#I guess there's also a FFIV spoiler

[krawkpaladin]

Minor Plot/Gameplay Spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3, Act 2 below the cut, but it's mostly discussion on the mechanics of a specific encounter with some plot.

So when you enter the temple of Shar by the House of Healing and get down into the Gauntlet of Shar, there's a gauntlet (heh) of trials you have to go through in order to get these magical gemstones to be used later, pretty typical "test of skills/character" stuff. There's a lot of cool things you can do, including scouting out the rooms if you pick the locks before starting the challenge, disarming traps in advance, that sort of thing. One of the challenges, however, is called the Self-Same challenge and is... a clone fight.

If you've played a lot of CRPGs or JRPGs (or lots of other games, say hi Ocarina of Time!) you've seen this type of gimmick fight before. The party (or character, if it's a solo deal) is confronted with a clone/dark reflection of themselves that is a perfect copy in every way and you have to defeat the clone(s). The in-universe intended solution to this sort of gimmick combat is generally superior skill/tactics, but D&D 5E's combat is swingy enough that even superior tactics can't save you from rolling a fat 6 for damage on Guiding Bolt only for your clone to turn around and hit you for 30 damage at a time when you likely have a max HP of around 40. On top of this, your clones have several additional abilities that you normally don't: like many Act 2 enemies, they turn invisible when not standing in a light source, they are immune to being pushed/moved around, and they are immune to spells like Hold Person. The last component of the fight is that you receive a stacking debuff (-1 to all ability scores until your next long rest) from attacking your allies' clones until you defeat your own. So your tactics end up having to be a lot of "hit your own clone and hope they die first" since you get a debuff for doing the reasonable tactical action of, say, using your rogue to gank the wizard clone first thing.

Of course, there are ways to reduce the difficulty of the fight, partly because it is a video game. You can do this in a couple ways, usually by manipulating how the clones generate. The most straightforward is to strip your party of all their equipment, generate the clones, and then put all their gear back on and beat the snot out of a bunch of naked people. I... I don't particularly like this solution. The logic is overly video-gamey, as it's hard to imagine how anyone would make the connection between a clone fight and removing all their equipment without already knowing the conventions and limitations of the encounter. The other way is that you can send in only one person to start the challenge, and then have the rest of the party follow by breaking into the room after it is sealed so you're only fighting a single clone. I do think that this solution is actually pretty clever, and given the nature of the dungeon and Shadowheart's storyline, can be a fun little potential thematic rejection of Shar's faith in her own temple.

Though to be perfectly honest, I just don't like clone fights the way they're implemented 90% of the time in RPGs. It's either a slug-fest where you hope you roll better on average, or you strip down naked and then get back in your armor faster than the Dragonborn Skyrim eats 10 wheels of cheese to recover from a sword stab mid-battle. There are some interesting ones out there; Final Fantasy 4's Dark Knight fight comes to mind, where the solution is not to attack at all. (It is also, strictly speaking, not a real clone fight, as it doesn't scale with Cecil's level, but it is very much thematically a clone fight.) This has got me thinking though of how to make clone fights interesting, especially in the context of TTRPGs, but I'm still sorting my thoughts on that so I'll probably make a follow-up post assuming I don't get lost in more BG3 or prepping for my group's Sci-Fi Campaign 2 Space Theft Boogaloo.

[lyssala]

The Sun & The Moon: On the FFXVI Ending

Throwing my thoughts on the ending into the void.

Aka I keep seeing posts about the ending so I need to type out my thoughts to validate myself.

For reference, we played on release and did two full play throughs.

First of all, I am a happy ending person. I want desperately to find the happiness because there was so much suffering so much loss. Saving the world or not, the thought of Clive having come so close to his own happy ending, of having the family and the love he never got to have, so damn close and then still ending up dying alone on a beach leaving the people waiting for him wondering if he would ever come back to them seems so cruel.

But, Lyssa, you played XV too, and Noctis legitimately sacrificed himself in the end to save the world. You’re right, he did, and that ending still makes me ugly cry because I also didn’t think it was fair that he had to do that. The thing were XV and XVI differ is, we see Noctis in the after with Luna, in their wedding attire, finally together. It’s immensely bittersweet, but we see them at peace. We do not get that in XVI SO point by point let’s GO.

(Warning for spoilers, including character death, in other Final Fantasy games as well)

Why I Don’t Think We Can Assume Any of the Three are Dead

1. The Ancient Rule of Storytelling: No body, you say? THEY AIN’T DEAD.

Usually used when a villain “is defeated” but then they can never find a body - guess what, Luffy is going to have to beat their ass YET again. Final Fantasy has never shied away from character death. From Minwu (FFII) to Tellah (FFIV) to Aerith (FFVII) to Zack (FFVII:CC) to Haurchefant (FFXIV) to Noctis (FFXV), heck even other character death in XVI.

Dion to me is the iffiest one, and I say it with a heavy heart because I loved Dion. He fell early and he had death flags on him BUT we didn’t even see him hit the ground so I still standby that if Clive could survive falling from Origin, Dion could too.

Joshua we actually did see die, and it was terrible - both when it happened and when Clive went back to mourn his brother (again for that matter and thanks I’m crying again). The thing is, we also explicitly watch Clive use Phoenix’s power to heal Joshua. Yeah we don’t see him wake up, but literally what was the point of that action if Joshua was just gonna…you know still be dead. They could have just left him as he was. The whole purpose of showing that action, imo, was to finally give Clive the chance to save his brother, which was all he wanted for so much of his life. I don’t believe that was done as just “well you tried but he really dead, bro.” To me it was to show, no, Joshua has a chance to live the life he always wanted too.

Clive, despite all his dang death flags, is still the most secure to me because the last time we see him, he’s still alive. We know he survived the fall, we know he was conscious on the beach, we only saw the curse spread to his hand. If they really wanted to hint he would die there, we easily could have seen the curse spreading to his face. We didn’t though. He was tired, and weak but he was alive. They made an effort to show him alive. If they truly wanted an ambiguous ending they didn’t even need to show him on the beach, just showing Origin fall would be enough. They didn’t though. They showed the man alive, calling out to Jill, not as apology for breaking his promise but a “I can see the moon same as you, I’m still here.”

2. The Ding Dang Themes of the Game

We spend the whole game determined to fight fate, and while yes, fate was defeated when Ultima was defeated, because the human will won…then didn’t because the man who was determined to fight and escape those binds still ended up lost those everyone who loves him…which was part of the fate he was trying to escape? Final Fantasy games have had dark elements before, and they’ve been heartbreakingly sad. They’ve shown loss of all sorts some self sacrifice, and some because the world can be just so cruel. However, once thing Final Fantasy isn’t is loss without hope.

Noctis got to say goodbye to his best friends (yes I am crying again don’t you dare mention Stand by Me in my presence) because he knew what was coming and they knew what was coming. It gutted me, but they all knew and had come to terms with it. It was Noctis’ choice to walk in there knowing he was not coming back. Clive was not the same. He didn’t say goodbye, he said, I’m coming back. While everyone knew there was a risk which is why it was so emotional to say goodbye, he had a life he wanted to return to, one he spoke of returning to. It was never, “You’re coming back right?” And then they skirt around giving a firm answer because they just don’t know. Clive was firm about it, he was coming back, it was his will to come back and guess what won against Ultimia? You guessed it, human will.

Having Clive die alone on a beach after all of that? After all he went through and after all he still wanted? That to me is just cruel, and Final Fantasy has never been cruel. Ren also made the good point that if Clive was to die, Joshua would have fallen with him, so it ended in a reversal of beginning with Joshua watching Clive die instead of the other way around. That didn’t happen either though. He was on the beach, again, still alive (see point 1 as a reminder), additionally, if he thought he was dying, I’d imagine he’d be apologizing to Jill for breaking his promise. In fact that’s what I SWORE he was going to do, but he didn’t. His will to survive was still intact when we left him which to me fits far more with the theme of this game then dying alone on a beach.

3. The Sun and the Moon (It’s Clive and Jill, It’s Just Literally Them)

So yeah I know that the sun and moon imagery is usually used to describe star crossed lovers, never meant to be as the sun and moon rotate. The game already proved that was untrue, they were always meant to be. By all odds they survived and somehow found one another again.

Jill, the moon of course, always said it was because of her prayer to Metia, that every time she prayed for him to return to her, Metia granted her prayer. I say this as someone who grew up religious but now am not, Jill believed it I’m sure but I think it was Jill. Love has also been a huge theme in Final Fantasy, and Jill’s heart filled prayers to keep Clive safe, always had. Not necessarily because a god deemed it so (again, defying gods a huge Final Fantasy theme lol) but her complete and sincere love for Clive, that always kept him safe to come home to her. She prayed for him as he was leaving for origin, just as heart felt as she always had. Why would that fail now the time she probably desired it more than any other time? That also seems so cruel. For him to be torn from her when they were so close to finally being able to have the life they dreamed of together. What purpose does that serve? It wouldn’t except for Jill to have yet another thing in her life to break her heart and leave her to pick up the pieces. I think she would, for Clive’s memory, but again, it feels like loss for no reason but loss. Jill deserves her happy ending too.

You find out later on even more so why Jill cherished the moon, because it brought the sunrise (or you know Clive in the metaphor here) and with the sun the promise the Clive would always come for her. One he never broke. They literally went out of their way to say “the sunrise meant you’d always come for me, I know this.” It was a direct setup for the ending. It was her seeing the star she always prayed on for Clive flicker out, and in that moment I think she did lose all hope because that was the one thing she could always count on to bring him home (to which again, not a god, but her love that brought him home). She is distraught (and so was I so we have that in common LOL) but then, the sun rises, and she smiles. It’s hope. It’s her hope because Clive has never broken a promise to her, and the sunrise has always brought him to her. I have no reason to believe the sunrise didn’t bring him home to her like it always has. Not a single point in this game has given me reason to believe it so why would I?

4. They Did the Thing! The Name of the Game!

A smaller point but one none the less. I sure hope you all played every single side-quest. One particular one, leaves you with a quill to add to Clive’s wall of treasures; one with the sole purpose of when (not if) Clive puts his sword down, that he writes his story. What do we see in the after credits? Literally, a book that is telling his story. Idk how more clear they gotta be that Clive is gonna be okay (tbf I WISH they would have just told me he was gonna be okay too LOL)

Granted, Joshua Rosfield is the author to which, it really could have been him writing Clive’s story in his absence or it could have been Clive and using the name to memorialize his brother’s name. Or it could have been the both of them and they used Joshua’s name because Clive is content living his life behind the scenes. He’s never wanted attention or praise. I don’t think he ever would have used his own name.

Additionally, the ending lines that equates to as my journey ends another one begins to me never meant journey = life. His journey was over, he did what he set out to do. The new journey? Traveling the realms with his wife in a world without the burdens of magic and doing what they do best, help the people who need it.

5. Doggy Knows Best

And finally, my last point is, Torgal knows what’s up. Technically, this is Ren’s point so I give him the credit here but animals, especially Torgal who is more than just a dog (literally an Eikon himself bonded to Jill and Clive, something acknowledged in the game), know when their master is hurt or worse. We’ve seen Torgal when one of them are hurt or in danger or not coming home. Yet at the end of the game, when Jill is absolutely breaking Torgal simply howls.

You know where else he did that? When he was trying to find Clive after Phoenix Gate and he would sit and howl. They were already bonded, he knew Clive (and Jill) were alive but he didn’t know where so he howled for his people until he could find them. It’s the same thing he does at the end of the game. He knows Clive is alive out there, and they are just separated but they’ll find another again because just like Jill, Torgal has no reason to believe otherwise.

And honestly I’m going to believe the dog.

Final Thoughts…For Now Cause I Always Have Thoughts its the ADHD

If you read all this, I hope it brought you some peace <3 I don’t believe a cop out everyone died ending is indicative to the wonderful storytelling this team has brought us in FFXIV. If anything, it reminds me of the ending of A Realm Reborn when you are convinced all the Scions are dead and then ope nope they’re fine just scattered and we’ll find them yeah SOUND FAMILIAR LOL I think they left it open to let people come to their own conclusions but in my heart of hearts I believe they had no intention to let Clive die on that beach because nothing in the story leads me to that conclusion.

If they try to tell me otherwise, well then I’ll go full denial LOL but unless Yoshi-P calls me up and says girl stop you’re wrong, I’ll continue to push my Clive finally gets his happy ending and travels the realms with Jill like he promised her <3 (ONE MORE THING: why the heck would they have Jill just be like mmmm think I wanna leave this realm when its over, lets see the world if they had no future content planned YOU CAN’T FOOL ME she could have easily said anything but she said something that would directly give us more content okay I’m done lol)

[majoredinhealing]

My wishlist for Dissidia NT (in order of game titles) (Spoiler warning for various games)

Preface: No inclusions of characters that were already playable in Dissidia 012 as there's a very good chance they'll come back (slightly worried about Laguna, but we need more daddy/son bonding time)

FFI: Princess Sarah. I don't think sticking in one of the six playable jobs would really fit since The Warrior of Light is supposed to be all of the playable characters at once (who knows how, but there ya go). Alternatively, Chaos could be bumped up to playable here as well.

FFII: Minwu. Shoot things and blow himself up. Good times.

FFIII: Xande. Again, similar situation with WoLly, throwing in another Job that appeared in III would be weird. I don't think Cid would work (I mean specifically III's Cid if that wasn't obvious. I only mention this since Cid is used in Theatrythm), but a strong case can be made for Xande. He can probably pull attacks from his FFXIV incarnation as well.

FFIV: Rosa or Zemus. Rosa could draw more heavily on her archer aspects, but I don't think that would capture her character very well. Zemus could draw upon the power of his four fiends and his powered up form like Garland does.

FFV: Faris or Galuf. Faris is more popular, but I, personally, have a stronger emotional connection to Galuf. They would probably play similarly to Bartz, but they would draw on different Jobs than him.

FFVI: Celes or Leo. Strong cases could be made for either (though I'm not familiar enough with FFVI to picture how they'd fight. Maybe they'd be a physical version of Terra - as in, they pause between attacks to passively build up a charge to use on their next attack)

FFVII: Aerith. Hey, she wasn't technically playable in Dissidia 012, so she counts. She'd probably be team support heavy, and I think she could really work in that regard.

FFVIII: Rinoa. HP attacks are her Angelo Limits. EX Skill is Angel Feather - I mean, it practically writes itself.

FFIX: Garnet "Dagger" or Vivi. I think either would do really well, though I think Vivi would more easily lend himself to a fighting game than Garnet, ironically. Vivi could be the "caster" version of Cloud (as in, he charges up his attacks to launch them [Terra has to stop attacking to charge]).

FFX: Auron. I mean, it's kinda obvious - popular character, samurai based attacks... There's not much to say here.

FFXI: (I don't know enough about this game FFFFFF-) I guess one of the villains? Shadow Lord? Eald'narche? *shrugs shoulders*

FFXII: LARSAAAA *thrown off of cliff* Okay, fine. Vayne. HP attacks are Bahamut attacks, EX Skill is the Bahamut firing on the stage. S'all good. Then there's also Ashe (you know, THE REAL HERO OF THE STORY) and Balthier (the self-proclaimed hero of the story).

FFXIII: Snow or Hope. I think Snow would lend himself better as a fighter since Snow has Commando and Ravager as two of his default roles (the third being Sentinel, a tank), while Hope only has Ravager as one of his default roles (the other two being Medic, a healer, and Synergist, a team buffer). However, Hope could be interesting as no other character uses a boomerang as a weapon. And, like Lighting, both would probably use their personal summons' attacks as their HP attacks.

FFXIV: HOLY SHIT, I WANT A SUMMONER ALPHINAUD LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE. Unfortunately, I think he would have been more likely if we were still in the Heavensward timeframe since, although this is a fighting game, is does also act like an advertisement, meaning someone who's Stormblood related would likely have more of a shot. That means it would probably be Lyse (because more fanservice) or Zenos (because he's on the box BUT BY GOD HE'S SUCH A BORING VILLAIN UUUUUGH). Besides Alphinaud being an outside shot, I think Estini-hogg could be super interesting. Also, RED MAGE ALISAE WAT UUUUUUUUP!!

FFXV: (Again, I don't know enough about this game fuck meeeee) I mean, I guess Noctus and Ardyn?

Spinoffs, sequels, and etc: Zack (FFVII: CC, focuses on his EX skill granting him a random buff), Serah (FFXIII-2, also drawing upon Commando and Ravager for her skills with HP attacks instead being monster attacks), Layle (FFCC: TCB, gravity powers? Gravity powers), Ceodore (FFIV: TAY, his attacks would probably be his various Band actions while Awaken would be his EX skill or a buff he freely triggers), Agnes (Bravely Default, probably canceling attacks to make her next one stronger)

[eirenare]

Möbius Final Fantasy: more hyperino

[SPOILERS AHEAD!]

...

...

So, lately I’ve been playing Möbius Final Fantasy a lot, and... Well, I mentioned before I was excited about the game, but that reached new levels yesterday when I finished part 2 of chapter 3.

Chapter 3 was going around the area close to the royal castle, helping people out, earning the Marks of the elements to show your worth before being able to meet princess Sarah in person, and so on... And then WHAM, Chaos appears and things get interesting.

It’s mentioned that Blanks seemed to have a “hole” in their heart they fill doing different things, and then it was also implied/said that they “seek release”... And, well, it got confirmed yesterday, because it also seems that, when they’re close to Chaos and/or about to die, they remember their names and so on.

It was quite a wink to FFIV reading a certain Blank that I liked proclaim he was from Eblan before rushing to charge and dying (poor dude...).

Oh, and also it seems that Garland had been going around doing what he’s doing now with Wol, with other previous Blanks... A captain said a rumour that runs around that Garland eats (or something similar) the souls of Blanks, but well, I’m not giving much credit to that.

But well, heading to the most interesting things...

CHAOS.

Chaos is, like... Not what I was expecting. I was expecting a guy that would be scary and humanoid, and we got this statue that looks like the statue of a sword with a head and a crystal, and he’s TALL AS FUCK, and has an expression that’s weird (and it looks like kinda sad, like as if it’s suffering ot something).

His attacks along with his monsters are devastating, and the part 2 of the chapter 3 you spend it going after him in the area, until the fight comes. Also, you have one or two scenes with Garland, and in one he tells something like that Wol isn’t fated to die that day...

The fight is not that though, and when you finish it, GOD DAMMIT, Chaos just leaves the area, like, letting you live because you’re not fucking worth to be smashed to the ground by him. 

But MORE JUICY THINGSSS, and this time concerning Garland!

After the battle with Chaos, he goes to talk to you, and he says Sarah (he didn’t even mention her title) wants to see him. And thus it started a scene that had me, at the same time: surprised, laughing on the inside, seeing it as ironic, feeling suspicious, AND FANGIRLING.

Yes, all at the same time. To sum it up? ... GARLAND IS THE BOSS.

You’re about to go into the castle to meet princess Sarah, and Garland, as ALWAYS, warns you. He says to not let her get to your mind, and then, you talk to a moogle and the scene starts rolling out. You’re in princess Sarah’s room, which is, contrary to the humble things one sees in the game, pretty much beautiful and full of things and decoration.

She’s crying by the time you enter the room (a moment that, by the way, is suspicious, because Wol mentions again that he smelled something “rot” in the room, something that was bothering him in earlier events), but she composes quickly and, well, you have a talk time with her that reveals that, after slaying Chaos, the Warrior of Light will marry the princess of the realm (which, by the way, is kinda interesting because there are female Blanks, and the prophecy stats specifically “princess”, not “royalty” in general)... And princess Sarah, more or less, just asks him to marry her. 

Jeez, it’s just... I don’t like her, okay? Wol hasn’t been the first Blank following the prophecy, and A LOT of Blanks have failed... Maybe that means that princess Sarah dumped a lot of people before because they failed, or well, dumped them in case they looked like being able to become the Warrior of Light? Because, in all honesty, I don’t believe she’s in love with Wol. 

I think there’s something more in this. I mean, I don’t think she’s in love... Gosh, you’ve only see him twice or thrice, exchanged words with him for a very little minutes, and you look so much in love with him, and WHAM then there’s that prophecy saying you’ll marry? SO convenient, mate. SO convenient. 

There’s something more to this, all the more when you hear Garland talk about her... “Don’t grow to need her love”, if I remember exactly, he told Wol. Which probably means he was to be the Warrior of Light and somehow things turned upside down. Also, it made me remember that Garland threw Mog away when he was about to say something about princess Sarah and the Warrior of Light, that seemed to be about the engagement... Weird.

But well, in all this ordeal of talking about marriage, Wol seems like, surprised, stunned (like in a “this is too rushed” kind of stunned, which I totally understand), and he gets silent for a moment, probably searching for words, or blocked, when... A WILD GARLAND APPEARS!

Garland walks firmly and fairly quickly towards both Wol and Sarah, and here I thought things were going to go wild, but what happened just got me by total surprise (as if it wasn’t already a surprise the earlier thing)...

He just INTERRUPTS them, like, in time to save Wol of having to answer to Sarah’s proposal XDDD 

Garland just entered and was like saying to Wol they had to head for the next temple. AND he took off his helmet, and there were some tense glances between and Sarah (who, by the way, didn’t recognize him, or acted like she didn’t, and she asked his name but he just didn’t say it). In a certain moment, it just seems that Garland is angry, and just turns away to walk out of the room. I’m want so much to know more of Garland, to know of his story.

And well, I’m sure as fuck that Wol’s head was something like non-stop thanking Garland for interrupting, because as much as Wol is sassy, he’s not a bad-hearted guy, and I doubt he would have felt nice having to turn down Sarah’s marriage proposal, but probably would feel trapped if saying yes given the fact he barely knows Sarah. And, well, the scene ends with Sarah saying he’ll wait for him, and so on.

In my head, however, there was a part of me fangirling and saying “GARLAND IS MARKING HIS TERRITORY, FUCK OFF PRINCESS” XDDD

Best thing is that, contrary to some classic tales... Wol questions EVERYTHING, and thinks of EVERYTHING, concerning the prophecy and everything. And then you have a moment in which you can see Wol wondering about what happened, and he wonders if Sarah’s feelings are real or not, and what about HIS feelings, like he thinks it’s too rushed and would want to properly know her before doing anything. He also looks surprised that she received him in such a warm way, and baffled.

I guess we’ll know in time better about Sarah. Maybe I’m judging her wrong, who knows... But I can’t shake this feeling that there’s something more.

And, oh...

Later on, when you’re getting close to the temple with Garland, a scene takes place in which Garland tells Wol something in the lines of “the temple it’s close and I’m not leading you there by the hand so you’re alone for now”... and as he walks away, Wol says: “...what a good friend”.

FRIEND.

Wol considers Garland a friend. And he didn’t think it, no, he SAID IT.

Can I die already because of feels? Yes? Good. Because, even if not in a shippy way, I like their dynamics, and I was HOPING they would get to be companions, but Wol just called him FRIEND and I was just SO HAPPY. 

And it also adds a point in tension because in the glossary, in the part of the prophecy, it reads that the Warrior of Light has gone through “tragedies”... Plural. And so far, Mog has died and we have witnessed the horror that Chaos brings, plus the death of a soldier that was a good guy for which Wol cared too and the death of a lot of soldiers... but I think there are more tragedies to come.

Another thing that surprised me was the way of ending part 2 of chapter 3...

When you go to the next temple’s crystal, before heading to the next teleportation stone, you see in the crystal the moogles in Sarah’s castle gone crazy looking for her, saying she’s disappeared...

AND SHE APPEARS BEHIND THE CRYSTAL.

She sneaked out of the castle, and she joins Wol lmao. I mean, I kinda liked the scene, it’s like, well, I’ll get to see her more and therefore I’ll be able to judge her more properly as things happen. But I feel like Wol is a bit overwhelmed about what’s happening, and I can’t help but feel sad for him. No memories, no name, forced to fight, following a prophecy to save people, and now, a princess he barely knows is very interested in him and wants to marry him, something that the prophecy states too.

I’m really hoping that, whatever happens, Wol will get to be happy, but given the fact this is a Final Fantasy, that it’s Square-Enix and that Sarah looks suspicious, who knows. I’m also looking forward to see Garland interacting with her, in all honesty.

And, damn... Vox appeared, before the ending scene, and pretty much talked as he always does, and he told that he didn’t WANT Wol to become the Warrior of Light? WTF. He said he sees no light in him (???), and then looked as if he just used words to make him go forward on the prophecy or something... And I’ll continue saying it: if Sarah may look suspicious, then Vox is CERTAINLY suspicious.

And the chapter ended up with Wol wondering about what happened, and mostly about what Vox said, and thinking something in the lines of that maybe he’ll be able to find that light with Sarah by his side. Or, what’s the same, he wants to get to know her, and see where all leads, which I find logical.

I don’t know if they’ll end up as canon pairing, or if things will start going crazy, but either way, I’m enjoying the story so much!