#i was at a high level and i didn't use any cheats either!!

[inbabylontheywept]

Kevin vs. Quantum Mechanics

This is an autobiographical piece. Names have been changed for anonymity, but it's otherwise left be. ---

The class's first suspicion of Kevin was that he had, somehow, cheated his way up to this course. He just seemed perpetually confused, and strangely antagonistic of the professor. The weirdest example of this was when he asked what an ion was (in a third year EE class?), and was informed that it referred to any positively or negatively charged particle. It would have been strange enough to ask, but his reply of "Either? That doesn't sound right" sealed him in as a well known character in the class of 19 people.

The real tipping point in our perception of him during a lecture where the professor mentioned practical uses for a neutron beam, and Kevin asked if a beam could be made out of some other neutral material. When asked "Like what?", he replied "An atom with all of its electrons removed." When we pointed out that the protons would make that abomination extremely positively charged, he just replied with "So what if we removed those too?" and then was baffled when we informed him that would just be neutrons.

That's high school level chemistry. Not knowing it was so incredibly strange that I felt like something was off, so I asked him if he'd like to grab lunch. He accepted, we chatted, and I finally began to get a sense of his origin story.

See, Kevin wasn't a junior/senior electrical engineer like the rest of us. Kevin was, in fact, three notable things: A business major, a sophomore, and a hardcore Catholic. All three of those are essential to understanding his scenario.

What had begun all of this was actually a conflict with Kevin and his roommate. Kevin frequently had his fundamental belief in Absolute Good, Absolute Bad, and Absolute Anything pushed back on by his roommate, who was in STEM. Said roommate kept invoking quantum mechanics as his proof against Absolute Knowledge. Kevin was tired of having something that he didn't understand thrown at his convictions, so he decided to take a quantum course to settle things once and for all.

Despite not having any of the pre-reqs.

He'd actually tried to take quantum for physicists first, but the school's physics department wouldn't let him. It's actually pretty strictly regulated, because it is a mandatory class for physics majors. However, because quantum is not mandatory for electrical engineers, there aren't really any built in requirements for the class. It's just assumed that nobody would actually try to take it until their third year because doing so would the be the mental equivalent to slamming your nuts in the car door. Just, pure suffering for no good reason.

Apparently, the counselors had tried to talk him out of it, but if Kevin was one thing, it was stubborn. He'd actually had to sign some papers basically saying "I was warned that this is incredibly stupid, but I refused to listen" in order to take the class.

He was actually pretty nice, if currently unaware of how bad he'd just fucked up. I paid for the lunch, wished him the best, and reported back to the class discord. We'd all been curious about this guy's story, but now that I had the truth, I could share it with the world.

Feelings were mixed. Some people thought he was going to drop out any minute now. Others thought that he wouldn't, be also that convincing him to drop now, while he still could, was the only ethical thing. Others figured that a policy of non-interference was best: The counselors couldn't dissuade him, and if we tried to do the same, he'd probably just think it was STEM elitism trying to guard its little clubhouse. He'd figure out how hard things were, or he'd fail. Either way, it would help him learn more about the world.

We wound up taking the approach of non-interference. If nothing else, understanding his origins gave us more patience when he asked bizarre questions. He wasn't trying to waste our time, he was just trying to cram three years of pre-reqs into a one semester course. He did get a little bit combative sometimes, and we could tell that he was really wracking his brain to try and find some sort of contradiction or error that he could use to bring the whole thing down, but he never could.

First test came by, and he bombed it. Completely unprepared. He'd taken Calc I, but he didn't know how to do integrals yet (that was Calc II). Worse, he was far past the drop date. I imagine most people in his shoes would've stopped struggling. They'd realize they were fucked and just let themselves fail, at least salvaging their other classes grades in the process. Why waste resources on an unwinnable battle?

Kevin never asked questions like that. If he was stupid enough to try it, he was stupid enough to finish it. God bless him.

He invited me to lunch after the test and said that the class was more fascinating than he'd ever imagined, but he didn't know if he'd be able to pass it. He asked if I could help, and I said...maybe. I brought the request to the discord, and from the eight people there I got three volunteers who admired this dork's tenacity. He was in over his head, miles beneath the surface, but his fighting spirit was fucking glorious. If he was willing to go down swinging, we were willing to bust our asses trying to get him caught up.

Some of the stuff was just extra homework we gave to the guy. We told him he needed to learn integrals, stat. We sent him some copies of basic software that can be used to teach the basics of linear circuit equations, and he practiced that game like it was HALO. Just, hours sunk into it. Absolutely godlike.

He was still scrabbling for air at just the surface level of the class, but he'd gone from abysmal failure to lingering on the boundary between life and death. Other people in the class started to learn about Kevin's origin story, and our little circle of four volunteer tutors grew to six. Every day, he had someone trying to help him either catch up in some way, or finish that week's homework. He'd gone from being seen as a nuisance that wasted class time to the underdog mascot.

He was getting twelve hours of personal tutoring a week, on top of three hours of classes, on top of six hours of office hours, on top of the coursework. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this kid was doing 40 hours a week just trying to pass this one single class.

Second test comes around and he gets a 60. He's ecstatic. We're ecstatic. Kid's too young to take out drinking so we just order a pizza and cheer like he just won gold at the Olympics.

After that second test, things hit another tipping point. With so much catch-up under his belt, he was able to focus a lot more on the actual material for the class. A borderline cinematic moment happened when I was trying to get ahead on the homework so that I could put more hours in on my senior project. Nobody else had finished it yet because it wasn't due for another week, so the specifics of the problem I was working on were still a mystery. I went to the professor's office hours and get some pointers, but he wasn't willing to give good hints when the HW wasn't due for another week or so. He said I still had time to think about it, which was true, but I wanted to be able to think about other things. Kevin had watched the whole conversation, waiting for his turn to ask the professor more simple questions, but when I left I got a text from him telling me to hop on zoom.

Kevin had finished it earlier, because Kevin started all of his homework the moment it was assigned. He needed to, in order to make sure that he could get it done on time. He'd finished it the day before, and was able to walk me through it.

From student, to teacher. I'm not exaggerating when I say that he probably saved me eight hours on that assignment. I could've kissed him.

A month or two later, we took the final. As soon as we were done, we six asked Kevin how he did. He was nervous, there was so much new material for him in this class that his retention hadn't been great. Us six were also a little stressed: We were going to pass the class, but the final was hard.

We waited for the results.

And waited. And waited.

Finally, the scores were posted as a table, curve included. From our class of 19 people, 4 withdrew within the deadline, 4 failed, 1 got a C, 8 got B's, and 2 got A's. We could see that the curve for a C was set at 59.2% overall.

We called Kevin. He was crying. End score, 59.2%. Teacher curved the C exactly to his score.

It was a week into winter break so we couldn't gather the forces around for a party like last time, but we were all losing our shit. Kevin was losing his shit. He couldn't believe how stupid he was to try this course, he couldn't believe that six people busted their ass just to make sure he didn't die, and he couldn't believe that the professor basically just passed him out of sheer effort alone.

He said it was the stupidest thing he'd ever done, and while I doubt that, it was outrageously stupid. And yet, I've never been so invested in a fellow student before. I'm prouder of Kevin's C than I am of my own B. I was walking on sunshine for weeks after that. In theory, my senior project was building a functioning washing machine, but in practice, in my heart, it was helping Kevin pass Intro to Quantum for Electrical Engineers.

(And as an epilogue: No, he did not renounce Catholicism and become an atheist like his roommate had hoped. He did walk out changed. I think that being that wrong about something, and realizing it, was a pivotal moment for him. It's hard to be dogmatic once you realize that a lifetime of being wrong feels exactly like a lifetime of being right, right up until the last two seconds of it.)

[coraniaid]

The scene where Willow confronts Faith is Choices is kind of fascinating to me, because ... well.

I like Choices quite a lot, and I think Willow's dislike of Faith is perfectly understandable and in character (and her speech has some fun but probably not intentional foreshadowing for later seasons), but it's hard not to notice that the narrative expects you to be rather more unambiguously on Willow's side than I think is really warranted.

I mean, Willow might not have been the most popular girl in high school, but she has multiple close friends, a nice boyfriend, a stable [and fairly comfortably middle-class] home life, she "represents the pinnacle of achievement in Sunnydale High" in the words of her school's principal, she's trusted enough to teach at the school, in a year she'll be able to go to any college she wants (and, unlike some people, she can afford to go anywhere she wants), she used to hack into government computer databases (before she ever met Buffy!) and now she's teaching herself dark magic "for fun" and she hasn't [yet] ever suffered any real repercussions for either of those things.

On the other hand, from what little we hear about Faith's past we know she grew up poor and that her mother used to get drunk and beat her, that she didn't have any friends and dropped out of high school young, she is very strongly implied on multiple occasions to have been the victim of some pretty horrific abuse before being called as a Slayer, and after being called as a Slayer she got to watch the one adult who ever told her she mattered get killed horribly in front of her before fleeing across the country to a town where she doesn't know anybody, still has no friends, doesn't have a job or go to school and lives alone in a motel in the bad part of town. And when she accidentally killed a man, while trying to do the whole slaying vampires thing she's supposed to be doing, the Watcher's Council -- who never actually bothered to send her a new Watcher of her own -- decided to have her abducted and dragged away to England [a fate which surely nobody deserves].

Yet a part of Willow clearly thinks (and almost outright says) "oh, well, yeah, but she hangs out with Buffy sometimes when I don't get to and she slept with the guy -- not my nice boyfriend! -- who I used to have a crush on (and who I was briefly cheating on said boyfriend with), so it's clearly impossible to say which of us really had things worse and I don't need to feel sorry for her". And -- again, while this is great characterisation for Willow -- it's kind of hard not to notice that the writers think she has a compelling point.

Yes, sure, Faith has defected to working for the Mayor and has a knife drawn on Willow this scene (she's not anything like a blameless victim at this point of the story) and it takes a certain level of physical bravery for Willow to stand up for herself despite that. But ... I mean, come on. "You had friends like Buffy" is only true if you accept it to mean "you had exactly one friend, who was Buffy". "It's way too late" for Faith to seek forgiveness ... how many people has Faith killed at this point? One, by mistake? Giles has killed more people than that. "Some people think you had a lot of bad breaks?" Yeah, actually in Faith's shoes I'd want to hit Willow after she said that too.

I realize that part of the show's central thesis -- something that explicitly came up as recently as Earshot -- is the idea that everybody, regardless of how comfortable their life might seem from the outside, has their own sorrow and pain and (only occasionally metaphorical) demons to fight. But while that's not entirely wrong, it's also ... not entirely complete? Everyone has it bad sometimes, but some people really do have it worse than others. Pretending otherwise is ... not a serious position to take.

Willow's life could be better, but she's not gone through anything like Faith has. I'd argue she literally can't imagine how bad Faith's life has been. She really doesn't have as much moral authority as the show's writers think she has at this point.

[Compare this part of Season 3 with the first half of Season 6, when the show is overflowing with sympathy for Willow's abrupt descent into magic addiction but has no sympathy at all for Amy Madison, whose own magic addiction is just implied to be because she's inherently a Bad Person who Willow needs to avoid and whose own horrific past and abusive mother and complete lack of support system is just entirely forgotten about. Or, indeed, to the weird take of Dead Man's Party, which has Buffy apologize to Willow for ... what? Having problems of her own that don't revolve around Willow? Being too busy mourning the loss of everything she ever cared about to tell Willow how uniquely special and amazing she was for learning rudimentary magic? Not being grateful enough for Willow restoring Angel's soul without bothering to ask Buffy if that was something she still wanted her to try?]

So, the overall effect is ... yeah, it's a good scene. But it's almost a good scene despite the writer's intentions, not because of them. It's much less of an ambiguously triumphant moment for WIllow than I believe we're meant to read it as.

[theoutcastrogue]

This is petty but that's never stopped me.

In the Vox Machina campaign, Scanlan Shorthalt's resounding success in matters of tactics [this post isn't about roleplaying] was partly due to Sam Riegel's skill, and mostly due to the fact that 5e Bards are just that good. However! The "gnome bard" combo was famously chosen by Liam, after Sam, who'd never played d&d before, asked what's the silliest, least powerful and least badass thing he could play. That was his character concept. And at the time, Liam was not wrong to answer "bard". In 3rd Edition/Pathfinder, Bards DID suck, at least out of the box. You could build a strong Bard in Pathfinder, but you had to optimise to high heavens with carefully selected feats and spells and items from various sources. It didn't just happen spontaneously, and it was still nowhere near the raw power and versatility of a Wizard or Druid. Bards played support.

So at lvl 9, they started streaming and switched from Pathfinder to D&D 5e. Scanlan got an ENORMOUS power boost at that point, but Sam was still harbouring under the impression that his chosen class is not powerful or badass at all. And as they kept playing and he kept killing it (he was brilliant at it, no doubt about that!), he presumed that he was killing it with one hand tied behind his back, because he was just a silly little gnome bard. And, he emphatically wasn't silly. He was a whole-ass full caster, top tier class right there.

Pathfinder Bards are half-casters. If they hadn't switched to 5e, Scanlan wouldn't have access to 7th and higher level spells: no Mordenkeinen's Magnificent Mansion (a signature spell), no Dominate Monster (this is how he made the goristro fight Vorugal), no Reverse Gravity (big moment in the first Ripley fight), and no Wish (kind of a big deal!). Other spells aren't in the Bard list, and there's no Magical Secrets in Pathfinder: he wouldn't have access to Bigby's Hand (another signature spell), Otiluke's Resilient Sphere (how he got rid of the efrit, and Ripley), Lightning Bolt and Stinking Cloud (his standard damage spells), Polymorph (that's several giant eagles including the "now smarter" Grog (this will never stop being funny), and of course the legendary triceratops), or Counterspell (kind of an enormous deal). And all the other spells would have come later: no Seeming at lvl 11 = no cows. (What a loss! No cows!)

And it's not just access to spells, it's also "likelihood of spells to work", which depends on the DC, which in Pathfinder depended on spell level. Lower level spells had a lower chance of doing anything, by virtue of being easier to resist. And half-casters got a slower spell progression, and ended up with significantly less power overall. Whereas in 5e spell level is irrelevant, spell DCs depend on your character level, and that's that. Even (Bardic) Inspiration got a boost from the switch. All in all, we're talking about a spectacular upgrade.

So a tragic misconception happened: Sam got it into his head that he's so good at d&d that he can gimp himself and still kick ass. Well, he can't.

When he played a Rogue (no big spells, huh? no cheat sheet!) he sucked at it and he hated it. And now that he plays a Cleric and actually, actively gimps himself (he said in a 4-Sided Dive that he deliberately avoids cleric spells that others have used before in CR, which by now is most of them, and certainly the best of them), he very predictably sucks at it too (I mean relatively speaking; it's still a full caster), and he doesn't love it. The one time he was BRILLIANT was when he had a top tier class to work with, and used it to its full potential. But he thought he was gimping himself, because he was thinking of a different game/edition than the one he was playing!

I wanna grab him by the shoulders and shake him up and say my good man, you gotta stop this "I gimp myself" -> "I fail to kick ass" -> *surprised pikachu face*. CHOOSE. Either gimp yourself and accept you won't be kicking any ass, but it's okay because you enjoy roleplaying someone like that more than you enjoy kicking ass, OR stop gimping yourself and kick ass, because you do enjoy kicking ass, don't you?

Both are great! I approve either way! But choose.

I also wanna grab Liam by the shoulders and tell him "Wizard or Sorcerer! For the love of all that's green and good in this world, next time Sam asks you what class to play in D&D, tell 'im Wizard or Sorcerer!". But then I remember that next time they'll probably play Daggerheart and not D&D unless WotC makes them an offer they can't refuse, so the whole thing is moot.

[odditycollector]

okay, I got around to watching the umbrella academy, 4th & final season

I went in unspoiled and to pass on the favour I'm putting my reaction under the cut.

high level & non-comprehensive thoughts on themes only.

short version: As an ending to the whole of the story, it did not work.

This is not a controversial opinion. It felt unsatisfying! It was Unearned! The moral of the story is now either "broken people have no place in the world and they fuck it up for everyone else just by existing and their attempts to heal are futile and counterproductive" or "please, please let us stop making seasons of this show. please"!

but then i thought about it and actually. the end of season 4 could be a really meaningful part of the story. thematically.

…as long as you didn't stop there.

-

so the umbrella academy tv show is a story about cycles of family abuse and trauma and trying to escape them.

An incomplete list of questions it's explored:

Can the destructive fallout of family trauma simply be suppressed. No. (s1)

If someone had simply done one thing different in the past could the family trauma have been fully avoided and everyone involved would have been happy and functional. No. (s2)

Can we exist as separate from our histories? No. (s3)

Can the cascading effects of complex family trauma be cleanly navigated? No. (s4 - not even with a map)

Can damaged individuals reconnect and despite their individual flaws - if all are truly putting in the effort - form a connection/safety net from which they might draw the strength to forgive and actually find healing? …i feel like we were stumbling towards a yes. (s4, Allison & Klaus, Viktor & alt!Hargreeves)

AND THEN

the ending of season 4 posits:

Since the destructive fallout from family trauma can't be prevented, is it Better(tm) for the world if the traumatized individuals and all their impacts on other people were removed wholesale.

and y'know what? Thematically? this is a powerful question to ask.

but like. the answer has to be "no" though.*** because otherwise what is the point. we've invested years into rooting for these siblings to find recovery!

***["isn't it possible for "no" to have been a satisfying answer?" Of course! tragedies exist! there aren't any rules for what is allowed in stories! but the umbrella academy tv show did not set itself up to be a story where that is a satisfying answer. (Source: I Am Good At Themes.)]

Season 4 as an ending point implies the answer to 'healing from trauma is too hard - let it consume and destroy you y/n?' is 'yes', which as an ending note is. well. let's go with sudden and discordant.

[ALSO IT CHEATED! ON A MECHANICAL LEVEL! ERASING ALL YOUR INFLUENCE FROM HISTORY MEANS ERASING THE GOOD TOO! MEANS ERASING YOUR DESCENDANTS FOR WHOM YOU WERE TRYING TO DO BETTER TOO!]

but if this 'yes' had NOT been the end, but had been set up to be a proof by contradiction..

if there had been a Season 5 showing us that actually the world was NOT better for the absence of the Hargreeves family, that they were needed, that a single clean timeline is not better than an infinity of messy possibilities, that if there can exist no perfect version of you that is untouched from trauma the you that DOES exist is still capable of being loved and of healing and worth the effort involved, that you were not wrong to ever try…

That's an ending that could have been satisfying.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

So like, liquid luck makes you choose outcomes that will benefit you. Which means that the potion gives some level of foresight/omniscience (sorta like Hong Bellamy), not that the user is aware of it.

So... why don't all wizards abuse the shit out of that? What are the limitations? Why didn't Voldemort drink some before going to the battle? Why don't ministry of magic candidates use it to get the job? We don't students use it to cheat on tests?

WHY THE FUCK DID SLUGHORN GIVE THIS INCREDIBLY POWERFUL MAGICAL POTION TO A STUDENT?????

I imagine it makes you the equivalent of an NFA, at each decision point there are multiple probable outcomes, and the potion makes it such that you get the highest ranking path that leads to the most probable good result.

The obvious answer is JKR only came up with it in book 6, had an "oh fuck" moment when she realized everyone and their brother would use it all the time, and came up with weird exceptions for why it's never used.

JKR does this a lot with things like portkeys, time turners, you name it. It will suddenly exist in a book and either be treated like it was there the whole time or all the time turners in the world get smashed in book 5 and so the Death Eaters can never ever get one.

But this is a Watsonian blog so I have to try.

Canonically we're given a few reasons.

The Time Ingredients, and Skill of the Potion

When we're introduced to felix felicius it's noted that it's highly expensive to make with its base materials being both rare and luxury items (I believe gold is an ingredient).

Ron, Harry, and Hermione once casually debate making it themselves but take a look at the price tag and shudder.

It also takes a large amount of time. A batch has to be very carefully brewed over a six month period. This requires a) not only buying all the material but b) having the time to dedicate to the brewing.

It's also noted as a particularly difficult potion to brew and outside the skillset of most wizards.

There's Presumably Some Means of Detection

It's noted right away that the use of the potion is forbidden in job applications, examinations, and sporting events. This is why Hermione nags at Harry when she thinks he gave the potion to Ron. What this assumes is that there's some drug testing in the wizarding world where they can and will catch you if you try to use it in these settings.

(Nevermind we never see the students drug tested but let's just play along with it for now.)

Presumably, some very wealthy people do try this now and then, but if they have that kind of money it's probably easier to just buy the answer sheet or else buy the position.

It's Highly Addictive and Messes with Your Thought Process

Say all of the above doesn't bother you. You have the time, talent, money, and are sure you can escape detection or are using it in a situation where it doesn't matter if anyone knows you're using it.

There's still some issues.

The first is that it's highly addictive. If you keep using it, you will become addicted to it, which is a problem if you can't afford the materials, have to have a batch constantly on hand when it's a six month brewing process, and suffer whatever physical and mental side effects come with addiction.

So, already, if you use it, you want to save it for when you truly need it.

Second is that what we see from Harry it seriously fucks with your reasoning ability. Harry when on felix felicius acts like he's high, is unable to explain any of his decisions when asked, and acts on impulse guided by gut feelings.

He's not really in control of his actions.

Now, Harry's fine with that, but I don't see Tom Riddle being alright with that even if, in theory, it will make the outcome of an event more likely.

Probability is Only Probable

What felix felicius seems to do is make you make the right decision at the right time to get the most likely outcome of an event.

However, that doesn't guarantee an outcome of the probability is simply too low or else the event is impossible. If you're going to lose the battle then you're going to lose the battle.

What might happen is that felix felicius makes you choose something with some other outcome (less bad but not the worse) where you in the aftermath have no idea why you chose to do that and can't justify it to yourself.

Had Harry not been able to get the Slughorn memory even after drinking the potion (or had to do something truly awful to do it) then Harry would have declared the potion bullshit even if he got some other, good, result or got the memory in a way he didn't like.

Conclusion

I can see why people don't take it.

Harry would, but he's very stupid. However, he doesn't have the patience for it.

[twistedtummies2]

What would be your top 5 of disney villains you wish would appear in future games, and who didn't get a chance to already appear?

So, I’m gonna do you one better here and go all the way into making this a full-blown list. XD I was debating if I’d wait till the KH Month Event I have planned to do something like this, buuut since you’re asking now, I’ll just take care of it now. ;) Now, I’m not gonna be counting villains who have already appeared, or ones from worlds that we know are planned for the future (such as Zootopia and Coco). Also, I’m only counting characters from Disney or Disney-owned properties. With that said…here’s a list of not top five, but TOP TWELVE Villains I Would Like to See in Kingdom Hearts.

12. Any of Spider-Man’s Villains.

Yeah, this is cheating, I know. But it’s my list, and it’s at the very bottom, so cut me some slack. :P Ever since Disney bought Marvel, people have been BEGGING for a Kingdom Hearts level with Marvel characters. I wouldn’t be against this, myself; however, Marvel is such a vast, sprawling universe in its own right, it would be REALLY hard to make a “Marvel World” with ALL of the characters. You’d have to figure out which one or two would become Party Members, and you’d have to figure out how to focus the story. If I were to make a Marvel world in KH, I’d specifically choose to base it on Spider-Man, for three reasons: one, I think the mechanics of the character and his universe would be interesting to explore in KH. Two, Spidey is arguably Marvel’s most popular character, so if you’re only going to choose one, he’s the best-selling option. And three, a lot of the best Marvel Villains ALL exist in Spidey’s universe, and you can have a lot of fun with any of them for a single World. The Green Goblin, Venom, Doc Ock, Kingpin…all of them offer some interesting possibilities. The reason I list these guys so low, however, is because a.) there’s already a LOT of Spider-Man games, so it’s not like he or his villains really need the recognition KH would bring to the party, and b.) there are so many versions of Spider-Man, whoever puts a Spidey level in KH would have to think really, REALLY hard about how to handle it. Do you base it on a movie in the MCU? Do you do something based on a specific comic or TV show? Do you just go in your own direction? There’s perhaps TOO MANY possibilities, if that makes sense, and so while I’d love to see it happen, I can understand if it never does.

11. Darth Vader.

Just like Spidey and Marvel, ever since Lucasfilm got bought out by Disney, people have been aching to see a Star Wars World in KH. And, just like with Marvel and Spider-Man, part of the reason I rank Darth Vader so low on the list is because there’s already a LOT of Star Wars games out there, so it’s not as if we really NEED a KH level to give them attention. Also, KH already is a bit confusing since it’s kind of already a space adventure, when you think about it, so how do you put a space fantasy setting into what is effectively ALREADY a space fantasy setting? It’s part of the same reason why - spoiler alert - you WON’T be seeing “Treasure Planet” and Silver here, as much as I would love to see either. However, what puts Vader over Spidey’s entire Rogues Gallery is that Star Wars is a lot easier to harness, so to speak: there’s not a bajillion different versions of Darth Vader, there’s basically just one, when you get down to it. And while there’s certainly a lot of room in the Star Wars universe to play with…let’s all be honest, if KH DOES do something with Star Wars? The chances are extremely high it’s going to be based on either the original trilogy, or is going to take place within that sort of period of Star Wars history. I don’t think it would be as profitable for them if they used one of the TV shows, it wouldn’t make as much sense if they used the Sequel trilogy, and the chances of the Prequel trilogy being used don’t seem very high either. That’s really why I name Vader, specifically: the chances of seeing other major villains (aside from those others present in the original trilogy, like Boba Fett or Emperor Palpatine) isn’t very good, and let’s face it, a boss fight against Vader with Sora and either Donald, Goofy, or both in the mix, would be…both awesome and absolutely fecking HILARIOUS at the same time.

10. Shere Khan & Kaa.

The problem with these two is basically the same problem I have with the idea of Jungle Book world in general, which is why I don’t place them very high. Do I want to see them and this universe in KH? Absolutely; it’s honestly kind of a glaring oversight that it hasn’t happened yet. The problem is…well, what would you do that’s different? We had a jungle exploration level with talking animals and humans mingling in KHI, and in terms of turning these two into competent bosses that could face Sora, I don’t know what you could do that wouldn’t be too similar to stuff from the Pride Lands in KHII (especially in Shere Khan’s case). So, as great as it would be to see them and their world, it’s hard to imagine what they would really do that would make it stand out. That’s probably why it hasn’t shown up yet, to be perfectly honest, and while I will naturally be delighted if/when that day comes, I can understand why it hasn’t happened so far.

9. Zira.

The only villain here who would be from a returning World, which is why I place Zira low. That, and the problems that exist with Shere Khan would effectively exist with her: aside from the whole “villain turns into a Heartless�� thing, or perhaps something like the first game where they have two forms - first Zira as herself, then her as some kind of monstrous creature - it’s hard to think of how you’d manage Zira combat wise. And God knows I’m thinking of that stuff with these characters, because the one thing KHIII pissed me off on was the decided lack of proper Disney Villain boss fights (minus Davy Jones). However, I would genuinely like to return to the Pride Lands again, and since I doubt Disney would make a level like that based on “The Lion Guard,” the next best thing would be to based the World on the sequel film, which - unique among Disney Animated Sequels - seems to actually have a decent following of fans. And if you do that, it’s only natural that Zira would appear as the villain. So it’s less for her own sake, and more for her world’s sake, but I’m still placing her here.

8. Tamatoa.

We frankly need a new undersea/ocean-based adventure in KH. Atlantica’s three attempts really didn’t go over well in ANY of the games, so I think taking a new stab at the idea with “Moana” would be a good idea. Because of the way the film works, you can eliminate a lot of the stuff that made Atlantica’s visits problematic, and with new technology and bigger budgets being afforded to these games, you can REALLY make the world come alive with color and splendor that wasn’t possible back in the early 2000s. That was the best part of KHIII, to me: the visuals and the colors were so breathtaking, because gaming had just come such a long way, and to see more games with that aesthetic splendor, taking advantage of other worlds, would be great. Plus, the whole story focuses on literally trying to return someone’s heart: how perfect for KH is that?! While Te-Fiti would doubtless be the big star of a Moana-themed World, antagonist-wise, it’s Tamatoa I would be MOST excited to see, which is why I name him, specifically. (Also, for you kinky weirdos…I pray to God he gets a move where he tries to eat Sora…maybe have us struggle to escape his stomach…just a few thoughts. >///> )

7. The Horned King.

I’m genuinely a fan of the Horned King, and ever since I was a little kid, I thought it would be cool to see a Black Cauldron World in KH JUST so you could have a boss battle with the King. In fact, a chance to do that would fix a problem with the film and the character! In the original movie, there are all these lines and pontifications from the King and others about “his power,” but we never really SEE much of that power in action. Aside from him teleporting in one scene, the King never really shows how great a sorcerer he supposedly is. With KH, you can mend that issue: have a boss fight with the Horned King, who uses all this dark magic to attack you, and maybe involve the Cauldron in the fight as you try to knock him towards it, or have to attack it to activate something or complete some goal. The only reason I place the King in the lower half of the list is because I doubt Disney would do a Black Cauldron level (for reasons I probably don’t need to name), and even if they do, I wouldn’t put it past them to fudge things up with this character at this point. :P 

6. Willie the Giant.

I had to wrestle with fifth and sixth place a bit. Without giving away who number five is, between them and this character, Willie seems the most likely to appear, if only by the slimmest margin. We’ve already had Mickey Mouse-based Worlds in KH based on Steamboat Willie, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and that Three Musketeers movie…so why NOT do something based on “Mickey and the Beanstalk”? Have it be another of King Mickey’s dreams or past adventures; maybe it was something that helped him become a King to begin with! Or, hey, maybe it doesn’t take place in the time of the film, but some villain or other plants a bean in Disney Town/Disney Castle, and we have to climb the Beanstalk from there, kind of like with other “Worlds Within Worlds” from past games. Also, Willie just seems like he’d be an AWESOME choice for a boss fight; he’s not the most evil or the most bright of Disney Villains, but HE’S A LITERAL FREAKING GIANT. And one who can shapeshift, at that! That could be SO COOL for a boss battle! You can go in so many directions there! Even if he’s not part of the main game, you could include him as a surprise character of some kind; like an optional battle or secret battle that pops up somewhere, a-la Julius or Monstro. I dunno, it would just be neat to see!

5. The Phantom Blot.

Okay, so, the chances of this guy getting an appearance are very, VERY small. Between him and Willie the Giant, Willie is much more likely to appear in some fashion than the Blot. Heck, a lot of characters I’ve already named are much more likely to show up. So, on that front, he probably shouldn’t be this high up…but I’ve always had a soft spot for the Blot, and I think it could be really fun to use him in a KH game. We’ve seen how Pete has shown up with multiple references to his history throughout the games, just like Mickey, so why not bring the Blot in? He could be a rival to Pete, perhaps; a returning criminal who, like Pete, Mickey & Minnie best in the past and either destroyed or banished. You could play with different versions of the character that have existed: for instance, have him appear as his master crook self first, but then later transform into a giant ink monster a-la Epic Mickey - again, much like how the villains in the first game often worked out, with two different forms. It’s probably never going to happen, but “I can dream, Harold!”

4. Professor Ratigan.

GOOD LORD, I WANT A GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE LEVEL SO BAD. Imagine the fun of playing as Mouse Sora! Imagine how a tiny Goofy and Donald would look, how cool it would be to explore Gothic, mist-filled Victorian London alongside Basil of Baker Street! Everything so much bigger than ever, riding on Toby’s back to get from place to place! And, of course, getting to have a battle with the Napoleon of (Rodent) Crime, Professor Ratigan himself! (Not to mention an encounter with Felicia…I refer you to my thoughts on Tamatoa.) The only thing that prevents me from placing Ratigan in the top three is the voice: Vincent Price’s voice is thoroughly inimitable, and I’ve never really heard ANYONE replicate to my fullest satisfaction, in general. Maurice LaMarche - who’s played Vincent Van Ghoul for various Scooby-Doo related things - probably comes the closest. I guess you could either see if you could get him, or you could somehow stitch together archival audio of Vincent, but it’s hard to say how successful either would REALLY be. Still, if Disney and Square Enix ever do try a GMD World for KH, I will have high hopes to see this nasty no-good-nick there!

3. Syndrome.

My favorite Pixar Villain from my favorite Pixar Movie. Now that we’ve got no less than three Pixar films in KH (counting Coco’s confirmation), I wouldn’t be surprised at all if an Incredibles level came along some time. If it does, it would be great to see this guy show up then. Honestly, I don’t think I need to say anything else beyond that, so…I’m not going to. That was easy. Moving on.

2. The Headless Horseman.

Just like the Horned King, I would LOVE to see the Headless Horseman show up in KH sometime, and have imagined such a thing since I was but a wee little snot. HOWEVER, unlike the Horned King, I know EXACTLY how one would handle him. While I don’t think a Sleepy Hollow World would work out all that well - it’s not exactly the most “active” Disney story to adventure through, so chances are it would be more background scenery while Sora and Co. deal with original threats - I think it would be great if you did for the Horseman what KH has done in the past for one of three characters: Monstro, Chernabog, or Julius. For Chernabog, he showed up as a surprise boss towards the end of the game when Sora and Co. entered “The End of the World” in KHI. For Julius, he was an optional battle who would startle the player if you ran into him by going to a certain place at a certain time. And for Monstro, he was a villain you faced only as part of a series of minigame challenges in the Mirage Arena for BBS. I think any one of these would be BRILLIANT to give the Horseman a shot: have him show up as a secret boss you have to unlock in some fashion, or as a surprise villain who pops up in the pits of darkness at some point, or even gets summoned by one of the original baddies! Or, heck, if you DO try a Sleepy Hollow world…however peripheral most of it turns out to be, the chance to face the Horseman would make it ALL worth it.

 

1. Dr. Facilier.

I think this is the character MANY people would like to see show up the most, not just me. He and his film itself just seem like such natural fits for the KH universe. He’s a wily witch doctor who controls shadows - that already sounds like a KH villain! These shadows are busted by light - again, sounds like a KH thing! He can conjure illusions, change people’s shapes, and his defeat comes at the hands of dark spirits: all very KH things that would fit in a battle and boss-beating. Plus, while I don’t think this guy is as popular as he was…ten years ago, maybe? He’s still considered one of the chief Disney Villains, and he’s been my personal second favorite for a long time. It’s genuinely surprising he hasn’t shown up yet, and I can only pray that he will, and that when/if that time comes, the KH universe will treat him nicely. 

[corals-corner]

Headcannons it is :D

Starting with Queen:

She is a Clash of Clans goddess (look the game up if you don't know what it is)

She's responsible for making some of the most difficult Geometry Dash levels--again, look up the game if you SOMEHOW don't know what it is xP

Despite being a Windows XP computer, she can somehow change her own background theme in Hometown, causing anyone who sees it to get utterly confused and distressed

She cares for Noelle so much partly because she can sympathize with her on a level nobody else can

Going off the previous hc, I think she may have had a parent of hers die when she was young, assuming she had parents lol Idk

She secretly thinks Berdly's pretty cool despite all she did to him

She knows things about Kris, Susie, Berdly and ofc Noelle, partly because all of them have used her Lightner computer form at least a few times

Water wouldn't harm Queen, she's too OP for that

Queen didn't show up in Card Kingdom until she was in her early 20s, and likely didn't stay there for even a decade

Queen's in her early 30s by the time we meet her in-game, in my eyes 31-33

Now for Spade King, some might be the same as yours :>

Spade King didn't have the best parenting growing up and was always under heavy scrutiny/criticism, likely from a combination of anger issues and his parents having super high expectations

He hung out with the other kings but always felt like an outlier and felt left out, but never mentioned it to them. He never fully trusted them in terms of leadership skills and general competence

Spade King's parents either passed away or vanished somehow when he was a late teen and he had to learn how to be a ruler at a younger age. I personally think all the kings come from royal families, and Spade King's parents were the first to go. This forced Spade King to cooperate with the other, much older royals, which he did not like at all

C. Round was kinda Spade King's version of a family pet and one of the very few Darkners he actually enjoyed hanging out with as a child, and because of this he later let C. Round roam free as it pleased and never put any restrictions on it

Spade King absolutely hated Jevil even before Jevil went insane. I like to think Jevil went insane while all four kings were in charge, and before that often did acts for the kings' parents. Jevil would often target and tease Spade King when he was young, albeit in a silly and playful manner, but Spade King always held grudges against him for it

Seam is one of the very few Darkners Spade King respects, hence why Seam is just chillin' in their shop with no need to attack or imprison Kris & Susie in the first chapter. Spade King always liked Seam because Seam would often interact with him in a calm and compassionate manner when he was a child

Spade King always tried to make room for Lancer despite his very busy job, and was often the one who cooked for his son

Spade King knew how incompetent Rouxls Kaard acted but always believed Rouxls had tons of secret potential he was wasting away, hence why he promoted him to Duke of Puzzles in an attempt to get Rouxls to show his true colors, albeit it didn't work lol

Spade King mandated that all Rudinn Rangers wear visors to protect their faces so they don't accidentally hurt themselves with their longer knives, guards aren't really competent if they accidentally harm themselves all the time xP

One year for Halloween Spade King had Lancer dress up as a pumpkin while he himself dressed up as a blueberry, who says kings can't have a little fun sometimes?

Spade King's in his mid-to-late 30s in-game, likely around 34-37

Spade King is a coffee addict, Idc if you don't like coffee you have to admit the guy needs something to keep him functioning during the day

That is all :)

A LOT :DDDDD

Queenie my beloved

1. As someone who used to play that with certain hacks and cheats, she would absolutely spend hours attacking other clans and villages whenever she was bored. She'd like the Pekas and maybe the Archers

2. I will never forgive her for her crimes against my eyes and self esteem when it came to those levels.

3. Hehe she likes confusing people

4. AUGH FUUUUCK. Ok, this reminds me on the trans Noelle hc people have, and that with my own trans Queen hc, I can totally see queen maybe seeing a bit of herself in Noelle and wants to help her in many other things

5. Personally, my hc is that her parents were quite neglectful, not usually out of melisious intent, but because they didn't really understand how to take care of a child, but she always held them close to her heart, so despite everything, she would have still been really upset when this happened

6. BERDLY! Ngl, I always imagined that she wouldn't have minded spending more time with him, but because her objective required Noelle and not him, she kinda pushed him away in order to achieve her goal.

7. What has she seen in these guys search history

8. Thank god. Lancer would probably have done the water bucket above the door prank lmao

9. I always imagined darkners could travel between dark worlds, but I do see her not going to Card Kingdom until later, most likely due to a arranged marriage with King

10. That's actually pretty close to where I see her, but I tend to see her and King in a similar age, so personally I'd say between 35-40, but you're age seems more likely lmao

Now to Kingy :D

1. Abso-fucking-lutely. This man did not have a stable childhood which affected him with how he patented Lancer. Not even the previous monarchs liked his parents too much

2. I feel like he and the other king fought alot, both as kids and as adults. None of them fully trusted each other

3. Yeah, I imagin he was crowed between 17 or 18, so he was still very young and waa definitely not suitid to rule, epessilly along side monarchs he would have otherwise avoided. Not to mention they probably dismissed him since they were all older and experienced in ruling and didn't think he had any good input.

4. THATS SO CUUUTE!!! I can see baby king outside playing with c.round trying to teach him silly tricks and showing him off

5. Ngl, I see why you(and alot of other lol) think this, but personally, I like to think they were close. Historically, kings and jester were actually pretty close and the kings allowed jesters to do alot, so I like to implement that into dr.. it is fucked that he went after King when he was just a child. That is fucked and I understand why King held grudges (I would too lmao)

6. Lowkey, I love imaging that Seam is old as fuck and they often took care of baby king, sort of the same way Rouxls cares for Lancer, and he began referring Seam as a parental figure, sometimes accidently calling them "Mom" when he was tired

7. YES KING ALWAYS TRIED TO MAKE TIME FOR LANCER DESPITE HIS JOB IDC WHAT ANYONE ELSE SAYS HE LOVED HIS SON. Also hc king loves cooking for Lancer and always tried to cook himself, though it was rare considering he was usually busy

8. My man thought. Rouxls is definitely op but he's also pretty stupid when it comes to his powers and doesn't know how to use them to his full ability, despite the help and, let's be honest, threats from King, or hell, maybe even the other kings.

9. Now I'm just imaging the Rudinn Rangers out there fighting without any protection and the king are like "That's fine" while king flips his shit over their safety.

10. PUMPKIN LANCER AND BLUBERRY KING!!! King crying every time he sees Lancer in the costume because he's so god damn adorable. And King in a bluberry costume because fuck those people who think kings are always supposed to be serious and not have any fun

11. Absolutely. A chaotic son as well as a naturally chaotic kingdom and castle? He needs something to keep him going. This with his sweet tooth means he would Absolutely love mochas because of the added sugar and chocolate.

Oh boy this was long :'DDD

It was fun though :D

[dulcewrites]

What do you think of Alys? There are lots of rumours surrounding her, but I think we both know how men used to write about women who refused to play the victim in patriarchal society and actually achieved something. She was Queen of Harrenhall after all. But what is more disturbing to me is that some people say that she used Aemond for her own goal which was to climb on social ladder and give birth to royal child. I just can't help but think yep, she was supposed to be happy that she will spend her entire life as bastard serving her family which contained father who surely treated her poorly (since when bastards are treated well to begin with? Apart from Jon and Sand Snakes obviously) and his wife who surely wasn't happy about having to see the living proof of her husband's cheating and half brothers Harwin and Larys who most likely didn't care about her at all. Look how men who really work hard to better their position within Westeros society even though they weren't much influential from the beginning of their life, managed to climb really high due to their intelligence, wit and dedication - Varys and Littlefinger. And yet they are called masterminds, their morals are questionable but still their ability to achieve things because they were smart is impressive. They serve first and foremost their own interest, but when men does it, it's alright but when women they are condemned to hell. When a woman called Alys Rivers has ambitions, most likely doesn't want to spend the rest of her life as servant since she did it for like 30 years and has every right to have enough of it, aims for something better, doesn't play damsel in distress even for a second - she is evil, seductress, femme fatale who will help Aemond descent into darkness in order to gain something from it lol the level of misogyny is so high I just am shocked people still think like this where this mentality should be gone long ago

I think the conflicting way people speak about alys comes from 1) the extremely weird way she was written in the book (f&b in general is not good but that’s another discussion for another day) and 2) the very binary camps people put women, and through that, female characters into.

If she is a victim of her circumstances, she must be the right kind of the victim. If she “rises above” (which in of itself titers into misogyny bc why is it either she was ‘strong enough’ to pull herself up by her bootstraps or she was too ‘weak’ not to), it must be in a way the audience finds palatable and of their liking. People are extremely uncomfortable and frankly very nasty when women do not show responses to trauma in the way they like. Hence why people are fucking awful when it comes to Alicent.

If people want to see alys as some seductress that’s their prerogative. I think that is a very shallow and weird way to look at a woman who probably went through sexual trauma in her life. Same with people thinking Aemond is going to assault her. Once again, very odd to theorize that someone who in show canon was assaulted himself is a r*pist. I personally find the she got pregnant then sent him to his death on purpose argument not only weird but also.. lacking any sense. If she was trying to secure the bag, why on earth would she want to essentially kill the one person who could confirm they were together and the baby is his???Now I’m of the belief that Aemond was going to fight Daemon regardless but the notion alys put it in his head bc she knew he would die is frankly nonsensical to me.

I think alys is indicative of her time. It’s why I think her story, along with nettles and maybe even Sara if they include her, are important. The surface level way she gets talked about and sometimes erased in this fandom is a literal representative of how bastardy for women plays out. The fact that people want these three women wiped from the show is so wild to me. Another convo we will eventually have is how gross it is how this fandom treats the people that actually represent them. You are not a targaryen.. you are the smallfolk

Idk if this answered your question. I feel like I’ve answered this before in different ask and I always regurgitate the same stuff. I may not be making sense lol. I like Alys. I’m excited for alys. Here’s a shameless plug of how i truly see her

[crystalelemental]

Remember how I was playing Echoes of Wisdom? Well I took a break from it, which is probably not a great indicator for it long-term given I rarely take a break from any game, but even more damning is that I took a break from it to play Etrian Odyssey 2. I don't think anyone should be playing Etrian Odyssey 2. But I beat it.

A bit of context: I am playing on the Switch rerelease. I have the original DS cart, but I played that once, and I could not handle it. I will not lie to you, I cheated horrifically to make it through that game, and even with cheating this game is ridiculous. It's so fucking hard. Easy Mode on the new release is like the only way I consider it reasonably accessible.

That's not...entirely fair? There are some really broken components in your favor as well, mostly through Dark Hunter and Hexer (though I only learned the Hexer thing after the fact). Binds are devastating, and if you can get the Dominator whip, it's really easy to keep up that bind pressure in a fight and really lay on heavy damage. I did all my boss fights on the moderate difficulty and could win just fine. The bigger issue was random encounters, honestly. Damage numbers feel very high.

But aside from some familiarity with the series and really keying in on what the broken strats are...this game is the least accessible in the series. EO1 is jankier, but you have Immunize and it kinda trivializes every fight. EO2 doesn't have anything that overpowering, so you get a lot of the same absurdities without that cheat button. To make matters worse, exploration is a bitch. There are fewer shortcuts and several floors where there's not an easy way to get to the next floor, so you deal with a lot of encounters on runbacks. They had extra geomagnetic poles midway through the strata, but you can activate only one at a time, so you lose the previous options, just as new quests pop up that are put in those center floors.

Quests and FOEs also don't give experience. Your level cap only increases by retiring, and by 1 level each time you do it. Floor 23 is a thing they did on purpose. War Magus has no ability to revive, so good luck if you didn't choose Medic. Also there are a ton of areas where you need a specific class, or 3 characters, or in some cases 1 character only, to access and get items. They're optional but Christ, who does this? There's one that opens up to like 150 consecutive tiles of pain floor, and an area where you send a solo Beast into an area with an FOE that basically negates all damage but Ice, and the Beast can't use Ice. Everything in this game is so mean to you.

So it's really weird that I do kinda love it.

Look, for all its jank, High Lagaard is a really neat place with a lot of personality. The cast of the town is quirky and fun, I like Cass a lot and Abigail is precious and my child. While they didn't all turn out so well, the new classes were really inventive; I love War Magus and Gunner. The introduction of the game being a guard blindfolding you and dropping you in the forest to either prove you're good enough to return, or die alone if you're not up to it, is metal as fuck. The constant need to go back to hard to access floors gets frustrating, but it feels much more like a labyrinth that people would have trouble exploring. The introduction of quests that just sit in your list for like four floors (or like 20 in the case of the Queen piece quest) is fairly organic; people will need certain things you may not even have access to, and it's up to you to figure out where it is.

The later parts of the game are also pretty fun. I like what's going on with Canaan and the winged people. I like what the Overlord has going on, with his history and why these monsters came to be. I really like the concept of the Forbidden Forest, being this calming looking area that's home to the most violent and uncontrollable monsters in the world. The story bits are fun and interesting when they start taking off.

It's...strange. I don't think I could stand playing this game in its original incarnation, but bless Easy mode for just trivializing this shit. That said, I feel like EO2 has it worst of any game in this series. EO2 classic has a lot of problems just in terms of being engaging to play, and even with the new Easy mode, it's a step too far to be an engaging difficulty. But EO2U has the same problem. Its base difficulty is kind of frustrating, mostly due to how the game was balanced around the damned grimoires, but easy is so trivially easy that there's barely a point to play. It's so frustrating, because I feel like this could easily be a favorite, but I tend to find it one of the most frustrating Etrian Odyssey games.

[postgamecontent]

'Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel' Switch Review

We've reached the third and penultimate stop on the Ratalaika tour through the handful of titles comprising Sunsoft's ill-fated attempt to create a popular mascot in the 1990s. After this, all that remains to be reissued is the Game Boy Advance port of the original game. Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel is the one and only spin-off of the Aero The Acro-Bat series, launching a half-year after Aero 2 and just over a year after the original game. Yes, they released that closely together. This was effectively the end of the road for the Aero franchise, and that particular incarnation of Sunsoft's American branch didn't last much longer. Well, maybe Sunsoft saved the best for last?

I want to take a second here just to say that I kind of respect what Sunsoft did with these games. The main characters have appealing designs for their time and place, and Sunsoft and Iguana clearly were able to turn out games that looked and sounded good. All they had to do was make some generic games that copied Sonic's homework like so many others did. But they got weird. The first Aero game had those odd level objectives. Aero's attack methods were awkward. Batasha. Just… Batasha. I don't think it did those games any favors at the time, but if nothing else it helps them stand out in hindsight.

Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel is also an oddball. It comes off as part Sonic, part Shinobi. If that isn't an odd enough union, it also has a central mechanic that is tricky to master and becomes essential not far into the game at all. The Aero games were no slouches difficulty-wise, but Zero kicks things up a couple of notches. All the save states in the world won't help you much here, either. You either learn how to handle Zero's gliding, or you're not going anywhere. I don't hate that, but some people will.

Anyway, it's a stage-based platformer with large levels full of goobers to collect. Some of them have obvious uses, others are probably just for points. Collect goobers, beat enemies, and yank the banner to finish the stage. Sometimes you'll fight a boss or engage in other activities, too. The maze-like levels are best navigated by using Zero's signature glide ability, done by getting some air, diving, and then pushing in a couple of different directions. Zero can also throw shuriken and double-jump, because Shinobi. The game features vibrant, detailed graphics and some grungy rock licks, carrying itself well enough for a game of its era.

Zero himself is certainly a product of his time. A bag of stereotypes, but I suppose it was a 1990s mascot platformer. Ratalaika has made some edits in its marketing materials for the game, but once you're in-game the only real changes to this Super NES version are to some of the start-up logos and legal info. The wrapper here is similar to the one used for Aero the Acro-Bat 2, with all the same extras and options. Not as exciting the second time around, but I still prefer it to the older Ratalaika wrapper. I'm not really fond of the way the manual scans have been edited, removing all identifiable buttons and/or control diagrams. I get why, but replacing the information would have been far better than erasing it. As-is, a person has to look things up online to know the basics of how to play. I will again lodge my complaint at the Mega Drive version not also being included.

You could do a whole lot worse than Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel when diving into 16-bit mascot platformers, and Ratalaika's treatment of it is solid. It's not a game I would recommend to everyone due to the relatively high level of difficulty, and even the built-in cheats aren't going to help you at times. To be frank, some aspects of the game haven't aged well at all. But there is something to this game, and if you're the kind of player that enjoys picking at oddities, I think you'll get some kicks out of Zero.

Switch Score: 3.5/5

[moonxlightsx]

10 Years

It has been 10 years- a whole decade of when i was completely obsessed with Tumblr and i lived a different life. Nobody is probably going to read this but just as my old self; I would come on here after a long day at school to relax and de-compress, i am here to do the same and self reflect.

Today, I just randomly thought to go ahead and hop onto this old account of mines. Sure i last logged on about 2 or 3 years ago but it was most to sit in my sadness. I reposted a few sad posts and connected to those posts and would eventually log off and not sign back on. It felt "good" as it did back in 2014.

The thing is, life not only is different but i myself am a different person. I'm no longer that 16 or 17 year old depressed girl that came to Tumblr to release my anger, sadness and sorrow. I even had a "back-up" account that was simply all Depression and Self Harm related. I just finished going through that entire account and went back on some venting post I did. It was honestly very triggering to see those photos of me from back then when i would self-harm and pop pills to escape. Reliving those moments made me very sad.

I wish i could go back and hug that girl. I read on how i "loved" and was so "heartbroken" on some 3 year relationship that honestly was so freaking toxic. That BOY did not love me. He didn't care for me and i would cry in agony in pain. I was so sad and depressed. i felt like he was my everything. I'm shedding tears in this moment because I am just so sad and want to hug my old self. Younger me didn't deserve any of that - and i know back then my friends would tell me he wasn't good, or a good influence for me. When you're young and "in love" y7ou don't see any of that Even if you do, you wont admit it or try and turn away from it because you see the "good". Just because you see some good, doesn't mean they are good for you.

I wish i could go back and hug my younger self. I wish i could keep those razors away from me. I wish i could sit and listen to my younger self. I wish i could let her know of all the greatness that is so come to her life 5-10 years ahead. I wish I could stop her from popping pills to get high and escape and knock out. I wish i could stop her for trying to overdose and attempt suicide on July 12th 2013. I felt like my world was crashing around me. I had no care or motivation for my high school education, i was having so many family problems, i got re-triggered from sexual abuser and the only thing that i felt like i had control over was cheating on me and leaving me. I'm sure i wasnt perfect either- i mean i was probably ALOT of baggage for someone too. But i was only just a girl. A troubled teen. I didn't want to live like that, but my mind was so twisted i began to believe it. I started to believe that i "deserved" to be treated this way and felt the things i had felt. I was broken.

There is a lot of things i wish i could have done but there is nothing i could do on that now. Although things eventually got better.. in a way they had to get worse. I was proud of myself because i stopped self harming myself with cutting- but i went on a very dark and sad road of other forms of self harm. Pills were a big part of that and other self harms that i wont say because to this day- 10 years later im ashamed i stooped down to that level. But i didn't love myself.

It sucks to say but my "love" back then really fucked me up. For months and for years- i had yearned for this hope of us working things out and getting back together. I laugh at it now because he is NOTHING to me anymore. I'm so happy that i overcame that part of my life. That's where my now husband comes in- he was a light for my dark life. Man, i gotta give it to him, he dealt with a lot of my trauma and helped me. I had to learn to actually talk through my feelings vs running to tumblr and just drowning in my pain and thoughts and subminally posting about it and hoping for the best. I had to learn to grow up, be a big girl. Tackle what's bothering me. It wasn't easy, but i got through it. Eventually forgetting all tumblr and my old bad habits.

In the past 10 years, i have gotten over what i would consider a Pill Problem, getting high, working hard on my mental health, getting rid of my Panic Attacks, processing my sexual & broken relationship trauma. I moved out of my shitty home town, i got a new job, new apartment and 2 amazing doggies and a great husband.

10 years later, i am the happiest i have ever been. I just wish i could go back and let my younger self know that the pain won't last forever. I would overcome any and all obstacles that would come along my way. Most of all, i just wished to have just held her- because what she needed was to feel love.

[inbabylontheywept]

Kevin vs. Intro to Quantum

Our first suspicion of Kevin was that he had, somehow, cheated his way up to this course. He just seemed perpetually confused, and strangely antagonistic of the professor. The weirdest example of this was when he asked what an ion was (in a third year class?), and was informed that it referred to any positively or negatively charged particle. It would have been strange enough to ask that in a senior level electrical engineering course, but his reply of "Either? That doesn't sound right" sealed him in as a well known character in the class of 19 people.

The real tipping point in our perception of him was during a lecture where the professor mentioned practical uses for a neutron beam, and Kevin asked if a beam could be made out of some other neutral material. When asked "Like what?", he replied "An atom with all of its electrons removed." When we pointed out that the protons would make that abomination extremely positively charged, he just replied with "So what if we removed those too?" and then was baffled when we informed him that would just be neutrons.

That's high school level chemistry. Not knowing it was so incredibly strange that I felt like something was off, so I waited until after class and asked him if he'd like to grab lunch. He accepted, we chatted, and I finally began to get a sense of his origin story.

See, Kevin wasn't a junior/senior year electrical engineer like the rest of us. Kevin was, in fact, three notable things: A business major, a sophomore, and a hardcore Catholic. All three of those are essential to understanding his scenario.

What had begun all of this was actually a conflict with Kevin and his roommate. Kevin frequently had his fundamental belief in Absolute Good, Absolute Bad, and Absolute Anything pushed back on by his roommate, who was in STEM. Said roommate kept invoking quantum mechanics as his proof against Absolute Knowledge. Kevin had gotten tired of having something that he didn't understand thrown at his beliefs, so he decided to take a quantum course to settle things once and for all.

Despite not having any of the pre-reqs.

He'd actually tried to take quantum for physicists first, but the school's physics department wouldn't let him. It's actually pretty strictly regulated, because it is a mandatory class for physics majors, so they limit who enters in order to make sure all the future physicists can grab a seat. However, because the engineering department's introductory quantum course is not mandatory, there aren't really any built in requirements for the class. It's just assumed that nobody would actually try to take it until their at least third year because doing so would the be the mental equivalent to slamming your nuts in the door. Just, pure suffering for no good reason.

Apparently, the counselors had tried to talk him out of it, but if Kevin was one thing, it was stubborn. He'd actually had to sign some papers basically saying "I was warned that this is incredibly stupid, but I refused to listen" in order to take the class.

He was actually pretty nice, if currently unaware of how bad he'd just fucked up. I paid for the lunch, wished him the best in the class, and reported back to the discord me and about eight other people in the class had been using. We'd all been curious about this guy's story, but now that I had the truth, I could share it with the world.

Feelings were mixed. Some people thought he was going to drop out any minute now. Others thought that he wouldn't, be also that convincing him to drop now, while he still could, was the only ethical thing. Others figured that a policy of non-interference was best. The counselors couldn't dissuade him, and if we tried to do the same, he'd probably just think it was STEM elitism trying to guard its little clubhouse. He'd figure out how hard things were, or he'd fail. Either way, it would help him learn more about the world.

We wound up taking the approach of non-interference. If nothing else, understanding his origins gave us more patience when he asked bizarre questions. He wasn't trying to waste our time, he was just trying to cram three years of pre-reqs into a one semester course. He did get a little bit combative sometimes, and we could tell that he was really wracking his brain to try and find some sort of contradiction or error that he could use to bring the whole thing down, but he never could. He just didn't understand it well enough to have a chance at poking holes in it.

First test came by, and he bombed it. Completely unprepared. He'd taken Calculus I, but he didn't know how to do integrals yet. Worse, he was far past the drop date. I imagine most people in his shoes would've stopped struggling. They'd realize they were fucked and just let themselves fail, at least salvaging their other classes grades in the process. Why waste resources on an unwinnable battle?

Kevin didn't ask questions like that. If he was stupid enough to try it, he was gonna be stupid enough to finish it. God bless him.

He invited me to lunch after the test and said that the class was more fascinating than he'd ever imagined, but he didn't know if he'd be able to pass it. He asked if I could help, and I said "Maybe." I brought the request to the discord, and from the eight people I got three volunteers who admired this dork's tenacity. He was in over his head, miles over his head, but we admired his fighting spirit and were willing to bust our asses to see if we could get this guy to pass the class.

Some of the stuff was just extra homework we gave to the guy. We told him he needed to learn integrals, stat. We sent him some copies of basic software that can be used to teach the basics of linear circuit equations, and he practiced that game like it was HALO. Just, hours sunk into it.

We were very impressed.

He was still scrabbling for air at just the surface level of the class, but he'd gone from abysmal failure to lingering on the boundary between life and death. Other people in the class started to learn about Kevin's origin story, and our little circle of four volunteer tutors grew to six. Every day, he had someone trying to help him either catch up in some way, or finish that week's homework. He'd gone from being seen as a nuisance that wasted class time to the underdog mascot.

He was getting twelve hours of personal tutoring a week, on top of three hours of classes, on top of six hours of office hours, on top of the coursework. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this kid was doing 40 hours a week just trying to pass this one single class.

Second test comes around and he gets a 60. He's ecstatic. We're ecstatic. Kid's too young to take out drinking so we just order a pizza and cheer like he just won gold at the Olympics.

After that second test, things hit another tipping point. With so much catch-up under his belt, he was able to focus a lot more on the actual material for the class. A borderline cinematic moment happened when I was trying to get ahead on the homework so that I could put more hours in on my senior project. Nobody else had finished it yet because it wasn't due for another week, nobody else knew how to do it, and when I went to the professor's office hours, Kevin was there. The professor was trying to help me, but I was still struggling. After leaving the office, I got a text from Kevin asking me to hop onto zoom.

Kevin had finished it earlier, because Kevin starts all of his homework the moment its assigned in order to make sure that he can get it done. He'd finished it the day before, and was able to walk me through it.

From student, to teacher. I'm not exaggerating when I say that he probably saved me eight hours on that assignment. I could've kissed him.

Final comes around. As soon as we're done, we six ask Kevin how he did. He's nervous, there's so much new material for him in this class that his retention hasn't been great. Us six are also a little stressed: We're going to pass the class, but the final was hard.

We wait.

We wait.

We wait.

Table with final scores, and overall scores is posted, curve included. From our class of 19 people, 4 withdrew within the deadline, 4 failed, 1 got a C, 8 got B's, and 2 got A's. We can see that the curve for a C is set at 59.2% overall.

We call Kevin. He's crying. End score, 59.2%. Teacher curved the C just to him.

It's a week into winter break so we can't gather the forces around for a party like last time, but we're all losing our shit. Kevin's losing his shit. He can't believe how stupid he was to try this course, he can't believe that six people busted their ass just to make sure he didn't die, and he can't believe that the professor basically just passed him out of effort alone.

He says it's the stupidest thing he's ever done, and while I doubt that, it was outrageously stupid. And yet, I've never been so invested in a fellow student before. I'm prouder of Kevin's C than I am of my own B. I walked on sunshine for weeks after getting the news. I still think about him sometimes. It's been two years, and I still google him, just to see that he's doing well. And he is. Man's a machine. I like to think of how many people this little pinball has bounced off in his life, how many impressions he's made.

I can't be the only person cheering for him. There must be an army of us, proudly watching babybird fly.

[colinlegameboy]

Yammering About Star Wars: Dark Forces Fanmade Levels

It's only been 4, nearly 5 months into the year, but I already know that Star Wars Dark Forces Remastered is my GOTY. I don't care that it's just the same game with a couple tweaks. I have been madly in love with this game since childhood, and the ability to play it in a way I can stomach (controller support) has only made me love it more.

However... There's only so many levels in this game. And the replay value barely exists.

Very few games make me yearn for their gameplay. In fact, I can only count two- The Kingdom Hearts series, and Dark Forces. Thing is, KH still technically has a couple games I've never beaten (the DS ones). Dark Forces... It's one game, with a set amount of levels.

That is, a set amount of levels made by the devs.

For you see, when I was a child and obsessed with the game, I discovered the magical land of fanmade levels. I would ask my dad to download them for me all the time, although because I was babby I just used cheats and barely beat any of them. But just playing the game was enough for me.

Now, since I'm an adult and can do what I want, I can just go download aaaaaall the levels. But... There's a slight caveat. None of them work with the Remastered version by Nightdive.

Turns out they don't have to.

Completely separate from Nightdive's remaster, it turns out that a couple years ago, a fanmade remaster engine entered 1.0. This was The Force Engine, made by a lot of the same people who ran the website I got levels off of as a kid, DF-21. And it has controller support. And quicksaves, which the remaster doesn't have. Honestly the only thing the remaster has over Force Engine is the weapon wheel- They didn't seem to be able to properly translate the original's camera movement to the right stick, whereas Force Engine feels a lot more modern. Of course, since the game was made in a specific way, it does mean that you can pan the camera a bit too much, leading to flying enemies like Probe Droids turning into thin cardboard cutouts if they're directly above you. If anything that probably is why Nightdive didn't let you have full camera control- Official releases can't allow that sort of thing, I get it.

Anyway, another perk that the Force Engine has over the Nightdive remaster is the ability to use and play mods. There's a set of levels on DF-21 that specifically were tested in Force Engine, namely a bunch of iconic ones from way back then. Every level that had a consistent rating of 4-5 stars is tested and approved.

Now, I want to stress that I don't regret spending money on Nightdive's remaster. If that turns into a success, the chance is very high that Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and its expansion pack Mysteries of the Sith will also get a remaster. And that game does not have an equivalent to Force Engine, unfortunately. I'm really hoping Nightdive is allowed to tackle those games. Hell, with how archaic they are, it might turn into a full on remake.

Either way, I am extremely happy that I now have more Dark Forces to play. Unfortunately I am nearing the end of the available levels. I kinda hope that either the modding scene ramps up again, or someone is just straight up able to start modding for the remaster. We'll just have to see.

[flameontheotherside]

I can't anymore...

Maybe it's postpartum depression. Idk...Rick and I talked about our relationship. It doesn't seem like we are engaged anymore. For 1) We are both on disability and if we get married, because he's on SSI he loses his benefits. 2) It feels like I'm pushing for something just for the sake of having it because I lost my chance with Erik.

It feels pointless. Our relationship to us feels like we are just together because we don't want to be alone. Rick wanted me from the day we met, almost a year after Erik's death. At that time I didn't want a serious relationship, drinking an partying was more important to me as means of escaping my grief, and I didn't really like Rick. He was a different person and so was I.

I gave him a chance ten years later

...Or I gave myself a chance. My relationships since Erik's death were never based on love. I took a logical stand point in relationships; for security, because at the time we matched and got along, and because I saw it as the only way to forget and move on from Erik. It wasn't just Erik's death that screwed me. It was every relationship I had before. Men either didn't reciprocate, or I was rejected or cheated on in a fucked up way. From being dumped on my birthday to David being the worst. Basically a predator who saw me as high school bait, and disappeared after he visited me from Texas.

Erik's death was just basically the nail on my emotional coffin. I thought I loved Matt but I didn't. With him it was trauma bonding. But then he hurt me pretty bad too in the same ways most men did. He would act like he didn't know me around certain people and used me to get back to Texas only to ditch me several times in the middle of nowhere. Before Matt died he admitted to being an asshole and I agreed that he was but I've not forgiven him. I don't know if I care enough to. My only faults with Matt was that I constantly compared him with Erik and caring too much about him allowing him to use me in the end.

So I gave Rick a shot after being fucked over so much only to realize after 3 years our relationship has suffered mostly because of the fucked up things that happened to me. I haven't talked about it. It goes beyond Erik although he's still part of it but a big chunk is the overall emotional abuse I suffered while looking for Erik. Long distance relationships still can hurt and they did more than the ones I had locally because in those long distance relationships, on a subconscious level I thought I had found Erik at one point or another with the time ticking all the way to spring of 2009 with the constant gut feeling that something was going to happen if I didn't find him. Sure enough that spring a psychic confirmed by saying that there was nothing I could have done. Those words often said when you find out someone killed the selves. I cried so much that day.

There's no logical reason to be engaged.

We have a kid. It doesn't mean we have to get married but we're remaining together. We remain dating on technicality. My heart isn't anywhere anymore. It left so long ago that I just can't give anymore. I've been sucked completely dry. Rick loves me but I can't love him the same way he loves me. He doesn't seem to care but I told him that it's unfair to him. He still doesn't care. Idk what Rick sees in me or what he expects.

I don't regret having a kid with him. There's no doubt he's a good father. I always knew he'd be. I wouldn't have it any other way besides the sort of obvious. I can't force myself to have what I missed out on. Maybe I'm meant to be this way; alone while everyone else is married to their person and living the lives I'll never have because mine is dead.

[prettytanuki]

Kage no Jitsuryokusha Episode 14

Today is the day we watch. (spoilers below)

Last episode ended in a really badass looking eye cliffhanger, I wonder what sort of insanely cool spell that will unleash this week!

Oh... okay. That's the unsexiest neck kiss I've ever seen.

Effective, nevertheless. After all few would expect the "chest to the blade" technique.

It's called 4D chess, look it up.

You did it, Shinji!

This is the second time I've seen this sort of bullshit villain OP asspull happening. The first was in Shinchou Yuusha (Cautious Hero).

Well, in Cautious Hero it doesn't work because the hero is Cautious enough to prepare for whatever happens 9 steps in the future.

Here it doesn't work because 9 steps in the future Shadow-sama is predetermined to win. How or why doesn't matter. It's an established fact before the fight even starts.

(I don't want Tumblr to ban me so no image lol)

DO YOU THINK ANIME CAMERA ANGLES ARE WEIRD SOMETIMES????????????

Low-level small fry: what artifact is that? High-level rounds: IS THAT SLIME??????

I like that they just throw in these extremely cliched phrases all the time and they know it's just a throwaway cliched phrase so they don't even bother spending two seconds on it just "that's not possible for any human being" and "IMPOSSIBLE! That should have killed you, how are you still alive?" and

It's plot armor's offensive alternative: the plot sword.

Oh yeah, he's gonna do it!

Venomoth?

What, it's a different spell??

No, it's the same one.

He just loves this, doesn't he.

I hate it when they do this sort of scene where a character is disappearing and starts saying something that gets quieter and quieter until only the other character can hear their whisper and the audience isn't allowed to know what they said like it ends in 私を so uh she wants he to do something to her I guess until some episode later something happens and there's a flashback to this scene and she whispers the whole sentence and reveals all the secrets and viewers like me are supposed to be like "OOooooohhhh so that's what she said!"

OH MY GOD HE DIDN'T HEAR IT EITHER!!!!

I hoard all completely useless items I come across in JRPGs and this dude just... vaporizes the key quest item like it's nothing.

Speedrunners, man...

Hahahahahehohofuuhfuhfufhhfoahfoadhfiaçfqp834rhphdfiadfçakn.,fv.xcv.xcvnv

Shall I report my taxes? No need. The gov knows everything.

Shall I confess my sins? No need. The God knows everything.

So many isekai anime about having a "cheat" skill and this is the first one that sounds realistic: moderate knowledge about scientific breakthroughs in a pre-scientific method world.

In fact Shadow doesn't just have a cheat skill, Shadow is the giver of cheat skills considering all the knowledge he "seeded" in his Shadow Garden.

This is the moment you notice Shadow is really just a foster parent for a family of orphans used as test subjects by an evil organization.

And he's the chill parent who is always like "if you want to do that, do it. That's totally fine!"

Delta looks so funny jumping away!

ドＭ = masochistic. ケツ = ass. ハット = hat.

The naming sense of this series is brutal.

I see, so basically because she won the sword tournament or whatever was it called she thinks she's the strongest swordwoman in the world so when she saw Alpha's sword technique, which was in another dimension, she didn't even register that as being a sword technique but an artifact because otherwise she would have to admit she's weaker and she can't have that (Shadow's atomic isn't even a sword technique, I mean come on she does a thing with a sword but that's just for the aesthetic it's pure magic but they're mage knights so technically it's part of the job but

Anyway this is setting it up for her aspirations to be shattered and her turning evil. I completely forgot about it but Shadow also murdered a girl's dad some episodes ago so I don't think all characters (who by coincidence almost all happen to be female) will end up liking him you'll also have some antagonists (who happen to be almost all female by coincidence) too.

At first I thought this was some whip sound related to masochistic asshat but thinking about it again IT'S THAT SOUND OF A TOWEL SLAPPING CID TAUGHT SHOWED HER WITH THE EXCALIBUR ISN'T IT??????

Oh no, drills is too close to becoming more powerful than a human being is allowed to be! Thus her body suddenly got infected by something probably. I wonder if that's the thing that transforms them into Mitties and Shadow is going to save her and she'll become part of the Shadow Garden.

Also who is Omega. Omega sounds really cool as a letter. Hope there's an Omega.

[ritahayworrth]

i miss pet society