#I also got rid of any text that mentions rarities

[thatonebjp]

I tried to turn some cards from our card game into magic cards

[svtfoefan1976-blog]

Boss got mad! 3 for 1 deal! Monster Arm prophecy.

Since its debut, the Monster Arm is the most targeted theory feature in the show. From being a reason to forbid Starco, passing through being the captain’s voice to its return, many things were thought on this. Specially because of the Monster Arm’s final words.

From here

Monster Arm: You'll never get rid of me! I'm part of you now! You can treat the symptoms, but you'll never cure the viruuuus...!

Within these theories, there’s one which would be a prophecy on Star and Marco’s role on a possible Mewman and Monster war, which in the end, Mewmen and Monsters would be together in peace.

But, in prophecies, like in parables, wording and subtle meanings are everything. A misplaced comma, a missing letter, a misleading translation could make all the difference.

Because of that, I will offer you a 3 for 1 deal: three interpretations for a single written prophecy.

And that’s not all! Included in this package, we will include for free the already widespread Starco theory about the Prophecy Room, revisited, taking account on the current state of Star’s relationship.

The Prophecy

Are you kidding me? Not the Monster Arm? A prophecy? How cliché it is!

If you want, throw me rotten tomatoes. But I’d rather being thrown money. Or bitcoins - some satoshi, maybe - which, in the time I wrote this post, is worth more than money.

Let’s start with a text, with no commas attached, so we can change the meaning with few changes and punctuation, if you wish:

“Shall come a Queen with her monster arm who will end up Mewmen and Monsters together.”

And Saint Olga’s room known as the Prophecy Room. Details of the floor...

From here

... and the ceiling.

From here

I created the text myself, no basis on nothing the show presented or what was spoken anywhere. It is just for the sake to explain why some actions are or may be driven in a certain direction on the show. As I wrote before, it is being taken out from thin air, almost nowhere. The only thing that was already discussed, as far as I know, was the Starco theory.

The phrasal verb end up could have the following meanings:

Bond: end up together with someone, as a couple

Apocaliptical: end up someone, terminating someone’s life

Peace: end up together, reaching an objective, which is to be together.

The latter is the most common meaning, as far as I know - some native speaker may correct me.

So, let’s dive in each one.

The Bond Interpretation

In this interpretation, arm would be “used to refer to the holding of a person's arm in support or companionship”. And end up together, as stated before, would be end as a couple.

In this case, the queen would be Eclipsa.

From here

Simple as that. The prophecy would predict her marriage with a Monster. The big moon would represent the Monster, given its size to the sun, which would represent Eclipsa.

This would be understood by a duality good (bright - sun - Mewmen) / evil (dark - moon - Monsters). The small star would be the hybrid (the sun is a star, but all other stars only come while it’s dark) result of their relationship: Meteora.

The ceiling would represent an act of self-defense. As some faiths believe in guardian angels, there would be guardian monsters who would protect this relationship from their enemies. Maybe even at St.Olga’s.

Hidden from the prophecy text, there is always a red element. In this interpretation, the red element is the Monster husband. This interpretation could be the Monsters’ side one.

The Apocaliptical Interpretation

In this interpretation, arm could mean either “each of the types of troops of which an army is composed, such as infantry or artillery” or the litteral and most common meaning “each of the two upper limbs of the human body from the shoulder to the hand”. And end up together would be “the end, my friend” for both.

In this case, the queen would be Meteora.

From here

The prophecy would predict Meteora’s coming as a huge threat for both Mewmen and Monsters. She would lead both to a total war, in which only her would benefit, as the survivors would be Meteora’s meals. Until there’s no one left.

The big moon would represent Meteora, the sun would represent Mewmen and the stars, Monsters, again understood by the duality good / evil mentioned above. The big moon is huge enough to be like a pac-man. And it eats both sun and stars.

You’re probably laughing now. But I’m serious. And Mewmen take this as serious too, as they believe this to be the correct interpretation and want to stop the threat as soon as possible. That’s Mina's intention.

The ceiling means the war, and a possible successful Butterfly Castle invasion.

They don’t know that Meteora already has access to technology to suck people’s energy, but they already fear a hybrid Mewman-Monster that could have access to magic powers for her own nature, taught or strong willed enough to learn them by herself.

The red element hidden is either Meteora’s arm or the blood to be spilled in such a war.

The Peace Interpretation

Now, we come to Starco interpretation.

In this interpretation, the monster arm is... the Monster Arm.

From here

And the queen would be Star.

From here

Here, the prophecy room gets a double interpretation: one for the bonding, which gets back to another interpretation where Monsters and Mewmen will be together in peace, but only after a war or a fight against a common unknown threat. It is a dialogue from what’s in the prophecy room’s floor with the prophecy room’s ceiling.

Then bond would be between Star (the star) and Marco (who would be called Sol, Spanish and Portuguese word for the sun), which has the Monster Arm.

This bond would be blessed by the Blood Moon, which is put as big because of its rarity. After all...

Tom: (...) It only happens once every 667 years.

As said, the ceiling would represent the war or fight against a common enemy. This last option means that guardian Monsters, instead of invading the Butterfly Castle, would protect the Butterfly Castle.

And the light from the ceiling would illuminate the result, again in the floor: Monsters and Mewmen united, bonded by what the Blood Moon united. Again understood in face of the duality good / evil, light / dark.

This is a theory that only the show viewers have access. 

Of course, nothing what was written before about Starco interpretation is new. This is a very widespread theory.

But, let’s reinterpret this in face of TomStar. Could this prophecy fit in their relationship?

I believe that the answer is yes. And that Tom may have known about it.

This gives a new point of view on the Blood Moon Ball. And Tom’s actions.

The Blood Moon Ball and Tom’s intentions

Essential assumption. Think on Tom as he has some knowledge about this prophecy.

He knows the Blood Moon Ball is near, and it “selects two lucky souls, binding them together for eternity in its hypnotic, ruby brodum”. He also knows that there is something about a monster arm for the queen, if arm means “used to refer to the holding of a person's arm in support or companionship”.

And he knows that there is a sun around the prophecy. Sun, besides it is generally connected with light, could be also connected with heat. And what else is connected with heat?

Demons.

And, if they weren’t allies to the Butterflies, how would be treated demons?

From here

From here

Store Owner: [to Tom] Hey, over there! That goes for you, too! Monster! Tom: [stands up and glares] Hmph!

Demons would treated as Monsters. But, as they are allies...

From here

Store Owner: [gasps] Oh! Prince Lucitor! [kneels in front of Tom] Sorry. Sorry, sir. Please don't incinerate my shop. [kisses Tom's hand]

Things are a bit different...

This way, Tom could even fit a litteral monster arm scenario. He would represent the sun from the prophecy room.

For him, the ceiling would represent demons to protect the Butterflies.

Everything else would be taken from the peace interpretation.

If he believes in the scenario of the Blood Moon bonding, he knew that he would have one single chance, being Star as his girlfriend at that moment or not, as another opportunity would come only in 667 years. So, invite her to the Blood Ball and expect well...

Tom: Her dance card's full. Small-headed demon: Oh, I get it. I bet you think that, like, your soul and, like, her soul are totally gonna... [interlocks his fingers] ...mmmmmm! Star: What is... [interlocks her fingers] ..."mmmmmm"?

... that their souls "mmmmmm"!

But, the music piece and Marco spoil what was “meant to him”.

From here

Yes. Tom believes that Star being with him is carved in his destiny. He wanted to have fun with her while they were below the Blood Moon light. He didn’t expected he would have just a final glimpse with Star. This glimpse for him was enough to believe that fate is confirmed, but he couldn’t have fun with Star.

This attitude of believing that being with Star is what’s reserved for them in future also explains Mr. Candle Cares episode, as he puts Star’s destiny as Mewni’s queen as "set in stone”.

And this explains a bit his actions on Club Snubbed and Demoncism.

Tom knew that snubbing her would be the best way to draw her attention at the Silver Ball.

And he knew that telling Pony Head was the best way to tell Star that he would even change himself to be with her. Of course, he knew that Pony Head is unreliable and unable to keep any secret from anyone. And it worked, he got it all right, better than what he planned.

Tom believes that his destiny is also set in stone. And that includes to be with Star.

So, besides changing his actions a bit, Tom doesn’t invest in helping Star in her effort to be a better princess, but he is just interested in having fun with her. After all...

From here

Tom: (...) I'm not into politics.

... as we saw in Monster Bash.

Let’s see if this attitude will change in the following episodes as, if he wants to fulfill “his destiny”, he will need to help Star in politics and other issues she will face. But it seems they are in different phases.

Anyway, I do believe Tom takes being with Star as a fate and wants to have fun with it meanwhile. And when he becomes king he will just have fun. After all, he has a very good example.

From here

... River, Star’s father.

This doesn’t necessarily mean Tom is evil. Just a bit manipulative to achieve what he believes to be reserved for him. Taking the character’s point of view, he feels like he is doing nothing wrong as he is harming nobody and is fulfilling his destiny.

In fact...

All of these meanings and interpretations will clash among them, as each one represents a side on the Mewmen-Monsters fight.

That’s why I took the care to explain each one, as their interpretation is or will become the motto for war on their side, or how it will be interpreted after it is fullfilled.

Remember that Nostradamus’ prophecies are only associated to facts after they happen. This way, many prophecies will become self-fulfilled, as anything can be written and, later, be associated with a historical fact.

For facts from his time to over 400 years old, he has gotten a good span of time to get things right.

So are the interpretations here, until the end of show... There could be others.

Anyway, I’ll be back only next year, nearer to the end of the hiatus or if you want to ask any question. So, until then, happy holidays!

[impurelight]

Assassin’s Creed Origins - What Happened To All The Marble Statues!?!

Assassin’s Creed Origins is an acquired taste. When I first started playing it I didn’t like it. But the more I played it the more I started to like it.

This is perhaps most noticeable with the controls. There are a lot of controls. You have movement, whistle to attract attention, whistle to call your horse, your bird, assassinate, dodge, attack, lock on, your shield, arrows, animus vision, interaction, toggling walk/run (although they should have got rid of this option entirely because I kept hitting it accidentally), follow road, keep going forward (which is completely useless), and any special skills you’ve unlocked. Although not sprint button strangely enough. It is so complicated that the hotkeys for your bird and your whistle are actually the same key: a tap does one action and a hold does another. But you get used to it.

But you know what? If most of the features weren’t so bad I might not have liked the game as much as I did. Take combat. It feels very slow and clunky. In fact I frequently swung my sword only to be facing the wrong direction. Lock on might help but it appears to only change the camera angle. Come on guys: the Tales series solved this god knows how many years ago. When you click just run up to an enemy and then attack.

I even thought: they should just use the Arkham series’ combat. But the more I learned to fight, the more I liked it. It’s very deep. Especially when you get the shield breaker skill (which really should be a mandatory skill, don’t even get me started on that). You just have so many ways to fight. It actually made me like combat just so I could show off what I learned.

Another example is stealth. It feels sort of like a Far Cry rip off. Not that that’s a bad thing. The AI is not as good as Far Cry but I think the changes, although they may look bad on paper. Made the game a lot better for it.

First of all enemies won’t hear you unless you are really close. And I mean really. For instance you could stealth kill someone and the guy around the corner won’t hear you. OK, maybe that’s normal. How about this: if you get into a full scale battle and end up killing the guy the guy around the corner won’t hear you. I actually had times I eliminated a group of guys only for the enemies a few steps away to be oblivious to my presence. It’s definitely no Splinter Cell. But I like it. It means every encounter is fresh. And it’s hilarious when you sneak up on a convoy and assassinate each one without the rest of them realizing you’re there.

Of course, stealth isn’t perfect. The AI is a bit inconsistent sometimes seeing you and sometimes not. It’s hard to hide from enemies when you do get spotted, although it’s still possible. And enemies will turn around occasionally if you’re trying to sneak up on them. Also of note is if you stealth kill people before a certain story event they’ll just writhe around on the ground forever instead of dying.

Also the game has become much more. Gamified. I mean Far Cry’ed. First is the Convoys. One of the biggest changes between Far Cry 3 and 4 were the convoys and there are convoys here too. They appear as 3 horses. And as previously mentioned it is possible to assassinate each one. Just make sure you don’t let the people in front see.

The convoys themselves transport raw materials. And it is here where the biggest change in Assassin’s Creed Origins, or so I’ve been told (I didn’t play the previous games that much), lies. The game feels like an MMO.

There are creatures to skin and crafting materials to get. They allow you to upgrade your weapons and armour. You also can equip armour but your upgrades carry over. I know, it’s very confusing.

Another way Origins feels like an MMO: there are levels. And if you try to fight an enemy even 1 level higher than you you’re in for a challenge. Even stealth attacking them likely won’t kill them in one hit. And they’ll likely 2 shot you with arrows. If you see someone at a higher level don’t even bother. I got killed by a vulture once. I couldn’t see its level because if they’re way higher than you you just see a skull instead of a level number.

So just like an MMO you get XP for killing enemies and using certain skills. The stealth kill gives a slight XP boost early in the game but it doesn’t scale. It’s still significant in the later game but not as much.

There’s also different weapons and shields. Also loot has rarities. Although I just found myself equipping the highest level gear I had and perhaps something a few levels lower if it had a status effect I wanted. But don’t use those weapons that set everything on fire. Those things always backfire.

There are a lot of overpowered enemies. These guys give a nice challenge although earlier in the game they are quite annoying. There’s a guy that can block all your attacks, a guy that can dodge, a guy with 2 swords, and a guy that uses a shield attack skill. The only way to reliably kill these guys is with your shield breaker skill. It sucks that it isn’t a required skill, but oh well.

Also there are quests. And quests are tied to your level. Later in the game I was overleveled and I could do anything but earlier on there were some quests I had to level once or twice before I could attempt.

Let’s talk about the eagle. It’s like a better version of the Far Cry Primal eagle. In Primal you had to launch it. In Origins it’s always there. You can even see it if you move your camera around. So no bothersome animation. You just press a button and instantly you can see the game from the sky. And I’m glad they had this because Egypt is quite beautiful from the sky. It’s beautiful from the ground. Especially Alexandria, my new favourite video game city, but it’s more beautiful from the air.

The eagle can also hover in the air. It’s not particularly realistic but it’s a nice feature. Your eagle can also mark enemies and objectives. However sometimes you will be constantly spammed with ‘call Senu’ even if you don’t want to yet. There is a nice animation of Senu landing on your arm when you’re not moving. And there is a skill to use Senu to distract enemies. And while they’re distracted you can just walk up to them and stealth kill them.

The controls are also a little clunky. And this time not in a good way. You have to hold ‘alt’ to jump over obstacles a lot and climb ladders. This should really be done automatically but oh well. Also the horse when set to ‘travel to objective’ will constantly bump into people. It’s not bad. But it’s funny.

Also Origins falls victim to what I call the ‘volumetric fog curse’. There is way too much volumetric fog.

There are also two interesting things about the combat. First of all there is horse back combat. And it doesn’t feel tacked on. It feels legitimately like a new form of combat. When outnumbered or fighting guys on horseback: call your horse. You can also see how much damage you’ll do before you attack. This is especially important for arrows as you can see if you’ve lined up a headshot before you fire. It’s a bit cheap but I like it.

A few more things. There’s no way to truly ‘clear’ a camp of enemies. The closest you can get is accomplishing all the tasks in the camp. Then enemies will keep on respawning. I like the Far Cry system better. When you steal a boat the text is ‘borrow’.

The ‘skip’ option for cutscenes appears way too often. It appears to be caused by moving the mouse but the mouse also controls the camera. The hippos are also quite adorable. Especially when 3 of them are running at you. There are some random events that task you with saving people or killing a rogue animal. They’re nice but the xp they give you doesn’t make it very noteworthy.

There is this animus vision that displays all items and arrows around you. I wish it didn’t display arrows but it’s not too bad. I spammed the button which I initially didn’t like but it’s fine.

It’s also difficult to jump in holes like most games these days. And there are detective quests. Less awesome versions of the Arkham detective quests. It’s nice.

So in summary Origins doesn’t really do anything special. It sort of reminds me of Watch Dogs 1. You’re a family man out for revenge. The story could be a bit clearer but what’s here is serviceable. And at the end of the day that’s all that matters.