#I’m still extremely hype about the various meta posts I have planned!

[starbuck]

I can’t believe I started this rewatch in November. N O V E M B E R.....

And I’m not even done s3...

[eggoreviews]

Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC Rate Their Chances #1

Hi! This is a new thingy I’m trying based on the RTC series by Smash youtuber Billybo10k where I’m gonna take 5 characters, weigh up whether or not they’d potentially make into Smash as DLC and then give them a chance and a want score out of 100. Hoping to make this a regular thing so if you’re reading this and want me to rate a character, drop me a comment!

The characters I’ll be rating in this post are:

Geno (Super Mario RPG)

Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

Bandana Waddle Dee (Kirby series)

Rex (Xenoblade Chronicles 2)

Rayman (Rayman series)

Hope u enjoy!

Geno

Okay so, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months (or depending how long you’ve been into Smash, the past 12 years or so), you probably know all about Geno by now. Geno is a character who gained an unprecedented amount of fan support after only appearing and having a major role in one game that was made over 20 years ago, Super Mario RPG.

In terms of his moveset, Geno, as far as I’m aware, is a puppet who ended up harnessing the power of a star. His main sort of ‘thing’ in his home game is the gun on the end of his hand, so Geno would likely end up being similar to Mega Man in some regards, though obviously not with the powers Mega Man uses from the various bosses in his home series.

And I won’t beat around the bush. Geno has a very, very good shot of making it in. For lots of reasons. First off, we’re now aware that the Smash ballot from Smash 4′s DLC had a direct influence on the newcomers for this game, with the likes of Ridley and King K. Rool, both major fan requests, joining the roster. There is no doubt in my mind that Geno did extremely well on the ballot and, on top of this, Sakurai has actively tried to negotiate Geno into the game before back in Brawl, but Square Enix (the current owners of Geno, considering they were the developers of Super Mario RPG) were unwilling to play ball. But now? We have CLOUD from Final Fantasy in Smash, not to mention Geno’s mii costume from Smash 4, who was the only mii costume to get his own splash screen. Sakurai knows how much people want Geno.

The only potential sticking points for Geno I can see are more on Square’s end than Nintendo’s. Geno’s inclusion all hinges on whether or not Square is going to want to hand over the rights to a dead character. That is, Square Enix could be so unwilling to hand over Geno because they want to include more marketable characters that still have relevance. For example, Sora, as Kingdom Hearts III is just around the corner. And if Ultimate is all about the most requested characters making the cut, why wasn’t Geno in the base roster? Not saying this drops his chances hugely, it’s just a thing to note, as it’s not as if Geno had the problem other characters such as Spring Man had where they came into existence too late to be considered.

With all of this in mind, I’m going to give Geno a 65% chance of making it into DLC. All of the factors in Geno’s favour, as well as credible leaker Vergeben repeatedly mentioning a new Square Enix rep, put Geno in a very good position. But hey, nothing’s certain. And Sakurai has confirmed on Twitter that Nintendo made the selections for this game’s DLC line-up, so it’s really down to both Nintendo and Square whether or not they’d want to include a character that isn’t marketable to people outside of the core Smash fanbase.  But as for a want score, I’m going to give Geno a 35%. Nothing against this wooden boi, I’d just rather see Sora or a Dragon Quest character make it over Geno in terms of Square reps. Plus, I have no real attachment to the character.

Sora

Now onto the other Square Enix rep in this post, as well as my third most wanted character, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, the big strange crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy. Is he a good fit for Smash? Well, he’s got his huge freakin keyblade and a whole host of spells he could utilise in his moveset, so the answer is very easily a yes. And the thing is that Sora has one big leg up over Geno in terms of chances; relevancy. But I suppose it all depends on what is being taken into consideration when characters are chosen for DLC. For the base roster, it seemed to be all about fan demand, specifically drawing popular picks from the Smash ballot. But now that Nintendo as a whole is choosing who joins the fight, I’d say we’re much more likely to get marketable characters such as Sora (Basically what I’m saying here is, don’t expect another character like Piranha Plant. As much as I love Piranha Plant). And in terms of Nintendo history, Sora’s home series has made its way onto several of Nintendo’s handhelds over the years in the form of spin-off titles.

Sora, like every character, has a couple of hurdles though. The moveset potential, the Nintendo history and the fan demand are all there, but at the end of the day, it’s all down to whether or not Disney want to play ball. Because, contrary to what some people are saying, Sora is in fact owned by Disney and not Square Enix, as Disney hold the rights to all Kingdom Hearts characters that are original to the series. While Disney are notoriously stingy when it comes to their properties, I have little doubt that they would hand over Sora if it benefited them directly. Right now, we know that Kingdom Hearts III is not scheduled to appear on the Switch, but with a sort of ‘Switch Pro’ rumoured to be around the corner, KH3 could feasibly be ported over. And with Sora being exclusively a video game character, they really aren’t going to be saving him for anything else, are they?

For me, there’s a hell of a lot of factors going either way for Sora for me to be convinced either way, as Sora is a very difficult character to speculate on when Disney is involved. But he has a good chance. Right now, with things as they stand, I’m going to give Sora a 50% chance of appearing in DLC. It honestly could go either way. But as my third most wanted character, Sora gets a 95% want score. Kingdom Hearts made up a lot of my childhood and I’d love to see him included.

Bandana Waddle Dee

The bias is alive and well in this post as we take a look at our third character, and my second most wanted character, Bandana Waddle Dee from the Kirby series. At first glance, Bandana Dee could be dismissed as a weird side character or generic ‘mook’ character that has no place in Smash among the other iconic characters in the series. But this is very, very wrong. Bandana Dee has cemented himself in the Kirby series as the fundamental player 4 in the series, making regular appearances as the fourth protagonist of most of the modern Kirby games, most recently appearing as one of the three main dream friends in Kirby Star Allies alongside King Dedede and Meta Knight. And boy, does he have a lot of fan support. In Japan especially, Bandana Dee has an INSANE amount of support and this undoubtedly would’ve shown up on the ballot. And I have no doubt that Sakurai would be able to create a moveset for this perfect boi, especially considering we’ve never had a spear user in Smash before.

However, Bandana Dee’s issues come with what Nintendo’s priorities are in this latest cycle of DLC. We aren’t sure on what goes into consideration when picking these characters but my best guess, as I have stated above, is how marketable the character is, not just to the hardcore Smash fans, but to the casual players as well. Nintendo are likely going to be looking at what characters are most likely to sell as DLC, as well as what characters are going to promote their other titles. And I’m not entirely sure Bandana Dee fits this. Sure, Kirby Star Allies recently was released and, if he came with a Star Allies stage (yes pls), this could be a good promotional push for that game and there’s no doubt that Bandana Dee would sell well as DLC considering how many people love him. But with a new Fire Emblem game coming next year, alongside other potential first party reps Nintendo could’ve prioritised, it could be that my poor lil Bandana boy fell by the wayside this time.

Overall, I’m giving Bandana Dee a 60% chance of appearing. I’m fairly confident in his chances, as he’s a well-loved first party rep with a unique moveset potential and unquestionable marketability (I mean come on, tell me you wouldn’t buy him). But it’s all down to what Nintendo wants to promote in this cycle of DLC and whether they’ll want to keep their focus on upcoming titles or try and sell more of preexisting ones. But my want score for Bandana Dee is honestly a 100%. I love Bandana Dee and his design so, so much and I really want to see the Kirby set completed. Pls let it happen Nintnondo.

Rex

Rex is the main protagonist of the recent and extremely popular Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The character has a lot of fan support, is from a relevant franchise and is a Nintendo owned series that they’re going to want to promote. So why don’t I think he’s getting in?

Let’s break it down. I can see Rex being an obvious choice for DLC, especially if Nintendo themselves are choosing who gets in this time, as first party reps with a good amount of relevancy are more likely to take precedence. But after this last Smash direct, his chances are slim to say the least. Sakurai stated during this direct’s reveal of Rex’s mii costume: ‘We decided which fighters to include when we started planning, so we couldn’t add characters from titles like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which was announced after planning had started. I hope this outfit will help you feel like you’re playing as Rex.’ So basically, I think this is an instant death sentence for Rex. Sakurai recognised how popular Rex was, so wanted to make sure the Xenoblade fans knew he wasn’t getting in so they wouldn’t be disappointed further down the line. And yet, I’ve still seen people all over the internet saying that Rex is a ‘guaranteed lock’ and he’s the most likely character n everything. And I don’t wanna kill these people’s hype but the proof is right there in that sentence. I feel like the people who are still predicting and asking for Rex didn’t see that part of the direct, or at least didn’t fully understand what Sakurai was saying. Rex isn’t getting in.

So with this in mind, Rex gets a 1% chance of appearing in DLC. While I’m confident he won’t be one of the 5 announced, the 1% is on the slim offchance we get a second season of DLC, which I don’t see happening either, as this cycle would bring us up to early 2020, which is almost exactly how long Smash 4′s DLC cycle lasted, as the game released 2014 and the last two DLC characters, Corrin and Bayonetta, were added in early 2016. On top of this, I’d say 5 more characters is plausibly our final roster for this game, considering Smash 4 had 7 DLC fighters and three of those were returning veterans. So yeah, I’m really not holding out hope for a season 2 and, in turn, Rex. But for a want score, Rex gets a 70%. Shulk is one of my mains and I love the look of the Xenoblade series, even though I haven’t gotten around to playing it yet. Rex is someone I’d like to see, though there’s another Xenoblade character I would much prefer that I’ll cover in a future post.

Rayman

And here we are, at my most wanted character, Rayman. With Rayman at the top of my want list, I have put a lot more research into him than I would other characters, but I promise I will avoid bias in my final rating. Lessgo.

Rayman is an iconic third party gaming mascot owned by Ubisoft. And bias aside, he has a hell of a lot going for him. His moveset basically writes itself, as he could utilise items and attacks from his various mainline games and, as much as I wouldn’t be too hot on this, the Rabbid spin-off games too. I have no doubt in my mind that Rayman would be a perfect fit for Smash and would blend in well among the other third party mascots in the game, as he has a notable Nintendo history considering the majority of his games have appeared on Nintendo consoles. On top of this, he’s been a fan request for some time. After the infamous ArtsyOmni leak during Smash 4′s development cycle that falsely revealed Rayman would be in the game, he surely would’ve received a huge boost in support that definitely would show up on the ballot. While this is just speculation on my part, I think it’s pretty safe speculation. But would Nintendo and Ubisoft be able to negotiate Rayman for the game? I think the answer is very easily a yes. Nintendo and Ubisoft were already working on Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle back in 2015, showing a partnership between the two companies that has continued all the way through Ultimate’s development cycle. As well as this, Nintendo recently lended Ubisoft one of their characters, Fox from Star Fox, to appear in the Switch edition of Starlink: Battle For Atlas. Nintendo lending characters like this isn’t exactly common and I think it’s extremely likely that Ubisoft will return the favour by lending one of their characters to a Nintendo IP. And where better to put him than Smash? As a final lil thing, the Rabbids have been included in Smash Ultimate as spirits, while Rayman himself appeared in Smash 4 as a trophy when he had no other content in the game. So Ubisoft already have a presence in Smash.

As for what’s standing in Rayman’s way, a lot of his hurdles can be very easily worked around. Some people have been citing Rayman’s recent inclusion into Brawlhalla as a reason why he won’t make it into Smash. But Ubisoft bought out the company that makes Brawlhalla, Blue Mammoth Games, making Brawlhalla their property. So of course they’re going to put their own character into their own game. And if Ryu can be in Marvel vs Capcom whilst also joining Smash 4 in DLC, Rayman can likely do the same. And it isn’t as if his inclusion would ‘sabotage’ Brawlhalla, as he likely wouldn’t even be announced until 2019, giving Ubisoft an ample amount of time to build hype for Brawlhalla. But now we know Nintendo are choosing who joins the fight in DLC this time around, is it likely that they’d have chosen Rayman? Honestly, it could go either way. We have no way of knowing if there will even be third party characters in DLC, though my best guess is that there will be, as I think Nintendo is well aware that characters like Rayman would sell extremely well. And like I’ve already stated, Nintendo and Ubisoft are on really good terms and Ubisoft have yet to lend a character to Nintendo in the same way that Nintendo lended Fox. So with this in mind, Rayman could very easily be one of the five characters negotiated.

I promised I’d keep my bias aside for my final rating, but without considering what I want, the amount of evidence for Rayman’s inclusion is compelling. However, nothing is certain and it’s just as likely that Rayman could’ve been skipped over altogether. We have no idea how these negotiations take place or what Nintendo is looking for in bringing new characters to the roster. But taking all of this into consideration, Rayman gets a 70% chance of joining the roster. I know that’s high, but I’m confident in this rating. He’s got everything lined up in his favour, so it all depends on how the chips fall. But as for a want score, Rayman of course gets a 100%. Nothing really matches Rayman in terms of wanted characters for me so here’s hoping he makes the cut.

Thanks so much for reading! As I said, if you’d like me to rate a character, go ahead and drop a suggestion in the comments and I’ll rate them in the next post that should go out within a week or so. I’ll also be logging each character that I rate in a lil spreadsheet that you can check out here to keep track of all the ratings or whatever. Stay hydrated my dudes.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

8x02: General Analysis

***Spoilers About for 8x02. Don’t Read until you’ve watched***

How did everyone like the episode? I thought it was great! Except that once again it cut off in the middle of the action and I was cursing. I need more! Grrh! 

First, let me revise what I said last week about the plot. I said they seemed to be going to three different places, which is still true, but I think It's all part of the same operation, not three different operations as I first thought. There's those at the Sanctuary (Aaron and co) who are just trying to keep all the people there and contained, Jesus/Tara/Morgan who are at the same satellite station from S6, which is in a different place than the Sanctuary. It's unclear why they are specifically attacking the satellite station, but it's obviously a three-pronged attack to make sure they take care of everything all at once. And then it seems Dwight told them that the "heavy artillery" is in that building Rick and Daryl are searching. But the guns don't seem to be there. I'll come back to that.  

I'm going to start by something said on The Talking Dead. I'll do a TTD post tomorrow because there was lots of good stuff in it this week, but I think this one comment is extremely relevant to understand the structure of the episode.  

They specifically asked Gimple what was up with the extreme closeups of each character at the beginning and ending of the episode. Gimple said it's because each of the characters it showed are going to go through a major arc. And while we did see them again at the end of the episode, those arcs definitely aren't over. Gimple confirmed we'd continue to see this motif as the system progresses. This is SUPER significant, especially where the 101 Days Without an Accident sign is concerned. But I'll come back to that. Promise.  

Aaron: 

Only two things to say about Aaron's arc here.  

1.    The obvious is that Eric was shot. Comic Book spoilers: Eric does die in the books during AOW. It’s possible they'll change it for the show (they do that sometimes) but I kind of doubt it. I think Eric's done. We'll have to wait and see. So this is going to be Aaron's major trial. 

2.    Major callbacks to 5x06, Consumed here. Aaron runs over three people with his car to try and save Eric. It LOOKED a whole lot like when Carol was hit in Consumed. Then, despite Aaron's efforts, Eric was shot anyway. Kinda like Beth? When it showed Aaron and Eric limping away, I was also reminded of Noah's limp in that episode, which was pronounced just before Carol was hit. Remember Daryl was helping him, which was why Carol walked out of the building alone.  

Not sure what to make of that, yet. Interested to see where it goes.  

Jesus and Tara: 

They're at the satellite station, and arguing over whether to let various saviors live or not. I actually think their tactical plan for going into the satellite station was super-cool. They had to spread out and enter three (I think; there were lots of 3s in this episode) doors at once. It was well-thought-out and coordinated. I only have two other notes for this arc: 

1.    They talked of Denise quite a bit. Just a callback and of course she had lots of parallels to Beth. 

2.    Dean. The guy in the closet who lied and tried to kill Jesus was named Dean. Remember this in 7x13? 

I tried to figure out why Dean was used both times. The only thing I can think of is that there was deception both times. In front of Dean's hardware was where Richard hid the melon and lied about it. It got Benjamin killed. Here, Dean lies about who he is and it nearly gets Jesus killed. Any other insights? 

Carol and Ezekiel: 

Their big thing for this episode was to track the Savior that got away. It's still unclear what exactly is going on here, but what we have so far is that Carol, Ezekiel and co went to the place that has the research building in it. They were trying to take out the dude stationed there so he couldn't warn the Saviors that they were coming from that way. He threw an explosive at them, which let out a horde of walkers, and ran away. This whole episode they track him while Carol and Ezekiel talk about Ezekiel's confident attitude.  

1.    They use an orange golf ball to mark their way, pointing the T in the way they went so that those who come after them can follow. I totally didn't realize it was a golf ball when I first watched it, but obvious callback to Still and the golf club. You could interpret that two ways. A) Beth. Obviously. B) Once again, Carzekiel paralleled with Bethyl = romance.  

2.    They come across a strange walker that suggests a mystery the writers haven't revealed to us yet. Jerry axes the walker and Ezekiel says, "what befell this creature?" I couldn't tell for sure but it looked like it had been burnt with bleach or acid. Carol said they didn't have time to figure it out, but obviously they'll be coming back to that later.  

3.    I loved Ezekiel's attitude. I see a lot of people online who are annoyed with how he talks, saying it's "over-the-top." And okay, it kind of is, but I love it. It feels over-the-top to us because we're sitting in our living rooms, watching TV. But his way of speaking gets his people all hyped up and keeps them positive. I think it's super-effective.

4.    Let's not overlook the fact that Ezekiel calls Carol, "Baby." "Fake it 'til you make it, Baby!" 

5.    And, you know, SHIVA!!! ;D 

 Morgan:  

Morgan's had some super-interesting TD stuff. Obviously Morgan is in a dark place, which we predicted after Benjamin's death last season.  

1.    He stared at the walkers behind the fence for WAY too long. That was kind of disturbing. Visually it looks a lot like when Gareth did this with the walkers in the school in 5a. That probably doesn’t bode well for Morgan.

2.    He kept having flashbacks to Rick's speech in the church in S6. I thought that was interesting, because Morgan himself is seeing it differently than before. At one point, he heard Rick say, "We can't leave them alive." Then Eastman's voice says, "Where there's life, there's possibility." Then Rick's voice says, "Of them hitting one of us!" And then Morgan almost kills Jared. It's like he's hearing the speech, but where before he saw it as flawed, now he's using it as a justification to kill everyone. (I gotta say, I wouldn't be sad if he took out douchebag uh Jared.) 

3.    He also tells Jesus, "We're supposed to," which is exactly what Rachel says to Cindy when she wants to shoot Tara and Cindy stops her. This is obviously a theme we're seeing. Not sure where it's going yet though.  

4.    Also, when Morgan steps into the light, it's painful for him. Another way to show what a dark place he's in.  

5.    This shot of Morgan walking away after waking up

reminded me of two others, both of which revolve around Beth. The first is Noah trapped under the shelf and Daryl walking away from him in Consumed. (We don’t get the exact same shot, but the setup is the same.) The second is in 5x09. It's Rick, Michonne and Noah running back to Ty after he was bitten. 

I don't know if these things are purposely paralleled or if someone just likes to do shots this way, but I’ve wondered before if this shot in 5x09 could have symbolized them leaving Beth behind. Given that Morgan just woke up after being left for dead, in my mind, this kind of proves that theory right.

6.    Finally, *drum roll please* DEATH FAKE OUT!!! Morgan, Freddy and Andy are all shot. They all go down together (rule of threes). But one of them survives. Notice how Morgan was left for dead, and even appeared dead for a time. Then his eyes suddenly open. Where have we seen THAT before? 

Andy and Freddy are interesting choices. I'm sad Andy died. Remember that Freddy was the dude in S6 who saw Abraham coming toward him and suddenly thought he saw his dead wife standing in front of him. Just kind of interesting.  

Morgan's in a dark place and I wonder if his arc that's begun here will resolve his PTSD for good, or perhaps lead to his death. He said, "I don't die," and so far, that much is true.  

Rick:  

Rick is looking for guns here, which he did a lot last season as well. I'll talk about that more in my titles meta.  

1.    It gives us a closeup of the note Dwight gave them, which is super interesting. The place they're in is SHEPHERD office plaza. It talks about guns being on the 4th floor, and then Rick and Daryl climb up an elevator shaft. You gonna tell me that having "Shepherd" and "elevator" on the same note is a coincidence. Yeah, really not. There are also tons of Xs on this note.  

2.    I also notice that RIck tells Daryl that if he finds the guns, he should go to the window and use the guns to help those in the courtyard right away. I'm not sure how far away this building is from the Sanctuary, but I was thinking that maybe Aaron's group is waiting for Rick and Daryl to find the guns and come help them. Not sure if I'm interpreting that right, but if that's the case, you can see that, without the guns (they don't seem to be there) this plan is gonna south super-fast now.  The other option may be that there are still guards in the courtyard that Rick and Daryl slipped by, but need to be taken out once they have the guns. That may be who Morales called.

3.    So we have Rick in the dark tunnel. I can't help but notice that the light is behind him. It's like he's walked out of the light and into the darkness of the tunnel. That's probably a foreshadow of his arc this season. Based on the red eyes in 8x01, he's probably heading for some emotional darkness, and the dark tunnel often has to do with death. Not good. 

4.    So just before trying to enter what turns out to be the baby's room, he peers into another room, and I'm really side-eyeing that room. The curtains are red and green, 

and it's a really happy room. Flowers on the bedspread, yellowish walls, candles.

Yeah, it could be the baby's father's room, but it feels pretty feminine to belong to a guy. Could be another child or a woman who's been staying there.  

5.    Rick fights the Savior who tries to keep him from entering the room. That man, it seems, is probably the baby's father. He tells Rick, "No guns." 

So here's the next question. We're dealing with one of three scenarios here.  

1. Dwight was telling the truth about guns being there, but Negan moved them before Rick and Daryl got there. I've been wondering if there will be a twist where Negan knew they were coming and has something up his sleeve and theeeve and they'll find themselves trapped. That could be. It would also suggest Negan is on to Dwight, which wouldn't bode well for him. But why would Negan leave two guys and a baby on the 4th floor if he knew Rick and Daryl were coming? Not sure this option rings true for me. 

2. Dwight lied about the guns. That would definitely be bad for TF, and a departure from Dwight in the comics. I actually could see that because, unlike the comics, I think they'll eventually kill Dwight, and they're really not making Daryl look for reasons to make good on his promise to kill him. Then again, we don't see any particular reason for Dwight to lie. He told them he wanted Negan gone and seemed sincere. Again, unless there's something that's happened (like Negan found Sherry or something) and they haven't told us yet, I don't see this being the case either. Though it's a possibility. 

3. I think the third option is the most intriguing. Maybe Dwight didn't lie about the guns. He truly thinks they're up there. But they aren't. That would suggest Negan is lying to even the other Saviors (including Dwight who's one of his most trusted) about what's in this building. I mean, what's he hiding up there that he would hide from his own people? 

The first thing that came to mind (all Beth theories aside) is that maybe this is Negan's baby. Maybe one of his wives got pregnant and this is his daughter. Still not sure why he would hide her this way, or what the hell Morales has to do with it. But it opens up some interesting possibilities.  

6. Key theory. At one point, Mara tells Todd to lock all the stairwells. Then, when Rick and Daryl try to use the stairs to explore the upper floors, they're locked. We just see Daryl trying to kick in the door and a clear shot of the lock. 

The next thing we see is them climbing up the elevator shaft. We must assume they couldn't get the door to the stairs open. They didn't have the key. This theme is continued because Rick didn't get into the baby's room until he took the key off the Savior. Just kind of interesting. 

7. Gracie, has a TON of interesting symbols around her. There's her name, which has religious connotations. "Grace of God." Then there's the mobile over her bed. I'm seeing a dog and a frog, both Beth symbols. And there's a stuffed rabbit in the crib beside her. 

That is part of the theme we've seen around Beth. We've seen baby rabbits/bunnies and baby carrots. Remember when Rick found a jar of baby carrots on one of the wolves while in the RV in 6x03 (you know, the beginning of Glenn's fake death?) I feel like we might be seeing the fulfilment of that symbolism here. 

7. Rick also sees a mirror. We could relate that to the mirror theory, but I also think it's a matter of looking at himself in the mirror and not liking what he sees, which will probably affect his mindset moving forward. I mean, he can't help but compare himself to this dude he just killed. He just offed a father trying to protect a daughter that simply MUST remind him of Judith. That's gonna be hard for him to deal with. 

8. Annd Morales! Check out MY POST FROM YESTERDAY about why Morales is great for TD. Other things I noted: We see a fishing pole and fishing nets in his room. And yes, the obvious reference is to Oceanside.

I also wonder if it’s another callback to S1. Remember in episode 1x02, Amy and Andrea (2 sisters, one of whom is the origin of Beth's scars) in a boat talking. I wonder if Gimple relied on that to build Beth's Oceanside arc at all. 

Directly after that, in Tell it to the Frogs, Rick and Daryl first meet. Morales plays a role in that first meeting. He's the one who "warns" Rick that Merle has a brother who won't be happy they left Merle behind. We have a lot of interesting elements coming into play here. Two sisters on a boat on the water, the episode where Morales kind of facilitates Rick and Daryl's first meeting, and Merle, who was left behind (which Daryl kind of went ape shit about) and presumed dead, but popped up alive and well several seasons later. Meanwhile, we now have Rick, Daryl, and Morales in the same building, with all these interesting Beth symbols hanging out around them. 

9. Finally, there's also a mirror in Morales' room. A lot of people are wondering why they brought Morales back as a bad guy. We don't know why in the plot; what he's been through that's led to him being a savior. But Gimple did hint at the arc in TTD. He said Rick isn't who he was in S1, and neither is Morales. I think they may be setting up a situation where Rick doesn't like what he sees in the mirror, and he'll see that Morales has become twisted and evil because of his experiences, and Rick doesn't want to end up like him. Remember that in the flash forward in 8x01, he said the line Siddiq said to Carl, "My mercy overcame my wrath." And that doesn't seem to be the case with Morales, so far as we've seen in this episode. 

Daryl's arc: 

Like Rick he climbed up an elevator shaft and the key thing was around him. 

1. @thegloriouscollectorlady also told me something interesting. She said she'd just re-watched Clear because we'd been discussing where Morgan's story line might be going this season. In this episode, Daryl mentioned that it made sense for them to keep the guns on the top floor because it was "Higher ground" and that's where he'd keep them. There's a LOT of talk in Clear and on Morgan's walls about "higher ground." Didn't TD always say those walls would reflect Beth's arc? We're really seeing all of this come together now. 

2. The other thing we saw with Daryl was him find what was obviously a cell used for someone else. The dog food was obviously a callback to his time at the Sanctuary and I’m sure reminded him of being a prisoner there. But here's the super-interesting thing. Daryl was never handcuffed in his cell at the Sanctuary. Here we have handcuffs attached to a bar and blood on them. That's a MAJOR callback to Merle in S1, not only being left behind, but cutting off his hand to escape. And once again, Merle disappeared when Daryl went back for him and showed up several seasons later. So we have all the stuff with Rick and Morales I mentioned earlier, and Daryl meanwhile getting reminders of Merle. Can't help but wonder who was actually being kept in that cell. Hmm. 

The other thing is that whoever was in those cuffs obvious got out of them. There’s blood, which suggests escape. The food left there may suggest it was sudden. There’s not a hand lying on the floor as there was with Merle, so it’s safe to assume the hand wasn’t cut off, but maybe just pulling the hand out of the cuffs drew blood. Either way, someone was left in those cuffs but improvised and managed to escape. Just like Merle.

So maybe Merle is alive and will show up any time. Hehe. Or maybe someone else who’s been heavily paralleled with him will. ;D

Other than that, not much happened with Daryl. He's one of the characters with the closeups, so he's entering a major arc or trial, as Gimple said. I just don't think we saw much of it here. The promos for next week do make it seem like that will be a Daryl-heavy episode. And remember that there was an 8 and a 3 behind him in the trunk in Still.

This is getting long, so I'll talk details and theme tomorrow. The day after that I'll do my TTD post. 

Let me close by saying this: I've had a lot of people express worry over the past few days who read spoilers and knew Morales was returning. They thought the 101 Days without an accident sign was significant for this episode and would mean something for Beth. Now it may not seem that way on the surface, but I think the meaning is there if you look. 

Gimple said the characters with the closeups would all "go through something" by the end of this. But these closeups didn't appear in episode 1. They appeared here. This is the beginning of those arcs. The 30 Days Without an Accident sign was seen in 4x01 which was the beginning of Beth's arc. Both were the beginning of something big and the fact that we can tie it back to Beth makes me think it's the beginning of events that will lead to Beth. 

It's very subtle, but then I think sometimes Gimple is subtler than even we give him credit for. So that's what I got for today. What did everyone else think?

[ashen-star-mage]

My Favorite Fandoms and Why

I’m a huge nerd. Hopefully that’s clear for anyone who follows my blog or posts. So naturally I like a lot of fandoms, but there are a number that I really really like and some I’ve followed since childhood. 

Pokemon

A fandom I’ve followed since childhood. I was part of the original Pokemon generation who were kids when the first games (red, blue and yellow) came out. I love how even in the beginning there was no end of things to do in Pokemon. Bored with your team? There’s 151 of them and more on the way. Then you could battle and min-max your team to your heart’s content, and way back in the day you could even gamble in Pokemon games. I love the art style of Pokemon and the beloved creatures that are way too easy to get attached to. It’s like to the point where when someone (I’m not naming names) KOs your favorite Pokemon and then it’s time for some serious payback. We’re talking Hyper Beam on a 10% health Pokemon payback. Modern games have given us even more to do in games. If battling isn’t your thing, you can breed them for cool moves and other things (and potentially become a twisted Pokemon eugenicist). You can hunt for oddly colored Pokemon (shinies), something I never had the patience for. You can participate in Pokemon contests, and bond with your team by feeding or petting them. Pokemon designs are really diverse too, from ‘normal’ animals to plants to the gods themselves. Gods that can be caught and battled by ten year olds for some reason. Also it needs saying that for some reason teenage boys (and perhaps girls too) detest Pokemon because it’s not cool. What’s cool for teenage boys? Skateboards and saying ‘radical’ all the time? Ninja Turtles reference by the way. I was definitely in the minority liking Pokemon in my teenage years, but when I got to college, suddenly it was cool again and everyone was allowed to like it just like when I was a kid. Pretty awesome right? I’m really hyped for Sword and Shield, just like I’ve been hyped for every new main series game. 

Star Wars

Another fandom I’ve followed since childhood. While Pokemon took us to a land of wonderful creatures of all stripes, Star Wars takes us to that galaxy a long time a go and far far away where there are adventures, cool ships, and magic space wizards. In my opinion, Star Wars introduced the world to some of the coolest and most iconic ships. Like the wedge-shaped Star Destroyers that struck terror into all who saw them, or the Millennium Falcon, the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy. And who could forget the characters. Definitely a diverse cast in terms of archetypes, Luke the naive and idealist farmboy, Leia the tough no-nonsense princess, Han Solo the lovable rogue, Darth Vader one of the most feared men in the Empire and an extremely iconic villain. The list goes on. Even if the galaxy is almost always at war, be it the clone wars, galactic civil war, or other conflicts, it was somewhere I always wanted to go some day. Meet the characters, try not to get force-choked, fly a ship through hyperspace. Star Wars may have started as three very well-done movies, but it has turned into an incredible multimedia franchise. The Legends series (formerly expanded universe) really fleshed out the galaxy and lore beyond what the movies did and so did the prequels. Say what you will, but they had some really good aspects to them. Then there are the games like my favorite of all time, Empire At War, game that would transport you into that galaxy far far away for a few hours at a time and let you blow up stormtroopers or rebel scum to your hearts content. Or clones or clankers (battle droids) if you prefer that. The fans have definitely done their part too, like the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion, two incredible professional-quality Star Wars costuming organizations (both of which I want to join some day). They really do their part to bring the galaxy to life. 

Disney/Pixar

Ah, Disney, the company that has been entertaining us with beloved child-friendly characters and stories for many decades. A lot of generations can say they grew up with at least one Disney movie. I love how Disney movies appeal to people of all ages. They have characters both kids and adults adore and stories and even humor for both adults and children as well. Then there’s Kingdom Hearts, the massive Disney and Final Fantasy crossover that brings tons of Disney characters into one universe. Also Disneyland and Disney parks which bring the magic of Disney to life with animatronics, costumed actors, and various other things. Unless someone outright hates Disney or animated films, there’s bound to be something in the Disney canon for almost everyone. I have too many favorite Disney films to name, but some I’m particularly fond of are Mulan, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Alice in Wonderland (my namesake). I’m definitely planning some Disney cosplays in the future, and now that Disney owns Star Wars, those characters could count too. 

Fire Emblem

A tactical RPG with one of the world’s saltiest fanbases (at least in my opinion). I’ve described the series as chess-meets-Final-Fantasy to people who have never heard of it. Basically you have an army of very relatable characters who can talk to each other for combat bonuses and you have a bunch of enemies and undoubtably a giant evil dragon to fight. These games have been pegged as being rather difficult, considering weapons can break mid-battle, characters who die in battle never come back (until recent games), and experience points are limited (more in older games). Fire Emblem used to be such a niche series, only known to a few dedicated fans, but luckily Fire Emblem Awakening saved the series and made it really popular, to the point of being a mainstream series now. I only got into the series in high school, but I’ve been hooked ever since. The mix of strategy, RPG elements, and interesting characters and plots really was a winning combination. The character relations are deep, especially when there are 40+ playable characters per game. Each character can talk to around half a dozen others several times, revealing character backstory, personality, and interesting and sometimes funny interactions between them. I think Fire Emblem Awakening is one of my all-time favorites, and not just because it saved the series. It was a great standalone game. Some of my favorite characters are Lilina from Binding Blade, Nino from Blazing Sword (just Fire Emblem in the international release), Lissa, Chrom, Frederick, Robin, and Nowi from Awakening, Flora and Mozu from Fates. I even cosplay Mozu. I should honestly dust that cosplay off and wear it again. I love the character.

 Hyperdimension Neptunia

Definitely still a rather niche series. It’s extremely meta and loves trampling on the fourth wall. This series is basically the video game console war (Wii vs Playstation 3 vs Xbox 360) with all the players (pun intended) personified as anime girls. It’s not just those systems either. Sega is a major player, as in main character major, and video game piracy is personified too. The characters are fantastic and their interactions are equal parts endearing and hilarious. There are way too many video game references and tidbits. Like how Vert (Xbox personification) complains about overheating just like a real Xbox 360. Or how the enemies you fight are based on classic video game enemies like the ghosts from Pac-Man or the space invaders. This franchise is rather unique for me in that I like almost every character. With Star Wars or Fire Emblem for example, there are definitely a fair number of characters I’m neutral towards, but both those franchises have way more characters than Neptunia. I think my favorite characters are Vert and Nepgear (personification of the Sega Game Gear). 

RWBY

Say what you will about the animation style at first (believe me, I was turned off at first but then I came back years later to give it another try) but this series has some of the most epic fight sequences and choreography in any series I’ve seen. All the main characters have superpowers of varying sorts called semblances and throw in a bunch of cool weapons that are also guns and you’ve got a recipe for epic combat. It’s so tragic and sad that Monty Oum, the series creator passed away, since he was a real driving force behind the epic fight choreography. I normally don’t like series just because the fighting is good (I’m not into most shounen battle anime). There needs to be more than just epic fights. I like character-driven stories and RWBY provides quite the diverse and likable cast. The team dynamics (RWBY stands for the names of the four characters on team RWBY) make for very interesting character interactions. 

Disgaea

Probably the most wonderfully absurd fandom on my list. Disgaea is about playing as the demons as they get into mischief and are forced to fight even worse demons and sometimes rogue human super-villains and angels too. Also did I mention the exploding peg-leg penguins called Prinnies who also talk like surfers for some reason? Because they do exist and they’re so great they even got a few games that star them as the main character... even though they’re supposed to be the fall guy and cheap slave labor of the Disgaea universe. The main characters, Laharl being a great example, are a departure from the ‘good guy’ protagonists of your typical RPG. He’s greedy, petty, and likes to brag about himself. Sure he’ll do the right thing after much prodding, but he really likes to play the role of the villain too. Aside from the absurd characters and plots, there’s the absurd game mechanics. Lv 99 look too low for you? Try Lv 9999 and then reset to lv 1 and grind back to Lv 9999 multiple times. Also stats reaching the millions and billions and damage several magnitudes beyond that with the right overpowered sword (which you can level up by going inside it). 

Tales Series

A series that’s somewhat similar to Final Fantasy in terms of being a mostly fantasy RPG, but also with hack-and-slash team battle mechanics. It’s a series that I feel is terribly underrated and needs more love. Final Fantasy is great but I feel like Tales deserves more recognition. The series has a lot of great characters and heavily emphasizes character interactions and character development. A perfect example is Luke fon Fabre, a character whose spoiled, whiny, abrasive personality makes him hard to like, but due to certain events he becomes one of the most beloved protagonists in the series (and a personal favorite of mine). This series is known for playing archetypes and tropes straight (like the chosen one trope, or unshakable destiny) and then turning them on their heads and deconstructing them, only to reconstruct them, then deconstruct them again. The combat is fast-paced and exciting, and while I love turn-based combat as well, the Tales fights, especially boss battles are fantastic. I describe the series as Final Fantasy meets Super Smash Bros in terms of battle system. My favorite game in the series is Tales of the Abyss.