#i was honestly a little terrified that my interest in the gameplay would just like... not exist fsr

[fearandhungies]

WE'RE SOOOOOOO BACK

[sharkylass]

YOU I LIKE YOU @faislittlewhiteraven These questions are a little hard to answer with doodles but I tried my best- Nil generally has a pretty heroic and brave personality overall. She's loud and brash and ready to jump into things super quickly.

She's not the best with words, but she is very reliable overall

More art and writing under cut, it's just a long post man-

In terms of helping about during travels, she likes doing a lot of heavy labor jobs- She's the type to fix broken fences, gather supplies for folks, carry stuff around, tend to crops or lend a help wrangling animals. Nil wouldn't be great at things like sorting and organizing tho- Just tell her what you need and where to put it and she will! I mentioned she's not really the best with words (she is very emotionally intelligent just sometimes struggles to communicate stuff), HOWEVER, With folks that have been frozen she connects with a lot. How it's scary that you've been frozen for so long when your entire belief is to change and evolve, how (if Mal Du Pays is anything to go by) they had to fight their own demons in there, how everything can change so easily without you even noticing- It's terrifying to think about.

Actually- a while ago I made battle sprites with Nil- I wasn't happy with them so I never shared them BUT

Specifically I wanted to contrast her frozen sprite with everyone else's- Cause if she were to SOMEHOW be frozen again, knowing what it feels like, what could happen while she's out- It would TERRIFY her instantly. Not just a mild shock or surprise, it would stick with her for a while-

Speaking of battles tho-

Nil is super brash and lively as a whole. She puts up a brave face for a LOT of things, including fighting. She jumps in without really thinking, and as long as it goes their way, she'd have a smile on her face doing it.

However, while brave, it does come from both a place of coping and naivety. She's not used to genuine fighting, in fight or flight situations she actually tends to flee. (Which is why honestly, if she had to fight the King I don't think she could do it-)

If a battle were to start going south, she'd actually start to panic more then anyone else- Physical wounds and seeing the people she loves hurt would lower her accuracy and general capabilities, despite the brave face she puts on.

And due to her lack of experience, especially in bigger groups- Nil tends to... miscalculate sometimes

She had to learn the hard way not to just jump at any opportunity she sees. The party can see where Bonnie got it from (also after the battle Nille proceeded to heal Sif, profusely apologizing, I forgot to doodle that whoops-) (Also gameplay wise, imagine every second turn she does an action of her own without your command)

Also just the Sif image by itself cause I liked it :]

As for chores and stuff-

She does foraging and stuff! Honestly I don't think the other 5 would have done so before they traveled together.

Mira would have most DEFINITELY learned about it but didn't feel confident in her abilities. Bonnie will grab stuff they think is edible from what they remember Nille telling them and they'd grab a stick to cook. Odile would not be interested and would prefer buying the ingredients rather then wild scavenging. Isa doesn't read to me as a biology student, I see him more of a math history type of guy, so either he doesn't know, or him and Mira did it occasionally together, but only as a last resort type of deal (maybe when it was just the two of them and they had to manage alone) And Sif in my mind is an accident prone goober who'd forget which ones are edible and which ones aren't so I wouldn't trust him personally.

SO! LONG STORY SHORT! I don't think any of them are really experienced with foraging. And as a means to make money management easier- I imagine Nil (nature being a passion of sorts to her) took up the mantle! Probably taught the rest how to do it too!

That's it when it comes to stuff specific to her- Other then that she's kind of ready to help out with anything! She can help set up tends, do odd jobs for money, help cook if for WHATEVER reason Bonnie wanted her to or wanted to do something else in that time, bring water, wood, fish, help with weapons- She's not the best at those things, but if anyone needs a hand to be lent- she is there!

I'll be entirely honest, I don't think I understand your last question- But I do wanna say that Nil and Isa become like. Best buds real quick. He is the first one she instantly trusts, since she rivals with Mira, is prickly with Odile and Sif is someone she wants to help rather then ask for help. So if she needs someone to turn to, or needs a partner in crime- Nil would turn to Isa And now I just imagined Mira and Nil bonding over how to grow plants. Cause Mira tried REALLY REALLY HARD and couldn't do it, so Nille would actually love to give some tips- Imagine Mira genuinely walking up to her with a little alive plant with a proud glint in her eyes and have Nil fully support her- Honestly I could keep going for forever, I have so many thoughts on her and her dynamic with everyone- Bro I even have nicknames, you don't even know-

BUT I'M GONNA CUT IT HERE, HAVE FUN, I'VE BROUGHT SOME FOOD FOR NOW-

[kanerallels]

Okay here are my many, many thoughts on Jedi Survivor. I'll keep the spoilers beneath the cut, so all who venture forward have been warned!

The way the game started out was so fun!! The stealth heist! The crew members Cal was teaming up with! Being on CORUSCANT of all places!

I really, really love the gameplay over all. It felt like they took the last game and just improved these tiny little details that I remember from the first one. Tiny things that would seem stupid but also made the game play that much smoother!

KOBOH MY BELOVED IT'S SO MASSIVE SO BEAUTIFUL SO GORGEOUS I LOVE IT THERE VERY VERY MUCH

Also I don't know who decided we should get Fast Travel but I would die for them

I'll probably make a separate post about this, but Cal introduced BD-1 to almost everyone he met-- ALMOST. Not Dagan, and not a couple other people that it was clear he didn't trust. And I for one LOVE that detail

Jedha was so fun other than the fact that I almost died every fifteen seconds

CERE!!!!!!!!! AND MASTER CORDOVA!!!!! WORKING TOGETHER!!!!! WITH THE HIDDEN PATH!!!!!

The Merrical was *chef's kiss* absolutely amazing. They are so April and Andy from Parks and Rec I love them

As a fan of the High Republic books, I thought the Nihil references, along with Dagan Gera and Santari Khri, were pretty neat! He was a fun villain to fight

I really really loved... pretty much all the Greez content? How happy he was to see Cal, and the fact that he had a room set aside for him, and the fact that he ventured back out into the fight just to keep Cal safe. I was mostly neutral on him during JFO, but Battle Scars made me really, really love him, and this game definitely built on that! Also I love that he named his saloon after his grandma (I think?)

Rayvis was an interesting villain! I liked him a lot, especially the final battle with him. They did a good job developing his character

Speaking of villains... I do be feeling some emotions about Cal's fight with Masana Tide. I'm a redemption arc girlie at heart, what can I say? But I see why they did what they did

RICK THE DOOR TECHNICIAN MY BELOVED

THE PONCHO!!!!!!!! THERE WAS A PONCHO!!!!!! I GOT TO WEAR MY BOSS BATTLE OUTFIT TO THE FINAL FIGHT!!!!! IT WAS AMAZING

That one scene where the whole crew was at the campfire together and for like five minutes it felt like everything was going to be okay warmed my heart so much

Yeah I don't remember what happened after that (obvious lie)

I like the new open world features, and the bounties you get to hunt, and the customization and stuff! And those Force tear things are terrifying, but I've completed two of them, and plan to do more as time goes on!

Kriff. Okay I gotta talk about the Horrors at some point. Thanks to my lack of self control, I'd seen some spoilers and knew that Bode was gonna betray us. I didn't know about Cordova (sad) and I didn't know about Bode's secret (SO MUCH SHOCK THAT WAS AN AMAZING PLOT TWIST)

I will say, Cere's final battle against Vader was SO FREAKING COOL IT WAS AWESOME PLAYING AS HER

I also love the fact she set Vader on fire. It's ironic

AULSDKFJLSDKJFLSDKJFLSDKJF AND HER LAST WORDS REALLY JUST SHOT ME IN THE CHEST I'M FINE OKAY I'M FINE (more lies)

Uhhh the Tanalorr plot line was pretty cool! I like the idea of there being somewhere safe from the Empire, to prevent Cal from being killed for plot convinience

Bode's betrayal... yeah I'm not gonna talk about that. I'm not ready, and honestly I have an objectively awful take on the whole situation that no one will like

OKAY THE SCENE WHERE BD-1 REUNITED WITH CAL AFTER HE CHASED AFTER BODE AND JUST LAUNCHED HIMSELF INTO CAL'S ARMS I DON'T THINK ENOUGH OF YOU GUYS KNOW THAT I WOULD DIE FOR THIS DROID

The part where BD-1 was going to scan the trontoshell, and Cal called him BD and THEN BD-1 like he was his mom, full naming him into safety. I love it so much

OH ALSO BD AND KATA'S DYNAMIC IS SO HECKING CUTE

(can you tell I love BD-1?)

I also really, really loved Merrin's entrance. Ten out of ten, the only thing I would change is that Cal should have immediately proposed

Oh! And Merrin and Kata's relationship is so fun I really really like it

Ummm yeah I think I've addressed everything there is to talk about (the most obvious lie yet) so yeah! The brainrot is still strong with me so I might end up posting some screenshots and more thoughts later on!

[lamarckianenterprises]

The Zombies (Teaser)

As previously mentioned I think in general pop culture is a little burned out on zombies as the slow, shambling, groaning and borderline invincible threats they were originally envisioned as.

Except I think a lot of works try to solve this the wrong way? In 28 days later the zombies are just fast for some reason but still as aggressive and borderline invincible, the apocalypse guide movie zombies are boneless ants apparently, the walking dead just sorta doesn’t bother, and a lot of video games lean towards the supernatural and superpowered angle too much out of a desire to like, have gameplay variance, and let us not mention the crossed and other works with what are effectively some form of ‘smart’ zombies, usually to make some sort of contrived ‘humans are the real monsters’ message.

I think the core of what makes zombies still terrifying now is their inevitability, they’re terrifying the same way untreated rabies is terrifying now, and always was before we learned to make vaccines against it. It’s not the bare naked aggression, or the whole untapped prowess of a human body turned into nothing but the act of consumption and spreading of the disease, it’s just. If you get bit and it doesn’t get treated you die, your body moves, you might still have some sense of rationality or sense underneath the violent white knuckle insanity, but that body isn’t yours, your actions aren’t your own, no matter who you used to be before the infection, no matter your accolades or intelligence, once infected you are just another snarling beast rushing towards the nearest warm potential carrier body to tear into with your teeth and claws.

I think that’s what’s terrifying, the complete destruction of someone’s individuality and freewill, not the fact that a zombie can kill you painfully, any sufficiently advanced animal can do that, some while already dead too! But the knowledge that one careless moment can lead to you inevitably succumbing and attempting to kill your loved ones in the most base and barbaric method possible regardless of what you think about it is what would keep me up at night if zombies existed.

And besides, real life has informed me that I don’t need to make zombies bullshit perpetual motion machines to meaningfully damage or traumatize society, and honestly I never really liked that aspect of zombie apocalypse fiction. Everyone just has to be braindead even before they get bit and the zombies just have complete immunity against all forms of decay or cessation for anything interesting to happen after a few months pass apparently, even that semi realistic survival guide book just has a constant stream of defrosting popsicle zombies after the worst has passed to ensure that the threat is perpetual or something.

Look I’m just saying, humanity was given a chance to eradicate a novel new strain of respiratory disease that can even spread into the brain and we let it become endemic (despite apparently eradicating an extremely common strain of flu in the USA to the point where it’s getting removed from flu shot rotation potentially in perpetuity now) because we collectively couldn’t be bothered to stay inside even if it meant making the line a frowny face for a little while, or even just, getting a jab as the baseline. If Super Rabies or some other form of zombie virus manifests into the world I don’t think the world would end, I just think that I’d be trapped inside of my house for another two years while the government talks about food rations and plank allocations until the vaccine arrives for no one to bother getting it ever and I’ll just be expected to grin and bear it and laugh while another nursing home or preschool turns into a slaughterhouse today because the guy who has 100 billion wants 101..

[defiantbird]

Aight I finished Azure Gleam. Here are some disorganized thoughts.

TL;DR it was ok. Best part was the character interactions, gameplay and storyline were meh.

It wasn't terrible. I was glad to find that it was more "what if this other stuff happened instead?" instead of "what if they never met Byleth?"

I don't love the gameplay. It's alright but it got pretty tedious, though admittedly I think I leveled too fast and things got too easy or something.

The story was underwhelming. As much as it was nice to see everyone get good things, it just wasn't compelling. It's great that Dimitri got revenge and never had a feral stage, but it didn't actually feel resolved at all. What made AM compelling was how he had to learn that revenge wasn't going to heal him, and that he would be wrestling with his mental illness forever. The moment at the end where he tells Byleth that he's going to visit his loved ones graves for the first time in years? So good! It's him saying that recovery is a process and he can grieve his loved ones instead of being terrified of their judgement! So like...great that he got answers in Hopes but I don't feel like he actually got better?

Shez was equally meh. She felt like a generic protagonist, almost annoyingly plucky. I just didn't get attached to her at all.

As mentioned, the character interactions were the best. It was nice to see the Faerghus 4 really addressing their trauma together, along with Dedue. It was awesome seeing Duscur soldiers in camp and being able to talk to them and get their perspective a little.

I was expecting more of Sothis. She was there for a bit and seemed to have strong feelings on things, but we never got more of an explanation of her knowledge of Epimenides. Also, when you defeat Thales, Rhea speaks about cleansing the world herself...I'm guessing she has similar beef with humans but plans to fix it more through control than through destruction? Or is she talking specifically about Agarthans? Idk still a lot of questions on all of that.

I'm interpreting Edelgard's behavior as like...having reverted to her child-self. It was really interesting but I wish they delved more into it. It honestly seemed strange that when she seemed to remember Dimitri, he just decided to walk away and not deal with it. I feel like he's cared about that a lot and he gave up on it really quick in the name of forgetting the past.

Other thoughts aside from things I've already expressed elsewhere-

- Byleth my beloved. Her interactions with Jeralt were my fave part of the game.

- Jeralt just being like "Yeah Byleth's weird. She's my world tho. If I die try to be her friend aight?"

- So much Faerghus lore, with the more casual stuff being most enjoyable, like Rodrigue talking about how people get super competitive in snowball fights.

- More Glenn characterization ❤️ His letter was everything I've wanted about him.

- Child: Did you see that big funny knight who's carrying entire carts of stuff?

Yuri:...oh my fucking god Dimitri are you serious

- Felix has a cat now it's canon

- Also canonized: Dimitri falling asleep facedown on his paperwork and people having heart attacks thinking he's dead

- Shez: Let's relax in the woods!

Dimitri: Haha someone could easily jump out and stab me in the back 😬

Anyway, idk if I'm gonna play the other routes after a break or just watch them at some point.

- Are we serious with Jeralt being like "you might have been a student or Garreg Mach...cause it's not like you're qualified to be a teacher lol" and Byleth like "hmmm"

- Ngl, I felt like Sylvain was stripped of a lot of his character. Again, this was long the lines of "glad everyone is happy but now there's no conflict"

[mewtonian-physics]

An Honest Review of Nancy Drew: Secret of the Scarlet Hand

Spoilers under the cut!

Hi! Penny (not that one) here with the next installment of my Nancy Drew game reviews!

In case you haven’t seen the previous reviews, a quick overview of how I’ll be doing this:

I’m going to include several different factors in my review of each game. First, the plot; obvious enough. The plot is, after all, the driving force behind the game. I’ll also be talking about what I think of the characters, as well as how fun it is to play/replay, and the general atmosphere/setting of the game too. And, of course, I’ll talk about my opinions of the music. I’m not going to be doing any ratings or anything like that, no numbers will be coming into these reviews; I’m just going to say my honest thoughts. (Even when they are not nice thoughts.)

Please remember that these reviews will be my entirely subjective opinions! If you disagree with me on any points, that’s absolutely your prerogative, and in fact, I’d love to discuss it with you and hear some perspectives aside from my own. These reviews are not meant to hurt or invalidate anyone’s feelings, but only to put forth my own.

So without further ado, my review of Secret of the Scarlet Hand!

Plot

Honestly, the plot for this one feels pretty convoluted. Nancy goes to work at Beech Hill Museum for a while, but pretty much right after she gets there (naturally) a priceless artifact is stolen, and a mysterious red handprint is left in its place! So Nancy has to... do... chores. And try to find out who took it. But mostly do chores. They throw a couple plot twists in along the way (such as the thief stealing from another thief), but there’s honestly very little I can think of about this game except the chores. That’s how much you have to do.

Characters

The cast for this one ranges from good to lifeless. Joanna Riggs is... well, she’s boring and unhelpful. Henrik van der Hune is an improvement, and his amnesiac spell during the latter portion of the game makes things more interesting, but also please Henrik I am begging you to wear some clothes that aren’t exactly the same color as your skin. Alejandro del Rio is pretty great--he’s outspoken about cultural appropriation and artifact theft, and also talking to him is just fun. Taylor Sinclair is... very over-the-top, there’s not much else I can say about him. He’s definitely entertaining. 

Meanwhile, this game also introduces two iconic recurring characters for the first time: Prudence Rutherford, who will go on to appear again in Danger by Design and The Phantom of Venice, and Sonny Joon, who will just appear in a lot. We don’t get to talk much to Prudence, and as in most games, Sonny’s presence is limited to his notes and doodles, but the entertainment value there is still sky-high.

Also, I like the guy from Keep it Real Restoration. Hope he knows I think he’s one of the best characters in this game.

Gameplay

UGH. I hate to be this negative, but the gameplay for this one is infuriating. Having to run back and forth to take notes and do chores and figure out when you can talk to Henrik and literally all of the other pointless repetitive nonsense it makes you do really dampens the fun. I hardly ever replay this game just because it’s way too much of a hassle. I think the developers were too focused on making it educational to remember to also make it fun.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is pretty good for what it is! It doesn’t really feel like I’m in a museum that has the kind of money to get that monolith, though. Too small. But the temple exhibit would be so fun to do in real life. Also, every time I went out the back I felt like someone was going to sneak up on me from behind. And then someone did. 

The ending is one of the most terrifying ones in the series, for me at least. Unfortunately, the mood is immediately shattered by escaping the monolith only to see the rest of the cast standing there ready to recite a ridiculous poem instead of actually trying anything to help get you out.

Music

This one isn’t bad, per se, but most of the tracks just aren’t that memorable to me. Actually, most of them are quite nice to listen to (I love ‘Exotic’, ‘Monolith’, and ‘Pacal’ in particular), but they just don’t stick. There are a lot of these games that have soundtracks that are so memorable that you can just say the name of one and I’ll instantly know the one you’re talking about, but with this game I don’t even remember most of the music unless I’m listening to it. So like I said, it’s not bad, but it is kind of disappointing.

Conclusion

...Yeah, this one isn’t one of my favorites. Or even high on my list. It’s worth playing at least once, if only for Prudence and Sonny, but it’s not one I come back to very much. A little less running around doing chores, a little more actual sleuthing, please!

See you next time, when I review game #7: Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake!

[jade-marie]

Another comment by the same reddit user. I honestly love her because she articulates my feelings in a way I just don’t have the energy to, right now. I’ve been saying this since the season started, but the big reason why I just can’t find myself enjoying the current Brio interactions is because they still haven’t dealt with the shooting and so the gameplaying just feels fucked up, in a different way. So this isn’t about me liking or disliking Rio, it’s just, I don’t like the writing choices surrounding his character at the moment or the intention behind them. 

All of the stuff from S2 is stuff that I was around to discuss when it was happening, and yes, it was a game for both of them. I always felt that Beth saw Rio as a bad boy fantasy and not as an actual person, and any time he did something that went against her fantasy that he was completely smitten with her, she punished him for it (getting him arrested, the pills, shooting him...). I think Rio always knew that and played along to an extent, but he also started to genuinely care in spite of himself... and then she treated him like a prostitute. Once she made it clear things were really over by shooting him, he was done playing along.

Part of what he's doing now is throwing her fantasy back in her face by behaving almost as if nothing has happened, but there's an edge to it because they both know she shot him. He's basically making fun of her and going, "What, you don't think this is sexy? You would have thought so a few months ago. What happened? Oh right, you shot me and left me for dead."

I don't think Beth understands what he's doing, though, which is where it becomes creepy for me. As a viewer, I think he has zero genuine sexual interest in her at this point and isn't really even enjoying his own games, he's just still angry and he's doing whatever he thinks will keep her off-balance and easy to manipulate. But even if I do think there's a line he won't cross when it comes to sexual violence, she doesn't know that (and really neither do we), so I still find him using their sexual history to destabilize her to be icky. Men making women feel uncomfortable in sexually charged situations is a huge trigger for me personally, and for a lot of other women as well.

And she is uncomfortable--Christina is playing it that way--because she knows she shot him, and she has no idea how far he will go or what his endgame is. She didn't know that before, either, but she had her little fantasy and he played along with it, and now she doesn't have that--her fantasy is over, the titillating mutually enjoyable power tripping is over. She can no longer justify telling herself he'd never really hurt her, so she doesn't know whether he's messing with her but still has a code, or if he's genuinely off-his-rocker obsessed with no lines in the sand left that he's unwilling to cross. That is a terrifying situation to be in for anyone, but especially for a woman, and him putting her in that position is unforgivable to me, whether she shot him or not.

And on top of all that, instead of actually humanizing Rio and showing us that he is an actual human under that mask he wears, they're making his mask scarier while simultaneously humanizing Mick, because it's "safe" to do that with Mick because he isn't "hot" and won't take over the show (I actually think Mick is quite attractive, but he's not the kind of attractive that's going to cause millions of women to obsess over him). They're basically trying to act like they're listening to the criticism about dehumanizing Rio and his gang by humanizing the one that fans aren't obsessed with--trying to have their cake and eat it too--and it's super obvious. (That doesn't mean I dislike Mick--I love Mick, and I don't blame him for the game Bans is playing.)

Maybe with some of the upcoming backstory on Rio, we'll find out that he used to be a lot more like Beth (trying to hang onto moral decency, figuring out how to compartmentalize, etc.), but the life hardened him, so then he was more like Mick, but what happened with Beth hardened him even more. I'm kind of done deluding myself into thinking these writers actually care about Rio or have any intention of humanizing him, though. They make it sound like we're going to get all of this amazing insight and backstory into Rio this season, but it will probably be flimsy and it will be about pushing Beth in one direction or the other, not showing us who Rio actually is. I've played this game with the writers for 3 seasons already, I know all their little tricks.

[otakween]

Digimon World (1999) - First Impressions

Wow! I'm already completely lost! :D

This game sure doesn't hold your hand at all. They really just said "figure it out, kid." Well, I'm just going to take things slow and hope for the best. This first impression is only based on about an hour of gameplay because my attention span is very short.

Notes:

-I thought I would be fine going into this game with no context, but it ended up being jarring from the start. They ask you at the beginning if you have a digivice and if you have friends. I'm not sure what the purpose of those questions was. I guess maybe this game had some integration with the virtual pet? I said no to the digivice and yes to friends. This didn't seem to affect anything. Was Jijimon just curious?

-The opening sequence mostly held up except for the terrifying faces on the CGI character models. The mouths especially look really bad.

-I like the design of the player character. I feel like it's just androgynous enough to be male or female (although they do call you "he").

-Really stupid that they have you name your digimon before you even see what it is. I tend to name things based on how they look, so I literally just I had no idea what name to use. I wonder if your initial digimon is randomized...

-The sound effects in the game are grating. Footsteps are very loud and stompy and your digimon whines at you constantly. I'll probably just listen to stuff as I play this since it's not very dialogue heavy.

-The general UI is very cute. I like looking at my digimon/player's info and the clock in the corner is a nice touch. I love it when games have day/night cycles.

-Just like the anime, the goal here is kept extremely vague. After I was set free to explore I was kinda like "...and? What do I do?" I guess the goal is to just recruit as many digimon as possible.

-So far I'm finding the pet sim features very limiting to exploration. I feel like I can't fully enjoy looking around the map when I need to worry about having a toilet nearby. Hopefully I get the hang of it.

-So the battle system is...nothing? You just watch your digimon fight and toss healing items at them? Seems pretty limiting and boring

-Why does Agumon turn into a little pixelated Agumon when he loses HP? Wouldn't he turn into Koromon? Oh well. It's a cool visual.

-A lot of the menu options are very vague and possibly poorly translated. When my digimon sleeps why are my options "Sleep" and "Save and Go." Save and go where? Why is there a weird "Save battle registration" tool in Jijimon's home? I honestly can't tell if that's a save point or something else.

-I wish it were more obvious how to trigger the next day. It seems like sometimes I would sleep and it wouldn't move onto the next day and other times it would.

-Not sure when the heck I would scold my digimon. It seems like if anything bad happened it would be my fault, right?

-I wonder how big the map gets. As in the anime, the world seems pretty empty and vague. I hope the game throws me something more interesting to look at.

I'm sure everything I'm confused about will click eventually, I just have a vague anxiety that I'm doing something wrong. Oh well. What's the worst that could happen?

[no-more-hogwarts-zodiac]

WHF? :pleading:

Hello, secret admirer uwu

Favorite female character

Sally, who did absolutely nothing wrong in her life ever

Honestly I really care about Prudence?? Like more than one should

Favorite male character

If I’m being honest? Uncle Jack. Underrated character development.

Also Ollie because he is a crazy fuckin bastard and I love that for him.

Not Arthur because he’s an asshole with “selective memory”.

Percy :(

Least favorite female character:

Dr. Faraday. She used to be cool until she thought it would be fine and ethical to enslave an entire race of people.

Least favorite male character

GENERAL BYNG GET YOUR GRUBBY HANDS OFF OF SALLY LEAVE HER ALONE

ALSO ARTHUR’S DAD FOR THE SAME GODDAMN REASONS

Not Arthur because it’s not his fault he’s stupid

Favorite ship

James and Roger for being the only healthy bitches in this game.

Sally and Arthur because Sally deserves to be happy and she loves him SO MUCH. And Arthur deserves a chance to be better.

Nick Lightbearer with himself

General Byng and my custom baby seal leather boot.

Favorite pairings (NOT ROMANTIC)

Sally and Gwen. I cannot stress enough how much love Sally has in her heart she is too kind for this world and she is so strong for keeping love with her after all the shit she went through. Gwen’s got a good mom :) and they’ll be the best two musketeers ever.

Jack and Margaret. I bet he was a really good dad and took care of her as best he could.

Ollie and “Margaret.” Even though she’s not real lmao I just??? Idk I like their dynamic leave me alone

Rating

Story: 10/10 - all three acts come to a definitive end despite being open.

Worldbuilding: 15/10 - developed at just the right pace. The little details that we barely paid any mind to come back to bite us. It’s so interesting and so terrifying.

Gameplay: 7/10 - glitchy, but not as bad as the Elder Scrolls other games. I would get on it for cutting corners when it comes to village and NPC design, but I give it a pass because an open world game is a HUGE feat for an indie company

Music: 100000000/10 TURN THAT SHIT UP

[aminiatureworld]

About Me

I realize that though I’ve posted a lot, and though I’ve linked my main account, I’ve ultimately said very little about me. Mainly because I don’t know what people would find interesting - they’re mainly here for my writing after all. Nevertheless since I’ve been so deeply lucky to have people following me, I think I might as well post at least a little about me. So that’s what this is!

General Information

Hello and welcome! I go by many names - mainly because I have trouble making decisions - but you can call me Bern.

As of updating I’m about a month and a half away from being 20, which is not completely terrifying at all.

My pronouns are she/they, and I speak English, though if you can stand the terrible grammar I’m technically bilingual in French, and I also speak a very little German. I am also unable to write concisely.

Writing Things

I’ve put this information all over the place - in my rules, on the main information page, etc. - but I thought I’d just put some stuff here, as I think it also would count as being “About Me.”

I currently write for Genshin Impact, the Ikemen Series, Mystic Messenger, MLQC, and sometimes LotR. I mostly write on request, so those are the main ones, but I have also written for the Witcher on this blog, and Kamisama Kiss if you go farther back (I would not recommend going farther back as the quality is shaky at best).

My writing schedule was trashed, so I’m now just doing the best I can.

Genshin Impact

I’ve currently been messing around with team compositions a lot, but here are the main two teams I’m currently using. 

Hu Tao, Xingiu, Ganyu, Zhongli

Ayaka, Ganyu, Xingqiu, Bennett

My favorite characters in general are Childe, Ningguang, and Scaramouche. Though honestly I love basically all the characters so much it’s hard to pick, and sometimes I go through different phases for runner up favorite. 

My favorite characters in terms of gameplay are Kazuha, Ayaka, and Hu Tao. 

My favorite element types is Cryo or Geo and my favorite weapon type is the polearm; my least favorite is probably the bow, so it’s somewhat ironic that I rely so heavily on Ganyu in my teams, as well as Childe and Fischl.

My playstyle and team comp style is nonexistant. I hit things with the Es and the Ults and hope they disappear. As that might imply I’m hopeless at both physical damage and artifact stats.

I’m stuck on Spiral Abyss Floor 10. This is because I do not use my resin like I should and everything is under leveled.

General Interests, Hobbies, Etc.

I don’t know my MBTI or anything in depth about my zodiac sign, but I would consider myself an introvert. I play the violin and flute, and I also dance, sing, and draw. I generally like the arts. Reading is my great joy in life. I adore Imperial Russian history.

My favorite films are Amadeus, Cyrano (2021), and A Silent Voice

My favorite series are Higurashi (2006), xxxHolic, Alias Grace, and the Crown

My favorite books are The Sunne in Splendor, Nicholas and Alexandra, the Bell Jar, and Pachinko

My favorite manga are xxxHolic, Kamisama Kiss, Yona of the Dawn, and Junji Ito’s works

My favorite pieces of music/songs are Erlkonig, Synchronicith, Mozart’s Symphony no. 25, Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata, and Every Letter

I don’t play many games besides gacha and otome games - ex: The Ikemen Series, Genshin Impact, Magia Record, Mlqc - but I do like Ace Attorney a lot

My mortal enemies are the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate (and people who try to extend copyright in general), bugs with too many legs or in too many numbers, and thunderstorms. Also the book the Catcher in the Rye

I don’t really think there’s anything else that interesting or notable about me - in fact this is probably too long already - but if you have a question you can always ask me. Hopefully this was somewhat interesting and... yeah!

[narsh-poptarts]

I came here to tell you that your art is amazing and AAAAA I love it so much!! Your Angry Sky honestly made my day

Also, I don’t know if you’re still doing the “ask me about Sky” thing but if you are...what are your thoughts on the silent realms? I don’t see enough Sky content related to them but to me they have so much angst potential??? And also are a proof that Sky didn’t have it easy at all during his adventure?? Idk I find them very interesting

aaaaaaa thank you so much!!!!! honestly every tag and every message yall send me just makes me so happy, i’m so glad y’all are enjoying it!!!! :DDDD

OH BOY THE SILENT REALMS!!!!!!!!!

YEAH you’re right!!! there’s not a lot of content there!! lucky for you, this is also another topic from Skyward Sword that I have thought extensively about, I have many many headcanons for what the Silent Realms are like.

okay first of all, the Silent Realms are a very unique kind of think in the LoZ series. The concept itself is repeated a couple times but the reasoning WHY is different. Usually link has to go through trials in multiple different games to prove himself and his courage or whatever in order to get the master sword or other such very important item. and then in Twilight Princess (it did come first but whatever) you have those light trial things? i don’t remember what they’re called but you collect the tears of the Light Spirits and they’re all trapped in bugs or whatever. So the basis for the trials or their main mechanic is not a new concept.

But! what is very interesting and unique is, like I said, the reasoning WHY Link has to go through these trials. in botw (this may be wrong, i haven’t played it), you have the trial of the sword, basically a big gauntlet to improve the sword and prove your worth, in addition to the “you must be this tall to ride” thing with your health. but that’s about the sword. in TP, the light trials are about restoring light to the land. they’re not even really trials, and iirc, there’s not,,, really trials for TP. i may be wrong.

anyways, what makes SS different is that it’s specifically about upgrading your spirit. the Hero’s Spirit. Link never has to prove himself to the sword because,, well, the damn thing is his companion. in the zelda timeline, he’s one of the first heroes ever so there’s not even a Hero’s Spirit to have because he hasn’t made it yet. same with the Master Sword. 

so therefore, no other Link has had to create or upgrade their Hero’s Spirit. It’s simply not a thing they’ve had to do because Sky did it all those millennia ago. One and done, cool and awesome. He has a uniquely different and alienated experience because he set the foundation. Probably feels alienated from the others because he never had to prove himself to the sword, and then because of the prominent upgraded spirit, got them easily and recognizably cursed (thanks Demise).

SORRY i realize i just went on a related-but-not-your-question tangent, but now to the actual Silent Realms themselves :D

so, in terms of what I think Silent Realms are like.... first of all: terrifying!!!! If my own playthroughs of them are anything to go by, Link is terrified out of his mind!!!! no weapons, no items, no Fi, you’re completely on your own, you have a time limit, and you’re being LITERALLY HUNTED. and god, that music when the Guardians wake up is actually a heart attack, botw guardians have NOTHING on these bad boys.

From the inside perspective, I imagine the Silent Realms are just that: silent. not dead quiet, not still, silent. There are no sounds in the Silent Realm, not even a ringing in Link’s ear. and also these trials are a test of the Spirit. the body stays behind. This is a plane somewhere within the overworld, a layer formed from many. There’s no air there. They’re spirits, and entities, they don’t need it.

And having no air is a little disorienting at first, hell being a spirit is a little disorienting at first, but Link finds it a little cool, not feeling the need to breathe and not being able to feel air move in his lungs when he does.

And when Link is safe, whether by standing in that first safety circle or by virtue of collecting a tear, it doesn’t feel calm. Calm is exactly the wrong word because calm is flying out on the open air with your loftwing. Calm is sitting, for just a moment, on a stool to regain some health (and maybe take a nap). Calm is not whatever this is. This is like sneaking through the sleeping dragon’s nest, or feeling the chill of a graveyard, or walking down a dark alley at night. Every inch of link is telling him something is very very wrong and he is in danger. and, to be fair, he is.

Now for when the guardians are awake, it’s like a bomb of adrenaline and panic goes off. He doesn’t hear anything but he can feel them coming, feel their presence just behind him, ready to take him down, ready to make him fail and start over. He is a trespasser, taking pieces of an ancient spirit and make it his own, and he is hunted for sport. every inch of him, every screaming inch of him is crying desperately for him to move, run, flee, desperately grab at the next tear, we don’t have time, we’re going to die. screaming screaming over and over, a pounding in his brain like war drums, a sharp, painful insistence out of desperation to survive.

He can’t hear them coming so every other sense goes into overdrive, and he can feel where they’re coming from. The screen in the game actually has pulsing rings at the edge of your screen to indicate that there’s a guardian off screen right over there (which is a very cool indication imo!) and their intensity indicates how close they are. it’s like this sense of dread goes into overdrive in a desperate attempt to keep him alive and he just knows by feeling it that “don’t go that way, you’ll die”

And dude, do you know what the official explanation is for when you fail? the wording they use is “your spirit will shatter”. Shatter!!! that’s gotta hurt!! what do you think it feels like to have your spirit shattered?? Luckily i think both for gameplay and the story itself, if you’re determined enough, you can retry as many times as you like.

but i imagine, for the sake of drama, getting your spirit shattered has Link shunted back into the real world, clutching at his chest in pain, heaving and crying as his spirit stitches itself back together piece by piece until he’s ready to try again. It’s not a pleasant experience.

and speaking of coming back, i imagine actually succeeding isn’t all that great either. the silent realms are silent. there’s no sound at all. coming back to the real world and suddenly getting hit with the sound of the wind and the birds and the ambiance and the sounds of your clothes and the sword and your heavy breathing and too much too much too much!! I imagine it’s very overwhelming. the silence is not a pleasant experience so Link is very glad to have sound again but it’s just too much at once.

you’re very correct anon, there is a lot of angst potential here. i’ve really wanted a Skyward Sword manga or something like that for so long because I really wanna know how the Silent Realms would be interpreted. 

also i’ve kinda got a fic idea were basically Sky has to end up doing the Silent Realms again while on the LU adventure because something something Hero’s Spirit is messing up and he has to reupgrade it. and it’s bad and traumatic and the other boys have to watch as each instance (there’s four of them by god) just leaves Sky an utter mess and they don’t know how to help and he won’t tell them what’s wrong either or what exactly happens in the trials to get him to react so badly when he gets back. i don’t have anything written down but basically “Sky doesn’t know his own limits and won’t ask for help” the fic.

also oh boy this is long, sorry

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

Continued thoughts on RE8

This was copied when I was making my DeviantArt journal about this. And ah, thank goodness, I don’t need to space out shit. Guess DA using numbers like that helps me out lol.

Hope the title is creative enough. But...the game has been out a month. But I'll tag spoilers anyway. So I got done with the game at 12:04 or well, I put my PS4 into rest mode to charge my controller. I'm gonna say three things.

Donna's death honestly fucked me up...and not in a good way.

Moreau is likely the best boss in the game. Maybe.

Shut your fucking hole is honestly funny.

Okay but yes, I finally played more of Resident Evil 8. And surprisingly, and I wanted to save and be done with the game after I got into the confrontation with Heisenberg.

Let me be honest with you all. Resident Evil 8 is a fine game. While I am still critical about it's story and what choices they made. The gameplay is pretty fine, and I think it's an overall nice or alright experience. While I don't think this is the best RE game ever. And I do think this game got too much of high praising. It was overhyped honestly. But I do feel like it becomes I guess more enjoyable as you play it.

Now I'm gonna go over me going through the sections I talked about real quick. And no, I didn't beat Heisenberg...I haven't yet.

Donna and Angie's section is maybe the best part of the game. Gonna admit when you go to House Beneviento, it's actually beautiful seeing a waterfall beside it. And while I do think the Silent Hill comparisons are...I'm no expert. I've only watched movie format of the first four Silent Hill games. But that part is where the game is scariest at. Despite me being annoyed by the puzzle stuff in one part of this game. Luckily, I feel great I decided not to look anything up.

But I guess it's the closest we'll get to a modern Silent Hill game. But I overall loved this part of the game. Despite I was being stupid and didn't put half of a child puzzle piece into a door for a few minutes. I will admit, I do feel like the puzzles are easier than usual than older RE games...which is kind of fine with me.

Also that giant fetus baby thing is fucking creepy. Thank God I wasn't devoured by it...but amused I was spooked by maybe the projection falling and bookcases moving. Which I dubbed Scooby Doo shit.

And...I'm sorry, I was not expecting Donna's death to go like that...like wow...despite what my friend told me about...wow...just saying, I am not selling Alcina Dimitrescu's or Moreau's remains to the Duke. And I'm sure as Hell not selling Angie either. Besides, I get a lot of money in this game already. Seriously, I'm loaded.

It's just silly like...I didn't want to go to Donna's house first but I had to. Will admit, I do feel like she was underdeveloped. And that could go as well to maybe the other lords. And I did go back to Donna's place to get her treasure...where I fought this fucking giant with an axe...and I'm really interested in who the Hell is that Claudia Beneviento. Considering she died very young.

Moreau's section was pretty fine. But I think along with Alcina's section, was a pretty nice place. While Donna's section seemed a bit more simple, it was more focused on, creeping the shit out of me. Yet I was still terrified being in Castle Dimitrescu because it was my first time...and may still could be scared if I replay the game again after I finish it.

Will admit, I was annoyed I got killed by Moreau three times in the water. I think the reason I liked his part because his boss felt very classic Resident Evil. Maybe almost like Nemesis when he's fully unleashed in the original RE3. I feel like Moreau was pretty unique. Despite at first...kind of wonder if I do want him to look more a Gilman creature. Because he's likely inspired by that those kinds of films.

Also I will admit this, him popping up as a huge fish at first spooked me. Continuing on, I have been going to wells and using the crank to collect shit. Which got me to collect Alcina's golden statue of herself. Which yes...is very narcissistic of her haha! Along with the treasure from Donna...and I forgot to mention I've finished those first three...weird ball games...

Gonna admit, I strangely feel reminded of Sonic Spinball and those pinball sections in the Sonic series. I sound stupid saying that. They are interesting puzzles. I'm just glad and to me personally, Alcina's ones was the most tricky.

So after I beat Moreau, I got the Wolfbane, which was the pistol I was very interested in and it killed that weird beast(Is it like a dog turned Lycan dog or something?)...in one shot...this is maybe the strongest gun in the game. Holy shit, Barry Burton would be proud.

But yeah, I went through the Lycan's den. Turns out, Heisenberg wasn't there. Also the grenade launcher is great to use too. And seriously, the amount of Lycans heads I've blown up with mainly a normal pistol amazes me. Holy crap, I killed a shit ton of them, so many heads blown up.

After getting that last flask and finally opening a way to Heisenberg's factory, I finally get to meet the fella. To be honest, I'm not huge on Karl's voice. I've heard it before, and I know the voice actor got inspiration from Nicholas Cage...but I just imagine Karl's voice to be different. Maybe Cage when his voice is higher pitched, but I forget. Maybe if I get used to it, I'll be fine with it. Here's one of the more amusing lords and...really, the four lords and a lot of other stuff is why I like this game.

What I hate is of what later on happens and...the future of these main games.

I also wanna say that the part I saved on is when I have to escape the factory. But holy shit, how the fuck can the Duke get into these fucking places or whatever. At least the Merchant made sense and whatever else...I'm rambling on. I just find it amusing that this huge character can get into certain places that would maybe seem impossible or not.

But yeah...I'm very likely close to the end of the game. Played a couple of hours. Maybe 3 to 4 or so. While I am...critical of this chapter of the RE franchise. There are things I genuinely liked. I just strangely hate...that this is the final product and we're gonna have to live with it. This is the RE game people are making memes about...I shouldn't be very excited for the new movie reboot this year...but that's what I'm more excited for.

The 25th anniversary of Resident Evil has been going good. Despite my feelings on this new main game.

I remember now, I feel like when I finish this game and I be more detailed with my criticisms. I've heard from a good friend of mine that Under The Mayo has similar opinions to us of how we feel about Resident Evil 8...yet before I decided to listen to the usual 1 hour version of the RE8 save room theme. Which is this.

Resident Evil 8: Village Save Room 1 Hour Extended - YouTube

A day ago, he posted a video that has this thumbnail and the title of how God Of War ruined Resident Evil...I'm really wondering how the fuck is that possible. And my usual bitching is about the fact we hardly see our old characters anymore(Such as Jill who isn't such a big focus anymore), some characters are not better expanded upon or whatever else, and the future...I'm just not interested. Despite I've said to a friend I could be interested in seeing how it goes...

I just explained a little of what I had problems with. I'm just gonna say Capcom needs to be a bit more ambitious and meaningful with their storytelling now. Which may sound stupid...I just want better for this series. And when mentioning that upcoming movie. If we ever get a movie adaption of RE7 and 8, ESPECIALLY 8, I want that to be a loose adaptation and some shit changed.

[aotopmha]

Sonic the Hedgehog turned 30 years today.

In celebration, I downloaded all 3 classic games available for mobile and tried to get as far as I could before getting a game over.

For Sonic 1 it was Marble Zone Act 1, for Sonic CD it was the Collision Chaos boss and for Sonic 2 it was the Chemical Plant Act 2 boss.

I'm much better at these games on an emulator/PC, using the arrow keys rather than a controller (or apparently with the android touch controls) because that's how I've played them the most.

Sonic is probably the franchise I've (on and off) followed the longest and I remember fairly precisely when I played my first Sonic game: it was in my second year in school, but I stopped because the crusher section in Hydrocity terrified me and I couldn't get past it.

I also have vague memories of both of the most famous old cartoons and briefly trying the PC version of Sonic CD and Sonic 3D Blast.

My next notable experience with a Sonic game is actually the old Newgrounds game Ultimate Sonic Flash.

This is what opened the Sonic floodgates with other stuff for me, too.

Besides that game there were the flash animations like Nazo Unleashed and Super Mario Bros Z that also appealed to the Dragon Ball fan in me.

Through that stuff, I got into the Sonic Advance games and I was particularly drawn to Sonic Advance 2.

It's strange because Sonic Advance 2 seems to be considered the most "hold right to win" game in the Sonic Advance series, but I find the stages in that game to be the most satisfying to perfect and play.

I also dig Advance 1 and 3, but I remember having the most frustration with 3.

Discovering the Advance series lead me back to the Classic series. Sonic 1, CD, 2, 3 and Knuckles.

Somewhere around here, I also remember the demo for Sonic Adventure DX.

After that I got to the Rush games (which I also found satisfying to complete despite, again, being called "hold right to win" games).

I just found doing as good runs as possible to be satisfying to pull off.

Then I got to Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2.

I think I spent hours replaying and perfecting the Sonic Adventure 2 speed levels in particular. I think those games were absolutely worth it for just the replay value of Sonic's/Shadow's stages. Any frustration with the other gameplay styles was worth all of the play time I got out of those stages and I think the only truly bad gameplay style was Big's fishing stages.

Even then, in Adventure 1 all the other campaigns were also pretty short.

In Adventure 2, I think the only source of true frustration for me were some of Knuckles/Rouge stages.

I think the reason why the other gameplay styles are so frowned upon is that they're not what you come to Sonic for, but I think only Big actually controls badly in terms of the fishing mechanics – the frustrations really come from level design.

After those two comes Heroes, which I think could've been my favourite out of these "adventure style" games, but the controls just were too stiff to not get in the way of enjoyment.

The long stages would've actually been awesome instead of frustrating if I didn't have to fight the controls (and occasionally camera) along the way.

It had some great level design with some really good level themes.

But it just wasn't as responsive as I would've liked it to be and movement over-adjusted really often, leading to deaths and a bunch of frustration not of my own making.

If any game deserves a remake with better controls, I think it is 100% Heroes.

But I still did get some fun out of it when everything worked as well as it could. I kind of love the Haunted House level and all of the interesting things it did.

This is the point where I no longer could play the games for a while.

Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic 06 and Unleashed HD are the games I've never gotten to play in this gap. But the only bit I'm truly actually interested in are the day stages of Unleashed.

I feel like they have the Rush games effect that despite some of the cheap stuff in those stages, they are very satisfying to complete.

The next games I got to play were Unleashed and Colours Wii (though I never got to finish Unleashed Wii). I like Colours Wii more than Unleashed Wii.

Colours might be mostly 2D and more "generic" blocky stuff, but I still had fun blasting through it.

Unleashed Wii's day stages didn't really have that satisfaction of perfecting the stages like the Advance or Rush stuff. The Werehog was okay and I think sometimes actually better than the day stages, so the game as a whole was just okay.

But I think Colours DS is my favourite of the "Rush-style" games. The Wisps are really satisfying to use and the level design is more involved and less "cheap" than in the other Rush games, where sudden spikes and death pits are much more common.

Somewhere in here is Sonic Chronicles. I actually liked executing the moves with the characters for a little bit, but not much else about it. I think it's the only game in the series to this point I truly dislike.

There are more like okay games, good games and great games in this series for me because it looks like I've managed to avoid the biggest duds.

The final two games in the series I've actually played chronologically are the PC versions of Sonic Generations and Sonic Mania.

And I think both are really good!

Generations still wasn't 100% there with the controls, but I think it was the closest to Adventure series controls. Probably my favourite 3D Sonic game next to Sonic Adventure 2. I spent ages replaying all of the stages. I adore all of the open space and alternate routes there.

Sonic Mania is the best game post transition to 3D to me, though and would maybe even tie for my favourite Sonic game with Sonic CD if it was completely new.

It fixed some of the dated level design of the classic games – unfair spring and spike placement is at an all-time low, it evolved the usage of shields in a really cool way and added some really interesting level-specific mechanics, my favourite is probably the bouncy gel in Chemical Plant.

I 100% want a completely original Sonic Mania 2.

I have not played Sonic Generations 3DS, Lost World, any of the Boom games or Forces.

All of which are supposedly okay/terrible, too and honestly even don't have anything interesting going on to catch my eye in footage. Forces especially looks frustrating to me because it just looks like hallways and doesn't even look to have the satisfaction of perfecting a stage the other boost games have.

I really seem to be in a position where I've missed all of the worst stuff.

I actually probably find Secret Rings and 3D Blast to be the worst Sonic games because I remember being the most frustrated with them. Chronicles is still just mostly boring.

Black Knight has the really satisfying spin slash attack and you can keep the flow and control Sonic much, much better.

In-between all of this I've tried some of the 8-bit games which I liked just fine, but which all really blended together.

I've also tried the Sonic 4 parts, which I also find okay. Not good Genesis-style games, but okay, functional enough Rush-styled games.

So I can say that I don't think Sonic has ever "jumped the shark". There are good old games and good modern games.

From leaks, the upcoming game at least sounds much more ambitious than some of the previous games like Forces or Lost World.

I predict something like Unleashed where there is a sound foundation in there, but it is unrefined, as there seems to be talk that it's another really big switch-up – it possibly being an open world game.

I think I really appreciate the series' willingness to switch things up even if it doesn't always work out.

The Classic, Adventure, Advance, Rush/Boost games all are very different styles.

I've had a lot of fun over the years with this series and I hope I'll have more fun in the coming years.

I think the Adventure + Heroes remakes are 100% overdue. Also please, Sonic Mania 2 with all-original stages.

[goron-king-darunia]

Annon-Guy: How different would the original Symphonia's story go if Emil/Ratatosk, Marta and Richter were part of the group back than, helping them against the Desians and Mithos?

Honestly, this is a really hard thing to answer. They existed during the Symphonia timeline, they just didn't participate in the main story. So we honestly have every reason to believe not much if anything would have changed except with the possibility of Ratatosk since, well, no one knew where to look for him at that time and I don't imagine Aster speed running that discovery since the only reason they started looking was because the climate was weird when the planet came back together all jumbled. If they had somehow stumbled upon Ratatosk their own way, either we would have gotten a redemption speedrun because Lloyd and Colette have plot armor and would have been able to keep him under control or we would have gotten some, like, devastating calamity way earlier because someone "important" would have died. Or they would have had to invent another underappreciated redshirt like Aster to take the bullet. I think if we saw DotNW's cast in Symphonia, we likely would have gotten mostly side-character reference and not much else because I think trying to involve them would not only have made the DotNW we got impossible (i.e. Marta couldn't have a reason to hate Colette if she was there with Colette when the tree went rampant. She would know how and why it happened. Emil would have to be the Real Emil Castagnier and it would remove some of the suspense and mystery from DotNW because if the changed appearance didn't give it away the unjustified hatred for Lloyd would because in non-game material I think we got to see the real Emil's journal and he made one last entry when the Blood Purge began and he seemed really confused that Lloyd, a guy he knew as a hero, would be terrorizing town. If DotNW had followed Real Emil, I think he would have been more confused and sad than angry after the blood purge. It would be more "Why would Lloyd attack Palmacosta and kill my parents? That doesn't make sense for such a hero. What made him change, and why did he attack MY parents?" Since Ratatosk/Emil didn't know Lloyd the way the Real Emil did, he had no framework for what a hero Lloyd was before. He has no attachment to the heroic image of Lloyd. That's part of why DotNW's Emil is so easily able to just hate Lloyd. He's not conflicted. He only knows Lloyd as "The person who killed my parents but everyone treats as a hero." and not "Lloyd, the former hero, who for some reason went out of his way to kill my parents." Richter I can't see as having a role in Symphonia 1 given how the half-elves are still either running human ranches and making everyone terrified or subjugated and exploited basement scientists under the thumb of Sybak Research Academy. If Richter had any role at all, it would probably be something akin to Kate's role. Helping the party but ultimately being a side character of little note. Which honestly would rob from his presence in DotNW or at least not add to it. Most people's favorite character from Symphonia isn't Kate or Chocolat or even Marble, even though they all have roles to play. Most people barely remember Virginia Sage is alive because she's so easy to miss and forget about. So anyone who did remember Richter, would probably be like "This guy is the villain now? Why? Why does this dude get the spotlight, he didn't do anything in the last game." Aster would probably end up being the same way. I doubt Aster would leave Richter all alone to go galavanting around Sylvarant with the heroes. And if he did, honestly he'd probably just end up being another Colette since they have similar sunny personalities and I doubt Symphonia would be able to do much with him since he doesn't have any special battle skills that would look cool and doesn't fill a role that Sheena, Zelos, or Regal aren't already fulfilling. Marta could theoretically fit but like I said it would get in the way of her character motivation in DotNW. But I'm not sure what she has that's unique that she could contribute since Raine is already a healer and the Vanguard isn't a thing yet, so a lot of her insight that was helpful in DotNW doesn't exist

yet. As a whole, I think putting the DotNW cast in Symphonia wouldn't work all that well because, well, it's not their story. Similar to how the Symphonia cast doesn't add much to the DotNW story because, again, it's mostly not their story. Now that doesn't mean it wouldn't have been AWESOME to see them interract. Richter as a broody young man getting carted around with his best bud Aster because he and Aster somehow have some special knowlege of, like, the history of Kharlan or something? That could be fun, but that requires a whole new thing added to the main story. Marta getting to join up because she knows a lot about the ancient history of the Sylvarant Dynasty? That could be neat. Emil being brought into the fold because as a native of a fishing village he's just, like, ridiculously good at fishing? That would be awesome. But these are all things that wouldn't necessarily be integral to the main game. Lloyd is the hero. He's just always right by virtue of optimism and plot armor. He has to be there. His dad is a smith and his other dad is an angel, so both those connections also help. Colette is necessary because she's Lloyd's motivation. She's sympathetic and gives the player someone to want to save. Her luck and power as the chosen and an angel and a pure maiden are all benefits to the party. Raine is a healer, is smart, and has extensive knowledge of ruins and can work most of the tech in the game. Her memory of the otherworldly gate is useful and contextualizes a gameplay element for the player. Genis is a best friend support type, a magic user, a half-elf, and sympathetic to Marble and later to Mithos. He not only affirms Lloyd's belief that everyone is worth saving and keeps Lloyd grounded and motivated but he's also useful for understanding the motivations of the bad guys. Sheena is a summoner, and the summon spirits are very important to the story and saving the world, but she also represents the anxieties of Tethe'alla, worried about the end of their prosperity. Zelos has power he never asked for, a testament to the broken system of Chosens and their purpose. He has connections as a political and spiritual leader as he has connections to the King and to the Pope. Regal has monetary connections, knows what it means to sacrifice, is unbelievably strong, but honestly, he's probably the least special person in the group. Presea knows her way around charms, sneaks the party into places they have to get to even before she regains her senses, and is basically living proof of why Mithos's misguided attempt to create a race of lifeless beings is stupid. Kratos has connections to basically everything, even if he's a betrayer, and is ultimately the reason Lloyd is even able to pact with Origin which is one of the final keys in the game. I feel like you could work fishing master Emil, historian Richter, scientist Aster, and distant heir to a dead dynasty Marta in to Symphonia, but a lot of Symphonia was written around the specific characters it needed for the story. So not only do I think it robs them of their rightful places as centerpieces of their own stories in DotNW, but it's also just trying to cram too much extra into Symphonia. Aster, Richter, and Colette being friends would be great though. (And Rilena too, honestly.) I think their personalities would play off Richter nicely and just... 3 blonds all dragging a grumpy redhead around and he'll never admit he likes it even though he absolutely does is, like, very wholesome. Marta, Colette, and Presea just being animal nerd geeks would be great too. Emil I'm not sure on because DotNW Emil isn't real Emil and IDK enough about what real Emil likes to know who he'd be friends with. But Ratatosk getting a defaut support system and getting to actually confront Mithos? Holy hell. That would be a game, man. But I don't think it could happen since the only reason Aster went looking for Ratatosk was because of the messed up climate and I'm not sure if Ratatosk could even be awake with the planet separated. But boy howdy that would be interesting. So while I

don't think there is any one answer and while I don't think it's entirely possible to put the DotNW cast we know and love into Symphonia without changing a lot, it IS fun to think about. But I honestly think it would not only make the first game too crowded and messy but would take away some of how special it was to meet Richter, Emil, Ratatosk, Marta and the rest of the DotNW cast in DotNW. Besides, it sucked enough to see Genis have to struggle with fighting against a fellow half-elf. Imagine teen angst Richter having to do it too.

[earthnashes]

LAST OF UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

I started playing the very second it was made available to play and just finished it last night at like 4 in the morning. And of course it destroyed me. I love this series man so much man. ;w;

SO! I don’t usually do this but I’m like, fuckin’ dyin’ to talk about it a lil bit so if ya have plans to play it, SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT. <:

-Aight so lemme just say right off the bat that this game is fucking. Gorgeous. The environments, lighting, visual design, the level design, everything was spot on. And don’t get me started on the CHARACTER MODELS. AND ANIMATION. Like bro that shit was lifelike in not just appearance, the characters emoted and carried themselves with so much life they felt legitimately real. They were all so unique too; characters had unique special ticks to just them (Like Ellie pinching her fingers when nervous or upset, or Joel standing taller and squaring himself when talking about hard subjects like he’s bracing himself for it, or Jesse giving his stunted headtilt when he talks) and expressed in a way that was just. Bruh. Aight I’mma stop but fuckin hell what they pull off with the characters in specific in LoU (both part 1 and 2) is just somethin’ outta this world.

-For anyone interested in playing it, the game is roughly 22-30 hours long if you’re just focused on the story, and much longer still if you take the time to explore and find all the little secrets. Some secrets include unique cutscenes and dialogue that are well worth the look; I haven’t found all of ‘em yet but I’m considering trying a completionist playthrough.

-Joel’s death fucking destroyed me. I’m in no way surprised he died, but it hurt regardless, just how quickly things went south for him and Tommy there. And ELLIE. FINDING HIM AND WATCHING HIM GET REKT WAS PAIN INCARNATE. Set the tone hella hard and I’m fuckin’ here for it.

-I’m not gonna lie I fully expected to dislike Abby given she rekt Joel, even though I figured it was for a pretty good reason before it was revealed her pops was the doc Joel killed. But damn. I really enjoyed Abby, a lot actually. From a gameplay standpoint I dare say I enjoyed her section more than Ellie’s since you were BLASTING ENEMIES with those fuckin’ GUNS of hers. And by guns I mean her arms’, jesus she was shredded. As a character, she felt a lot like Ellie from a different perspective and mindset, and I really appreciated the reflection the two of them had. Two sides of the same coin, basically. Also I really, really liked how killin’ Joel brought absolutely no peace to Abby at all, and you caught her beginning to regret it. And it kinda sorta acted as the catalyst to her shift in how she viewed the world. I think that’s a good portion why she latched onto Yara and Lev so hard. Perspective is everything, and there is always more than just one side of a story.

-In the same vein I had a blast learning more about Abby’s friend group, dynamics, how she lived, who she worked for and her past and everything. Of them all I think I liked Nora the most, but Mel and Manny were both reaaaalll close seconds. O:

-Speaking of, DOGS. DOGS DOGS DOGS. So many dogs man and you got to play with and pet them! Fuck yeah. That should be a rule in gaming; if you have a cat or a dog in the game, you should have a button to pet it. Also good gorl Alice is best doggy don’t fight me on this. uwu

-Jesse and Dina were the beez knees I fuckin loved them man. They were exactly the sort of folks I can see Ellie being best friends with. ALSO, this one isn’t major, but I really appreciated that there was no love-triangle here? Dina and Jesse dated, smashed, didn’t work out but they still remained good friends. Ellie’s first reaction to seeing Jesse is to confess that she and Dina kissed, and Jesse readily accepted the fact that Dina moved on (and he had too). It’s just refreshing. No bullshit love triangle there, just three people who really understood each other. Also jesus christ, I really didn’t want Jesse to die. Goddamnit. But I’m so glad they didn’t kill Dina too like, I was fully prepared to see her get fucked up. Base rule of LoU: anyone you like has a high probability of dying. ;w;

-BRO THINKING OF JESSE, ELLIE, AND DINA MADE ME REALIZE THE PARALLEL OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO MEL, ABBY, AND OWEN. Ellie’s triangle was essentially non-existent; no feelings of betrayal or anger, just understanding and love, like there was a deep-seated bond here that would weather anything. If Jesse had lived, I wouldn’t doubt he, Ellie, and Dina would have lived together to raise the baby together. Meanwhile Abby’s triangle had Owen seeming to unable to let go of the past he and Abby had together, that poor bastard was still in love with her, and how that supplemented the slow deterioration of all three’s friendship. I was sad to see Mel turn on Abby the way she did but like. I mean.  Dude was ready to leave Mel in the dust for Abby despite HIM GETTING MEL PREGNANT. Abby also kinda did drag everyone into this, even if it was of their own violation. Oof. Though it did feel like she was angry at both Abby and Owen equally, not just blaming Abby for everything there... or at least the romantic relationship part. Honestly probably one of the few times I actually enjoyed a love triangle in a story, or at least of this caliber.

-Isaac, the leader of the WLF? He was cool as fuck. I love how much character they packed into him without even showing him too much. Like there was a scene where Nora mentions she tried to question Isaac about Owen and she said “he gave her that fucking look and told her to drop it”. Hell, when he was talking to Abby, he isn’t that much taller than her but he felt like he outright dwarfed her with the way he carried himself and how they reacted to him. I love shit like that man. But anyway fuck Isaac. uwu

-Not gonna lie I kinda wish I got to see the leader of the Seraphites, but it was hella cool to learn that she had been dead already and how the Seraphites operated with and without her. I don’t think I found everything regarding that specific point in game, but it sounded a lot like a peaceful religious leader who’s words and teachings were twisted to suit the goals of corrupt members of the tribe. She was essentially an equivalent to Jesus, at least to the Seraphites.

-I honestly really loved all of the characters introduced but I have to admit that Lev and Yara were standouts. Yara’s one hell of a big sister, lemme tell you, and the lengths she went through to make sure Lev was safe really shooketh me. AND LEV. MY CHILD. MY SON. To those of you who are familiar with the LGBT+ controversy around the game, he and Ellie are what people are complaining about. Ellie because she’s gay, Lev because he’s trans.

Lev in particular was heartbreaking. His tribe were outright hunting him for who he was, as well as Yara because she chose to protect him. The mindset the tribe had was pretty much isolated to them though.

And jesus. That scene with him and his mother? Fuck.

-YARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA :( BRUH that scene pissed me off, fuck you Isaac, you bastard.

-THE SCENE. WHEN YOU PLAY AS ABBY. AND YOU FIGHT ELLIE. WAS SO FUCKING COOL. AND SCARY. Ellie man, that section really showed how efficient and smart she is. She legit tricked me a few times not gonna lie, like I thought she didn’t see me but she’d pretend she wouldn’t, only to ambush me with a FUCKING MOLY. Also the fact that the game outright says “hey uhhhhh you can’t actually take her head on, she’ll fuck you up in a heartbeat bro”. Welp. A really strange mix of horror and sadness and pride there. Hm. :/

-Mom!Ellie was so fucking sweet to see. And it made me catch a glimpse of hope that Ellie actively tried to soldier through for her fam’s sake. But she clearly had demons she had to confront and I’m angry at Tommy for disrupting her and Dina’s life, but it felt necessary. Still made me sick to my stomach to watch her go after Dina fucking BEGS HER TO STAY. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

-Speaking of Tommy, it was so sad to see how much he fell after Joel’s death. It really showed just how much he was like his brother though; underneath a gentle man is someone you best not trifle with, and is very familiar with doing horrific things to reach a goal. Because fuckin hell, Tommy is legit a badass. That sniper part was SO. COOL. Aaaaand terrifying. RIP Manny. :/

-Bro, I’m very curious to see more about the Rattlers but. They were fucked up in a special kind of way. There’s no telling what they did to those people they captured and enslaved. Seeing Abby in the state she was in after seeing her throughout all the game in tip-top shape was painful. That poor girl was literally skin and bones and... just beaten down.

-ELLIE AND ABBY’S FINAL FIGHT WAS SO SAD. I HATED (but I loved) EVERY SECOND OF IT. I was so scared Ellie had fully lost herself there, when she threatens an unconscious Lev to force Abby to fight, who at that point, very clearly didn’t want to. Honestly. Ellie clearly didn’t either, far as I could tell, but it felt like it was the only way she knew how to confront everything. Fight it, until you kill it, or you die. It also felt like Abby understood that since she was in Ellie’s shoes once upon a time.

-I don’t care what anyone else says I’m so happy Ellie let Abby go. I’m so glad she chose not to go through with it. For so long Ellie has been angry and resentful about a lot of things, and she never got a choice once throughout the majority of her journey. As much as I will 100% agree with Joel sayin “fuck this supposed cure, fuck the Fireflies”, it’s not fair of him, or the Fireflies, to just outright take that choice from her, that she didn’t really have one to begin with. She was justifiably angry with Joel and the moment she chooses to try and forgive him, he dies. Another choice stolen away from her. The fact that she chose mercy despite everything, and it was prompted by a memory of Joel, the very reason she was doing this, is profound to me. Like she finally understood why he did what he did, and why he said he’d absolutely do it all over again. Hell, she probably even reached the understanding that her and Abby really aren’t that different from one another in that aspect.

-Ellie returning to an empty home, with Dina and JJ gone, was heartwrenching. I fully understand why Dina left and she honestly had every right to, but it still hurt man. :C AND ELLIE. PLAYING THE SONG JOEL MADE/SUNG FOR HER. ALWAYS KILLED ME. But this instance in particular was something else man like fuck I balled like a baby. Especially when it was followed by the fact that Ellie and Joel were on the cusp of mending their broken relationship only for it to be ripped away man. Goddamnit.

-ELLIE AND JOEL DUET NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. FUCKIN HELL I love this game.

-----------------------------------------

So, this isn’t really a review more than it is me just sharing some of my thoughts on the game, but if ya want me to give it a rating? 10/10. If not a perfect score? At least a 9/10.

The Last Of Us as a series is one that’s moved me more than any other game I can think of honestly (outside of Telltale’s The Walking Dead), and just like the first one, LoU2 left me thinking about it for hours after. It’s thought-provoking, it’s compelling, it’s fun as fuck, aaaaand it’s made me cry like a baby a good number of times. I also really appreciate the fact that, in this game, they actually show the consequences of your actions. Like, they made you consider the fact that you aren’t just killing grunts to get to the next enemy or mowing through mindless drones. You’re killing people, who have lives, and friends, and families.

We got to see Joel for who he was: a very broken man, with a very dark past, who has done very horrible things in this shitty post apocalyptic world, but he is a father, and protective, and loving and thoughtful, who will do anything, anything, to protect Ellie. Blood or not, Ellie is through and through his child. But Abby only saw a monster, and could you blame her? He killed her father, and countless others, and she never got the full story. Just that a man came in and killed the entire hospital, put an end to even the smallest possibility of finding a cure, killed her dad in cold blood, and walked away no problem. And then it cycles right back to Ellie, where Abby becomes her monster.

It’s just some grade-A storytelling as far as I’m concerned, and I’m someone who usually prefers happy endings. LoU always leaves me feeling bittersweet but goddamn do I love this series. I’m kinda hoping for a DLC, to be honest? Like LoU part one, where you found out about Ellie and Riley. I wanna see what happens to Ellie; I get the distinct feeling she returns to Jackson and hopefully scrounges out some semblance of a decent life there, after confronting Tommy and (hopefully) making peace with Dina. But we’ll see! uwu

[firstpuffin]

Smitten with the concept, not with the execution.

I want to start things off with a question: have you ever been invested in something, a television show, movie, video game or other, and not known why? Something like “this is boring, why do I continue with it?” I absolutely do and want to explore this with you.

  See, I have a whole shed-load of things that I “enjoy” despite the execution not being to my taste. The horror video game series “Five Nights at Freddie’s” is not at all my normal cup of tea, the final chapters of the pseudo-horror game “Bendy and the Ink Machine” were disappointing and sci-fi game “Nier: Automata” is not what I like in my gameplay; but I bloody love them.

  Same with the “The Flash” television show, the “RWBY” web-animation and even the “Star Wars” universe as a whole. I continue to persist with The Flash despite being pretty sure that my brother dreads my running commentary of its flaws every week; I may not keep up with it but I do eventually catch up with RWBY despite its execution being…lacking, and I feel that nothing in the Star Wars franchise quite lives up to what exists in my head, although it stands head, shoulder and even waist above the others in this paragraph. So why do I keep up with these stories that I apparently can’t talk badly enough about?

  Cause I do love them.

As the title says, I love the concepts behind these stories. Five Nights at Freddie’s (frequently shortened to FNAF because, let’s face it, the title is a pain) is a game where you do the same few things again and again, all to try and prevent being scared; the gameplay is far too tedious for me to play myself and honestly, I’m too much of a coward to actually do so. But the lore woven into the games has captured my heart: murdered childrens’ souls stuck in animatronic bodies that are protective of other children and incredibly violent to adults? It’s so sad, largely because it’s so terrifying and there is more added to the story with each game, cumulating in a sad tale that actually doesn’t quite compare to that in my head (although put that down to preference). It captured my heart, and more importantly my mind.

 Bendy and the Ink Machine starts with a man returning to the animation studio where he used to work, where he helped to bring to life the game’s equivalent of Mickey Mouse (the titular Bendy) only to find that Bendy may have literally been brought to life by ink and madness (and magic). The game is beautifully unique in its design, with backgrounds and items and everything seemingly having been hand-drawn. There are tapes to be found that tell the individual stories of animators, voice actors and even caretakers who were caught up in the chaos, tapes to be collected while avoiding the demonic and malformed beast that was supposed to be Bendy.

 I’ll be brief with Nier: Automata, but this beautiful game with beautiful music explores ideas of machines and emotions and life, at least within my own mind (I never finished watching someone else play the game so I can’t say for sure). The Flash had my heart from the beginning, all through the boring soap opera drama and plot contrivances, just because I love the concept behind the world that it was set in. RWBY is much the same, although it didn’t have me from the beginning; there are little details in RWBY that could become something amazing, but that are unfortunately overshadowed by poor dialogue, trite characters and unfulfilling season-long “stories”.

 And you all at least know vaguely about Star Wars, but it’s the idea of the prequel’s Jedi Order that has me enthralled. I love the idea of an order of warriors, so feared for their combat prowess that they don’t actually need to fight; warriors who could kill you with a telekinetic thought and yet refuse to on principle, yet have enemies who share this power but without the same scruples. And Lightsabers. Lightsabers are cool.

  There is so much to love about Star Wars that unfortunately a lot of the media never seems to embrace, instead erring on the side of convenience.

 As an aspiring author I find all of this fascinating. FNAF and Nier Automata are examples of fascinating stories locked behind gameplay that I’m not interested in, although in the case of the former I do believe that the head-cannon that I developed was actually better than the real story (both of which I have forgotten by now). Nier Automata’s story may be better than my own ideas but as I said, I never finished watching the story.

  Bendy, Flash, RWBY and Star Wars are cases of poor execution though. Spread over five chapters, Bendy started strong but lost what it was that made the early chapters good, going from tense atmosphere to just hit everything with a pipe. The Flash tv show is a victim to its medium: it’s meant to be something for people to watch as they relax in the afternoon with drama, relationships and just a hint of excitement; it was never meant to be a superhero show like the early seasons of Arrow and they are so focused on what I just mentioned that they didn’t put the same effort into being consistent or even all that compelling to someone like me. Not saying that I’m a higher quality viewer, just that I want different things.

  RWBY is a real disappointment to me though, with the most important flaw being the forced climaxes without any real story. I’m not interested in the action when the season doesn’t seem to have led up to it and the best thing I can say for it is that each finale at least feels like a mid-season finale. But I will give it this: season three started (started) to change this for the better.

  Finally, Star Wars (primarily the cartoons) is a problem because it ignores its own rules. Jedi are supposed to be reverent towards the Force, not using it trivially and never to injure; watch any Star Wars cartoon that follows the Jedi and you will see them regularly and callously attacking with the Force. Another weakness would be the lack of rules regulating the Force.

  Any good magic/superpower system has rules or else there is nothing it can’t do and it would seem that there is nothing the Force can’t do. So, if the Jedi apparently don’t follow their own rules on using the Force then what’s the point of lightsabers other than as a symbol? They could crush armies with a wave of the hand; weapons can be torn out of one’s grip and enemy Jedi thrown through walls.

  Imagine a completely independent group who are such capable warriors that they never need to fight. They stroll forward and armies give up. So much can be done with a concept like this and to a writer like myself I would love to have free reign with it.

 And that’s that. So what would I do with these series if I had the power? FNAF is a hard one for me to give suggestions for because as I said, I’ve forgotten, but Bendy and the Ink Machine is easier. As I said the later parts became an action game with fetch quests that nobody asked for, so get rid of the quests, reduce the enemies and retain the disconcerting atmosphere. I’m not asking for anything the creators haven’t proven themselves capable of. Nier is another one that’s hard to give suggestions for as, as I said, I don’t yet know the whole story; what I can say is that it’s the androids and the possible exploration of their humanity (and why they are designed to be so- and I can’t believe I’m using this word- “thicc”) that has me so fascinated.

  The Flash is a victim to its audience so rather than an improvement, I’ll mention what I’d like to see instead: a superhero show. This may seem like an odd thing to say about what is ostensibly a superhero show but it’s really more of a soap opera (which, btw, got it’s name from radio operas being sponsored by soap manufacturers); a real superhero show wouldn’t defeat the best one episode villain yet off camera while instead focusing on character relationships. I mean, way to give a side-character the chance to prove themselves, but at least let us see it. RWBY needs to either give up the idea of series long storylines and slowly build a larger story up, or to better plan each series so that it naturally leads to a climax.

  And finally, Star Wars needs to set and explain the limitations of the Force; doesn’t need to tell us everything, just what it can’t do or if there are means of defending against it. If a Force user can block another Force user, then we need to know that so we don’t just complain about Jedi battles not being who can put the other through a wall first. And finally, I’d love to see people treat the Jedi appropriately, with respect and fear.

 So that’s it. I love these stories for what I think they could be, but what they are honestly puts me off. It’s a shame, but as an (aspiring) author I’m hoping that I can somehow use these as inspiration for my own (and most importantly unique) stories.

 -Note= And no, inspired by does not mean ripped off; break any story down to its bare bones and it will look identical to (and stolen from) almost every other story.