#in anticipation of the incoming remake

[knightofleo]

Angela Orosco Silent Hill 2

[astromechas]

Okay YES this is great, but as a stupid FeMC fan, I have some things to say:

*assuming the leaks and rumors are true, and based on how they got “ReLOAD” correct, let’s just roll with it.

This was Atlus’ opportunity to create a definitive version of Persona 3. Like THIS IS THE ONE TO PLAY, not FES, not P3P, THIS. Fresh with all the content, not a story beat missing, everything.

Visual upgrade? Of course. Everything looks stunning, on par with Persona 5, which was exactly what everyone was hoping for as far as the visual fidelity of the game goes.

So why, Atlus? Why would you choose not to include FeMC? (or are they?) ( potentially delusional rant incoming but tldr; it would be stupid of them to cut her )

Atlus admitted years ago during the pre-release period of Q2 that the inclusion of FeMC provided their biggest boom for pre-orders in that game. The devs openly stated in an interview that they did not expect her trailer to create so much hype around the game, which ultimately resulted in their sales marking at a higher number than anticipated.

Then there was Atlus’ decision to port P3P over FES to the next console generation. Some people speculated that such a decision was indicative of Atlus’ intentions not to include her in the remake, thus P3P being players’ only chance to play as her. Which I call BS. Why would Atlus make the dumb ass decision to tell on themselves and say "Hey, see this content here? Yeah fuck you, we’re cutting it from the remake!”

It’s especially suspect considering for some people, that port of P3P might’ve been their first EVER experience with P3. I know a lot of us have been fans for a long time, but for some people, that slew of ports was their first opportunity to dip their toes into the franchise. Imagine how shocked those people will be with they play the remake only to find a whole route of content cut.

And lastly, Atlus’ constant promotion of FeMC during the 25th anniversary, following their decision to wholly cut her from the 20th anniversary five years prior.

All of this feels like Atlus’ desperate attempt to remind people that FeMC exists (not that we needed their help) when they could’ve just as easily ported FES to next gen consoles, excluded her from the 25th anniversary, and focused fully on making sure the usual MC remained at the forefront of people’s minds.

Finally, I think its important to remember two points: Atlus hasn’t officially announced this game, and it’s slated release period is Q1 2024, leaving plenty of marketing time before the game comes out.

I think it’s perfectly reasonable for Atlus to throw all of their marketing into the original MC, showing him off, giving him all the bells and whistles to kick start the hype, and then reveal FeMC at a later date. Other ‘anime-esque’ game devs do exactly the same: Caligula, Honkai: Star Rail, etc.

Just because this initial trailer doesn’t include her doesn’t mean she’s been cut entirely. I truly think Atlus knows all too well how much she means to some fans (and how much money they could potentially lose by not including her) for them to completely exclude her from the remake.

With that being said, if all’s said and done and she still isn’t there, believe me, I won’t be playing ReLOAD on day one. Partially because I’m bitter, but also because I don’t have $60-70 USD to be spending on a game that excludes one of my most precious video game characters.

[jcmarchi]

Capcom Keeps Bringing Resident Evil To VR – Here's How And Why

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/capcom-keeps-bringing-resident-evil-to-vr-heres-how-and-why/

Capcom Keeps Bringing Resident Evil To VR – Here's How And Why

Deflecting a crossbow’s bolt in real life takes practice. In the Resident Evil 4 (RE4) VR port, all it takes is lifting the controller in the air at the right time.

And it’s always satisfying.

The parry mechanic is one of the novel additions of the 2023 remake developed by Capcom. Whenever a bolt or melee attack from an infected villager is about to impact Leon Kennedy, you only need to press a button to deflect with the in-game knife. This action grants an opportunity to follow up with an attack on the spot while simultaneously adding to RE4’s original close-quarter smackdown.

Adapting this to the PlayStation VR2 wasn’t easy. Instead of Leon doing a swift animation with just a button press, you need to grab the knife from your chest, lift it up in the air, and match the incoming attack. It’s more involved, sure, but also more immersive, adding a new layer of novelty to the mechanic.

“Enemy attacks have attack detections set at the weapon’s position,” director Keisuke Yamakawa says. “So, just by checking the contact between the enemy’s attack detection and Leon’s knife, we were almost able to get our anticipated behavior. When we managed to perform the first parry, the team was very excited about how much fun it was, and we were convinced that [the] VR Mode was going to be entertaining.”

Parrying is just one of many elements that went through careful consideration when translating the remake to virtual reality. To find out more about the process, Game Informer spoke to Yamakawa and producer Masato Kumazawa about the development of the VR Mode, how the VR version of Resident Evil Village served as a foundation, and what to expect in the future from Capcom’s ongoing push into the medium.

Knife Party

Would Leon throw a knife in the midst of battle? Virtual reality grants you greater control over characters, and the team had to consider all possibilities of player agency. In deciding where to place boundaries and where to allow people to experiment, Capcom came up with three main pillars. Namely, whether your actions are fun in VR, whether you feel like you’re incarnating Leon, and if it all fits the RE4 experience.

At first, the team wasn’t sure about this possibility. In the VR version of Resident Evil Village, you can not only throw knives as Ethan Winters but weapons as well. Since Ethan is a civilian, the concept of him throwing whatever he has at hand to hit an enemy and make a quick escape doesn’t sound irrational. However, Leon has had a ton of training and experience in the field, so he wouldn’t be throwing a pistol at somebody’s head.

Ultimately, the developers figured players would want to throw knives as Leon regardless, so they added the mechanic for VR. Unlike Village, there’s a slight delay before returning the knife to the shortcut slot after throwing – which is placed on your virtual body at arm’s reach. Moreover, there’s the advantage of recovering a bit of the knife’s durability by manually returning it to the slot. Considering knives have a more prominent use in RE4, this all fits the concept well. Aside from attacking enemies, you can throw knives at bear traps to trigger them safely out of harm’s way or do target practice with chickens to get eggs.

In the VR version of Village, you’re able to close your hands to form a fist and punch werewolves. Unlike the knife, there’s no delay or cooldown time preventing you from defending yourself with this method. Sure, the damage is vastly inferior in contrast to knives and guns, but since it’s considered a VR novelty and not a proper mechanic, there isn’t a penalty in place. Allowing you to punch Ganados as Leon was also considered early in development. The problem, the developers say, was it meant replacing the existing melee system in favor of a punch you could repeat without a clear penalty. Funnily enough, you can wield two knives simultaneously to stab enemies quickly. But of course, the durability will prevent you from endlessly repeating this action. (Unless you find all Clockwork Castellans to unlock the Primal Knife, which can be upgraded to become indestructible. You’re welcome.)

Of course, Village wasn’t the only point of reference. The original Resident Evil 4 got a standalone VR version developed by Armature Studio and published by Oculus Studios back in 2021. While the team didn’t mention it as an inspiration, there are multiple similarities, such as cutscenes displayed on a virtual TV of sorts. As for the world itself, there isn’t a big focus on interactivity, which is one of VR’s standout features. Perhaps more importantly, the first-person perspective shifts to third-person each time you perform melee actions, like the flat version.

“During the spinning kick attack, Leon’s posture changes drastically, and his body rotates,” Yamakawa says. “Therefore, it was clear that placing the camera at the head position would not produce a proper image. It was also important to be able to check the surrounding situation and the enemies caught by the kick, so we decided to use the third-person view from the beginning.”

Alternate Realities

In addition to throwing knives and manually parrying attacks, you can grab items and inspect them up close, do revolver tricks à la Revolver Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid, and even reload a shotgun by cocking the weapon with one hand. In order to keep up with the intensity of the RE4 remake, a lot had to be streamlined along the way.

Barrels and crates containing items can be destroyed by swinging your knife, but you can opt to use a button prompt that does the action for you as well. In the base game, whenever Leon enters a dark area, he turns on a flashlight until you’re back in a well-lit environment. This happens in VR, too, but the light is attached to your head by default, following your movement. You can, however, grab it from your forehead and move it yourself, similarly to Village, until the section ends. Each weapon has its peculiarities, especially when it comes to reloading, but some are simpler than what you’d expect in VR. As the team says, these shortcuts are intended to make it so your attention is on the action around you.

“For the shotgun and other weapon types that load one shot, we understand that as a VR game, it would be very interesting to reload one shell at a time,” Yamakawa says. “But in Resident Evil 4, the combat is very intense, and if the players have to reload the shells one by one during combat, it would make it very difficult and might affect your level of enjoyment.”

According to Kumazawa, the release of the VR Mode was scheduled “a year after” the initial release of the base game, which came out on March 24, 2023. It ended up being less than that, being released as a free DLC on December 8 of the same year.

This was partly thanks to the fact that when the core team was still developing the main game, it also started working on aspects of the VR Mode. Additionally, the director of Village helped the team during the initial phases of development, while Yamakawa himself worked on the VR version of Resident Evil 7. It made for a much smoother process, even if mechanics like dual-wielding weapons had to be made from scratch.

In the “Integrated Report 2015” document released by Capcom in the same year, the company expressed its interest and commitment to VR for its Development Division 1, the group responsible for the Resident Evil series. Nine years later, half of the mainline Resident Evil games released in this time have gotten a VR version on PlayStation headsets. The Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes and Armature’s version of RE4 are the outliers.

When asked if this focus on VR has influenced the way Capcom develops new games in the franchise, knowing it’d be working on a VR version ahead of time, the team suggested otherwise. “The simple answer is ‘No,’” Yamakawa says. “It’s very important to us that the main game is as interesting as possible, so we didn’t make any changes to it just because there was going to be a VR mode.” This, in addition, encompasses core additions like the parry. It wasn’t until the team started iterating on the base game to translate the experience to VR that tweaks and changes to the mechanic were made.

The interviewees say they implemented all the elements they wanted for Resident Evil 4 VR. Once they wrapped up the project, they realized VR was well-suited to the franchise. While they didn’t discuss specifics, Kumazawa says they “plan to undertake more challenges in the future.”

Moreover, Kumazawa adds that one of the reasons for releasing the VR versions of Village and 4 as free DLC is that the team wants to try to help expand the VR market. Yamakawa, personally speaking, joined the project as a director because of his enthusiasm for VR.

While conditions such as motion sickness continue to be a concern for players to access VR, Yamakawa says there’s been substantial improvement in comparison to the original PlayStation VR headset.

“When we received the first version of the original VR development kit, I spent a lot of time playing it,” Yamakawa says. “VR also matches with the Resident Evil franchise really well. I would like VR to get much more popular with the public. Since headsets can still be quite expensive and heavy, I would love for the kits to continue getting lighter and more affordable to make it more [approachable] to the general audience.”

This article originally appeared in Issue 364 of Game Informer.

[my-personal-place-to-write-blog]

After finishing Ys VI, I started Ys: The Oath in Felghana, which is the second game in the Napishtim engine. Ys: The Oath in Felghana is the remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, which originally came out in 1989. If you want more details about this Ys VI, you can read my thoughts on the game here.

After this quick introduction, I can start talking about the game and I’ll start from the story.

In their travels, Adol and Dogi hear some rumors that things are going badly in the land of Felghana (which also happens to be Dogi’s homeland). After that, they decided to reach Felghana and after they arrived here, they noticed that a monument dedicated to god of safe journey destroyed.

After this it’s revealed that monsters are running loose in the country, and Adol ended up saving Elena from the attack of said monsters. Elena is an old friend of Dogi, and with her, you reach the city of Redmond.

In the city you learn that the mine, which was the main source of income for the city, was closed by the king, which causes the anger of people living there. At this point you learn that some miners and the mayor went against the order of the king and entered the mine, but they ended up getting trapped inside of it. After Adol learns about this, he goes to rescue them. And in this way, the journey starts.

The story is really simple overall, you shouldn’t expect anything amazing here. That said the story is kinda nice and it serves his purpose well enough.

After the story, my next point of focus is the gameplay. Oath in Felghana is a fast-paced ARPG which throws at you constant resources to keep things fast. The combat in Felghana is even faster compared to the one that you have in Ys VI (which makes sense, this game came out after Ark of Napishtim while using the same engine so they could make some improvements to it). Like in Ys VI, the combat is a blast.

So, which improvements they made to the formula while keeping the fast-paced combat? Like I anticipated in my Ys VI post, Oath in Felghana replace the 3 swords system with the potion system (system that will return in Ys Origin).

Enemies drop these potions while you fight them, and they give passive stats booster to you when you pick them up. These stats include strength, defence and MP (which increase the recovery rate of your magic power when picked up). These boosts are temporary, and the bottle's dimension effects the time you can use the buffs. You can stack them up to a x5% multiplier, which is actually insane.

Alongside this, when you kill enemies, you also get an exp multiplayer, which makes you gain experience faster. You only need to kill them, and this multiplayer will increase. The maximum here is x1,99%, so you can technically gain double experience from enemies when you kill them.

Just like in Ys VI, enemies drop healing items as well, but they work in a different way from the previous game (unless you are playing Ys VI in Catastrophe mode). In Oath in Felghana, when the enemy drops the healing item, you collect them immediately and use them. So, if you get damaged and an enemy drop this, you heal immediately.

You will find save point scattered through the land. You can fully heal at these monuments, and later in the game you will gain the ability to fast travel and reaching them without much trouble. This is really good to have at hand, in this way you can easily reach the city (in order to upgrade your equipment) without a lot of backtracking to do.

Another thing that Oath in Felghana introduces (compared to the previous game) is the boost system. When the meter is charged, you can use the meter and temporarily increase Adol strength and defence for a short amount of time. Which means that you will damage more the enemy in this instance, and this is extremely nice against boss specifically since you can’t access the potion system in these segments. In this game you can’t enter the boss fight with the boost meter already charged, but you can charge it during the fight and use it when this is ready.

In the Psp (or Nintendo Switch) version of the game, the double boost meter was added and is obtained with the double jump. Once Adol's boost gauge reaches 100%, it will start filling up in red again, and when it is completely filled, you can activate the double boost. When activated, the double boost releases a burst of energy that damages nearby foes, and actually provides a greater boost to Adol's abilities than the regular boost mode, while also slowly restoring his health based on his hit combo.

The double boost meter isn’t present in the Pc version of the game. I will give more details about the different version in another post.

Adonis, the blacksmith of the town, can upgrade your weapon, your armor and your shield two times if you bring him Raval Ore, which is needed for this upgrade. The stats bonuses aren’t really that high, but they can make a difference when you fight enemies, you might kill them in a faster way overall.

It’s worth mentioning that the dungeon areas are really fun to go through: the way everything flows is great. In general, the gameplay is easily the main reason why this game is fun.

The next things that I want to talk about are the boss fights. Like in Ys VI, boss fights have patterns: once you figure out how you should fight them you can generally blast through them.

That said, in this game, sometimes some bosses don’t have a clear pattern to fight them or said pattern is difficult to figure it out: in this case it will take some time to actually figure out what you should really do to damage them. Not every boss has this problem but at the same time this isn’t the greatest thing in the world.

This is especially worth mentioning because Falcom actually understood the issue and actually addressed this in Ys Origin, which is the next and last game in this engine.

Overall, I would still say that the majority of the boss fights are really fun but you will notice this issue; that said if you like the games in this engine, you will love Oath nonetheless.

Like Ys VI, this game still looks really good and pleasant on the eyes. The visuals are really nice.

The soundtrack is amazing. The music is based on the original Ys III soundtrack (in fact, you can choose in the option if you want to use PC-8801 and X68000 ost from the menu screen) but the arrangements are completely different and they are great.

Some tracks from the game:

The Oath in Felghana ~ A Premonition =Styx=

Prelude to the Adventure

The Boy Who Had Wings

Illburns Ruins

Valestein Castle

Believe in my Heart

Beat of Destruction

A Premonition =Styx= (Acoustic Version)

Overall, I still love Ys: The Oath in Felghana a lot but I’ve been able to notice some problems that I really didn’t notice the first time that I played the game, but this game is still a blast to go through and in general, this is a really fun game to play. Hoping that the Switch remaster will be officially released in the west as well, it will be a new chance for people to actually notice this game.

[faeassassin]

When last we met...

I’m anticipating losing Twitter as a place to doomscroll, to vent, to find new people, to make new friends, and just in general be my weird self.

So, the last time I was really active on Tumblr I feel like I was a much different person. I started here while I was still known for writing anime fanfic. I’d had a few NaNoWriMo wins under my belt. I was a LiveJournal refugee.

And I played a lot of World of Warcraft.

a LOT of World of Warcraft

No, more than that. I was a pretty solidly hardcore raider when this account was new, then I broke up with my ex, ended up getting married to a guy I dated in high school, and became a filthy casual.

I loved it. I was completely enamored with WoW lore even without the raiding, I watched all the YT videos I could find that expounded on it, and never wanted it to end.

Then I found out the CEO of Blizzard was a sexual predator and I dropped WoW and Diablo like a hot potato.

I’d been working as a social media moderator for a company called ICUC for over six years. I got fired the morning after the Pulse shooting for speaking up for the safety of me and my team. Two years later I was working at Cognizant for a huge social media platform I am still technically not allowed to mention, and ended up with a giant case of PTSD that’s kept me from holding down a job since.

I lost my job, I lost my favorite game (and realized it was an autistic special interest of mine), and I was ready to remake myself.

Before I left that job I went out on a limb. See, I knew already that I could write awesome things that people enjoyed reading IF I could catch their attention. I’ve never lost my passion for telling stories, and I wanted to prepare an escape hatch for the nightmare I was living. I self published my first book five years ago this month. A book that was never a NaNoWriMo project. Just something I’d poked at for about ten years off and on. I had cover art. I had an editor. I had a dream. I had a little spare change to try to get noticed with a few (poorly planned) advertisements on Facebook.

I didn’t have ANY knowledge of what I was doing, I’d lost all touch with most of the people who used to be fans. I had crippling depression and growing symptoms of severe anxiety. (Physical symptoms. It was ugly.)

But what I DID have was a husband who was willing to try to make things work on one income while I started writing more books. I had a friend who happened to know a few things about graphic design who started making my cover art. I started making friends with other authors who pushed me toward better information on the business side of self publishing.

Now? I have six books published. I am proud of them. I am still writing (PTSD and grief and health issues willing, of course.) I turned to Minecraft to fill my gaming itch, and now I’ve found a new special interest in Empires SMP and Hermitcraft SMP videos. They fill that game lore void that had been sitting in my soul, and they’ve been inspiring my writing.

Also? Hi. I’m self-diagnosed autistic. Does it make any difference? Kinda. I’m still me, but it explains a LOT of my life and why I couldn’t understand why I felt so alone and couldn’t connect with anyone. Why everything was harder for me all the time, why I was so “sensitive” about everything, and...well. I could probably get a professional diagnosis, but it would be prohibitively expensive, and it wouldn’t do any good at all. Maybe some feeling of validation, I guess, but that’s about it. That’s not worth a thousand dollars out of pocket that I don’t have.

Long story short? I’m a different person now. I’m about to turn 48, and my life is a beautiful disaster. Nice to meet you again. If the Twittersphere burns down, I’ll settle in where I’ve already got roots.

[howdemo]

Godzilla ps4 pc release?

We're keeping track of the biggest 2022 video game release dates below, so check out what you can expect to see. God of War: Ragnarok, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake are just a few of the games incoming. A lot of games are coming to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch. That means 2022 promises to be even wilder. Scified is independantly owned and operated by a team of dedicated sci-fi movie fans, who strive to provide the best information and community experience for other like-minded sci-fi movie enthusiasts.As exciting as 2021 was, some of its most anticipated games were pushed back to 2022. Fans of Godzilla and fans of arena fighters rejoice Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee is an insanely fun and visually appealing brawler that is. Locate the executable file in your local folder and begin the launcher to install your desired game. Images and names of content we promote, discuss, review or report are property of their respective owners. Click the 'Install Game' button to initiate the file download and get compact download launcher. The only downside would be graphics ( which aren't terrible for a PS3 port ), for the power PS4 holds the graphics could have definitely been. All content is property of unless otherwise stated. His interactions with the environment, encounters with other monsters, and sluggish movement all give you that authentic feel of what Godzilla should be in game. Scified is an entertainment media network covering the latest news on the most popular, upcoming science fiction movies, games and television. This is a fan-created website for the purpose of informing and exciting fans for Godzilla: King of the Monsters's release. Godzilla: King of the Monsters and its associated names, logos and images are property of and are in no way owned by Scified and its related entities. The Japanese version of the PlayStation 4 Godzilla is titled Godzilla VS (-GODZILLA-VS, Gojira Buiesu) and was released on July 16, 2015. Images used are property of their respective owners. This site is an extension of the Godzilla Fandom on Scified - a central hub for fans of Godzilla looking to stay up-to-date on the latest news. Providing the latest official and accurate information on Godzilla: King of the Monsters, this website contains links to every set video, viral video, commercial, trailer, poster, movie still and screenshot available. is an information resource for fans looking to learn more about the upcoming blockbuster Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Kong, now is a great time to pick your Titan and represent Godzilla or Kong! Check out some products below and click here for even more options! With the upcoming release of Adam Wingard's Godzilla vs. If you are a fan of Godzilla and are looking for an exclusive online community to share your passion and engage with other die-hard Godzilla fans, look no further! Join in the Godzilla Movies forum - a dedicated community of Godzilla movie and Monsterverse fans! Get G-ed Up! The report comes to us from Reddit, with suggestion that a full reveal will take place at the next E3 conference.Īlthough an official announcement has yet to be made, leaks of this nature are fairly commo leading up to E3. Alongside an official launch trailer, Square Enix has delayed the release date of Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker on all platforms, which is to say PC, PS4, and PS5. For Mobile users you can find them on the top right of the app (3 dots) under 'Community Info'. The fighting game will apparently be available for Xbox One, Playstation 4, PC and will include a pretty hefty roster of available Monsters to choose from with the possibility of added Monsters via DLC. Welcome to /r/GODZILLA, a place to admire the King of the Monsters and his many foes If you havent already, please read through the rules located on the sidebar. Kong game is reportedly currently in development and will release in the fourth quarter of 2020 to coincide with the movie's release date! Free for all Astro customers Stream and binge-watch from the latest series to the past seasons as well as our vast collection of movies, Astro originals. DUALSHOCK4 wireless controller Move R2 button L2 button Move camera. Kong, we now receive word that a Godzilla vs. Choose Godzillas Atomic Breath Begin the game Launch the game to bring up the.

With less than a year to go before Godzilla stomps back onto the big screen in Godzilla vs.

[droshawoluv]

FF7 characters traits and moments that aren’t talked about enough.

I’m kinda tired of entering twitter and seeing wicked weird theories or fake leaks shared that goes soooo against what the characters are and were during 25 years, and I’ve been wanting to do some remarks of what people COULD talk about more about the characters in FF7 instead. And I mean all the cool characters, not just their self-insert characters and ideas, SO! some things I love summarized:

CLOUD STRIFE

(My favorite character) His actual journey through his identity issues that are super hinted before the reveals, but also how he opens up about his vulnerabilities through the journey, to his close friends (barret+tifa) or the group itself (after Aerith death) about how insecure he is, how scared he is, with one of my favorite phrases of him “There’s someone inside me (...) who’s not really me”; but also opening up about his fake persona until now after the lifestream admitting his flaws that lead to believe he wasn’t the one who thought and reach his lowest point at the Northern Crater in the most anticipating heart wrenching moment of the future remake(s) personally.

BARRET WALLACE

After what happen with Dyne, Barret starts thinking about a lot of things -Cosmo canyon and its planetology being the perfect place for it-. One of those things is reevaluate the decisions and stance he had in Midgar with his activities in Avalanche, admitting that behind those actions, there was a big sense of personal revenge covered by his “save the planet” speech (I personally think admitting when you were wrong about something needs a lot of courage and wisdom that’s why I love it). All that introspection will end up on his resolve to fight for his daugther future and save the planet through other ways that involve learning about the planet and its resources. Being a true hero for the planet eventually

TIFA LOCKHART

Tifa deals with the biggest emotional rollercoaster in the entire game, by far. There’s so much confusion in her head, summed by the tragic event that hit her both in the past and during the game. She dealt disc 1 with all the confusion about Cloud’s odd behavior and her own twisted memories, scared of doing something that would fuck up everything;  AND YET! She never got lost in all of it, refuse to stop believing in her childhood memories and was allowed to save her last link to her hometown from despair, and will lead to help save the world eventually. In her rich story, her resolution to not lose herself in the middle of everything is an admirable trait of her

AERITH GAINSBOROUGH

My favorite Aerith trait BY FAR has to be with her struggles and basically existential crisis about her role as the last Cetra, now that she left Midgar because shit goes down. It’s something lost in the remake -and ignored in the OG- imo, but moments like this show her fears through the journey, and what she thinks are her obligations while talking to the planet. All of that add for her final resolution of “I’m going alone because I’m the only one who can stop this”, and its eventual fatal consequence for her (that of course, still help to save the planet at the end).

NANAKI - RED XIII

I think when you talk about Red you talk about the Seto quest, and not to blame anyone, it’s pretty relevant. But I also appreciate his change in his behavior, in particular, he shows a mature attitude through the journey because he refuses to accept he is still very young, and even better, after that first visit to CC, he embrace that fact, and understand that he has a lot of room to improve, grow and learn. In his final visit to CC, Bugenhagen suggests him to go out there, and learn what the world has to offer (side note: another incoming heart wrenching moment in the future), in another hint of his journey to learn about the planet that will eventually be on Case of Nanaki.

YUFFIE KISARAGI

Every hour is ‘Missing Yuffie Kisaragi hours’ in here, the apparently spoiled thief kid who’s actually the only one in Wutai, the land humiliated by Shinra, that wants to turn things around, and keep the traditional might of her land while refusing to surrender her own culture to Midgar and its soft power invading it. Her conflict with her father it’s really dope, and have a nice discussion about strength and determination. With the Wutai war and its fake Avalanche link out there, she can have a great role in the future. 

REEVE TUESTI / CAIT SITH

When people talk shit about Cait Sith I immediatly think about Reeve, the actual dude behind it and its interesting character. My favorite part being his opposite point of view from Barret’s. Even if their last goals coincide, he wants to save people from within as best as he can instead of recurring to extreme decisions (either from Shinra or from Avalanche). All of that works great to have some polarity with Barret in the future and potential tension between them, but he still believes in the group and can be the diplomatic leader the city needs in the future.

CID HIGHWIND

Talk about character development, how great it is to go from being a grumpy dude with anger management issues, to start embracing his important role for the fate of the planet and its people, and during the achievement of his longtime coming dream to understand the power of humans when they desire and create something, taking the lead to convince the others they have the chances to protect the planet from the threats that it is suffering amidst the huge universe (when even the main character is having a defeatist attitude at the moment).

VINCENT VALENTINE

Vincent is very similar to Cloud in some aspects. But what I like about him is that after giving himself a punishment for not stopping Gast+Hojo+Lucrecia, he eventually takes a step forward and participates with the group to have his redemption through action instead of pushing himself away alone, and that not only includes the expected “kill hojo and stop sephiroth” but also give some closure to Lucrecia so she can also rest in peace and being able to move on too, opposite to his passive role in the past.

[storiesbyladychi]

Fic: In the House of Cedar and Pine

Fic Title: In the House of Cedar and Pine

Fandom: 12 Monkeys

Pairing: James/Cassie

Summary: How they got to their happily ever now. A post-finale expansion fic because I loved everything about it.

It doesn’t take much to rebuild her life. 

Not that it needs rebuilding, in this timeline. She carries the burden of knowing inside her mind -- knowing what was, what could never be, now. Who could never be. With that knowing, her relationship with Aaron ends quietly. Her practice, she establishes with hard work, taking care of children every single day.

Athan. Athan will never be, not in this timeline. And her body doesn’t carry the signs of carrying him anymore. Once upon a time, her stomach had stretch marks, so did her breasts. James had kissed them, once. She’d held him as he cried, as Athan became real for the first time to him. A reality she’d been living with, a burden she’d been carrying, a hope she’d been harboring.

None of that mattered anymore. 

For a while she was numb. Then the pain of it -- of losing everything -- of giving everything up, was a razor in her side that she took with her everywhere.

And then, miracle of miracles, she began to heal. What she lost became a phantom limb -- something she always knew was there, but the loss of it, she’d adjusted to. 

It was hard to make friends, living in this new reality. She thought about support groups -- mothers who’d lost children, spouses who’d lost their partners, but in this timeline, in this reality, she’d never had those things. It could be easily proven she had not. So maybe healing was a slower process than it could have been, had she had anyone to talk to.

When the house came up for sale, she hesitated for not even a second. It wouldn’t be torture, she told herself, more of an honoring of what had been before, to restore the house, make it comfortable, live in it once again.

She did as much as she could herself, and she saw his face whenever she did. She remembered painting the living room once before, scrubbing out cabinets with him, with James. The apocalypse had made its people self-reliant. James could, and did, wield a hammer as well as he could a gun, plant crops and harvest them, build fence and live in the wild. Some of those things had come in handy when they were remaking the farmhouse for the first time. 

The house of cedar and pine 

There was a small room next to her bedroom They’d talked about making it the nursery, painting it a soft yellow. They’d never gotten as far as building furniture or gathering the things they would have needed for an infant. She never had a blanket with his name embroidered in it, had never had a baby shower.

Never got to love him, anticipate him, hope for him, the way she wanted to. Before she’d gotten a chance to do any of that

At any rate, whenever she passed that room in her new house, she laid a hand on the door. It remained closed. She was healing, but she wasn’t there yet. Maybe that wound wouldn’t ever close. 

She went to work, she healed as well as she could, she came home. She made herself instant noodles and ate supermarket salads, she watched the sun set, she read books (she’d gotten used to the relative quiet of the 2040s and couldn’t bring herself to watch TV very often), she made notes, she went to bed. She slept on the left side, and laid her hand on the pillow next to hers. 

Thanks to Time, she lived.

**

Jennifer knew he was coming, which was his saving grace. She had more money than she knew what to do with, and so she could make him appear -- in databases, in school records, in the Social Security system. Now it appeared to the world as though he’d been working Markridge security for several years. 

“You don’t have to,” she told him, “in fact, you don’t have to do anything. I don’t know if you’re the kind of person who can do nothing, but don’t think you need to worry about a job, or anything.” 

She showed him the bank account she’d set up for him, and his stomach had roiled. “It’s too much, Jennifer. It’s way too much.” 

“You totally Messiah’d yourself for seven billion people, and this is like, two days worth of income for me,” she told him. “It’s no biggie.” 

She’d packed a suitcase for him, the kind of things he’d worn before, the kind of things he’d be comfortable in. Jeans -- not broken in, he’d have to wear them several days in a row for them to really be comfortable. Henleys, plaid shirts, jackets with sherpa fur lining them. Good quality stuff. Enough to get him started, in upstate New York, where Cassie was. In the house of cedar and pine, Jennifer told him. Where she was always meant to be. Where he was meant to be.

 “She’s been waiting for you, without knowing she’s waiting for you, if you know what I mean, Otter Eyes.” She’d wrapped him in a hug before she sent him on an airplane north -- the Markridge private jet. She smelled good -- better than she smelled in the apocalypse, but still her. “You’re a good man, James Cole. Even time thinks so.” 

He walked down a path that was familiar to him, and had an odd sensation of coming home to somewhere he’d never properly been before. Good shoes on his feet, thick socks. Everything new, everything slightly uncomfortable. He’d taken three showers in three days. Would she recognize him if he was this clean? 

He didn’t shave, hoping at least the scruff would help him feel familiar in this world that was familiar but somehow alien to him. He wondered if he would ever feel like he belonged. 

Right now, Ramse was just a little kid. Jennifer told him Cassie would remember him, but -- well, it wasn’t that she was crazy or couldn’t be trusted, she always told the truth, but…

He’d survive without her, if she didn’t remember. Or he’d work, he’d show her, he’d fall in love with her again, and again. A blank slate wouldn’t be the worst. Or had they fallen in love with each other because of the grooves time had worn in their souls that matched?

They said good-bye once. In the room with the machine, yes. But in their bedroom first. Slow hands and sweet kisses, making love slowly, achingly. Trying to carve space in each other bodies for the other. Knowing she would forget him. Knowing he would never exist. Trying to become permanent in the face of unforgiving Time.

It’s likely she won’t remember. He tried to prepare for that. 

Or maybe -- maybe, they’ll have that sweet pleasure-pain again of finding each other again. He remembers -- after an hour, after a minute, after a second apart -- we can have forever.

And now. With an ending. That makes it real.

He sees Cassie before she sees him. And his heart leaps up in his throat and his stomach is in knots. Another time, another place, he’d seen her first. He’d been a little in love (nothing like he felt now), sure that he was going to ruin her life. There’s no promises now, but there’s a pleading in his mind, a hope for one last gift from the universe.  Please, please, please….

Death can be undone. Love cannot.

Surely across time, across space -- surely they’d bound their hearts so securely to each other -- tethered them there, that -- please.

She’s sitting on the porch, surrounded by flowers. Flowers she’d grown because she had time and inclination and skill. Things she’d never had before. On the porch, comfortable furniture. The door is painted the bright green they’d always talked about.

Is there a spot for him?

Oh, Time knows, Jennifer had said. But it also knows -- it owes you one.

But is the one another shot? Or is the one a shot with all of the things he’d never really dared to hope for, the dreams he’d kept so precious he’d never even told them to Cassie. A home. Regular access to food and clean water. And security enough to hope for children, fatherhood, not to dread it because there’s nothing in the world but pain. 

She sees him. She stands up. And on her face…

Recognition.

Hope.

Love. 

**

Learning each other again -- it takes some time. They’re used to it, they have a quick shorthand -- do you remember this? Do you still, are you…? 

Questions answered, questions asked. She takes a day off of work and they open up the room she hasn’t yet, and they make plans to paint it yellow.

In hope.

She goes back to work. He takes a little more time. Works on the house. Watches YouTube videos about plumbing and wiring. Thinks he might someday have to have a job, a regular one, where he shows up and works regular hours. With his credentials, he could do anything. He’s been a factory worker, a survivalist, in this world, he’s supposed to have worked security. He’d like to give up the guns, all of it, but it’s what he’s good for, what he was designed for, like Cassie was designed to be a healer. He’s always been a soldier of some kind.

The local police force advertises that they’re hiring. Cassie doesn’t love it, but she loves him, knows he feels like he still owes a lot back to the world.

He takes the job.

They slow dance to These Arms of Mine in front of a Christmas tree they’ve decorated. He holds his breath all day. Cassie isn’t pregnant. They haven’t talked about trying yet -- only in vague terms.

What she does ask is if he’s ready for her to stop… preventing it.

He says he is.

And then he goes to town and buys her a ring. Not because they need a wedding, but because now that he has something closer to a lifetime, he’d like to promise it to her, if they have a child. Or if they don’t.

When it happens, when she conceives… they both cry. He kisses her cheeks, her palms, her stomach. Loves her thoroughly. 

“What do we do if it’s a boy?” Cassie asked, tears in her eyes. “What if it’s Athan?”

“We’ll know,” James says, all the certainty of the universe behind him. “If it’s Athan, we’ll know. I think… I think in some ways, he was meant to be. Maybe this child will be him. I’d sure love a shot to know him. To raise him.”

She nods, too. But not knowing is breaking her heart. The ultrasound confirms… it’s a boy. 

They get home and she collapses to the floor, taking him with her. She lost Athan, and now she has him again, but the loss never really goes away. They live in this state, where they get to know him, and they didn’t get to know him and lost him, at the same time.

Nothing is ever simple.

James paints the room yellow. They look at baby furniture on the internet. 

Jennifer sends them a stuffed unicorn. 

A package arrives from Jones -- someone with whom they’ve yet to have any contact in this life. It’s a blanket, with Athan’s name embroidered in blue thread.

Cassie goes into labor on a Tuesday in the middle of the day. She’s later than her due date, which she told him had happened before. 

He holds her hand, breathes with her, listens to her as she labors. It’s nothing like TV. She does groan and moan, but she doesn’t curse him, doesn’t blame him. She’s a warrior, his Cassie, and this is her mission, her sole concentration on the moment at hand, bringing their child into the world.

She falls back against the tub, and the midwife hands her their son and it’s looking down at Cassie, looking at Athan that James thinks… oh. Oh. There you are. 

Cassie is crying and Athan is crying and James is… in awe.

And also crying. 

Fatherhood… something he’d been denied before. Now that he’s had the privilege, he’s even angrier than he was before, against people long dead and who won’t ever exist. He didn’t know what he was missing, the way Cassie knew what she was. She’d had a mother, and a childhood… he hadn’t really. But now he gets to be on this side of it. Gets to walk the hallway when Athan is fussy in the middle of the night. Change the diapers. Watch Cassie nurse him. Give him kisses and love him so entirely, with every fiber of his being that he wondered how he ever thought he knew what love was before. 

He takes Athan out on the porch as the sun is setting. It’s chilly, so they won’t stay long. “This is our house of cedar and pine,” he tells his son. “We’ll have our perfect moments here. And our imperfect ones. And we are so very, very glad you’re here.”

[stylesnews]

Harry Styles rose to fame as a member of boy band One Direction, but in recent years the 25-year-old has broken away from his teen roots to forge a successful career of his own.

In 2017, Styles' hotly anticipated self-titled album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart, featuring the hit singles “Sign Of Times” and “Kiwi.” Trading in polished pop songs for ones more reminiscent of ’70s British arena and classic rock, Styles’ newfound sound won over critics and fans as his supporting solo tour went on to sell nearly one million tickets.

Although Styles tends to steer clear of social media and any money-making sponsored content, he did make a rare statement in April on Twitter. Proving that his fame has kept him humble, Styles celebrated his gigantic fanbase and the birthday of his viral hit “Sign of the Times." He wrote, “Sign of the Times turned two today. Thank you for all the love since then, and for everything you’d done before. Love you all very much. H.”

Styles made his film debut in Christopher Nolan’s 2017 World War II drama Dunkirk. Now, it's rumored that he's in talks to star as Prince Eric in the live-action remake of the classic The Little Mermaid. He certainly has the luscious locks required to play a Disney prince.

The "Sweet Creature" singer is lauded for his fashion choices. He landed his second Gucci campaign for the Cruise 2019 Men’s Tailoring collection. Gucci isn’t the only sartorial powerhouse to have come knocking at his door, as Styles was the co-chair for the 2019 Met Gala alongside Anna Wintour, Serena Williams, Lady Gaga and Gucci designer Alessandro Michele.

He was executive producer on a short-lived CBS show called Happy Together. The show, which was canceled after just one season, was based loosely on his early One Direction days which saw him crash on his filmmaker friend’s couch for months despite his massive paycheck and celebrity status.

All of this success and the devotion of his fans converted to a pretty healthy bank balance - but how does it all break down?

What is Harry Styles’ net worth?

Since signing a solo deal with Colombia Records in 2016, according to the Sunday Times Rich List Styles' worth has accumulated to nearly $75 million.

The numbers make sense, considering the 24-year-old singer’s debut album was a mainstream success. Billboard reported that the album topped the charts with 230,000 equivalent album units earned in the first week alone. Even better, 193,000 of those units were in traditional album sales, earning Styles the biggest debut sales week for a U.K. male artist’s first full-length album since 1991.

While touring is the most lucrative income for musicians, Styles has used the opportunity to help others. Not only did his massive 90-show world tour sell nearly one million tickets, with the first leg of the tour selling out in 29 seconds, but it also raised $1.2 million in charity donations.

How much did Harry Styles earn from One Direction?

Right before One Direction announced their split, Forbes declared the band to be the highest paid celebrities under 30 in 2015. They collectively earned $130 million that year, beating out superstars Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga respectively.

And back in 2014, One Direction was reportedly walking away with $280k per day.

Did Harry earn more than his One Direction bandmates?

While each 1D member cultivated their own loyal fanbase that followed them on their solo ventures, Styles has reportedly earned the most.

This past October, Styles (once again) was named one of the richest celebrities under 30 in 2018, joining the ranks of Adele and Ed Sheeran.

It was determined that Styles was the richest One Direction member with his approximate $75 million net worth. He was followed by Niall Horan ($58 million), Louis Tomlinson ($56 million), Liam Payne ($55 million) and, perhaps surprisingly, Zayn Malik coming in last with $47 million.

Horan, Payne, and Malik have all released their own solo work, while Tomlinson has released a few singles and carved out a TV career as a judge on The X-Factor - though he's hinted that there's more music to come.

Where else has his money come from?

Outside of releasing music and touring, Styles earned money for his acting role in the war drama Dunkirk. It was one of the top-grossing box-officefilms of 2017, grossing $500 million worldwide. While many were skeptical of Nolan’s decision to cast the inexperienced singer, the director defended his decision and compared it to casting Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

“When I cast Heath Ledger as the Joker it raised a lot of eyebrows and caused a lot of comment,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “I have to trust my instincts, and Harry was perfect for this part. He pulled it off with incredible grace and reality.”

Outside of his signature red carpet style of playfully printed suits, Styles has courted the attention of the fashion world. The singer has fronted two menswear campaigns for Gucci (autumn/winter 2018 and Cruise 2019), with both becoming social media sensations thanks to his co-stars that included dogs, chickens, and pigs.

Styles also co-founded the company HSA Publishing Ltd. back in 2014, alongside Irish accountant Alan McEvoy.

How many properties does Harry Styles own?

Like most jet-setting celebrities, Styles has snapped up homes in New York, London and LA. Back in 2012, he purchased a $3 million four-bedroom bachelor pad in London that was dubbed a "Party Palace" by the press.

In 2017, Styles reportedly bought an $8 million condo in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood in the same building that houses celebrities including Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Lawrence.

When Styles began to split most of his time between New York and London, the singer decided to put his LA Sunset Strip mansion on the market for $8.45 million in May 2017, though he shaved a cool million off (plus a little more) a year and a half later when it didn't sell. He's currently listing the home for $7.495 million.

[destiny-smasher]

Always Gotta Don’t Stop (speculating about Smash)

So with Byleth incoming in just a few days, we also got other noteworth announcements that got me pretty excited about the possibilities for what could come to Smash Bros. Ultimate over the next two years. I felt like having some fun and came up with multiple lists using this template by Matthew Lovenzka, and I tried to find a balance between various factors -- perceived popularity (not just with Western Smash fans but that’s part of it), moveset potential (they CAN make a moveset out of anything but Sakurai specifically focuses lately on bringing new mechanics), and also a twist of marketing (since that IS part of it, as Byleth demonstrates).

Long post is LONG, I’m goin’ ham.

First up, just some general predictions for Fighters Pass Volume 2:

Now, I don’t believe we will get Sora AND Geno, but it DOES feel likely we will get another Square character, and those two feel like the most popular picks with people from Square. I could Nintendo trying to get Sora in first and foremost, but if legal complications (or Square just being fussy) got in the way, they might compromise on Geno. I feel like with how big Activision/Blizzard is, they’d want a character in, and if Nintendo likewise WANTED to parley with that, and go for another western-themed pick, Bandicoot makes the most sense. Crash didn’t get into Playstation All-Stars but everyone still inherently associates Crash with the Playstation One, so it’d be a great pick and feel similar to Banjo-Kazooie in a lot of ways. I could see moveset being a little standard but they could probably come up with some fun elements. Given how much emphasis the Crash franchise has put on Coco more recently (made her fully playable in the Crash Trilogy, given her lots of attention in CTR Nitro-Fueled), it would feel in-character and also just be neat if she was added as an alt costume. Capcom: I feel like we’re all expecting a new Capcom rep, and that by no means entails we will get a new Capcom rep, buuut it feels pretty likely. Capcom is on good terms with Nintendo, Ultimate already has plenty of content from them, they even pitched in plenty of new music tracks to Ultimate. The real question is, who would Nintendo want from Capcom, and who would Capcom give their approval on? I would’ve thought Resident Evil a couple months ago, but since we just got RE spirits added, I’m starting to think that if a new Capcom rep got chosen, it must’ve been from somewhere else. (Maybe RE was considered first and they did spirits and all that but then it got cancelled or switched, I dunno). There’s plenty of possibilities, including multiple desired characters who have already been in Marvel vs Capcom. Personally, my money is on a Monster Hunter rep just because the game is so huge in Japan, and recently finally broke through to worldwide popularity. Next, a Bandai/Namco rep. Given that the company works on the series, it’s actually strange to me that B/N costumes from Smash 4 were removed, and we have yet to get anyone new added in. Pac-Man is still the only Bandai-Namco fighter in the game. As for who they’d add, most of the obvious picks might feel redundant (Tekken? Soul Calibur?) but if they went with something like Dark Souls, they could incorporate a stamina managing mechanic, as well as that grim-dark aesthetic (I feel like ONE of these six newcomers will be from a grim-dark game.

A year ago, you wanna know who EVERYONE was expecting to get into Smash? When it was revealed that NINTENDO was deciding the DLC, not Sakurai? Wanna know who everyone expected? ‘The new Fire Emblem protag.’ Which is...exactly what we got. I would say that at this point, we can’t really expect anyone or anything from Smash, but the exception to that rule is to expect a first party, corporate overlords pick. Could be a Gen 8 rep, could be Travis Touchdown to promo NMH3, could be a new Zelda rep to promo BotW2, I dunno, could be a new Splatoon character to promo that series (and whatever is coming next from it) but I feel it in my bones that one of these six will be first party, from a more recent game, basically to just be Nintendo flexing their own brands.

But something we learned over the past year is that they are actively trying to add more franchises and characters via Mii Costumes. So here’s some theories as to what we might get from 1st/3rd party Mii costumes in the couple years to come. It feels like we’ll prolly get more Nintendo themed Mii costumes, and tbh I just feel like with more Pokemon DLC coming, they will want to push that here. Especially if we get a new Pokemon fighter/stage, it would feel natural for them to throw in a trainer-oriented costume.

If we get a new Square rep, which feels likely because Square is just THAT big, then I would suspect we’d get one or two more Square costumes, but I’d expect them to be underwhelming. So, like, bring back the Chocobo hat. Bare minimum, that’s been Square’s creed when it comes to Smash.

While Resident Evil feels like it didn’t make the cut, I could totally see them adding in one or two RE themed costumes as kind of a peace offering for the franchise. Leon/Claire would make sense with the RE2 remake being such a hit, and Leon’s history with Nintendo hardware.

TBH it feels kind of criminal that Chun-Li isn’t in the game in some way outside of a spirit and a music track. At least give that lady a costume, for Din’s sake.

2B is also technically Square, but her creator has been very open about being interested in just...selling her likeness all around. I feel like 2B could be a fighter, of course, like she already is in Soul Calibur 6, but I also feel like if Nintendo was going to aim for a Square character, they’d have their sights set on bigger fish. She would please plenty by appearing as a costume, at least.

OK, so, I have played a Minecraft or two over the years. Hell, I played it WAY back before it was even officially finished/released. I can definitely see the appeal of Minecraft coming to Smash, though more as a stage than as a fighter. I could easily see a Minecraft SOMETHING making its way in, and it is very possible to show up as a fighter, but a Mii Fighter skin feels more likely imo.

So something else that hasn’t officially become a pattern yet but has definitely set up an anticipation is indie games getting their dues with ‘premium’ Mii costumes. So here’s my picks for those. I think three of these are actually still quite possible to be fighters, if IF IF Nintendo is willing to truly throw an indie a bone. But it feels more plausible that that bone would be much smaller, and we’d get popular indie reps in the form of these premium skins with music tracks. I feel like I don’t even need to really explain most of these, but VA11 HALLA is here more because I personally like it a lot, it’s a popular enough visual novel internationally, and it has a banging OST. But tbh if I could decide on a Stardew Valley skin that would’ve gone there instead, just because of how prominent the game is. You could likewise replace Cave Story with Stardew, except I feel like Cave Story was THE indie game that kind of kickstarted this whole ‘indie revolution.’ Tricky part there is the complicated and unfortunate nature of the series’ ownership (essentially taken away from its creator).

The other four, though, I could easily see them as fighters with their own unique gimmicks/mechanics and stages with cool music and aesthetics. The only other indie game/character I could envision more than them is coming up. I feel like if this indie trend continues, one of these is bound to show up.

So Sakurai made a weirdly big deal about the concept of ‘echo fighters’ only to like...add three and call it a day? There’s so much more you could get out of the concept, and as many have discussed, doing an ‘Echo Fighter pass’ (or just piecemeal adding in Echo Fighters) over the course of the next two years would make extra bank, please lots of folks, and not actually take up more resources. The trick is they’d all have to be first party characters from already establishes franchises in Smash, otherwise I just don’t see them happening. To be a proper echo fighter, they would need to be slightly different than another fighter, but different in some way. This usually entails at least one special move being totally different, but it also often entails changing the characters’ properties in some way. To be clear: Tetra - Toon Link, Medusa - Palutena, Octoling - Inkling, Gooigi - Luigi, Impa- Sheik, Dixie - Diddy.

Personally, I think Impa would make the most sense of these to be her own fighter, and she has many forms she could take (pictured above is the Hyrule Warriors version), which tbh could just mean an entirely original, new adaptation, like they’ve already done with Sheik and, arguably, Zelda. But she could totally get away with being a Sheik echo, as well. You can probably imagine differences on your own, but if we were to get more echo fighters added, these are some of the more popular and perhaps plausible picks that might possibly please the higher proportion of people.

So I don’t think any of these feel specifically likely outside of a Monster Hunter rep, and even then, I feel like Byleth essentially got the ‘gimmick’ you’d give to a Hunter fighter (like they got in MvCI), so you could swap the Hunter for a Palico or even a Monster or something, I dunno. I want someone from Monster Hunter, and I want a Monster Hunter stage/music. But I do feel like at this point, anyone feels possible for Smash, so these are picks I would personally DIE OVER, like I did with Mega Man, Lucina, Banjo-Kazooie, and Joker before them. Ones that I personally have great affection for and would main regardless of play style, but which also feel prominent enough and appropriate enough where you imagine them in Smash, imagine many people knowing who they are, etc etc.

ARMS was such a lovingly made game that just didn’t have mechanics deep enough to hold people’s attention in the long run. Which is a shame, because the characters, the world, the aesthetic, it’s all so well done and I adore it. I do feel like we’re bound to get at least one more Ninty rep (probably two or even three depending on how much Nintendo wants to dabble with third parties this go-around), and I feel like ARMS is a franchise worth inspiring interest in. The game did well, it just didn’t do SPLATOON well, and I don’t want Nintendo to abandon it. Give us the four most prominent characters from the game as different skins, use colors to reference the ones who are shaped differently from them, give them a unique mechanic with their arms and the swapping-fists element.

I do think we may very well get an Activision/Blizzard rep, and while I ain’t happy with that company right now, I do think they’re one of the biggest western companies who’s not in the game (Bethesda being another one, who I am also not happy with atm but who has much less defined characters). Tracer would tick many boxes in terms of what I want from a newcomer in Smash. She has lots of personality, she’s a woman (a thing sorely lacking in new Smash characters lately), she has what could be a VERY unique gimmick, and she would help advertise Overwatch 2 and other Blizzard games that have been coming to Switch. Make it so she doesn’t have a Final Smash but has an Ultimate that charges over time (and the Smash Ball just insta-fills it), but make it not as powerful AS a normal Final Smash. Give her Blinks and a Rewind but no traditional recovery, so you have a real intriguing balance between managing her cooldowns to either maximize offense at great risk, or grant very safe recovery but then lack ways to overcome neutral. Tracer’s kit could encapsulate just about everything interesting about competetive Smash gameplay. The only real downside is that Overwatch doesn’t have much in the way of music -- so incorporate other Blizzard stuff to make up the difference. Overwatch already crosses other Blizzard content into it, anyway.

Undertale may have gotten a nod in Smash already, and arguably in the form of one of the most desired characters/tracks added, but I also think the game is big enough of a deal that a full-on fighter/stage as the first indie properly added would feel...I dunno, fulfilling. Appropriate. Not to mention the moveset potential. Whereas Sans is already repped well enough tbh (even the nature of him being a costume FITS his too-lazy-to-actually-show-up-in-person mood), a concept for the actual player character of Undertale has way more potential imo. Not to mention that Sakurai/Nintendo seem much more keen on adding the primary/player character to rep a game before anyone else. Frisk could be played in a dual style: either a hyper defensive passive style that relies on turning the opponent’s strength against them, OR a hyper aggressive rush-down style that is fast and fierce but easily punishable if you make mistakes. The key to creating a truly fitting Undertale rep for Smash would be finding that balance of player choice between peace and violence and working it directly into the character’s kit. HOW you would implement it would be tricky -- ideally, you’d want to reward players for actually committing to ‘Frisk’ style or ‘Chara’ style, and punish them for middling between the two. Not only this, but an Undertale stage would bring with it one of the decade’s most beloved gaming OSTs, and you could probably get people in the gaming world who’d be JUMPING to arrange those tracks for Smash. The stage itself could take many forms but I think one that plays with the various characters and their attack styles would maximize the creativity of the team. If I had to pick one single character/stage to get added to Smash, I’d vouch for this one, probably, and I’d make it either the first of this pass, or the last; it’d have the biggest impact on either end but would be a big deal regardless.

Kat from Gravity Rush is, arguably THE least likely out of everyone here to show up in Smash, mainly because she is a Sony character. Unlike Joker or Crash, she isn’t a third party character who is associated with Sony, she is a Sony-owned character, to my knowledge. But out of every first party Sony character, she makes the most sense to me as a Smash character. She’s cute, cartoony, she has a primary gimmick that a PLATFORMING fighter could take full advantage of (imagine managing a gravity charge to go sideways or underneath the stage for kills, BUT dooming yourself if you mess up), and she would be a real “oh whoa wtf” moment in terms of bringing Sony into the fold. Main problem is, if Sony was to let of their characters in, it would probably be someone else, just because it seems they’ve lost sight of value in this series, unfortunately. Though, tbh, I’d be pretty damn down for Aloy, as well, I just think the stage/moveset wouldn’t be nearly as exciting or new.

Lastly, I want more Splatoon. We all want more Splatoon. I don’t know if the series has gone into hibernation until the next Nintendo hardware, or if a spinoff is coming sooner than we think, or what. But Nintendo knows how big Splatoon is. And the series FEELS big enough over the past decade to warrant more representation. I feel like we’re getting a new Ninty rep or two, anyway, and I’d much rather it be Splatoon than more Pokemon or Fire Emblem or JRPG etc. (nothing against those things, we just HAVE plenty of them). The pop idols of Splatoon have won the hearts of many, and you could definitely come up with a new moveset for them in many ways. It could be a tag-team moveset where the player swaps between them (maybe even on time intervals like a musical performance), it could be music-themed instead of ink-themed, it could be Ice Climbers -esque, I dunno, there’s a lot of possibilities. A Splatfest themed stage with multiple variations could keep things tied to the actual gameplay of Splatoon, as well (or they could do a Salmon Run based one, that mode is INSANE). It would drive up appeal in the brand even further, it would capitalize on the fanservice angle, it would highlight just how much the series has accomplished these past ten years -- for fuck’s sake, there are PHYSICAL CONCERTS YOU CAN GO TO to watch these characters perform. Who the hell else in Nintendo history can you say that for? And these characters are still pretty recent! That speaks a lot. If I had to rally for any first party add, it would be this, honestly. And yet, we already have Splatoon, but I think the brand is fresh enough and fun enough to warrant a whole new fighter.

So that’s my hopes, some predictions, and some shots in the dark.

The past year has been a WILD ride. The next two years will hopefully follow suit.

[televinita]

Little Women (2019): Thoughts

REQUIRED READING: the prequel post about my background going in to this film.

SNAPSHOT VERSION: Though I have some casting qualms, and may adjust my opinions after I reread the book, mostly I think this is everything my heart has needed since the magic of the ‘94 movie was broken for me. My heart is very full.

FULL VERSION: Twice as long as the prequel post (a.k.a. 1800 words), starts below.

I did not expect LW to be the first Unexpected Comeback Fandom of 2020 (or a comeback fandom ever, really), but here I am, having spent every day since I saw this film mooning about this story and looking up different editions and supplemental books in the library catalog, so I'd better process how I feel about it while the memories are relatively fresh.

Most of my thoughts are on casting rather than specific scenes because like I said, I can’t remember the book super well, so I’d like to get my movie memories to fade so that the book can surprise me. Also because I think I will have a more in-depth post about them when I watch the film a 2nd time, whether that’s in theaters or on DVD. But here’s what I’ve got for now.

ON CASTING

In no particular order --

* Emma Watson is very pretty but it is so hard to take her seriously as an actress. She's just Emma Watson, Famous For Being In Harry Potter and Getting Hired For Other Big Name Projects. I feel like she's so consciously acting all the time. She made a not-terrible Meg, I guess? No worse than she made a Belle. But it was roughly as hilarious watching her try to be a mother now as it was watching her try to be a mother in the last Harry Potter movie. To the point that I just kept hearing the "Damn! I'm SO maternal!" song playing as her theme in the background at all times. * I realized 6 days prior to seeing the movie that Florence Pugh is recognizable because she's in Midsommar and honestly, that just ruined everything for me. I didn't even see that film, I just know it's gross and I would hate it and while she is not tainted forever like the 50 Shades actors, she is definitely too tainted for Little Women. Also I could not stop thinking about how I associate Amy with being very dainty and prim and Florence, while perfectly lovely, is not. * Laura Dern was kind of strangely modern and kooky for Marmee, but I love her as an actress and I loved that she was just like "HELLO STRANGE NEIGHBOR BOY, COME BE MY FIFTH CHILD." So I was OK with that. * ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH BOB ODENKIRK. What kind of anachronistic garbage. What crack were you on, because it was obviously not the good stuff. "Did I stumble into an SNL parody??" I wondered more than once. * Meryl Streep as Aunt March was AMAZING. Ten Oscars. * Beth consistently looked younger than Amy, so that was weird. She was okay but kind of childlike, and failed to make Beth my favorite like she is in the book. * JO! Saoirse Ronan is by far my favorite actress in this set, but I didn't think she was right for Jo going in. "Jo's not a redhead!" I said, indignantly stamping my foot, because my childhood-era love for this novel reigns defensively supreme like for no other classic besides Black Beauty. (another 1994 classic they should remake soon, even though I love that version. Just saying.)

But damned if she did not COMPLETELY embody every essence of Jo there is and make Jo my favorite character this time. Truly, nobody except Meryl Streep so thoroughly matched my expectations for their character. Ten Oscars, part II. Or at least the one she is actually nominated for. If Jo loses to ScarJo I will riot. * John was nice. I feel like he was exactly what he was supposed to be, which is to say kind of plain and milquetoast but perfect for Meg. I don't actually remember him existing in the novel, so that was an interesting game of "how important is this guy?" until suddenly Meg was getting married and I realized I did, in fact, have a very dim memory of a wedding from the book. I think I will like their romance more the second time around, though. * Mr. Laurence was VERY EXCELLENT. IDK why I know the actor, even after looking him up, but I liked him in this role a lot. His grandfatherly quasi-adoption of Beth was so sweet. * As for Professor Bhaer...UGH. I hated him on sight and my brain wouldn't even let me recognize who he was for like 3 scenes, I was just like, "who is this random boarding lodger and why are we focusing on that weirdo." I mean, he's objectively handsome? But he did not do it for me. He lacked the gravitas I expect from this character and his thick accent scraped my ears and drove me insane (update from the future: his accent is also driving me insane in the book, where I have peeked in at a few chapters as incentive to reread. whyyyyyyy). * LAURIE: maybe it's been too long since I read the book, but never could I ever have imagined I'd want to use the term "fuckboy" to describe Laurie. It wasn't even Ski Chalet's face so much as it was that in all present-day scenes (post-rejection), he is such an insufferable, melodramatic, pouting trash heap that I didn't want him to marry any of them at that point. (Also YOU STILL DIDN'T MAKE ME UNDERSTAND WHY HE GOES FOR AMY, so good job.**) However, I took especial delight in paying attention to all the cuddly platonic friend cuddling he heaped on Jo growing up, in focus or in the background, and I loved it...kind of a lot? The ship radar made noise. That noise is getting louder by the day, smoothing away his faults. He may have permanently taken up residence in my mind's eye as the new Laurie. ...this is the worst. Make it cease. (**update from the future, I am peeking at the book and it looks like it's a lot easier to understand both in text and when you're inside Laurie's head. He is still clearly sulking his way through Europe, but in a way it's easier to recover from. Also, I don’t have time to unpack this but as I finish the edits on this post I started 5 days ago, I’m starting to think I could not only ship Laurie/Amy, but believe in it from the start.) ACTUAL PLOT AND FILM QUALITY

+ The shifting between past and present was very jarring right off the bat, but after that I think it worked.

+ I loved the attic play rehearsals so much

+ I am so glad Jo’s shorn hair is both fleeting and as hideous as it should look, and not Pixie Cut Chic (Childhood Me wailed at that part reading the book)

+ I remember hardly anything about the book's Part II / Good Wives, so basically everything in their adult lives was news to me. Amy and Aunt March go to Europe? Jo goes to live by herself in New York? Meg marries a relative pauper? Any of this could be true to the book or just made up as an alternate idea to explore, and I would be none the wiser. That made it more fun. (NOBODY SPOIL ME ON WHAT'S TRUE)

+ It did not occur to me until just now that the part where Jo publishes her version of Little Women is not in the book (right?), but that was beautifully done.

+ The house interiors were breathtaking. It's not like I don't regularly watch period pieces, but this time there was just something about seeing an old house, like the ones I am often in for estate sales, decorated the way I always imagine seeing when I enter those homes, that kind of made me tear up. + The outside shots were pretty too + Jo made me cry with her I'm so LONELY! speech, rude. (I went into this movie thinking I was 100% on board to finally read Alcott’s sequels for their Jo/Professor content, and now I'm like 'ah damn it is gonna be the season for the Jo/Laurie AU novel, isn't it.')

+ A strike against Beth and/or the actress playing her: I did not cry about her death (in my defense I was busy crying about Jo's pain).

+ I did NOT remember precisely how Laurie & Amy got married, so even though I knew it happened eventually, I felt that sucker punch to the gut reveal just about as hard as Jo did. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR WIFE.

+ My mom said she’d heard this movie was lauded as being super feminist, which rarely goes well for me, but I thought it felt like really authentic "married women literally were not allowed to control their own income and it sucked" 19th century feminism, and not someone using their 21st century voice to claim this is how people would have REALLY talked if The Patriarchy Of Historical Record hadn't silenced/suppressed it. Nothing rankled me. I’m very confused by the people who think it says Jo is queer and/or didn’t end up with the Professor, but if that’s what you see then I guess it’s a win/win situation for all of us. + LOVED the closing montage. + Basically, at all times that I wasn't annoyed by the casting, I was feeling the same magic I did while reading the book and/or while watching the 1994 movie as a child. I can’t think of any parts I really hated.

IN CONCLUSION

Part of me is honestly kind of sad I didn't reread the book before watching this movie, because even though I usually prefer to go movie first and then get the Expanded Edition that is the book, in this case I wish I'd taken my last chance to properly visualize everything in my head on my own -- since I’ve mostly forgotten the ‘94 film -- before the new movie washed it away forever. This is one of the rare times I would have liked to hope and guess what would be shown vs. cut, and be able to anticipate the thrill of seeing the page come to life.

However, seeing it was the impetus I needed to finally take my childhood copy off the shelf (and thank heavens I have it, because the library request is backed up 3 or 4 deep for every copy), and it took all of 5 minutes to get instantly sucked into chapter 1 and feel such rapturous joy and familiarity that I consciously cut myself off and decided I am going to journal out my feelings after each chapter on this reread. So that’s something!

[swseats]

ECLECTICLE 8/8

It's not the destination, it's the journey.

My youngest is now a college freshman. The trip across country had no major hiccups and transitions were smooth. Everything culminating with Move In Day. I managed to cry only once -- that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Welcome class of 2023.

+++

8:00am Move In:

Check in at the dorm is in full force. As we pulled up at the curb, bright young upperclassmen -- brimming with the energy that can only be attributed to youth, quickly offer us help with our baggage. They have a pretty good system down. Like they've done this before. This may not be a bad process after all. 

Carts and suitcases, dorm fridges and bodies glide back and forth in a seemingly endless procession. New students trying not to look worried while their responsible adults have expressions that mix relief with sadness and anticipation. A father hustles past with a broom and a bucket of cleaning supplies. Sporting a alumni t-shirt still creased from the campus bookstore, he beams with pride. Over there is a look that says, "I'm tired, but we made it.”  Coming down the hallway are a mother and son, both wearing the same face, with a look that says "What have we gotten ourselves into?" I am feeling all of that. I wonder if it shows?

2:00pm Cookout:

Late lunch/early dinner at the dining hall. I had been expecting a big smoker or a large grill, but given the weather, I can understand. Tables have been set up outside in the middle of the road. The likely intention is so that people can eat communally under the cypress and dogwood trees and the bright blue sky with puffy white clouds. But it's in the 80's with humidity, so like many families, we opt for eating inside. #2 (my youngest) seems to be doing pretty well at this point. His usual stoic self. Myself, I am made happy by the fact that the dining hall serves chocolate and vanilla soft serve ice cream. Maybe things will be alright after all.

7:00pm President's Welcome and Parting Ceremony:

We gather in the historic Memorial Chapel -- all straight back wood pews and stained glass windows. Parents and families to the right, incoming students to the left. The parting ceremony, a long-standing university tradition begins. The words of the university president are stirring and impassioned. There is an acknowledgement of student leaders and staff. There’s music and reflection. Searching the opposite side of the standing room only crowd I see #2. I wonder what he's experiencing in this moment. Hard to tell. Still undemonstrative as ever. We, the parents, are reminded that our young folks will now need us in a different way than before. They will now have to navigate this space for themselves. We can cheer them on from the sidelines, but they need to walk this new path -- independent of us. Okay so maybe I teared up a little here. My son’s journey for this next stage of life has begun. His success is within him. And the forecast for the journey is good. No major hiccups. Transitions will be smooth.

+++

 “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” 

― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

+++

If you’re new here, ECLECTICLE Is my “Eclectic Listicle” of the recent things that have been happening in my world. It is a regularly occurring place to toss out items of interest and information. My hope is that you will enjoy it and find something useful. So, let’s get going. 

+++

“Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.” 

― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

+++

What I’m eating:

 Waffle House

This just HAD to happen. Out here in the West Coast we don't have Waffle Houses, but it is truly a southern thing. The 24 Hour diner chain has over 1500 company and franchise owned restaurants and when I saw that we would be right near one I though when would I ever get the chance to try this again? It was everything I wanted from a diner and then some. Even #2 got steak, which made him happy. Thanks Waffle House for the good breakfast!

What I’m reading:

I have a certain affection for the celebration of uniqueness and the art of remaking something at once thought broken and irreparable into something whole and new. Here is an interesting piece on a local artist doing just that.  San Francisco's Master Of Modern Kintsugi 

This feature of Rachel Bolden-Kramer by Sarah Henry for EdibleSF has me thinking of more ways to stretch my family's food budget as well as how and what we eat. The Last Black Woman In SF Wants Everyone To Eat Well

SF Weekly reports yet another era ending transition as San Francisco's Haight Ashbury Free Clinic and Tenderloin Health Services close and transitions services. Haight Ashbury Free Clinic Tenderloin Health Services To Close

In this article from Heather Knight at the SF Chron I see very similar parallels to what is happening here in my East Bay town. Why Are More Mentally Ill People Wandering SF Streets? 

What I’m Listening to:

Tank And The Bangas

I’ve been a fan of this group out of New Orleans for at least a year now and they continue to delight and entertain me with their turn of phrase and catchy music. Check them out in the video to one of their newest songs:

Hot Air Balloons - Feat. Alex Isley

What I’m watching:

Pop-Tarts

First off, I will plant my flag on this: Pop Tarts have GOT to be warmed/toasted. Period. Cold Pop-Tarts are just, well, wrong.

Second, if you are a bit of a baking geek like I am -- and if you can get through all the snark and condescension at the beginning, spend the half hour and give this a watch. It’s kinda fun

Pastry Chef Attempts To Make Pop-Tarts

[maddmuses]

Responding to the Conan thing, there seems to be a lot of "OH MY GOSH YOU'RE SO EXHAUSTING STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT SHOWS/MOVIES/COMICS/ETC" backlash. Which I think is dumb to be honest. Why do you care if I rant? If you like the show, movie, comic, game, whatever then that's fine it shouldn't bother you if I don't because people are different. Just ignore the complainers or maybe have a conversation stating your opinions to them. If they try and be an obnoxious troll then that's on them.

lol so here’s some real tea here, so let me use a mutou icon for it

That’s this anon’s message @ who I’m about to talk about because not only is it very valid, it’s very true.

Incoming lengthy rant about fandom, art, creators, creative works, and fan culture as a whole, under the cut.

So a prevailing group of issues in fandom, artistic communities, fan communities, and the like is interpretation of critical analysis, difference in taste,  simple dislike of a work, and malicious mudslinging. Once upon a time, people were very good at drawing distinctions between these, and being able to call differences between them out.

However, with trolling, changes in the times, and the general social landscape shifting, it’s become more difficult for some people to be able to tell these things apart. 

A big issue is first seen in some communities when a creator, or group of them, decides that they do not want any sort of criticism to exist in their community. Barbara Dunkelman had a misstep in April regarding this, and did a very poor job defending her position through the exchange:

Here Barbara initially posts a tweet that is a more diplomatic variant of “don’t like, don’t watch” which as we all know in fanfiction communities indicates that the creator is simply not ready to take any sort of criticism, constructive or otherwise, on their work.

Whether this was fully what she wished to communicate or not is hard to tell, since Twitter is such a bad platform for conveying long, complex, thoughts or opinions in a single post. But she does later go on to contradict herself, by indicating the she thinks criticism is valid, despite already saying that negative opinions ruin a product’s quality for others. Other comments in this same thread point out this fallacy, and it’s an indication of the problem in some cases. People like Barbara can’t tell the difference, although in her case the team on RWBY is often flooded with fan reception, so it can certainly feel overwhelming.

I don’t speak to the validity of artists who accept and don’t accept different kinds of criticism because it’s complicated, and certain people have different reasons for producing a creative work. I certainly don’t publish my writings on this blog for anyone’s approval, but for my own sanity and creative honing. But ultimately, the point of me even bringing this up is that Barbara DOES group together dislike, negative critical analysis, difference in taste, and mudslinging all into one, and says we shouldn’t do any of it. Is this valid? No, but it does indicate the root of the bigger topic.

Fans who see this type of dialogue often then assume, or make the connection (especially in younger fans who are still developing at a much faster rate and might hold onto these opinions even subconsciously for much longer than an adult might) that creators don’t like criticism. If criticism is something a creator doesn’t like, then criticism itself must be bad. Why would criticism be bad?

Recently I was removed from a youtuber’s discord server by a moderator for criticizing boku no hero academia’s anime adaptation, specifically the modification of the character’s body types to be fairly uniform, particularly in the pool episode, but it’s an issue that people on the internet draw all the time. A particularly glaring example is Ochaco in the cheerleading scenes of the anime, vs. the same scenes in the manga. Her body type is modified extremely, for little apparent reason other than to pander to the male gaze. That doesn’t save time, work, or money, and in fact was probably more costly in the long-run to do.

Animation is an expensive and complex process, this is true, and even poor quality animations could have had a lot of work put into them, but limitations of the team, timeframe, and budget, and in many cases this is the fault of the industry, and not the animators themselves. But at the end of the day, if a product is still of a poor quality, or makes glaringly bad creative decisions for reasons that you can’t really discern, it’s bad, in my opinion.

Apparently this is not the case, and any criticism of an artist is bad and garbage because it invalidates whatever hard work DID go into the product. I don’t feel this way, I feel like if others still enjoy the work then there’s validity to what was done, and it it did anything for anyone, then art does what it’s supposed to do.

If art can touch one person, then it’s done its job.

However, fan opinion is not this, and that in fact speaking poorly of a work or a decision is a malicious attempt to ruin it for others. And I think that’s where Conan’s skit is coming from, ironic as it may be, the perspective of those who feel that the complaints and criticisms of the Game of Thrones season/series finale is somehow malicious and/or whining. It’s misguided, because a lot of the critique is valid, and comes from a place of disappointment. And it’s okay to be disappointed by things if they don’t meet your expectations, it’s human to not like when things don’t go the way we anticipate them going.

However, on the other end, there are remarks like Game of Thrones had been a waste of time thanks to the last season, and that there should be a remake of the last season lead by GRRM and etc.

These types of criticisms aren’t really criticisms as much as it’s mudslinging. Are the feelings from similar places? Yes, but the latter is decidedly more needlessly hurtful, and often have the qualities of something more entitled, almost as if the person writing that post is somehow an owner of the media that they enjoy. Unfortunately enjoying art doesn’t make you an owner of that art, and the creator’s decisions aren’t ever recourse for you to attack them, or anyone who worked on that art.

And ultimately you don’t have to be a super-fan to not like GoT’s last seasons. Regular fans who have taste can hate it too ;)

[theonyxpath]

The Lunar Exalted

The Lunar Exalted are Creation’s divine apex predators, monster-heroes chosen by Luna to hunt and prey upon the enemies of the gods in the Divine Revolution. Like their divine patron, the Lunars are puissant shapeshifters, devouring the forms of their human and animal prey and making these a part of their own nature. The Lunar Exalted are creatures of boundaries and transgression — the boundaries between hero and monster, between devil and saint, between civilization and wilderness, between the mortal world and the divine. They stand on whichever side of the boundaries they please, and cross between them with unmatched ease. A Lunar who embraces the power and freedom of becoming an untamed monster need not sacrifice her humanity; a Lunar who devotes herself to living among mortals and protecting them need not abandon the freedom of running wild and untamed.

In the Divine Revolution, the Lunars were monsters that even the most nightmarish among the enemies of the gods learned to fear. They waged war in the shapes of snakes as long as rivers, all-devouring swarms bearing devil-slaying plagues, beast-mothers with tusks like daiklaives and stampedes of murderous children, and countless other wild horrors. Fighting alongside the Solar and Sidereal Exalted, and with Dragon-Blooded armies, they toppled the makers of the universe and stained their fangs red with the blood of slain divinities.

As the First Age’s glories arose from the Exalted’s triumph, the Lunars enjoyed the fruit of the paradise they’d helped to win, and transformed themselves into the Lunar Exalted of an Age of Dreams. Though never forsaking the divine monstrosity at the heart of their Essence, they became guardians, guides, world-walkers, judges, and mystics.

The Usurpation brought an end to the First Age and a new transformation for the Lunar Exalted, the change that made them what they are today. The mass death of the Solar Exalted, and the foul murder of Lunars who fought beside their Solar mates or were deemed too dangerous to the usurpers’ plans to let live, awoke a keening fury in the souls of the Lunar host, a rage that had not been witnessed in Creation since the Lunars first hunted the enemies of the gods. The first Wyld Hunts perpetrated by the nascent Dragon-Blooded Shogunate and its Sidereal benefactors solidified the Lunars’ vendetta, ensuring that the usurpers would never know peace so long as one Lunar yet drew breath.

As the great wonders of the First Age unwound and crumbled into ash, the Lunars chose to remake themselves so that they could survive and thrive in this new Age of Sorrows. Over the course of years, they performed a mystical endeavor unparalleled throughout Creation, dissolving the fivefold castes that dwelt in the very Essence of Lunar Exaltation and creating new castes. Henceforth, the Lunar Exalted would be ferocious warriors slaying the usurpers’ legions, wicked tricksters testing society and plunging it into chaos, wise-eyed witches beckoning forth night’s mysteries.

It was this time that saw the birth of the Silver Pact. Though the Lunars had many different visions of how best to wreak vengeance on the usurpers and make a new place for themselves in the world — and in a few cases, had longstanding grudges against one another — the cruel reality of the Wyld Hunt made internecine strife a luxury they couldn’t afford. The Lunars came together in a loose-knit organization built on mutual aid and a shared vendetta against the usurpers, without any single leader or formal authority.

Throughout its history, the Silver Pact has become the single greatest force arrayed against the Dragon-Blooded and the Sidereal Exalted. The Realm’s borders fall where they do because the Silver Pact has denied them the lands beyond. The Sidereals of the Bronze Faction desperately coordinate the Wyld Hunt, because they know they cannot maintain the status quo they sacrificed so much for if the Lunars are unchecked. In the Time of Tumult, the Pact’s final victory may be at hand… or its best-laid plans might fall apart through the intervention of unforeseen foes.

War Against the Realm

The Silver Pact opposes the Realm for many reasons: as the successor state to the usurping Dragon-Blooded Shogunate, for its subjugation of the Threshold, and for its prosecution of the Wyld Hunt. Other Dragon-Blooded societies suffer the Pact’s wrath to the extent that they share in the Shogunate’s legacy and agenda; this includes Lookshy, Prasad, and the powerful cadet- house-led satrapies around the Inland Sea.

It’s easy for Lunars to find support against Realm aggression. For centuries, satrapies have labored under Imperial yoke. Farmers and merchants alike tighten their belts to pay their share of satrapial taxes, and face starvation or bankruptcy in bad years. Garrisons quarter soldiers in local homes. Threshold aristocrats begrudge their subservience and their own loss of income. Even the gods fume against Immaculate strictures.

The Realm’s power harms even those beyond its borders. Satrapies raid neighboring states and peoples to help pay their tribute, while Dynastic adventurers organize military expeditions to line their own pockets. Realm fiscal policies interfere with trade between satrapies and foreign lands. Immaculate missionaries destabilize traditional societies with their unfamiliar faith. And when the Realm finally conquers a neighbor, the aftereffects of war can be prolonged and devastating.

Blood Moon Rising: Lunar Victories

The Silver Pact doesn’t speak in terms of victory in the field. It’s no rival empire to seize and hold territory from the Realm. Rather, the Pact is a predator running down its prey, bleeding it from a thousand cuts until it’s ready to fall.

Across the Threshold, Lunars strike at Realm interests not to kill, but to wound. Piracy, raiding, rebellion, and civil war turn satrapies from obsequious sources of wealth to thorns in the Realm’s side. Sabotage, theft, and assassination strip away precious assets and undermine efforts at political reform. Harassment exhausts Imperial defenders and their auxiliaries, leaving them all the more vulnerable. Only at critical junctures wherein the Realm is overextended does the Pact strike with overwhelming force.

Where the Realm once spread networks of roads and bridges throughout its satrapies to better move troops and gather tribute, now it struggles to maintain existing infrastructure. Warstriders, First Age manses, and other irreplaceable relics have been sabotaged or destroyed outright, leaving only a small fraction of their previous number in Realm and Lookshyan hands. These strategies also played on the Empress’ conservatism and her obsession with perpetuating her rule. Knowing that overreach would play into Lunar hands, she slowed the Realm’s expansion to a crawl, tolerated greater independence in troublesome satrapies, and grew more reluctant to embark upon grand endeavors — subjugating the Scavenger Lands, reclaiming Prasad, seizing the West.

Centuries of Pact efforts diminished the Realm from unchallengeable hyperpower to “merely” Creation’s sole superpower. This was only the beginning. Running the Realm to ground might take centuries more and require enormous, persistent effort, but the Pact’s elders felt confident that their strategy was the best path to victory.

Now that the Empress is gone and the Solars are returned, everything is in flux. Many Pact elders favor continued adherence to a winning stratagem. Others are swayed toward immediate action, seeing an opportunity to finally go for the throat. Either way, destroying the Realm remains the Lunars’ objective.

Pact Organization

The Silver Pact has no official government. In principle, it’s entirely egalitarian, with no formal hierarchy or positions of authority. But even the Pact knows politics. Collective action requires direction, guidance, and leadership. Pact members align themselves along multiple social and political axes, including their approach to the Realm, their chronological peer group, and their association with the Pact’s shahan-yas.

The Shadow Fang Vanguard

Not all Lunars accepted the nascent Silver Pact’s loose, nonhierarchical nature. Some believed that war against the Shogunate required firm central authority; others sought strong leaders to serve; and still others were driven by ambition and craved the opportunity to command their fellow Lunars. Splitting from the Pact’s mainline, they largely coalesced over centuries into the Shadow Fang Vanguard, a unified authoritarian enclave.

Today, the Vanguard numbers only a score of Lunars, most dwelling in the deep Northeastern forests under the iron rule of the Vanguard’s reigning autarch, the Shogunate-era warlord Tayan Silver-Crowned, who is advised by Feather Drenched in the Blood of the Fallen, a First Age elder. They anticipate new blood, believing the Vanguard’s message will resonate all the more strongly amid the Time of Tumult.

Relations between the Vanguard and the Pact are complex and fraught. Both share the same overarching goals; indeed, many Pact members view the Vanguard as simply another part of the Pact. More than a few Vanguard members attend Pact gatherings, where they find themselves welcome, and while Pact Lunars encounter a cooler reception among the Vanguard, those in need are rarely turned away.

The major point of tension between the Pact and the Vanguard is recruiting new Lunars. Occasional skirmishes have resulted, as recruiters seeking the same young Lunar have squabbled or even come to blows — though both groups severely censure anyone whose squabbling escalates to vendetta, or drives a young Lunar away from Pact and Vanguard alike.

Shahan-ya: Elders and Mentors

Silver Pact elders are called “shahan-ya” — Old Realm for “guide” or “teacher” — and lead coteries of adherents, disciples, and supporters, known as schools. Any member of the Pact who’s accepted as a leader or mentor by a school may take on the mantle of shahan-ya.

The structure of these schools varies. Most often, adherents live apart from the shahan-ya, visiting intermittently to study, discuss strategy and politics, take on new tasks and responsibilities, or simply to socialize with a friend or ally. Such shahan-yas occasionally gather their adherents en masse to discuss matters of mutual import.

Adherents may be loyal or devoted, but never slavish. Each is a Lunar hero and champion, not a servant at her shahan-ya’s beck and call. An adherent may sever her relationship to a shahan-ya at any time, and vice versa. Prestigious shahan-yas can leverage the value of their patronage to demand that adherents toe the line, but even so, most accept varying degrees of dissent lest they drive adherents away.

When Silver Cracks

Shahan-yas are not formal authorities, and so one shahan-ya’s refusal to recognize another’s status matters little to the Pact as a whole. But on rare occasions, a shahan-ya’s extreme views or actions may cause her peers to reject her authority en masse. The Pact’s laissez-faire approach to politics makes it vulnerable to such breakdowns. To combat this tendency, the shahan-yas aggressively police schisms once they form. When a shahan-ya’s behavior threatens Pact stability, her peers address this as a grievance in council (p. XX).

When the Pact has failed to alleviate tensions, consequences have ranged from schools isolating themselves from broader Pact culture, to outright schism. Early examples include Radhika Stormswift’s offensive against the Shogunate and Thousand-Swords Oravan breaking away to form his own kingdom. More recently, Raksi and Ma-Ha-Suchi went to war over the Pact’s future direction; Northern Pact members feuded with the necromancer Smiling Rat over his strategy of bedeviling the Realm by opening shadowlands en masse among its satrapies; and Klesamra Lotus-Seed polarized her Southern peers by courting aid from the Fair Folk.

Part of the purpose of ongoing communication and socialization within the Pact is to gain a sense of one’s neighbors’ inclinations and persuade them to one’s own points of view. A handful of Lunars dedicate sizable amounts of time and effort to such interaction, both on their own behalf and to forestall future rifts.

The Pact’s Endgame

Each individual shahan-ya and her school has her own vision of the future of a Creation without the Realm. Some dream of rebuilding the glories of the Old Realm under a Lunar Deliberative; others wish for a world free from all empires and tyrannies. Many would see the Scarlet Empress’ bloodline extirpated in bloody pogroms, yet some envision the redemption of the Dragon-Blooded as divine soldiers of the Pact. Thus far, the Silver Pact has focused on the destruction of the Realm, not what comes after. For most of its history, the Realm’s downfall has seemed distant enough that it made no sense to invite internal turmoil by squabbling over what to do after. But with the Time of Tumult accelerating the Pact’s timetable, many Lunars believe the the Pact’s endgame must be determined now.