#< also grain of salt it i have not seen all routes including even all opportunistic routes

[bottomschlatt]

stp voice of the opportunist is the kinda guy to request someone perform a mormon ‘baptism for the dead’ for him in his will just on the slightest off chance they’re actually right. this makes him a bit of a slimy weasely shithead and also it makes me want him so fucking badly

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

still on your Birds of Prey thing i have two(ish) things this time around, though feel free to ramble on other details too even if it wasn't specifically asked or mentioned first off, full permission to do an entire infodump on the ocs you have for this so far, i am very curious about all the details you got collected be it details you've mentioned before, changed, or new ones in general, again full permission for you to go nuts secondly, maybe it could be where only certain weapons allow the potential for breaking when used at advantage in the weapon triangle? like you'd have to buy a more expensive and more bulky weapon that has the benefit of being able to break weapons but again is more expensive and probably harder to wield(either just high in weapon rank or just like absurdly heavy to make it hard for the user to double) idk how well it would work, i'm not exactly known for my "making good Fire Emblem gameplay" expertise so take it with a grain of salt (if i ever dabble in fangames maybe i'll get some experience but today is not that day) (also yeah it be me again, i am also realizing i might have a double standard of wanting to hear about people's ocs in this fandom but then worrying that nobody wants to hear about my own, so i might blab on the ocs i have thus far for my au i'm working on sometime (hopefully) soon, heck i could even include some of the unnamed ones since you've even mentioned some unnamed ones yourself and i still think its cool to hear about!)

BIRDS OF PREY CHARACTER STUFF (not updating this post anymore, if you wanna know more then ask about a specific character or wait for the demo)

Read as much or as little as you'd like! There is a LOT so dont feel like you need to read all of it

Gameplay Character

Aelix

The Main Character of the game. Only has Swords at first but also gains access to staves alongside either light or anima when promoting. Her bases are similar to that of a myrmidon but growths are very balanced. Idk abt the personal skill.

At the start of the game shes pretty normal and well adjusted. A little spoiled and naive but thats how most princesses are in media. Anyway, after her dad and brother die in front of her she starts having a bad time and swears revenge on their assassins, The Flock - a group that claims to be bringing power to the people by enacting a revolution against the Hendeyrn Nobility.

After a while, Aelix's need for revenge dwindles and she begins to notice that the commoners are kinda struggling in Hendeyrn, and in a few other supports, learns that Royumec Commoners are also struggling. Also, The Flock is soon revealed to be a ploy for the Royumec Military to invade Hendeyrn to gain more land and resources without suffering proper retaliation.

Route split occurs and Aelix can choose to 1) defend Hendeyrn and carry on her fathers legacy, 2) Switch over to Royumec out of either naivety or apathy, or 3) Go against both kingdoms and create a people focused movement to improve both kingdoms. 3 leads to the most playable characters leaving/being unrecruited and having to be killed in combat while also having the most maps and being noticably harder.

She should be at the club but now shes gotta avenge her father's death an navigate a whole ass war. RIP girl. Also Very Bi with Mary.

Reinhold ???

Your typical Early Game Crutch. A great knight with high HP and Skill, B in Axes and everything else is bad. Hes only good bc he joins in the prologue. Probably benched by chapter 12. Idk about personal skill. Stays on only Defend route. You fight and kill him on the other 2.

Extremely serious and very intent on preserving the King's Legacy, rather than improving the kingdom or supporting Aelix and Lucille through what is quite literally the worst time of their life. Like yeah hes also not coping well but omg hes actively making it worse for the girls. His perception of the King is also so very incomplete as seen in a certain lategame Rev map. Also directly states in several supports that every knight is conditioned to be a disposable tool for the royal family to use :(

Lenore D'Swigen

Early game flier. Highest res in the game, good speed and decent enough magic to use a levin sword later. Low skill but thats partially offset by the accuracy of swords. Kinda low strength tho. Physical bulk is low enough to take large amounts of damage from archers. Safe from shining bows tho. Can also reclass into anima mage and isnt terrible there. No clue about personal skill. Stays on Defend Route, leaves but comes back on Revolution Route, and becomes an Optional Miniboss on Reinhold's Chapter in Betray Route (You only get a Levin Sword for killing your best friend btw)

Childhood friend of Aelix and heiress to a prominent house of Hendeyrn. Energetic but really clumsy. Also is very intelligent. Plays cards with mary in their support while they gossip.

Kester ???

Really solid Lance fighter. High strength, Def, Skl and Hp. Everything else is low. Can promote into spellspear but only has a 5% Magic growth. Go Halberdier instead. Can also reclass into cav. No clue about personal skill. Stays on all 3 routes. Yay!

Extremely formal at all times, only loosens up with Gareth (Drunk), Kaen (Gets bullied by a teenage girl lmao), Henryk (3h style support chain where they state their issues in case you can't figure out the very obvious subtext) and the Revolution Route A support with Aelix (You're fired btw. wanna be friends now?)

Hal ???

Axe Fighter from Chapter 1. Highest Hp in the game, good Strength, Decent Defence and Luck, Okay Spd and Res, Bad Skl and only 5% Magic. No clue about personal Skill or Reclass options. Stays on All 3 routes! :D

Himbo Malewife who's straight up not having a good time knowing he has killed people. Loves cooking and cleaning and all that.

Niall ???

Most Thief Thief to ever Thief. Highest speed in the game, and also good skill. Okay Luck and Res and everything else sucks. Will chip enemies, steal items and be very evasive late game. Stays on Defend and Revolution Routes. Dissappears entirely on Betray Route.

Very Mischievous and loves pranks. Not much to say tbh. Also has a kill quote where he says hes gonna rob the enemy's corpse ig.

Mary Malheur

The early game healer. Joins Chapter 1 and is always available. C Staves and D Brawling. Has very solid mixed bulk that will only continue to get better, Good Strength and decent Luck. Middling Speed and Skill don't really matter when using an accurate and brave weapon type. Her base magic is enough for early game and you won't start feeling her low growth until midgame.

On top of all that, because she is technically a brawler, meaning she has access to Combat Arts. At Lvl10 unpromoted, she gains access to Defiant Dragon Art, which boosts her Def/Res/Luck by a decent amount until the beginning of next turn (and has a cool interaction with one of her promoted abilities). Upon promotion to War Monk, she gains the Solar Strike art, which restores health. At Max Level, she gains Phoenix Flight art. This is unlimited galeforce for just 12 hp. Like yeah she only gets 1 punch in and will probably be taking additional damage from counterattacks, but even then this is really amazing bc she can use her full 6 movement multiple times a turn.

But if you don't care about all that you can just reclass to wyvern instead.

Indecisive. Sleepy. Likes games. Has several supports that explore the pressure of the expectations placed on her because of her intelligence and potential. Also mentions that healing staves will just prolong and make the death much more excruciating when used on a nearly dead person without explaining where she got that knowledge from in her support with Harsent.

Thank you Mary for keeping the army together throughout the early game Aelix couldn't have done it without u. the midgame probably also. I wish you 2 the best on your wedding <33333333333333

Jaspar ???

The most armoured armour to ever armour. Highest Def in the game, high HP and Strength, Solid Skill and Luck, Terrible Speed and Res. Can also reclass into Archer for some reason. Recruited Chapter 2, Stays on Defend Route, but is an optional miniboss on both Revolution and Betray route. Technically can be rerecruited on rev route but its really hard.

Training obsessed bisexual weirdo(affectionate). Wants to be a really good Knight and be as helpful as possible. Really bad at dealing with the fact that everything will change and nothing is permanent.

Harsent ???

Cavalier. Very balanced stats. So balanced that her growths are somehow within 5% of the average for everything except magic. I didn't even plan this im just as surprised as you are lmao. Can also reclass into Sword Fighter. Stays on Defend Route, can be easily rerecruited on Rev and is an optional miniboss on Betray Route.

Very dedicated to being a knight. Several of her voice lines would imply that she would simply sacrifice herself if Aelix asked. which is. concerning.... Like 70% of the cast needs therapy tbh :(

Ricon ???

Early Mage. Amazing Magic and Res, Good skill, Decent Hp and speed, high base strength but hes a mage and has a low strength growth, also terrible defence and luck. Can reclass into archer (Shining Bow Niche 👀👀👀). Available throughout all 3 routes.

Loves Researching magic and teaching stuff to others. Very intelligent. Overuses magic for mundane things. Sir, a wind spell is gonna blow the clothes away before they dry. Likes sweets and is just a lovable dork who happens to look really intimidating.

Fletcher Holz

Early archer. High strength, speed and skill, low res and everything else is mid. Can reclass into Axe Fighter. Available throughout all 3 routes.

Just some guy tbh. Likes meat. Decent Chef. also hes transmasc.

Gareth ???

Brawler. High health, Decent Defence and everything else is mid. Combat arts include Beastslaying Art (effective against monsters) and Full Force Art (Extremely high might). Also gains Five Star Strike (Astra for 12 HP) at max level. Can reclass into Cavalier. Available for all 3 routes.

Massive Flirt. Takes very little seriously. Accidentally ends up acting like a father to Kaen and Niall.

Alastor von Belleau

This bitch. This asshole. Joins in chapter 4 as a Lvl 5 Troubadour. C Staves and E Rank Anima. Much faster than Ricon but also has lower magic and Anima rank so typically you'll only be seeing 5×2 in combat forecast and cant use any funky spells for a while. Substantially squisher than Mary but has a horse. Personal skill gives 20% extra exp gain to adjacent allies. Suspiciously dissappears a few chapters before route split.

This Royumec Noble enjoys baking and having tea and reading and going on walks and taking care of his horse and is great at taking care of others.

"Oh he sounds nice and helpful" Oh you fool. Thats what he wants you to think. The Royumec Nobility has created The Flock and assassinated Thades and The King. And this bitch is one of them. On the route split, it is straight up revealed that he was a part of the plan and acted as a spy. This asshole then tries to manipulate Aelix into betraying her kingdom.

"We were trying to improve the live of your citizens" (Lie, you were fighting for land and resources), "We actively chose to spare you"(Lie, why were your soldiers attacking Aelix and Co during Chapters 2, 3 and 4), "and your sister" (Ommission of information, you thought that the 16 year old would be easy to manipulate or intimidate into doing what you want), "You trust me, right? We're friends" (Half Lie, Aelix may have seen you as a friend but you certainly didn't see her as one), etc.

Obviously, on Betray Route, he is with you for the rest of the game; However, he actually joins you later on in the other 2 routes because he doesn't want to die (okay thats fair). Joins as a Strategist and can reclass into Trickster or Assassin. Has Great Magic, Res and Speed alongside decent Skill and Luck but terrible HP and Def. 7 personal strength is less terrible than you'd expect but you'll still usually see single digit damage when reclassing him to Assassin or Trickster.

Kaen Karamela

Your second axe fighter. Joins in chapter 5 and is available in all 3 routes. Highest Strength in the game, Good HP, Spd, Skill and Luck, Low Def and Res. Personal skill grants +1 Crit per HP below max. Can also reclass into Lance fighter to grab Vantage.

Kaen is the obligatory minor who really should not be fighting. Girl loves partying and also bullying grown ass men. Her 18th birthday will be a few days after one of the final chapters to specifically have her joke that she has fought in and ended a war before being able to drink alcohol. Canonically Lesbian.

Sarre ???

Early Sword Fighter. Joins Chapter 6 and stays on all 3 routes. Amazing Speed and Great Skill but Underwhelming strength and terrible luck. Can reclass into Axe Fighter.

Not having a great time after her husband left her. Is now in debt bc of his gambling and is trying to pay it off with mercenary work. Left her son at his grandparents so they can raise him while she works. has an arc that changes her for the better. idk how to explain it tho.

Isake ???

Early Light mage. Joins chapter 6 and stays on all routes. Great Defence and magic, Good Hp, Res and Luck, but low speed. Being a Light Mage, Isake gains access to various defensive spells such as Def/Res improving spells, Critical prevention, Draining magic and follow-up prevention. Can reclass into Anima Mage.

Very wise, Kind to all, Patient, Loves giving gifts, very perceptive, etc. Enjoys reading and bird watching.

Klara Varela

A midgame Dark Knight. Only available on Rev route. Only 5% strength and Magic growths but has great bases in those. Best Skl in the game, High speed, everything else is decent. Personal skill grants 1 stack of advantage to Klara if enemy can't counter. This also applies to Dark Magic summons and synergises well with seige tomes. Can reclass into Sorcerer, Halberdier and Spellspear.

Probably has the stongest endgame build (Chaos Style+Vantage+Luna+Ignis+Quixotic as a Spellspear) Ignis and Luna can activate on the same atk btw. High Skill + Personal + Chaos Style + Quixotic leads to her having activation rates in the 70-90% range. Vantage singlehandedly enables this build to work on enemy phase too. Enjoy seeing 50s most hits :). I think plus sized women should be allowed to be op.

(Community mage almost has this build but cant pull it off very well bc no Vantage, lower skill, probably no helpful personal skill for this build, much lower strength and Bulk too low to reliably take multiple hits in case of failure. Sorry!)

Everyone else is in a generally serious war game with political intrigue. Klara is in a comedy. She is a trickster who is constantly playing pranks on people and annoying most by being so deeply unserious. Extremely confident and knows her worth. Has exactly one serious conversation.

Runs the secret shop in all 3 routes but it doesn't have energy drops or spirit dusts because she eated them all. Also straight up drags a guy from the enemy army to fight for you against his will and treats him like her new bestie and drags him everywhere. He hates it. Queen. Love her. Hope she never stops. Tranfem, Aro and Ace.

Adam

Mid game Def and Rev route Wyvern Lord. High Strength, Hp and Def, Decent Skl, Low Res and Luck. Personal skill is a 20% heal after defeating an enemy.

A mercenary hired by Rosahel to help in the war effort. Loves murder a not normal amount. Also the guy that Klara forces into joining your side. That's about it.

Anna von Ernest

Only available in Betray Route. Still has Make a Killing. idk anything else.

You know her.

Henryk ???

This guy is so crazy. Joins in a late paralogue as a Trickster. Extremely Underwhelming stats for a late game unit: Lower strength and magic compared to other units, Middling mixed bulk, Skill and Luck. Only has good speed and Great weapon ranks (A staves, A Daggers). Like a thief but less extreme. Can also reclass into Assassin, Sorcerer and Dark Knight

"So the crazy thing about him is that hes a bad endgame unit who has warp and rescue access" Wrong! His personal skill, Unmask, is the crazy thing about him. He gains 2 stacks of advantage (+15 hit, 10% skill activation, 5 crit and 2 damage dealt per stack) while inflicting enemies with 2 stacks of disadvantage (advantage but reversed) if there are no b support or below allies within 3 spaces. King hides 4 Str/Mag/Def/Res and 10 Spd/Skl/Luck from everyone lmao. Already has an a rank with Thades :)

As i said in the last long FE:BoP post, Henryk managed to raise Thades from the dead somehow. The process was expensive and time intensive as it used dark magic, healing staves, advanced Royumec technology and surgical precision. At first, the dark magic was thought to have taken away some of Thades' agency and given Henryk a substantial amount of control over him and altered his memories, but that was soon discovered to be false.

Henryk likes to appear as unhelpful and incapable as possible to get out of doing work, but is completely fine with putting in effort for those close to him. He enjoys architecture and gardening and in all of his endings, he ends up being a famous architect.

Thades

Joins in a late game Rev route paralogue alongside Henryk. Same Class as Aelix and Lucille. Compared to Aelix, he has much higher Def and Skl and slightly more strength at the cost of much lower Res and Luck and Slightly less speed. Similar Magic and HP. No clue about personal skill. Can reclass into Falcon Knight.

So Unbelievably gay with Henryk. Very emotionally closed off. Hilarious how technically having their father die made him and Aelix get their partners. Anyway, his support with Aelix reveals that they never felt that close to each other bc he was always busy learning how to run things as crown prince while Aelix and Lucille were doted upon and constantly praised by their father.

In the final(?) Rev Route map, Thades has boss dialogue with The King (he came back) where he asks The King if he remembers a simple memory from when Thades was a child. The King says yes, but Thades reveals that the event went completely differently and figures out that The King hasn't been revived like him but instead is The S Rank Dark Magic being used to create a copy of one of noble's perception of him.

In both his Endings, he helps out with managing the restructured nations.

Ill talk about everyone else in later i had to rush this out for today lmao

also feel free to ask more questions, tell me your overall thoughts or even talk about your headcanons for the characters or how you imagine they look

Anyway time for question 2's answer: I figured that break maybe should only be for units with breaker skills (Halberdiers w/ Swordbreaker, Lightbearers w/ Shadowbreaker, etc)

To Do: Summer, Silvester, Yvette, Manon, Jed, Lex, Rosahel, Valstyr, Lucille, The King, Nikita, Siobhan, more characters when i think of them

[i-want-my-iwtv]

I hope the rumours of Louis being a brothel owner aren't true, but if they are I can sort of see why they're going for this route? I mean, with a black Louis they can't have him being a slaver anymore, so maybe they're trying to find something that is also morally reprehensible for him to be.

TL;DR: My kneejerk reaction was to be saddened, and I don’t like that this is starting up, and will continue to fuel, fandom drama. Ultimately, if we want peace, we’ll embrace the fact that the existence of this adaptation doesn’t take away from the existence of the books, and it also doesn't mean we have to acknowledge it.

It makes me wonder whether AMC wants us to make a storm about this. We’ll see...

After all, what makes this adaptation any more important than the graphic novels of the ’90s, the graphic novel Claudia’s Story, movie!IWTV, or movie!QOTD? In fact, many fans here on tumblr consider VC to be a trilogy only!!! and don’t accept the majority of the PUBLISHED CANON so what makes anyone think we have any obligation to swallow this AMC adaptation as some kind of gospel?

I see movie!QOTD as a buffet of ideas carried in an official fanfiction work, and I don’t accept as my headcanon the various things it changed about the books that I didn’t particularly like, such as merging Magnus and Marius (which, IMO, effectively made both characters more morally reprehensible). I accepted the things I did enjoy, like casting a Black/POC actress to play Akasha. I see this AMC adaptation as a buffet of ideas, some can be taken, and some not, it’s just another official fanfiction work.

[Anon, I need to catch other ppl up on the information, too.]

Deadline.com informs us that in the AMC adaptation for Interview with the Vampire, Jacob Anderson has been cast as Louis. I'm not familiar with him, but it looks like he’s a successful actor, from Game of Thrones and other things, he’s also joining Series 13 of Doctor Who. I’ll have to check him out from an acting standpoint!

Aside from his talent as an actor, this is by far the most controversial thing that's happened in VC fandom recently. I've been thinking about this for a few months now, talking about it privately online and offline, still gathering my thoughts. So this post is not engraved in stone, it’s initial thoughts on this.

I’m glad to see ppl talking about it and I’m sure we’ll have more public discussions. I’m trying to discuss it very carefully, but also, this is an entertainment blog, my opinions are mine alone, and I’m not looking for dogpiling on anyone, I have no obligation to respond publicly or privately to anything. Plenty of other ppl have differing opinions on this. So take all of the following with more than a grain of salt, I’m not being salty, I’m providing the links to the little info we’ve seen pulicly, I’m giving my initial thoughts, and I’m also trying to add a little levity because ultimately, again, this is an entertainment blog, and I try to add a little humor to help with such serious topics, humor can help ppl talk about controversial things.

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The casting of a POC/Black actor (I’m sorry I don't know the preferred terminology, let me know if you know what Anderson prefers) confirms at least one part of theilluminerdi articles that stated that Louis’ race will be different from the books. I didn’t post about these before bc I wasn’t sure how reliable theilluminerdi’s sources are (and I'm still not sure), but this was one major aspect that theilluminerdi announced before Deadline did, so now seems to be the right time to share those articles. For now, you can go check them out yourselves rather than have my reposting of the information, trigger warning: mentions of sex workers and race in the changes to the canon story of Interview with the Vampire.

>>>theilluminerdi articles from May 21, 2021 and July 15, 2021:

www.theilluminerdi.com/2021/05/21/interview-with-the-vampire-amc

www.theilluminerdi.com/2021/07/15/interview-with-the-vampire-amc-2

^Meme of Dr. Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park reads: “Your writers were so preoccupied with whether they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

I’m using that meme with a little levity here, clearly an AMC adaptation of vampires in which the producers/writers have chosen to change the race of a main character (arguably the original protagonist of the series) isn’t in the same VICINITY as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park that broke out of containment and killed visitors to the park, but John Hammond’s intention for the creation of that park was very good, as I assume this race change was intended. Time will tell.

“But with this place, I wanted to show them something that wasn't an illusion. Something that was real, something that they could see and touch. An aim not devoid of merit.”

“Creation is an act of sheer will.” 

- John Hammond, Jurassic Park

Race is a more complicated subject than ever, so for AMC to make this bold change, I hope they have POC and Black writers on staff and are handling this very carefully. Even then, no racial group, including POC and Black people, are a hivemind, disagreements are bound to happen in the writing room, whether in good faith or bad. People have different intentions and motives, compromises will probably be made with the story in many ways, we all know how it goes with collaborations; the end product is a shared vision among multiple creators. This could be a potentially controversial adaptation, I don’t know whether they’re aiming for that or not, but with the elements it has so far, it seems to be headed that way.

Here's a comment by "Angellus" on the 5/21 article. It's undeniable that there's going to be the accusation of racism thrown at anyone who has any negative view of this change, regardless of their reasons. I find it unfair and narrow-minded that any negative response is automatically assumed to be coming from a racist point of view. To say that changing Louis' race is unequivocally an improvement fails to take into account how that change has a Domino effect on all of the other parts of the story. Not the least of which is that, if he is still a slaver/slave holder/plantation owner/(insert your preferred term) that adds a whole new racist element to his owning Black/POC people, even though, apparently there were Black/POC plantation owners. 

Not the least of which: How will this change impact his relationship with Lestat? Particularly when Lestat has the added issue of being described in those articles as having “mind control abilities” and “insistent that he gets what he wants and when facing rejection,” a terrible combination in terms of consent, even in a relationship of the same race, let alone invoking Caucasian/white dominance over Black/POC people, AND Lestat being the catalyst to Louis’ questioning his sexuality:

Lestat is insistent that he gets what he wants and when facing rejection, petulance can quickly turn to ruthless rage which causes frenzied acts of horrifically brutal violence. Lestat also has mind control abilities. Lestat initially infuriates Louis, but this soon turns to fascination which leads Louis to question his religion and sexuality. 

^Screencap reads: "I love how racist everyone is in the damn comments, this doesn’t pervert the story you’re all racist and it’s disgusting. I’m looking forward to it, I hope you keep crying your salty racist tears asswipes."

It makes me question whether Angellus truly believes what they wrote, if this is an ideology, or a troll. I would suggest their use of the term “pervert” is correct though, pervert means: “alter (something) from its original course, meaning, or state to a distortion or corruption of what was first intended.” That’s what this race change does, factually. Although, in this context, “distortion or corruption” carries a negative connotation. It would take a lot to show how this change does not meet the definition or “to pervert,” though.

I hope the rumours of Louis being a brothel owner aren't true

I agree 1,000%, I was hoping that these were just rumors. But, aside from the race change, if this were the only change, I find Louis being a brothel owner to be equivalently morally reprehensible to being a slaver/slave holder/plantation owner/(insert your preferred term). Ideally, they’d change his career to something that doesn’t involve benefiting from the bodies/labor of others in any morally reprehensible manner.

I mean, with a black Louis they can't have him being a slaver anymore, so maybe they're trying to find something that is also morally reprehensible for him to be.

He might still be a slaver. Who knows. Being morally reprehensible as a mortal man didn’t seem to me to be crucial to the story, but they still could have chosen something better. It seems to me like they want a brothel so they can have eye candy for an audience who want to see sex workers, maybe full frontal nudity. 

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What also gets my attention is that Anne and Christopher Rice have not yet posted publicly about it, which leads me to believe that this change wasn’t their choice. They take every chance to brag when they’re proud of something, every chance to crowdsource about casting ideas or which VC books Anne’s fans liked best, etc., and in this case, as of Aug. 31, 2021, (and to be fair, maybe I missed it), I haven’t seen either of them post about this on the official VC FB, Anne Rice’s FB, Annerice.com, Christopher Rice’s FB, or christopherricebooks.com. If it had been their choice, I think they would have gladly trumpeted their credit by now, but maybe they’re waiting to do it in a specific venue. Time will tell.

[despazito]

Complete list of all problems known so far in Pokemon Sword and Shield with data and/or proof for each problem

[I am copying this post from the pokemon subreddit from u/Terotu]

Seeing as there's a lot of people that don't quite know the extent of the issues and that there's no real compilation of the problems, I feel like everyone needs a list with info and sources of each and every current problem with the games, it's a long list but I've tried to put it all together, it's not just dexit people. I will post everything that is 100% confirmed and known so far, there's potentially other problems, but this is made as a somewhat "quick" digest with info that has been 100% proven, for anyone out of the loop that wants to know exactly what's happening with these games.

1. The number of usable Pokemon has been cut, only less than half are now usable, known as Dexit, it means that you won't be able to use these pokemon in the new games, you won't be able to transfer them in, and you won't be able to do anything with them sans sticking them in home for the foreseeable future (Home will probably be a paid only subscription based service just like its predecessor), for all intents and purposes, these Pokemon are basically removed from the main games franchise and they will take probably years to come back, if ever. An image with the cut/not cut pokemon can be found here, pokemon in green are confirmed to be in, pokemon in purple have galar forms, pokemon in yellow are in the data, but there's nothing for them, they could be leftover data like the items and other things, could be giveaway/event only, could only come from other games, etc, there's no way to know what's the plans for them at the moment, if any, pokemon in red are cut. The excuse GF used for this culling was that it let's them work on delivering better animations and a more carefully crafted game, since they don't have to put more time and effort into redoing the models. This is complete BS as the game polish is worse than ever, and the models seem to just be somewhat edited XY models.

2. Just like the Pokemon cut, about 144 moves were removed, 99 moves excluding the let's go and other outlier moves, this includes extremely important and used mainstay moves like Hidden Power, return/frustration and Pursuit, on top of extremely old moves that have been there since gen 1, some of these moves were important for the viability of several Pokemon, which may cause them to be way less effective if not way worse when it comes to battles, on top of this, it also removed some SIGNATURE MOVES of certain Pokemon. The full list for deleted mainstay pokemon moves can be found here Attempts at transferring Pokemon with these moves will apparently get this message: "This move can’t be used. It’s recommended that this move is forgotten. Once forgotten, this move can’t be remembered."

3. Short game, the first streamer beat the champion at around the 14 hour mark, while he did this by skipping a fair amount of trainer battles, other streamers are clocking in about 16-20 hours, seems like the average will be about 18 hours to beat the game. Here's one of the many streamers, he's right before champion and clocking in at 14:34.

4. The graphics are extremely mediocre, it constantly looks worse and less polished than LGPE, the textures are often inexcusable. Examples of the bad graphics seen here 1 2 3 4 5 6 A comparison with LGPE can be seen here and here Here's a game recently released for switch, another picture found here, the difference is unreal.

5. There's constant graphical issues, not just low quality graphics, pop in is present at all points of the game due to bad coding, trainer models will also disappear mid battle when an attack with a high number of particles is used, this also happened in SM, however, SM moved the camera away to avoid people seeing it, they didn't even try this time. This means it's either a carry over from SM and they just copy pasted most of the code, or they somehow have to remove the trainers to avoid a switch from somehow getting fps drops. The pop-ins can be evidenced here and here. Trainers dissapearing mid battle can be evidenced here

6. Animations, one of the main reasons why GF cut pokemon, at least in the interviews, are as shoddy as ever. There's extremely lazy animation all over the game, from normal attacks to key moments in the game, such as the encounter with the box legendaries. Most of the animations are also completely copy pasted from older games, one example seen here with Hau(the entire character of hop is basically a copy paste of hau.) Most of the animations for the camp are also copy pasted from xy amie, evidenced here. Pokemon battle animations are just as bad as before, if not worse, pictured here is a pokemon headbutting with its feet. Another example found here, THE MAIN BOX ART POKEMON CINEMATIC, THIS IS THE GAME CLIMAX, another example on the other version found here In fact, it could be considered way worse if compared to the last gen, example of upscaled USUM cutscenes. (Notice the graphical change isn't that big, the only difference here is increasing the resolution)

7. Cutscenes and restrictions, like previous Pokemon games the cutscene and story forcing and restrictions are insane this time around, seems to be even more intrusive and in your face than before at times, while keeping the same level of cutscene intrusion than past gen. The video for this point was taken down, but if you wish to see this you should be able to find it by searching the gameplay clips/streams online

8. The difficulty, just like the cut scene problem, this carries over from earlier games and it's even worse.There were constant heals, to the point where in the first routes you're not able to go beyond 3 trainer fights without getting a full heal. The first streamer avoided fights and didn't train at all, it still was one shotting gym leader dynamaxed ace pokemon.This can be seen here.

9. Post-Game is almost non-existant, as usual since masuda-Ohmori started directing, there's no frontier, there's also no frontier like facility. The post game consists of battle tower and a very short sequence of missions where you beat some dynamax pokemon for your rival to catch the other legendary. Not only this, but the battle tower is also an inferior version of past towers, it doesn't have super single nor super double battles, it has no triple battles and there's no "tower bosses", it's just random trainer npcs after another.

10. Problems with game design and behavior, beyond difficulty and progression, there's other problems in the overall game design. Examples of this is not being able to catch Pokemon in the wild areas until you got a badge allowing you to do so, which usually covers your current level. Meaning if you find a level 31 shiny or a level 31 pokemon you really want, you won't be able to catch it until you go and beat the next gym. For shiny hunters, this one is gonna be really important, you cannot see if your Pokemon is gonna be shiny or not in the overworld, this means that on top of the badge limit, you also got this potential problem. Evidenced here.

11. Removed past features with virtually no new additions, seems like this is a mainstay in Pokemon, removing older features so they become one of a time gimmicks, but unlike earlier titles this new game doesn't adds anything new except dynamaxing, which is limited to gyms only. This particular gen removes Mega Evolutions and Z moves, mega evolutions in particular were a huge deal and seeing them suddenly removed means that there's little reason to get involved with any new addition, no matter how mainstay or how much GF forces it when it will very soon be gone. A list of these removed features can be found here.

12. No scaling whatsoever, models are the same sizes of XY (giving more plausibility to them not really redoing the models).Any argument against this is thrown out of the window when dynamaxing exists, since the models seem to be edited XY models then the problem remains. Here's the non scaled model in sword and shield. Here's an scaled model, released in a game that came out 15 years ago for a the Nintendo Gamecube, something way less powerful than the switch.

13. No GTS, retera thread on the discovery found here, the only strings that refer to the GTS are leftovers from Let's Go code, as seen here and here. This is most likely due to Home(this means that you will have to pay for switch online+home for services older games already included) Thanks to /u/c_will for pointing this one out and gathering the info.

14. A 20 dollar price increase for less content than earlier 3DS games, with subpar graphics and removal of features, an overall shoddy release for a higher price point.

15. Performance, game is locked to 30 fps, and while that's not a big issue by itself, this is coupled with slowdown at certain moments such as dynamaxing, it can drop fps to the floor and turn the game into a slideshow for a while. Evidenced here. Still gathering more info on this one, as it's a relatively new occurrence that hasn't happened to all users, take this one with a grain of salt

16. The overall lack of quality, polish and effort put into the game, this is all the minor/somewhat minor but still very telling problems with the game. This is apparent in many ways all throughout the game, things like the wrong backgrounds or just voids for pokemon battles. Two example of the wrong backgrounds seen here and [here] (https://clips.twitch.tv/FriendlyCleanOstrichArsonNoSexy) One example of the void background seen here (these happen on indoor fights and some non indoor but scripted battles)Examples of backgrounds on indoor and everywhere else in both LGPE and colosseum, seen here and here. Then there's complete lack of music in the game story most important moments, seen here. Starters are also shiny locked. The entire world freezes when using certain objects, as seen here. To this, you add up the emptiness of the wild area and the badly implemented weather changes that don't make much sense, both seen here No animation for flying, no elite 4, no victory road, etc, this is added to all the other problems that show the lack of effort put into them.

This franchise deserves better.

You deserve better.

These games are not only a huge step down from earlier titles, but it goes beyond what used to be already barely  tolerable standards to way below standards, keep in mind this is the biggest, most profitable franchise on earth.

This is the first time a pokemon main game is released on console, people were excited for game freak to finally do whatever they wanted and it's been done with the most minimal of  efforts, all the money you've spent on Pokemon didn't went on making this a better game, it went straight into the pockets of the people in charge, those that made sure this was made with the most minimum effort and those that cut  corners.

Companies that made games decades ago on hardware less powerful than the switch shouldn't be doing a better job than game freak, and companies doing work in the switch have completely obliterated game freak when it comes to developing a video game.

Keep in mind that your purchase of these games causes this:

Continue the yearly release cycle that makes the games rushed and forces the devs to insane crunch time, creating the low morale problem

Tells them that you're ok with these problems, and they will keep lowering the bar and cutting corners on development

Your money will continue going into the pockets of those responsible for these problems

I implore you to be a smart consumer, I've played Pokemon since I red, ever since I was a child, I can no longer support this franchise, I probably won't buy a Pokemon product ever again if this is gonna be how they're gonna treat the games and its fans.

[sage-nebula]

So, the good news: Ghetsis was not redeemed, he isn’t going to have a relationship with N moving forward, and although N was shown to wish things could be different between them, ultimately the whole situation was treated with the seriousness and gravitas that it deserved and N never once forgot the abuse that Ghetsis put him through, nor was he at any point willing to just brush it aside. In that regard, I’m very glad for how Masters handled the situation. 

With that said, though, the writing in Masters made me realize something else about how child abuse stories are handled in Pokémon, and that something else is . . . not good. Namely, I’ve realized there is a significant difference between how child abuse stories in Pokémon are handled depending on whether the abusive parent is blood related to the child or not.

First and foremost, let’s get this out of the way: There is a social stigma in Japan against adoption. This isn’t to say that children never get adopted, but that culturally adoption is looked down upon in comparison to having biological children, and as a result there are only a few hundred adoptions each year in comparison to the thousands of kids living in orphanages. (Although this isn’t purely stigma, since in Japan the biological parents can still retain legal guardianship over their children in the orphanages and can therefore prevent them from being adopted by families as well. They don’t do this maliciously, but instead might think, “I will be able to care for my child later” even if that never comes to pass.) Additionally, I’ve read before that the stigma is why adopted children often don’t refer to their adopted parents as “mother” or “father” but I can’t find that source now, so take that with a grain of salt.

Anyway, the point of me saying all of that is: Japan has a stigma against adoption and Pokémon is a video game series created by Japanese people. Therefore, it stands to reason that Japanese cultural beliefs (such as the importance of blood family over adopted family) can make its way into the series, even if the series itself is a worldwide phenomenon that they know will absolutely stretch beyond Japan’s borders . . . and I think that’s what has happened here, intentionally or otherwise. Basically, whether an abusive parent in Pokémon is redeemed or not seems to have very little to do with the severity of the abuse (including that which is shown to the audience), but instead everything to do with whether their children are biologically related to them or not.

First, let’s take a look at the abusive parent that was redeemed, Lusamine. In Sun & Moon specifically Lusamine is not once shown being anything but abusive to her children. Lillie tells a story of how Lusamine was kind to her a couple times in the past (dancing in the rain, co-sleeping when Lillie was sick), but that falls in line for abusive parents. Abusive parents generally aren’t abusive 24/7; there’s a well-known cycle of abuse which contains a “honeymoon period” stage in which, typically after an apology and a promise to do better, the abuser treats the victim kindly, which usually results in the victim believing that the abuser really does love them and that whatever abuse comes later (and it always does come later) is in fact the victim’s fault on some level, for failing to keep things stable. Regardless, we know that not only did Lusamine abuse both Gladion and Lillie terribly in the past (to the point where Lillie has trauma surrounding even the clothes she wears and has trouble getting new ones), but we also see her verbally and emotionally abuse them on-screen, and then we see her attempt to murder Lillie during the climax. While Lusamine was retooled into being a well-intentioned extremist in Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, we again see her verbally abuse her children on-screen, to the point where when Hau says that Lusamine really isn’t a bad person after all, we see Gladion grimacing in the background. All told, we see Lusamine emotionally, verbally, and (with her attempted murder in SM) physically abuse her children on-screen, and yet she is still forgiven by them pretty much immediately, redeemed, and treated as if they’re a happy family with just a few unfortunate bumps in their history. I’ll note here, for anyone who isn’t already aware, that Lusamine is Gladion and Lillie’s biological mother, and this is obvious by how similar they all look even if you weren’t told repeatedly.

Now let’s look at the abusive parent that is not redeemed, Ghetsis. In the first set of Unova games, Black & White, most of Ghetsis’ abuse of N happens off-screen and isn’t revealed until the climax. Ghetsis had N raised in a castle underground where he was cut off from society. He was brought pokémon that had been abused so that he could be manipulated into thinking that all humans abused pokémon and that pokémon needed to be liberated therefore. Because Ghetsis needed N to act as King of Team Plasma and control the legendary dragon, Ghetsis didn’t directly abuse N during this time. Instead, he neglected him (N was primarily raised by his sisters, Concordia and Anthea), and psychologically abused him via manipulative lies about what the rest of the world was like. It isn’t until the climax when N has decided to disband Team Plasma and listen to what the player has to say that Ghetsis brings out the verbal abuse, calling N “a freak without a human heart” and revealing that he was only ever using N all along. In the sequel games, Ghetsis is similarly openly hostile to N again, showing that he has no intentions whatsoever of being a good father to him. He’s pretty terrible to him, even if we didn’t see very much of it (particularly in comparison to what we saw with the Aether family, whose abuse was also much more realistic than N’s situation), and pretty much no one would want him to be redeemed. But also it’s important to note that N and Ghetsis, despite having the same hair color, are for whatever reason NOT biologically related. 

And this is hammered home time . . . and time . . . and time again, particularly in this Masters event.

Now, I think most of us would agree that it would be hard to find a woman who would want to procreate with Ghetsis. Granted, Ghetsis isn’t the type of person who would care about consent, but I do think it’s reasonable to assume that Game Freak probably wanted to avoid those thoughts, even though it could have been very easily solved by having a female Sage who was also Ghetsis’ baby mama / wife (similar to how Ariana, one of Giovanni’s executives, is very obviously Silver’s mother). So I mean, from a taste standpoint, I can see why they wanted to go the adoption route with Ghetsis, even though they still made him and N have green hair despite not being biologically related for some reason.

But.

I still think it’s noticeable that they have the irredeemable abusive parent be the one who both had the least amount of on-screen abuse (and also the least realistic abuse) and also be the adopted parent, versus the one they bent themselves into pretzel shapes to redeem be the one with the most on-screen abuse (and most realistic abuse) who also happened to be the biological parent. The message that sends, to me, is that it doesn’t matter how badly you abuse your children in this world so long as you are their biological parent. In the end, you will be forgiven and they are beholden to you as family. Versus if you’re an adoptive parent . . . well, you were never as important anyway, so. I mean, why else would Lillie leave her loving adoptive parents of Kukui and Burnet to go back to her abusive mother in Sun & Moon? Clearly the blood ties were just that much more important. (Granted, Kukui and Burnet hadn’t officially adopted her, but they as good as. I’ll never stop being infuriated by that ending.)

 This is, to a lesser extent, even shown with Giovanni and Silver’s situation. Giovanni was, to our knowledge, never actually abusive toward Silver; in the one conversation we see them have in HeartGold & SoulSilver, Silver’s main issue is that he doesn’t understand why Giovanni is disbanding Team Rocket after losing to Red, and also he doesn’t get why Giovanni needs so many underlings to begin with. He thinks Giovanni is weak, and Giovanni just tells him that he’s wrong without really bothering to explain things. At most, Giovanni is aloof and distant with Silver, which makes Silver angry, but Silver’s bigger issue is with Team Rocket as a whole. Giovanni’s definitely not a good father, but he’s not an abusive parent on par with Lusamine or Ghetsis from what we’ve been shown, and the implication is there that they could potentially repair their relationship in the future. Even in this event, the tension between them wasn’t bad, just complicated.

But . . . they’re also biologically related. Silver is Giovanni’s son, we’ve been told this a million times, and it’s very obvious that Ariana is his mother. They’re biologically related. And so, even though Giovanni is routinely touted as one of Pokémon’s most fearsome villains, Silver will never actually cut him off completely / be able to do that because Giovanni is his biological father. The fact that Team Rocket is based on yakuza probably complicates things even further there, but all the same. If Silver had been adopted by Giovanni, I’m pretty positive that Giovanni wouldn’t care / Silver would cut him off entirely. It wouldn’t be seen as a “real” family.

And this all bothers me, because not only was my biological mother abusive, but my stepmother was the only one who treated me as a mother should treat her child. Similarly, my biological sister was complicit and even participated in the abuse I suffered as a child, but my stepbrother whom I’ve known practically my whole life is the sibling I’d ride or die with. To me, biological ties mean jack shit. Family doesn’t begin or end with blood; to treat non-blood relations as lesser is something that will never fail to raise my hackles. So to see it handled this way in one of my favorite franchises of all time . . . yeah, it’s more than a little upsetting. I understand why it’s happening, I’m fully aware of the cultural context that this series is being written in, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like it, because I don’t.

And before anyone gets it twisted:

Both Lusamine and Ghetsis can rot in hell, NEITHER should have been redeemed. This is NOT me complaining about Ghetsis being treated as the piece of shit he is, but rather my anger at the fact that Lusamine got a pass because she birthed the children she abused, and Masters making that abundantly clear by having N and Ghetsis state in every single chapter of this event that they weren’t blood related. 

But anyway, it’s nearly 4am, and I need sleep. I can continue being angry about Pokémon’s handling of abusive parents at a later date.

[faustonastring]

Hi so I've recently come across your blog thingy, and its really cool!! Um my ask or request is, can you do one where mc has PTSD? Or social anxiety?

Thanks for requesting! I’m just going to be writing social anxiety for this one, but if any one wants me to write for ptsd I’ll get too it eventually! Also I’m not an expert, and mental illness including social anxiety effects everyone differently so please take this with many grains of salt. (Also tagging @nnuggett so they can see it.)

Main six with an mc that has social anxiety

Asra

It should be noted that asra doesn’t like crowds. It’s stated multiple times throughout the game and Julian flat out says it in heart hunters, so whilst this is a direct sign of social anxiety, he has some sort of understanding of how you feel, and he wants you to feel better. ASAP.

Asra isn’t the most social person, he isn’t one to open up to people he just met and it takes him a hot minute to fully trust people, and while I’m a huge advocate for asra having no boundaries, I’m a very strong believer that he knows what yours are, and respects them without question.

He tries his best too take you on trips with him during off seasons, so they’re won’t be too many people, and tries his best to do most the talking, and he will make up excuses to pull you away from that situation. He also does this when your working at the shop as well.

If your ever having a bad day or an anxiety attack, he will immediately pull you over to somewhere quite and hold you tight, whispering that it will be okay, and how much he loves you, and if your at the shop, he reluctantly pulls away from you to make some tea, then the cuddles continue

Nadia

Though Nadia may look very calm and put together, it’s canon that she doesn’t like press conferences, or big parties, it’s also canon that she’s silently panicking on the inside in like every route. Fake it till you make it baby. With that being said, like asra, she may not have social anxiety but she understands where your coming from.

She’s been seen by the residence of vesuvia as cold hearted, and mysterious, just because she simply does not like the attention. Unlike lucio. So of course she isn’t going to push you to participate in any of those events either, she just wants you to feel comfortable.

There are going to be times the two of you have to make public appearances together. She tries her best to go to them without you for your sake, but you sadly can’t avoid all of them. So the entire time is spent with her arm around your shoulders or waist, or her hand squeezing yours, anything she needs too do to keep you grounded.

If your limits ever get pushed and your starting to have an attack or can’t be in the situation any longer, she wraps up whatever she was doing real quick, no matter how noble the noble person was, and take you to her sanctuary to help you reground your self. She also teaches you some breathing exercises that will help.

Julian

He is the exact opposite to say the least, not in the sense that he’s attention seeking, and loves being in the center of attention, no matter what. (*coughs lucio-sorry uh, had something stuck in my throat) he just doesn’t really mind it, but he is the king of respecting boundaries let me tell ya-

He will ask you if your up to go to the raven that day, hours in advance and won’t pressure you or try to convince you to go if your not up for it. That’s your decision and he respects that. That goes for all your dates that involve interacting with people, he just wants to make sure your comfortable, and if anything feels gross, tell him and he’ll fix it.

Don’t go to the raven just to make him happy, hes already happy. he’s usually good at catching you, trying to do that, but on the days he doesn’t he feels god awful for making you uncomfortable, and will do anything, and he means anything to make you feel better.

What do you need a bath? He’s running the water? A hug? Baby don’t fret, his arms are made for hugging. Some cuddles? Get ready to be in a pile of limbs and sweat for the next hour because he refuses to get up. And this goes for when he does and doesn’t think he’s the problem, this for where ever and when ever your upset or having an attack.

Portia

Baby girl has a lot of self confidence issues. A lot of self confidence issues. Don’t let her bubbly exterior fool you, she’s got inner struggles to ya’know. And having low self esteem can be a side effect from having social anxiety, so if that applies to you, well then the two of you see each other.

She respects your boundaries and the fact that people, and interacting with people makes you feel yucky, so she’ll try her absolute hardest to keep one of her many many acquaintances out of your hair, all while keeping you up with the latest drama, while the two of you drink some tea and munch on home made bread.

Sadly you can’t always avoid Portia’s acquaintances, they’re every where. So there may be times when some one will run up to Portia to start gossiping, and then somehow manage to drag you into the conversation as well. Lucky for you, you and Portia made up a code to help when things like this happen. Just squeeze her hand three times and you’ll be outta there.

As soon as you get home and/or the two of you are alone, she’ll hug you and apologize, then she’ll tell you to go lay down and relax while she makes some tea, and heat up some bread in the oven. Don’t worry, she doesn’t care about getting crumbs in the bed she can fix that later, right now she only cares about you. And if your still shaken up she feeds you the bread.

Muriel

Out of every one In the main six, I think it’s safe to say that ontop of his ptsd, he most likely had social anxiety, and has had it since he was a child. So he knows exactly how you feel, and it hurts his heart so much to see you go through what he went through for the past *mumble* years. And his heart breaks even more if your social anxiety is as bad as his, or even worst.

King. Of respecting boundaries. I know I said that for Julian but Muriel? Muriel? Is there even competition? If you say going to a place or doing a certain activity makes you feel uncomfortable, the do not fear honey, he will never bring it up again, never ever ever. All he asks is that you respect his boundaries in return

He’s a very strong believer that if he has to start opening up and talking to people then you should too. Don’t be scared, it will be okay, he’s gonna be there with you, holding you hand the entire time. You can figure out this whole ‘social interaction’ thing together. One baby step at a time. And don’t worry, the both of you have plenty of time.

There will be times when boundaries get pushed, or things go too far, or a conversation take an unexpected turn, but the second that happens, he’s holding you, carrying you to his hut, and the second the two of you get there, he lets you cry for aslong as you need. He won’t let go of you, but he’ll try to do little things to ground you, like rubbing little circles on your hand or back.

Lucio

There are going to be a lot of uh...oopsies in your relationship, not because lucio doesn’t care, more because lucio cares so much that he doesn’t want to screw anything up but at the same time he also cares about attention, good or bad, and he can’t help it if he ‘accidentally’ makes him self the center of it.

He needs to work on understanding that not every one has the same interest as him, and while there are a lot of people who do, sometimes he needs a friendly reminder that the world doesn’t revolve around him. And that you hate being in the spotlight. So you never will be. Point. Blank. Period luv.

But that’s not going to stop him from talking about you to literally everyone he meets. And he isn’t just talking Nono he’s bragging about how much he loves you and how great and perfect you are, and how whoever the hell he is talking to will never have some one as perfect as you, unaware of the fact that, that alone can make your anxiety go crazy.

And ohhhh baby is he quick to apologize. He didn’t know, really. Truly. From the bottom of his heart he did t and he is so sorry. He actually starts to tear up, because he doesn’t fully understand what he did wrong, but he made you upset. He just thought that being that you weren’t there for him to ‘show off’ he could tell everyone who great he thinks you are, but from the bottom of his heart. He is sorry.

Thanks for reading! Again I’m no expert so take this with a grain of salt. And if you liked what you read you can locate my masterlist here!

Next request: main six reacting to Mc proposing to them

Request R open!

[moved-attre]

Here is my review of Cyberpunk 2077! It is a bullet point list of what I liked, and did not like about the game. I mean no offense in my writing, and am, of course, willing to be educated if I am wrong about anything! But please do not send me anonymous hate. I know many fans and haters of this game can be very, uh... So take it all with a grain of salt, and form your own opinions.

This is very long and likely boring so if you manage to make it to the end, I will be very impressed! Also, I may ramble or repeat myself, sorry. There’s more bad points than good, since the game is very glitchy and I couldn’t not mention the glitches I have experienced.

Obviously, this contains major spoilers! 👁👄👁

I’ll start off by saying, this is a game where you will likely not get what you expected. If you expected Cyberpunk 2077 to be a game filled with features that were never before seen, to revolutionise the gaming industry as we know it and become the most iconic video game ever made... You will not get that. If you expected it to be the worst, most irredeemable video game ever created that you’ll hate... You will not get that, either. If you expected a game that is a fairly standard RPG with some impressive graphics when played on a high spec PC, albeit with some bad glitches and a wonky story with lots of potential, then you’ve got it!

Pros:

The majority of the voice acting, such as in V, Johnny and Viktor, was very good and emotional. Viktor in particular made me tear up! And the way V manages to sound almost like Johnny with the subtle accent change was amazing!

The character’s such as Takemura, Jackie, the LIs, Johnny, Viktor, Misty (I could go on) and even many random NPCs were interesting! I wanted to know them and loved their relevant missions. The best ones were unromanceable, of course, but that’s what imagination is for.

THE ALDECALDOS! I love them! A found family, and I wish there was more to do with them other than Panam’s missions and a few side missions. I love found family, and I’m disappointed V couldn’t form their own, so I’ll take what I can get and love the Aldecaldos, even if V can’t join them until the very end. Panam had the best missions of all the LI’s, even if the last one felt very abrupt. (At least, on her friendship route.)

Night City felt alive. There was always plenty going on, it felt like a real city, and it could be beautiful.

Jackie and Corpo V’s friendship was lovely. I loved their “To this!” inside joke, and I loved how Jackie roasted V but would jump to their defence in a second. It didn’t feel forced at all.

There’s lots of environmental storytelling. The atmosphere of a city choking to death under it’s own pollution/corruption was very apparent in the areas not lived in by the rich. Lots of homeless characters, violence, drugs, absolute poverty, trash (The dump! I felt sick just looking at it, and I couldn’t even smell it! Poor V, though.) and general apathy from a lot of the residents really sold the concept.

Johnny and V’s dynamic was the best part of the story! I hated him at first, but slowly came to enjoy his commentary and advice. His interactions with V were very funny at times, and thoughtful at other times. He was an interesting perspective for the player to consider, while still being an asshole you could dislike for much of the story. He has some really emotional scenes and I played a V that viewed him as a friend, so it was really nice hearing him call V the closest person he’d ever had. They became so devoted to each other! CDPR did good with this element, but I can’t help wishing for more. The dynamic had so much more to give, and a romance/happy ending could have worked.

And to add on, the mission where Johnny takes over V’s body to go on a bender was great! I loved all the moments to play as Johnny in V’s body. All the symbolism between them was so good. Every mission matters, and you can replay to look closer at details! He also comments on other side missions with no personal relevance to him, which was neat.

All the enemies had unique names. A minor detail, but it made me feel some guilt over killing them. 🤣 I think all character’s had unique names, which is such a nice detail.

The soundtrack was incredible, I loved every original piece and radio song. I have several saved on Spotify, which is big praise coming from me! I very rarely listen to video game soundtracks.

V can adopt a cat! 🐈‍⬛ It was adorable, and Johnny’s interaction with it made me tear up!

The size of the map was good, not too big or too small. I got about 100 hours of play in by exploring, which is pretty good to me! I got lost a few times, but always found something interesting to do in the meanwhile. I loved the Badlands especially. 

Some of the side missions, particularly the more mysterious ones involving investigating deaths and the cyberpsychos, were very enjoyable! I’m a big slut for mystery, and there were some interesting cases to figure out. I wish we could’ve done missions like that with River, though, especially once he becomes a PI.

I was complaining about the lack of aliens in CP2077, but I suppose we did get a couple space themed missions which was pretty fun. I still want to go experience going into orbit, though. 👽 Or the moon!

Separating voice and body in the CC was a good idea, even if it was handled a little strangely. I’ll talk about this more in the ‘Cons’ section below!

Act 2 was my favorite part of the game, but it blended weirdly with Act 3 and that put me off. I am nostalgic for Act 1, but not eager to replay it because it felt so slow... I’m not sure on this point! I liked Act 2 because the story picked up and I was excited for more, but the more I got wasn’t as I expected. So, yes, Act 2 was good.

The scenery is very beautiful, and sometimes the outside lighting is absolutely perfect. The Arasaka parade mission was lovely to look at. I always stop the car and watch the sunrise/sunset, and I like going out to the Badlands to look at the stars!

An addition to that, is the lighting in some main quest missions. Very noir! It made for some beautiful screenshots. (Of which I sadly can’t share because my game doesn’t record well on medium settings. 😳)

The motorcycles are fun to drive! Mainly because I can zoom in between cars and Jackie’s motorcycle has a lot of sentimental value, as well as other vehicles like Johnny’s Porsche and Jake’s car. You can open the trunk to dump bodies in, which was a cool detail., and each one drives differently!

There could be amazing attention to detail, such as making Jackie look like his mother. I expected his mother to be a randomly generated NPC, but she was completely unique. It’s the minor things like that which stood out to me the most.

The scanner was a fun tool and very useful! I liked being able to find alternative ways to do a mission, it felt more realistic than the standard “massacre everybody, pick up an item and get out” fetch quests normally seen in RPGs. I could sneak in a tunnel or a side door! Perhaps irritating and unnecessary to some, but I liked it. I love utilising every possible option.

The interface color changes if you have Johnny controlling V’s body. Another small but good detail! The game is good with the minor details.

The sex scenes were not... awful. I expected much, much worse! I expected fully animated first person porn. Instead, I thought they were fairly realistic and intended to be romantic. Still very awkward, though, and unnecessary.

When they didn’t glitch, the animations were very good. Not as impressive as I hoped, probably because of glitches, but in line with other AAA games like Horizon Zero Dawn, I suppose? I noticed Judy’s animations in particular as being good, and Johnny had lots of unique ones too!

The clothing options are very fun, I like the holographic items and “Bitch” clothes, hehe. Also including Hijabs! 🧕 Great idea, and more games should do that.

The diversity of the NPCs was welcome. I enjoyed seeing Native American, Asian, Black and Latinx NPCs who weren’t there just to suffer! They would occupy important roles in the story, such as Fixers or friends/romance options for V, so they were pretty much unavoidable! It felt very natural, and they helped Night City feel more realistic.

Adding to that, the different cultures included were interesting too! I liked the Haitian characters in Pacifica.

The photo mode is pretty good. Not as good as I expected, the camera angle presets were useful but the filters weren’t very good. I liked that the photo mode could be used in cutscenes, though! It was standard, and I hope more bits will be added in for it.

A lot of the glitches are hilarious, but I recognise not all will share that opinion so I’m just adding this down here. The T-Posing NPCs are a highlight for me. Call that the Skyrim effect.

Cons:

No NB gender options/No pronoun options. Would they/them have been so difficult to implement?

No body or height sliders. There’s so many fat character’s in the game! Why can I not make my V fat? Or muscular?

Gender restrictive hairstyles and clothes. Come on, guys, it’s 2020/2077! Aren’t we beyond gender restrictive appearance options?

No tattoo parlours, no plastic surgeons and no hairstylists for V to change their appearance. I don’t understand why a CC was included at all, since we spent the majority of the game in first person. It reminded me of Far Cry.

The main story started off strong, albeit slow, picked up in Act 2, then felt very rushed in Act 3. The point of no return was very abrupt! 

The celebrity cameos felt very gimmicky. The one exception to this is Keanu Reeves, who did a very good job as Johnny. Genuinely brought tears to my eyes at times... but Grimes was just embarrassing! Why was she there! A talented VA could have done Lizzy Wizzy much better, giving her actual emotions instead of just monotone “boredom”.

I don’t know what the point of owning apartments is. You can only sleep in V’s bed, what is the point of looking in the mirror? V has no use for their terminal in their apartment, they never get any messages after the first time they meet Johnny. It was so unnecessary, especially when there’s several across the map. I can access the stash of weapons and clothes from my car! Why would I ever need to go home? Judy gives me her apartment and I’m like, girl, I’m never visiting unless you have a mission to give me.

Also, there are no penalties for not showering or sleeping. I wanted character’s to comment on that! Call me stinky or tell me I look exhausted!

V doing side missions makes no sense, and no explanation is given for why we can do them. Why would V, who is dying and has precious few days left to live, be driving for hours on end to deliver packages and shoot random criminals? When they could be figuring out how to survive the biochip! Who the hell would care about a some extra money or buying every available car for sale, when they’re dying of something that could be preventable?

Some side missions were either very poorly done or obviously majorly glitched, since it felt like they skipped important parts and I was often very confused at the end of them! For example, the Corpo V side mission was so short! I expected to be able to hunt down Abernathy and get revenge for V and Jenkins, but instead, I shoot some random assistant I don’t even remember? And that’s it? Done in 2 minutes! If that! What is the point of that? I didn’t even have fun! Also, what happened to Garry? I wanted to save him but V just never follows up on it.

And, I wish we got closure with T-Bug. The fact that V never bothers to find her body and give her a proper burial was just poor form. 

The endings were not... good. There are technically 6 different endings, all wrapped up into 3 parts. In my opinion, the best ending is the one where V kills themselves and has a very “Arthur Morgan watching his last sunset” vibe. It made me cry. Another good ending is having Johnny take over V’s body forever, as you can really see how much Johnny has changed as a person thanks to V’s influence. But they still felt very... eh and the story just never got that boost it needed, ending before it could take off. In the “best” ending, the Nomand ending with Panam, V ”survives” but has only another few months to live. So they die off screen. Satisfying? Uh, no. Not at all. There’s no possible ending where V has any hope of survival, but I much preferred being there with V until the very end. I disagree with the people calling Johnny’s ending the “bad” ending, because it really isn’t! I ignore all of this of course, and my V is living happily ever after.

I kind of hate that CP2077 has this illusion of options when some are clearly intended to be chosen more than others. Judy and Panam have the best endings in term of romance. Why bother with River and Kerry? Kerry is more of a fling than an actual romance, and is met very late in the game at a point where you can ignore him completely and just end the game, and River’s romance is so glitched that many people can’t even do it fully, and in every ending he dumps you, so it feels like none of it mattered to him despite him being the most “domestic” of the possible LI’s...

Takemura’s ending! He died in my playthrough, because the game didn’t tell me I could save him. That really annoyed me. Also, I recognise that V is in no place to lecture him, and there is some wisdom to his quote: “You speak against corporations yet offer no valid alternative.” But, Goro, bro... anything is better than fascist mega corporations keeping most of the city in absolute poverty, while waging devastating wars against other mega corporations? I wish we could have opened his eyes a little. There’s a good, even ground between Takemura believing Corps to be doing the best for humanity and Johnny being willing to kill 12k people for a revolution. This game went a little “capitalism is bad, but the alternative is worse!” at times, in my opinion. I wish more could have been done against the corporations, instead they just kind of... exist... in the background. And I know, “Realism! “ because we live with massive corporations like Amazon in our lives and can do fuck all about them but we’re not V. V is an absolute unit who survives death multiple times... I wish there had been two paths, like do Johnny’s path and work against the system or do Takemura’s path and work with the system? Sort of like The Witcher 2?

You know how in Saints Row, The Boss has homies they can call on for help? I wanted V to have homies to help them out in fights. It felt pointless building trust with the Fixers only to not have them help out at all with fights against the NCPD/Militech/Arasaka in their territories. 

The stealth mechanics are not good. They are funny! But not very good. Often, It’s better to just attack and save yourself the trouble of sneaking only to get caught by a guard who can see through the back of his head.

The fact that you cannot get arrested and have someone bust you out of jail. Maybe RDR2 set my expectations too high, but I thought this would have been included.

I’ve read about the cut content, and I’m really disappointed they weren’t included in the game. Wall running would have been amazing! And the police hiring mercs to hunt V down? I would have loved to see it! 😔

Driving cars is terrible. Just awful. Sometimes, you crash. Other times you’re flung up into the air and break through the sky into the void, spinning for all eternity.

River’s glitched romance deserves a special mention. The relationship just drops off suddenly and you cannot interact with him properly again. It does not affect the main story at all, so you wonder, what was the point? The text messages also glitch and V will sent messages that you can’t control, leading to disappointing dialogue, like with Joss.

The romances in general were just not all that impressive. I was expecting something great, considering there was only 4 and thought they’d really affect the main story, but I’d only recommend Panam and Judy. I would have played the game just as well without romances, and they felt very unnecessary but I wanted to do one to get the most possible story content. I think we should all leave romances in RPG’s as the exception, not the norm. Some studio’s can do them well, other’s cannot. CDPR cannot, in my opinion...

Obviously the many glitches and bugs, several of which are game breaking. I usually have to reload a save at least once an hour, because an NPC won’t talk to me or I can’t move the mouse to select different dialogue options! Or my gun won’t equip, so I die.

The AI in general is very bad. Sometimes cars will stop in the middle of junctions for no reason, causing you to crash or mount the sidewalk to get past, meaning you’ll likely run someone down and get a police warrant. NPCs just walk from one end of the road and back again, over and over on a loop. It’s very creepy!

The lighting, mostly inside buildings. Everything is pitch black! Why does V not own a flashlight? The amount of enemies I’ve barrelled into and alerted because I couldn’t see is too much.

The lack of dialogue choice, it was less interactive than what I’d been told to expect. There was only two or three options, with one only ever rarely being unique to one of V’s three possible background choices and most will yield the same results with a few exceptions, like avoiding combat.

V’s personality is already decided by the game, and is not really customisable. Do not expect full control over your V’s personality, as they are very much a canon character and exist outside of your (limited) choices. I didn’t expect Baldur's Gate 3 levels of customisation, but I did expect something more like Dragon Age 2’s dialogue wheel? Nice, Sarcasm and Angry? You know?

Obviously, the seizure inducing scenes were very dangerous. I get a headache whenever I have to do a braindance, and I wish it was skippable!

Accessibility as a whole is very much an afterthought in this game, I think. The subtitles are in “speaking English”, so instead of: Hey, how are you? It’s: Heyyy, how’re ya? It is often difficult to understand, and sometimes I just couldn’t work out what was being said.

It’s nitpicky but I wanted to do a pacifist route and I realised you can’t, you need to kill certain character’s... 

The main “villains” such as Yorinobu and Adam Smasher were very forgettable, and V had no personal stake in taking them out. I honestly forgot all about them. Takemura was talking about revenge and I’m like, who? Who are you talking about? Why are we kidnapping Hanako Arasaka, again? Johnny, why would I bother killing Adam Smasher? If they’d personally murdered Jackie, then yeah, I’d understand! But all V needs is to remove the chip and I don’t know... I just didn’t feel anything.

So, to summarise: I think CDPR were out of their depth. The long, very long, troubled development process was an indication of this before the game was even released, and the story I’ve experienced in the game is proof enough. I don’t think they knew what they wanted from this game, and as a result, we have a game that is honestly very confusing and frustrating with a story that always got close to gripping, but never quite makes it. All in all, I found this game to be pretty average. When the bugs are ironed out, I will think better of it. But as it stands, if I had to score it, I would give it a 6.5/10 or maybe 7/10. Good concept, somewhat misguided execution. The best part of the game was the Johnny/V dynamic, but I wasn’t satisfied with how it ended. They needed more time together! Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens next. 

[gayregis]

you might've already answered this but i adore all your takes on the show SO what did you think abt twn having the timeline all out of order? i didn't mind (even tho i read the books after) but i know it bothered a lot of people. thanks !

honestly, this is something that bothers me the most. it is on-par with the sincerely bad mischaracterizations of all of the characters and removal of the significant messages and themes of the short stories.

i feel that it’s insanely confusing for the majority of people when watching to have timeskips that are many many years apart without as much as a text card to say (20 years later). it’s good that you didn’t mind, but yeah i have heard from basically everyone, even people who loved the show, who say that the timeskips were the one thing that super confused them.

now, i watched the show having had read the books and legitimately dissecting any little thing as i watched. i went at this show with fucking tweezers and a scapel. i don’t get to say that i was confused by the timeskips, because during every single shot and scene, i was literally taking notes in a text document as to where the narrative was going and which scene was which from the books, where they were on the continent, what short story they were doing... although i was confused when things diverged so wholly from canon during the brokilon arc, i don’t get to say i was confused by the timeskip between the events of the lesser evil and the massacre of cintra, because i knew these stories already. 

but as a viewer, i was confused as to why they felt that was necessary. there was no reason to add in timeskips. there was no great parallel being made. they didn’t connect the two stories at all besides renfri making a side comment about how she was jealous of calanthe, then-princess. there was no thematic parallel. it felt like a gimmick to keep people from being bored with the first story (which it was, because there was a lack of interesting dialogue and i got very bored with it).

and it gets worse when i try to think of what it would have been like if i had NO prior knowledge of the witcher, or even just knowledge from the witcher 3. i... would have had no idea where cintra geographically is. i wouldn’t know who vesemir is when geralt mentions him. i wouldn’t have the faintest fucking clue as to why the story is switching between this man and this girl, and i’d be trying to establish their connection with no luck. because there’s literally nothing by this point which tells you that ciri is his daughter.

i think it’s a fucking stupid gimmick that lauren hissrich did because she wanted to gain more viewers by being “progressive” and including female characters yennefer and ciri earlier in the story even when it makes everything all the more confusing to have them there. i think it was a really stupid move that isn’t justifiable in any way because it’s sincerely disorienting to the viewer and makes everything make no sense. in the books, the stories are laid out in a certain order with a certain framing story for a reason. ciri appears as a character when she does for a reason. 

geralt finding ciri in brokilon was... such an incredibly significant moment and the fact that they didn’t introduce ciri in this way was really heartbreaking and sore to me. when geralt realizes that ciri is not just some random girl, but his daughter, that she is his child and she is not his destiny but something more... as ciri says to yennefer in blood of elves, you should have seen the look on his face. i wanted to see the look on new fans’ faces, on even my own face because it’s worth it to see a story retold. it was meant to be a surprise... she is the surprise child, as geralt says, she’s the biggest surprise he’s ever met. and the fact that geralt has to part with her, that he HAS to because otherwise he would bring danger to her, is incredibly painful. that was ciri’s introduction for a reason. the saga begins to follow her from that point on, that distinguishable point in brokilon. after this, the next story is something more, which revolves around many significant people in geralt’s life, but is focused on his desire to become ciri’s father for real. this point is very important because it’s a turning point for the series. it stops being about geralt, and begins to be about ciri.

similarly, yennefer is introduced as she is for a reason. in the last wish, she is not meant to be immediately likable. she antagonizes geralt and is actually kind of the antagonist of the story for a good part of it. the netflix series introduces her with her sad backstory, making the first emotion you feel towards her be pity and outrage at her treatment. yennefer in the book series was slowly developed, yennefer in the book series is carmelized onions. at first she is like raw onions, when you chop a raw onion your eyes might water, and raw onion is very strong and overwhelming taste that a majority of people find unpleasant (think of biting into a whole onion). but over time, when you put these chopped onions into the pan with olive oil and salt, they begin to get softer, sweeter. even when they’re not entirely browned yet, they’re palatable and delicious. yennefer in the bounds of reason shows sincere depth as she defies her trope and is sincerely emotionally hurt by geralt for leaving her without a word. she gets even more developed in a shard of ice, and her relationship with geralt is developed even when she is not present in a little sacrifice, and by the end of the sword of destiny, it makes sense as to why they are together as a couple. then in blood of elves as she becomes a mother to ciri and in time of contempt, baptism of fire, tower of the swallow, and lady of the lake, she is such an incredibly selfless and caring mother and you learn her backstory that she develops this incredible depth that you would never have thought she had the potential for in the last wish. 

the timeskips are really detrimental to not only yennefer and ciri’s characters, but also geralt and dandelion’s. geralt is introduced in the specific order of stories for a reason. in the witcher, we learn what a witcher is. we learn what he was created to do, but also how he as an individual is incredibly different from many of the rest of his guild and how he has this inner depth and humanity that he has to keep hidden. i’ll admit that a grain of truth is skippable, but i appreciate how it also shows that geralt will go out of his way to help others even when there is no contract and no reward involved. in the lesser evil, we learn why he has committed himself to neutrality and how society views him as a witcher. this is very significant for how he interacts with others, especially ciri, as he does not want to pass this legacy down to her. in a question of price, we see him choosing the route of pacifism yet again and also are introduced to the concept of destiny linking him with ciri. then in the voice of reason 5 / the edge of the world, we learn more about his humanity as his relationship with dandelion is explored and we get to see geralt in a closer, more intimiate friendship light, not on the job or embroiled in a conflict. we also see him acting pacifist again and learn of his opinions on otherness, the otherness that he himself is classified as. in the last wish, we learn how human he really is, we see his real devotion to dandelion and then his choice to assist yennefer and his vulnerability with yennefer. of course it’s not meant to end there because it has yet to take down the trope of a happy ending that it ended with, but you can see geralt’s linear character progression in just this first collection of short stories. you understand him as a character and what his motivations and relationships to others are.

tl;dr: the timeskips in twn do more damage than everyone thinks; they’re not just annoying and super confusing for new fans, but they are a major enabler of poor character development and bastardization of the books they were meant to be an “adaptation” of 

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 7

(Top Dislikes)

Gosh, we are so close to Volume 8 now, and it’s driving me crazy! But we’re not there yet. So let’s continue to remember what Volume 7 delivered upon us. Last time I did the Dislikes post, so now it’s time for the Top 5 Likes post! Which this was so, SO much easier to come up with than the Dislikes list! Like I said there, this volume is so well-written and jam-packed full-on content. It was a rollercoaster of a ride where even though I didn’t want to get back on for a while, that thrill was everlasting. Whether V8 will give the same result will be determined soon, but for now let’s go over the Top 5 Likes of RWBY Volume 7. As always, just my opinion, so take with a grain of salt~

Okay, let’s go!

#5. Oscar Development

By far one of the biggest criticisms against Volume 6 was how it handled Oscar. There was a LOT of good setup concerning his identity crisis as he struggled with keeping control, maintaining his own identity, and the potential burden of just being another of Oz’s wasted lives. While he DID reach a new confidence by the end which was nice, it... was more or less offscreen. To many, myself included, Oscar felt wasted and I specifically criticized how the execution made it feel like depite what Ruby said and what the narrative is trying to say, it DOES feel like Oscar’s viewed as just Oz’s vessel and that’s all his importance amounted to. I was hoping that Volume 7 was going to rectify this like they did with Ruby in Volume 6. Did they do so?

Absolutely yes.

While they still have a bad habit of setting up Oscar in trouble but it turning out to be a fake-out (his disappearance due to Neo), the volume did a LOT to improve his position. With Oz gone, Oscar has to be diplomatic on his own. He’s in a position where he can get close to Ironwood in a way that the others can’t and see him actually vulnerable. Unlike the others, who keep just pointing out to Ironwood how his actions are problematic to varying degrees, Oscar can see what’s really causing it: fear. Which is something that Oscar can relate to. After all, he was terrified when his quest began, but he always faced it and went forward everything to do what was right. Even when it meant leaving home, even when it meant facing unjust anger from others, he did so.

Oscar tries to reason with Ironwood. He tries to have him realize that it’s okay to be afraid. That it’s okay  to be honest with those around him. That it’s okay to be vulnerable. Ironwood isn’t the only one either. In the beginning, he’s worried about Ruby’s lie because of how much it reminds him of what Oz did to them. You could argue that he’s developed into the conscious of the group, but he knows how to reason with these matters in a peaceful way. He’s becoming more of a diplomat similar to Ozpin, which even Ironwood points out in Chapter 9.

Then there’s the finale. Sadly, despite all of his pleas and how much he reached out to him, Ironwood ultimately rejected him and Oz. He rejected the route of trust and embraced fear, sealing the deal by shooting Oscar. But while he couldn’t help Ironwood, he did help someone else: Ozpin. His words convinced the former headmaster to at last return and face his own fears, saving them both. It also allowed Oscar to gain more of Oz’s power and memories. The boy has gone form a scared teenager entering a world he doesn’t truly understand, to becoming a courageous young man filled with compassion and hope for those around him. And this time, we got to actually see that growth unfold. He’s still got a long path ahead of him, but this greatly amended Oscar’s character and I am grateful for it.

#4. Penny Polendina

SHE CAME BACK! YAY!!! I MISSED HER SO MUCH!!!

Every since hr death in V3, I fully expected Penny to come back at some point. And indeed, she did! And with her memory intact, thank goodness! While I do wish we got some more exploration in how she felt about dying and such, her role int his volume was so well done I can forgive it. She has more screentime in this volume than Volumes 1-3 combined, and I love it! A cute new design, her struggling between duty and her own wants, trying to understand feelings and finding them to be a beautiful thing, there is SO MUCH going on with her here.

Penny is part of Ironwood’s inner circle, having been assigned as he Protector of Mantle. She takes her job seriously and does her best to protect the citizens. She’s elated to see Ruby and the others again and tries to assist them as much as she can. But as the volume goes, we see how much she struggles between her dedication to Mantle and Ironwood’s orders. It’s especially clear fter she is framed for the massacre during the elections. The poor girl is mortified, everyone viewing her as just another of Ironwood’s robots. Even Ironwood feels this way with his insensitive comment bout her being ‘under his control’ during the Council Meeting. The poor girl just needs a hug.

But this helps set Penny apart from Atlas. Unlike the others, who are following orders, Penny is trying to follow her heart. She tries to encourage Winter to do the same when she snapped at Jaques, even saying that all she did was speak form the heart and has no reason to feel ashamed of it. After Ironwood declares martial law, she is clearly upset and outright says that it’s wrong. She even asks Winter if this bothers her, and isn’t very convinced by her argument about the general taking on the burden. Penny chooses to embrace her feelings, not reject them as Winter, the Ace-Ops, and Ironwood have done.

It ends with Penny comforting Fria as her Maiden powers go out of control. How does she do this? She simply goes up to her and gently asks her if she’s okay. She shows the old woman more compassion and care than she’s probably had in quite a while. As a result, Fria ultimately transfers the Winter Maiden powers ot her. It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that despite being a robot, Penny is a real girl. Hell, she is by far the most human of the Atlesian characters in this volume. She ultimately feels disheartened by Fria’s death, but still goes with Ruby and the others because that’s the right thing.

Penny’s character arc was a delight. There were so many expectations with her return, and I am so happy with the result! Penny feels so much more three-dimensional now. She still has the sweetness that made us love her before, but she also grew as a character. She embraced her feelings, she made choices for herself after having to abide by Ironwood’s rules for so long, she even managed to get some payback on Cinder for her death. Her good-heart and kindness was rewarded at the end. I do worry for her, especially since Salem’s Whale Grimm is absolutely a Montstro reference, but I’m still so happy with her in this volume~

3. The Atlas/Mantle Conflict

I am... not good at talking about this kind of thing, so I apologize if this seems rambly or all over the place. The big conflict pf the volume was the division between Atlas and Mantle. We knew going in how Atlas was seen as a bastion of civilization, but also full of snobs and an army leader who doesn’t exactly have his priorities straight. We knew that Mantle was the former capital and it was easy to assume that it probably wasn’t in the best state... and HO BOY were we right.

While Atlas looks futuristic and pristine, Mantle is run-down and out-of-date. The former capital and it’s people have not been treated well and worse, Atlas controls everything including their heating system. Ironwood has forced the city to be without essential provisions for Amity, and has therefore left them vulnerable to the Grimm. It’s easy to see why Mantle would resent Ironwood and Atlas as a whole, and why it was easy for Watts and Tyrian to widen the divide. It’s like the Chorus conflict in the Chorus Trilogy in RvB, only we’re there to see the division outright instead of coming in many years later. Our heroes are trying to mend the divide, but it’s so much easier said than done when neither side will budge.

There’s a lot of contrast with the two sides. Ironwood is a seemingly cold man with an authoritarian streak. Robyn is more laid-back, if a little cocky but her heart is very much set on helping Mantle. Both can be very brash and place trust above all else. But they both run their respective groups very differently. Robyn views the Happy Huntresses as her friends, while Ironwood trained the Ace-Ops to be his loyal attack dogs. Robyn is willing to give her trust until it gets broken, while Ironwood is wrapped by his own paranoia. We see how these two groups function. They have similarities, but are also very different especially when it comes to how their leaders treat their respective groups.

There is a HUGE class issue between Atlas and Mantle. It’s not helped by Ironwood’s plans causing further suffering, and of course in the end he chooses to leave it open to Salem in favor of saving Atlas. The fandom has fought back and forth for months over if this was right or not, which only proves the point of the division. You can see where each side is coming from, and we care for the people on each side. The conflict was presented throughout the volume with the heroes trying to help, but they sadly fail. The moment Tyrian’s slaughter happens in Chapter 6, you can break the tension with a butter knife and it doesn’t let up. We’ll probably only see more of it with Volume 8 now that Mantle has no protection. But as far as this volume goes, it was presented very well and very strongly.

#2. The Fall of James Ironwood

Love him or hate him, Ironwood is by far one of the strongest written characters in the show. Ever since his intro in Volume 2, we have been building up to this moment. The man has a LO of flaws. He’s arrogant, brash, favors military might over being discreet, and has a bad tendency to not learn form his missteps. These flaws contributed to the Fall of Beacon. But we also saw a man who was honest, righteous, respected Ozpin, and for all had flaws seemed to have good intentions. He was always willing to put himself on the front lines and took none of Jaques’ elitist shit. Sure he caused the Dust Embargo and closed Atlas down, but he also defended Weiss in Volume 4 and was clearly upset about the Fall fo Beacon. We saw a flawed, but still good man and if he could just embrace his flaws and open his heart, he could have been the great hero that he appeared to be.

Sadly thought, that wasn’t meant to be.

Ironwood is shown to be dishelved and plagued by paranoia, but he HAS created a plan to re-establish communications and expose Salem. But his police state with Mantle has the heroes concerned, so they lie to him about Oz and the lamp. The man continues to make questionable decisions, like I already said about his treatment of Mantle. But he still seems devoted tot he cause and like despite these calls, his intentions are still good and it will pay off even with the bad press. Heck, after Robyn tells him to trust her in Chapter 9 and with a push form Oscar, he seemed to FINALLY be doing the right thing. he revealed the truth about Salem to everyone, he worked alongside Mantle, and he faced Watts in the same place where his greatest failure had occurred. It seemed like all the begging and pleading had worked.

Sadly though, it all fell apart once Ironwood saw the glass chess piece.

Ironwood’s greatest enemy isn’t Salem. It’s not Robyn. It’s not he council. No, it’s himself. He has closed up his emotions and his hear to everyone around him. He has buried himself in his paranoia and his pursuit in defeating Salem. With every mistake, Ironwood failed to learn and move forward. He just became more and more consumed by his own fear. He wanted to be a strong leader. To be like Oz. But like Oz, he ended up losing himself and unlike Oz, he couldn’t acknowledge where he went wrong. In many ways you can sympathize with him because of the bleak situation and him trying to do what he can with what he has. But sadly, none of that can justify the path that he ended up taking.

Ironwood is angry at Team RWBYs lies. This and Salem’s approach pretty much causes him to snap. He’s going to let Fria die so that Winter had the Maiden powers. He's going to abandon Mantle to their demise in a futile plan to raise Atlas into orbit. When RWBY opposes this, he orders them to be arrested. He even coldly confirms that he’s leaving Mantle to die. However one feels about this choice, as a cruel but necessary choice to save what can be saved, or a needless sacrifice made by a fascist dictator, one can at least make an argument about either point that makes it hard to say who was right. Him snapping at Oscar and knowingly shooting the kid to his demise? No. That one cannot be justified at all, especially since he was as cold as steel when he did it.

This moment has been built-up since we met him all those years ago. We wanted Ironwood to do the right thing. We all hoped that he would. But he didn’t, and it isn’t shocking at all. We saw enough to like Ironwood, but to also be very much aware of his faults that he just never seemed able to conquer. His fall form grace is tragic, yet done in such a satisfying way as well. I felt for him, but there was no justifying his actions. I kept hoping that he’d pull through, but once Chapter 11 hit, I knew we were at the point of no return. The James Ironwood we once knew is no more, consumed by his fear. What will happen to him next? Will he manage to realize his wrongs? Or will he continue to fall until there’s nothing left to salvage? It’s hard to say. But for now, the tin man has lost his heart,. A very sad, but very well done, character arc for sure.

1. The Theme of Trust and Fear

When I first heart this volume’s opening, Trust Love, I liked it... but the more the volume went, the more the optimistic song felt out of place for the dark volume. Considering this IS an anime, that’s probably intentional. But the more I examined the lyrics, especially after the full version came out, the more I truly realized how it fits with this volume. The song speaks of one trying to live in their dream world, but they need to face reality and trust those around them. They need to stop waiting for a miracle, they need to take control of their life now and move forward. hey need to... well, trust in love. Then you have the finale song, Fear, which  outright asks ‘who will you be when you are faced with fear? Will you see the person you hope to see? Or will you see a stranger?” Will you feel proud? Or will you feel betrayed?

This is the theme of the volume. The theme of trust and the right thing against fear. Ironwood claims to trust the heroes, yet he can’t trust anyone else and his own fear is slowly consuming him. The heroes are mistrustful of Ironwood, but they trust each other and want to help mend the divide between Ironwood and Mantle. But at every turn, fear gets ii n he way. Tyrian’s slaughter makes Mantle afraid and enraged. Ironwood’s fear keeps him from opening up and it leads to his downfall as I already described. The Ace-Ops don’t fight together as a team, which leads to Team RWBY who DO trust each other to defeat them. Clover is blinded by his loyalty to Ironwood to recognize that he’s doing the wrong thing, and it leads to his death. Not to mention the mistrust between him, Qrow, and Robyn lead tot he crash to begin with.

As Oz says in his monologue, fear is the greatest thing that everyone shares. We see everyone afraid. Ironwood is afraid. Ruby is afraid. Ozpin is afraid. Even Cinder is afraid. It’s all for different reasons. Ironwood is afraid of Salem. Ruby is afraid of the uncertainty ahead. Ren is afraid of failing Nora and the others. Cinder is afraid of failing to achieve her foals. Qrow is afraid of bonding with others, especially considering what happened to Clover. Ozpin...d o I even need to elaborate on him? The title to Chapter 13 is ‘The Enemy of Trust’. What is that enemy? Fear. Recently, I’ve been feeling that same fear of trust. Fear of being hurt. Fear of being betrayed. Fear of the unknown. It’s a VERY powerful force, and a tempting one at that.

The message of the volume ultimately si that it’s okay to be afraid. It’s perfectly human to feel that way. You don’t need to get over it. It doesn’t matter if you’re afraid, it’s what you do in the face of it that matters. Will you face it? Will you do what’s right? Will you find it in yourself to trust and love again? Or will you succumb to it? Will you end up repeating your mistakes because of your fear? Will you make the wrong choice? What will that say about the person you are? One way or another, we all will find out the answer to that question. We may not know the answers for a long time, but you ultimately need to try and do what’s right. You can’t let the fear control you. You need to decide who you will be when ti comes, and if in the end you will be happy with who you are left with.

Ironwood chose to repeat his mistakes, and is now a heartless tin soldier. Ozpin ultimately chose to return and face it and while only time will determine how that goes, it’s a step in the right direction. People like Ruby and Oscar still tried to do what thy knew was right. Weiss was afraid of her father, but faced him to gain her freedom. Blake feared Adam and the White Fang and chose to run, but eventually decided to fight back and ultimately won. Yang was afraid after losing her arm and of being abandoned, and while she struggled she ultimately faced it, proving herself stronger than her cowardly mother. Even after Ruby broke down when it became clear that Salem killed her mother, she still faced the wicked witch, told her off to her face, and pulled herself together enough to warn everyone about Ironwood and stand her ground. And there’s so any other examples that I could list. 

I think considering the times right now, this message is incredibly important. It’s been a major part of the series since the start, but Volume 7 especially made it prominent. We need to trust in love. We need to be courageous enough to do the right thing. We need to be able to express our fear and doubts with others to become better. In a world where everything 9si uncertain and everyone is on edge, I think that the themes here are more relevant than ever, and was handled very well. Especially with that monologue in Chapter 13. As such, this is my favorite part of RWBY Volume 7 without a doubt.

Well, that’s it folks! It was nice to revisit Volume 7 again after so long~ But as we close the book, we’re about to open another for Volume Eight. What’s gonna happen? I don’t know. Am I scared? Oh big time. But I’ve come this far, I’m not backing out until the very end. So I hope that you all enjoy Volume 8, and as always I look forward to reviewing it all~ See you all on premiere day~!

[fandoms-are-my-friends-1321]

Knives Against the Current Ch. 1

This is my first fanfic, so please be kind, but I always accept positive criticism. This will eventually be a Nick x Gatsby story, and I will include a warning before each chapter because some of the subjects might be triggering for some people. I do not own any of these characters, or the gif.

Warnings: mentions of past violence, drinking, cheating, some stalking at the very end, The Great Gatsby spoilers

Most of us are familiar with the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. We either read the book during high school, or chose to read it because it is considered to be a classic. The story follows Nick Carraway’s summer in New York. While he tries to deal with all of the drama that surrounds his cousin Daisy, and her cheating husband Tom, he meets Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is known for his lavish parties, but he also has a hidden love for Daisy. Eventually, all of the scandal catches up with these characters, and it leads to Gatsby’s demise. This tale is used to show the world that there is always someone watching, and that you can’t relive the past.

With every tale that is created, there are always multiple routes that the story could have taken. We know these as alternate universes. Some can lead to happy endings, while others take a more horrific twist. This story will shed light on the more sinister path that The Great Gatsby could have taken.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gatsby had been accused of many things, like being a German spy and killing a man. One of these statements was true, but it was far worse than anyone could have imagined.

There was a killer that had been terrorizing the United States. The murders were quick and random, but one thing was always the same. Placed on the corpse of each victim was a single daisy. No one knew who this person was, and they never stayed in one place for very long. This person, who would become known as The Daisy Killer, is currently residing in a large mansion in West Egg, New York.

Despite these brutal killings, there is one man who was still focusing on making a living in a time of crisis. His name was Nick Carraway. After a confusing mixup in his hometown, Nick decided to move to New York City to pursue a career selling bonds. He wanted to be a writer, but anything he tried to write seemed boring and flat.

As Nick arrived at his small house in West Egg, he felt like he was being watched. He looked up towards his neighbor’s home, and his gaze met a figure standing in the second story window. Nick couldn’t make out any defining features, and in a flash the figure disappeared behind a dark blue curtain.

Later on that afternoon, Nick was invited over to his cousin Daisy’s home in East Egg for dinner. Upon his arrival, Nick was greeted by Daisy’s husband, Tom. Tom was a very muscular man, and viewed himself as the alpha male. Nick had known Tom since they were in college, and he still acted the same way as he did then. Nick climbed the pearl colored steps of the Buchanan’s fancy home. When he reached the top, Tom wrapped his arm around Nick’s small frame.

“Isn’t it amazing,” Tom said as he gestured at the lush, green lawn.

“Yeah, it’s great,” Nick stated as Tom continued to assert his dominance. With that, the two men walked inside. Tom escorted Nick into the side parlor, where his cousin was waiting for him.

As he entered the room, he could see Daisy lying on the couch. It was evident that she had been drinking. There was also another woman that Nick had never seen before. She had short, black hair, and her chin was tipped up towards the ceiling.

“I’m paralyzed with happiness,” Daisy uttered as she draped her body on the back of the couch. A single blonde strand of hair had fallen into her face. She told Nick that the woman on the other end of the couch was Jordan Baker. Jordan gave a slight nod of acknowledgement to Nick.

“I’ve been to Chicago recently,” Nick said as he walked further into the small room.

“Do they miss me in Chicago,” Daisy replied in an excited voice.

“They never got over the fact that you left.”

Jordan got up from her seat on the couch and walked over to the window. “You live in West Egg, right,” Jordan asked as she looked over her shoulder at Nick.

“Yes, but I don’t know a single person there,” Nick responded. Jordan gave him a small smile, “Well, surely you must know Gatsby.”

That was the first time that Nick heard the name of his mysterious neighbor, and he was intrigued instantly. Daisy was interested too, but the announcement that dinner was ready interrupted their conversation. Nick was once again wedged under Tom’s arm as he was led outside.

The dinner conversation was filled with whispers of rumors about the butler and the book, “The Rise of the Colored Empires.” Tom insisted that the novel was scientific, but Nick took his words with a grain of salt. The butler that they had just been talking about emerged from inside the house, and whispered something to Tom. Tom rose quickly from his seat and headed inside.

“I’ll be back shortly,” Tom assured as he closed the double doors. He could be seen inside talking to someone on the phone. Daisy tossed her napkin on the table, and she too went inside. Nick and Jordan looked at each other. Nick decided that it would be rude to sit in silence, so he decided to start a conversation.

“This weather is lovely isn’t-,”

Jordan held a delicate hand up. “Sh! I want to hear what they’re saying.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Don’t you know? I thought everyone knew. Tom’s got some woman in New York.”

“A woman?”

Before Nick could fully comprehend what was going on, Daisy and Tom were back at the table. About five minutes later though, the phone was ringing again. Tom vanished inside, and Daisy got up and walked into the backyard. Nick followed her brisk pace as she rounded the corner of the house. Daisy placed her head into her hands.

“We don’t know each other very well, Nick,” Daisy said as she lifted her head back up. “You weren’t at my wedding.”

“I wasn’t back from the war.”

“That’s true, but I’ve had a terrible time. It’s made me quite cynical about things. Do you want to know what I said when my daughter was born?”

Nick nodded his head as a signal for Daisy to continue.

“Tom was God knows where, and I asked the nurse if it was a boy or a girl. She told me that it was a girl. I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. I hope that she will be a fool-that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world. A beautiful fool.”

Nick could feel a heavy sting in his heart. He hated to see Daisy like this, even if he barely knew her. The two walked back into the house after that. Jordan was reading a magazine on the long, white couch.

“Well, it’s time for this good girl to go to bed,” Jordan said as she threw the magazine down with a light thud. “Goodnight, Mr. Carraway.”

Nick replied with a short goodnight. Daisy couldn’t help but smile. “You’ll be seeing more of her. Maybe I could arrange a wedding,” Daisy said as her smile grew even more.

Nick rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe, but I should be getting home.” He started for the door, but Daisy grabbed his arm.

“Wait! We heard you were engaged to a girl out West,” Daisy claimed as her eyes met with Nick’s.

“I’m sorry, but it’s not true. There was a very big mix up. Besides, I’m to poor,” Nick replied as he opened the door and walked out to his car.

As he drove home, he couldn’t tell if he was touched or disgusted by Daisy and Tom’s interest in his affairs. He whipped into the drive at his small West Egg estate. Nick stepped out of his car, and as he closed the door, he caught sight of his neighbor once again. Even in the pitch black darkness that surrounded the area, Nick knew that it was Gatsby.

He wanted to call out to him, but he stopped himself. Nick saw Gatsby standing at the edge of his dock. Gatsby’s arm was stretched out over the tar colored water. Upon further observation, Nick could see that he was reaching for a green light. He also noticed a slight flicker of moonlight that reflected off of a silver object in Gatsby’s other hand.

Nick unlocked his door, and turned back to see if Gatsby was still at the end of the dock . However, he had vanished. Nick was alone, or so he thought as he stepped into his abode.

What Nick didn’t notice was the tall figure that had watched him enter his home. The mystery person smiled, and they let out a light chuckle.

“I’ll be seeing you very soon, old sport.”

[thatyanderecritic]

Mystic Messenger

Title: Mystic Messenger

Media: Game. Maker: Cheritz

Yandere(s): Jumin Han, Yoosung Kim, Ray (Real name: Saeran Choi)

Yandere Scale (In order as shown above): 1/5, 3/5, 4/5

Criticism written by: Kai

Editor: Julie

The Review:

Hey there everyone! Kai here and I’m coming back with another yandere review. This time around, I’ll be reviewing the incredibly popular otome game, Mystic Messenger. It’s one of my favorite otome games out there and I’m highly opinionated about this game. Cheritz is known to include at least one yandere in their games; Mystic Messenger being no exception to that rule. For Mystic Messenger, they have a whopping three yanderes and I thankfully played all their routes on my free time for fun. Now let’s check out their yanderes, hm?

(I’m just going to assume that everyone knows the story but if you don’t, you can read the summary here)

Jumin Han:

I’ll be upfront for everyone here: Jumin is my least favorite route out of all the guys in the game. I found it to be boring, too overhyped by the fans, and Jumin’s personality to be rather lame. That being said, take some of my opinions with a grain of salt.

Now then, is Jumin a yandere? Eeeeeeh, I guess?

I describe Jumin as “baby’s first yandere”. He’s very lowkey about it and anything to suggest he is a yandere is so vague that it just went over my head. I found myself having to scrutinize everything he does and say with a goddamn microscope. Spoiler alert: if your readers have to try really hard to look for evidence that he’s a yandere, then he’s not a very good yandere. Instead, I found the other characters having to tell me that Jumin, is in fact, a yandere. Every single chatroom that have the other characters talk about Jumin in his route all go: “Oh!!! You better watch out!!! Jumin is super possessive and obsessive about you MC!!!” or “Oh man!!! Jumin gives me the creep vibes!!! There’s something unsettling about him!!!”  

I mean… I guess? Spoiler alert 2: If you have to have your side characters tell the MC that the male lead is a yandere (instead of just showing it), then he isn’t a good yandere. Like jesus Cheritz, what happened to you? You used to be pretty good in including yanderes in your games… Jumin is just… pathetic. It’s felt like they put up a bunch of neon signs around Jumin then forget to write him as a yandere. The only “yandere part” about Jumin was how he locked up the MC in his penthouse. But to be fair, the MC’s life was in danger and she willingly stays there. In fact, the whole “Locked up” part seemed rather half assed. Besides that, there wasn’t anything else about Jumin that makes him a yandere… well, besides the other characters telling me he is. Can you believe that Cheritz had the gall to compare Jumin to Jisoo from Dandelion (their other otome game)? That’s like comparing apples and oranges… just because they’re both fruits doesn’t make them the same thing.

Jumin’s route is so not worth to play if you’re hoping to “woo a yandere”. It’s honestly a waste of time and you’re better off googling Jumin’s bad end 2 CG if you want that yandere aesthetic. If you want to see some better yanderes, just check out the other two… Let’s talk about Yoosung.

Yoosung Kim:

It might come as a surprise by Yoosung was a far better and stronger yandere than Jumin. While the game was focusing so hard on portraying Jumin as a yandere, they never realize that they struck gold with Yoosung. Funny enough, I think the reason why Jumin was such a bad yandere was because cheritz concentrated on him so much that they fucked up and since they didn’t focus on Yoosung, that’s why he came out as a better yandere. But the only problem with Yoosung is that…

… He isn’t a yandere for you.

Yes, that’s right. Yoosung is a yandere but he is not a yandere for you. He is obsessed with his older cousin, Rika. Throughout his route, he won’t shut up about her. It’s “Rika this” and “Rika that”. Yoosung really tested my patients on how long I’ll stick to his route. Eventually though, Yoosung starts to the MC as his replacement for Rika. He sees Rika in the MC and start comparing the two… even thinking that they’re the same person. At some points, Yoosung really wants to turn MC into Rika. Yoosung likes you… but not THE you but the Rika version. Of course, for his good end he learns to differentiate between you two and learn how to love the MC as she is but it doesn’t change the fact that Yoosung was a yandere at certain points.

In the end, Yoosung is a yandere for his cousin. The only thing about him is A) he tries to end up with someone else by turning her into his cousin and B) he ends up loving someone else (the MC). Regardless on how you look at it, Yoosung broke our loyalty rule. I say go ahead and play his route if you want a yandere story and don’t mind being a cuck for 75% of his route. Yoosung got some pretty good yandere moments and bad endings.

Ray:

Oh my god. Ray was the best yandere I’ve seen throughout Cheritz’s games. He was damn near close to being the perfect yandere (well… my taste. But also he clicked off the ideal yandere check marks). Right off the bat, we see his clinginess to the MC, his mental instability, fear of losing the MC, and his jealousy to the other characters. He was such a sweetheart and to top it off he risked his life in saving the MC. Ray was *muah* the perfect recipe for an ideal yandere (my type). But unfortunately… Cheritz just had to ruin it.

Towards the middle Ray had a personality switch. Fearing that he wasn’t strong enough to protect the MC, Ray sort of… “killed” himself and created his alternative personality: edgy Saeran. I was absolutely heartbroken with Ray leaving for good and leaving behind that asshole. Immediately the new personality treated the MC sadistically. He starved her, spoke down to her, and was all round a piece of shit. BRING BACK MY BABY BOI CHERITZ, YOU FUCKING MONSTERS. COWARDS.

This was my last straw. I deleted Mystic Messengers right at that point and never opened it since. Ray was such a good yandere and they had to ruin it. Ray’s route is only good up to the point till his personality switch. After that it went down hill and he doesn’t even have any yandere bad endings. Fuck that.

Final thoughts:

Yoosung is the only route to play for completion if you want a yandere story. Ray was ideal but Cheritz ruined it and don’t even bother with Jumin’s route.

I have a love/hate relationship with Mystic Messenger. It was an interesting story and the concept was good in theory, but in the end the Cons out way the Pros. For one: the game is almost unplayable if you have a social life. The chatroom, phone calls, texts, and emails were a neat concept for interactive storytelling. But the issue lays in the fact you have to wait for these things to pop up. I don’t know about y’all but I have family, friends, a job, and school. Ain’t nobody got time to wait for that 2 PM phone call or that 1 AM chatroom. That’s fucking ridiculous. And don’t you tell me I can miss a couple of chatroom or phone calls. For one, it’s not like I’m missing one chatroom but multiple. I can have a pretty busy day and never have a chance to pick up my phone. Some of those chatrooms are pretty important if you want to get a good ending. There’s also the fact that I’m a completionist… I want to see ALL the content in the game. Not pick and choose what I have time for. And don’t bring up that it’s free or the hourglasses. I rather pay the game for the full price than do a microtransactions… and grinding for hourglasses is a bitch and you know it. I recalled I calculated how much it cause to complete all routes (The main cast. Not including V or Ray or the phone calls) by paying for all the missing chatroom or paying for the day… it was over $300 folks. $300 in microtransaction. Cheritz is fucking crazy. Thank god I fucking hacked this game.

There’s way more complaints about this game (like the emails. I’m tired of having three different walkthroughs up just to get through this god damn game) but I’m just talking about the main function for those interested in playing after read this review. Gameplay is really fucked and unfriendly for those with personal lives. Be ready to waste 7 days of your life to finish this game. All I’m say, Cheritz (even though I know they’re not reading), you guys should have two modes for Mystic Messenger: one where it’s like a standard otome game where the chatroom come one right after the other and you don’t get a penalty for missing chatrooms (the game actually pauses on where you stopped) for a flat rate price of what the entire game is worth… and then the free option where you play the game in the usual default state. That’s all I’m asking and it makes logical sense.

Anyways. That’s my gripe about the game and the yanderes. Play at your own discretion.

Overall Score: 7/10

(Side note: Honestly, I love the Mystic Messenger fandom but at the same time I wonder if we played the same game sometimes. The worst part is how some people won’t criticize Cheritz and their game. Like damn… some of y’all are more forgiving than Jesus Christ himself.)

[candymayvary]

what are your thoughts on castiel? theres been a lot of discussions lately on various blogs and i know you like him but what made you like him

I mean, I’m probably a little biased in this conversation? I’ve seen some stuff on Sakurina’s blog but I didn’t know it’s been hugely discussed. Granted, every so often this kind of springs up. 

But uh... I think when it comes down to it, I can forgive some of Castiel’s writing, because I know that when it was first made, Chino was evidently heavily influenced by otome games of similar themes, where there generally used to be a typical roster to fill out. The nice one, the bad boy, the quiet one, etc etc. I mean, I’ve played a lot of otome games in my time, and I seriously just take them with a grain of salt even today, because it’s formulaic. One of the most popular otome love interests of all time was Toma from Amnesia, and he locked the main character in a cage for most of his route. But he was popular in a way, because of the hint towards ‘hidden depths’ and stuff, unboxing the issues and, y’know, showing a softer side towards the MC. That’s generally why the ‘worst’ love interest in otome games can often be the most popular. 

I guess it also comes down to different ideals? Again, I’ve been playing otome games for literal years. Like before MCL. Western approaches to these games generally fall under calling them, um, sexist. Wish fulfilment and degrading. Whatever other kind of negativity you can heap on them, which ultimately makes people feel like shit who enjoy them. Like, they are blanketed for the most part in negativity. I mean, on the one hand, sure, why not. I guess (not really). On the other... it’s a whole other ballpark. Just like how other games just don’t seem to appeal to certain people, so do otome games. It’s personal preference. It’s why so many otome games haven’t been localised, because of how volatile the western market is towards the games, where they honestly can be well received and popular, but the actual market is too small for profit. So they withhold them (like the fan discs for Hakuouki, so they just reproduce the same game for different consoles with very minor differences. Like the PSVita version includes a couple of new routes, but its still essentially the same game). 

To round this back to Castiel, I can forgive his early appearances because I have played other games with characters very similar, but Castiel is honestly... not that bad compared to others? So like... his comments don’t affect me, or even like slightly deter me. I think also because I like his development, both romantic and friendship wise. Castiel was really affected by the abandonment of his parents, his girlfriend, y’know. They all chose their careers over him. Sure, the way he directs his anger isn’t the best, but like... I get it? I think also I never had low l’o’m with him, so I did miss the most extremely negative comments of his. I’ve seen some but like. I never went actively looking for them? 

But yeah, like. He opens up, and actually becomes social with people other than Lysander and Iris. Slow healing is a long process. I can respect that. You can also see the changes in his writing, that he actually gets a bit older and wiser. I think one thing I also really like is that he pulls Nathaniel aside, and helps him. Especially since we know how volatile their relationship is (on both sides), Castiel sets it aside to help. Sure, it could’ve been made at the pressure of Candy, when she rounds on him after he tries to make fun of the situation, or it could just be a conscious choice on his behalf depending other choices made. But I really do like that he was the one to step forward. 

Anyway... point is, I can recognise the influence of the writing, I’ve played these games long enough to shrug off just about anything, especially in Japanese games themselves (blvns, anyone? I mean...). Castiel doesn’t affect me. I like his character, because I like his growth. Initially, younger me liked both him and Nathaniel really well, but I stuck with him when I replayed everything up to ep12 like 10 times. I’m not going to defend his comments, of course, and I understand why it they put people off. But he’s honestly pretty gentle compared to characters out there, so I don’t... care. People can dislike him, go ahead. People can like him. Whatever. Everyone is different, and has different reasons for not liking certain characters, or liking others. 

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Analysis of the S9 SDCC Trailer

Okay, I have a lot to say about the S9 trailer. I’m going to talk about a bunch of different aspects of the trailer including actual plot points, dialogue, symbolism, and locations. So, everybody grab a beverage and get comfortable. (Don’t worry. There will be LOTS of pictures. 😉)

First of all, let me say what I said with every other trailer: these trailers tend to be very very misleading. Back in S4, the trailer made it seem like there was a serial killer at the prison. David and Karen will both killed, but I was by Carol and for very specific reason. It's not like she was killing people left and right and all over the place. We also saw some creepy things done by Lizzie, but she didn't even actually kill a person at the prison (just animals) and we didn't really find out what was up with her until 4B. Most of the dialogue they used to make it seem like there was someone murdering people at the prison actually refers to the virus. So, very misleading.

In the S5 trailer, it got even worse. Spliced together dialogue made it seem like Gareth planned to help TF get Eugene to Washington for the cure. Garreth didn't say anything even remotely like that in the show. I won’t go over all the trailers, but if you go back and watch them after having watched the corresponding season, you can see how they’re deceptive. My point is that we need take everything in the trailer and what it suggests with a grain of salt. It really may be exactly the opposite of what it's trying to make us think.

Locations:

I will start by talking about locations because right off the bat, the very first scene we see, is something of a deception. We first see a trap door open and stairs leading down. 

We’re meant to think that Rick goes down the ladder to visit Negan. Because of that, I first saw the trailer I thought it was weird that they weren’t keeping Negan in Morgan’s cell. We thought they would do that, especially because they do it in the comic books. But there's a regular ole’ door next to the cell Morgan built. Rick wouldn't have to come down through the trapdoor and ceiling.

But… if you look at these pics,

you can see from the brick behind both Negan and Rick, the meeting is in fact in Morgan's cell. So, that first shot of the stairs leading down is not part of the scene were Rick goes to speak with Negan. If you look closely at the materials, the bricks in the scene are much smaller and red. See what I mean by deception? I don’t know what’s up with this trap door, but it’s something else entirely that’s been spliced together for the trailer.

We see several interesting locations in the trailer. We do see shots of places we already know, like Alexandria, the Hilltop, the Kingdom, and the Sanctuary. But there's a few others that are jumping out at me as interesting.

Tent City:

A lot of the action in the trailer seems to be taking place in his Tent City. (I’ll just call it that for now because I don't know what they're going to call in the show.) There seem to be a lot of tents set up together, and this is where we see the sign that points to different places.

Notice neither Hilltop nor the Kingdom is on the sign. People have been wondering why there's a Toledo. We're thinking it might be a comic book not to Toledo, Ohio, though we’re not really sure. It seems to me they may have set up extra places or communities to accommodate more people. One of them has simply been named Toledo. We also see HQ at the top. HQ usually stands for HeadQuarters, so I wonder what this means.

But what really jumped out at me after watching the trailer about 50 times is that a lot of the action takes place there. It's in his tent city that the fight seems to ensue.  It’s where Daryl beats the crap out of some dude,

where they seem to have a lot of different operations set up, and where a lot of our characters are hanging out. 

In this part where Rick and Daryl talk and Daryl asks if they’re on the same side, you can see in the shot of Daryl, that they’re standing inside one of the tents. So not sure what this place is, but it's obviously going to play big role.

Red Brick Buildings:

This next location, we see a lot less in the trailer, but I'm very, very curious about it. There’s the opening shot, which includes red brick. Then there are two more shots later on. This one:

And this one:

Oh, and later in the trailer, this one too:

Pretty sure these are all the same place. Seems like something’s going to happen at this local at night. The building in the top picture says Hollowbray(?) Outreach Recovery. So this is a place where people recover from things. Hmm. It looks a lot to like the school that Richonne visited in 7x12, as well as the school from S5. I'm not saying I think it's either one, though it could be. Or it could be a new location. Either way, I'm sure there will be symbolism galore!

It also looks a lot like the retirement home the Gov visited in 4x06, which I’ll talk more about later in the week. There were a won of Beth foreshadows there. I feel like this might be something coming to a head, especially with that “Final Warning” pic.

Oh, but there’s more. This walker heading for the recovery center steps on signs with arrows on them. The first shows two arrows, pointed in opposite directions. 

We’ve seen lots of arrow symbolism in the show, such as in 6x04 and 6x06.. Then there’s a “No U-Turn” sign. That really jumped out at me. 

This is literally a pictorial representation of “You can’t go back.”

The Broken Bridge:

The bridge! I'm so excited for this bridge. It's broken in the middle. Man, I could read volumes of symbolism into that. (Just off the top of my head: Daryl is broken and has been since S5. Maybe this season is where he’ll finally get fixed? Is Daryl the bridge. He has been involved with the majority of the ones we’ve seen on the show...But I digress.)

I probably won't do a post about symbolism of this broken bridge until we see how it's employed in the show, but I’m pumped! In terms of the plot, it seems to me like this is going to be the project at the beginning of the season. Just like we had Operation Lead the Walkers Away at beginning of S6, I feel like this bridge is the project they’ll be working on as the season begins. Why?

Not only do we see them find it, but stuff goes down on this bridge. There's the scene here:

Rick seems to be sitting in the center of it, and everyone is running toward him. I don't know what's happening the scene, but it looks super-intense. Daryl and everyone else is looking out past Rick at something they’re running toward.

Later in the trailer, we see that a fight breaks out here. If you look at this picture, you can see they’re rebuilding the bridge; placing a new, wooden bridge over the break. 

They must need the bridge as a route for supplies or something. If they didn't need it, they wouldn't bother. But Daryl fights here, you can see Aaron fighting next to him, and even Henry takes this guy down on one side of the bridge. So, some important stuff taking place.

Dialogue:

I wanted to write down the dialogue because sometimes it's hard to focus on. Another disclaimer: just as with previous trailers, this dialogue may be spliced together. Even though it sounds like it's all happening in the same conversation, it might not be. Keep that in mind.

Most of this dialogue is heard as voiceovers while they show other scenes. You only see small clips of the characters actually saying these words. At the beginning, we have a conversation between Rick and Negan. It keeps going for a good part of the trailer:

Rick: it's been a while since we had one of these talks. It wasn’t long ago, we were fighting just to stay alive. But it's not like that anymore. We’re building. We’re growing. We're still ready to deal with this world on its own terms. No matter what happens, it's human nature to come together.

Negan: That's a pretty picture you're painting there, Rick. When do I get to see it?

Rick: Don’t you ever get tired of acting like you're still in charge?

Negan: Do you?

(We then hear Rick talking to Maggie. I’ll cover that in just a minute. Right after that, we hear one more line from Negan. Then the last part isn’t until almost the end of the trailer.)

Negan: You think you got this on lock. (It's after that that we start seeing a lot of the trouble in the group.)

(Near end of trailer.)

Negan: When it finally goes to shit, and it will, make sure you come back and tell me all about that date.

So a couple of interesting things about this. We don't actually seen Negan outside the cell in the trailer. That doesn't mean that we won't see him outside it during S9, as the trailer generally comprises only the first few episodes. But I think it may be safe to say that Negan won't get out of his cell before Rick's departure.

I'm also interested to see whether or not Rick comes back and talks to Negan again after this conversation, but before Rick "dies." I'm really looking too far ahead with this, but this strikes me as dialogue foreshadowing. So, if things fall apart, and then Rick comes back and tells Negan about them before he “dies,” then it's no big deal. A dialogue foreshadow that’s fulfilled a few episodes later.

But, if Rick doesn't come back and tell Negan about it, we’ll have a foreshadow that at some point, they're going to have another conversation. All I'm saying is that it's a foreshadow that may show that Rick isn’t really dead. At some point, he'll have to speak with Negan again.

Next conversation: Maggie and Rick.

Maggie: You said before, when we fought the Saviors, you were going to follow me. But you didn't, because I wasn't someone to follow. That changes now.

Right after that we see Maggie and Daryl walking along the road. This is kind of interesting. I think one of two things is going on here. I had to sit back and ask myself, why does Maggie think she wasn't someone to follow after AOW? The only reason I can think of is because she was being very vindictive about Negan. In a way, this suggests that she's let go of her hate for Negan and transcended it to become a better person and leader.

Do I think that's what's going on? I'm not sure. It's a possibility, but probably not. The way they set up her and Daryl in opposition to Rick last season would be wasted if she just changed her mind. So, it could be that this deception on Maggie’s part. Maybe she's trying to convince Rick that she's over hating Negan, but she's really not. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

This next stuff I’m giving you just so you can read it on your own. I don't have stuff to say about all of it.

Michonne: We need to think about starting to make some rules. An agreement between all the communities. Like, "this is how we treat each other, and this is what happens when we don't."

Daryl: That small group we had back in the beginning? We could do anything. That was right. This don't feel right, man.

 Kind of interesting that he's referencing the group back at the beginning. I don't know what it is that doesn't feel right to him, but I highly doubt it's just a matter of expanding communities. I think Daryl would be all about that, as long as none of them are a threat. So, we don't know what he's talking about here, and I'm excited to find out, but I think there's probably more to what he saying and what we’re seeing the trailer.

Rick: It's on us to figure out how to make it work.

Michonne: We don't know if they're ever going to forgive each other. Rick. If they can even move on.

Here, I think we may have some deception going on. As Michonne is saying this, we see a lot of the infighting between the groups. I'm not saying that there won't be fighting between the groups (I’ll discuss that more in a minute), but she very well could be talking about Maggie and Negan here. This is one of those times where I think they the trailer may be a little deceptive as to what she's actually referring to.

Carol: I just wanted to pull that trigger. And it before it began.

This seems to be about the infighting in the group. The fact that Carol didn't pull the trigger shows how much she's grown. Back in S6, she was extremely trigger-happy.

Rick: It's about all of us, together. Keep doing that and they'll see that were on the same side.

Again, more about the infighting.

Daryl: Are we on the same side, Rick?

Rick: Well, you tell me.

Okay, so let's talk about this infighting. I'm only seeing actual fights at two places. There's one in the tent city, in which Daryl hits that dude. And then we see Rosita leading one of two sides, and they come together and all start fighting. That seems to take place in the tent city as well. 

No way to tell exactly what's going on, but again, I'm just wondering if this is a little deceptive. This could be one event, one time, and not something that's ongoing. But it could be something ongoing as well. We just don't know. The other fight, I already mentioned on the bridge.

Now, as I said, I do think that there is some fighting going on. But it just may not be as big as the trailer wants us to believe. This picture is kind of interesting. They going to the Sanctuary and see this sign. It's interesting that it says, “We’re still Negan." (Emphasis mine).

It seems to me there's going to be a faction of saviors who is causing trouble. They don't want to follow Rick and Daryl, or else just don't want to cooperate with the other communities. So that could be where the fighting is coming from.

However, near the end of the trailer, we get these new characters. I'm wondering how they're going to fit in and if they cause the trouble.

By the way, this group screams Beth!

There’s this guy:

Notice how he's a music teacher. Then there's this gal. 

She's blonde (she may be the mysterious blonde that spoilers have been reporting), but her tattoo is really interesting. I don't think it’s actually a bird, but it looks like a wingspan. Then there's this woman who is deaf.

The person translating for her says, “she says she was a journalist, but she's just being modest." I'm wondering how you could be modest bu saying your journalist.

It also reminds me of Al in Fear. One of the main characters in Fear this season is a journalist. I wonder if there's a connection there.

Then there’s the translator herself. 

Check this out, guys. Her earring is a cross. It’s nearly identical to the one Beth wore around her wrist in Coda. 

I know I’ll get people wondering how on earth I noticed that. Go watch the trailer again. The light shimmers off the earring, highlighting it for an instant. That usually doesn’t happen by accident on camera. It CAN, but I think they went out of their way to make sure the viewer saw the earring in this scene.

And then the necklace. I can’t get a clearer picture because it gets blurry when you zoom in super-close, but that looks like a bird to me. Maybe a phoenix. Maybe an eagle. But I’m definitely see wings. See what I mean about this group screaming Beth?

Symbolism and Other Plot Points

There's tons of symbolism in the trailer, and I probably even missed a lot of it.

After going into the capitol, I believe this is Michonne walking on the glass floor. It's hard to tell from a still picture, but you can see walkers moving below it. 

Just kind of interesting given the Breaking Glass Theory. We don't actually see any broken glass in the trailer, but I'm wondering what will happen in the show. I mean, come on! This is TWD. Someone is bound to fall through that glass.

We also see the windmill that they wanted to build, and it says Commonwealth on it. Obviously that's a foreshadow for the Commonwealth. It also shows that they use the books Georgie gave them to help build these things. 

They put us like a scarecrow-walker on an X. I'm sure @wdway going crazy about that X. Here's the X theory. Remember that that's very significant. I'm not sure why, but they’re tying a walker to an X in a little cornfield, as though his functioning as a scarecrow.

There’s another cabin that Maggie is at. It looks a whole lot like the other cabins we’ve seen (moonshine shack, Ty’s cabin in 5x09, the Gov’s in 4b, Carol’s in S7, etc). So I’m interested to see what will happen there. It’s definitely teeming with walkers, 

and I think this picture of Cindi is from the same scene:

We see more of Jadis/Ann and the helicopter, which tptb already said we’d learn more about this season. We still have the three circles on the side. We saw them in some of the food Jadis/Ann had last season, and they often represent the Holy Trinity in Christian symbolism. 

Also notice the A on the side. So the A theme is alive and well in this helicopter. That gives us tons of hope that the chopper might relate to Beth in some way.

Then there’s this pic near Father Gabriel. I’m not sure who it is. My first thought is that it looks a LOT like Heath. So maybe whoever drew it has seen Heath around? Remember, they told us we wouldn’t learn his fate in S8 (true) but said we would after that. I’m not sure if they ever specifically confirmed that we’d learn about him in S9, but it would be cool if we did. Besides, the return of another missing character with so many parallels to Beth would be awesome. ;D

It also kinda looks like the blond woman in FG’s photo with the glasses in S5. You know, the one he saw as a walker in the food bank. So it’s always possible this is more of a FG-centric arc. But even if that’s the case, it’s specifically referencing something from S5. Just saying.

Another thing that really struck me about the setup for the beginning of S9 is how much it is like S4. The communities are growing, there's more people, they’re growing food, 

they’re expanding and building new things. 

This is very, very similar to what we saw at the beginning of season four. Even the fact that they’re riding horses is interesting. 

Remember in the beginning of S4, Michonne rode in on a horse. And that, too, made it into the trailer. Now we see both her and Rick riding horses in this trailer. Hmm.

Carzekiel lives! In the shot, we see them cuddling by the fire.

I know a certain ship is making a lot of Carol putting her head on Daryl’s shoulder, but once again, that's not romantic. It's obvious that she and Ezekiel are together. Because Daryl and Carol are so close, good friends, even bordering on a mother/son relationship, they will continue to do things like that. And it will never be romantic.

Jerry’s getting a love interest! Yea! That makes me so happy! ;D

Not sure what’s up with these birds, but I’m fairly sure it’s Rick, Michonne, and Judith staring up at them. Michonne is holding Judith on her hip.

Not sure what happens at the capitol but we have one pic of them working together to bring the wagon down the stairs. 

Then suddenly Daryl shoots a walker that’s in front of them. 

I’m thinking it may fall from the ceiling/roof, or something. (4x01/Big Spot, anyone?)

And then there’s Rick and Daryl on the motorcycle. Some have suggested this (Daryl being in front) foreshadows Daryl taking over as leader. I also noticed in this aerial shot, that another vehicle moves into the top of the shot at the last second. It honestly looks too small to be another car, so probably another motorcycle. They must be going to meet someone.

And then there’s this:

People are saying it looks like Rick’s boots and he’s staggering along and bleeding. I think I concur (who else could it be?), which means it’s probably involved in Rick’s “death” in some way.

But there are two reasons this is suspicious to me. 

1) Despite Andy confirming his departure, why would they put such a big moment in the trailer? 

2) If this is all we see of Rick’s departure, that’s really not going to satisfy me. Seeing him bleed (while scary) is not the same thing as seeing him die. So I’m still side-eyeing this.

There are also a lot of walker hordes featured in the trailer. I’m sure they have to do with Rick’s “death.”

Then there's Eugene and Rosita and the whispers. Definitely a creepy scene, we see at the end of them hiding from whispers. If you listen closely, you can hear someone whisper, "where are they?"

I was originally going to include my thoughts about the coda (that last scene with Rosita and Eugene), but this post is already hella long and I have a lot of thoughts about the coda and how it relates to Beth. So I’m going to make that a separate post. It’ll be posted either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Thanks so much for reading! Anything see anything I missed or interpret anything differently? Who’s excited for S9?!?!

[2traveldads-blog]

With so many ways to do a road trip you can take almost any approach. We just did it with two kids so we are ready to share exactly how to get the most from the Oregon Coast. Doing an Oregon Coast road trip is really fun and very easy. There are zero chances to get lost and 1000 opportunities to fall in love with the nature and nautical sights along the way.

Have you done the Oregon Coast with kids? Want to see what we did to keep them entertained as well as give us parents things to look forward to with each stop? Here’s how you do an Oregon Coast road trip with kids that’s good for the whole family no matter the season.

Packing for an Oregon Coast road trip

The Oregon Coast is gorgeous… even in the foggy rain which you might experience any time of year. When you’re packing for an Oregon Coast road trip be sure to plan for hot sun as well as chilling wet.  As a rule when we’re touring around Western Washington or Oregon we always pack equally for rain or sun, erroring on the side of the time of year. This includes activities we bring with us. Here’s what our Oregon Coast road trip packing list looks like (clothing is per person):

Jacket

Warm hat

Sweatshirt

T-shirts and tanks (3:1 ratio)

Swim shorts and hiking shorts

PANTS

Sandals AND shoes

Kites

Beach gear (including boogie board in summer)

Cribbage, dominoes and Yahtzee

Camera gear

Portable vacuum (the Oregon Coast is sandy and you’ll thank us later)

You know your own travel style and crew, but having done the Oregon Coast road trip thing seven times now, I can confidently say that this list is what will keep you happy and sane all along the coast.

Complete Oregon Coast Road Trip Itinerary

Like with any itinerary, take this one with a grain of salt and update it for your own family. We like to visit beaches, breweries and lighthouses, so this Oregon Coast road trip itinerary has a healthy mixture of nature and culture. And like any jaunt through small town America, you’ll be tempted to stop in places we don’t mention and to find your own foodie spots. Go for it! Road tripping is all about fun and new experiences and the Oregon Coast is no exception!

The rugged coastline of an Oregon Coast road trip is the perfect American vacation plan. From Portland and hiking in the city to the relaxed southern coast, driving the Oregon Coast is an ideal travel plan. 2traveldads.com

Portland, Oregon to start the road trip

In the last few years Portland, Oregon has really grown in popularity. Is it the food or the beer or the wine or the hipsters?  I don’t know, but we love it for lots of reasons. Portland is an ideal place to start your Oregon Coast road trip. Before you head out to the beaches, spend a day or two exploring the city and enjoying Portland’s food scene. FYI, there’s more to Portland than Voodoo Doughnuts.

If you’re all about the city, Portland’s downtown has a nice shopping core and lots of great dining (loved Bamboo Sushi), but the neighborhoods is where it’s at! Check out northeast Portland for more great food, neighborhoods you can stroll through and even book a spa day at the local Finnish spa (without kids though).

Family friendly Portland activities include the Oregon Zoo and Portland Children’s Museum (right next to each other), exploring the Pearl District and markets in Old Town, and hiking in MacLeahey Park.  

Hiking idea:  The Witch’s Castle hike is really fun and beautiful and it’s just outside of downtown.  Easy 1.5 miles round trip and full of moss, streams and the ruins of what looks like a forgotten fortress.  Trail-head is in Macleay Park from the UPPER trail area.

Note: you don’t see us recommend a lot of zoos because many are not up to date and have exhibits that don’t give the animals much space. The Oregon Zoo has made many improvements over the years, including a lot of construction right now, and boasts some of the best habitats we’ve seen in any zoo.  Also, the Oregon Zoo is a part of several conservation programs, including the California Condor breeding program and the Pond Turtle release program, both of which are a huge part of re-establishing species back into their native territory.

There’s more to Portland, but these ideas will get your Oregon Coast road trip off to a great start!

Bonus plan:  for some extra time and beauty in the Portland area, do the Columbia Gorge Waterfall Area. This mini-road trip takes you along historic Route 30 and and is full of waterfalls, including Multnomah Falls, and lots of great hikes.

Exploring Oregon’s North Coast

We’re diving into where we hit the coast on our most recent trip, but you can also alter our route and head to the very northern tip of the Oregon Coast to visit Astoria, Lewis and Clark National Historic Park and Seaside, Oregon. There are some great spots to stop for getting your Goonies fix and enjoying the sleepy side of the coast.

Cannon Beach, Oregon: views and brews

We always think of Cannon Beach as the place where One Eyed Willy’s boat set sail at the end of the Goonies, so naturally that’s where we started.  Ecola State Park is just north of downtown Cannon Beach. It’s a must-visit.  

In addition to the beautiful view of the sea stacks off Cannon Beach and beyond (epic sea mist for photos), there are some awesome hikes and beautiful beaches. While the weather erosion on the point at Ecola State Park has damaged many of the trails to the end, there are still hiking opportunities out of the Indian Beach area. And Indian Beach is actually our first beach stop on our Oregon Coast road trip.

Beach stop:  Indian Beach at Ecola State Park in Cannon Beach is at the end of a two mile winding road through the coastal forest. You can hike the trails to other beaches or just head down the boardwalk trail to the beach. It’s full of driftwood, shells and a few streams, so it’s beautiful and perfect Oregon Coast. The sand is gorgeous and the cove makes for a great kid-friendly beach.

Note:  if you see what looks like thousands of plastic pieces on the beaches of Oregon and Washington, know that they are actually dead jellyfish, not trash. They will sometimes swarm and get washed ashore, drying up and dying. It’s gross and cool at the same time.

Views not to miss:  from the main viewpoint area at Ecola State Park watch the sunset facing south to see the shadows the sea stacks cast. Also from the same area, veer to the north a few hundred yards and sneak a view of the Tillamook Head Lighthouse 1.2 miles off shore (sorry, you can’t visit it)

Public Coast Brewing in Cannon Beach

Every town in Oregon has a brewery, I swear, and some have ten.  Our pick for great micro brews in Cannon Beach is Public Coast Brewing. It’s just outside of the main touristy area of Cannon Beach, but not too far. Walk the block and a half to enjoy their IPAs and burgers.

FYI, dining in Cannon Beach is more expensive than you expect because it’s the closest beach town to Portland, but most places will make sure the value matches the cost. At Public Coast Brewing we had $13 hamburgers that came with nothing but the burger on its own was worth every penny.

Recommendation:  the Sitka Burger and an Imperial IPA. Delicious combo and a perfect example of Oregon Coast brew houses.

Cape Meares Lighthouse

Heading out from Cannon Beach on our Oregon Coast road trip, our next stop is the Cape Meares Lighthouse.  If you’re looking at lighthouse stats and features comparing them all around the USA, you’ll not think twice about visiting Cape Meares Lighthouse.  Here’s why you need to make the stop: you can get right up close to the beautiful, intricate first order Fresnel lens. It’s awesome, especially with kids that like to see how things work.

Also to check out: the tiny town of Garibaldi has some great little seafood shops and places for nautical knickknacks.

Local activity:  whale watching out of Garibaldi is ideal in the spring and fall when the grey whales are going past. If you’re lucky, you might get to see minke whales, transient orcas or even the random blue whale (with crazy good luck!).

Tillamook and all the cheese

Find me somebody that grew up on the West Coast and you can bet they’ve been to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Tillamook Cheese and ice cream and butter and everything else are staples in West Coast homes. They are delicious and pretty darn wholesome.  And you can visit the factory for bottomless samples! #cheesedork

Our favorite thing to try and buy (every time) are the cheddar cheese curds.  When we went to Wisconsin the cheese curds were always fried and served with dipping sauces. On the Oregon Coast (and up in Washington too) we like our curds fresh, squeaky and cold. Delicious.  On our most recent trip we got to try a new cheese, the first new cheese offering from Tillamook in many years: Cape Meares Cheddar. It was like a tangy Gruyere and for a cheese lover, it was to die for.

Note: as of Spring 2018 the new visitors center at the Tillamook Cheese Factory was still not open. It’s slated to open Fall of 2018, but you know, construction timelines…

Pacific City: the gem of the Oregon Coast road trip

Once upon a time in my teens I thought it would be cool to take a little detour on my own crazy Oregon Coast road trip and drive on the beach when I got to Pacific City. It was perfect! Designated areas for driving, very flat beach area, gorgeous view to enjoy… and then the tide came in and I sank and had to wait, full of anxiety, as the winch truck drove from an hour away to rescue me… as the waves lapped at my Blazer’s tires. Everything turned out okay, but I ended up staying in Pacific City.

Fast forward twenty years and Pacific City, Oregon is the perfect Oregon Coast destination with kids! We like to break up our road trips with downtime and having a home base, so Pacific City served for that on our most recent Oregon Coast road trip. We rented a VRBO right downtown and enjoyed beach time, tide pools, kite flying, and sunsets.

Cape Kiwanda and picturesque Oregon Coast views

Pacific City is located just to the south of Cape Kiwanda, a breathtaking cape jutting out into the Pacific Ocean. It is a protected area, but you can climb its dunes, hike its trails and explore the tide pools all around the base.  The best time to sit and appreciate this perfect site is at sunrise. With the sun coming up behind you, Cape Kiwanda glows orange unlike any other piece of coast we’ve seen. It’s beautiful and romantic (if you’re into that).

  Brews at the Beach in Pacific City

Of course we enjoyed the local brewery in Pacific City! Our VRBO was less than a block from the Pelican Brewery so we took full advantage of it for our weekend of relaxation. With more than 15 beers under their label, Pelican Brewing Co has some great standards and seasonal options at all times.  The Umbrella IPA was our favorite.

Tip:  if you stop at a brewery you love, get a growler of your favorite beer on tap to enjoy at your place or the beach (confirm open container laws before drinking in public).  You can reuse your growler as you continue on your Oregon Coast road trip! NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

As you leave Pacific City you start to head down into the more rugged parts of the Oregon Coast.  The Yaquina Head Lighthouse is a state protected area inclusive of hiking trails, cliffs, tide pools, an interpretive center and, of course, the tallest lighthouse in Oregon. A stop into the visitors center is required to get the lowdown on Oregon’s lighthouse history as well as to learn about the wildlife of the area, including the migrating whales.

Tip:  you MUST stop into the visitors center if you want to get onto one of the lighthouse tours. The Yaquina Head Lighthouse is only open to the public via tour. They do have a height restriction of 42” to participate (small kids can’t go up). This is common with tall lighthouses (check out our visit to the St Augustine Lighthouse).

Even without going up into the lighthouse, stopping at Yaquina Head is really cool. Watching for whales, visiting the tide pools and observing the harbor seal colony below all make it a great stop with kids. Make sure you bring your binoculars to spy whales both up close and on the horizon.

Newport, Oregon

Newport, Oregon is a pretty large town and has a cute bayfront area to explore. It’s another great option for a homebase on your Oregon Coast road trip (but we’ll share a different one) as it’s close to beaches, shopping, lots of dining, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Undersea Gardens, a few tourist traps (Hello, Ripley’s…), and it’s own lighthouse.

If you’re into festivals, Seafood Fest takes place in February each year and is the place to experience Oregon Coastal Cuisine, Oregon wine, and more.  Newport also tends to have a bit better weather than some of its northern neighbors, so plan on hitting the beach and festivals with your classiest Oregon summer fashion (aka socks and sandals) and sunblock.

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

It’s easy to miss the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse if you’re just driving right through Newport on your Oregon Coast road trip, but stopping is actually a great use of time. Built in 1871, the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is cute, wheelchair accessible (around the grounds) and not far off your course.  It is open to the public most days, but you’ll want to confirm online or locally before making it a part of your primary road trip plan.

Cape Perpetua, Thor’s Well and Devil’s Churn

Rock formations and crashing waves are a big part of what an Oregon Coast road trip is all about. Driving south on Highway 101 from Newport you’ll notice that the road starts to swerve and wind.  That’s because the coastline went from jagged mixed with sandy beaches, to rocky and untamed. If you’re easily distracted have somebody else drive so you can enjoy the views.

THE stop you have to make in this stretch of the drive is at Cape Perpetua. Part of Oregon State Parks, you have a few ways to enjoy the area. If you head up the hill you have several hiking options to get breathtaking views up and down the coast. Pulling into the Devil’s Churn area, you can see some intense coastal water features including the churn, more tide pools, Thor’s Well (a hike around two points) and even a spout/blowhole.

Tip:  to see the spout you don’t have to do the big hike to Thor’s Well, but can simply head down the trail to the tide pool area and watch across the cove. A big wave will make a burst of water across the way just like a whale spout.

Haceta Head and the best view on the Oregon Coast

We’re suckers for beautiful views. I mean, who isn’t? Just past Cape Perpetua there are several pull out areas to admire the picturesque Haceta Head Lighthouse and beach below. Really, it’s the most beautiful view on the whole Oregon Coast.  Be sure to stop and enjoy the crashing waves and sea lions below.

Haceta Head Lighthouse

There are two ways to enjoy a stop at the Haceta Head Lighthouse: 1.) relax in the beautiful cove area and have a beach/tide pool day OR 2.) do the ~0.5 mile hike up the hill to the actual Haceta Head Lighthouse and check it out up close. You can even stay in the keepers quarters at the lighthouse.

Tip: if you do want to stay in the keepers quarters, be sure to make the inquiry and reserve it the second you know you’re interested. Such cool and unusual accommodations book far in advance.

Florence, Oregon: a perfect Central Oregon Coast home base

Upon first approach or even driving through, Florence doesn’t seem like the dream Oregon Coast road trip stop or homebase. Rethink that right now! The town of Florence is set directly between the most jagged and beautiful parts of the Oregon Coast, it’s directly adjacent to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area and it has an adorable Old Town area that has lots of cute shops and some great dining options.

We stayed at the Old Town Inn just off Highway 101 and it was great for our family of four. It was clean and quiet and located right next to the Old Town area and riverfront. Really, staying someplace small and unique made for a different travel experience and it felt good to support a small business.

Tip: the Oregon Coast, including Florence, doesn’t have many well known or top rated hotel brands. That said, “Inns” and seaside motels are actually quite nice sometimes and most are family run. READ REVIEWS of lodging before booking, but feel confident going off-brand for your road trip.

Easy road trip stop: going between Florence and the southern destinations, make a stop in Reedsport and check out the Umpqua River Lighthouse. It’s your stereotypical lighthouse, set nicely at the mouth of the Umpqua River and looks both charming and extra historic when it’s the afternoon golden hour (perfect for photo ops).

Activities near Florence, Oregon

We really had a great time all around Florence, Oregon. We took advantage of the town’s close proximity to beaches for fun relaxation in the sun paired with beachcombing. We also had a great time kayaking the freshwater lakes and hiking the dunes at Honeyman State Park… and then the dune buggies! There are several tour operators around Florence to take guests out on the epic sand dunes (we had a great time with Sand Dunes Frontier).

And if dune buggies aren’t your thing, there is also the option to ride horses through the dunes and to the beach. Due to weather and our littlest’s age, we just stuck around C&M Stables for a fun cow poke ride but there was another crew totally excited to head out for a full ride, no matter the weather.

One last spot that’s pretty cool and worth checking out if you’re interested is Sea Lion Caves. The largest sea cave in North America, it’s the go-to spot to observe hundreds of sea lions and beautiful sea birds. There is an admission fee per person, so families will have to fork out around $50 or so (depending on group size) and it really is pretty neat, but if you are doing your Oregon Coast road trip on a budget, you can observe sea lions lots of other places along the coast.

Coos Bay for epic coastlines and Lighthouse views

If you’re driving Highway 101 down the Oregon Coast you’ll have to go through Coos Bay. Upon first look, it might seem like a quiet logging town without much going on, but it’s actually a bustling place. Between some of the cool art deco buildings and the coastal themed street art, Coos Bay is a great stop for lunch or dinner as you continue on your road trip.

Coos Bay is also the gateway to some of the most aggressive waves and breathtaking strips of coast. To get to Sunset Bay and Shore Acres State Park, follow the signs to the Cape Arago Highway and head to the beach… or the cliffs. Sunset Bay is a great cove/beach area for picnicking and playing in the water. There’s a stream the kids can play in too, and even some tide pools at low tide.

Shore Acres State Park is perhaps the most fascinating place on the coast. The erosion of the coastline over time has formed some interesting features, not to mention that the luxury estate that was once there can still be seen falling into the sea. Also, you can visit the botanic gardens within the park, which do some really cool light displays during the holidays (or so we’re told).

Tip: due to its remote location, the State Park entrance fee machines in the area only take cash, so be prepared with some fives or ones, cuz that’s cheaper than a citation.

How to see the Cape Arago Lighthouse

The Cape Arago Lighthouse is out in the middle of the water, about three hundred yards off the shore. You cannot access it unless you’re doing something coast guard-ish, but you can see it and dream about being an old-timey lighthouse keeper (because that’s one of my three wishes in the event I meet a genie). So, how do you see the Cape Arago Lighthouse?

At Sunset Bay, skirt along the base of the cliffs at low tide until you get to the mouth of the bay and can see the lighthouse (slippery tide pool warning)

Pull over when driving between Sunset Beach and Shore Acres and walk down the clearly marked trail to the viewpoint

It really is a beautiful lighthouse and is my favorite to spy on the Oregon Coast road trip route, so take a few minutes to enjoy it.

Chillin’ out in Bandon, Oregon

Not Brandon; Bandon. Bandon, Oregon is another town that makes for a good homebase while you’re doing an Oregon Coast road trip. There are many small inns and even a couple resorts (with world class golf, if that’s your thing) that serve for an overnight or two.

Located on a small bay, Bandon has a cute little old town area similar to Florence. Restaurants, galleries and maritime shops dot the area so it’s perfect for an afternoon or evening stroll.  There are also plenty of beaches on either side of the town, so if the plan is just to relax for a few days, this is the spot.

Tip:  there are several options for whale watching out of Bandon, Oregon along the marina if you’d like to plan or go for an impromptu jaunt (depending on the season). Whale season tends to be April through September.

Coquille River Lighthouse

A highlight for us in Bandon was the Coquille River Lighthouse. This lighthouse is particularly interesting because it’s located ON the Coquille River instead of on a head or rock.  No longer in operation, but still open for tours, the Coquille River Lighthouse is colorful and unique, surrounded by dunes and beaches. It is located within Bullards Beach State Park, so there are plenty of day use sites for picnicking or beach access.

Tip: plan a visit to Coquille River Lighthouse in the late morning so you can grab a picnic table or good beach spot for lunch.

Also, if your Oregon Coast road trip is going to be a camping trip, Bullards Beach State Park has a fair number of campsites.  This is a great way to be close to Bandon without staying directly in the town.

Gold Beach for relaxing to the max

Gold Beach, Oregon is almost to the California border, but not quite. It’s a quiet town, very similar to Rockaway Beach, OR or Ocean Shores, WA, so its population and popularity changes with the good weather. While there isn’t a ton to do in Gold Beach specifically (except relax and fly kites), there are some cool sites to make for fun day trips.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse is just to the north of Gold Beach. It’s a pretty tall lighthouse and there are fun beach activities nearby if you’d like to make a day of it.  Also a short drive (about 1.5 hours) from Gold Beach is Oregon Caves National Monument. It’s a really cool cave system to go through with an awesome National Park lodge, the Oregon Caves Chateau, where you can have a nice lunch or dinner in the hills.

Tip: if you want to continue your Oregon Coast road trip all the way into California, check out our itinerary for a full NorCal coast trip covering everything from the southern Oregon coast to San Francisco.

Are you totally ready to plan and enjoy your full Oregon Coast road trip?!? We could do this route any time of year and have a blast, but late spring or September are the best times to go. If you have any questions or recommendations, don’t hesitate to ask or tell us.  Leave a comment below or email us!

Want to pin this for planning your own Oregon Coast road trip? Go for it!!!

The Complete Oregon Coast Road Trip Itinerary, from tip to tip With so many ways to do a road trip you can take almost any approach. We just did it with two kids so we are ready to share exactly how to get the most from the Oregon Coast.

[suketchilt]

Hey all. Hurricane Irma’s either going to hit Florida directly, or give us a lot of terrible weather. You can check it out on the NOAA site: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?cone

Non-Floridians, I know it’s scary to hear a giant storm is heading towards some of your friends, but they should be okay. Just so you know:

-You should try to establish a way to check up on your friend. Maybe ask them to take a couple minutes to send you a message using their phone or an app when things calm down to let you know that the storm has passed and that they are okay.

-Your friend might become unreachable before the storm hits. They may be trying to preserve batteries or preparing some last-minute precautions. They may even be evacuating. If you know your friend lives near the water or an area that commonly has flooding, they may be encouraged to go to a shelter.

-Your friend might stay unreachable for hours, days, or even more than a week after the hurricane. This is normal, especially if the hurricane is serious. Storms have a tendency to knock out our power. People near hospitals, police stations, schools, or ‘rich’ neighborhoods usually get their power back faster. Some people have generators they may use for a few hours at a time or that might be able to run constantly. These take gas, though, and a lot of gas stations are running out too quickly for everyone to get what they need. Older neighborhoods might lose power sooner. If you know your friend isn’t in the best neighborhood, they might not come back at the same time as someone on the other side of town.

-Keep an eye out for other Floridians as we start to come back. If you know the city or county where your friend lives, others might be able to tell you what they’ve heard. The news will have information, but they might make it sound worse than it is. Take everything with a grain of salt. Our power company is Florida Power & Light (FPL), and they should know who has power. They actually have a map that should show outages: http://www.fplmaps.com/

Floridians, you have had almost a week to prepare and you are probably as good as you are going to get, but I’ve been hearing good tips on the radio, from talking to neighbors and family, and I’ve already seen some dumb stuff, so I’ve included a bunch of info under the cut just in case.

-PUT EMERGENCY NUMBERS YOU MIGHT NEED TO USE IN YOUR PHONE NOW. PUT IN ICE (In Case of Emergency) NUMBERS SO IF SOMEONE FINDS YOU OR YOUR PHONE, THEY HAVE SOMEONE TO CONTACT. TAKE A SCREENSHOT OF YOUR EMERGENCY CONTACTS AND SET IT AS YOUR BACKGROUND SO IT CAN BE SEEN EVEN IF YOUR PHONE IS LOCKED. MAKE SURE FRIENDS AND FAMILY KNOW WHERE YOU WILL BE SO THEY KNOW WHERE TO START LOOKING IF SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS. CALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY AFTER THE STORM TO CHECK ON THEM.

-It’s too late for this bit now, but try to stock up at the beginning of hurricane season. Always have a couple cases of water and a week’s worth of canned goods on hand. ALWAYS. You can buy batteries in bulk online, but be aware that carriers will stop making deliveries before the storm.

-For Irma, do not count on express online orders until Tuesday or later. I work at a warehouse in the lower half of the state. UPS and USPS might be doing some deliveries on Friday morning, but they will be avoiding pick-ups and will not be going to their business routes. This means that if you order something tonight, no one’s going to pick it up, and it won’t be delivered until after they come back to work on Tuesday or later, depending on how bad the storm is and where you are located. A lot of their workers have been calling out to prepare their families for the storm. My area should start getting bad wind by Saturday afternoon, so I already know all of our usual drivers have called out.

-Try stores you don’t normally go to. The popular stores might be out, but there’s a good chance someone has what you want. Our supermarkets ran out of water, but my sister found packs of water at a liquor store. Watch out for ‘price gouging.’ A lot of places are raising prices due to shortages and panic, and some are raising them to obviously high amounts. If it is normally $2 and it is suddenly $10, something is wrong. We are in a ‘state of emergency,’ so sudden big changes like this are actually illegal. They can be reported for steep price jumps like this at the Attorney General’s Price Gouging Hotline 1-866-966-7226

-If you need water and can’t find/afford bottled water, fill plastic containers and Ziploc bags with tap water. Maybe buy one of those water filter pitchers if you’re worried about cleanliness. Buy bottles of juice and sports drinks. Please don’t try to survive on alcoholic drinks. 

-If you need food and the canned aisle is empty, buy bagged and dried foods. Chips, pretzels, cereal, beef jerky, vacuum-packed stuff that isn’t in the refrigerators, fruit cups, applesauce… I mean, you could live on cookies, but you’ll probably get a tummy ache. (Don’t forget to get a manual can opener or one that takes batteries.)

-It doesn’t have to be sliced bread. You can also put peanut butter on bagels, pita bread, hot dog buns, crackers, English muffins... I can’t tell you how many times I have gone into the brad aisle and seen all the bread gone, a small group of sad people, and TOO MANY BAGELS. Eat the bagels.

-Store important papers in water-tight containers and put them in your safe room. Heck, roll them up like scrolls and seal them in plastic bags and Tupperware. Some people have been suggesting storing things in the dish washer. (I won’t be doing that. I’ll forget they’re there and bad things will happen…)

-Do not stand near windows during the storm, especially if you can feel them bending slightly or vibrating or anything like that. Stay far from windows and preferably in a room with no windows at all.

-Taping windows doesn’t do anything. Please use hurricane shutters (no one will install them now until after the storm passes), sheets of wood, metal... I’ve heard of special hurricane netting, but I don’t know much about it. If you can afford it, I highly recommend ‘hurricane-proof’/impact-resistant windows and sliding doors. You don’t have to prepare them- they’re always ready, and harder for robbers to break.

-Bring EVERYTHING inside. If it isn’t bolted down or something equally sturdy, it is a potential projectile. Even if you don’t care about the item, you don’t want it in your pool, your neighbor’s screened in porch, or your neighbor’s window.

-Cut off loose plant parts. Branches that look ready to fall, dead palm fronds, coconuts… If garbage pick-up won’t be coming around again, stash these things in your garage so they don’t fly around. You don’t want a coconut in your windshield. It’s too late now, but before storms you can call lawn and tree companies to trim dangerous parts off your plants.

-Keep mops, towels, and buckets on hand. Leaks might happen. Keep an eye out for bubbling paint- that could mean the water’s getting somewhere inside the wall. Be prepared to pull up and prop up carpet if it gets wet- you do NOT want that mold.

-Do your laundry before the storm weather hits. If you lose power, you won’t be able to run your washing machine. If your power stays out for two weeks (like mine did in my old house), you will have some very gross clothes.

-Keep some cash on you. ATM’s don’t work without power, and even if people can’t scan your credit card, everyone likes money.

-Buy a battery-operated light. Flashlights are fine, but they also sell electric lanterns that you can set on a counter while you do whatever you gotta do. Like take a shower. A very cold shower. Also, your smart phone should have a flashlight option. On an iPhone you swipe up and it shows that quick menu with a flashlight on the left. I’m not familiar with other phones, but I know my work HTC has a flashlight app that I moved to my home screen. Don’t forget to turn the light out when you aren’t using it to preserve battery.

-If you have a gas stove, you can still use it if your power is out. Be VERY careful. You can turn on the stove normally to release the gas, then light it with a lighter. I suggest using the long ones people use for barbecues, because the sudden flames can be a bit of a surprise, and you might not want your hand that close with a cigarette lighter.

-Fill a bathtub or kiddy pool with water for the toilet. If it won’t flush without power, you can help it out by dumping water in. Put a bunch of water in at once to simulate the water that goes in when it flushes normally. (This doesn’t work with clogs- that’s a plunger’s job.)

-Take photos and video of damage, especially if you might need to report it or make a claim- if possible, do it with a clock or watch in the photo/video.

-Stay out of the water! I’d better not see any of you kayaking out in the road rivers. They’re dirty and there could be all sorts of junk, like broken shards of plastic or glass, or maybe even a downed powerline.

-Do not go to the beach during the storm. 

-Don’t drive during the hurricane, and avoid flooded areas after the weather calms down. Cars can get stuck in deep water.

-Park your car inside or in a covered area, if you can.

-The eye of the storm might not last as long as you think. Please do not stay out for long or leave pets outside.

-Some of the street lights might be out after the storm knocks them around. If they are flashing red, you have to stop like at a stop sign. If they are flashing yellow, you need to watch out, because someone with a flashing red might try to zip out in front of you. If the lights are out completely, you should avoid that area if possible and treat it as though it’s all stop signs.

-If a pole or tree is leaning, don’t go near it. Report it. Put up a sign or some colored tape around the area to mark it so others know to avoid it.

-FPL says to report outages. You can go to their website on your phone https://www.fpl.com/storm.html , download their app, or call them at 1-800-4OUTAGE (800-468-8243). 

[wymanthewalrus]

I think I'm going to go on a bit of an educated and probably pretentious-sounding rant about popular perceptions of both current and historical events in, for lack of a better term, the Middle East. It's gonna be LONG. 

FOREWARNING: I'm not a published expert on the subject and this isn't intensively cited or peer-reviewed. I may get facts wrong. TAKE EVERYTHING I SAY HERE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.

So this post has been brewing for a while, but was specifically set off by something I saw on Reddit today. Someone, in a discussion about ISIS and the Syrian Civil War, said, and I quote: "We need a new Crusade." It's a sentiment I've seen a lot in the past few months in various forms all around the internet and the news, and it reflects, in my opinion, the complete and total ignorance of both history and politics of the people making those statements.

Now I'm going to start with the modern and geopolitical problems with that statement first because they're the simplest to explain and observe.

PROBLEM THE FIRST: Do we need a "new Crusade" to bring down ISIS? Not at all. The Iraqis and Kurds are currently in the process of winning the conflict. By quite a lot. The question is not IF ISIS will collapse, but WHEN. The big problem is that the conflict with ISIS is part of a much larger and more complicated quagmire of violence in Iraq and Syria. There are dozens of factions fighting amongst themselves for a dozen different reasons, which is complex enough, but the greater Syrian Civil War conflict has extended further into a sort of proxy war between local powers. Every neighboring country, and some that aren't even close, has a stake.

There are several important players and power blocs to consider. The first is Turkey. With the 8th largest military on Earth, and still riding a wave of popularity following the recent failed coup, Turkey's government has several goals. The first is to prevent Turkish Kurds from seceding in the even that the inevitable defeat of ISIS gives rise to an independent Kurdistan. Second, Turkey wants to keep the wider conflict from crossing over its borders.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf State allies, being primarily Sunni Muslim, are treating the war as a way to gain a leg up over the primarily Shia Muslim Iran in regional influence, so different militias supported by both factions are thrown into the mix.

Add in the Syrian Government and its brutal human rights abuses and recent Russian Interference on the regime's side, targeting non-ISIS rebels more often than ISIS troops and a resultant spike in tensions with the US and Turkey. In the middle of it all are the Kurds and Iraqis, operating with US and Iranian support in Northern Iraq and Syria. These guys are the ones who are currently doing most of the winning against ISIS, as far as I am currently aware.

The entire situation is a tangled mess of alliances, ambitions, angry rebels, and zero foresight. Anyone who has studied history can point to another specific war that highlights just how bad an unnecessary escalation would be: The First World War. It all started as a regional conflict between independence-seeking rebels and Austria-Hungary, but escalated when other European powers started treating it as a way to advance their own interests. A tangle of alliances and treaties fired off and BAM, Europe was in chaos. 

An escalation of the greater Syrian Civil War conflict, could easily result in something similar. Besides ALL of that, the most often-cited reason for an invasion is ISIS, the ones who are currently losing to the Kurds and Iraqis. So an escalation would not only be potentially devastating, it would also be completely pointless.

Which brings me back to the idea of the Crusades.

The implication of a "new Crusade" would be a religiously-justified war against a specific religious group, in this case Christian armies attacking Muslims. Now aside from the fact that this would be, according to a 2010 study, declaring war on 1.6 billion people and would almost certainly result in nothing but a further downward spiral in stability in the Middle East and a continuing cycle of violence, poverty, migration, and xenophobia, there is a much deeper issue with this Reddit post.

The Crusades are commonly portrayed in Western, European-descended cultures as a cut-and-dry series of wars waged by Christian Europe with the intent to return the holy land to Christian hands.

This explanation skims the surface of the reality of the Crusades and adds a cultural bias for good measure. It has parts that could be construed as accurate from a certain standpoint, but obscures massive amounts of complexity for the sake of a specific narrative.

To understand the Crusades, we have to understand the time period. The First Crusade was called by Pope Urban II in 1095. The world at the time, and the way religion was treated, was vastly different from the modern world. The previous four hundred years had seen the rise of a series of vast, immensely powerful Arabic Islamic Empires - the Caliphates. Following directly in the wake of the founding of Islam and the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the first of these empires quickly expanded from a small realm around Mecca and Medina all the way into North Africa and Central Asia.

I would argue that these conquests were not religiously motivated, but rather the same natural drive for expansion that every large Empire in history has required to remain intact, but that's an argument for another time. 

Of immediate relevance to this rant is the  interactions between the Islamic Empires and Europe. At the time of their first appearance, Christian Europe was in the midst of what we know of as the Dark Ages. Literacy rates and urban populations were at rock bottom and most people relied on farming to survive. There really weren't any powerful countries in Western Europe, but in Greece and Turkey the Byzantine Empire - the last vestige of Rome - reigned supreme as the sole bastion of civilization in a dark, dark Europe. 

The Caliphate entered the scene while the Byzantines were locked in conflict with their rivals, the Sassanid Empire of Persia. In a relatively short amount of time, the Sassanids had been destroyed and the Byzantines had lost control of Egypt and North Africa to what became known as the Rashidun Caliphate. Byzantium was still  powerful, though, and resisted multiple invasions over the next several centuries.

In essence, the Byzantine Empire became a sort of barrier preventing the Caliphates from pushing into Eastern Europe. Eventually, however, Spain came under Arabic control as well, and the initial wave of conquest was stopped by a Frankish army at the Battle of Tours in 732.

For the next three centuries, the rising Christian Kingdoms of Europe remained sheltered from conquest by the natural barriers of the Pyrenees Mountains and the Byzantine Empire. During this time, the Islamic Caliphates were HIGHLY tolerant of other religions and cultures, creating special ordinances and codes that protected non-Muslims' rights and encouraged their participation in local government. The Europeans were too busy slaughtering pagans and heathens to take note, but Christian and Jewish pilgrims were free to travel to their holy sites.

Fast forward to 1071. A nomadic people from Central Asia, the Seljuqs, have taken control of Persia and Iraq and crushed the Byzantine army at the Battle of Manzikert. The Byzantines barely retain control of the coast of modern-day Turkey, with everything in the interior and East falling into Seljuq hands. The Seljuqs, although Islamic like their Caliphate neighbors, have less-pleasant policies towards other religions, and cut off the main overland pilgrimage route to the Holy Land.

The Byzantines appealed to the Pope for aid. I could go into the whole Catholic/Orthodox nature of this in detail, but it's not really worth the space. Suffice to say that Catholic and Orthodox Christians didn’t see eye to eye, and getting them to cooperate was nigh-impossible. What IS important is that the Byzantines were requesting help with the reasoning that is Byzantium fell, Europe would as well.

The problem for the Pope, thanks to the Catholic/Orthodox issue that I'm skimming over, was that "Help the Byzantines" wasn't a good reason to call for a holy war. Because his only influence over Europe was through the lens of religion, he needed a good enough religious reason to rally the European Kingdoms and get them fired up to invade. Fortunately for the Pope, the Seljuqs had cut off the pilgrimage routes and he could ask the European Kings and Nobles to invade for the purpose of "returning the Holy Land to Christian hands."

That right there is the important part. The Crusades did NOT start for religious purposes, they simply used them as a convenient excuse and rallying cry. Amusingly, although the Crusaders DID invade through Seljuq-controlled lands, the First Crusade also targeted lands and cities that weren't even under Seljuq control. Jerusalem, for instance, was controlled by the Fatimid Caliphate. 

While I'm on the subject of Jerusalem, I should mention that the super-Christian Crusaders, upon taking the city, slaughtered pretty much every non-Christian they could find. Although massacres were relatively commonplace in medieval warfare, the Massacre of Jerusalem is often said to have exceeded even the standards of the time. 

Eyewitnesses reported that the Crusaders waded through blood as high as their ankles or even knees in some places. The Jewish synagogue was burned with the Jews who took refuge there still trapped inside. On the Temple Mount, one crusader stated that over 10,000 innocents, including women and children, were butchered. Some Muslims were spared as captives and made to drag the corpses out of the city into massive, house-sized piles.

Ultimately, the Crusades were useless. They accomplished nothing and served only to spill the blood of thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people. The Fourth Crusade even ended up as an invasion of the Byzantine Empire, sealing the coffin of the declining Empire's fate with a betrayal by supposed allies. So, in conclusion, the crusades were ineffective wars fought in the name of a religion by highly-religious warriors for a completely non-religious purpose that the failed at more miserably than just about anyone has ever failed in history while at the same time committing stomach-churning atrocities.

Do we "Need a new Crusade?"

No.

No, we absolutely don't.