#one blow by the Meteorite from the first game

[tagarilaghost]

hey uhm @wowitsmetaylor you know about that one post you made and that one specific tag...?

Yeah well now he does have that :D

It truly sucks being an artist and having free will-

[imperfectrotting]

Even though i love reading fanfiction about Norton, especially Norton x readers, i just genuinely cannot imagine him ever loving someone else. He gets mischaracterized so often, as well.

Norton was forced to be a miner ever since his father died of black lung. "If a father is a miner, so shall the son." By that he means that miners barely scrap by. The money they earn is just barely enough to live off from. Norton's father couldn't afford anything for Norton. No fancy clothes, not even for him to go to school.

And once he died, the debt that he carried, transfered onto Norton, so now Norton was stuck being a miner, forced to slave away years of his live to come across a sliver of gold.

Norton was raised to be a good boy, taking care of the elderly, being a very hard, efficient and diligent worker. Even his previous employers were sad to let him go, because he was such a hard worker. Being the first one to enter the mines and the last one to come out. But as the years went on, he grew more desperate to be freed from his poverty, for his fate to be changed somehow. So he took more risk.

He visited all the locations that were given to him on the map by Benny, except for the Golden Cave. Norton was on the brink of insanity and decided to risk it all, bringing all his co-workers to the cave, and bringing dynamite, being fully aware of how dangerous it was to use. But nonetheless, not caring for anyone except for himself anymore, he decided to blow it all up.

His dramatic shift in attitude, especially after the incident, he's being described by (most likely) his coworkers said his personality became even more extreme, with at times very gloomy and depressed.

It is interesting that before the incident, he got described as someone hard to deal with, with his emotions being as changeable as the weather. It's most likely his coworkers that bullied him that described him that way, because they were intimidated by his sheer determination to break free from poverty. Because in both of the videos we got about Norton's backstory, especially the live action one, he didn't get portrayed as someone hard to deal with at all, and his emotions being so unstable.

I think it all changed when Norton found out about Benny wanting to return as a miner one day, when he got better, wanting to go mining with Norton. I think that made Norton snap, take all the risk and chances at the Golden Cave, because he wanted to change his own fate so badly.

With the meteorite magnet he got from the accident, he became a geological surveyor to make a better living and to get away from the mines.

I can't imagine for him to have love left for someone else in his heart. Now when he's in the manor, having been hired to assassinate either Melly or Alice, and working together with Orpheous (as seen having drugged Alice unconscious) for a lot of money.

I wish i knew when Ashes of memory part 3 came out because i genuinely cannot wait. Norton's been my favorite character since i started playing the game in 2020. Seeing him get so much love when his backstory dropped, together with him being the only one to receive his own live action film, like hello!? I love him so much, and he interests me so damn much. I want to keep finding out more things about him.

[sifutoph]

[ reassure ] <3

@flamend chose: for the sender’s muse to place their hand over the receiver’s in a moment of stress and squeeze reassuringly.

there is a young man, an up-and-coming leader from the fire nation colony region, among the sea of politicians and socialites firelord hotman has kept around him. he's called kenji, and he sounds downright irritating half the time, condescending and all-knowing, but again, he's young. charismatic. when he speaks, he speaks politely enough that no one could actually dispute him, and toph doesn't need her feet bare to realise how easily he manipulates the older political voices around him to agree with his points or, in the cases that they don't, have these people somehow miraculously spooked off enough that they, themselves, would like to stay away.

he isn't a threat, per se, but toph just doesn't like him. and the very fact that he'd gotten under her skin since the first time they met didn't help.

they're at another one of these unofficial-but-official meets where she'd tagged along for the heck of it. she's starting to think that that may be her first mistake. now, see, it isn't like toph particularly wants to be involved in the affairs of running a kingdom. she's already got her school and her dad's business on her back that she needs to keep an eye out. that's enough. but, you know, firelord hotman had offered, and it's been a while anyway that she'd taken some time just lazying around near a friend, and she'd agreed. most of the time, though it can be boring, the dispute among the men would be interesting enough for her to sit through and entertain.

some days zuko would even ask her for her opinion or two, and she'd usually supplied on whether the minister was straight up lying, or whether he simply sounds like a dick but said dick may have a point or two.

she is by no means a diplomat, so for the most part toph purposely doesn't let herself be involved — she's not always without her tact, alright, and sometimes she knows enough when not to mess with things that'll blow back in her face — but there were times perhaps that she... could admit she may have butted-in unasked. in her defence, these usually happens outside of any official council meeting which she wasn't invited to anyhow, so she'd figured it's fair game. people said something stupid, she's gonna call them an idiot. whatever.

that evening, kenji found her alone.

she called him with not-so-nice names, and he'd replied back, voice smooth and sure, undaunted at every response she'd thrown at him. she thought it'd be another day where they'd just exchange terse back-and-forth and they'd both be done with it. firelord hotman can have his diplomatic evening tea politely discussing the latest happening and they'd both be off. toph heard there'd be a famous night market nearby and she'd been pretty excited to eat some of the region's famous platypus meat. he even told zuko so. but then, just before she could walk away, kenji said it :

you're here now, but you won't be here for long. ...oh, you think i wouldn't figure out ? that toph beifong's only invited because she's got no one else, no other companion to amuse her. but we both know the firelord, especially the firelord, can't be entertaining you forever. so yes, you're a nuisance now. but not for long at all. barely a pebble in my path, in fact, though ... not any less entertaining.

the evening tea begins, with all the local and appointed ministers and leaders and secretaries taking their spot, exchanging pleasantries. toph thinks she should be angry, she should be upset, but it's as though the words kenji had spoken had snatched the rage out of her and she's left there feeling... feeling anxious instead. unsteady. she wants to reach for sokka's meteorite gift, wants to play with it until she's calmed down enough, but it's as though her whole body's locked up.

half way through, kenji — the bastard — even turns to her. so, he asks in his melodic, pathetic attempt at a pacified tone. i assume the young lady beifong will soon return to her school, no? how unfortunate then. we were all so... ah, raptured by your presence, lady beifong, and toph near damn seethes, though she remains mute, hating herself for every second of it.

and then she feels it. a hand, slotting right into hers.

toph's chin raises up, the only indication she's made aware of the touch at all, and she squeezes back, recognising the warmth easily. sifu hotman, she thinks kindly, in a near childish relief. before she turns to him, voice uncharacteristically subdued: ❝ i'm tired, zuko. we'll leave soon, right ? ❞

the intimacy of hands.

[mutio-von-mutio]

For the Arknights ask game 3, 12, and 27

3 - first e2 My first E2 was Specter. The allure of 3 block shark centurion was too strong and I am a huge fan of the Abyssal Hunters! It also helped I had the Specter alter so I could get a bunch of extra resources for the alternate operator quests. After that I E2'd Amiya cuz she is the best bun bun donkey.

12 - favorite operator of each class

Caster - Amiya! I really like her design and I like her storyline. The flavor on her abilities is really good and meshes well with how she develops in the story. I also have a soft spot for characters who try to a fault to do what's right for everyone even though that's clearly not possible. She has a lot of pressure on her and she tries her best which is very relatable! Also, she says 'Doctor' the best out of all the characters.

Defender - Mudrock! Super cool design. I really like that her horns and suit look like they are almost one in the same. She has a very enigmatic look and personality at first. There was a very quick realization of 'oh no she's hot' too. Big strong lady with a hammer who can hold down a lane by herself and decimate waves. 😳

Also, she has the most soothing voice as an assistant. The slight filter on her calm voice (in japanese) is really relaxing.

Honorable mention: Liskarm !!

Guard - Guard has so many good character designs. I feel like it's one of the more open ended design wise. That being said, I am pretty obsessed with Specter. I really like her outfit design and her story (granted, I have only done 2 events ever since I am new and they are both Abyssal Hunter events). Her lore and the Abyssal Hunter lore are really neat and relatable (lol raised catholic). Goth nun with a big saw on a stick. >:3

Honorable mentions: LAPPLAND cuz she is so smarmy and silence is nice. I also REALLY like Franka after her chapter in the main story. The dynamic between her and Liskarm is really cute.

Medic - Kal'tsit 😳 I was lucky enough to get her early. Her outfit design, looks, lore, and grumpiness are all top tier. She is very protective of everyone, particular Amiya (who deserves to be protected very much). She also happens to be an incredibly busted unit that is nothing like anything else in the medic archtype from what I can tell. I really like units that break the mold and her being a Guard / Defender / Assassin / Medic definitely fits that. Mon3tr is a ... monster and the variety of strats I can pull off with her is wonderful. She also is very hot and every time she bullies me I get a lil flustered. Sniper - So I am pretty divided on this one but Meteorite and Kroos. I think Meteorite design is extremely good and she is a very powerful unit. She is extremely underrated and finding fan art for her is irritatingly difficult. As a person who really likes listening to interesting and different types of voices - she has one of the coolest voices. It's very calm and relaxed but straight to the point. Also, her sweater is very cute and with the other parts of her outfit, VERY cute. Also she just blows things up very good.

Kroos is probably pretty self explanatory. Murder nap bun is adorable and every time she says 'KO KO DA YO' I am filled with immense joy. She is just so excited to be here.

Specialist - Gravel! She is very cute and she gives me kissies constantly. Not only that, but she has been an extremely useful unit in game. She even is ez to recruit and basically prints commendations and distinctions for me. I want to look more into her lore. I am a big fan of her outward personality that is seemingly very soft and cuddly but in reality most of the time she is just looking forward to spilling blood. >:)

Support - Skadi the Corrupting! Abyssal Hunter etc. I do not own her personally but after the 2 most recent events, her character and personality really shown thru. I managed to add a friend that has her at E2 lvl 80 and always has her available for support unit so I can use her whenever. Super pretty and well animated unit that is obviously very powerful. I always have a BIG weakness for music classes in video games, particularly Bards and Skadi is extremely good at playing the musics.

Vanguard - Beanstalk!! Unique design mechanically and very cute. I like the metal crab wrangler very much but I have not invested a ton in her yet. Anytime I summon her crab I like to say 'Crab battle!' and it brings me great joy to watch enemies struggle helplessly to damage my smol lil crab boi. She is one the few units when I got her and read all her abilities it literally made me go 'wtf' and that's a good thing.

27 - most used operator

Hard to accurately say but it has to be between Kal'tsit, Amiya, and Exusiai. I make it a point to use Amiya as often as possible, same with Kal'tsit because they are some of my favorite characters and fun to use. However, Exusiai has been there since the beginning and when you have one of the best snipers in the game, it's rare to find a reason not to use her. I think I just unlocked an event where she is partially the focus so I am hoping to learn more about her and Mostima.

[box16]

CALLOUT POST FOR CORNFLOWERCANINE/CLOVE

CW: 9/11, the word ‘expialidocious’, small rodents

Vriska Serket, also known by her Trollian handle arachnidsGrip, is one of the trolls. She was the eighth troll to be introduced, which also refers to her theme and obsession with the number eight. Her handle relates to her in two main ways. One, arachnids, refers to her interest in and fascination for spiders. The Grip part of the handle most likely represents her power to have a grip on someone's mind, or control it. Her associated zodiac sign is Scorpio (♏) and her horns are shaped like a pincer and a stinger. 

Biography

Pre-Hivebent

When she was younger, Vriska found Mindfang's journal in a chest delivered to Alternia by a meteorite, and used it to locate her Fluorite Octet.

Yeah!!!!!!!!

Vriska plays Flarp both out of enjoyment and to procure food for her Lusus, which feeds on young trolls. Her Flarp character is her ancestor, scourge of land dwellers and sea dwellers alike. Mindfang has gained all the levels available to the Petticoat Seagrift class. All the levels. All of them. Mindfang, being a pirate with a hook for a hand, resembles Captain Hook, much as Tavros's character, Pupa Pan, resembles Peter Pan. The Fluorite Octet, named after a mineral resembling a d8 and the number eight, is also a play on the final words of Captain Hook in the original play of Peter Pan, which was "Floreat Etona," a Latin phrase from England where Captain Hook was schooled.

She had frequent pirate themed Flarping sessions with Eridan most likely inspired by their ancestors' rivalry. On at least one occasion, Vriska and Terezi formed a Flarp team, 'Team Scourge', and faced off against Tavros and Aradia's 'Team Charge'. Vriska's actions in one particular Flarp session set off the cycle of revenge that leads to a number of catastrophic events for several trolls.

Vriska, acting as Tavros's Clouder, uses her mind powers to make him jump off a cliff, leading to his paralysis from the waist down. Aradia and Terezi are distracted by Doc Scratch and unable to intervene.

Seeking revenge for Tavros's injury, Aradia summons the ghosts of trolls whom Vriska fed to her lusus to haunt her.

To get back at her, Vriska uses her mind control powers to control Sollux, forcing him to ingest mind honey and cause his psychic eye beams to be let loose. He is then controlled to go to Aradia's hive and kill her.

Terezi then takes matters into her own hands by informing Doc Scratch of Vriska's possession of one of his magic cue balls. Infuriated, Doc Scratch blows up the Cue Ball, taking out Vriska's seven-pupiled eye and left arm as well as the tactical advantage she had with the Cue Ball.

To get back at her, Vriska uses a Psychic Double Reach-Around: she first mind controls Tavros, then uses his animal communion ability to control Terezi's Lusus, forcing it to tell Terezi to go outdoors and stare into the Alternian sun, blinding her. Since few trolls are able to withstand the sunlight, Vriska may have expected Terezi to wander blind and lost until she died of exposure or at the hands of terrifying monsters.

Hivebent

Vriska is first seen in the bottom right corner of this page, but she is not fully revealed until Hivebent. Her left arm is robotic and was created for her by Equius Zahhak after she loses her real arm. Equius is her neighbor, and after an accident caused by him, Vriskas' lusus is crushed by large rocks. Vriska ends the lusus' pain by decapitating it.

She commissioned Equius for a soulbot for Aradia as a way to make amends with her, but he enters the game before Vriska can get the present. When she talks to Aradia about it, she says Vriska was never supposed to be part of the Blue Team and kicks her off.

[itscalledbisexualcrisis]

Legacy

Request: Hii! Could you do a angst/fluff with Kuvira where r is like from an important family and they meet when they're young but then r joins the avatar? Finish how you'd like! Thank youu

Thank you to depressed-bi-bitch for the request, this was a lot of fun writing!

When Suyin was creating Zaofu, she knew she needed a dependable supply of metal. The valley, where eventually Zaofu would be erected, was a small mining village. It had an abundance of precious metals, but were predominantly used in trade with neighboring villages. There, Suyin met your family, the esteemed owners of one of the largest mines of the village. Suyin was eloquent with her ideas and clear passion for leading people. Her husband, Baatar, had already made a name for himself as an architect from Ba Sing Se. Meanwhile your family was one of the established families of the village, producing most of the metals and negotiating with outsiders trade deals. Together, your family and the Beifongs created Zaofu, a technological city of the future.

Growing up in a sprawling metal city was like living in a story tale. Big spiraling metal structures, an abundance of art and culture blooming all around you, and spending most of your childhood with the Beifong family were your earliest memories. You were surprised one day, while playing with Opal in the Beifong estate, to find Suyin bringing in another child. The girl seemed older than both you and Opal and she had a firm pout on her lips. Her clothes were more plain compared to what usual Zaofu citizens wore and she wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone. 

“This is Kuvira. She’ll be living with us and be part of our family now, Opal. Think of her like your sister,” she introduced.

From being the adored only daughter to having to share with another little girl was not easy for Opal to adjust. Including sharing you, her childhood best friend.

“I don’t want a new sister!”

The way Kuvira’s face was already apprehensive, turned into a scowl quickly as she looked between the two of you before running off.

While Suyin sat down with Opal and tried to explain Kuvira’s situation, you went off to find Kuvira. She was sitting down under a low hanging awning by the river. You could hear small sniffles coming from her. Six year old you approached her without caution, bumbling up to her with the perkiness only a child could contain.

“Hi.” You introduced yourself to her with a wide toothy grin and a welcoming outstretched hand. She jumped and turned around, quickly wiping away a stray tear. Her deadpan glare penetrated your outstretched hand left open. Being a child, you didn’t let it affect you. Instead you asked, “Do you want to come to my house? I have a dollhouse we can play with!”

Kuvira hesitated, looking from your still extended hand to your beaming face.

“Opal doesn’t like me.”

“Opal’s not coming.”

Oh to grow up with Kuvira. She was quite hot tempered as a child. And you admit, some days it was hard being her friend. She let her emotions take control, most of the time not realizing that she was bending until the dolls were disfigured under her metal grip. You never blamed it on Kuvira though, and you always came back to each other at the end of the day. It took a long time under Suyin’s guidance for Kuvira to gain a better understanding of her own earthbending. But once she did, it was like a flip switched.

While gaining more control, she became more reserved. She pulled farther from the Beifongs and moved out of the estate, choosing to live with the guards in the dormitories instead when she became a teenager. It didn’t change your close relationship though. From running around your estate playing games to her joining you in your metals lab in your research to helping her study for her test to join the Metal Guards; you and Kuvira supported one another through everything.

In the back of your mind you always knew things weren’t great for Kuvira at the Beifongs. But it was always something so hard to bring up to Kuvira whenever you tried to get her to talk about it. It also complicated your friendship with Opal, navigating between their polar personalities was always a challenge. So you opted not to, instead playing mostly neutral grounds and after she moved out, things did get better. 

As you got older, there was more pressure on you to take on the family business. Your whole life you’ve studied metals and how different properties of metals work together to create new things. An inventor, truly gifted, but there were always parts of you that wanted to leave Zaofu.

“I don’t want to study rocks my whole life. I want to learn from other cultures, get a bigger insight!” you confessed one day to Kuvira. You lay back on the soft grass of the lawn. You were visiting the Beifongs casually one afternoon when you ran into your favorite guard. It took minimal convincing for her to take a break from duty to lie with you. It was known that Kuvira always had a soft spot for you. It took one big smile to get her to crumble to you.

But seeing you smile was something she could never get enough of. “You wouldn’t leave me here alone, would you?” Kuvira semi joked.

“I’d take you with me, of course,” you laughed. “See the world together. Maybe fight some bad guys, who knows?”

Kuvira knew that would never be possible. Not with how Suyin ran things, but she didn’t say that, choosing instead to have a lighter hearted moment with you.

Going through the ranks, she saw potential in the Metal Guards, in the people of Zaofu actually. The fact that Suyin rejected most international requests, slowly infuriated her over the years. She watched as her fellow soldiers grew in strength, but all of it went to waste within the metal domes. Kuvira had long surpassed everything Suyin taught her, choosing to go off in her own studies to continue growing as a bender. When not on duty, you’d find her studying different types of bending in the Zaofu library or coming to your lab to practice with rarer metals. Sometimes it seemed like Kuvira never stopped at bettering herself.

You were mesmerized every time you saw Kuvira use her bending. Something as simple as making casual shapes from a slab of meteorite could keep you entertained for hours. It was times like these that were your favorite. She had her armor off and was sporting a long green sleeved spandex shirt with her dark green uniform pants. Her braid was slightly disfigured and helmet thrown off to the side somewhere. She was playing with a piece of meteorite, leaning forward on the bench as she manipulated it with firm concentration. The way her hands moved delicately through the air with precision; every crook and bend of her fingers and knuckles; how soft yet also strong they looked as they bent the metal into a small flower. It rested perfectly in her slender palm as she handed it to you.

It made your stomach flutter and a heat build in your chest. You reached out to take it from her and suddenly feeling nervous. Almost immediately, a gust of wind blew Kuvira over the bench making her tumble down and the metal flower scattering somewhere on the ground.

You both were left gaping. You were born as a non bender, so suddenly being able to airbend made you freak out. Kuvira grabbed your wrists, telling you to breathe as you started rambling off about never being able to bend before and not being the daughter of Avatar Aang and what if your mother had secretly had an affair with the AVATAR and oh god what would your father think-

“We need to find Suyin.”

Learning that Opal also gained airbending made you feel better, and it was something you two could bond over. Suddenly you were spending more time with Opal, trying to learn more about this new weird power to Kuvira’s dismay.

When Avatar Korra and her crew came to Zaofu to rebuild the Air Nation, you laughed off the idea of becoming an Air Nomad. Your future was set in the metals your family mined. You were supposed to live your life in Zaofu, continue your legacy here to grow the city.

“This is where I belong,” you said sheepishly. Korra seemed disappointed, but if that’s what you wanted there was nothing she could do. Although she did debate dragging you on to the ship, kidnapping an heiress to an empire would definitely cause an international crisis that Korra frankly couldn’t afford.

Kuvira was relieved to say the least. The fear of losing her closest friend didn’t sit well with her. But she also saw how you were with your new bending, carefully exploring what your bending could do; how it frustrated you when you couldn’t gain your own footing straight or when wind would blow back in your face.

“Maybe you should consider it.” Kuvira’s response surprised you. It was another day at your estate this time laying on the grass. It was one of Kuvira’s few days off. When she became the Captain, her free time became very limited, but this afternoon was a peaceful rarity. Tonight would be Opal’s farewell dinner, where you would be saying your final goodbyes before she boarded the airship to the Northern Air Temple. You were casually bending a circle of air above your heads, watching as leaves swirl around in a hypnotizing way. It immediately dissipates upon Kuvira’s confession, leaves slowly falling around the two of you.

“What?” you snort. “I thought you’d be the first person to ask me to stay.”

It left a lump in Kuvira’s throat. She never wanted to be the reason you held back your potential. She knew how talented you were as an inventor, but to bring that strength as an airbender? And the opportunity for you to build a nation that was up until recently deemed extinct? Kuvira knows an honor like that is something you’d thrive in, and the only way you could do that is to leave Zaofu.

So with some more convincing from Kuvira, you came around to the thought of being an Air Nomad. Sure shaving your head wasn’t the most appealing thing, but to be able to explore the world outside of Zaofu? It felt like this was your true calling all along. And Kuvira was the one to help you realize that. You gaze softly at her face, trying to find any hint of doubt you could. But she wholeheartedly believed in you and that in the end is what had you knocking on Korra’s door before the big dinner.

“Avatar Korra, I’ve changed my mind. I will join Opal to the Northern Air Temple and help rebuild the Air Nation.” Korra’s face broke into a wide grin and she gave a big cheer, deeming another success in her Avatar duties. You smiled back, feeling giddy at the thought of finding something more than rocks and metals for your future.

Seeing you and Opal boarding the aircraft shattered Kuvira’s heart. Her face is stone and her back is straight, watching the two of you talk wildly about your new adventures to come.

It seemed like at the last second, you pulled away from Opal and turned around, catching Kuvira’s unwavering gaze. You bite your bottom lip and tell Opal to go on without you, that’d you catch up momentarily. She was confused, but realized what you were doing when you ran back down the ramp and towards Kuvira.

Before she knows what’s happening or can ask what in the spirits you were doing, you nearly plow Kuvira over with a bone crushing hug, knocking her helmet right off her head. Burying your face into the crook of her neck, you feel her muscles tense under your touch, and then melt right into your hug. Strong arms wrap around you and clunky armor gets in the way.

But Kuvira can’t picture something more perfect.

She is speechless and squeezes her eyes shut, willing any tears to hold back. This was a momentous day for you, and she didn’t want your potentially last moment with her to be a sniveling mess. Instead she tries to memorize the way your hair smells, how firm your torso feels under her arms, how soft and warm your skin is. Everything she possibly can in these fleeting seconds with you.

“This isn’t goodbye,” you whispered in her ear. The way your breath fanned across her neck made Kuvira’s eyes flutter. She could stay in this embrace forever. “I will see you again.”

“I know,” she breathed out, suddenly finding it hard to find her voice. “I know.” It was something she had to tell herself more than to you.

You hesitated, wanting to say more. But how could you tell Kuvira that most nights you fell asleep thinking about what her lips would feel like against yours? How could you tell her that you still dreamed of traveling the world with her one day? How do you tell your childhood best friend that you’ve been in love with them when you’re about to board a ship to a new life?

Instead you take the chance and lean in, placing a soft quick kiss on her cheek just below her mole under her eye. With one last watery smile, you turn and board the ship. Your future terrified you, but you know for certain that you will keep your promise and return to Zaofu for her. One day.

If you had turned around you would’ve seen Kuvira steeled in stoicism, seemingly unaffected by your gesture. Meanwhile, inside she was on fire. Her cheek was burning where your lips touched. She had to replay the moment again and again in her mind to make sure it wasn’t her own imagination making it up. But it was real; the feeling of your hesitant lips pressed against her cheek made the flush in her chest grow. Her breath comes out in one shaky stream as she lifts the radio to her ear for the guards to close the domes.

And as the metal flower-like structure enclose her in, Kuvira can’t help but let her eyes linger on the sky where your ship disappeared.

This isn’t goodbye.

[glapplebloom]

Imagine if Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was treated as a serious horror movie...

A thousand years ago, Celestia and Nightmare Moon fought. Despite Celestia’s victory, a meteorite with residue from their battle was floating into space until it just landed on the Sweet Apple Acre Apple Farm. This has Applejack being covered in Apples and not showing up the next day. When her friends discover what is wrong they made a horrifying discovery.

The Apple Family were kidnapped by Living Apples. While they did have numbers, they really shouldn’t be much of a threat. Giving them a slight edge would be them absorbing Magic, which would prevent unicorns from being a threat. But with Earth Ponies being so strong and Pegasi able to create storms and Tornados, it should still favor the quadrupeds.

But nope, they take over Ponyville and captured everyone, including our Mane Six. But under the watchful eye of the Apples, a resistance group rise. And they consist of...

Ponies that were previously captured... Yeah, why are these Apples a threat again if the ponies they captured and enslaving can create a secret underground group to make a resistance? So they need a spy to get deep into the Apple Farm to free Spike.

So after insulting Pinkie Pie under their breath, Pinkie Pie got magically transformed into an apple and successfully got in. But Spike’s lock can only be open by an Apple. But she discovers that there is a Good Apple among the bush called... Good Apple, who could influence the Apples positive to the Bad Apple’s influence. And that Bad Apple is named... Bad Apple...

So with that news and also finding out they’re going for Appleoosa next, Twilight comes with a two step plan. First: make Fluttershy into Flutterbat again. Second, use her as a template to turn the rest into Vampire Ponies. So its 5 Vampire Ponies Vs an Army of Apples. And thanks to using hit and run tactics, they’re doing great.

Sadly so many bad vampire puns.

But just as they freed Good Apple and figured out a plan of attack, the Apples got advantage again. Luckily Fluttershy somehow took control of her new form and convinced the Vampire Fruit Bats to help. With the tides turned once more, the Apples form a Giant Spike form and use that to try to destroy Ponyville.

Long story short, they captured the Bad Apple, Good Apple leads and they enter a secluded valley with the promise to return but never make an appearance (as far as I know) until the MLP Game or the 100th issue’s cover. Overall, as I said, this is what it feels like to make Attack of the Killer Tomatoes into a serious movie: pretty bad.

So how easy could this army of Apples be beaten? Let’s see...

Every Pony could just eat them like in the Powerpuff Girls and the invading Broccoli aliens. The ponies would have an easier time because they not only enjoy apples but they’re normal sized appled.

Pegasi can clear up the skies and dry them out. Rainbow Dash can clear the skies in 10 seconds flat, she could have done it when they attacked them.

Tornados can blow away things pretty good. And Dash is fast enough to make one herself.

Fluttershy could call Discord. And even giving them the benefit of the doubt that they could absorb all magic, Discord could create an army of sentient other fruits and vegetables to attack. There’s a pear farm right next door.

And the truth is only Alicorn Magic was shown being drained since Twilight as a Vampire Pony was using magic on Bad Apple just fine, so Discord or even the unicorns could in theory use their magic to stop them.

Speaking of armies, we do have an animal army Fluttershy could call upon as seen a few issues ago against that one Minotaur. And they could eat the apples just as well. Or the bears to crush them.

Speaking of crushing, they could literally stomp them. Sure, some have spears and a helmet but not all of them.

And this can never happen with GLAB since the Lantern Ring is not magic and would easily stop this army. So I really doubt this is gonna be canon to GLAB.

[chacusha]

Trials of Mana remake liveblogging (3/...)

From the last benevodon to the postgame:

I like how the original handled the Jungle of Illusions and Pedda a bit better. I liked having enemy encounters in the jungle (in fact, I spent a while in the SNES version grinding here). I also liked the dreaminess of stepping into an area and the screen going wiggly (uh I don’t know how to describe it) and suddenly you see more signs of a town that wasn’t there before. Having the town be blocked/inaccessible until you defeat 7 benevodons and then you sleep at a ruined inn (why would you even do that...?) and then the town appears isn’t as trippy/dreamy. I don’t know how you would convey the same effect without the screen wave effect (maybe things materializing in front of you?) but it’s very effective on the SNES at conveying that your senses might be deceiving you or that you’re only reliving a memory/dream.

I got very excited seeing young Prince Richard and Duran with a pencil mustache Loki, though!

I’m a bit confused by what exactly happened to the Darkstone here. Shade said it was destroyed and Zable Fahr was released. But Belladonna said the Darkstone was in Mavolia and they brought it back to this world. And we see the Darkstone shatter in front of our eyes right before encountering Zable Fahr (whereas the other Manastones shattered earlier). So is it that the Zable Fahr was re-sealed in the Darkstone after being defeated and then unsealed (again) in the real world after Belladonna and co. transported it? Or are the Zable Fahr and Darkstone we encounter from the past?

The Darkshine Knight encounter was less “feelsy” than the one in my Collection of Mana playthrough, since Duran wasn’t in my party. But I like how he also alludes to the fact that Angela is Richard’s daughter.

Ooh I got a rainbow item seed. I have no idea what that does.

The Crimson Wizard was a bit of a tedious boss fight with his teleporting and spells that knock you down. But ultimately, for both him and the Dragon King, I was basically never in any danger of dying despite not being very leveled up, and only having a partial set of ultimate equipment (especially not with the Crimson Wizard’s link ability equipped on Kevin - so much free MP!).

I feel like the original SNES ending feels both a bit more bittersweet and more incomplete. In the original credits, rather than seeing how the world is coping with no mana (largely it seems like everyone is doing fine), you just see Flammie flying mostly all alone. It’s a very beautiful ending but it also feels rushed/incomplete and very lonely. The remake ending feels a bit more fleshed out but also less sad.

This is the first time I’ve seen Kevin’s ending and I really do not like it. While I like the fact that Karl is in fact still alive (Kevin deserves it) I feel like the whole ending gives a pass / extremely rushed moral redemption to the Beast King, and that’s not what I’m here for! The Beast King is one of the most interesting characters in this whole game because he’s the only protagonist-related antagonist who isn’t being brainwashed into being eeeevil. That makes him one of the legit most grey characters in the game and his psychology and motivations fascinating! But the game just glosses over that, and it and Kevin forgive him too easily. I would have liked to see the Beast King begin the journey to redemption and show at least a bit of remorse for his actions, while also implying that journey is longer than what can be shown at the end of the game. They skip this redemption arc and manage to make Kevin look like an idiot in the process -- I definitely don’t think it should have been done this way. I’m mentally rewriting this whole scene.

That said, Kevin training with Ludgar in the ending was adorable.

I thought I multishipped everyone in this game, but I was wrong. I really did not like the Hawkeye and Jessica interaction in the credits (I’m just pretending this is platonic), nor the ending scene where Angela blows a kiss at Kevin (he’s too young/innocent for her! ToT). It’s actually really funny -- I saw someone on the /r/secretofmana reddit being like “Why was I led to believe that Hawkeye/Riesz was the big pairing in this game when they barely interact and Hawkeye is thinking about Jessica all the time” because like, yeah, I get that there isn’t a lot of interactions and that they’re fairly subtle, but also these games are very platonic, which makes even a tiny hint of romance Very Significant, as well as ANY time there is character-specific interaction or dialogue -- it seems very HMMMM. (Also, I think the remake, when it had to fill in dialogue, played it “safe” by giving Riesz only Elliott-related thoughts and (I assume) Hawkeye only Jessica-related thoughts, rather than drop shippy hints.)

Anyway, I’m in the postgame content and really enjoying the new stuff! I like how the three characters have very different battles and content. Riesz gets a group battle against the guardian of the sphere and gets to talk to her dead parents again, which is really sweet (I hate King Joster’s voice though). Kevin gets a one-on-one duel with his dad which is kind of what I expected from his plotline because of how easily his dad pwns him in the beginning of the game which just sets up a rematch in his arc, so am surprised that this WASN’T an aspect of his story before. Angela also gets a one-on-one duel, but it’s with a copy of herself (apparently the Class 4 version of herself that she will eventually become), a nice throwback to Secret of Mana. Despite the fact that my characters are the three royalty characters, their stories play out very differently.

Riesz’s Meteorite class looks very... Aquaman.

Wow, this postgame dungeon is REALLY long. Interesting how you go through the castles of the six main characters. Lazy level reuse, but I appreciate the sheer length of content here, especially since it gives you the chance to try out the characters’ Class 4 skills.

There’s also Class 4-specific ultimate equipment too! Neat.

Anise wasn’t too difficult. I ended up getting game overed once on her second form because I wasn’t careful, but overall it was fine.

I went back for the Black Rabite boss in the Crystal Desert. I got pwned a lot -- that one-hit KO Jumbonk really gave me issues especially when the four Black Rabites come out and they’re all doing it, but I finally beat it after 20 or so tries. Ended up controlling Kevin again (my healer/fighter) to win this one but probably Angela did the most damage to the Black Rabite by spamming Ancient Curse. What I ended up mostly doing as Kevin was just being more proactive with the healing to prevent the other characters from being KO’d prematurely, as well as attracting the attention of the Black Rabite’s attacks and doing a better job of dodging them. Kevin had dark saber on his fists for maybe a third to a half of the fight so I didn’t do a lot of attacking, really.

New game plus time! To be continued...

[shadowstepper]

So do you think Ardyn could beat Ganondorf?

The short answer is, maybe.

The long answer is down below.

If you mean do I think my Ardyn can best @daemoniumganondorf ‘s Ganondorf? I mean maybe but I’m having fun with the thread as it is, regardless of a win or loss.

I’m no mathematician so I can’t really bring out the science to support this. This is really observations, readings, and some speculation. You’ll see the last one clearly.

So let’s talk weaknesses first. Ganondorf has the obvious weakness to holy weapons and holy magics. The Master Sword and Silver Arrows are the obvious candidates there. While he is technically able to be harmed by most other weapons, only holy weapons can specifically capitalize on his weakness.

Ardyn on the other hand is not expressly stated to be weak to holy magics. Lunafreya’s healing touch might have been something he averted simply because it would rid him of the Starscourge and thus his greatest power. When Bahamut tortured him, he did so with a vision of Aera stabbing him with the Trident of the Oracle. Despite being a Royal Arm, it is not explicitly to be holy by any means. 

So Ardyn’s weakness to holy means is kind of up in the air. If he is vulnerable to it, then Ganondorf has a way to exploit that. If not, then I suppose he doesn’t.

Now let’s talk arsenal. Ganondorf is a master swordsman and warlock, and his training by the Twinrova Witches has come very much in handy. This is further magnified by being a reincarnation of Demise and having control over the Triforce of Power. His swords can channel his magical power, and even then he’s still a master swordsman after all. He can easily wield two swords at once and fight on horseback with no effort.

Even without the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf has numerous magical abilities. He can summon phantoms to fight alongside him, possess foes, fly, and teleport just to name a few. Plus it is implied (at least I think it is I could be wrong and if so my bad) that he can access powers he’s had across his numerous lifetimes, including his Twilight magic and Malice magic.

The Triforce grants Ganondorf more abilities, including unlimited magical power, superhuman strength, immortality, and near-invulnerability. Along with his transformations and all the power they confer without costing Ganondorf any of his intellect.

Speaking of, Ganondorf is incredibly intelligent, clever, and cunning. He was able to manipulate the rulers of the world and Link into giving him access to the Sacred Realm where the Triforce lay. While the complete relic rejected him, Power stayed with him. He has also controlled the minds of both Zant and Zelda.

Beyond his magic, Ganondorf wields the Swords of Demise, his Dark Trident, and even the Sword of the Sages. If you’ve played Twilight Princess, you know that Ganondorf was impaled with this very sword, only to then break his restrains and kill the Sage who had impaled him. He kept the sword afterward and is able to use it.

Meaning he has his own holy weapon in his arsenal. That’s important.

Now there is more to talk about but let’s cut to Ardyn and cover his arsenal. Like Ganondorf, Ardyn is an expert manipulator and deceiver. He played his way into becoming the Chancellor of Niflheim, despite having no interest in Imperial rule. He did this by helping them create their magitek army, something that was impossible to do without his aid. He also created daemons for them to weaponize, such as the Diamond Weapons. 

For weaponry, Ardyn has the Royal Arms and various magical skills at his disposal. The Royal Arms are specific to the Lucis Caelum bloodline and cannot be used by anyone outside of it. In essence, it’s a skill he always has at all times and he cannot be robbed of. Having an armoury of ethereal blades at your call that can’t be taken from you is a pretty nice thing to have.

However, are they holy weapons? There is a bit of a contradiction on this. The Royal Arms Noctis collects during the game are all non-elemental, so the answer is no right? Well they are also extremely effective against daemons, which are supposed to be twisted creatures of darkness. Hence my calling it a contradiction.

For the sake of this scenario, let’s assume the Royal Arms are not holy by any measure and thus cannot exploit Ganondorf’s weakness to holy means.

Next, let’s talk magic. In the world of FF15, to cast magic you need a magic flask to draw magical energy from. Ardyn is an exception to this as he does not need any flasks to cast his magical power. Why this is is unknown, but his power is devastating nonetheless. It’s not clear if he has a finite reserve or not, but given that he doesn’t need flasks at all it could be assumed that he has unlimited magical power.

That’s a stretch I know but that’s why I said some of this is speculation. Ganondorf has multiple games alone over many years so he has the proof to back up many claims and theories about his power. Ardyn only has one game, one episode, and one book by comparison. Just not an equal pool of information to draw from.

Anyway, Ardyn’s main element is darkness but he can also cast energy beams from his palms, summon meteorites from the sky, temporarily turn into miasma, (gaining the ability to teleport and fly while in this form though this is independent of his own warping ability via his bloodline) temporarily halt time, disguise himself as anyone he wishes, (regardless of having daemonized them given how he transformed into Noctis, Prompto, and Gladiolus on separate occasions) and more powers in his repertoire. 

Now let’s talk strength and durability. Now I’m not sure of any explicitly physical feats of strength from Ganondorf but given that the Triforce of Power grants him superhuman strength and he can use his dark magics to augment his physical attacks, well those muscles are certainly not for show. He is strong enough to create shockwaves with a punch though so that’s something.

Ardyn likewise is no slouch in physical strength either. Despite two thousand years of captivity, Ardyn was cutting down Kingsguard members in minutes after being released and his strength was so grand that he easily bested Regis and Somnus, shocking them with just how powerful he was. Ardyn was also able to keep up with Noctis while he had the power of Providence, easily countering his blows and even pinning him down at one point.

Since Ardyn is also implied (I think so anyway, don’t quote me on that) to have superhuman strength, I’m not sure who to give this one to. I feel like it would still be Ganondorf though since he can boost his own strength further with his dark magic and Ardyn cannot. At least not according to my research.

Next, durability. Ganondorf has survived some pretty insane things. There was the aforementioned impaling along with surviving being stabbed in the face with the Master Sword, his castle collapsing on top of him and Hyrule Castle exploding on him. That is some serious durability right there. Granted, he is still not wholly invulnerable but he’s far from a pushover.

Plus it specifically takes holy means to kill Ganondorf and even then that’s no guarantee of victory.

Ardyn may be immune to physical pain, or at least extremely resistant to it. Despite being slashed across the face by Gladiolus and then immediately shot in the heart by Prompto, Ardyn just got back up, picked up his hat, and was on his way unharmed. Even assuming he’s only resistant to physical pain, Ardyn’s true durability lies in his immortality. 

After being rejected by the Crystal, Ardyn’s soul became trapped in the beyond. Because of this, whenever his body died, he would simply come back as his soul could not die without someone going into the Astral Realm and striking him down there. But since you had to be dead or a god to go there, that wasn’t happening anytime soon. 

With this effective immortality, Ardyn has returned from being frozen solid by Shiva and then shattered by Noctis. He was back to normal and taunting Noct all over again literally minutes later. Gladio and Prompto’s attacks should have killed him, yet he just shrugged them off and came right back. His weakness to the supernatural may have just been an act for all we know, and there’s no way to really confirm that he is vulnerable to holy means.

So Ardyn gets the durability advantage. Next, speed.

Ganondorf can keep up with Link, who is capable of dodging Beamos lasers. According to DEATH BATTLE, Link can move and react at at least 11% the speed of light. That’s pretty impressive still and Ganondorf can certainly reach that speed.

Ardyn doesn’t have any speed feats to compare but he has his warping ability that is specific to his bloodline (though Kings of Lucis can share this power with their Kingsguard soldiers if they so choose). Since Nocits frequently uses the Warp-Strike ability to get around and in fights, and Ardyn has shown he can do the same, this could be argued his speed stat.

But since Ganondorf is keeping his speed in movement essentially all the time while Ardyn’s is only specifically available via warping, I’d say Ganondorf has the speed advantage.

Finally, we come to power. And this is a tricky one. As DEATH BATTLE reasoned, the Triforce of Power comes from the goddess Din, who created the world itself. Scaling the Triforce of Power directly to Din’s creation feat means Ganondorf could potentially command planet-level scales of power. 

But potentially is the key word.

For Ardyn, he definitely does not have any powers that scale to that level. Though he did succeed in spreading the Starscourge across the world and essentially conquering it, that doesn’t mean he has the power to destroy it. We could scale him to Bahamut however but even that is tricky.

Bahamut is the king of the gods in FF15 and he has an all-powerful attack that would obliterate all life on Eos. How exactly he does this without destroying the planet is unknown but let’s assume it can destroy the planet as well. According to the Dawn of the Future AU book, Bahamut tried to use this attack 2,000 years prior to destroy the Starscourge but the other gods blocked it. It takes Bahamut millennia to recharge this attack so it is definitely something he doesn’t want to use casually. 

In the book, he plans to use the darkness-infected Lunafreya to charge up the attack and use it again. While he succeeds, it is still blocked. As Ardyn is responsible for striking down Bahamut in this alternate version of the story, it could be argued that he has greater power than Bahamut and therefore greater than Ganondorf by comparison. 

But while Ganondorf’s is logical and even feasible, Ardyn’s is not and requires a lot of speculation and stretching. However it is stated that Ardyn increases in power with each person he absorbs. Theoretically, he could absorb enough to be more powerful than Ganondorf. But there’s no way to tell exactly how many people would be needed for that. So the edge for power goes to Ganondorf as his measures are more clear cut.

Let’s run through the rest quickly. For experience, this is tricky. Ganondorf has, in theory, more formal training than Ardyn thanks to his tutelage under the Twinrova Witches. Ardyn however gains the memories of those he daemonizes and absorbs so with that could come combat skill and new abilities. He specifically learned how to fight hand-to-hand so he wouldn’t have to rely on his Royal Arms and thus expose his true heritage in the process. 

Ganondorf’s is clearer but limited, Ardyn’s is theoretical but limitless. I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

Next, versatility. Ganondorf has more magic than Ardyn, but Ardyn has more weapons. Do they balance out? No I’d say Ganondorf has this one thanks to his greater magical power and variety.

I could keep going but this is long enough. In summary, I’d say Ganondorf would win. But I said maybe at the start cause it’s more of a 60/40 chance here. Ganondorf has more consistency on his side and that affords him some leeway. There’s still so many unknowns about Ardyn and we may never get them answered. 

Ardyn still has a good chance. He could take the Sword of the Sages for instance and turn it on Ganondorf. It might work, it might not, but it would exploit his weakness to holy means so that’s a possibility. But still, I’d say Ganondorf has this one more often than not.

[virtual-lara]

GameSpot UK Interview with Adrian Smith - Tomb Raider 3

Interview appeared on Gamespot UK website, dated to 30th October 1998

In an exclusive interview, Tomb Raider III developer Core Design's operations director, Adrian Smith, reveals Tomb Raider III's secrets…

GameSpot UK:

Tomb Raider III is divided into five mini-adventures. Does each one have a different plot and if so, are these linked by an overall story?

Adrian Smith:

I guess you could call them mini-adventures: Lara's looking for four artefacts this time so each location is almost a separate adventure. She starts off in India. She believes she's looking for a single artefact but at the end of this location she discovers that there are another three to find. So after India she can go to the South Pacific, London or Nevada in any order, before playing the final location: Antarctica. The locations are linked by a story that is brought to its conclusion in Antarctica.

GameSpot UK:

What's the plot this time?

Adrian Smith:

I can't say too much, but the four artefacts that Lara is searching for were originally discovered lying round a large meteorite that crashed to earth millions of years ago. The collision separated this point of impact from the mainland, creating a volcanic island towards the north of Antarctica. When the meteorite impacted, the area became impregnated with foreign matter ­ this matter had powerful properties and slowly released a kind of radiation that accelerated growth and evolution in both creatures and plants... but not without side effects. As Antarctica iced over, the basin of the island remained an oasis of life.

The first peoples to discover the island were Polynesians, and when one tribe discovered the abundance of life there, they decided to stay. Deep within the dormant volcano, they found the core of the meteorite ­ magically suspended it seemed, above the rock. (The material was in fact magnetic and was being repelled by the magma below.) The settlers built an altar round the meteorite and used four smaller pieces of the meteorite to create a device to trap and save the precious radiation.

Years later, as explorers were charting Antarctica, they discovered the remains of the island. Fresh animal tracks in the snow, led them to the crumbling remains of the settlement. When the explorers reached the altar, they looted the four artefacts, and as they left, one of the men was attacked and killed by a mutant beast. The others fled in terror. Only one survived to record the story...

Back in the present day, a scientific research company hits sculpted rock as it blows a wall of ice in the Antarctic and discovers an unknown material and the body of the savaged explorer. On the explorer's tombstone are the details of the boat on which he sailed. Using this information, the research company sets about searching for the artefacts.

Lara, meanwhile, is in India searching for one of these artefacts herself, unaware of its true history. And so the adventure begins.

GameSpot UK:

What are the locations like? We've seen the London screens. Is running round the capital as challenging as raiding a tomb?

Adrian Smith:

The locations are quite diverse. London features a night-time rooftop level ­ from there Lara drops into some of the buildings, including an eerie waxworks museum and the Natural History Museum. Eventually she finds her way to St Paul's, and from there into the sewers (for which Lara has an underwater propulsion unit, à la James Bond), deserted tube stations and Masonic halls. The level of detail in Tomb Raider III enables us to create really atmospheric locations.

Other locations include: Nevada (Area 51 and the desert), The South Pacific (very lush, featuring a coastal level, island in terior and a white water level!), India (jungle locations and temples), and Antarctica (where all is not as it seems!).

GameSpot UK:

What sort of enemies will Lara face this time?

Adrian Smith:

Well, they'll all have a far higher level of AI than previously encountered since we have 'Dr Tom', the AI specialist working with us on Tomb Raider III. Nearly all the enemies are new and include snakes, hyenas, monkeys, dragons, huskies, whales, piranhas and jellyfish, plus a whole lot more.

Lara will be able to avoid some of her human enemies by ducking and crawling to avoid their line of sight, but once they see her, they'll raise the alarm and the chase will really be on. Some of the animal enemies may run away from Lara when initially approached, but if she follows them, she may be led to danger. Many of the enemies will also work in groups to cut Lara off, so she'll have to work out ways to distract them in order to proceed. And watch out for the monkeys ­ they love to run away with Lara's precious medipacks!

GameSpot UK:

Lara's an athletic lass. Does she have any new moves this time round?

Adrian Smith:

The main new moves include the duck, crawl, monkey swing and dash. Since Lara is now able to crawl in narrow spaces and tunnels, the exploration element of the game has really been opened up. The duck allows Lara to quickly avoid gunfire ­ she can also shoot while in the duck position so combat now becomes more strategic. The hand-over-hand monkey swing can be used to traverse areas that Lara is unable to cross on foot, and the dash allows Lara to sprint to safety when she needs to make a swift escape. Lara can also add a dive to her new dash move. This is particularly useful for time-based traps where she'll have to dash and dive through closing doors.

GameSpot UK:

Fashion fans want to know what Lara is wearing this season? Is brown still the new black?

Adrian Smith:

Since Lara is so practical, she needs suitable outfits for each location. These include white and grey camouflage trousers and jacket for the Antarctic, a black cat-suit for London, combat trousers for Nevada and a crop top for the hot South Pacific locations.

GameSpot UK:

What about those lovely boy toys ­ vehicles and guns?

Adrian Smith:

Lara does indeed have some new vehicles to help her get around. A couple of the levels will rely solely on the use of vehicles to complete them successfully: Lara will be white-water rafting in a kayak and speeding down mines in a rail cart. Other vehicles include a James Bond-style underwater propulsion unit and a quad bike... but I don't want to give any more than that away right now!

As for the weapons, some of Lara's new items include an automatic rifle, rocket launcher and desert eagle guns.

GameSpot UK:

Are there any changes to the combat? Does Lara have to aim now or does she auto-aim as before?

Adrian Smith:

It's basically the same system, but a couple of the weapons will require Lara to aim herself.

GameSpot UK:

What improvements have been made to the game engine and graphics on Tomb Raider III?

Adrian Smith:

Firstly there's a new structure for the order of gameplay: Tomb Raider III contains five separate locations which link together, but after completing the first location the following three can be played in any order, before the final location closes the game. Whereas Tomb Raider I and II contained 15 levels, Tomb Raider III contains 20, making it a considerably larger game. The levels themselves are far less linear than before and the player will have a choice of at least two routes to complete each one. The routes will vary in difficulty: taking the harder route will reward the player with more pick-ups, whereas the easier routes will be quicker and less complicated. To add further variety to the gameplay, the save-game system offers an easy and a hard option.

The easy option allows the player to save the game anywhere, as in Tomb Raider II. The harder option will use the save-game crystals that featured in Tomb Raider I, but this time Lara can either use the save-game crystals immediately, or store them in her inventory for use later on.

Tomb Raider III's level editing system has undergone an extensive redesign: our programmers use the level editor tool to create the rooms that, when linked together, make up each level. Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider II used a grid system to create the levels ­ this meant that the level architecture that Lara was able to interact with consisted of a series of blocks of different heights and dimensions. Tomb Raider III's system now incorporates triangles. This means that we can now achieve greater detail such as very realistic organic surfaces, and smoother shore-lines.

We're also able to create more complex architectural structures such as domes, arches and vaulted ceilings.

Tomb Raider III's game engine offers more speed than the first two games, and handles a greater amount of detail. The water in the third game is now transparent, reflective and rippling. When Lara swims or wades through the water, she'll leave a wake behind her. If she fires a weapon into the water, you'll see a new underwater explosion effect. Also, if she's standing in the water and firing a weapon, you'll see the empty shells actually drop into the water and sink to the bottom.

Other effects include semi-transparencies such as mist, smoke and shafts of light. And weather effects such as snow, wind and rain are now included ­ all of which give the game a deeper atmosphere and added realism.

We also have more realistic flames and explosions. When Lara fires a weapon, you'll even see smoke from the barrel of her gun. Lara now leaves footprints and you'll also hear sound effects as she runs across different surfaces.

Sadly, page four (of four) is no longer available.

All rights belong to GameSpot and/or their affiliated companies. I only intend to introduce people to old articles and preserve them before they are lost.

[aimandmain]

Brave Exkaiser Episode Guide

Exkaiser is the first installment in the Yuusha series and follows a young boy, Kouta, whose family car turns out to be an alien robot, a police officer, sent to Earth to stop the space pirates, the Geisters, from stealing Earth’s treasures.

All episodes can be watched on Youtube right here! (If I, personally, really dislike an episode and see no point to it I will but “pointless filler” at the end of it, for my own sanity’s sake) 

Episode 1: Exkaiser follows the Geisters to earth along with his team and he takes possession of Kouta’s family car. But when the Geisters try to steal Kouta’s old camera, believing it to be valuable, Exkaiser has to reveal himself in order to save him!  ENTER EXKAISER!

Episode 2: The Geister sets their eyes on stealing the new liner motorcar and Exkaiser sets up to stop them, but the smart Ptera Geist has invented something and Exkaiser needs backup if he wants to pull this off.  ENTER KEISER TWINS, GREEN RAKER AND BLUE RAKER!!!  POWER UP KING EXKAISER AND ULTRA RAKER!!

Episode 3: The Geisters tries to steal electricity and ends up trying to steal a nuclear plant that, because it gets fucking moved, is about to explode! Exkaiser needs all hands on deck to stop these idiots! ENTER DRILL MAX, DASH MAX AND SKY MAX!! POWER UP GOD MAX!!

Episode 4: The Geisters tries to steal a rocket about to launch for Mars and the Keisers have to find a way to defeat them without damaging the rocket as it’s very important to Kouta.

Episode 5: Most of the town falls sick and the Geisters are stealing all the medicine, the thing is people will die without it so Kouta is extra invested in coming along which leads to him meeting some of the other Kaisers.

Episode 6: Thunder Geist is sent to retrieve a sunken pirate ship that is full of treasure, but since he’s not very smart he accidentally sets off a volcano. Exkaiser hs to save the people who have chosen this very bad day to go on a submarine tour.

Episode 7: The Geisters steals the machines from an old amusement park and turns them into robots to train against. Blue Raker is sent to investigate but blows his cover and is stuck when he has to defend himself but can’t damage the machines. Luckily Kouta is able to help!

Episode 8: Ptera Geist tries to steal the fastest plane, the one that Kouta’s class just so happens to be getting a tour of. Exkaiser and Max team have to beat the transformed robot and Kouta must take control of the situation!

Episode 9: The cherry blossoms are blooming and everyone has gone to see them, but Armor Geist have heard it’s a treasure and takes Thunder with him to steal it. But they kinda set their eyes on something a little bigger

Episode 10: The Geisters are targeting the opening baseball games and decides to just take the whole dome while they’re at it.

Episode 11: The Geisters are aiming to steal a golden coffin, this takes them to a ruin where Kouta’s class will be doing a play. Not all goes according to plan.

Episode 12: The Geisters steals all the flour... what are you guys doing? Baking a giant cake?? It’s flour.

Episode 13: Kouta goes to Mt. Fuji with his family but the Geisters makes the mountain erupt in an attempt to kill off the Kaisers. The result is chaos!

Episode 14: Its mothers day and the Geisters have received word that a mother is the most important treasure of all.

Episode 15: After being told that he cannot steal dreams, Horn Geist throws a tantrum that results in not letting the humans sleep, at all. 

Episode 16: The Geisters goes to steal a valuable racecar, of course, they didn’t realize that Dahs Max would be in the race... This guy is a total savage and I love him

Episode 17: The Geists goes after the district computers that make sure everything functions as it should, this causes chaos all over and when they then try to go for the big mother computer the Kaisers has to stop them in order to avoid catastrophe.  

Episode 18: The Geisters steals rare clocks from all over the world and in an attempt to stop them Dash Max gets taken hostage.

Episode 19: The Geisters wants to steal the treasure at the end of the rainbow when that fails they decide to just flood the town.

Episode 20: The Geisters tries to kidnap a princess who’s about to get married because she possesses a great treasure.

Episode 21: Kouta and his friends apply to be child actors but as they’re recording the Geisters show up to ruin the day, of course, no director stops filming when he got real-life robots battling on his set.

Episode 22: Kouta’s sister, Fuuko, falls hopelessly in love with Dahs Max (who can blame her) and is determined to meet up with him at the summer festival, of course, he comes around when the Geisters attack.

Episode 23: Fuuko wants to become an idol so Kouta goes with her to the TV station to cheer her on, however, soon Geister appears looking for idols and golden eggs.

Episode 24: The Geisters tries to steal a cruise ship but for the first time Dino Geist comes along to show them how to do their job!

Episode 25: An important virus is being transported to the medicinal institute, this makes it the perfect target for the Geisters and Exkaiser has little choice but to cooperate when Sky Max is taken hostage.

Episode 26: The Geisters tries to steal a panda cub but fails, Kouta and Fuuko, feeling that a living animal shouldn\t be confined steals the panda instead until Exksaiser convinces Kouto that he has to let go of her.

Episode 27: When a meteor shower is approaching earth Exkaiser and Sky Max must face down Dino Geist and Ptera Geist as the human astronauts try to destroy the meteorites before they can collide with Earth!  ENTER COMPANION DRAGON

Episode 28: The Geisters has stolen all the treasures of summer in order to lure out Exkaiser. Getting into a battle that seems lost Exkaiser needs to find a new power to save everyone! ENTER DRAGON KAISER  

Episode 29: When a new gold coin is about to be issued the Geisters decided to pretty much steal every coin they can get their hands on, it’s up to Exkaiser alone to stop them!!

Episode 30: Kouta’s dad is trying to stop smoking and that is a good thing because it’s the next target for the Geisters!

Episode 31: Kouta goes to Peru with his sister and dad to look at the Nazca Lines, however when the Geisters try to steal them Exkaiser must stop them on his own, and everything truly goes to shit when Dino Geist shows up and an old legend about the ending of the world is about to come true.

Episode 32: In an attempt to take out Exkaiser, Ptera comes up with... an actually pretty good plan, I’m really proud tbh, but anyway, he comes up with a plan to take advantage of the incoming typhoon and in an attempt to become stronger than their opponents the Geisters combine. POWER UP GREAT EXKAISER

Episode 33: A boy from school “borrows” Kouta’s communication bracelet and won’t give it back, unfortunately, he’s also the son of a Kabuki actor and is the next treasure on the Geister’s list, yikes. Also, Exkaiser is being mean to kids D: POWER UP PTEDER

Episode 34: The Olympics come to Japan and the Geisters tries to steal it, but stealing something you don’t know what is, is proving to be their greatest talent and wow these guys aren’t the brightest. Aka how the Geisters fucked up the Olympics for everyone.

Episode 35: A symphony has been composed for the Braves and being the jealous fucks they are, the Geisters are of course going to ruin the concert. Here the Braves are rendered momentarily defenseless as Kouta rushes to save Kotomi, who has been trapped inside the Geisters’ minion.

Episode 36: Its Halloween and a strange creature is roaming free stealing all the festive foods! When Kouta and Kotomi get kidnapped Exkaiser can’t help but intervene.

Episode 37: The Geisters have learned that books are a great treasure and honestly the writers of this episode just wanted to have a reading prompt for the Geisters. Exkaiser is hesitating to take them back since he’s afraid of destroying them so of course, Kouta has to step in and help!

Episode 38: There’s great value in horse racing, therefor the Geisters try to kidnap the top favorite!

Episode 39: A lot of schools sends students to a space camp to give the kids' astronaut training so they can feel what it’s all about (god these kids do more in elementary than I’ve done all my life). Kouta wants to be an astronaut when he grows up and Exkaiser teaches him an important lesson but of course, the Geisters are there to ruin everything.

Episode 40: After their last fight with the Kaisers, the Geisters are in disrepair and needs a doctor, this leads Armor and Horn to kidnap a leading scientist, Tokuda and Kouta. But since Kouta can transmit his location to Exkaiser, that might have been a fatal mistake for the Geisters.

Episode 41: After the Geisters have been forced to have a temporary base somewhere VERY cold they have become quite bitter. With the upcoming bow-wow contest, the Geisters decided to steal all the dogs. However, after Mario gets hurt Exkaiser completely loses his cool.

Episode 42: After setting their temporary base on fire the Geisters have to evacuate when the Raker brothers come to help the humans stop the fire. However, after getting away with the fire trucks the Geisters are sent to grab the latest models which are incredibæy valuable.

Episode 43: Fuuko is dreading her upcoming test and wishes for the Geisters to steal her school, however, instead of hers it ends up being Kouta’s school that gets stolen and Exkaiser has to be extra careful fighting in the middle of the city!

Episode 44: Christmas is here and the Geisters are targeting Santa Clause! But how do you tell 4 aggressive robots that the person they’re trying to kidnap doesn’t exist? At the same time, Kouta’s dad is at a Christmas party but haven’t bought any gifts yet and Kouta’s mom dresses up as Santa in his stead. Ho ho ho-ly shit!

Episode 45: While going to Egypt during New Year Kouta and his friends stumble over the Emerald Stone, a very powerful artifact that the Geisters want to use to seal away Exkaiser forever.

Episode 46: Now wielding the powerful soul stealing shield the Geisters lays a plan to lure out the Kaisers and once and for all take them out. But unfortunately for Exkaiser, the fight happens on an oil platform and what is this? God Max is...

Episode 47: The Geisters are being competent and are trying to force the raker brothers and Exkaister to reveal themselves to the public, but of course, time is ticking and the playing field starts to look pretty grim for Exkaiser.

Episode 48: The final battle arrives and a lot of pressure rests on Exkaiser when he has to save his entire team and Tokuda! Luckily for him, Kouta is by his side but when Dino Geist has had enough and takes the kid for a space ride things ...escalates.

[pinkhairandadverbs]

EBAS Episode 1: The War Against Giygas

1 EXT. GAS STATION - TWILIGHT

All we see is crimson static. After some time a still image of a gas station materializes. It appears hurriedly abandoned judging by the broken windows, open doors, and merchandise littering the ground.

Behind the pump is a street lined by several buildings in a similar state to the gas station. Flying saucers hover ominously in the sky, frozen in place. The static abides completely as we PULL OUT SLOWLY.

The first thing that becomes clear is that this is only a poster. A caption above and below the picture reads "IT IS EARTHBOUND / THE WAR AGAINST GIYGAS!" PULLING OUT FURTHER, we see it's on the wall of the very same

gas station. A loose corner of a poster bends in the hollow wind.

We hear it before we see it: a small lightning strike, startlingly close, sends shards of pavement and dust across the crimson skies.

In a moment we see the whole street. The saucers, now alive, zip across the deep red horizon in zigzagging patterns. They shoot bolts of lightning to the ground, upheaving asphalt and exploding empty cars.

Wind blows off the poster and carries it across the frame.

Static again. We hear the distant voice of an adolescent girl.

VOICE Hello. Can anyone hear me?

Through the static we see the scene again. A fire has erupted on one of the cars. A speck in the sky seems to be growing. Before long it's evidently a glowing meteor streaking across the sky, directly towards the scene!

VOICE I'm not sure if this is working. If anyone can hear me, please-

The meteor's glow engulfs the scene and the voice is halted by a loud CRASH.

2 INT. NESS'S BEDROOM - NIGHT (199X)

The same sound comes faintly now. NESS, 13-ish and still wide-eyed in striped pajamas, is stirred from his bed.

NESS Hello?

POV: Ness looks around his room, decorated with baseball and 90's video game memorabilia. PAN ACROSS.

He checks out the window to the forested suburban street. A fierce golden glow emanates from a nearby hilltop.

NESS What is that?

He rubs his eyes and gets out of bed.

3 INT. LIVING ROOM

Ness comes down the stairs to see his mother, dressed in a nightgown and already on the phone.

Ness's loyal dog, KING, lazily wags up to Ness and licks his hand.

NESS

Hi there King.

KING

(Telepathically)

Ness. There was a loud noise. It's dark but Mom's awake. I'm confused.

NESS So you heard it too... It wasn't a dream after all.

MOM

(To the phone)

-Yes honey, we're alright. We still have power and everything. Hold on, Ness just came down. (To NESS)

Ness. Did the noise wake you?

NESS

Yeah. What was it?

MOM

Must have been a transformer. Don't worry about it.

NESS

Can I go check it out?

MOM

Absolutely not! It's already far past your bedtime and-

Mom stops at the mischievous look on Ness's face.

MOM

-And you would just sneak out anyway, wouldn't you?

NESS

I don't know what you're talking about.

Mom smiles.

MOM

Change out of your jammies before you go.

Ness celebrates by jumping up and down and kissing Mom on the cheek.

NESS

Thanks, mom!!

4 EXT. NESS'S NEIGHBORHOOD

Ness shuts the front door behind him, now clad in a striped shirt and shorts. (Notably, the only thing missing from his signature attire is his backpack.)

He looks up at the glowing hilltop again.

5 EXT. HILLSIDE

Police cars line the wooded hillside path. Officers stand by roadblocks up the trail, blocking the way. Beyond them an intense glow emanates through the trees.

Ness comes up the trail and sees the police here. A friend of Ness's is also here, pestering the cops.

POKEY, 13-ish, is a bit taller and much wider than Ness. He's become a bit of a bully from years of parental abuse, but Ness still spends time with him.

POKEY

Come on! Just a peek! You know me, Mr. Officer Simmons! Just give me the scoop.

COP 1

No! Get out of here. Scram!

Pokey notices Ness and scrambles over to him.

POKEY

Ness! Buddy!

NESS

Pokey, what are you doing here?

POKEY

Listen. I'm glad you came. But the cops and I have the situation under control.

The cops perk up when they see Ness like a ray of hope.

COP 2

Ness, can you take care of this kid?

POKEY

We can't tell you what the glowing thing is right now, that's uh, classified information.

COP 1

We literally don't know what it is.

POKEY

I'll tell you all about the alien in the morning, when the uh press release comes out. But right now you're getting in the cops'- I mean, officers' way.

COP 1

It's not an alien.

NESS

Maybe we should both leave then... the police seem to be doing just fine without your help.

COP 2

Yes please!

POKEY

Oh no! I'm in charge here. Don't worry about me. You're bugging the officers, though. Look at them!

They turn to look at the cops, both very aggravated.

COP 2

Ness, help us out.

NESS

Pokey come here with me.

They turn their backs toward the officers.

POKEY

Yes, citizen?

NESS

What are you doing?

Pokey immediately drops his confident demeanor.

POKEY

I wanna see the meteorite! I'm this close to them letting me through.

Ness laughs.

NESS

Pokey, as long as the cops are here, we aren't getting near that. Let's come back some other time and nobody will be here to keep us out.

POKEY

That's... smart. This is why I keep you around, Ness! You always have the best ideas.

NESS

Glad I'm good for something.

The kids head down the hill. Ness turns back for a moment to look back at the hilltop. We get a few more seconds on the mysterious glowing object up the hill.

6 INT. LIVING ROOM

Ness enters, and his mom greets him.

MOM

Back so soon? What was it?

NESS

Something on the hill... It was so bright. The police beat me there so I couldn't get close, but Pokey and I are gonna check it out again later.

MOM

I think that's a wise choice. Night time is for sleeping.

NESS

Now that you mention it, I am pretty tired.

MOM

Good. Let's get you back to bed.

7 INT. NESS'S BEDROOM

Ness lays in bed, eyes open.

He turns to look at the glowing hilltop again.

Its aura is mysterious, yet inviting.

He rolls back over.

FADE TO BLACK

After a few moments, we hear an incessant knocking.

8 EXT. NESS'S FRONT PORCH

Mom opens the door and raises her eyebrows as Pokey, who we just now see was the one knocking, shouts in her face in a panic.

POKEY

Ness Ness Ness!!-- Oh. Good evening ma'am. You look lovely as usual.

Pokey holds back a snicker as Mom looks unamused.

MOM

Can I help you, Pokey?

POKEY

Is Ness in?

MOM

He's asleep, hopefully. I can take a message-

Ness comes down the stairs, just visible in his jammies through the doorway and with bags under his eyes.

NESS

Mom, what was that knocking-?

Pokey notices Ness and shoves his way into the house.

POKEY

Ness! The police left. Let's go check out the thing!

NESS

When I said later, I didn't mean two hours later. It's like 3 a.m.

POKEY

Okay but we have to go now.

NESS

Why?

POKEY

Uh... Picky ran away. I think he went up the hill. I need you to help me find him!

NESS

He's your brother, why can't you look for him yourself?

POKEY

It's not my fault! I blame the cops... Ness, if my dad gets back and his favorite son is gone, I know I'm gonna get it... Please, bestest friend, please?

Ness takes a moment to consider.

NESS

Okay. Let me get dressed.

POKEY

Yes! I knew I could count on you.

9 INT. LIVING ROOM

Ness comes through to the entryway where Pokey and Mom wait, back in his striped shirt and holding a baseball bat. Pokey stays out for a bit.

NESS

Alright I've got everything!

MOM

You're taking a bat?

NESS

Just in case.

MOM

Whatever you say.

Oh, and about Pokey... I know he's your friend, but he can still be kinda bossy. Don't let him push you around just because you've known each other for so long.

NESS

You know I can deal with Pokey. He's my closest friend but he's still a jerk. When he crosses the line, he'll know.

MOM

Good. Sometimes I worry about you.

King comes up and whines for Ness's attention.

KING

Ness, where are you going so late? Is this about that big boom earlier?

MOM

Oh. You should take King along with you too. He hasn't had a walk in days.

KING

No, no no. I don't want to do anything in the day, I DEFINITELY am not going anywhere at night.

NESS

Come on, King. It'll be real quick.

King whines in resignation.

POKEY

Okay, Ness! Ready to go? Let's blow this popsicle stand!

NESS

Let's go!

They head out.

10 EXT. HILLSIDE - NIGHT

Ness and Pokey search with flashlights down the hill from the scene earlier.

POKEY

Ok... You go on ahead. I'll follow you from a safe distance.

NESS

Pokey, there's nothing dangerous in Onett.

POKEY But there are... bears!

NESS

They haven't bothered us whenever we snuck out after dark before.

POKEY

I swear one almost attacked me on Eagle Day this year.

NESS

Are you sure that wasn't Lier in his bear suit? *snicker*

POKEY

*Chuckle* What's up with that guy, anyway?

NESS

Anyone who calls themself a professional treasure hunter has issues, man.

POKEY

Remember when we teepee'd his house?

NESS

Of course I do! He thought it was the Sharks, right?

PICKY

And then he started taking it all inside-

NESS

And he actually used it!

POKEY

He's crazy.

Their laughter takes a second to die off, leaving an uneasy chill in the air.

NESS

Maybe you're right though. Something feels off about tonight.

POKEY

Well there's the big glowing thing on the hill. Who knows what's next? This could just be the beginning.

NESS

Somehow I feel like it is.

King, in contrast, is panting on the incline.

KING

It feels like the end for me.

NESS

Come on King.

11 EXT. HILLTOP

PICKY, Pokey's intelligent but jumpy younger brother, lay sleeping by a tree...

Right next to the source of the bright glow. It is a meteorite, black with yellow fissures lining the surface and emitting the mysterious light. A massive crater of upheaven earth surrounds it, just missing the tree against which Picky lay.

The gang comes up the trail.

POKEY

Picky! Picky, where are you?

KING

I do not like the look of this place. Not one bit.

Ness stops to appreciate the meteorite.

NESS

So it was a meteorite...

Picky stirs and they spot him.

POKEY

There he is! Picky!

PICKY

Pokey? Why did you run off like that? I thought you were coming back.

POKEY

I- You don't know what you're talking about. You ran off! You're always like this. Ness, can you believe it? I'm a reasonable, responsible young man, and I'm stuck with watching this dumb, annoying, selfish little brother! Do you know what it's like to deal with someone like that?

Ness and Picky exchange glances in the awkward silence.

NESS

Let's go home, guys. We found Picky and we've all had enough commotion for one-

Ness is interrupted by a blinding flash of light from the meteorite, coupled with the sound of a sharp exhaust release.

They all jump away and duck for cover. King scampers around for a moment in a panic, then takes off running down the hill.

KING Okay, that's it! I'm outa here! If I knew it would be this scary I never would have come along in the first place!!

Now a beam of golden light pierces the sky from the meteorite, and widens to about a foot wide.

Ness stands back up and gazes in awe.

NESS

What on Earth...

POKEY God help! Oh my God! Oh my God...

A small black form emerges from the meteorite, slowly upward, mimicking an insect's movements.

This is BUZZ-BUZZ, a visitor from the future. He resembles a rhinoceros beetle with large fly wings.

NESS

Look!

PICKY

What is it?

Pokey dares a stolen look up.

POKEY

It's a bat!

NESS

It's a fly...

PICKY

It's a rhinoceros beetle!

BUZZ-BUZZ

A bee I am not!

The gang exchange glances.

PICKY

Well, that was my next guess.

[spypiner]

Henry gpass fabric

Henry Glass Fabrics are high quality, quilt shop quality fabrics. It's just that I got really, well, I guess we're even.Henry Glass is one of our favorite fabric manufacturers! They have a host of famous designers, and add more every year! Some of the more well known designers and designers we carry include Kim Diehl, Jan Mott, Stacy West of Buttermilk Basin, Shelly Comisky of of Simply Shelly Designs, Leanne Anderson and her daughter Kaytlyn Kuebler, Janet Rae Nesbitt, Jane Shasky and many more! JACK: Well, thanks for helping me explain the origins of glass and sorry about throwing that water on you before. Nowadays we have all sorts of glass for all sorts of purposes, and it's opened up windows, so to speak, into a whole world of inventions and discoveries. He was the first to find a way of making glass perfectly flat. Well, most of that is thanks to this guy Henry Bessemer. Ah, not bad hey.Īnd in the 17th century we got telescopes.Īs for the big sheets of glass that are used in buildings pretty much everywhere. Then in the 16th century in Venice we got our first look at ourselves thanks to mirrors. Oh, I can see everything so much more clearly now. In the 13th century in Northern Italy the first glasses to enhance eye sight came about. Yeah, I love it, love what you've done.Īs the years went on glass became more and more popular. Oh, I'm just kidding, no, no it looks great. What have you done? All the glass is stained. By the 1100s many European cathedrals were being decorated with stained glass windows, coloured with powdered metals mixed into the molten glass. Instead, you might just have a hole in your wall with an animal hide curtain or a window made out of paper, fancy. Yep, there was a time when people didn't have glass windows. JACK: Manny, Manny, can you see me? I can see you. Glass blowing was later taken by the Romans who used it, along with a sort of pressing technique, to create the first glass windows. And around the first century BC the Syrians came up with the technique of glass blowing, which truly changed the game. Over the next few hundred or so years glass making became popular across the Mediterranean, Europe and into parts of Asia. Ha.Ībout 1000 years later the Ancient Egyptians also began creating things out of glass, in particular they were quite fond of making glass beads. But instead, no, I was making this, a cup for my drink. JACK: Yeah, so, all I did was mix silica sand, lime, and soda. And some historians reckon it might have happened by accident. But the first human efforts to make glass, that we know of anyway, happened around 2500 BC, in the ancient region known as Mesopotamia. Including Australia's First Nations peoples who used it as cutting tools, as tips for spears and for ceremonial purposes. And from what experts can tell humans have been using these types of glass for hundreds of thousands of years. There are a few other types of naturally occurring glass, like fulgurite which occurs when sand is hit by lightning and tektite which is the result of a meteorite impact. The other is typically, but not always, sand. What do you think?Īs the volcano would suggest, one of the main ingredients in making glass is heat. It appears to have been formed when the molten rock from this volcano cooled rapidly resulting in this sort of blackish/greenish thing. This is obsidian, it's a type of natural glass. While we clean up, let's take a look at the long, long history of glass and I do mean long. Bluebird of Happiness 2719-95 Mixed Media Dark Gray by Janet Rae Nesbitt for Henry Glass Fabrics. Oh gosh sorry, you're just so terrifying sometimes. Bluebird of Happiness 2715-95 Alphabet Dark Gray by Janet Rae Nesbitt for Henry Glass Fabrics. But have you ever wondered where does glass comes from? Why can I see through it? Is it just hot sand? And why can't I throw stones in glass houses? Well, I've asked a very dear friend of mine to help explain. JACK, REPORTER: When it comes to drinking vessels, for me, nothing beats a glass.

[atomicdragonsalad]

Lotus

Skipped a couple of days, but we’re back with day 6 !

Rating : K+

Summary : Sakura is having a fun afternoon at the lake.

This would be such a good place for a date, she thinks, blushing slightly at the idea. We could sit right there, in the grass under the willow, and enjoy the peaceful scenery of the lake, the delicate scent of the lotus flowers in full bloom and the soft sound of the water lapping at the sand.

She sits, as if to test her idea, and closes her eyes, pretending he is with her right now and not half a continent away. It's a hot, heavy day, and she appreciates the shadow under the tree and the breath of fresh air coming from the water, brushing her wild hair from her face. It will not be long before she sees him again, she knows, but even a week so far apart hurts. She takes her phone out of her bag and fiddles with the idea of calling or texting, but decides against it. He's with family and she should not disturb him. Besides, it's not like she has anything important to tell him. These days anytime she calls he answers with urge and anxiety in his voice. It makes her sad that he worries so much.

Today is the first time in a long while that Sakura is left to her own devices. Her dad and brother are at work, Kero is occupied at home and refuses to move beyond a three meters radius from the air conditioner, all her friends have things to do and Syaoran is back home in Hong Kong. She doesn't mind the alone time, it's a nice change of pace. Especially since they all keep asking her how she feels constantly.

She watches the dance of the dragonflies in the sunlight, their wings glittering as they come and go around the lotus flowers. This place gives her a feeling of peace and contentment, as a small world in and of itself, a tiny universe of respite from the chaos of her life. How nice would it be to jump across the lily pads, to make friends with the koi fishes and butterflies ? As night comes, to dance amongst the fireflies ? She could just about picture it, a dress made of lotus petals, shining in the moonlight, and the music of crickets, toads and owls to lead her right into the spirit of summer.

Sakura gets up and walks to the edge of the water. She wants to smell the lotus, to make the illusion last just a bit longer, just a bit further.

She should have known better.

The pull and tug of magic at work throws her off balance and she tumbles face first into the water. She braces for impact, but instead of meeting the earth under the shallow water, she finds herself fading through the liquid without end. She opens her eyes, looking up to the rays of light piercing the liquid like golden swords, and swims, soon emerging again. She must have fallen further from the edge than she had thought, as she cannot see it from where she is. She spots the lily pads and lotus flowers. These grow next to the edge of the water, where it is shallow and quiet, she thinks, and she decides to swim that way. Maybe whatever magic is at work here dropped her right in the middle of the lake.

The swim is longer than she had thought, and the shapes of the greenery seems just as unreachable as when she started. Her muscles ache, and Sakura stops. It's time to think more practically. She could fly there, but she doesn't know if the flight card likes water. Most likely it doesn't, with its delicate shape and texture.

«Release !»

No, the most efficient card here would not be flight.

«Aqua ! Push me to the lily pads !»

It's a good thing the area is deserted. She soars through the water, pushed by the magic of aqua, and finally reaches the greenery. It's enormous. Either the world has suddenly grown ten times bigger, or she is now fairy sized. With a final push, aqua gets her to stand on a lily pad and dissolves, its work done. Sakura thanks it.   

She knows that the only way to get back to get normal size is to catch the card responsible. She understands now, what she suspected for a while is true. She does create the cards as she wishes for things. It doesn't have to be a strong wish, or even an articulate one, it can be a curiosity or a vague feeling, and that's how she makes the cards. She wonders if anyone else knows, if that's why everybody worries about her. But it makes sense that she would be the only one capable of sensing the clear cards. She senses her own magic. It's scary, dangerous that any thing she could think of might materialise. What if someone gets hurt because she had mused about volcanoes or meteorites ? It is enough to make anyone feel anxious.

The wind blows the lotus perfume in her face, and so close to the flowers the powerful scent is intoxicating. Sakura breathes in deeply and looks up at the dragonflies. Magic is magic, there is no reason to let it scare her. Sure, she doesn't understand what is happening to her, and she misses Syaoran badly, but even alone there is no reason to be so gloomy. She has always dealt with the cards, this is no different from the usual shenanigans.

She closes her eyes, feeling the magic, trying to pinpoint its exact location. It feels close, inside the jungle of lotus flowers. Sakura bounces across the lily pads, laughing softly at the strange elasticity they offer in her smaller size. The magic turns as playful as her, and evades as she closes in, hiding amongst the greenery in a winding hide and seek game. She can glimpse it from the corner of her eye, but never quite catch up.

«Labyrinth !»

This should even the playing field, she thinks. The plants are now arranging themselves to trap the rogue card in dead ends, twisting and turning to reroute it back to Sakura. It fights and evades but eventually she gets a clear view of the little trickster.

«Force without master, heed the call of my staff of dreams, and become my power ! Secure ! »

The card obediently turns back and she only has time to glimpse at it before the magic that made her small dispels and she falls through the lily pads and lotus flowers right into the shallow waters of the lake. Untangled in the long stems and large leaves, it takes her a while to sort herself out and finally stumble out, drenched and dirty. She looks down on her ruined outfit and thinks, maybe it was not such a bad thing that Syaoran sit this one out. Or Tomoyo, for that matters. She picks up her abandoned bag on the lake side and walks home.

In a week she could see him again. And for now, she has a fun story to tell, which is an excellent excuse to text him. 

She smiles.

[lilietsblog]

GHOST TRICK: THE BIG FINALE

so I finished the game yesterday all on my lonesome without internet

why yes I am perfectly fine and not emotionally compromised in the slightest

enjoy my screaming

IT'S GHOST TRICKING TIME which is to say it's ghost tricking time without internet so I'm doing this in wordpad tumblr really needs an 'import rtf' function >_>

SO from what I remember, when last we left off I was about to try to figure out how the fuck a knitted cap and a helmet are going to help me stop a bullet LET'S DIVE RIGHT BACK INTO THIS FOLKS

I still love how Sissel just ignores the dog's little 'WHATS A HOSTAGE O NO' instead of digging into explaining it

oh thank god the game DOES remember ive read this text before

...oh, I forgot how I did this the last time O WELL

all right, so I remember swiveling the lamp and dropping the hard hat, then when the knitted cap is over here I can swap it with the book and get it on the hook but how did I get the knitted cap over here

aha, he looked away for a moment, the helmet part is done what the fuck do i do now

AHA okay, so now i very quickly cart the ladder back and forth, I think I remember this

fuck, he noticed me, okay don't swivel the lamp while he's watching, swivel it while he's still looking away

I gotta note the 'I don't know why you're wearing my face' part HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

fuck, nope, I can't swivel the lamp back at that moment because he notices it clattering and turns right around FUCK OKAY LET'S TRY TO DO IT WITH THE LAMP THERE

ugh, if only I could do shit during the cutscene while he rolls away >_>

OK I SHOULD HAVE HAD MORE TRUST IN MISSILE HE IS GREAT AND A VERY GOOD DOG AND CAN AIM FOR SPLIT SECOND TIMING OF A BULLET BEING IN THE AIR OKAY

haha, and the knitted hat still hit Cabanela with enough velocity to knock him over I love this and I particularly love his dramatic leg up in the air he doesn't evne know what's happening he just aims to be the most dramatic possible at all times and it's really helping us out <3

'i love knitted hats... so warm, and most of all, so SOFT' <3 <3 <3

god Missile is so good this is pain IS THE DAWN DEADLINE A LIE MAYBE DID RAY JUST SAY THAT TO GET SISSEL'S BUTT MOVING I DON'T KNOW

oh yeah Cabanela's still got broken bones all over I kind of forgot about that

oh ok, looks less like broken and more like just really fucking bruised, becuase in that movement he's put pressure on all limb bones and nothing bent out of shape, so that's good

lmao and Cabanela's just like 'BUT IF I WAS KILLED IN THAT EXPLOSION THE SITUATION WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER' I I don't think it would necessarily work out that way, considering how much difficulty our protagonist was having saving just the professor :x

oh hey we've got our next source of information! should be quite a wellspring if Sissel remembers everything he should ask

yeeep Cabanela you FUCKED UP

oh, the gun :x

HON IM PRETTY SURE THE FIRST PART IS MORE IMPORTANT THE PART WHERE YOU TRIED TO SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF HIM CORNERED RATS BITE THIS IS COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY YOUR FAULT, ALL OF IT

aha, those cases, okay

and Cabanela was doing the thing because of Jowd that makes sense -_- kind of

yep, that one little snag kind of puts a question mark on the whole thing alright, that almost makes sense? kind of? makes Cabanela kind of a selfish butt doing this for his own obsession rather than for personally Jowd but makes sense

ok, the bringing him to justice minister to buy time thing actually does make a lot of sense it wasn't A LOT of time that he bought but it was just enough and that's what counts

oh hey, this guy used to have the job that the blue fake stole? (and yeah sounds like blue guys are just foreigners -_- bc they couldnt find spies that didnt stand out visually or anything)

hum not a scratch, huh regenerating dead body, okay

oh come ON Sissel don't be surprised now that part was obvious from the moment he said the corpse disappeared the meteorite's radiation, okay, quite interesting :D

"it was like a meteorite had struck me on the head" so, has that been a cause of death today yet, because if it hasn't, this looks like foreshadowing -_-

hum, so the gun would have been loaded because he controlled Kamila, which she then wouldn't have a clear memory of makes sense

HI LYNNE JUST IN TIME

arrest her to keep her safe, that actually makes perfect sense IF ONLY IT HAD WORKED LMAO no wonder pigeon guy roasted him for that in the deleted timeline XD

"while he was at it" <3 <3 <3

awwww pigeon guy was friends with him too <3

hee right on top of his striped jumpsuit honestly he looked less escaped-from-prison-ish in the paint-splattered robe thing XD

a present, huh?

awww see Sissel you don't feel lonely and that's what counts

ALRIGHT THEN :D LET'S FUCKING GO :D AND, UH, DO SOMETHING, I GUESS I love how out of proportion Sissel's powers are rewind time, talk to dead people... and move small objects a little

so, uh, Sissel, are you sure there's answers for YOU over there or did you just get into habit of telling this to yourself to feel better

okay well how the fuck did Jowd infiltrate a fucking SUBMARINE like, I just want to know the physics of how this happened?

omfg the bullet had a radio transmitter well, I have a newfound respect for Cabanela, I gotta admit like I already respected him but I just figured he shot the guy out of a desperate 'can't do anything else might as well try this' urge to do SOMETHING but nope he had a plan (which would have worked even with him dead)

wow, and he actually gave the thing to Jowd beforehand n i c e

wow, okay, that's stealthy

aha, and he can totally leave his body and wander around freely I think that was already confirmed but it's nice to know for even surer

wow, okay, what the fuck re: that thing reaching up from below that definitely looked like... something else for a moment there 0.0

aand okay the meteorite is possible to extract from his body I wonder if evil!Sissel actually knew that... or if that actually did anything to him :D

okay, what the FUCK and how many more people are dead now

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW MISSILE IS HERE TOOOOOOOO

the phone is ringing, how convenient :D

ooohkay this is tricky

so, why the fuck were there baseball and basketball balls hanging in nets under the ceiling on a submarine ... ... you know what I don't want to know

wait, Kamila can't hear him? oh, right, over the phone ghosts communicate by close range telepathy

aaand this makes the FIFTH time Lynne's dead tonight! or is it sixth? did i lose track somewhere?

AWWWW THIS SCENE IS LIKE AN OVERDOSE OF CUTE

'i wonder what happened THIS TIME' yep lmao

no actually 'i dont remember what happened after that' sounds like evil!Sissel to me, personally

but do you know what this wheel does Sissel are you sure turning it is a good idea

"I just sort of blacked out, the next thing I knew, I was dead" <3 <3 <3

"now it's all making even less sense than before" AND THAT'S SAYING *SOMETHING*

but actually okay yea this does kind of sound like an explosion that killed Lynne and knocked Kamila out

aaand nope I was absolutely correct )=

can this guy only puppet one body at a time? couldn't he have just possessed Lynne and had her slit her own throat or shoot herself or hang herself or something? that sounds a lot more productive than having a little girl fight her I mean, even if he only can puppet one body at a time, puppetting Lynne would have been a lot more productive overall, is there a reason he can't?...

or does he just love to do things in the most convoluted and roundabout manner typical to villains everywhere -_-

"nobody ever calls the dead" ARGUABLE a number of phone calls has been made this night specifically for the purpose of putting our!Sissel on the line

aand okay :D looks like the blue assholes saved Lynne just in time, sort of ...for a certain definition of 'saved'

so anyway this guy said something like 'you cannot possibly comprehend my suffering' so it would be funny if he was just a random dumbass that a bad thing hapened to one (1) time, which granted also killed him, but all the misery since then has been of his own making and he's put every single person involved in the events through worse just over the course of tonight, and simply has no sense of scale, perspective or proportion I think that would be great if the story went there XD EDITOR'S NOTE IN RETROSPECT: the story didn't go there and that was not fucking okay (it's dead women in the fridge again!)

and Sissel can't understand revenge as a concept SOUL TWINSIES WITH ME OR WHAT

lmao Lynne is starting to get touchy about how many times she's needed rescue lately XD

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE WHY CAN'T I REACH FOR ANYTHING YET also, interesting to note that in the 4 minutes ago past, neither Lynne nor Kamila have a core looks like Sissel's interaction with this realm is limited after all, and not only by phones there's v interesting existential fuckery going on here, of the exact sort I ABSOLUTELY LOVE

oh THERE we go 'nobody ever calls the dead' ARGUABLE again and I love Lynne's signature instant-snap-into-hands-over-head animation + pose Good Reflexes

ALRIGHT, FIDDLING WITH RANDOM SHIT WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT IT MIGHT DO TIME ...and that sure worked fast

hum, a random mechanic, alright

oh hon that's a, um, what's the opposite of exaggeration I know this word in Russian >_> over...littlification? that 'restless ghosts onboard' THAT'S ONE WAY TO PUT THAT

lmao that was one odd fate change

alright, found the temsik fragment capsule, I see yay unexpectedly strong wastebucket lids (seriously, that's a whole freaking basketball, there's a reason the nets worked like that lmao)

alright, just watching the cutscene for now, that's fair this guy sure looks like he's going to abandon his entire crew and blow up the sub or something

"farewell, sir" WELL THAT DID NOT SOUND QUITE RIGHT

alright, and we're left in the capsule rather than the fragment which apparently did not have a core of its own for some reason

OMFG THERE'S A LITTLE RAT IN THE TORPEDO ARE WE GOING TO HAVE A RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE INVOLVING A SMALL RODENT AGAIN BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE BEST KIND BUT ALSO THIS IS NOT HOW TORPEDOS WORK BUT ALSO HI RAT!!!

yeah exactly thanks Sissel! how the FUCK did it get here also I love that the characters DO pay attention to the wellbeing of innocent rats in this game <3

well, you COULD just try to get it to blow up earlier, in the water you'd be stuck but you'd be heroes, or something well, Lynne would go back to her body, Sissel would be stuck :D oh, and the rat would die, that's the bad news

YEAH LET'S SAVE THE RATTIE FIRST if this time the rat is going to be in the way rather than helping, well, I REALLY DO RESPECT THAT LET'S SAVE THE RAT

alright, after some trial and error I DID manage to get both weights in the same position (mostly by luck) and throw off the rat NOW TO SAFETY

alright, this looks promising OKAY IT ALSO LOOKS LIKE KAMILA AND LYNNE MIGHT BE SAFE FROM EVIL!SISSEL NOW THAT'S GOOD NEWS

yusss caring about rats ftw <3

that's what missiles do, huh they're unstoppable i dont know who it is i hear there but Missile is great yes

well, whatever this is, our!Sissel just turned it on maybe it's pumps to remove water!... not that they'll do much against an unplugged breach but

aha, okay, won't move for long

this movement through a machine's gears feels like the purest expression of the game's premise since the junkyard tricks at the very beginning <3

the way Kamila's speech kinda fades in from white? that worries me

...eeeyup

god but I love this game's animation. this little one of Lynne hoisting Kamila up on her back? it feels, like, PERFECTLY balanced with their weights and Lynne's strength and everything <3 <3 <3

oh my god Lynne why couldn't you just... be able to swim not that it would help much with Kamila unconscious but

oh my god Lynne is literally right here why do I still have trouble moving around freely???

oh, found it!

wow, she's climbing one-handed while carrying Kamila, that's some serious upper body strength <3

W E L P

YEP THAT'S SOME SERIOUS STRENGTH THAT SHE DIDNT JUST FUCKING FALL NOR DROP KAMILA

yeeep okay WOW

ARE YOU BOTH GOING TO DIE NOW OR WHAT okay, no, just fall, and not even in the water that's good news

LYNNE THIS IS NOT A POSE YOU WANT TO BE IN RIGHT NOW unless you're actually holding yourself against that shit in the background with your left hand and I just can't see it I guess

...nope, she was holding her chin LYNNE NO

MISSILE HURRAY

okay, the fan thing makes sense

now to swap around a bunch of broken pipes so they don't get in lynne's way, got it

FOR FUCK'S SAKE I REALLY DON'T SEE A WINNING COMBO HERE

aand I fucking lost but at least I got Sissel in position -_-

alright, now with one pipe turned off it actually works out easily it just... took me really long to realize I'd need Sissel for this one -_-

Lynne honey but have you considered: you have no fucking clue what's behind that door although presumably submarine has only been breached in one place and it's this room?

holy shit with the hook Sissel managed to hoist the combined weight of Lynne and Kamila now THAT's a nifty trick

SISSEL FOR FUCK'S SAKE SHE CAN'T MUSTER LEVERAGE FOR THIS BECAUSE SHE HAS TO HOLD HERSELF AND KAMILA UP AND SHE'S TIRED SHE CAN ASK FOR HELP EXCLUSIVELY IN SWAHILI SWEARS AND IT'D STILL BE A WAY THAT YOU HAVE TO PUT UP WITH

aww, someone's saving us!!!

someone who commented on unstoppable missiles earlier, perhaps?

right, the truth... that's still relevant. while on a sinking submarine. yep

haha sinking submaries i have just been playing oxenfree haha

oh wow that's an improvised mechanism made out of garbage sticking in a close range telekinetic field nifty shit

oh oh okay that explains absolutely nothing evil!Sissel is not evil now, or what?

lmao this is getting more confusing, but like... in a very satisfying way <3

evil!Sissel still seems to have SOME amount of powers, at least, though possibly not the manipulating humans ones? but this amount of telekinesis is still incredible

so okay our Sissel's name possibly IS Sissel, but this dude's isn't I'm more confused than ever before I doubt there are three of them, so...

ahh, Lynne making Kamila more comfortable <3 <3 <3 and again, animation is fucking excellent. just, the timing of everything? it's better than 90% of all 3D animation I've ever seen in games

power and time, okay, got it so the dawn deadline IS real, just not for him wait, possibly not for Sissel and Missile, either?

I see he still fell in his signature ridiculous pose it's less funny now, overall

ah, okay, so the time effect is different too it seems to have been the same for Sissel and Missile though? is this a personality powers deal?

I love that Missile is perfectly comfortable with weird shit because as a dog, that's about the amount of understanding he has of his everyday surroundings, too <3

oh, hum so the moment this guy actually 'died' is the moment that blue guy took out the fragment?

wipe out everybody, huh

okay, so the shooting is as we knew, kind of

the first shot missed the mark, huh? quite curious, quite curious stray bullets are known to be deadly :D

alright, so that's a conversation that mostly confirmed what we already knew we have a new ally though, sort of

aand Lynne's empathy saves the day -_- like I said earlier, this guy's feelings aren't like... unique or anything, he just sucks at theory of mind

Kamila!!! so hey kiddo this guy in front of you is the guy who killed your mom

anyway, I'm still pretty sure Sissel hadn't yet introduced himself to you when you started calling him "Sissy" so there's that lead

and Kamila makes herself comfortable <3 I love this Little Lady so much <3

AWWWW THE RADIO THING <3 <3 <3

'and what about a torpedo' WHAT ABOUT A TORPEDO LYNNE THIS SOUNDS EXTREMELY UNSAFE

KAMILA ARE YOU KIDDING ME YOU'RE TOUGH AS FUCK

OMG IT'S A GRAPE SERVING MACHINE I LOVE THE LUXURIOUS FUCK THIS WAS MADE FOR

alright, torpedo room, that works

swap  the switches to get them unstuck!!!

so I'm going to guess everyone there died, too, and Sissel's going to have to prevent that, too that makes perfect sense

that 'understand exactly how he feels' thing our!Sissel and evil!Sissel are really fucking different in this particular respect :D

awww and the girls convince the doggo <3 <3 <3

so, does Kamila know about the dawn deadline for all ghosts, or

oh thank god I didn't need to control that hop this game really has a policy of not having a permaloss option <3

Yomiel, huh so that's his name

alright, and 'Sissel' is an alias ...I'm just going to keep using it for the protag, just to make things slightly less confusing

ah, so this guy had access to national secrets, and that's how he did the singer thing

and he was proven innocent offscreen <3 <3 <3 stylish

stylish animation, nice

didn't help anybody? did you ever try? because our!Sissel sure figured that shit out quickly

welp, the blue guys are assholes but then, they were also kind of dealing with an asshole I can imagine why they didn't think he was reliable to deal with :x

awww, I like the leaflet guy so much <3 <3 <3

I love how Jowd's like 'well, I'm dead, are you happy now' and Sissel's like 'so anyway about that' FUCK death not tonight, not when Sissel's here <3 <3 <3

alright, and this guy's a robot that still doesn't quite he's pretty human-like >_> I am not a fan of the blue guy in charge is all I'm saying also lmao I nicknamed this one 'iron man dracula' i didn't mean it that way but

ah, remote-controlled, alright that 'farewell' was odd then

'your country's use of technology is just plain off' I LOVE THIS

could there have been two pieces of meteorite in this guy's body? okay, nope still!

OH WOW FOUR MINUTES BEFORE HIS DEATH THAT'S THAT'S ACTUALLY EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED FROM THE VERY BEGINNING EVEN THOUGH I THOUGHT THIS BODY BELONGED TO THE WRONG 'WHOM' THIS IS SOMEWHAT MORE AMBITIOUS THAN PLANNED BUT

...okay, no, his 'death' would actually be before the control room was launched, not all those years ago STILL THIS IS THE -EXACT- THING

alright anyway this is plenty of buildup WHO THE FUCK IS OUR PROTAGONIST it's funny how so far absolutely 0 of what we've seen has pointed to that I have plenty of odd thoughts in my mind ofc 'that guy from another point of time' being the prime one as a homestuck, the possibility of there being multiple ghosts of the same person doesn't faze me in the slightest in fact it seems like an intuitive conclusion BUT THEIR PERSONALITY SURE IS DIFFERENT

anyway, :D :D :D

Final Chapter

...aha! so it counted ten years ago after all! dang :D

aha, I see that mascot thing I see baby Lynne!!!

I note how for someone threatening to shoot the kid, Yomiel's gun sure is pointing in the wrong direction AND he's holding out the kid to the side, not between himself and Jowd SOMEONE sucks at hostage taking lmao

a kitty, huh

and then a meteorite, okay

I note the lamp

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Yomiel is thinking 'so maybe I'll die in another way and all this will have not happened, that's a better outcome anyway' isn't he god his faces are Sissel faces and look this game knows EXACTLY what it's doing with its visuals exactly one facial exression of Yomiel's has not matched Sissel's I doubt it's because of lazy artists

alright, so a good plan would be swapping the mascot and the lamp

but seriously, WOW Yomiel sucks at taking hostages this game's animation is always stellar and brilliant, there's NO fucking coincidence there he was absolutely not willing in any way to put baby Lynne in actual danger, even if he pretended he did and it worked on Jowd

anyway how the fuck do we get to the lamp

'we can talk about all this later' ARGUABLE TBH the entire, like, THING is going to change oh man is everyone going to go back to their bodies 10 years ago with their new memories because that's fucking hardcore was Kamila even BORN yet

augh I DONT KNOW I CANT REACH I THINK I CANT REACH ANYTHING WHAT DO I DO MISSILE IS IN THE SWEET POTATO ON THE FOUNTAIN SISSEL IS IN THE NOZZLE BUT NOT THE CENTRAL ONE AND CANT REACH THE CENTRAL ONE WHAT DO I DO

okay sounds like I missed my chance let's try that again

ghhhh okay I think I have figured this sequence out even though I have to rewind again 1) rock the basket 2) jump into nozzle to launch the potato 3) Sissel jumps into the potato and then from the potato to the central nozzle 4) Missile jumps into the potato 5) launch the potato x2

okay, Mino fell into the fountain, not that I know how this can help because AGAIN, Missile can't reach Mino from the lantern :x and Sissel can't do absolutely fucking anything

annd the finale is a cutscene alas

alright, let's try that again...

hum we didn't get a FATE CHANGE registered after dropping Mino might this mean we have to do something right in the process?

AW YEAH THAT DEFINITELY JUST HAPPENED LMAO

are we going to kill everyone by dropping Mino on them instead XD

trick time, huh Sissel still can't reach anywhere Missile can swap two identical lanterns, not that this does anything he can talk to Sissel, for what THAT's worth

aha, the lantern dropped, Missile can move around now, that's good

Sissel still can't do shit though

well, that's the detective's LEG, not... anything else or anything

oh man, yeah... YOUNG JOWD IS A DUMBASS man, even Yomiel isn't aiming at him anymore, he's like 'hey dude are you okay' so the theory that Sissel is alternate!Yomiel is really gaining steam in my head not that it wasn't the primary one all along but

AW FUCK YEAH MISSILE THE BULLET CATCHING BADASS DOGGO!!!

anyway sweet potato?

BOO YAH um or not

OR YES ACTUALLY THAT WORKS

OH MY FUCKING GOD YEP THE LAMPPOST FUCKING MINO

awwwwww and finally the trauma of remembering your death is brought up!!!! Sissel cares <3 <3 <3 (and Yomiel doesn't at the moment NOT THAT I CAN'T UNDERSTAND THAT IN CONTEXT) (then again I'd understand it if Sissel didn't either but he's the purest being in existence so)

awwww Yomiel is finally going to contribute!!!

omfg lmao "Make it spray as if your life depended on it!" "Uh, I'm dead though" Yomiel is winning ALL the sensitivity awards tonight <3 <3 <3

I I think that Yomiel hasn't done anything yet oh, okay, we're still winning time

holy FUCK Yomiel that was definitely a thing you just did

dear Young Jowd, Yomiel is the one who saved her. Not gods

awwww and he gave baby Lynne a detective's badge <3 <3 <3 he's so good with children <3

so, can Yomiel be alive please :x ALRIGHT, HE IS THAT WORKS

THE KITTY DID THE METEORITE KILL THE KITTY

wait wait wait is is Sissel the kitty is that why he has no idea how guns work or anything else like that that that is truly fucking incredible f y'all's i AND I GUESS IT FITS WITH HIM AND MISSILE JUST GOING AROUND SAVING PEOPLE TOGETHER LIKE A BADASS DUO AND IT FITS WITH HIM GETTING KILLED BY LYNNE'S FIRST SHOT ON ACCIDENT I HONESTLY CONSIDERED A RAT OPTION FOR LIKE A SPLIT SECOND THERE

OMG OMG OMG OMG YE S AND HIS NAME REALLY IS SISSEL

god jesus fucking christ this this fucking game i just im howling this this definitely is a thing that just happened it owned me so hard im so fucking owned right now

yep hes the cat he's Yomiel's cat

aaaaaaaaaawwwwwwww there's a good reason he had identity confusion in all this they WERE confusable as one being for a while

'her' huh?

oh man wow THIS particular part of the story sucks

so Sissel was a girl's name all along? okay

but also, FUCK no wonder he went bonkers specifically about being unable to die

'his powers couldnt help anybody' more like they couldn't help ONE SPECIFIC PERSON

so that bag is a kitty carrier huh and Lynne's miss accidentally killed the kitty

LMAO THE PART WHERE WE ALL THOUGHT LYNNE HAD KILLED THE PROTAG WASN'T WRONG

I DAMN FUCKING REMEMBER THAT CAT JUST FOR YALLS I I ABSOLUTELY REMEMBERED THERE WAS A CAT THERE I JUST NEVER LINKED IT TO ANYTHING I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS A VERY PRETTY RANDOM STRAY

anyway Yomiel that's what you get for playing with guns they're deadly weapons and result in death you're fucking welcome

so anyway who the fuck is Ray

but anyway kitty Sissel saved everyone...

okay but hold on hold on hold on I didn't quite get the implications about the fiancee the first time around WHAT THE FUCK CAPCOM i was just recently thinking how fucked up it was that I remembered the last name of Polly Jenkins, just because of how much her brief story shook me

and uh I think is that also the implication here because that's not fucking okay

anyway so did Yomiel die as the result of that or nay bc that looked fucking deadly if not instantaneously so

god but this ffucking game

this fucking... game

oh Missile I'm pretty sure YOU are going to see HIM alright lmao wasn't Jowd taking him home

but also damn the original events of these ten years, as remembered by - a dog and a cat - Detective Jowd and Kamila (but not Alma, who never was brought back to life directly) - Lynne - Cabanela - the medical examiner - the minister of justice AND NO-ONE ELSE ...wait, no ALSO THE GUY FROM THE FUCKING PARK ...yep that's a thing we're doing

so another important thing is that the rock star kid is going to be okay and the curry guy, too nothing bad happened to them in this timeline, right?

ALRIGHT HI RAY WHAT/WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU

(right now my bet's on 'a rat')

oh, Sissel also killed two people tonight, that happened

lmao and in this version of evens Missile died in the presence of Temsik

omfg and Ray is alternate!Missile this is fucking amazing <3

lmao his ghost aged and lost its powers?

also the dawn deadline was a lie he just wanted to get Sissel's butt moving I FUCKING KNEW IT

I love how Sissel's just "I DID WHAT" even though he's been doing that all evening this time around too

yup doggie's a fucking liar the only real time limit is the lifetime they would have had if they were alive huh damn

but seriously I called that before I started this section of the liveblog even if I think I never actually made that post 'what are the odds Ray is a fucking liar' I don't think I ever wrote that I kept getting distracted but yep I fucking called this

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART GOD I AM ;U; THIS DOGGO

anyway one participant of the events who definitely wasn't born yet 10 years ago is indeed Missile 0.0 how's that... gonna work...

but I do love that just... the justice minister, of all people, is also going to be in possession of those 10 years

OH MY FUCKING GOD LYNNE IS ABOUT TO HAVE A FUCKING HEART ATTACK I KNOW THERE'S NO GUN BUT JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

KAMILA WHAT THE FUCK DON'T FUCKING DO THAT THAT'S ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING

aawwwwwww IT WORKED THIS TIME AROUND

'nice to meet you' OH BOY OH BOY I GET HOW IT WORKS NOW I THINK ...uh, I'm not sure how Lynne knew to flee from the junkyard then, but either way it looks like they're only getting back their memories at the PRESENT and that's why Kamila didn't fUCKING KNOW AND REMEMBER WHAT THE FUCK WAS WRONG WITH DOING THAT JUST NOW

LMAO SOMETHING'S GOING TO EXPLODE TONIGHT

oh, nevermind, it's not that yet :D but it really does sound like it's going to :D right... about... dawn? :D

aww Jowd actually carries toy badges with him everywhere <3 <3 <3 'child handling tools'

still a kitten, huh yeah, that whole Temsik thing :D

aww, and here's her, all alive and everything

SO BIG MEMORYSPLOSION PLEASE

(at dawn) (it's fucking coming that's my headcanon and you can't beat it) (a bunch of people are going to become really fucking traumatized tonight)

hey!!! Missile!!! Cabanela brought him, huh

so, what's up with Yomiel, anyway

COME ON SISSEL MAKE NICE WITH MISSILE HE CAN'T CLIMB UP THERE

that guy's imitating Cabanela lmao

Memry <3 <3 <3

very best customer, huh

AWWW ITS THIS GUY HI GUY YOU'RE OKAY NOW WITHOUT YOMIEL TO RUIN EVERYTHING YOU'RE JUST FINE

hah, and these two

.............................................yup. they died

'the indescretions of a minister perhaps?' I LOVE THIS FUCKING LADY I LOVE HER I LOVE HER

ah, these two what deal is it this time

the little rock sinter guy!!! yeah!!!!

hi medical examiner guy <3 guess you're not doing medicine after all huh

HI LEAFLET PARK GUY YOU ARE STILL CUTE

HI BAILEY

oh man oh man Yomiel :D hey are talking about Yomiel :D

SHOW ME HIS FIANCEE YOU COWARDS

lmao he's the painter this time even the robe sits the same

SO SHOW ME

OH YEAH OH YEAH HE REMEMBERS THATS THE PICTURE OF THE FUCKING CAT AND NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT

YUP YUP THIS IS IT lmao that crane i sure do remember it well it murdered two people tonight <3 <3 <3 kitty <3 <3 <3

aw yeah! in that picture with Missile!!!

[jallenhix-blog]

Chapter One: Hail to the King part 1

     Jacob sat down to finish listening to his new book. He had discovered the joys of audiobooks a few years ago when his eyesight started to take a turn for the worst. Keratoconus they called it, a word that no one he told every seemed to be able to pronounce, let alone remember. Basically, his corneas had decided to turn from nice smooth curves to wriggly cone shapes. Made everything look blurry, haloed and doubled. He stopped explaining it to others after, in one day, he had to explain that yes, he had heard of glasses and no they didn’t fix what he had, to at least four different people. Now he just tells people who ask “Why don’t you just wear glasses.” that they are magnificent geniuses, and then proceed to prostrate himself before them shouting “I’m not worthy!” until they go away. It was a real blow tho, being a movie buff and a bookworm for as long as he could remember, the news that his eyesight would slowly degrade and worsen until completely blind or be able to pay for extremely expensive cornea transplant surgery, twice, left him in a funk that lasted for several years. How do you try to make sense of the world as in slowly goes out of focus? As a kid, his mother and father had exposed him to all the classics. The first book he ever read was Stuart Little. The day he had finished the book for the first time on his own was a story his mother liked to retell to every mildly attractive girl that was within earshot of him.  Through his father, he developed a love for cheesy Kung-fu, westerns  (Whoa, take er easy there pilgrim!) and buddy cop movies. His older brother turned him on to the fantasy and Sci-Fi genre, Tolkien, Rowling, Asimov, Wells, Douglas Adams, Geoffry of Monmouth, Chaucer. He had especially enjoyed the tales of King Aruther and his Knights of the Round Table. Many a time, his older brother had tattled on him when Jacob had decided that he was the dragon that needed to be slain with his own version of Excalibur, usually pulled off of a tree. Being born in 1985, he was a true child of the nineties and was well versed in all the great cinema and literature of the decade. Jurassic Park, The Star Wars Prequels (The pod racing was badass, fuck Jar-Jar), Independence Day, Men in Black, Terminator 2. Army of Darkness. The Dark Tower, American Gods, all things Magic the Gathering, and on and on and on. In his 32 years of life, he had consumed thousands of hours of video games, tv, movies, and books. He was a walking pop culture fountain of useless knowledge. Once his eyesight started to go, audiobooks replaced reading as reading became so difficult that he had begun to get migraines from reading for more than an hour at a time.

The book he was now finishing was called Otherlife: Awakings. The third book in the Selfless Hero trilogy by William D. Aarand. The narrator was a favorite of his named Jeff Hays. This guy could read the phone book in a way that could get you hot under the collar, if you were into numbers. It was a really interesting series in the sub-genre called LitRPG, a genre characterized by story settings placed inside massive multiple player online games. Think Read Player One or Sword Art Online. The Selfless Hero Trilogy basically involved a soldier in a futuristic military spaceship saving his shipmates from death when their ship is damaged by putting everyone in stasis and uploading their minds into a video game fantasy realm in the style of World of Warcraft. Jacob drank up the 40 plus hour audio series in only 3 days.  Listening now he glanced down at his wedding ring.

My awesome space ring. He thought. 2 years earlier after having proposed, A friend of his had mentioned rings made of dinosaur fossil and that would make a kick-ass wedding band. Seeing the thousand dollar price tag had knocked that idea away but it had led him to look for other unique wedding band ideas. He stumbled across a store that took gold from meteorite deposits and inlaid them into bands made of tungsten carbide steel. He had taken one look at the band and threw money at his laptop screen. The ring arrived a week later, and then he had to wait impatiently for a few months before he could wear it full time.