scores of pages about their angst & consuming love (I’m mentally preparing myself already).

I especially loved how privilege is examined in this book. It’s a minor scene, but when Lila confronts Kell’s self-pitying about not being loved despite growing up in the royal palace is excellently done, and there’s also constant but subtle exposure of class differences between the different Londons, and I feel like this will play a bigger role in future books (I’m cheating, I’ve already started the 2nd book and it’s been brought up again yes, BUT idk about it playing a role in the plot). Lila’s being a poor woman in roughly 18th century London is also an integral part of her identity and it’s something she thinks about in a lot of her interactions which I find is quite true to reality.

spoiler warning ahead because i have a gripe//

ok what the hell happened with Lila’s leg at the end?? She could supposedly see the shards of bone sticking out? How did she then manage to walk out at the end to find Kell??? This is perplexing, I can’t tell if it’s just a plot hole or if it’s meant to allude to her supposed magical ability.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable fantasy. The plot isn’t especially quick paced but once I got into it, I was fully immersed in the story and the world. It could have done with a bit of slimming down and editing, and it would have packed a punch as a shorter book, kind of like how Vicious did so much in so little space, but still fun. I’ve actually already started the second book and things are definitely getting more complex and exciting so here’s hoping this series just keeps improving!! It’s been such a long time since I’ve read any fantasy but I’m finally feeling like I’m not flat out sick of it so things are looking up 😊

Recommended for: fantasy lovers who like morally grey characters

Rating: 8/10

goodreads, laura’s review

[canaryatlaw]

alright. so today. it went well overall I guess, I’ll get through it. My alarm went off at 8, I was out the door by 8:30, made it to school by 9:30 (it literally takes exactly an hour to get from my apartment to school, which is convenient for time planning purposes) and dropped my stuff in the PAD office and hung out for a few minutes before heading up to my exit interview at 9:45. Basically the deal is they have to collect info about job plans post-graduation for the ABA before graduation, and then again in 10 months from now. So I said I had nothing permanent lined up at the moment, but had some opportunities that could lead somewhere. I mentioned the tech company and he was like “oh yeah, I’m actually familiar with them” and he said he’s found a lot of public interest students actually go on to work with regulations and they end up really liking it, so I found that encouraging because my greatest worry about that job would be that I’d hate it. And they wanted to make sure we know we could hit them up for help with jobs at any point in the future, so that was nice. I got a little yellow paper slip stating I completed my exit interview so I can pick up my cap and gown next week (nice little incentivizing there on their part) and then I was done. I went back to the PAD office to grab my laptop and headed over to the library to get some printing done. We always got like, $75 dollars or something each semester in printing credit, when it’s like 10 cents a page, and I knew I had a lot of money left so I thought printing this 94 page outline would spend most of it- nope, I still had $190 left in my printing account. Shame I can’t repurpose that money, but oh well. I printed the outline, used the 3 hole punch (they have the super heavy duty one that can do like 50 pages at a time) then headed back to the PAD office, where I spent a while integrating the outline with the case briefs I had already printed out, because the outline was almost entirely case briefs, so I would find where a case was in my case briefs, then put where it was in the outline as the next page. I think it worked pretty well, it made it a little harder to flip through, but it was definitely easier then having to flip back and forth between the two of them. and yeah, I more or less killed time after that until around noon, where I went to the little market place that moved in next door to the school where I’d been getting salads from, but they had Italian food on their hot bar today, and well, needless to say I did not get a salad. Opted instead for cheesy garlic bread (YUM) and stuffed shells. I was a little disappointed in the stuffed shells because the filling was a bit too salty for my taste, but I still definitely enjoyed them. At 1 I headed upstairs to where my final was gonna be held starting at 1:30. People were milling in and out, trying to set things up and such. We can do the tests on our computers, but we have to use this exam software that shuts down every other application on your computer so you can’t leave the actual test. But yeah, we get ready, I’m feeling pretty good, and when the time comes we start. It was all essays, which is like, what I’m best at, so that was good, except I apparently really fucked myself over because I forgot to print out the cases that were posted on the class website and not in the book, and guess what? Literally all of the cases brought up in the test questions were ones from the website. every. single. one. And I was basically like, well fuck, but there’s not much I can do about it now, and I at least still have the case briefs on them, so we’ll work from those. I did almost have a heart attack for like 30 seconds because there were two cases we read that started with the same plaintiff name (and it was like, a long title) and I accidentally was looking at the wrong one first, but then I realized it was the other one and it wasn’t in the book and for a minute I thought I had no case briefs or anything on the case and I was legit going to drop dead on the spot, I was so stressed. I briefly considered just writing a note at the top of my answer like “so I didn’t have any information on this case, so I’m answering the question based on the other case with this plaintiff” because I feel like my prof would be the type to basically be like okay cool and grade it from there, probably with some point penalty, but he wouldn't just write it off completely. But thankfully I was able to find the case briefs on the case and managed to write a semi-decent essay, it was hard because I didn’t have many details to go off of, so that was kind of rough. The second question was somewhat more in my wheelhouse, it didn’t involve a specific case but instead a hypo and what claims could be brought from that, so that was easy for me to analyze and draw a case comparison to. One part was like “list any other alternate claims she might be able to bring” which is of course a big give away that there are other claims, and I picked up that in a “throwaway” line in the prompt it dropped that they received federal funding, which made them liable under Title VI as well as Title VII, so I felt good about spotting that. This was also the question about retaliation, which is what I know really well from real life experiences, so that was definitely my strongest answer. Questions 3 and 4 were shorter, worth half as much as 1 and 2. I didn’t have the cases they were based on, so my answer to question 3 was kinda short but I was able to extrapolate a fairly good answer for question 4. I finished up at 4, so with half an hour left. I started editing, and I knew I wasn’t happy with the case illustration I used for the first question, so I went back and found a more analogous case that I was much more satisfied with. So I checked it over again and then I was done. I was kinda irritated because I knew I could’ve done better had I been fully prepared, but at the same time I knew they were still solid answers, I may just get an A- instead of an A (which will drive me nuts, but it’s not like it really matters at this point). So I turned it in, left the classroom and legit dumped my 150 pages of outline and case briefs in the recycling bin they have in the hallway lol because I had no use for it anymore and didn't want to carry the extra weight home. So I started the trip home. it was raining when I left the loop, but by the time I got off the train it was more of a light drizzle so it was already for my walk the rest of the way home. I stopped at the ice cream shop and got a scoop of cotton candy ice cream (I love that shit) in a sugar cone, then kept heading home. Upon getting home I just dropped everything and laid on my bed for like, 10 minutes, which felt very good lol. I didn't want to do any more studying for the day because I was pretty academically exhausted, so I sat in the living room/den (whatever we’re calling it) and watched more of A Series of Unfortunate Events before Riverdale was on, simply because I really didn’t have anything else to watch, not that I’ve particularly been enjoying it. At 7 I turned on Riverdale, and I really don’t know why I keep watching this dumb show, it’s so overdramatic and ridiculous, and yet it is somehow enjoyable. After that episode I had an hour to kill before Designated Survivor was on, and I had asked for comedy suggestions on twitter, so I turned on The Good Place and watched two episodes of that, which was highly enjoyable. Designated Survivor.....wasn’t my favorite episode. I’m VERY glad my girl Andrea is not the traitor here who’s gonna be brought up on like, international treason charges for obvious reasons because I really thought that that was where they were going with it, but then I was still sad when they basically wrote her off anyway. As far as the main plot, I am so over Michael J Fox and his literally one character he can play, like legit his role on this show is the same. exact. thing. as his role on The Good Wife, and he was annoying AF there and is still annoying AF here. Idk why they feel the need to keep bringing him back. It was nice at least to see him get humbled a bit in the end there though. Then there’s Hannah, my girl!!! What was going on with the ladies tonight, are we losing Andrea and Hannah in the same episode??? Like what the hell is going on with that??? I very much hope that both of them return at some point. After the show I watched the news for a little bit, then started getting ready for bed and now here I am. Tomorrow I have PT at 12:30, then probably studying for either Remedies or attempting to teach myself the entire Secured Transactions curriculum over the next week, which sounds ridiculous for sure but I am fairly confident I can actually do it, did it first year with property and last semester with bus orgs, so 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m not really concerned. So yeah, we’ll see how that goes. It’s almost 1 am so I guess I should bit you all goodnight for the time being. Goodnight babes. Stay wonderful.