#just a lotta filler to it i guess. at least it can be a good spot for finding gear

[annelidist]

grit gate is the worst story dungeon i think

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

It’s 2020 and my anxiety level is so high, I grind my teeth while I’m asleep and awake!  But let’s ignore all that and instead focus on critically analyzing America’s premiere soap opera for monster hunting! It’s Supernatural! 

As you may have already guessed, I watch a lot of TV. And in the Year of Our Troubles, 2020, when I’m encouraged to stay home and indulge in my favorite pastime for the health of the nation, I watch a hell of a lot of TV. When you watch that much TV, you start to notice the rhythm and the flow of how seasons of television progress. You probably notice it too, even if you don’t think about it as much as I do. 

Like, you know that episode that happens right near the end of the season where all the characters are happy? They’ve overcome a whole bunch of obstacles and they’re finally winning and they can see that light at the end of the long tunnel? You know the one I’m talking about. That’s the moment that you, as an audience member, know things are about to go downhill very quickly

Like when Poldark smiles over something and you’re just like, ah yes, I’ll prepare for the funeral. 

Season 1 of Supernatural is like a case study of the rhythm that makes a network show work. There’s this wave effect throughout the season, building the tension up for a few episodes and then sliding through the next handful. Look at the first five episodes: they’re all about holding our breath, we’re gasping at every new turn - death and ghosts and monsters and Family Drama and Bloody Mary and PREMONITIONS AND THEN we let it out over the next three. 

Aaaaaaand exhale!

This first season especially, but I’d argue the first three definitely, you can see this pattern repeated over and over again - building the tension, ramping the horror, bringing it to a major Mythos or Series Arc Moment and then releasing all that tension with a cool-down filler/self-contained episode. 

And that’s where I am in the show now. We just had a major series arc episode with “Shadow” - John finally reunites with his sons, the villain is revealed (Meg and also the demon that killed their mom), and the endgame (for this season at least) is in sight. BUT! We’re a network show with 22 episodes to fill, and we can’t just head straight into the Finale Fight now, we’re only on episode 17! I mentioned in my last post that getting the team together again for all of 6 minutes and 44 seconds (yes, I did go back and count) felt like a slap in the face. I assumed it would have something to do with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s shooting schedule, but looking at it again, it probably had more to do with the fact that it was too soon to bring John Winchester back as a major player.

So our next episode, our breather episode after all this High Drama, should feel a little disappointing to anyone caught up in the arc of the season. But. BUT. But. The next episode is “Hell House."

Yes, this is a filler, but this is filler done RIGHT. I mean maybe it’s just cuz it’s 2020 and I’m very tired and sad and scared all the time, but I was SO HAPPY to see Ed and Harry again, guys you don’t even know. Guys, the GHOSTFACERS ARE HERE!

And man, I am SO glad that this is a recurring side team that shows up throughout the series. Pease no one tell me that they die in a later season, I’ll find out eventually, I just can’t handle it now. 

They are the anti-Sam and Dean. They have no idea what they’re getting into, they have no idea how to hunt anything, but they’re here to get famous and that’s just...it’s beautiful guys. Just beautiful. 

Plus, you have this soft b-story line where Sam and Dean get to be Real Brothers for a hot second and prank the shit out of each other the whole episode. It’s like even Sam and Dean are saying, yeah, we need a break from all the feelings, let’s put itching powder in each other’s boxer briefs. I want to say that I was really annoyed the first time I watched this and did not care for these shenanigans, but this time around, it was a REAL JOY. 

I’m also not mad about this.

And this breather feeling sort of carries over into the next few episodes. Sort of.  

“Something Wicked” is another feelings-heavy episode. Backstory! Child-eating Monster! Tiny!Dean! I think Dean maybe cries again? Or just does that thing where he stares into the middle distance, all pain and torment and chiseled jaw line and I’m doing it again, I’msorrynotsorry. 

You know. THIS face.

All of these things lead to an episode that has a lot of character development and strengthens the bond between Sam and Dean. Sam literally validates Dean’s whole existence by apologizing for fighting him on this job and then saying “I know I’ve given you a lotta crap for following Dad’s orders, but I know why you do it.” It’s a lot. It’s a big moment from Sam, who hasn’t really reconciled with John yet and who’s still hoping for a future that isn’t all about killing every evil sonuvabitch they can find. It’s a big moment for Dean, too, since his main motivation is protecting his family and (from his limited point of view) that family keeps trying to leave him. And while we do get some insight into the f-ed up childhood that was forced upon our eponymous heroes, there’s nothing really driving the season’s plot forward in this episode. 

Same goes for “Provenance”. This episode is another good horror episode. I mean, even if that painting wasn’t possessed by a murder orphan, it is deeply haunted and I hope props burned it when the production wrapped. And what is it about ghost children particularly that’s upsetting? Is it the size? Is it the fact that their eyes are too big for their heads at that age? I mean, it probably has something to do with perverted innocence and goodness blah blah blah, but also their hands are tiny and so all the knives look bigger.

Same, Sam.

Aside from that, Sam gets another nice growth moment where he gets to imagine a world after Jessica. He’s been so fixated on finding Jessica’s killer - I’d argue more so than his mother’s killer albeit they are the same entity. That’s not a judgement against him, mind. He knew and loved Jessica, he did not know his mother, so I’m not mad about that character decision. But the show is really wrapping up the Jessica plot line because that won’t have legs in a season 2. And that’s harsh, so I’ll temper it with the fact that Sam, as a human being, is getting to the final stages of processing his grief and starting to move on with his life. Plus, I think that Dean wingmanning his brother is adorable and I love it. Good Brothering, Show! 

But nothing in this episode has anything to do with the killer Sam’s been fixating on, so there’s no progression for the season’s main arc. 

Last but certainly not least on this disc of my season 1 box set is “Dead Man’s Blood.” My notes on this episode include the key phrases “I’m pretty sure this episode is...dumb?”, “ I...do not care for vampires,” and then like, two lines later, “Nope. Still don’t care for these vampires.” They’re just making up some random-ass lore and their fashion sense is SO 2006 and I just...I just hate them. 

I hate them SO MUCH.

BUT! That’s not the point of this episode. The point of this episode is to point us towards the season finale. FIRST, we start to see a little bit more of the world that the Winchesters inhabit. We actually meet another hunter, Daniel Elkins. He dies immediately, but that’s a cold open for ya. And when Sam and Dean go to investigate Elkin’s death, John comes back, this time for good (haha, lol). We get a real taste of the family dynamics in this episode - John and Sam fight and come together and fight and come together and Dean’s standing there kinda like, SPONGEBOB! 

You know, Plankton! Krabs! Dean Winchester! Right? Anybody?

All sides have good arguments, and I appreciate that none of the conflict between the the three of them feels forced, or at least, it doesn’t feel forced this watch. The fights all come from deep character places that have been established through the whole season. They’re natural progressions of what we’ve come to expect of these characters. 

And finally, most importantly, John knows how to defeat the demon that killed their mother. Enter Deus Ex Colt Revolver. 

Colt Revolver Ex Machina?

CAN I just take a break for a second to say that BOTH Elkin AND John were ready to WASTE PRECIOUS COLT BULLETS on VAMPIRES, who can be killed IN OTHER WAYS?? Listen, you make a magic gun that only works with these  like, 5 BULLETS, and then you just THROW AWAY A BUNCH OF SHOTS, GUYS??? ALSO, what the HELL does Haley’s Comet and The Alamo have to do with this STUPID GUN??? I JUST- you know what, we don’t have time for all that. 

Attaining the Colt is the brick they drop on the gas pedal to drive us into the season finale of season 1. 

Wasting a some PRECIOUS F*CKIN’ BULLETS, GUYS.

When you look at the season’s pacing at the outset, it seems like it shouldn’t work. I was that person who felt disappointed in each episode where it became clear we were definitely on a side quest, not the main quest.  Watching it now, though, I think that pacing is important. Yeah, the Monster-of-the-Week episodes are a little hit and miss, but sometimes you have to think of a TV season like a marathon and not a sprint. There will be times when you pick up the pace, yes, but it’s a long race and you’re gonna need some periods of recovery if you’re gonna make it to the finish line. And frankly, a lot of those side quest episodes ended up being my favorite episodes of the entire series. 

NOW. I doubt you would see this sort of structuring in a show today, specifically in shows that don’t get a 22 - 24 episode order. You MAY get, MAY, a Ghostfacers-type episode thrown in after a major emotional climax for that breather effect. MAY. But if Supernatural was made today - probably for an online streaming site, probably with only 10 - 13 season order - I don’t think you’d see episodes like “Something Wicked” or “Provenance” or “Faith”. The nice thing about short seasons is that you can keep the storytelling focused and tight, but I also think that can be a weakness as much as it is a strength. What do those three episodes all have in common? They’re strong on character and relationship development. We, the audience, get a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Winchesters and how they work and grow as a unit in these episodes. So if we’ve watched this far, through bugs and ghost trucks, through all their little victories and major setbacks, we’re well and truly invested in how the season is going to end. 

I’m not saying you can’t have big character moments in a shorter season. And I’m not saying that a show more focused on plot, on the What Happens rather than the Who It Happens To, is a bad thing. But watching this season over again in comparison to present day television seasons, it’s highlighted what Supernatural did right. On this side of the series, it’s easy to see why the show went on for another 14 years.

[selfdestructivecat]

I just finished playing Ace Attorney Investigations 2. And HOLY SHIT.

This game has been absolutely incredible and I feel the overwhelming urge to rant about how incredible it is. So SPOILER WARNING because I will be spoiling the crap out of this game.

Where to begin? I loved the intricate cases, and how they all built upon each other, forming one large mystery that we much uncover. Each case, while all being so different and distinct, each possessed their own charm.

The first case, even though it was a tutorial, reintroduced our favorite prosecutor/detective/Great Thief trio in an interesting introduction that was challenging while also simplistic enough to gain our bearing, in addition to laying the foundation for the rest of the cases and introducing many key figures.

The second case, instead of being the first of the filler cases usually introduced in an AA game, surprised me by having the culprit in the first case turn out to be the new victim. This case also introduced some AWESOME characters, such as Justine, Sebastion (my beautiful boy), and Dogen, who is SUCH A BADASS! Honestly, I love everything about this man and I will be sure to rant about him later on. And come on, who doesn’t like a good prison escape? The scene of the crime was probably one of my favorites in the game, and the inclusion of the animals added charm to the environment and many of the otherwise dull prisoners. The case itself was also lots of fun. It was so satisfying to refute all of DeBeste’s smug and completely illogical theories and to bring Roland to justice.

The third case, while being my least favorite of the five, was also lots of fun and had so many good moments. I LOVED playing as Gregory Edgeworth! He was so similar to Miles, and yet possessed a gentler and quieter nature that contrasted nicely to Edgeworth’s sharper personality. In every remark he made, he showed how good of a person he was, addressing everyone politely and patiently guiding Ray. AND HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT HIS SON! You can tell how much he cares about Miles though him constantly thinking about him and worrying about him. He thinks about introducing the show the suspect stars in to his son, debates gathering treats for his son’s Christmas present, and overall demonstrates how much he loved him. HE DESERVED BETTER, GODDAMMIT VON KARMA! The case was also fun to play, and battling against the Stature of Limmitations (which has come up in many past AA cases) was a nice challenge. Overall, really enjoyed this case, although many of the new characters introduced in this case lacked the charm other characters showed, at least in my opinion.

Sadly, the case of Kay’s amnesia was spoiled to me when I accidentally read about it in a gorgeous fancomic on tumblr (which was entirely my fault, I just wanted more Edgeworth content and ignored the risks. I thought I learned my lesson with Merlin, but I guess I’ll never change XD). However, I was still shocked and immensely saddened when I saw the state she was in. And when Miles gave away his badge (how he did it with no hesitation! I believe, in his words, he said “it was nothing compared to the life of a dear friend”) GOD MY HEART! I didn’t think I could love him any more than I already did, but I was so so wrong. And Gumshoe wanting to stick with Edgeworth even when he wasn’t a prosecutor anymore! The mystery surrounding the smuggling ring was super interesting and a lot of fun to learn about, and the connections that were beginning to form between this case and all the previous cases definitely created some jaw-dropping moments. And of course, bringing Blaise DeBeste to justice was oh so sweet (although it hurt so much to see Sebastian in so much pain). This case was such a tear-jerker in the many emotions it created, both happy and sad, and I wish I could forget all about it so I could play it again.

Finally, the last case. BOY was this case a ride. The longest of all the cases, I thought it ended twice before it did, every time going “wait, there’s MORE!?” as another cutscene played. And I loved every second of it. First of all, another lovable character is introduced in John. John also gives us another reason to love Justine, who is actually John’s doting adoptive mother. Aside from that, the case itself was deliciously complex and intricate, introducing twist after twist to create an exciting story, while also tying up loose ends created by all the previous cases. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what those monster footprints could have been! And the reveal with Knightly and Simon being the two lost sons!? This realization left me speechless. However, my favorite part of this case was Sebastian’s triumph over his father. Seeing tied up and in tears following his kidnappjng, questioning everything he’s ever believed in, was heartbreaking. However, his helplessness made his redemption so much sweeter. I am honestly so proud of him.

And now, the characters! God, does Capcom know how to make characters! I loved the return of old, familiar faces like Penny Nikohl (I definitely butchered that last name), Regina Berry, and the mysterious and oh so badass Shelly de Killer (although I could have done without a few... looking at you Lotta!). And the new characters were also very cool! I could go on and on about Sirhan Dogen and Anubis. Even while behind bars and making absolutely no threats whatsoever, he still holds a intimidating presence with his piercing white eyes, the hulking figure of a huge black dog over his shoulder, and the soft, menacing music playing in the background, accompanied by the quiet ringing of bells. I just... I can’t get enough of this man. And his controntatuon with de Killer was awesome!!! I honestly just can’t get enough of him. Raymond was also a really fun character. I liked how he interacted with Edgeworth and Kay, as well as his sense of humor. However, despite his goofy personality, there were many touching moments involving him, such as the two photos he took (one with him and Gregory, the other with him and Miles). Such a beautifully complex character. Other characters like John and Simon were also very cool and interesting (I especially liked the twist with the latter. Seriously, I did NOT see that coming!) However, there were also a few characters I simply disliked. Many of the characters in the third case were either a bit too extra, such as Master, Hall, and Delicia, or had much less personality compared to the other characters, such as Gustavia. This made them not as fun to interact with as others. Another character I didn’t particularly like was Patricia Roland. Even before we descovered her to be the villain (which I TOTALLY CALLED), her manurisms and personality made me very uncomfortable, and I kinda dreaded interacting with her. Of course, these opinions of these characters are entirely my own, and if you like any of these characters, I think that’s awesome and respect your opinion.

In terms of gameplay, I think I liked the first Investigations slightly better. Some parts were drawn on a lot longer than I think they had to, and while the majority of the twists landed and were extremely effective, some were way too obvious or didn’t land at all, although that could be attributed to my own stupidity. However, I still enjoyed uncovering the truth just as much as any other AA game, and the new Logic Chess minigame was tons of fun (although it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that I was supposed to watch their facial expressions and decide based on them whether to wait or press). I kinda wish there was actually more of this minigame, but it didn’t detract in the least from the rest of the game.

Overall, amazing story, super fun gameplay, and both new and old lovable characters join together in the masterpiece that is Investigations 2. I’m sure I’m forgetting tons of things I want to discuss regarding this game, and I may add on to it later, but I just wanted to get my thoughts down while I’m still riding the high from completing it. Thanks for listening to my rambles, and if you wanna discuss this game, leave a comment or PM me! I’d love to talk about it!

[ladala99]

Spyro Reignited Countdown - The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (Console)

If you expected me to review the handheld versions from the title, sorry. I didn’t get those back when the games first came out. I’m considering getting them in the future and I’ll review them if that happens.

But onto The Eternal Night! The first Spyro game that caused me to consider quitting the series after playing! (Spoiler alert: I didn’t)

Gameplay

Basic controls are exactly the same as its direct predecessor, but with some new twists. Melee now lets you chain five air hits rather than three, and now we have the new ability: Dragon Time.

Dragon Time lets you slow down the environment around you. It’s used in some platforming, and it’s extremely useful in combat. It’s also just plain cool. Too bad I didn’t know how to use it properly when I first played!

If A New Beginning is too easy, The Eternal Night takes the opposite approach. Enemy AI has been improved, new types of enemies are sometimes very cheap, enemies respawn after you die and regain all of their health, cheap shots, and to top it all off, cheat codes for infinite health and mana don’t exist in this game when they were advertised to exist. So not only is it harder, but you’re forced to play it at that difficulty.

Okay, with one exception: the Dark Spyro cheat. It makes the game trivially easy, since Dark Spyro’s breath ability is really overpowered and hardly uses any mana. I honestly haven’t beaten the game without using this ability at least to defeat enemies I already beat. The game as designed just isn’t fun for me.

Additional Game Modes/Characters

There’s the Dragon Challenges that unlock after you beat the game. They’re some combat challenges with special rules. So it’s not really a new game mode, just more combat. I actually found them fun when I actually got around to them, though. (Which I think was the third time I played through the game - did them in a completed file alongside my playthrough on a different file)

Collectables

They actually return in this game! It’s not nearly as extensive as the Classic games, but it’s something.

The most common item is the Scriber’s Quill. These unlock concept art. Generally, these are relatively easy to find and get to, but some of them are hidden.

Then there’s Dragon Relics, which give bonuses to your maximum health and mana. These are hidden very well, to the point that I only found one my first playthrough. Some are extremely difficult to navigate to, as well, such as the Ancient Grove one, where you have to platform across small roots that are difficult to stay on.

They’re pretty fun to get, but they have a major problem: there’s no way to access levels you’ve already beaten without looping through a playthrough (beating the game and starting again on the same file). I always use a guide, simply because I haven’t played the game enough to memorize it. And you really shouldn’t have to do that.

But they exist, which is a step up from A New Beginning.

Breath Abilities

We get the same ones as last time, with some changes. Because plot, Spyro has to relearn his abilities again through the game, and they act a little differently this time. It’s mostly just that instead of a ranged attack, now we have a melee elemental attack.

Fire is fire. But no longer do we have fireballs, but instead the Comet Dash! It’s great for dealing a ton of damage or moving quickly. Honestly I don’t use it much, but it became pretty iconic later. So the fact that it originates here is noteworthy!

Ice is next this time around. The main attack is now a burst attack rather than a stream, and can be used to create platforms in water. Whoa, actual puzzles and platforming! There’s also the tail-based melee attack that slows down your enemies’ movement and, depending on the size of the enemy and your own upgrades, sends them flying. That attack alone made Ice my most-used element.

Earth is third. You get this big flail as your primary attack that you can whip around you quickly, attacking all enemies that surround you. The melee is a pulse attack as Spyro jumps and sends energy out in a sphere underneath him. I really didn’t use it much.

Finally, you get access to Lightning Breath. It was overpowered in the first game, so how does it hold up here? It’s usable, I guess. Primary attack is a large electric orb that you can knock away into distant enemies before blowing up. Pretty neat. Melee is a lightning whirlwind, that’s basically Comet Dash but much more controllable. Very powerful, but uses up mana pretty quickly.

Notice we don’t get any overpowered attacks this time around. Still, second attack wins. They’re all useful, though, as some enemies have hidden weaknesses, and they’re all different enough to be used in different situations.

Bosses

There’s a lot of them, but many are very similar to one another. Not even sure whether to call a lot of these boss fights or alternate game modes since they’re played a lot differently than the rest of the game.

The Assassin and all the Skurvywings fights are all pretty much the same. You’re on a 2D plane where you can move back and forth, and jump, while sending fire (and only fire) out to your opponent, who is flying around. The main difference between these fights is the distance between you and your opponent, and thus when you can hit them. The hardest part is dodging, but using Dragon Time makes it manageable. I find these fights pretty fun, since they have a different playstyle than usual.

Arborick uses the same controls as above, but with a twist: you need to attack all of the different parts of the body to proceed. I think in a specific order, too, but I don’t quite recall. There’s also a second round where you just attack as quickly as you can and dodge his attacks. Pretty creative and fun boss.

Fellmuth Arena is pretty much “lets take some bosses and minibosses from A New Beginning and have you fight them here in a small arena!”

We’ve got the Blunder Tails, which are some optional enemies in A New Beginning. This time, they’re both aggressive at the same time, and their AI’s a bit better. You have to use melee carefully to beat them. It’s a little tough with both of them after you, but they’re only mini-bosses, so it’s doable.

Hey, remember Steam? I bet you do! The Ravage Rider is identical to him! Except he only has two health bars instead of three, so he’s a little easier!

And finally, the Executioner. The guide I use says he’s identical to the Ice and Electric Kings from A New Beginning, but there is a fairly major difference here: you can’t spam ranged attacks if you don’t have any! Just that fact alone makes the fight a lot harder - you need to fight him like you were supposed to in the first place! *gasp*

Next up is Skabb, who is a boss that acts like a boss should. Dodge his attacks, wait until he rests, and beat on him when he does. You’ve seen this kind of boss as far back as A Hero’s Tail. (before that, you generally were using the environment or powerups to fight rather than your normal attacks)

The Elemental Spirits are more copies of the Ice and Electric King, but this time you’re limited to just one element when you fight them. Hope you upgraded more than just Ice! (I think you can also use Dark Spyro here if you’re cheap, though)

Remember Cynder’s fight from the first game? What if she was crazy aggressive and you could only use one element at a time on her? What if you simply can’t cheese her because Dark Spyro doesn’t work? Honestly, it’s a very fun fight. Although I think I mostly love it because the first time I completed the game, I spammed Dark Spyro everywhere I could, and here I was forced not to. And I had fun.

Finally, Gaul. you lose your breath abilities against him, meaning you’re forced to fight him with melee. It makes a very fun and intense fight. Second round you get access to Dark Spyro, but you aren’t completely out of the water as he still has some fight left in him. Dark Spyro’s still really overpowered, though. Still, you’ll need it. I had a blast the first time I actually got to him. Again, being forced not to use Dark Spyro (and then being in a fight where you have to use Dark Spyro) made it a lot of fun.

So in general, very varied, and there’s a ton of bosses here. Some are copy-pasted from A New Beginning, but with the increased difficulty, they feel new enough to work, and some limit what you can use against them.

Levels

Much more varied compared to the first game. Maybe not necessarily in style, but definitely in gameplay. There’s so much more platforming and cleverer puzzles scattered around. You need to make full use of Dragon Time and Spyro’s Elemental abilities not only to fight, but simply to get through each level.

The levels themselves are also well-themed and not nearly as cliche as in the first game. Okay, crystal-based caves are pretty cliche, as well as evil volcanoes. But Skabb’s Fleet, come on! Flying pirate ships manned by dogs!

I can say I definitely had a lot more fun maneuvering in this game than in tits predecessor.

Story

Honestly, a whole lotta nothing happens in this game. It’s basically the filler episode of the series. The storytelling is still incredibly well-done, but really, it all boils down to rescuing the princess dragoness.

So Cynder feels all guilty about the first game and tries to leave the Dragon Temple. Spyro tries to go after her, but unfortunately the Dragon Temple ends up under attack and Spyro has to go help.

After defending the Temple, Spyro gets a vision from this Chronicler guy and is instructed to find a special tree in a forest. Ignitus encourages him to follow his advice, and Spyro goes on to look for that tree.

Tree turns out to be Arborick. Who some pirates were in the middle of capturing for their arena tournament. They capture Spyro, too, for good measure, because he happened to pass out to learn a new breath ability at a bad time.

Spyro is forced to participate in the arena challenges. Turns out they captured Cynder, too, though. But Cynder is captured again by Gaul the Ape King’s forces. And Spyro has to break himself out of this situation to go after them. Oh, and Hunter of Avalar has a note delivered. He never really appears in this game.

He does, and promptly passes out in the middle of the ocean for another lesson. Luckily this turtle-guy you’ll never see again was there to rescue him. And take him to the Celestial Caves, where Spyro has to make it through the Chronicler’s security system before finally meeting the king of bad timing himself.

Spyro learns that Cynder has been captured by Gaul to be used to summon the Dark Master or something. Spyro wants to go after her. The Chronicler tells him to “ride out the storm. Live to fight another day,” basically telling him to stay there and stay safe.

Spyro say no way and escapes, traveling to the Mountain of Malefor and the Well of Souls to rescue Cynder. He faces Gaul, but not before the Celestial Moons do their thing and Spyro gets caught up in the corruption. He turns into Dark Spyro and brutally kills Gaul. It takes Cynder knocking him out of the beam to snap him out of it.

The cave crumbles around them, and there’s no escape. Spyro remembers the Chronicler’s words, and uses his time powers to freeze them in crystal. There they would be stuck, until Hunter finds them. Cue credits.

So yeah. But again, the storytelling is amazing despite what it is and I had a blast watching and experiencing it. The atmosphere’s great, and I really loved the sketchbook style some of the cutscenes had.

Once I saw the ending (because I think I looked it up on YouTube; I didn’t beat the game until many years later), I couldn’t wait for the next game. Mostly to watch it, because I had decided that if it was going to be this hard, I wouldn’t get it again. Sadly, this series never got a real conclusion in the same style.

Unique in the Series?

In many ways, yes. Dragon Time never shows up again, and thus a lot of the gameplay is completely unique because a lot of the game relies on it.

In other ways, it’s very similar to A New Beginning.

Conclusion

I gave up on this game because I didn’t like Action games at that age. Once I got older, and actually appreciated Action games a bit more, I learned to love this game.

Sure, it’s not perfect. Sure, I do need to cheat to fully enjoy it (because it’s not fun fighting cheap enemies you’ve already beaten. I just blast them until I get back to where I was before). But it’s a really solid game and a ton of fun.

On it’s own right, I think it’s just as good as the classic trilogy. It’s just a completely different genre. It’s a shame in hindsight that it didn’t do well enough for Krome to finish the series.

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta Spain to Eurovision with whole lotta fun

Dare I say Operación Triunfo is a little bit of... a Choice?

I mean, you got yourself a format that a bunch of young-aged/teen/late-teen aged droolies follow for the drama more than the music, at least that’s what I suppose it is because it’s one of those singing reality shows where you’re oh so very welcome to follow the lives of all the 20-somethings that were unfortunate to sign the contract of the show, not being able to read all the fine-prints in the contract and later regretting not doing so because things like Eurovision. In Israel. But more on that later.

But this is Espain, and this is the sad state of television that is today - if they like your shitty talent show with 24/7 followship of the contestants, and if they watch that, and if they eat that with a spoonful, chances are you’re going to prolong its post-mortem revival state in order to maaaaaybe attract a new audience and acquire a new shippable couple people will vote “a Eurovisión”. Even if your last couple sucked. And even managed to break up unceremoniously sometime before the 2019 show’s Eurovision final <3 god bless them for finally breaking the chain and breaking the hearts of thousands who were ‘dying’ for the ship. It was never EVER meant to last.

So is it a no surprise that Operación went thriving for another year? Certaintly at least it’s no joy to bear with another amount of subpar desperates from every other corner of Spain, but only because Spain deserves a better NF format. I mean, with these other NF formats we can at least have a variety of artists with their own (or composed by others) songs, and it doesn’t matter an inch whether the public’s big fave gets rigged out to me - as long as it’s just a NF I can get easily over with, it’s all fine to me! And of course OT is also fine for me, it’s just that people are begging for it to get axed for some reason. Maybe because of all the ships?

I don’t want to put too much more thought of what happened in the reality show other than the Eurovision Gala, BUT I seemed to notice something rather crazy. You see, at first we had Natalia (or was it Alba Reche or Sabela even?) heavily speculated as the winner pre-show, but in the end the OT glory was all handed to some Dutch-born boy of Nigerian origin named... Famous. Not shitting you, it is his name. But what’s the saddest part about this? Famous CLEARLY wanted it all to himself just because of Eurovision being included in the contract. Yet his only victory in life is being the best among the rest of these stars that were watched over 24/7. Unfortunately, Mr. Oberogo couldn’t make this out to be in his favour in the Eurovision-special gala, to which the “triunfitos” can attend if they have songs chosen for them in the lineup, and yes he was admitted, but then he was given a SUCH DISAPPOINTING SONG EHMERGERD!!!!!!!! :’(

(lol calm yer ladyhormones, “No puedo mas” wasn’t THAT bad, it’s just that given Famous did songs like “Nobody but You” (yes THAT one) on the show, you’d expect something contemporary soulful, not just blatant radio filler that could have easily been an EYD reject?)

So how did it all happen that the girls were rooted for to win OT, but in the end the one that wanted Eurovision the most won? And how come the one that wanted the Eurovision the most was given a song that paled in comparison to that one song that was performed by someone who was blatantly against going to ESC because “nuuuuu Israel stop hurting Palestine” and that one being favoured to win? AND HOW COME ONE OF THE BIGGEST SHOW’S VILLAINS GOT HANDED ABSOLUTE SLAYAGE OF THE SONGS?? Honestly it’s for the best if Spain is just there to subdue everyone’s expectations, just like they did when choosing Manel (be it because of a corrupt juror or whatever). They did it every single turn of the time this year during OT’s run.

And of course I’ll forever love them for that, as the end result was AN ABSOLUTE FUCKING FIESTA BANGER. Courtesy of Miki (Núñez).

Ngl, the first thing I went in for about “La venda” before listening to it was through this first impression tweet on Miki’s ‘eliminated’ song from the selection, “El equilibrio”:

BITCH HOW WAS SHE NOT READY TO SEE THAT COMING AT HER.

Granted, the sudden start of happy sounds rushing right at me was a little startling, but I was able to cope with it and jam to the song in the end.

I completely adore this one, it’s so powerfully joyful with all its instruments and the Spanish language, the interesting turn of events in lyrics, the incredibly easy probability to sing along to this (LO QUE EEEEERE! LO QUE ERE ERE E!), the authenticity, the cultural roots (tbqh Eurovision countries should be welcome to embrace their culture rather than stray further away from it! also this is why more native languages other than English are encouraged)... mmm-mmm.

And like I said, for some reason Miki was seen as a grand villain to the show, and even if I didn’t follow OT all that much, I was constantly questioning why, and after seeing him eliminated I only wanted to know if people in Espain were rejoicing about it. The against-agenda turned up onto him again when he happened to have the most songs in the internet selection bunch handed to him (THREE!!! Two solo tracks and a duet.), but nothing there was to worry, as instead other favourites were discovered, therefore Miki ended up in the dust for a while. Up until something happened that got him a big surge of votes at the end. Go figure.

Despite all this, I think it’s the right direction for Spain songwise! Me gusta mucho, and not only personally, but also objectively, honestly. Miki’s got a right enough good song for the nation and provided the revamp doesn’t make it crash and burn (yes, the good friend of a Eurovision song - the revamp! It’s happening), it’s safe to say that Spain can stand a chance. Not win, for now, but stand a chance. Yes.

Before I repeat myself some more I’d probably have to add this part for no reason as it came from my Twitter review for “La venda” this time, as I heard songs 1 day before the NF as when I expected the NF to go on Saturday but it was on a Sunday:

BITCH HOW WAS I WRONG. Well mostly thanks to the fact the fanwank-ess of OT ESC Gala actively asked to direct her votes to Miki’s song (Monika Marija teas amirite), but still, WRONG!

Now that I finally composed my thoughts I guess, let’s all go and read the below verdict I’m putting this up for:

Approval factor: I’m giving this a big fat SÍ!

Follow-up factor: Of course I like it way better than “Tu canciYAWN”, there’s no doubt in it :) and after Almaia’s romance advertisement they’re doing a great job by coming back to their great Spanish roots of music, honestly. And it’s better that way than forcing a ship onto a Eurovision 2018 ship, so yeah

Big 5 factor: As of this time Spain lowkey fizzled out with everyone now that a big wave of other faves arised, BUT I don’t think that Spain’s drowning in misery this year, not at all! With right kind of energy of the staging and uplift Spain can totally woo them televoters this time around, making them “lo que ere” their worries away to the sunset. And this is a positive thing - as if juries decide to drown this sometimes and televoters don’t, it will still soar somewhere up high enough in top 15.

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

Now, I don’t quite think this year’s OT was quite as memetic as I expected, but we still have had some pre-NF gems, just like this:

• “THEN POLKA”. That one moment was also brought up to her on her OT Eurovision Gala postcard.

• and this one contestant’s gloriously accidental butt-shot

Though we did have a handful of these kind of moments on the Gala itself (and surrounding it), such as:

• NF’s biggest favourite to win songwise not even trying. Yes, there are those NF winners which underperform but only because they don’t seem to know better, but did you know that there are THOSE like María Villar who decide against it? Basically, she was one of those opposing against the situation in Israel with Palestine, so out of protest towards all this, she voluntarily went against doing Eurovision in a nation like this by encouraging her fans to vote for Miki the night before and sacrificing any slightest grains of trying with her performance - by barely dancing on stage and not outselling anything vocally. And it worked to some extent, as she came SECOND only, and shortly after Miki won, she spoke out loud that she was satisfied to not have become the victor (I mean she just thanked everyone for not voting her to ESC lol). But you know what, for situations like these I really do love ESC NFs - where everything predictable is upturned by some sort of events like these. I mean, I like "Muérdeme", it’s catchy, Latino-appealing enough (for those whores thirsty for Luis Fonsi and similar fucks who sing in Spanish on English songs these days), has a cool breakdown and what not, but it would just probably bring back another disappointing result from Eurovision much to fans’ dismay, especially if the Tel Aviv (oh wait sorry... for Maria’s case this would have probably been Limassol or Vienna) edition was to bring many bops for this time around that are BIGGER and BETTER than this one. It’s just happening that it’s unfortunate to be Spain...

• Yet again, putting Famous up on here, but of course he was disappointed to not get that win. I know I’m not the right person to judge considering I’m WHOLE THREE DAYS YOUNGER than him, but I’d still tell him he only had RTVE to blame for giving him THAT in the end and putting him through online voting rounds... and speaking of:

• Like I mentioned before several times, there was an online voting round for to pick-pocket the songs that sounded the best out of the demo-ic snippets of a minute or less. Its top 3 was of course dominated by ladies and their own bangers/just likeable enough songs, with poor Famous being 4th in it (and the top 3 is a must on there to be automatically admitted to the show without any higher-ups shuffling the other competitors ‘round later on and toying with their fates). I liked the complete final cut of the Gala for the most part, but boy did they miss out some, like this male laidback-acoustic pop bop “Sale”, courtesy of Damion Frost. I can at least forgive the loss of “El equilibrio”, but this? Nah siree. And yeah I know this whole shtick is a tire, but I like some of it, and I saw a worse track from the same shtick collection qualifying through higher-ups and that’s NOT boding well with me.

(yes of course Manel happened but still)

• Miki joining the glorious wall of epic NF victory reactions with his O face of total cartooney awkwardness <3

• and Eleni Foureira being able to rock a trashbag as a dress during her guest performance of both “Fuego” and her ‘new’ ‘smash’ hit in partially more Spanish than “Fuego” was - “Tómame”. Granted the juxtapose transition was a little too jarring, but hey - 2 songs for a price of 1. Go get them Spanish audience people acknowledging your pop art Elli <3 (also her chitchat with the ESC Gala host about what do you need to do good in Eurovision <3)

At this point I’m too not fucked to remember more of them but I’m really sure I missed a lot of the OT lulziness that happened before the Gala, during and after it (such as Natalia (who also sang one song in the NF with Miki himself) not wanting ESC but still trying better than Maria). I don’t want to be reminded of them, as my review’s as long as it is. But I’m sure someone else remembers, so I’ll let them judge.

[puppetmaster55]

Thoughts on the s3-s6 Storyline

So.

Yeah.

I’ve already spoken about my thoughts on the clone storyline (back when it was a theory) and on how s3 and s4 connect as a singular storyline (they do not), and on how I feel about s6, what I believe Lotor’s true endgame was, how Naxzela was absolutely a trap Haggar wanted Kuron to lead everyone into, how Acxa knew about Sam Holt, and so now comes my thoughts on all of it. All twenty-six episodes that make up s3-s6.

These twenty-six episodes were more geared toward being Lotor’s storyline while Voltron took a backseat to his arc. The war was ended, I guess, when Lotor took the throne bc we don’t see any rebel force fighting the empire after that. Heck, during the Kral Zera both Haggar and Sendak proclaim the empire is no more.

I dunno. I think the writers wanted to have the war die with Zarkon, or something. It’s very unclear, until we see the aftereffects of all of this in the next season.

I don’t think I can divide this post from how I feel about clone theory, now clone storyline. Because that whole thing was just… one clusterfuck of a mess, and one that we will never see explained. Everyone’s come forward to say that the clone storyline is done, and even watching the show I could tell that we are never going to get an explanation. Nothing about Operation Kuron is ever going to be explained.

We saw the clone reveal, and with it came… zero explanation. Every single clone is now dead. The whole operation was destroyed. OG Shiro is back and with presumably more holes in his memory than he had before, depending on how you view it. The clone served his narrative purpose and now we’ll never know or understand the in-universe reasons for there even being clones outside of speculation and fanon.

And there’s no build-up to the clone thing. All we have ever had to go on has been the vague flashes seen when he appears and as someone who doesn’t recognize clone tropes when they’re being used, I didn’t catch that they were a buncha hints that he was a clone.

Honestly, there was just… so much build-up to it being mind control (which it kinda was) than to there being clones. From Narti to the Hoktril to Haggar using the mind control to look into Zarkon’s mind (and see through Narti’s eyes), it all felt like a whole lotta build-up to the reveal that “clone” was a red herring and it was real shiro all along, just mind controlled there at the end.

But instead it was a clone, whose reveal as a clone was purely for shock value and given zero explanation for why Haggar would clone Shiro.

I still don’t like Keith as the leader, because I’ve barely seen him make tactically sound decisions that weren’t in the heat of the moment and weren’t explained to the team. Even worse, that he left the team, stopped being a paladin, for almost three years on his timeline, and he comes back and fits right in like he never left. Nobody is the same person they were after spending two years without social interaction outside of your family and a dog you raised (even if you get flashes of your whole life story in those two years).

Over the course of these four seasons I grew less and less interested in Keith, to the point where I was zoning out for entire scenes he was centered around (I… honestly will have to watch The Black Paladins several times before I can even get drawn into it and remember what happened there). Do I have anything against Keith? No. I just have nothing toward Keith either. I feel nothing for him, because there’s nothing about him that I can really relate to.

Keith has never wanted to be the Black Paladin and frankly neither do I. He’s not someone who inspires others, or can stand as a beacon of hope, or any number of things that makes him anywhere qualified to be the guy calling the shots.

To say little of the fact that Keith, just like when he was first introduced, swooped in to save Shiro when Lance had all that build-up. I do not think, at this point in the story, that that is ever going to change.

I love Krolia to bits, though. She’s amazing and I desperately hope she isn’t killed off.

These 26 episodes have felt more like they were devoted to telling Lotor’s story than to telling the continuation of Voltron’s story, or the war of the Coalition against the galra empire. The last we see of the Coalition is the opening of s5, where they’ve regained a whole third of the empire and it seems like that’s it.

There’s so much story that happens off-screen too, like when s5 opens with the minor timejump all for the audience surprise of “the generals have Sam Holt”. Or… whatever that past Lotor has with Acxa.

Really, I could stand to have an episode of Acxa’s backstory so we can understand just what in the hell the point of the s4 finale betrayal was if she was always on his side all along, as we learn in the s6 finale. Because nothing about her turning against Haggar for Lotor makes any sort of sense otherwise.  

Thata’s the crux of it, ultimately. The s3-s6 storyline was like an iceberg: we were, at any given point in time, only given ten percent of the story. Even now that it’s done a lot of us, I think, are still scrabbling to uncover just what that other 90 percent of the story we weren’t shown or explicitly told was.

Compare this to s1-s2 storyline, where by the end of s2 we understood everything that happened and everything that was going on, because it was all clearly told to us.

Ultimately, I feel like Lotor made more strides in his arc than anyone else. Allura now knows how to use the powers she discovered at the end of s2, and Lance now has a sword and a more long-range weapon, and yeah Pidge now has found her entire family but… it doesn’t feel like anyone else is at a different place than they were when they began. Unless we count the continued groundwork of the future “Lance quitting the team” arc.

I’m still not sure if I should count Lance as having an arc, considering that he went from having a lion he was super bonded to (Blue) to having a lion that he just… flew and completely failed to stop Lotor or realize the full extent of what was wrong with Shiro.

This set wasn’t great for a number of reasons, least of all the muddled storyline. Lotor’s storyline was enough for 26 episodes, while the war was enough for 26 episodes, and… we had two separate storylines that were enough for 52 episodes condensed into half that amount. Lotor had no bearing upon the war whatsoever, that when we jumped back into it in s4 it felt jarring. Almost entirely because it was a sudden timeskip.

I siad it before and I’ll say it again here: the decision to split the 13-episode seasons into smaller seasons was a major saving grace, with how little s4 follows the events of s3… for the Voltron side of things.

Because, again, Lotor had a much clearer storyline for these 26 episodes than anyone or anything else.

There were things I loved about this season set (Sven, Lance getting a sword and sniper feature, the worldbuilding among the Galra, all the new characters, THE OG PALADINS THEY HAVE FOUND THEIR WAY INTO MY HEART BLAYTZ ESPECIALLY) and some things I didn’t (clone storyline, oh my god I was so against it the moment I heard it as a theory bc I knew the show couldn’t pull it off and by god did they not pull it off).

And oh my god, Lotor. I love Lotor, so incredibly much. He was so genuine but his pragmatism and the way he bent morals to do what needed to be done made him a fantastic villain. It makes me almost wish he had been someone genuinely good who kept getting pushed into looking like the villain because of his parents. Almost.

God but I dearly hope we’re not done with Lotor, because he went full Azula and to see him undergo a redemption arc at that point would be so stunning.

Everything in these past 26 episodes went from being clear-cut to being a mess. We have the Coalition, Rebels, and Blade working to destroy the empire, the empire falling apart into a civil war, and Voltron jumping sides as they find new people to ally themselves with. Everything is going in so many different directions now, that I feel like I need a flowchart to understand it all. I can only hope that, moving forward, the dust can begin to settle so we can see where everyone stands. I can only hope that the plot finally slows down enough for both audience and characters to get their bearings.

...also I am unashamedly stating that s5 sits as one of my top three favorite seasons of the show so far, purely because of how much it focused on the interaction and relationship with Shiro and Lance. Also, Monsters and Mana is the filler episode we’ve been begging for all along. Please let us get more like it.

[occasionalfics]

Finding You, ii

part i 

Summary: How far are you willing to go to get to know your long-lost step-brother?

A/N: Still not attached to the title so if you have any suggestions, send them to me :D (I know it’s early but honestly I just needed a filler for the last chapter) Also yeah...still very little Kraglin but soon! I promise!

Tags: @fandommemporiumm

Words: 2,583

~~~

You sat up most of the night talking to the brother you’d been missing for almost thirty years. He remembered your dad fondly, though he’d only been in Peter’s life for a short time. He was six and you’d been 10 when your parents had gotten married. It was a quick, small ceremony at the courthouse. They were friends first, and loved one another in their own way. After Meredith passed and Peter disappeared, your father focused solely on finding his step-son, who he’d planned on adopting when everything had calmed down. You were 12 when half of your family was gone.

Peter fell asleep on the couch, not even caring to explain what his plan was. He didn’t say how long he was staying, why he’d specifically come back to Missouri after all that time, or what he was looking for. But he was asleep before you’d come down with blankets and pillows, so you did what you’d done when you were kids. You used to build forts together on rainy weekend nights, and he’d always fall asleep first. So you’d gather as many blankets as you could and tuck him in, letting Meredith in to kiss him goodnight before things got really bad. You tried not to think about that as you laid out a fleece throw over Peter’s much bigger, war-torn body. He was sound asleep, so deeply that you were able to lift his head and put a pillow beneath him before going back upstairs.

When you woke up, he was cooking. Just like his mamma. He’d put one of your Billy Joel albums on the stereo and was sashaying away in the kitchen, singing along to “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me.” You laughed as you went into the room, grabbed a mug from the cabinet, and poured a cup of coffee.

“How’d you sleep?” you asked.

He answered with, “It’s the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways it’s still Rock and Roll to me!”

You rolled your eyes, smiling anyway. As you poured sugar into your coffee you said, “Just like your mamma.”

He continued cooking and dancing, so you went to the kitchen table and sipped your coffee. The album went into the next song, and his dancing shifted with it.

“So Star-Lord,” you said. You waited until he looked over his shoulder briefly. “Where’s the rest of your team?” you asked.

He pulled plates out of the cabinet and shoved what looked like well-done eggs out of the pan and onto the plates. He had another pan with bacon and sausage going, so he turned the burner off and plated that as well. He brought everything over, placed a plate in front of you, then went to find silverware.

“Third drawer to the left of the sink,” you said.

He found it, then came back and said, “Back in New York. They wanted a few days to recoup, ‘n Kraglin and Rocket needed to fix the ship.”

“Kraglin?” You didn’t remember that name in any of the streams and reports you’d seen.

Peter cut a piece of egg and said, “Best First Mate in the Galaxy,” he said before shoving the food in his mouth.

You started eating, too, talking between chewing. “So he’s a space Pirate, too?” you asked.

“He was. He’s a Guardian now.”

You nodded. Made sense, given what you knew about Peter. “So there’s Kraglin, you, Rocket...he’s the raccoon, right?” you asked.

Peter nodded.

“Then there’s Gamora the green girl with the pretty hair, Nebula’s the blue one with the metal arm. Groot’s the popular one around here,” you said. “The tree-thing.”

“Not surprised,” he muttered. “Most popular on the ship, too.”

You laughed with him. “The other two are...Drax. The big guy?” You waited for him to nod again. “And Mantis is the one with the antlers.”

“That’s us,” he said, drinking coffee of his own. Something in the way he said it made you curious. He sounded…almost sad.

“Those are all I remember from the news,” you said. “Are there others? More Guardians?”

He stared for a moment, his mouth moving in motions that made it look like he was trying to get food out from between his teeth. “No,” he said.

Then there was silence, except for Peter’s chewing. You watched him for a couple minutes, sipping quietly on coffee, knowing there was more to his answer than what he gave you.

Eventually he moaned as he chewed the last piece of his eggs. “I have not had chicken eggs in so long,” he said. “Good to know I still know how to make’em.”

“You learned from your mamma,” you said. “She loved this kitchen.”

He nodded, once again saying nothing. Yesterday he’d been so talkative, even if he hadn’t told you much. But now, it was like he was on another planet. Again. Maybe it was because he didn’t actually know you anymore. Maybe something bigger had happened. You leaned toward the second option, given his lowered lids and unfocused glance.

“How long are you stayin’ in Missouri?” you asked.

He shrugged and took another sip of coffee. “Another day, maybe. I gotta get back to New York soon.”

“Of course,” you said, but you couldn’t hide the sad twinge to your voice. You just got Peter back, after waiting for him to come home for twenty-eight years. You got him back after watching him save the world, knowing he’d already saved the Galaxy. He wouldn’t have earned the Guardian title without doing something amazing, right? You wanted to know about him, about his life, about space.

But could you go to New York? Would he take you? Where would you go from there? The world was so much larger than you, the Galaxy even bigger. Peter was used to that, you thought. You, on the other hand? You were the definition of small-town.

“What do you do around here for fun?” he asked, pulling you out of your head.

You shrugged. “I still read for fun,” you said. “Actually, I work at the library.”

“That was always your favorite place,” he said.

You nodded. “Still is. Gotta go deep into St. Louis for real fun, I guess.”

“So what?” he asked. “You just...hang out here? All the time?”

You gave another shrug while you sipped the last of your coffee. He rose his eyebrows.

“You don’t have any friends? No one from the library or something?”

You sucked your lips in and looked at the table. You didn’t want to talk about how alone you were, but you knew that if you didn’t open up, he wouldn’t, either. “Not a lot of people stick around here after high school,” you said. “And then my dad got real sick a couple years ago. I couldn’t leave him, and I didn’t have a lot of time to myself, I guess.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

You shook your head. “Probably could’ve used a night or two off’re somethin,” you said. “I’m used to the quiet now, I guess. Bein’ a librarian helps.”

He stopped and looked at you, squinting in thought. And then he did it. “How’d you feel about goin’ to New York?”

Before you could stop yourself, you told him, “I’d love to. But...what about the house?”

He looked around. You knew it was more than just a house. He’d come back here for a reason, and at least part of that reason was because the house had belonged to Meredith. It was his childhood home for 8 years, and yours for the remaining twenty-eight.

“We could sell it,” he said.

You furrowed your brows. “You plannin’ on not bringing me back here?” you asked.

“You wanna come back?” he asked.

You looked out in the living room for a second, then picked up your mug and plate. You dropped the cold bacon bits into the garbage, then placed the dishes in the sink.

“Hey,” he said, coming to do the same. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t,” you said. “It’s just...that’s a lot, you know? Just dropping everything to leave. And you just got back.”

“You said you didn’t have anyone here anyway,” he said. You stared at one another for a beat before he continued with a sigh. “Look, I just… I’ve lost a lotta family. And you have, too. I didn’t even know you’d still be here if I came back.”

“Where was I gonna go?” you asked, as if he hadn’t gone elsewhere in the meantime. Then again, that hadn’t been his fault after all. He hadn’t run away like you’d thought for so long. He’d been taken.

“I dunno,” he said. “But I’m tired of losing people. You don’t have to come, but...I think you’d like space. My mom used to read us stories about astronauts, remember?”

You nodded. “She loved your daddy til the day she died.”

“And he did nothing to deserve her,” he said, a dark intonation in his voice. His eyes looked like they’d gotten darker too, but you tried to ignore that. “You loved those stories as much as she did. I remember. When we first met, you told me you wanted to walk on the moon.”

“You remember that?” you asked. “You were...five, I think.”

“It’s one of the first memories I can recall, actually. I thought you were so cool, like Samantha from Who’s The Boss?” He smiled. “You were a girl that wanted to go to space!”

“I was Sally Ride for Halloween that year.”

“I remember that, too.” He nodded furiously, a huge smile on his face now.

You smiled, too, because you felt comfortable with him. You’d missed him for so long, you didn’t know what it was like not to miss the closest thing you had to an actual brother.

When he calmed down a bit, he put his hands on his waist. “So? Still wanna be Sally Ride?”

You knew it was crazy, dropping everything to go to space. You needed time to sell the house, sell most of the things you didn’t need to bring with you, to get your affairs in order. You’d have to find an intergalactic currency exchange or something, so you’d be able to bring some money with you out into space. But more than anything, you wanted to go. You wanted to be Sally Ride, to be with the last piece of family you had, even if you didn’t know him as well as you wanted to. And that was another reason to go. Get to know your brother, a Guardian of the Galaxy.

A reasonable person would say you were too old to be taking chances like this. They’d tell you that the responsible thing to do would be to stay put and help the world recover from Thanos. But maybe you could do more for that than staying at home, reading books, and watching rainstorms.

“Yeah,” you whispered finally. “I really do.”

Since the house didn’t have a mortgage anymore, and since it had belonged to Meredith, Peter talked you into leaving it be. “Maybe we’ll come back one day,” he said with a shrug.

“What if people try to break in and take things?” you asked.

He looked around at first, then shrugged. “They’re just things,” he said. “Take what you don’t want people to get, but otherwise…”

“Your mamma would say they probably they need it more than we do,” you said, heading downstairs to collect your albums. You didn’t even know if you’d be able to use them in space, but you didn’t want someone else taking them. Your dad had given you Billy Joel and Fleetwood. You’d inherited a few from Meredith when Peter wasn’t around to have them. You guessed those were his now, if he wanted them. You took Beyoncé because there was no way you’d allow anyone to steal that from you. Ever.

When you had everything you absolutely couldn’t stand to leave behind in two bags, you realized he was right. Things were things. The house would be here if you ever came back. Anything else could be replaced.

You called the library just before leaving to let them know you were leaving. Stacey, the only other librarian you even spoke to on a regular basis, tried to talk you out of leaving, just like you knew someone might.

“My brother’s here. I’m going with him,” you said while Peter was in the other room.

“You don’t have a brother,” she said.

You looked at him in the living room, playing with the television while he still could. “Yeah, I do, actually. And if I don’t leave town with him, I’ll never get to know him.”

She still didn’t believe you, but eventually she accepted your note of resignation. Before she hung up you said, “And Stace? Treat your kids nice. I’m not coming in to pick up my last check.”

You had so many more calls to make, but you’d have another few days in New York to finish everything up. Maybe, if you got to meet him, Tony Stark might offer to have someone do it for you. He’d given Peter transport across the country, so why not?

Your dad had left you his car, but it was a piece of junk. And it was paid off. You tried not to think too hard about what would happen to it if you left it, reminding yourself that it wouldn’t matter. You were going into Space. You were gonna be Sally Ride.

Once everything was packed and all that needed to be taken care of immediately was, Peter used the house phone to call Pepper Potts. You hoped you’d get to meet her, though you knew that was unlikely. She was a busy woman that usually had to clean up after Tony Stark...or something like that.

But she sent a jet to your house. Like directly to you. You were grateful Meredith liked having a big back yard, because you weren’t sure the aircraft would’ve fit anywhere else but the airport in St. Louis. Peter led the way onto the jet, smiling the whole time.

There were men in black suits on board, but no sign of Pepper Potts or Tony Stark. You tried not to look too disappointed. It wasn’t that hard, with how grand the inside of the jet was. Tan carpets lined the floor, matching leather seats were lined up in rows, and there were tables instead of trays.

“They flew you all the way out here in style,” you said, handing your bags to Peter. He put them in an overhead compartment, still smiling.

“That Stark guy only knows how to do things extravagantly,” he said.

“That’s what I hear,” you replied, nodding. You took a seat on one side of the aisle, close to the window, and waited for the plane to take off. It wasn’t long before you were looking out over the house you’d spent most of your life in. It got tinier and tinier the higher you got, and then the jet bolted forward and above the clouds.

You were momentarily sad about leaving the house again, but then you looked at Peter and felt better. You had your brother. You were chasing childhood dreams you never thought you’d get the chance to see to fruition. It was crazy, yeah, but it was happening. Nothing was holding you back, and that felt amazing.

[crystu-cii]

Thank you!! I had a lot of schoolwork so that's why I was so busy(cough and I definitely did all of it and didn't leave any of it for today since I stayed up til five am being productive, most definitely. Yep.) 💕💕

Moodd-- XDD

Oh wow-- okay but that reminds me of something- I've heard of adults taking on a "worksona" to get things done so you?? Basically did that?? You took on a persona that caused people to take you more seriously! I don't think it's cringey at all, it's actually super cool!! Especially taking on the attitude/mindset of a character? That's so interesting and neat!!

See that's ALSO cool, and evidence of it having a desired effect :3c

OOOOH-- me too tbh- or like a video game protag? But if I were a video game or anime protag, I'd better have or recieve animal ears XDD MAKE IT FUN AT LEAST XD

OMS XDD That's p h e n o m e n a l -

!!! ;w; aww I see what you mean- damn you're getting rhcb on your dash? Why am I not getting rhcb?? XD NOOO YOUR BLOG ISNT BORING-- I love it with all my heart and I think it's great, and even though breakfast seemed a little long that's cause transitioning is difficult and stuff, so that's okay :3

WAIT THAT'S SO SMART CRYS.... YOURE SO SMART WH??? YOUR INTELLIGENCE CLEARLY SURPASSES MINE-- XDD

Ahhh I wish I had an au ;w; but I d o n t, and I definitely don't have an ellie-centered one ;w; I really want to make an ask blog I'm just like- ah- no thoughts, head empty-

Also dw advice is g r e a t l y appreciated!! ✨💖💕💞❤️

omg same- i have a crap ton of work that i can literally do NOW and get it over with but im like "NAHHHHHHH" xD but i at least did some work of it- even tho im sure its not even good but its my teacher's fault for saying "something is better than nothing" a whole dam lot XDD

and ohHHH that might be what it is- yeah ! thinking back on it i also do find it hella cool- i was able to be the teacher's pet for some of my classes xD- but then if any of my classmates see me during lunch time i would be here loud ASFFF and also saying the weirdest nonsense ever- omg i can ramble about how cool school was WITHOUT the work yknow? like all the events- friends- and ALL that is awesome xDD and also thanks for thinking its neat! i kinda had fun messing around with people- god i feel kinda mean- XDDD

and HELL YEAH GIVE ME ANIMAL EARS GOD-- XDD omg whats funny is that i am in LOVEE with animal headbands- headbands are literally my comfort item at this point- when i go outside without one- i just dont feel the same xD one time at christmas my bro gave me a cat headband that has switch so it lights up- and i was OBSESSSED with it that i wore it literally everyday at school- and OMG YKNOW WHATS FUNNY: thats how people know who i am- because of my headbands- which is actually convenient cause NO ONE KNOWS MY NAME- like they would know me as a smart girl but they would have no clue who tf i am (because i am soooo not social in school xD)

and cause i wear the same headband everyday- people have kinda known me for it- and kinda just started calling me "cat girl" or "cat ears" or SMTH along with cat in it- it was funny XDD but also my brain tells me "people call you this because thats what happens when you dont have many friends-" and im like "yeAh i KNOW-" xD but after like a semester i stopped wearing the cat headband cause got new headbands! they are like pom poms! i had white ones and the other headband is black ones- i switch between them usually to match my outfit or how im feeling today xD

and AS YOU KNOW IT- i got crazy nicknames- and little did i know it WAS WAYY FUNNIER than with the cat headband- omg- i can list you all the things i remember:

"snowballs" "fuzzy ears" "white/black fuzz" "RABBIT TAIL EARS-" (THAT one was what my teacher called me before knowing my name and my friend witnessed it- in fact i got the audio recorded xD) and also names something along the line of "bear ears" or smth- gosh it went wild- i felt popular xD i would also have friends that would softly bap on of my pom poms just for the sake of messing with me- xDDD

but anyways- with rhcb OH BOY OH BOY- YOU SHOULD SEE THE HENRY STICKMIN CHARACTER TAGS ON INSTAGRAM- the cat ears on characters was WIILLLDDD- there were also so many neko reginalds and shit it was crazy but awesome xDDD

and yeah the breakfast arc i felt like it was the oppurtunity for the triple threat themselves to answer lotta questions- kinda a filler arc- but thank GOD the questions i got now were just boring- or it would be better for the toppats to answer- youd never know! and yknow what- ill just say it now- yknow how henry doesnt know all that much of stickcats? yeah- but guess what- reginald knows a whole lot more ( or well- supposed to) so i wished the people viewed it as reginald the master of knowing stickcats- i even thought of a spinoff comic series where when someone asks a good question about stickcats- it would trigger a class lesson as a jokey concept XDD with sensei reggie! BAHHAA sadly i think i, as the mod, already answered a lot of those questions- so sadly it might not become a thing xD

and YESSS I FELT BIG BRAIN FOR IT- and i think sending myself questions was what made the blog spread easily- cause when you make a blog- its going to be hard for someone to ask you questions first- especially since your post will takes days til it finally shows up on the tags- so may as well make your own questions! at first- i created the blog on my phone- and sadly on my phone it wouldnt let me ask my own blog( but i didnt know you CAN send yourself asks just by going on a computer or laptop- xD) so i yelled at two of my friends like "HRYHEYEHYEHEY THIS IS SOO OUT OF CONTEXT BUT CAN YOU GO ON TUMBLR FOR ME-" XDD and those two friends were the first asks of the whole blog! when henry woke up! (this is all- what i call- a pro gamer move-- /hj XDD)

and awhhh- i feel that- i literally also have the power to make an very suspenseful story with an interesting au- but what i decide to do? "HEY- WHAT IF WE ADD CAT EARS AND TAILS ON STICKFIGURES- " and what i tell myself? "OH- GENIUS- gonna start a whole ass blog-" XDDD but ALL of my AUs are just comfort AUs- i wrote stories of three of them(if you count the stickcat au) while the rest i just daydream- xD i could list them in the next post if you are somehow interested XDD

and thank gosh! i hope what i say would be considered advice- even though im just stating what i do and all xD but thank you!!! 💞💞❤️😭❤️❤️😭💞

[vsantangelo]

YOUR FAVOURITE...? 1. Favourite Ace Attorney game? -> i'm stuck bw justice for all and spirit of justice tbh

2. Favourite case? -> bridge to the turnabout oh god the feels

3. Favourite defendant? -> aside from my bbs (maya, trucy, and athena), imma say... lana skye

4. Favourite prosecutor? -> franziska von karma will always be my baby

5. Favourite ship? -> p sure i be shipping maya/nick for all eternity. and i'm into franziska/adrian (bc idek huhuhu) and athena/trucy (T HA T DLC CA SE TH OO B I TCH THE Y MAG IC SHH OWS AR E DAT ES)

6. Favourite victim? -> yo bruh, the circumstances behind metis cykes' death is fuckin sad i hate everything. also, tahrust inmee ;_;

7. Favourite murderer? -> GODOT [ugly sobbing]

8. Favourite assistant? -> bruh you can't make me choose frm my babies ;_; but athena is my adorable sunshine so imma go w her

9. Favourite witness? -> adrian andrews is my presh baby ;_;

10. Favourite quote? -> IN JUSTICE WE TRUST

YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE...?

11. Least favourite Ace Attorney game? -> apollo justice oops

12. Least favourite case? -> honestly tho, i can barely remember shit from aj so s'probably somewhere there

13. Least favourite defendant? -> well, fuck you, matt engarde

14. Least favourite prosecutor? -> annoyed @ klavier and nahyuta tbh (but at least nahyuta redeemed himself at the end)

15. Least favourite ship? -> KLEMA OH GOD. PLS DONT SHIP MY PRECIOUS SINNAMON ROLL W THE BLING-LOVING EUROPHILE GAWD

16. Least favourite victim? -> hmmm idek im kinda indifferent w other victims tbfh

17. Least favourite murderer? -> bruh prof means just creeps me tf out. and i wanna grab luke atmey's nose, that slimy bastard

18. Least favourite assistant? -> lol no

19. Least favourite witness? -> that box chick from dual destinies

20. Least favourite memory of Ace Attorney? -> blah i aint sure

DO YOU PREFER...?

21. Phoenix Wright or Apollo Justice? -> P H O E N I X  W R I G H T

22. Maya Fey or Trucy Wright? -> YOU CANT MAKE ME CHOOSE BETWEEN MY BABIES

23. Investigations or trials? -> Trials

24. College Phoenix or Hobo Phoenix? -> Hobo Phoenix is just a chill dude, I wanna hang out w him

25. Klavier Gavin or Kristoph Gavin? -> annoyed at both, but meh... klavier i guess

26. Ace Attorney or Ace Attorney Investigations? -> ace attorney

27. Apollo's perceive, Phoenix's magatama or Athena's Mood Matrix? -> athena's mood matrix

28. Ace Attorney trilogy or Apollo Justice and Dual Destinies? -> trilogy!!

29. 3D models or sprites? -> idek i like em both

30. Ema Skye as she is in Rise from the Ashes or Ema Skye as she is in Apollo Justice? -> EMA FREAKIN SKYE AS SHE IS IN SPIRIT OF JUSTICE

MISCELLANEOUS

31. Did you like what they did to Phoenix in Apollo Justice? -> tbh, no. tf do they have to disbar nick? and if they rly hafta disbar him, 7 fuckin years is a fuckin long time. idek, i just... he couldve been a much more legendary lawyer if it wasnt for the 7 years wasted

32. Your opinion on Dai Gyakuten Saiban? -> havent played it yet... maybe in the future tho

33. Do you think Dai Gyakuten Saiban and/or Miles Edgeworth Investigations 2 will get localised to the West? -> hope so, tho.

34. Do you think Miles Edgeworth should get another Investigation-game or do you think another character deserves a spin-off? -> ok look, i like miles and all but if there's gonna be another investigation-game, can it be w franziska instead tho?

35. Opinion on the soundtrack of the Ace Attorney-franchise? -> bruh i love that shit

36. Do you like where the franchise is heading or did you prefer the atmosphere in the original trilogy? -> i like how darker the recent games are compared to the original trilogy tbh

37. Capcom suddenly announces that Phoenix will no longer appear in the Ace Attorney franchise! Your reaction? -> FUCK THIS FUCK OFF FUCK YOU [cries]

38. Capcom suddenly announces that the Ace Attorney franchise has ended for good! Your reaction? -> FUCK THIS FUCK OFF FUCK YOU [cries]

39. Would you like there to be another Ace Attorney/Professor Layton crossover game? -> meh havent played the crossover yet so idek but if it has fuckloads of nick/maya, then ok

40. Would you like an Ace Attorney anime? -> actually enjoyed the anime tbh but couldve used more fillers tho :(

41. Opinion on anime cutscenes in Ace Attorney? -> FUCKIN. LOVE. IT.

42. Would you want to play an Ace Attorney game where you take on the prosecutors role? -> HELL YES.

43. Do you like having DLC in Ace Attorney-games? -> since i dont have a 3ds, i just be watching youtube for playthrough so idc

44. Opinion on Lamiroir’s storyline? -> bruh, when they gonna tell apollo and trucy they sibs?

45. One thing you think the Ace Attorney games can improve on? -> hm, cant think of anything rn?

46. Capcom suddenly announces an Ace Attorney movie! Would you like it to be based on an already existing case or would you like an all new storyline? -> i'm cool w both tbh

47. Capcom suddenly announces an Ace Attorney movie! Would you prefer it being live-action, 3D animated or 2D animated? -> 2d animated bc as much as i enjoyed the live action movie, i didnt enjoyed it as much as the anime. and idek abt 3d but if my bbs are pretty in 3d.... then i'm good.

48. If there could be an Ace Attorney crossover with whatever franchise you'd like, which one would you choose? (Does not need to be a video-game franchise) -> bruh, since im into saints row now, i wanna see how the saints and my bbs interact hahahahahha

49. Opinion on recurring witnesses? (Wendy Oldbag, Lotta Hart, Larry Butz, etc.) -> love oldbag, like lotta, kinda annoyed w larry

50. Do you think Dual Destinies deserved its M-rating? -> yeeeppp that thing w athena was p dark tbh