#I’ll admit Layton’s had a good run

[quibbs126]

I feel like at this point I should just like, make a separate account for all my Cookie Run lore questions, considering how many I have

And also the fact that I’m pretty sure most of the people who follow me are here for Layton content, not cookies

[homoose]

Love Has a Learning Curve: deleted scene 3

Summary: A flipped POV/extended scene from the night reader told Spencer that they’re going to be parents (part x of lhalc)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader

Category: fluff

Warnings/Includes: pregnancy, implied sex (obviously lol)

Word count: 2k

a/n: pls this is unedited so just ignore any typos

Series Masterlist

———

They said their goodbyes and final congratulations to Luke and Penny, and then they were sitting in silence in Spencer’s Volvo. She could feel Spencer panicking next to her— in the car, up the sidewalk, across from her in their kitchen. After two weeks of her own internal panic, now she was standing in front of him, and she couldn’t meet his worried gaze. 

“Please say something,” he begged. 

“I—” She paused, took a deep breath, and forced herself to look at him. “I’m pregnant.”

She watched as his IQ plummeted. “What?”

“I don’t know how it happened. I mean— I know how it happened, I just. I don’t know how it happened.” She laughed nervously, studying his face for any readable emotion. “I’m sure you can tell me the statistics about the effectiveness of birth control—” He opened his mouth, and she held up her hand, begged with watery eyes, “Please don’t tell me about the effectiveness of birth control right now.” 

“Okay,” he breathed. 

She didn’t think she could handle hearing about it, and besides: “The statistics don’t really matter anyway, because obviously it wasn’t effective, and now I’m pregnant.”

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, a little like a fish, before murmuring, “You’re sure?”

“I took seven home tests,” she confirmed, voice wavering. “All positive. And then I went to the doctor on Wednesday. To be sure. And she, um— she’s sure.”

He nodded. “How do you feel?” 

His tone was even, his face neutral, and she couldn’t figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She could feel the tears brimming, threatening to spill over. “I’m sorry.”

He couldn’t seem to stay neutral then, frowning and cocking his head. “Why are you sorry?”

“Because we— we didn’t talk about this.” She gestured wildly with her hands, the emotion finally spilling over and her fears toppling out of her mouth. “I never asked you what you want. And I— I don’t want you to think I’m trying to trap you, or—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He took a step toward her before he froze, cursed under his breath, and asked, “Can— can you just. Just wait here for one minute. I’ll be right back.”

He practically sprinted out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and out of sight. She sank into one of the kitchen chairs and dropped her head in her hands. Now it was all out in the open, and he was already finding it hard to be in the same room with her. He kept a neutral expression for as long as possible, because he was kind, and empathetic, and he loved her. But that didn’t mean he wanted to do this with her. 

She was so wrapped up in her abject mom-to-be terror that she didn’t hear him practically tumble back down the stairs. She didn’t hear him sprint around the corner and into the kitchen. But she did hear her name, soft and reassuring, and then he was kneeling next to her on the floor. “Hey, hey— look at me. Y/N, look at me.” 

She turned toward him in the chair, and his eyes were soft and reassuring, too. “It’s okay, baby. Are you— are you okay?”

She sucked in a shaky breath. It wasn’t okay, and she wasn’t okay— not until she knew how he was actually feeling. “I— what do you— I need to know what you want.”

“You,” he said plainly. 

Her heart flipped in her chest, but she huffed, swiping at her cheeks. “That’s not what I mean.”

“I know. But it’s the truth.” He shrugged. “I want you. Always. And I want you to be happy and healthy. And I want to support you in… whatever you decide.”

He looked down at his hands, and then he looked back at her. “In regards to ‘trapping me,’ it’s— it’s not a trap if I want to be here.”

He brought his hands up into her lap and opened a small velvet box. She stared stupidly at the ring inside for at least seven seconds, her eyes going wide as they came to meet his own. “What is this?”

“I’ve had this ring for… a long time,” he admitted. “ I bought it the week we came back from North Carolina for Thanksgiving, and I talked to your dad about it when we were there for Christmas.” 

He scooted closer to her on the floor, his own eyes wet. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He’d had this ring for nearly a year? He’d bought it when they had barely been together nine months? He wanted to marry her?

“I kept waiting for the perfect moment, but I— I could never find it.” He drew his brows together and huffed out a laugh. “I understand now that the problem with waiting for the perfect moment was that—” He shook his head in realization, and then met her eyes. “Every moment with you is perfect. Even when it’s not.” He felt a tear spill over and shrugged. “Because I’m with you. And that makes it perfect.”

She brought her hand up to wipe away his tears with gentle fingers, even as her own tears continued. He smiled at her. “I love you. The most. And I wanna be with you: today, tomorrow, next week, next year… forever. In every perfect moment. And that’s not gonna change. Okay?”

Of all the reactions she imagined he’d have to the news of her pregnancy, she had never imagined this. “Okay.”

He hesitated for a split second, and she saw the first and only shimmer of uncertainty. “Do you wanna marry me?”

She laughed, genuine and joyful. “That’s not how you ask.” 

He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. Will you marry me?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, all the worry she’d been carrying for the last two weeks just… falling away. “Yes. Yes.”

He slipped the ring onto her finger and then surged up off the floor to wrap her in a hug. “Sorry it took me so long.” She breathed him in, relishing the feel of his body against hers. For the first time in two weeks, she allowed herself to melt into him, no longer worried to be found out.

He held her for a second longer before pulling back to hold her hands, running his thumb along the newly placed ring. “Your answer to this question doesn’t change how I feel or what I want. I need you to know that.” When she nodded, he squeezed her hands. “Do you want to have a baby?” 

She hesitated, chewing the inside of her lip. “What do you—”

“No.” He shook his head. “I already told you what I want. I’m asking you. What do you want?”

She rubbed her thumbs absentmindedly over his for fifteen long seconds. The moment of truth, and it came out in a whisper. “I want to have a baby with you.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

Fresh tears gathered behind his eyes, and she felt so silly for ever having doubted what he wanted. “We’re gonna have a baby,” he breathed, disbelief dripping heavy over his words. “You’re gonna be a mom.”

She choked out a wet laugh. “Yeah, that’s usually how it works.”

“You’re gonna be the best mom,” he corrected. 

“You’re gonna be a dad.” She squeezed his hands. “The absolute best dad.”

He scooped her into another hug, the two of them laughing and crying in the soft light of their kitchen at midnight. She was pregnant, they were engaged, it was all out of order, and she wouldn’t change a single thing about it. Like every other moment with him, it was perfect.

“Your mom’s gonna kill me,” he muttered.

She cackled— well, almost perfect. She grimaced playfully. “Mmm, yeah she probably is. If it’s any consolation, she’ll start with me.” She sighed, smiling tiredly at him. “I love you.”

He matched her smile. “I love you the most. Dead or alive.”

She snaked her arm around his waist, pulling him toward the stairs. “You know… I can think of one thing that might just placate Mama Rose…”

They started up the stairs together. “Do tell.” 

Her fingers rubbed along his hip bone. “Do you think Dave would let us use his backyard?”

Spencer pressed a kiss into her hair as they reached the landing and turned for their bedroom, Roald hot on their heels. “I’m sure a bottle of wine and a box of cigars would do the trick.”

“I’m thinking a backyard wedding with your family and mine— here, so that your mom doesn’t have to travel.” She pulled him over the threshold of their bedroom door. “And then we can have a party at the farm for all your new in-laws.”

“New in-laws?” Spencer asked.

“Oh yeah. There’s fifteen aunts and uncles and about fifty cousins that’re dying to meet you.” Spencer’s eyes went wide as saucers, and she laughed, pulling him into her arms. “I’d say there won’t be a quiz, but if any of the uncles find out about the eidetic memory thing, they’re absolutely gonna quiz you.” 

She laced her fingers behind his back, drawing him even closer. “But they already love you,” she assured him. “I get a text at least twice a week about you.”

His eyebrows shot up behind his curls. “You do?”

“Mmhm. Asking how you’re doing, are you teaching a new class, where’s your latest case, et cetera, et cetera. All the aunts are nosy as hell,” she laughed. She tilted her head in consideration, lacing their fingers together and leading him toward their bed. “It’s gonna be impossible to keep this a secret for very long.”

He sat on the side of the bed, pulling her down to straddle his lap. “The twenty week mark is usually the green light to start telling people. How— how far along are we?”

“Dr. Layton said probably... about eight weeks.”

She watched as he did the calculations, the realization settling over his face— the drop of his jaw, the arch of his eyebrow, the pink rising in his cheeks. “Oh. Oh.”

“Mm.” She pressed her lips together to hide her smile. “I think we really, um— manifested that.”

“Wow.” She could practically see the memories flashing in his eyes. He cleared his throat. “Do you think your dad would sell me that truck?” 

“Oh my god.” She brought her hands up to his cheeks, grinning ear to ear. “You’d better come up with a good lie about why you want it.” 

His hands traveled over her hips, squeezing gently on their way to her lower back. “You mean I can’t tell Hank that his daughter had se—”

She clapped a hand over his mouth, gently pushing him to lay back on the bed and hovering over him. “Shhhh— he still thinks his baby is an innocent angel. You don’t wanna ruin that for him, do you?”

He laughed underneath her palm and pulled her flush against him. She removed her hand, and he sighed. “I suppose your secret's safe with me. Mostly because I don’t want to incur his wrath.”

“Mm,” she nodded, bringing their mouths together. “Smart man.”

He kissed her, saccharine and slow. She was just starting to relax into it when he suddenly flipped them, knocking a huffed laugh out of her. He peppered light kisses over her face, down her neck, over her racing heart, her sternum. When he reached her tummy, he paused, staring at the barely there bump covered in flowy fabric. And then he pressed his lips gently to it, over and over and over again. 

She tangled her fingers in his hair, waiting for him to get his fill. After fifteen kisses, she laughed as she realized he probably never would. He raised his head at the sound, gently resting his chin on her belly, careful not to press too hard. His sweet smile had her tugging him up toward her.

“I can’t believe I was ever worried about how you’d feel,” she whispered.

“I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out,” he countered. “I should have known when you said no to sushi.” He grinned, but then it softened into something more empathetic. “Is that why I couldn’t hug you for the last two weeks?”

She nodded, feeling absolutely ridiculous. He sat up and pulled her with him, his chin hooked over her shoulder and all his long limbs folded awkwardly around her. “Well. I guess I just have to make up for lost time.”

[pregnant-javert]

Can we still send prompts? If so is there any chance you could write melaudrey reuniting on the train after melanie’s rescue from the research station? (a sort of continuation of that 2parter you did where the 10car train saves melanie and she has that talk in bed with alex) i’m curious to see melanie’s reaction to audrey being held captive lmao

Hey anon! I really liked this prompt, and I have finished a fic for it! I had to sit on it for a while, but it’s there! Under the cut :) this will be posted on AO3 later! tw for suicidal thoughts.

When the door to Audrey’s mini-prison slides open, she doesn’t expect Melanie to be standing just beyond the threshold. It’s been a long, torpid day—Till came to check on her, but she seemed distracted—Audrey was left alone while everyone was busy with looking after the newly-reclaimed Melanie. Evening settles over the room slowly: the light turns pink, then orange, then dark red. Audrey spends the day pacing the room, her head empty. She’s sitting in the corner when the other woman shows up. “Melanie?”

“Yeah,” she says, her voice hoarse and weak. “It’s me. Back from the dead.”

“I thought I’d lost you,” Audrey says. “When I saw you on the tracks.”

Melanie is holding an oxygen tank, and catches Audrey staring at it. “Yeah. It’s my newest accessory. I hate it, but I can’t breathe without it.” At Audrey’s expression, she adds, “It’s not permanent. Just until my lungs heal.” She sits on the floor next to Audrey, leaning against the wall.

“Why are you here?”

“I wanted to see for myself if they actually took you. I didn’t believe it when Layton told me.”

“Well, I’m here now. Unsurprisingly.” Audrey remembers Alex’s snarky remark: are we bringing anyone we actually want? It still stings, three days on. She chooses not to mention this, however. “How are you feeling?” she asks instead.

“Like I’ve been gassed. And run over with a truck.” As if to demonstrate, she dissolves into a fit of dry coughing. Audrey moves to help her, but Melanie pushes her away. “I’m okay,” she says once she’s regained her breath. “It just happens sometimes.”

Audrey feels a shot of guilt, for every injury Melanie sustained can be traced back to Wilford’s doing. Why didn’t she try harder to stop the train? Instead it was Alex who ended up going against Wilford, slashing his neck. It occurs to her that Melanie has no idea what she did. Audrey went to Big Alice after Melanie left. She doesn’t know that I’m hated, or that I pushed everyone away. It’s so tempting to not reveal it at all, to not add Melanie to her shit list. 

“By the way, Alex told me everything,” Melanie says, ruining that fantasy. “I’m surprised you were with him. I thought you’d never go back.”

“He has a way of dragging you in.”

“Don’t I know it,” Melanie sighs. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. They roughed me up when they brought me here.” As if to demonstrate, Audrey shows Melanie her wrists, with the bruises refusing to fade. She doesn’t expect sympathy, but Melanie does say she’s sorry about it.

“It wasn’t your fault. You weren’t there when they took me.” Audrey sighs, leans back against the wall. The train shakes and judders as it goes over the tracks. “You probably hate me now. For what I did to the others. What I did to Alex.”

“Yeah. I must admit, when she told me everything, it was hard not to storm in here and slap the shit out of you.” Melanie scoffs, then says, “You’re lucky I feel like shit. The only thing that stopped me from doing that is the fact I can’t breathe.”

“Does that mean I have something coming later?”

“Maybe. I mean, a fucking tiara? Seriously, Audrey?”

Audrey groans. “Don’t remind me.” She thought she was on top of the world then, safe by Wilford’s side as train royalty. You should dress in a way that reflects your status, darling. What did that matter now? Audrey was lower than low. A hostage on a pirate train, the bottom of the pecking order. “I acted like an idiot.”

“I almost didn’t believe it. That’s not you. That’s not who I remember.”

“He does a damn good job of making you think it is.” Audrey swallows. “It felt good being like that. Not caring about anyone else. Living in luxury. Until you realise you’re nothing more than a lapdog.”

“Did he hurt you?” Melanie asks softly.

“No, he didn’t. Until he let them hurt me.” Audrey indicates the axe scar on her neck. She almost wants to cry thinking about it. “Anyway, why do you care?”

“I don’t know. I’m just asking.” Melanie might have said more, but she drops into coughing again, desperate and wracking. Audrey holds her up while she goes at it, and even though it finishes quickly, the other woman struggles to catch her breath. “Fuck,” she says. “My lungs feel like they’ve been shredded from the inside.”

“It’s only been three days,” Audrey says ineffectually.

“Yeah, I know.” Melanie sits back, looks out the window. “The cold strikes again.” They sit in uncomfortable silence for a long time; the only noise being Melanie’s laboured breathing. The sun has set properly, and the cabin is rapidly descending into darkness.

“I’m genuinely sorry about Alex,” Audrey says. “She didn’t deserve me treating her like shit.” She means this: if there’s any regret she has, it’s how she treated the younger girl. Audrey remembers, far too vividly, the look of pain on Alex’s face whenever she said something cutting. Lighten up, she’d say. Why do you take everything so seriously? Alex had tried her best to hide it, but Audrey knows how painful it must have been, to be shut out of Wilford’s graces because of her. She’d tried to apologise to Alex yesterday, but was received with open hostility. Exactly what Audrey deserves.

“I’m sorry too,” Melanie says, surprisingly. “I shouldn’t have left her. That was my biggest mistake. Thinking that she’d be safe with you and Wilford.”

This remark doesn’t even sting, because Audrey knows it’s true. “I tried to apologise yesterday. For what it’s worth.”

“What did she say?”

“It wasn’t good. I can’t say it.” You can shove that whiny apology up your ass, Audrey. That was what she’d said, before storming out of the cabin. “I don’t think she’ll ever forgive me.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Melanie says tiredly. “My daughter doesn’t owe you anything. Not after what you did.”

“I get it.” Audrey sighs. “Where do we go from here?”

“I don’t know. I think we’re at an impasse.” Melanie draws her knees up to her chest. “I know you’re just a victim like everyone else. But I can’t see past what you did to Alex. In that way, you’re no better than Wilford. Why? What did she ever do to you? She’s just a child, who was missing her mom. Didn’t you ever feel like that once?”

“My parents were awful to me. I was glad when they died.”

“Even so.” Melanie lays a hand on Audrey’s arm. “I know this isn’t you, Audrey. I know it’s not. You’re kind, tenacious, and fiercely protective of everyone in Third Class. I want to give you another chance, because I know how Wilford is”—her voice cracks—“but I can’t stand seeing my daughter hurt. Especially by someone like you. I thought you were better than that.”

“I thought so too.”

“I can’t reconcile it,” Melanie says, drawing away. “Every time I look at her, I think of all the abuse she suffered at you and Wilford’s hands. I can’t look at you the same way. Knowing you were capable of that. Are capable of that. I really am sorry. If it wasn’t for her, this might have gone differently. But Alex is my first priority now.” She sighs, readjusts the nasal tube. “Can you help me stand? I don’t think I can get up from this floor without passing out.” Audrey does so, pulling Melanie up from her seated position. She wobbles, but stays on her feet.

“When are we getting back to Snowpiercer?” Audrey asks.

“You’ll have to ask Layton that,” Melanie says, her face distant and impassive. “One last thing.” The slap comes so fast Audrey doesn’t have the time to dodge. It’s not a ladylike action: Melanie puts her whole shoulder into it, and it nearly takes Audrey off her feet.

“Ow,” Audrey says, rubbing her jaw. “Fuck.”

“That’s for Alex. And everyone else you screwed over.” Melanie lets out a breath. “Now we’re even. If I ever catch you mistreating Alex again, I promise there’ll be more than that coming. I will never let you hurt her again.”

“Alright,” Audrey says, her ears ringing too hard to say much else.

“I’ll ask someone to bring you food,” Melanie says by way of farewell, then she sidesteps Audrey and leaves the room. She’s left alone again for a couple of hours, when the door opens just a crack and a stale sandwich is pushed through the gap. Audrey catches a glimpse of Alex’s distrustful face before the door slams shut again.

Pretty lousy dinner, Audrey thinks as she chews the sandwich made of Snowpiercer cheese and raggedy lettuce. It’s hard to feel grateful for it, even though any ‘nice’ food is a considerable indulgence. She overheard Alex suggesting they give her the protein blocks from the Tail.

The sun has fully set, and Audrey can’t find it in herself to turn on the light. She crawls to her sleeping bag, zips herself in. The darkness matches the gloom she feels inside. She has nowhere and no-one—not on this train, or Big Alice or Snowpiercer. Is there even any point in living? Audrey knows the others won’t let her die—she’s too valuable. Wilford will almost certainly kill her, though, and that seems almost enough. Zarah might not even intervene.

When I die, Audrey thinks, I won’t be around to see everyone hate me. Everyone will get their wish—and so will I. She doesn’t even have the strength to cry about it: she just lets the numbness wash over her, and guide her into a fitful sleep.

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Episode 44 Review: The Second Séance

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3 }

{ Full Synopses/Recaps: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

Hello and welcome back to my Garden of Evil, in time for the final episode of Strange Paradise by its co-creator and original headwriter Ian Martin. This marks yet another milestone in the history of this fun and sometimes perplexing soap opera: a little bittersweet, although I know that, unlike viewers in 1969, I can return to early Maljardin whenever I want.

In some ways, Ian Martin’s departure will benefit the show. Like a traditional soap, his SP scripts were generally slow-paced and heavy on recap, with variations of certain lines (e.g. “we must find the conjure doll and the silver pin”) repeated episode after episode. When Robert Costello replaced Selig Alkon as producer, he mandated several changes to the show. His stated reason: to help SP’s other co-creator Jerry Layton achieve his goal of improving the Gothic soap’s ratings:

"New York and Los Angeles stations took it off the air because ratings were poor.  And because they are the key stations for money purposes, Robert Costello, who did Dark Shadows for four years, was called in," one of the actors said this week. "Costello took one look at several episodes and said he wasn't going to have anything to do with it the way it was.  So the series was changed considerably.”

[...]

In the studio this week, Costello (who produced The Nurses, the Patty Duke Show and Armstrong Circle Theatre) said Strange Paradise was abandoning old voodoo, hallmarks of the first 13 weeks, for heavy occult (witches covens, ESP, apparitions and the like). "The concept, though good, was not completely workable for a day-in and day-out series," admitted its creator and executive producer Jerry Layton.[1]

Naturally, so many changes required a segue from the show’s original format that wasn’t too abrupt, hence the break from Martin’s original plans for the story and the creation of the current weird transitional plotline about the Rabbit of Evil. There are twenty-one episodes of Maljardin left after this one, followed by a shift of setting to Desmond Hall. Like Maljardin, Desmond Hall has its good parts and bad parts, fun characters and not-so-fun ones, but I’ll cover those when I get to them.

Do you remember my Episode 40 review, where I speculated at the end about how the original second séance might have gone? Well, this one is similar in some ways to the séance described in the Lost Episode summaries, but the way it plays out is bizarre. And by “bizarre,” I mean, “What the hell is Vangie thinking, holding it now?”

The (visible) participants of the first séance, from Episode 36 (clockwise from top left): Dr. Alison Carr, Quito, Vangie Abbott, Raxl, Reverend Matt Dawson, and Jean Paul Desmond.

In Episode 36, the choice of who participated and who didn’t participate in the séance followed a certain logic. Four of the six chosen participants had a direct connection to Erica Desmond: her sister Alison, her husband Jean Paul, and her servants Raxl and Quito. The latter two were doubly qualified to participate, both being members of the Conjure Faith, with Raxl helping Vangie determine who could attend and who was forbidden in the previous episode. They excluded Elizabeth, Tim, and Dan for being “disruptive influences” and Holly out of concern for her safety, but allowed Matt because of his strong faith as a man of the cloth. (Remember that, at that point, they still trusted him.) In addition, they left a seventh chair open for Erica’s spirit, making the total number of (invited) participants seven. This, according to Vangie, is one of the ideal numbers for a séance, the other being five. It’s logical, it follows the rules that the author establishes via Vangie, and therefore it makes sense that the second séance would be set up in much the same way.

In my post on Episode 40, I used this logic along with clues from several Lost Episode summaries (including the one for this episode) to try to reconstruct the events of the original second séance, which was slated to take place in that episode before script rewrites. The summaries indicated that Matt would return for the second séance and that Elizabeth would join him, although Vangie’s reasoning for including her in this one is unknown. I excluded Holly from my list because I felt it would be out of character for Vangie to knowingly endanger her life and speculated that Alison may have refused to take part out of justified anger at Jean Paul for making Vangie endanger all of their lives. I also excluded Tim and Dan, because I felt that neither had any reason to participate unless substituting for someone else. In addition, I assumed that Jean Paul would have originally participated in all the séances, being the one who initiated them in the first place, as well as Raxl and Quito for their loyalty to both their dead mistress and to Vangie. I concluded that the most likely participants for the second séance would have been Vangie, Matt, Elizabeth, Raxl, Quito, and Jean Paul: six living/undead participants like the first, but with Alison swapped with Elizabeth.

But what do you do on short notice, while Jean Paul is freaking out in his room, Alison trying to help him calm down, and Raxl and Quito are...sleeping, I suppose? (The episode gives no explanation for their absence, unlike with Jean Paul and Alison.) You hold an emergency séance in the same exact location as before, at a glass-top table identical to the first, with whomever is available. That includes Matt, Holly, and the disruptive influences of Elizabeth and Dan. Vangie claims there’s no time to wait, so emergency séance it is, even if it means breaking all the previously established rules.

Holly lampshading how the second séance comes out of frigging nowhere.

“Jean Paul cannot wait,” says the Conjure Woman. “The need is urgent, the need to find out from whence this locket came. I must choose those of you who will help Jean Paul Desmond contact his wife Erica.”

Holly tries to nope out of it, but Vangie--surprisingly, given her previous concern for her safety--refuses to let her. “You, if the spirits choose,” she insists, “the spirits” here most likely meaning some combination of Robert Costello, Jerry Layton, and Steve Krantz. (Let’s remember that the Serpent previously told her not to invite certain people, Holly included.) It’s a cop-out line, in effect, where the show acknowledges that it’s breaking the previously established rules to obey the new producer’s wish to speed up the action.

The reason why this séance is so urgent? The bloodied locket of Erica’s that Raxl found around the black rabbit’s neck in the previous episode, combined with Vangie’s speculation that the rabbit may be Erica reincarnated. The fact that the locket had blood on it makes Dan even more suspicious of Jean Paul, especially after Matt reminds him that eclampsia (which Jean Paul claims took Erica’s life) is a bloodless death. He begins another tirade about how he thinks that Jean Paul killed both Erica and Dr. Menkin and how he’s going to sail off the island, which Vangie interrupts:

That’s Vangie’s way of saying “shut up.”

Vangie tells the four characters in the room--Holly, Elizabeth, Dan, and Matt--to sit at the table and begin the séance, because a presence has arrived. The first three do, but Dan remains standing and tries to persuade Matt to not take part in the occult ritual.

“You, GO!” Vangie screams at Dan. “PLEASE, GO!” He leaves and, without having anyone join hands, Vangie calls out to her father, the Conjure Man, to ask whose spirit is there. And then she enters a trance and starts screaming, “LET ME OUT!” while breathing heavily. Frightened, Holly runs to her room, while Vangie continues screaming, only to leave her trance a moment later and ask, “Where’s Holly?”

“She couldn’t stand it,” says Elizabeth. “I don’t think that I can, either, or any of us.”

“It was two spirits,” Vangie continues. “One so angry, so confined in some place, in some form.” She rubs her neck as though rubbing scabs left by the chain of an uncomfortable locket. “It’s so dry, so dry!” Elizabeth leaves to get her a drink to quench her thirst.

The way Vangie rubs her neck reminds me of Erica’s bloodied locket.

Their first attempt a disaster, they go their separate ways. Vangie speaks to the portrait of Jacques Eloi des Mondes, demanding an answer to how the rabbit and locket appeared. In her monologue, she reveals that he “[has] always been an enemy” and that he “would laugh at [her] clouded sight”; also that the spirit she felt was “not so much evil as angry, horribly angry and confined!”

Elizabeth offers Vangie some wine. Rather suspicious.

Elizabeth returns with some wine for Vangie’s throat (wouldn’t that only dehydrate her more?) and is about to set it on the séance table when Vangie stops her. “The spirits may not cross it,” she explains, so Elizabeth moves the glass and decanter over to the table where they usually sit.

Vangie picks up the locket and starts thinking out loud about it, when Elizabeth says that she wishes that Jean Paul would just let them open it. This enrages Vangie, who says, “I made a mistake when I asked yo to join the séance. I need all the help I can get, but yours will disrupt!”

“I will not be ordered around!” Elizabeth shouts.

Hearing Vangie scream about how she brings anger, Elizabeth leaves for Holly’s room, where she confides in her about how she doesn’t trust Jean Paul anymore. I think that this is Martin’s subtle way of letting the audience know that her romantic pursuit of Jean Paul/Jacques is over and the new producer and writers have no intentions on continuing it.

Elizabeth’s dress has some interesting pleats/pintucks in the front.

Holly asks her if she believes that the rabbit is Erica’s reincarnation. She thinks it’s ridiculous, but acknowledges that they must humor him while they are stuck on the island because his delusions affect everyone trapped there. “Holly, we need each other,” she says, “if only to exchange notes.” She persuades Holly to return to the séance to keep tabs on what happens.

Elizabeth has come to her senses.

Meanwhile in the Great Hall, Vangie lampshades Jean Paul’s and Alison’s absences again and predicts Dan’s death and Jean Paul’s continued possession. (At least that’s what I think she means by “Jean Paul’s mind and body will hang in the balance by an act of the Devil.”) Still determined to disbelieve in his religion’s personification of evil, Matt accuses either her, Raxl, or someone else on the island of masquerading as the Devil. She starts to try talking him into staying and being part of the séance using his belief in the afterlife, when Dan arrives and announces loudly and in the direction of Jean Paul’s bedroom(!) that he’s going to use one of the boats in the boathouse to escape and tell the police about his suspicions.

That’s when Holly arrives for the séance do-over. This time, it’s four visible characters--Holly, Dan, Matt, and Vangie--plus the spirit, thus making a total of five. Like the first séance, she tells them only to focus on Erica, but this time Dan’s anger disrupts the contact and Vangie flips out on him!

The bad subtitle here, while not especially original, is too perfect.

He storms out and the séance continues. Vangie calls on her father for help, saying, “There is a message...a warning...I cannot bring it through! The path must be clear! What is the warning, Conjure Man?”

And then, all of a sudden, the spirit comes through:

Vangie: (possessed) “Let me out! OUT! Let me out!”

“OUT, OUT, OUT, OOOOUUUUTTT! Is he here yet, Jean Paul? JEAN PAAAAAUUUUULLLL!” [Notice that they’re not touching hands as Vangie insisted that the participants of the first séance do.]

Holly: (possessed) “Out, out, out. Let me out.”

“Out, out, out, OUT, OUT, OUT, AAAAAAAHHHHH!”

Matt directs Dan to the decanter with a tilt of his head and Dan makes Holly drink the wine that Elizabeth poured for Vangie earlier. But, rather than calm her, the wine makes her collapse to the floor in agony:

Holly faints from the poison in the wine.

“If the missing cyanide was in this, I’m afraid Holly is dead!” says Dan after sniffing the inside of the glass. But is it cyanide, and is Holly Marshall dead? I suppose you’ll have to stay tuned for Episode 45 (the episode or the review).

I don’t want you to think that, because I criticized some things about this episode, I must dislike it. Quite the contrary. While some things about this episode do reek of subverting expectations just for the sake of subversion (they didn’t have to film a séance episode on Colin Fox’s day off), the final scene is wonderfully chilling and Angela Roland gets to use her acting chops more in this episode than in any of the previous ones. Also, the missing cyanide subplot finally becomes relevant again at the end with Holly’s collapse after drinking the wine.

Coming up next: A two-part post looking at the best and worst things about Ian Martin’s episodes of Strange Paradise, followed by the Episode 45 review. I’ve been working hard on these and look forward to posting them within the next week.

{ <- Previous: Episode 43   ||   Next: Episode 45 -> }

Notes

[1] Sid Adilman, “TV’s Colin Fox and his Strange Paradise,” Toronto Telegram, November 29, 1969. I omitted part of this passage to avoid spoilers, but the omitted portion is also noteworthy in that it indicates that they had already begun filming Desmond Hall by November 1969.

[cayenne-twilight]

A fic about Uncle Randall interacting with Flora and/or Kat and Alfendi?

Flora peered dreamily out the car window, as she usually did when she could actually convince the Professor to take her places. Three days ago she organized a persuasive presentation proving that she was responsible and capable enough to accompany him on his trip to the city of Monte D’Or. It took informative posters on an easel and ten minutes worth of speaking, but soon enough Flora was packing her bags. Of course, by the Professor’s earnest recommendation, she regretfully pruned her luggage down to one suitcase and one duffel bag. Packing lightly may be befitting of a gentleman, Professor, but not a lady. Am I supposed to wear the same outfit in the morning AND the evening?

She watched the view transition from the metropolis near the airport to rusty desert. Apparently one of the Professor’s secondary school friends built the city, and the rest of their clique lived there as well. He always associated with the most curious people. Flora couldn’t help but imagine what the Professor must have been like as a teenager. Was he already obsessed with being the perfect gentleman, or did he act a tad immature at times like Luke did? Was he in the robotics club like she was now? And what sort of friends did he spend time with? She heard him mention some names over the phone with Emmy, but what were they like? She imagined a bunch of history nerds discussing the Azran over tea. Did they all wear top hats as well? Flora suppressed a giggle at the mental image.

“This is no Laytonmobile, but it has been keeping up just fine,” Layton said. The rental car was a much more modern model than his beloved little Citroen. With its neutral paint job and contemporary luxury features, the Professor almost seemed out of his element driving it. Flora would never say it out loud, but she preferred this car to his usual rickety ride, although she could admit it had its own brand of charm.

“So you’re visiting your old friend to share your findings on the Azran?” Flora asked, hoping to get more out of him than the last two times she asked this question.

“In part. Ever since- well. For the past few years my good friend Randall has had an aversion to the Azran despite his interest in the civilization in our youth. Recently, though, the spark seems to have reignited. I’m bringing over the thesis I published as well as Desmond’s, who turned down the invitation to come here seeing as his relationship with Randall is rocky. (I believe I will force them to reconcile one of these days.) The timing of it all is really quite queer now that neither Desmond nor I want anything to do with Azran research.”

“Wow. It took you two whole years to get your paper published and you aren’t even interested in the topic anymore?” Flora couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be so spontaneous. If she were to write an entire academic thesis, it would be on a topic she would never get tired of learning more about.

The Professor said nothing. He just drove on along the dusty road until Monte D’Or was visible in the distance like an island surrounded by all this empty sand. As they pulled closer Flora marveled at the flamboyant hotels and casinos. Up until recently she felt like a tourist in her own city, but this was the real deal.

Flora sat on a couch in the Reunion Inn lobby while the Professor checked in and arranged for their luggage to be brought up. She could hardly call this an inn. The establishment Beatrice ran was an inn. This place was massive enough to house all the residents of her little village.

“Now that that’s settled, my dear, let’s head down to the Ledore mansion to say hello. I’ll introduce you to my old friends.”

Flora nearly fell over because of the way she was trying to absorb every detail of her surroundings. She heard there was supposed to be an absolutely darling parade on this street at night, and she asked if they planned on watching it.

“Ah, I remember the parade from the last time I visited. They run it once a week, but it feels awfully special when you’re a tourist. Of course we’ll see it,” Layton said.

He rang the doorbell to the mansion, and a woman with blonde hair done up in curls answered, “Hershel!”

“It’s good to see you, Angela. Have you three been well?”

“Yes, of course. And you must be Miss Flora,” she said, extending a hand. Flora shook it. “I’ll call Randall and get Henry to set the kettle for tea. Make yourselves at home.”

The Professor took a seat on the expansive couch, sorting through the folder he brought along, while Flora examined a curio cabinet set into the wall. Randall must collect these pieces of archeological memorabilia, all sorts of carved pots and ancient coins and whatnot. She remembered talking to Luke’s father about how there was more of this stuff out there than one might think, hence how much of the museum’s collection was archived.

“HERSHEL!” a man with slicked back red hair and glasses entered with his arms outstretched. The Professor turned his hug into a handshake.

“I must admit, I missed this Randall,” the Professor said.

“And which one might that be?”

“The one that would rather excavate cities than bury them-“

“Oh bug off, Hersh.” Randall turned to Flora. “You must be the girl from the robot town.”

“Um. Yes I suppose that is me.”

“I’d love to visit one day. How do they work? I hear they’re indistinguishable from humans! Are they modeled after the ancient golems?”

“Leave her be, Randall. So what have you been up to these days? Not farming, I presume.”

“No, not quite,” he laughed. “That’s just the thing. Angela and Henry have the mayoral duties covered, and I don’t think they would want me to intervene anyways. And I’d make an awful stay at home husband.”

“He would,” Angela and Henry said in unison. Henry carried a platter with tea to the coffee table and poured five cups.

“You haven’t done the one thing I asked you to do today,” Henry said.

Randall stared blankly. “And what might that have been?” He smiled like a child caught in a lie.

Angela facepalmed. “Do you even enter the kitchen? The sink is piled up with dishes. I hate to grill you in front of guests, but if you won’t help out around the house in the slightest, you better get a full time job.”

“Yes, about that. I was thinking of curating the Monte D’Or museum. We have an impressive painting gallery, but I think it could do with a more historical exhibit. The city itself is quite new, but the area is rich in Azran history.”

“Well I think that’s a splendid idea,” Layton said. I do hope my research will be of help to you.”

Layton left with Angela and Henry to their office where they showed him the building plans for a new designer brand shopping mall. Randall remained on the couch, essays in hand, until his attention span promptly gave out ten seconds later. He looked to Flora, who was inspecting a still life on the wall.

“You haven’t even touched your tea yet,” He said.

“Ah. I didn’t realize Henry brought some for me too.”

“How’s Hersh been as a dad?”

Flora looked a bit startled. “A dad? Gee, I don’t know if that’s quite right. He’s more like a foster parent, really. I’m not sure how much you heard about his trip to my village, but when he arrived to solve a treasure hunt he wasn’t expecting to bring me home instead.”

“I did hear about the hunt your father arranged. I’m sorry for your loss, by the way.”

“It's been sort of a long time, but thank you.”

Randall’s eyebrows arched since Layton told him the Baron was recently departed. He didn’t pry in fear of touching on a sore subject. “Have you been liking the city life more so than the village?”

“I’m glad the Professor lives on a relatively quiet street, and I do like secondary school more than reading textbooks on my own. Quite frankly, it’s been hard for me to adjust to social situations, but I like working with my classmates more than studying alone.”

“And I gather you’ll be going to college not too far from now. Do you know what you’re going to take in uni? Not to alarm you, I’m sure you get asked that a lot these days.”

“That’s tricky. I was thinking maybe software engineering? Or robotics. Or perhaps criminology as well? I’d like to take some sort of design course if there’s room in my schedule, but at this rate there might not be.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon enough. You know, I don’t believe I actually ever finished my compulsory education because I fell into that chasm. No matter, trade skills served me well enough.”

“You what?”

“Look, it’s already gotten dark out. We should leave right about now if you want to catch the parade.”

Flora, Randall, Layton, Angela, and Henry left the mansion and made their way to the crowded sidewalk of the boulevard where many visitors awaited the procession. The sound of brass instruments pealed from the distance, followed by the drumming and jangling of marching band music. Flora clasped her hands and leaned forward, trying to gauge where the start of the parade was.

Squadrons of dancers and acrobats dressed up as suits of cards waltzed around the pavement, doing flips and spinning batons. The crowd cheered as they quickly assembled into a human pyramid and gracefully collapsed like dominoes. The marching band followed, and Flora had to cover her ears when they were right in front of them. Four floats rode by, driven by characters resembling the jacks, queens, and kings of each suit. They waved and popped confetti at the viewers. Finally, the giant clown balloon glided forward, attached to an equally large float. It looked like a tiered cake, with dancers standing on each level moving in perfect unison.

“You know, the performers on the clown float are all animatronics,” Randall yelled over the blaring band.

“For real?” Flora responded. “But they’re moving so naturally! It’s hard to believe they’re not human!”

“You’re one to doubt it, having grown up with robots. The float is actually an optical illusion in a sense. In reality, dancers on the top are a lot larger than the ones on the bottom, and same with the height of the platforms, but because of our perspective they look the same.”

“Really?” Flora shouted. “That’s so cool! Can I get a closer look at them another time?”

“Of course!” Randall yelled back. “I can take you to the garage tomorrow.”

The eardrum-shattering upbeat music faded, and the crowd began to disperse.

“Did the parade meet your expectations, my dear? Layton asked.

“I believe it surpassed them!” Flora responded.

They parted ways with Randall, Angela, and Henry and headed back to the Reunion Inn for the night.

“You told me you and Randall used to be best friends, but you drifted apart.”

“Yes, that is true. Why do you bring that up?”

“Well I think you should mend that friendship. He seems like a swell guy after all.”

Layton smiled. “Is that so? In any case, you are correct. I should make an effort to reconnect with him. Maybe I should challenge him to a sparring match like those from our youth. He was awfully quick, but now that he’s rusty I bet I stand a good chance.”

“Randall fences?”

“Yes. In fact he’s the one who got me interested in the sport myself. He also sparked my interest in archeology.”

“Wow. I didn’t realize the impression he made on you was so big.”

“That’s not all, he also introduced me to the world of puzzles.”

“RANDALL is the one who got you hooked on puzzles?!” Flora exclaimed. She should be trying to make friends like these in secondary school herself. Even if it’s just through impact on one’s character, friends really had the potential to last forever, huh.

@101flavoursofweird

[targentis]

answer them **all.**

DAMN OKAY! these r so hard to answer i hope youre happy KJDFNGKSDJFNDKFGSJ

Your favourite non-canon ship?

COFFEE WOLF, I GUESS. it’s canon to us though. um. god this is a hard question. Doc/Ramirez from Skies of Arcadia i guess!!

Is there a ship you didn’t like at first but ultimately started shipping?

TONS BUT IM DRAWING A BLANK RIGHT NOW. Alfonso/De Loco. yes. that’s one. thanks Din

What is the rarest rare pair (that you ship)?

help all my ships are rarepairs.......Des/Nils is probably the rarest. no that’s not true bc i got all my friends on board with this. ok. closest one after that is like...trans lesbian Bloom/Emmy then. eGDKFJGN

Name a popular ship you don’t get the appeal of.

Akechi/Joker...........don’t tell anyone but i have the tags for that ship blocked dfjgkhdfgk it doesn’t make me particularly uncomfortable or anything it just doesn’t appeal to me and i’m tired of seeing it so much

What is your most fluffy + happy ship?

Lunivas/Butter :] (For Now.)

What is your most angsty ship?

UUUUUUUU. GODS UM.....how about VinceDes. thats pretty angsty bro. i think they’re just mostly angsty independently though ejrhdgjhdf

A non-canon ship that should be canon?

dude, Wrightworth. it’s like basically canon already Capcom just needs to like stop being cowarDS DFKGNDFKJGDF

Your oldest ship; the one you’ve shipped for the longest time?

NOT SURE. Alfonso/Ramirez is a pretty long-running ship i think. Wrightworth too but i think Alfonso/Ramirez is older by like a year. 

What ship represents the kind of relationship you’d love to have?

VinceDes. ;]

Is there a ship that makes your skin crawl?

unfortunately, because i am in the Layton fandom, yes. for instance, all the Desmond ships with canon characters, bc they are all like. family members. euughghghgjahgahuggg,ghf,h god

What is a character you can only imagine in one particular ship?

not Ramirez that’s for surE DKJNDFKJGDF probably uhhh Randall......he belongs with Henry and that’s that on that!

What is your favourite canon ship?

hehehe...Nico/Kastor/Vlad!! 

Name a ship that deserved more content.

all the rarepairs bro. every gross artist who has ever drawn like d*sl*y or something owes me coffee wolf content. ESPECIALLY gross artists who draw d*sa*ro and interact with my posts. cough cough. pay up You Know Who.

Is there a ship you feel gets undeserved hate in fandom?

i don’t know any ships that get hate period cause i no longer subscribe to weird fandom drama...but i know of One ship that gets Deserved hate, which is Ramirez/Galcian. i’ll never stop shitting on it never

What is the first ship you had?

ugh. in order to answer this question i had to try to remember the first fandom i was ever in, let alone the first time i ever cared about romance. soooooooo...i think it was Seth/Jynx from my ex’s story Fantasy Fulfillment??

Is there a ship that made you realise something about yourself?

yes there is! a certain ship made me realize i had a second Des canon...

Is there a type of ship you always go for?

IM LIKE NOT BIG ON SHIPPING ANYMORE SO THIS IS HARD TO DETERMINE i just kind of...find my favorite characters and then put them together bc sexy. also sometimes characters will have undeniable chemistry and i’ll be all like ok legally i just Have to ship them. see: Din/Ade.

Is there a ship the writers have ruined for you?

every canon ship in Skies of Arcadia. the writers of this game do not know what chemistry is. Enrique/Moegi sucks, but they have so much POTENTIAL to be a good pairing, but this was not shown at ALL in canon, and i’m SALTY.

Is there a ship the fandom has ruined for you?

Akechi/Joker probably...fandom didn’t do anything wrong per se i just. like i said before i’m just tired of seeing it dkgjhdg

Have you ever created fan created content for a ship?

yeah tons!! i am a Content Creator bro i will not stop

Favourite thing you’ve ever created for a ship?

this VinceDes Valentine’s Day project i’ve been working on for the past four days!! it’s like my favorite thing i’ve ever created PERIOD bro

Is there a ship you’ll never admit you have?

hmmmmmmmm. do my old Hetalia ships count? DFGJDNFG

Have you ever started shipping a ship because of the fans?

YES ACTUALLY! speaking of my old Hetalia ships, i used to ship Japan and Canada SIMPLY BECAUSE i went to an anime convention and these two cosplayers said i looked like their lovechild. i took a photo with my “parents” and it was my phone wallpaper for like two years. i’m so sorry for talking about that stupid anime but like that’s still an important memory to me

What is one scene you want to see happen for all your ships?

HRNNHNH. KIS

I there a ship you wish you didn’t know existed?

You Know Exactly Which Ones.

more recently though...Miles/Franziska?????? like sigh i know of COURSE it exists but like. idk i Just found out about it and i wish i could unlearn that fact.

Name a ship that ended like you wanted it to.

Nico/Kastor/Vlad.........if you want good content you have to make it yourself!

Name a ship that deserved better in the end.

LAYTON/CLAIRE. FOR FUCKING REAL

Is there a character you have several ships for?

Ramirez from Skies of Arcadia........he can just Get It.

What is the ship you ignore 98% of canon for?

ENRIQUE/ILCHYMIS. I JUST THINK THEYRE HOT THEY NEVER INTERACT IN CANON

Is there a ship you like but you dislike the fandom?

lol wym i dislike all fandom. eKJDGFN ummmm??? no i can’t think of any right now??

[poweredbydietcoke]

Favorite books of 2019

A *very* late continuation of my annual tradition … finally got a push to finish this in case you’re looking for book ideas while we find ourselves with plenty of extra time during quarantine. I read a little less in 2019, maybe because I’m working on something new (and have a new kid) or maybe just because I’m getting lazy as I get older? 48 books total, of which 4 were tree books and 23 were audiobooks—I did spend more time in transit last year (yes, it’s possible to listen to audiobooks and talk to ATC at the same time!), but it felt more productive. 

Without further ado, my favorite books. (affiliate links get donated to charity at the end of the year). I’ve included some highlights from Kindle books, but many of my favorites this year were audiobooks, where I haven’t found a great solution to highlighting (especially those I get from the library on a variety of crappy - but free! - services).

Destiny Disrupted, by Tamim Ansary - this was probably my favorite book of the year. I liked it so much I cold-emailed the author and invited him over for dinner, and we had a wonderful time with he & his wife and a bunch of friends. Fundamentally, the book is a history of the world told from the point of view of Islam; the point he makes, quite compellingly, was that there are really two (and probably more) different histories of the world, with the same facts, that just depend on your narrative. This is starting to play on a lot of things I’ve been trying to understand recently, including Ben Hunt’s Epsilon Theory and specifically, his idea of the Narrative Machine, and all of the theory of Common Knowledge that includes. And he does all this with an easy-to-read but well-researched writing style. If you like this one, I’m still working my way through his next one, The Invention of Yesterday, and so far so good.

A ruler can never trust a popular man with soldiers of his own. One day, Mansur invited Abu Muslim to come visit him and share a hearty meal. What happened next illustrates the maxim that when an Abbasid ruler invites you to dinner, you should arrange to be busy that night.

On the Sunni side, four slightly different versions of this code took shape, and the Shi’i developed yet another one of their own, similar to the Sunni ones in spirit and equally vast in scope. These various codes differ in details, but I doubt that one Muslim in a thousand can name even five such details.

Let me emphasize that the ulama were not (and are not) appointed by anyone. Islam has no pope and no official clerical apparatus. How, then, did someone get to be a member of the ulama? By gaining the respect of people who were already established ulama. It was a gradual process. There was no license, no certificate, no “shingle” to hang up to prove that one was an alim. The ulama were (and are) a self-selecting, self-regulating class, bound entirely by the river of established doctrine. No single alim could modify this current or change its course. It was too old, too powerful, too established, and besides, no one could become a member of the ulama until he had absorbed the doctrine so thoroughly that it had become a part of him. By the time a person acquired the status to question the doctrine, he would have no inclination to do so. Incorrigible dissenters who simply would not stop questioning the doctrine probably wouldn’t make it through the process.

If a man commits a grave sin, is he a non-Muslim, or is he (just) a bad Muslim? The question might seem like a semantic game, except that in the Muslim world, as a point of law, the religious scholars divided the world between the community and the nonbelievers. One set of rules applied among believers, another set for interactions between believers and nonbelievers. It was important, therefore, to know if any particular person was in the community or outside it.

Range, by David Epstein. Thomas Layton recommended this to me (he was reading a derivative work on how to coach basketball while applying this theory), and it was fun. The fundamental thesis is that you can split environments into “nice” and “wicked” learning environments. In nice environments, feedback is quick and accurate, and rewards specialization early (eg golf ... you can practice every possible shot by yourself). In wicked environments, feedback is delayed (if available at all), and the rules — let alone the situation — are fluid. This rewards “range”, or a variety of experiences (Epstein uses tennis as an example, but much of life is even more obvious). The return of the Renaissance Man (or Woman) — yay!

When I began to write about these studies, I was met with thoughtful criticism, but also denial. “Maybe in some other sport,” fans often said, “but that’s not true of our sport.” The community of the world’s most popular sport, soccer, was the loudest. And then, as if on cue, in late 2014 a team of German scientists published a study showing that members of their national team, which had just won the World Cup, were typically late specializers who didn’t play more organized soccer than amateur-league players until age twenty-two or later.

A recent study found that cardiac patients were actually less likely to die if they were admitted during a national cardiology meeting, when thousands of cardiologists were away; the researchers suggested it could be because common treatments of dubious effect were less likely to be performed.

Whether or not experience inevitably led to expertise, they agreed, depended entirely on the domain in question. Narrow experience made for better chess and poker players and firefighters, but not for better predictors of financial or political trends, or of how employees or patients would perform. The domains Klein studied, in which instinctive pattern recognition worked powerfully, are what psychologist Robin Hogarth termed “kind” learning environments. Patterns repeat over and over, and feedback is extremely accurate and usually very rapid.

...

In wicked domains, the rules of the game are often unclear or incomplete, there may or may not be repetitive patterns and they may not be obvious, and feedback is often delayed, inaccurate, or both.

When younger students bring home problems that force them to make connections, Richland told me, “parents are like, ‘Lemme show you, there’s a faster, easier way.’” If the teacher didn’t already turn the work into using-procedures practice, well-meaning parents will. They aren’t comfortable with bewildered kids, and they want understanding to come quickly and easily. But for learning that is both durable (it sticks) and flexible (it can be applied broadly), fast and easy is precisely the problem.

Programs like Head Start did give a head start, but academically that was about it. The researchers found a pervasive “fadeout” effect, where a temporary academic advantage quickly diminished and often completely vanished. On a graph, it looks eerily like the kind that show future elite athletes catching up to their peers who got a head start in deliberate practice.

Hilariously, predictors were willing to pay an average of $129 a ticket for a show ten years away by their current favorite band, while reflectors would only pay $80 to see a show today by their favorite band from ten years ago.

In the spring of 2001, Bingham collected twenty-one problems that had stymied Eli Lilly scientists and asked a top executive if he could post them on a website for anyone to see. The executive would only consider it if the consulting firm McKinsey thought it was a good idea. “McKinsey’s opinion,” Bingham recalled, “was, ‘Who knows? Why don’t you launch it and tell us the answer.’”

There was also a “perverse inverse relationship” between fame and accuracy. The more likely an expert was to have his or her predictions featured on op-ed pages and television, the more likely they were always wrong. Or, not always wrong. Rather, as Tetlock and his coauthor succinctly put it in their book Superforecasting, “roughly as accurate as a dart-throwing chimpanzee.”

Deep Work by Cal Newport - this was an easy listen while on a couple of long runs in Palm Springs during Indian Wells weekend, and definitely worth it. Like classics such as How to Win Friends And Influence People, there’s not a lot fundamentally groundbreaking here, but he articulates some really fundamental principles well enough that you stop and take notice and ask, “I know that ... why am I not doing that?” Now I just need to review my notes...

Age of Ambition, Chasing Fortune in China - Evan Osnos. I think Scott Cannon originally recommended this book to me, and it was fascinating. It’s a bit of a long, slow read but a lot of insight into China’s evolution over the last few decades. I’m not sure what I’ll do with this knowledge (or the many other China books I’ve read recently) but it feels important for the coming decades. If only I could learn Mandarin like Matt MacInnis 

Every country has corruption, but China’s was approaching a level of its own. For those at the top, the scale of temptation had reached a level unlike anything ever encountered in the West. It was not always easy to say which Bare-Handed Fortunes were legitimate and which were not, but political office was a reliable pathway to wealth on a scale of its own. By 2012 the richest seventy members of China’s national legislature had a net worth of almost ninety billion dollars—more than ten times the combined net worth of the entire U.S. Congress.

But unlike Zaire, China punished many people for it; in a five-year stretch, China punished 668,000 Party members for bribery, graft, and embezzlement; it handed down 350 death sentences for corruption, and Wedeman concluded, “At a very basic level, it appears to have prevented corruption from spiraling out of control.”

The Central Propaganda Department let it be known that reports that suggested a shortage of happiness were not to receive attention. In April 2012 my phone buzzed: All websites are not to repost the news headlined, “UN Releases World Happiness Report, and China Ranks No. 112.”

Over the years, the risk of being blamed for helping someone was a scenario that appeared over and over in the headlines. In November 2006 an elderly woman in Nanjing fell at a bus stop, and a young man named Peng Yu stopped to help her get to the hospital. In recovery, she accused Peng of causing her fall, and a local judge agreed, ordering him to pay more than seven thousand dollars—a judgment based not on evidence, but on what the verdict called “logical thinking”: that Peng would never have helped if he hadn’t been motivated by guilt.

At one point, Chinese programmers were barred from updating a popular software system called Node.js because the version number, 0.6.4, corresponded with June 4, the date of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

he vowed to punish not only low-ranking “flies” but also powerful “tigers.” He called on his comrades to be “diligent and thrifty,” and when Xi took his first official trip, state television reported that he checked into a “normal suite” and dined not at a banquet, but at a buffet—a revelation so radical in Chinese political culture that the word buffet took on metaphysical significance. The state news service ran a banner headline: XI JINPING VISITS POOR FAMILIES IN HEBEI: DINNER IS JUST FOUR DISHES AND ONE SOUP, NO ALCOHOL.

...

It didn’t take long for the abrupt drop-off in gluttony to affect the economy: sales of shark fin (de rigueur for banquets) sank more than 70 percent; casinos in Macau recorded a drop in VIPs, and Swiss watch exports dropped by a quarter from the year before. Luxury goods makers mourned.

Economists point to a historic correlation between “world’s tallest” debuts and economic slowdowns. There is no cause and effect, but such projects are a sign of easy credit, excessive optimism, and inflated land prices—a pattern that dates to the world’s first skyscraper, the Equitable Life Building. Built in New York at the height of the Gilded Age, it was completed in 1873, the start of a five-year slump that became known as the Long Depression, and the pattern repeated in decades to follow. Skyscraper magazine, a Shanghai publication that treated tall buildings like celebrities, reported in 2012 that China would finish a new skyscraper every five days for the next three years; China was home to 40 percent of the skyscrapers under construction in the world.

Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright & Bradley Hope - Mike Vernal told me to drop most things to read this, and he wasn’t wrong. A well-written account of the 1MDB scandal that I’d only vaguely followed, and tries to put it into context when it basically can’t … something like $5.XB stolen over the course of a few years.

Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky & Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain - I put these two together, both recommended by Robert MacCloy, because they’re quick and fun. I listened to both on audio and they were both “mindless” but interesting…sort of the inside baseball of both the hospitality and restaurant industries. Don’t use a UV light...anywhere.

Smokejumpers by Jason Ramos - recommended by one of our fire captain neighbors at Oxbow and figured it would be good to understand a little more about wildland firefighting … this took me down a long digression of firefighting books that were interesting but if you want one, this one’s fun.

American icon by Bryce Hoffman - great audiobook that Scott Cannon recommended about Alan Mulaly’s turnaround of the Ford. The single most memorable part — after a couple of years working on turning the company around, a reporter asked him what his priorities for the next year were, and he responded with the same three things he’d said from the beginning. The reporter said something to the affect of “I can’t write about that again, it’s boring, you need something new!” And Mulaly responded “when we’ve got these three things done right, then we’ll have something new. We haven’t finished them yet."

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou - my wife raved about this book after she listened to it, and it was all the rage, so I did too…and it lived up to the hype! Fascinating but managed not to be a tabloid-y gossip-y tale of excess so much as a “yeah, each individual step was only a little over the line, and look where it lead them.” A surprisingly poignant reminder about how “fake it til you make it” in Silicon Valley can be idealized until it’s not. This is the next generation in a line started by Barbarians at the Gate and continued by Smartest Guys In The Room.

[agl03]

I am really looking forward to ep 5 (Fitz is my favorite character) and just trying to speculate what might happen. Seeing that some of Talbot's troops are in the mix do you think it likely that Fitz is lthe left at the diner so do you think it's possible he will be picked up by Talbot's people and charged for Mace's death and other crimes related to the Framework and will have to escape the government, maybe with Hunter's help, before he can begin to look for the others?

Hi Anon,

I’m really looking forward to 5, I’ve been looking forward too it since I knew Hunter was going to be back for it.  However, even I know very little of what is going to happen here.   Iain is hard enough to place on set but when they are not trying to hide him AND Nick being there…nothing was getting out.  Like last year when we didn’t see him on set the entire Framework Arc.

The Synopsis dropped today and it didn’t offer much more insight, but it was at least something.  

With help from Lance Hunter, nothing will stop Fitz from finding the lost team as his secret journey is revealed. Guests: Nick Blood, Joel Stoffer, Catherine Dent, Lola Glaudini, Lexy Kolker, Zibby Allen, Joy Layton, Delpaneaux Wills, Anthony Bless, Asante Jones

It says his journey is revealed so I’m still looking at 4 for his arrival and but wont’ rule out a crazy surprise to see him somehow in 3.

And from the looks of it, the how Fitz gets to space the future plus whatever else he was up too.  Meaning, I think things are going to need to move along at a pretty decent pace and we won’t see a lot of what happens when, much like  4722 hours where we’ll jump around to the good/important bits.  It is very possible that Fitz gets arrested, it just depends on how close those guys were to closing in and what Fitz does when he unfreezes.  Because he’s going to come out of that all alone in the diner, simply knowing some shadowy figure showed up.   

The other thing I look at is the guest stars, there is no one listed as a prison guard, there is one Military Police and One Security guard.  Fitz will also want to do everything he can from being locked up since he can’t help the others if he is behind bars.

My early thoughts on what we’ll see, not necessarily in this order:

The initial aftermath, him unfreezing and where he went from there.

How he found Hunter or Hunter found him.

They track down Enoch and based on other IMDB info Fitz brings Enoch through with him or Enoch is also still around in the future and joins the party from then on.

They have a run in with the Military.  They could ask for help, need something, the military could have Millie the Monolith, or yes someone was captured.  Dent will be back in 11, so it could be the way in/out.

They track down Patty and Robin (Charles’s wife and Daughter from Spacetime).  I’ll admit that one was a bit of a curve ball.

Whoever the heck Joy Layton is playing might be a surprise as she currently doesn’t exist in IMDB.  Last time we saw that was when Stella had a cameo.

Visit a crime scene

Fitz gets the postcard at the very least in place so that it makes its way to Virgil then the team.

I won’t be surprised if Fitz doesn’t find the Lighthouse as well.

I’m also still thinking that notebook might be his too.

The set up for Fitz telling the story, IE is it like Jemma with 4722 hours and part of the cliffhanger for 4.

Chloe and Ming’s doubles are in the mix.  So either its not a true bottle episode and there will still be cuts for the future or Fitz sees the others another way.  

Fitz figures out when the team is.

He figures out how to get there himself AND get them back.  

Him dealing with Framework guilt

Fitzsimmons feels

Give Hunter another proper send off in case he’s not ‘there’ when the team comes back.

I’m likely missing stuff but that is a lot to pack into a single episode.   There is also the time factor, I’m guessing it will take him longer to work it out than has passed for the team in the future.  This is possibly our “winter” finale so it could also leave on a bit of a Cliffhanger going into 6…which I am also super excited for.

[ladyloveandjustice]

PLVAA P19- GIRLFRIENDS

Upon learning she accidentally killed an entire town, Espella freaks out and runs to the top of the bell tower to run to her death. But Layton and Phoenix deduce it was actually not Espella who rang the bell, but Eve/Darklaw. Like Espella, she repressed some of her memories out of trauma without realizing it and remembered Espella as being the one who did it.  

THAT’S NICE FOR ESPELLA, BUT EVE STILL ACCIDENTALLY KILLED AN ENTIRE TOWN, so she freaks out and uses the invisibility cloak robe (I mean it really is a cloak guys. it’s not a robe) to disappear. 

oh i guess Luke’s here now where have you been this entire time

Actually it’s not nice for Espella, because even with this knowledge she still blames herself for her dad’s unnessecary fucked up fake-witch-trial town (”he did it for me!”) and is determined to commit suicide. AND SHE ACTUALLY JUMPS...only for Eve to come out of nowhere to catch her. 

WHICH WOW THIS WAS ALREADY A SHIP BUT IT JUST BECAME A SUPER-SHIP WITH THIS EXCHANGE. Remember, they’ve had matching pendants since they were kids:

Espella: Eve! Why are you doing this...! I finally remembered everything I’ve done!

Eve: You’re not the only one who remembered. You...still have the pendant...

Espella: Yes, of course...that’s because...I somehow always knew it was important to me

Eve: Espella...

Espella: You kept your pendant too, didn’t you?

Eve: Yes. For some reason...I just couldn’t let it go.

WOW GAY PENDANTS. Sorry Maya, looks like Espella’s definitely taken. Don’t worry there’s a ton of cute girls at home for you to choose from.

Phoenix is all like we gotta save them and Storyteller’s like NO THERE’S NO TIME THE RAILWAY IS ROTTED IT’S GONNA GIVE OUT (okay but maybe if you guys hadn’t stopped to talk about it there woulda been time) and Eve and Espella fall AND AS THEY FALL EVE PURPOSEFULLY GRABS ESPELLA SO SHE’S UNDER HER AND WILL BREAK HER FALL AAAAH but then Layton’s all like “lol got this” and Luke has offscreen somehow managed to turn on a crane which he uses to save Eve and Espella. APPARENTLY ALL THIS MACHINERY IN TOWN WAS INVISIBLE TO EVERYONE BECAUSE THEY WERE HYPNOTIZED NOT TO SEE THINGS THAT WERE PURE BLACK (Maya points out her hair is black but they are like NO PURE BLACK LIKE IT DOESN’T REFLECT LIGHT AT ALL) so that’s how all the machinery keeping the town and the “magic” running was invisible to them AND YOU KNOW WHAT I GIVE UP

the point is that Eve and Espella continue to be gay. Eve’s all like “YOU MUST BE SO ANGRY WITH ME FOR BLAMING YOU” and Espella’s all:

Espella: No Eve, I wasn’t angry. You’ve always been on my side, protecting me. And even today, you saved my life. I also owe you an apology. After all...I forgot about my dearest friend. I’m so sorry, Eve! (cat comes up) Oh hello, Eve!

Eve: Your... cat’s called Eve?

Espella: You know what I’ve just noticed? You two are very much alike! You and Eve the cat!

Eve: W-what? It’s all in your head!

tsun tsun dere dere also i just realized DarklawEve’s hair is supposed to look like a cat ears and tail and I’m mad.

Anyway, the storyteller is like “I DID ALL THIS BECAUSE I WAS DYING OF A ILLNESS” then two seconds later is like “but lol don’t worry it was cured” okay that was pointless. 

Also the game reinforces that the alchemist and the storyteller were basically boyfriends, and that that their daughters then became girlfriends. the important thing is Eve and Espella are gonna live together with Espella’s dumb dad and PROBABLY GET MARRIED. They should also really seek counseling. like really. 

Eve explains that she bought Layton here on purpose because he’s so amazing omg she knew he could solve the mystery. Nick’s like “...and me?” and she’s like “yeah that was an accident no idea who the fuck you are” which just sort of. captures the game’s entire attitude towards Layton and Nick. The entire game was sucking Layton’s dick and being mean to Nick and yeah. IT REALLY BACKFIRED BECAUSE IT MADE IT HARD TO LIKE LAYTON AND MADE ME SYMPATHIZE WITH NICK MORE. Truly did come off like “here’s Nick, here’s his flawless omnipowerful counterpart”.

The Judge descends from his pulpit to say he wants to stay in the town cuz it’s nice also he guesses he’s not actually a judge anymore. the town will no longer be a twisted psychological experiment yay everyone’s happy. Except all the severe trauma everyone underwent and the fact a dude literally killed himself over how fucked up this all was BUT STILL.

so Phoenix and Layton say goodbye to this weird fucking town and DANG EVE, LOOKIN HOT:

Of course, she’s always hot. I’ll have to post her concept art and different SUPER GOTH outfits.

Barnham is wearing a POLO SHIRT now which cracks me up he went from knight to prep hipster at the speed of light.

aw the credits scenes are so cute! I’ll have to post some of them. ESPECIALLY THE REALLY GAY ONE. Apparently Jean’s gender reveal did NOT deter mail lady’s crush on her after all. I’M GLAD.

Post credits Layton wonders what Nick is up to right now. I was gonna say “probs going at it with his boyfriend” and then the game CUTS TO PHOENIX VS MILES IN COURT AND CONFIRMS IT. Wow, Miles’ sprite looks rough. His voice is weird too. Like in DD they went with a British accent but it’s more like...rough sounding? which doesn’t fit? Anyway Prozd’s voice is the only English voice I can really except for Miles anyway. Like I really like that Prozd doesn’t give him a British accent against all logic but does a really stuck up “mid-atlantic” accent because “he’s not British but he wants to be”. I mean. That just nails it.

ANYWAY miles is berating Phoenix “STILL TIRED FROM YOUR HOLIDAY” he seems mad Phoenix left. Him being pissy every time is happens contributes to my headcanon Phoenix likes to leave on random trips without telling Miles as subconcious revenge for the whole “VANISHED FOR SEVERAL MONTHS AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD” deal.

“I’ll admit I sort of missed hearing your annoying ‘spell’ (OBJECTION)” YOU MISSED HIM IN GENERAL MILES. 

THE END.

Well that was weird. The plot was...super out there and flimsy. But it was a lot of fun, Maya was great, Espella and Eve are MAXIMUM GIRLFRIENDS and also good in general, as were some of the minor characters. I’m glad I played it. NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE SPECIAL EPISODES. Or will be whenever I can connect my 3ds to the internet. 

I’ll post cute credit scenes, cool concept art, cute puzzle art from the game in a collection for another post. Look forward to it!

[miximax-hell]

Hello, everyone! It hasn’t been long at all since my last post! ...For once!

While I looked for that Tetsukado sketch from last time, I happened to come across some (albeit by no means all, because there were many) of the sketches I made before I came up with HiroGeo’s final design. Given how different they are from each other and from the final design, I thought it might be interesting to bring those to my blog as well. I have no shame in showing how bad I am because it’s no secret, anyway.

As you can see, the first three sketches have been quickly lined in SAI. That’s because the paper sheets I originally drew on were SUPER dirty and it was tough to even distinguish actual lines from previously erased lines and whatnot. Truly a mess, but that’s why they’re doodles and not actual drawings, I guess.

Anyway, I love Hiroto and I felt he deserved some more love--especially because his miximax got many more notes than average, so people must’ve liked it... to an extent. Therefore, let’s talk a bit more about him!

As usual, you can find more information about HiroGeo under the cut.

Now that we’ve made it through the cut, uh, what’ve you guys been up to? After many, many years, I finally beat Final Fantasy VIII the other day. What an amazing game! It had the nostalgia factor going for it, since I first played it when I was rather young, but I never got past a certain point in the middle of disc 2, so it was still full of surprises. A very healthy combo. Kind of like Harry Potter 8, which I’m reading right now, btw.

And, since I was at it, I started playing EarthBound and Broken Sword 5 too. EarthBound hasn’t quite... picked up the pace yet, but I sure am enjoying BS5! It truly reminds me of the first and wonderful installments before Broken Sword 3 ruined everything. Oh well. We can consider that a bad nightmare, I suppose. A very bad one.

Oh, and since I mentioned it in my last update a few months ago, I got the True Pacifist Ending in Undertale. What an incredibly lovely game. I can’t bring myself to go for the killing spree necessary to get the other ending just yet. Incidentally, I completed Layton 2 and beat Tomb Raider, Pokémon Sun and Hatoful Boyfriend while I was still in America. I’m surprised I got so much done even though I was so busy...

Okay, moving on! Since I talked about HiroGeo’s design in depth last time, I can’t resort to the easy solution now. And, for the sake of being sincere, I’ll admit that HiroGeo isn’t a miximax I have thought much about beyond the designing process. Funny, because Hiroto and Geo are both very dear to me, but I guess the design was way too exhausting as it was and I didn’t feel like putting any more effort into it. Whoopsie. ww So, as of now, I only have some ideas regarding his Keshin and... that’s it. I don’t even know much about his powers at this point.

So you might be thinking, “Wait a minute, you stupid idiot!” Yes, you all insult me in my mind. I blame my well-disguised low self-esteem. “If you don’t even know what powers Hiroto would get from Geo, why the hell did you put them together?” Well, that’s exactly what I’ll try to explain today.

Even though 99% of my friends, acquaintances and relatives aren’t aware of this, before Inazuma sucked me into an obsessive vortex for years and years, I was actually a Mega Man Star Force nerd. It was (and is) one of my favourite games, and the one I was into at the time. In other words, it was my last obsession before Inazuma hit me in the face with a flaming ball. As such, I really, really wanted Star Force (from now on, SF) to be part of this project from the very beginning. I didn’t know whom I wanted, but I needed that franchise to be represented here somehow.

As such, much like I have done with other franchises (with more or less success), I started looking for a good aura and a good vessel. While I considered that little shit called Solo/Rogue, I’m not one of those people who enjoy that kind of “I’m evil, but everyone will be obsessed with me” trope. In fact, it usually irks me quiiite a bit. I’m not one to usually like evil guys, sadly. ww

So, really, my only good options were Geo/Mega Man or Sonia/Harp Note. And I’m sure those who’ve played SF will be pissed because I didn’t choose Harp Note and I went with the “easy” choice (and, in fact, it bothered me too, because she’s great), but stay with me, please. There is a bit more to it than meets the eye.

The reason why I chose Mega Man over Harp Note wasn’t a matter of whom I prefered or whom I thought would bring better/more useful powers to the mix. It was because I randomly saw how well Mega Man and Hiroto worked together. I simply didn’t find a match nearly as good for Harp Note.

Hiroto and Geo share a lot. The obvious link, which I have mentioned before, is that they share a theme, and that’s something I love. Both Hiroto and Geo are related/linked to space. Hiroto, being a fake alien and having meteorite-related hissatsus, has an obvious connection to it. Geo is constantly looking at the stars and has a passion for astronomy, goes to space in many occasions as Mega Man, the name of his series is Star Force and even his dad is an astronaut. Which, by the way, leads to the next link.

Even though they are very different, both Geo and Hiroto have *+*+*daddy issues*+*+*. We all know about Hiroto’s: he’s an orphan, his loving adoptive father turned into a monster that forced him to fight, said father ended up in jail... Quite the rollercoaster. Now, Geo has his fair share of those issues too. While not always a main theme in the series, Geo’s lurking objective is to bring his father back home, since he’s been stranded in space... if I remember correctly. Said father has been missing for a loong time, leaving Geo alone as he learnt of his new powers, causing him a heavy depression that kept him from going to school, etc.

They both know what it is to miss a father and to want to save him. They were both very affected when the close relationships they shared with their fathers suddenly changed, so I believe they’d have a lot in common and to talk about. And, well, I find it important to talk about uncomfortable subjects if you are trying to improve your relationship with someone. It brings you two closer, and that’s very important in a case like this.

If sharing a theme and daddy issues wasn’t enough, both Hiroto and Geo are shown to be rather intelligent and good with machines. They are both strong-willed and ready to fight for the “greater good” even when they don’t want to, and they both inherited something very important from their dads: Geo got some weird goggles and Hiroto got... a full successful company. (Hiroto wins this time, I’m afraid. Sorry, Geo bby.)

What makes this extra interesting, however, is how Geo evolves. Hiroto is shown to be mature, intelligent, cold and thoughtful. A reliable, serious person. Almost a big brother to those who know it. However, while Geo starts off cold and in a similar (although by no means same) vein, as he matures and manages to open up to others again, he actually becomes much more laid back, suddenly talking about food and naps and whatnot. Meanwhile, Hiroto’s premature maturity (no pun intended) takes him in the complete opposite direction. I think this is worth exploring as a concept. With Geo’s influence, Hiroto wouldn’t be reverting to a more childish version of himself, because Geo’s attitude doesn’t come from him being childish, but from maturing into a more relaxed and presumably happier person. Hiroto would simply have the opportunity to see life with those same mature eyes, but in a much calmer way. In a sense, it’d give him the chance to “take a break,” if you all know what I mean. To move on from the pain that, show it or not, he holds in his heart. In a franchise like Inazuma, where maturing has constantly meant becoming more serious and angry and powerful, maturing into someone happier would be a refreshing change, I think. Refreshing and much needed.

So, yeah. As I said, I really don’t know much about how Geo’s powers will affect Hiroto’s abilities, but I’ll figure something out. The reasons alone were so good and unavoidable that I’m sure pieces will fall into place on their own as soon as I start thinking about this subject properly. And, as the guy running this stupid blog, trust me when I say that that’s what really turns a normal miximax into a true perfect match.

A match made, rather than in heaven, in the stars.

[askaceattorney]

Dear Decoy13,

There’s actually only two of us! This is Modthorne. And thank you so much for the praise! It’s really difficult running a giant blog like this, much less with two people and so many responses. We might run into each other if we’re not careful and respond to something twice, or something else. But we do try our hardest.

Co-Mod here, and I’d just like to add one thing: at the time you sent this letter, there was only one moderator (the Mod), but he’s since taken on the two of us, and there’s a chance he’ll still answer a few letters every now and then.  He deserves a lot of credit.

Dear Crazyarielxd,

You’re welcome, and thank you for writing letters to help keep the blog going!

I think that Kristoph and Dahlia had a few similar behavior issues -- being two-faced, selfish, unfeeling, etc. -- but when it comes to mental conditions, I’d say Kristoph was far worse off.  In fact, I’d say Capcom tried to make him look like a disturbed man from the very beginning.  When we first see him, he looks like a calm, intelligent, well-mannered person (he even has a nickname reflecting this):

But in reality, all it takes to disrupt his peaceful visage is for someone to question his character:

This also seems like the best explanation for why the opportunity to become a hero was, ironically, what turned him into a villain.  I can understand someone being bitter about not being chosen for something as important as defending a famous magician, but when they start plotting the demise of the person who was chosen and the one who chose them, I feel like there has to be more than bitterness behind it -- especially considering it wasn’t his first time constructing a murder plot.

As for Dahlia, I share pretty much the same opinion as the Mod about her mental state -- she knew what she was doing, and just didn’t care.  If I did think her behavior had to do with a mental disorder, I’d probably hate her a lot less.  From what I saw, greed and arrogance seemed to be the only motivations behind her actions.

By the way, I hope you weren’t expecting to see any pictures of her.  Sorry, but I’m about half sick of seeing those.

But Manfred von Karma’s behavior is even more confusing to me.  “Earn me a penalty, will you, Gregory?  Well, then I’ll just murder you, steal your son, and raise him to be a ruthless prosecutor like me before having him framed for murder!  >Optional evil laughter<”  Besides the fact that the motive for his crimes makes him sound like a 65-year-old child, his decision to hold a grudge for so long ended up causing even worse problems for both of his proteges.  It makes sense in Edgeworth’s case, since he never cared about him in the first place, but why would he let his own daughter suffer for it?  That showed some serious stubbornness on his part.

Since we don’t get much of a backstory for him, I can only assume that he was either taught at an early age that winning cases is the only important goal a prosecutor should have, or he actually cared about justice at some point, but as he kept winning case after case, he let it all go to his head and started only caring about winning.  Either way, pride seemed to be the only thing driving him.

And finally, Damon Gant’s motives seemed like a mixture of pride and obsession to me.  He knew he was headed for a higher position in the police force, and when he found three unconscious people in his office, he saw it as an opportunity to gain even more power.  I do find it strange that he never did anything so extreme before that, which makes me wonder if Capcom just wanted to make him a villain for the sake of thickening the plot.  He himself even admitted that he’s better suited for solving crimes than committing them.

I’ve already started seeing a few letters dealing with touchy subjects, and so far there haven’t been any that made me too uncomfortable.  There was even one that I was very glad to answer, because it was about something I relate to strongly.  Honestly, as long a letter follows the blog’s rules and doesn’t involve something that one of us sees as too offensive or sensitive to be shared online, we’ll do our best to give it an answer.  Just keep in mind that neither of us are the ruling authority on topics regarding ethics, psychology, religion, politics, ladders, etc., so we can’t guarantee a satisfactory response.  We’ll do our best, though!

(Previous Letter)

Uhhhhh... It’s too bad it’s come back to haunt me the MINUTE I return, ain’t it? I’m, er, gonna have to bite the bullet on this one. Heh heh...

Dear Yessiee!!!!,

(So he can pull himself together when he wants to!)

It’s true that presenting us with different version of the same puzzles could be seen as laziness on the developers’ part, but I’d say it was worth it to see Ms. Belduke’s attempt at a puzzle-solving pose.

I finally reached the end of Layton Brothers yesterday (relative to when I’m typing this), and I think it was a pretty fun game overall.  The soundtrack was incredibly engaging (which is often what keeps me coming back to a game), and the carefully-crafted story lines reminded me a lot of the ones found in Ace Attorney -- way more condensed in this case, but still very similar.

My favorite character by far was none other than the cute but courageous Lucy Baker.  Her charming optimism and adventurous attitude made her almost like a British Maya Fey in my mind.

“Let’s get going, Prof!  Out in t’ wild!”

I know she didn’t actually say that, but that’s the message she conveyed to me at nearly every part of the game.  Alfendi became a poor, tired Phoenix there for a moment.  Speaking of Al, I wasn’t sure how to feel the first time I met “Potty Prof,” but he sure made the story more intriguing.  I kept wondering what he was going to do next, and that made him all the more interesting to watch.

I won’t say who my least favorite was to avoid any spoilers, but when a woman decides to get a new boyfriend days after her husband’s death, it’s hard for me not to at least cringe a little.  Oddly enough, there was also a young lady who greatly reminded me of Ms. Hawthorne, but I found it hard to hate her quite as much for some reason.  Strange, isn’t it?

Speaking of that character, my favorite case was probably Case 7, where she trapped Lucy in a room and made her solve a case that happened years ago before she’d let her out, without giving kind of explanation for it until the end.  I liked all of the cases pretty well, but that one did a good job of building up the mystery.

The gameplay wasn’t that impressive to me, though.  I’m okay with having no penalties for guessing the wrong answer, but why does the game constantly tell you to investigate things you’ve already investigated?  That just seemed like a pointless way to further the story, in my opinion.

I don’t think I’d put this game above an Ace Attorney game in terms of overall fun to be had, but I did have some good fun watching it, and it’s definitely whetted my appetite for the Professor Layton games.  And I pretty much gave up trying to guess who the culprit after Case 3, which did indeed confuse the heck out of me, but I at least got most of the questions right.

Have a good day yourself, and I hope you got the reference at the beginning there.

-The Modthorne and Co-Mod

[quibbs126]

You know, I always feel limited in what I can say about Cookie Run, mostly just because I never feel like I know enough about the world and characters

Like, I’ve been in this fandom for about 7 months, now beating out the Layton fandom in how long I’ve been here, but even now I still feel like a beginner in what I know. And even if I think I know a character or bit of the world, enough to make some sort of post, I feel like there will be someone telling me that I’m wrong in interpreting the character. I don’t recall if that’s actually happened to me in recent time (other than the Golden Cheese Kingdom confusion I had), but I always feel like that will happen

I mean granted, I think part of it is that I just really don’t know. I’m fully aware that there are story cutscenes for both Ovenbreak and Kingdom that explain the lore of characters, and that I can just watch them in YouTube (or in Kingdom’s case, on the game itself), but for some reason, I just choose not to. Granted, I think part of it has to do with the way I usually consume stuff about things I play

Generally, if it’s something I don’t think I will ever play, I’ll just watch people talk about it or watch them play it so I can experience it to some degree. However if I do end up getting the game, I tend to stay away from things discussing it because I don’t want my experience to be ruined or something, despite me usually already knowing things about it. And still wanting to consume fan content about it on here. I’m not really sure how my flawed internal logic works

Anyways, I think in this instance, it might be a case of my brain wanting to experience things for itself, but we’ve gotten to the point where I’ve experienced almost all content that is currently available for me to experience, so that point should be moot, but my brain’s still operating on that “don’t spoil things” mentality, so I just won’t do it. This is kind of my first experience with a game with an ongoing story, as I usually play console games that already have a complete story once I get it, so I think that might be part of the reason wires aren’t connecting like they should

Though to be honest, that’s probably only half of it. The other half is that I just can’t be bothered to, despite me knowing it won’t take much effort. But that’s been a problem that’s been going on and increasing throughout this amount of time, unrelated to Cookie Run, so that’s a topic for another day

Though if I can give some sort of defense, there’s 200+ characters in these games. I can’t be expected to know everything. Even if I usually only talk about a handful, meaning this point is probably not as relevant as I think

But also probably a part of why I’m hesitant is that I see people talking about how other people just have bad takes on characters, and I’m afraid I’ll end up in that category. I can fully admit, I’m not very good at understanding nuance, I kind of just take things at face value, only rarely seeing deeper meaning and needing others to explain it to me, and I feel like an understanding of nuance is needed to understand some of these characters, which is something I lack

Also I have a problem of being a bit too sensitive and not wanting people to dislike me. And the fact I’m very indecisive and will change my opinions, usually if someone gives a different take that makes more sense to me. That’s usually why in my posts I put a lot of “probablies” and “I thinks” and “I dunno”, since I never want to be too confident in my ground. But again, personal issues

But yeah, I feel like in general, I’m never confident in posting concrete opinions on characters or some sort of take on a character in this franchise. And I mostly bring this up because I remember that I had some level of confidence in talking about the Layton games. But also there, I feel like the characters, story and world were much easier to get a grasp on, you just need to watch the cutscenes for the games and probably the movie. And the anime if you want to, but that’s at the current end of the timeline, way after the mainline games, so you don’t have to. Also, not nearly as many characters. All around it’s just easier to understand. Also frankly, the fandom was smaller and felt just generally more relaxed